Post by Mark on Dec 19, 2009 6:10:48 GMT -8
Oh LORD our Lord,
How excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
Hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies,
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens,
The work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars,
Which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
And hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion
Over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,
[and whatsoever] passeth through the paths of the seas.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
(Psa 8:1-9)
I wonder if David, when writing this Psalm, was considering his battle against mighty Goliath of Gath. It’s so like the Lord Most High to demonstrate His strength by working His will through the helpless, the insignificant, so that it was without question that His power is what affects the courses of man, as He does the heavens above.
Adonai our God is so mighty that even a small child, a babe and suckling, may be the vehicle of His strength- so as to still the enemy and the avenger.
It seems a bit strange that, of all the texts of the Hebrew Scriptures Messiah Yeshua could have quoted, He called from a phrase of this Psalm when rebuked by the leadership of Israel.
It’s from the mouths of the children that the wise and learned of this world are rebuked by God. It certainly fits.
When I see the heavens, the moon and stars, I see planetary bodies that function according to a normal process- the order of the cosmos. The moon is there because it has always been there, and the stars do what they do. It’s no big deal. When a child considers the heavens, he is inspired by its majesty, its greatness, its utter incomprehensibility.
When I think of the things on the earth, the animals and the birds, I think about the practical uses or potential annoyances they have to offer. In the child’s eye, and to their longing touch, these are creations are demonstrations of God’s awesomeness. It’s no wonder that He should use the mouths of children to perfect His praise, and by extension, to ordain His strength. The rest of us aren’t worthy.
Messiah Yeshua had been in the Temple healing the blind and the lame. We are presumptuous to think that we would not be standing with the priests and the scribes, thinking to ourselves, “How is He doing that?” or “What kind of trick or gimmick is this?” It was the children who knew how to rightly respond, giving glory to Adonai, declaring the majesty of God. Never mind the agendas or speculations. This is a moment simply for praising God in His goodness.
It’s our prerogative as big people to be skeptical of anything we don’t understand. And to this end, Psalm 8 is speaking directly to us. Sometimes it’s just worth lowering our guard for a moment to say, “Wow! You are such an awesome God.” Maybe then we will understand what it truly means to give Him glory.
How excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
Who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
Hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies,
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens,
The work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars,
Which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
And hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion
Over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,
[and whatsoever] passeth through the paths of the seas.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
(Psa 8:1-9)
I wonder if David, when writing this Psalm, was considering his battle against mighty Goliath of Gath. It’s so like the Lord Most High to demonstrate His strength by working His will through the helpless, the insignificant, so that it was without question that His power is what affects the courses of man, as He does the heavens above.
Adonai our God is so mighty that even a small child, a babe and suckling, may be the vehicle of His strength- so as to still the enemy and the avenger.
It seems a bit strange that, of all the texts of the Hebrew Scriptures Messiah Yeshua could have quoted, He called from a phrase of this Psalm when rebuked by the leadership of Israel.
It’s from the mouths of the children that the wise and learned of this world are rebuked by God. It certainly fits.
When I see the heavens, the moon and stars, I see planetary bodies that function according to a normal process- the order of the cosmos. The moon is there because it has always been there, and the stars do what they do. It’s no big deal. When a child considers the heavens, he is inspired by its majesty, its greatness, its utter incomprehensibility.
When I think of the things on the earth, the animals and the birds, I think about the practical uses or potential annoyances they have to offer. In the child’s eye, and to their longing touch, these are creations are demonstrations of God’s awesomeness. It’s no wonder that He should use the mouths of children to perfect His praise, and by extension, to ordain His strength. The rest of us aren’t worthy.
Messiah Yeshua had been in the Temple healing the blind and the lame. We are presumptuous to think that we would not be standing with the priests and the scribes, thinking to ourselves, “How is He doing that?” or “What kind of trick or gimmick is this?” It was the children who knew how to rightly respond, giving glory to Adonai, declaring the majesty of God. Never mind the agendas or speculations. This is a moment simply for praising God in His goodness.
It’s our prerogative as big people to be skeptical of anything we don’t understand. And to this end, Psalm 8 is speaking directly to us. Sometimes it’s just worth lowering our guard for a moment to say, “Wow! You are such an awesome God.” Maybe then we will understand what it truly means to give Him glory.
