How Excellent Is Thy Name

Psalm 8:1, 9

“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

Introduction

We all have had at least one experience of standing on a clear night gazing into the heavens at the bright moonlight and sparkling stars.  It may have been on purpose, or it might have just been by chance.  There can be only two reactions: awe and humility.  The unique beauty of a blackened sky with the brilliant lights paints a picture that no paint brush or sophisticated camara can capture.  The vastness of what appears makes a person realize their own insignificance.  Even if there was no Creator and all those shining lights just somehow appeared, the reality of the size and force of creation leaves an honest soul humbled and weak.  However, an honest soul looking at such an indescribable image must say that the existence of such a scene requires a Creator.  It must have been such a moment as this that made David the shepherd write the glorious eighth Psalm. 

God Made the Heavens

Psalm 8:3

The psalmist declares that the heavens belong to the LORD.  This gives Him full authority over them.  Here the psalmist says they were made by His fingers.  This intimates intricate formation which is exactly what we see in the universe.  In Psalm 102:26, the psalmist declares that the heavens were made by His hands showing strength and security (Colossians 1:16-17).  He stretched out the heavens (Isaiah 42:5; 45:12).  He hung the earth out in space (Job 26:7) but holds it in its exact location at the right distance from the sun to guarantee all life and function upon the earth.  The thread of gravity holds the moon at just the perfect location to keep the tides of the oceans.  All the planets of this galaxy circle the sun in a nonwavering path.  The literal millions of stars and galaxies that we know exist were placed and stay in their perfectly specified location as a manifestation of the glorious intelligence and power of its Creator and Keeper.  He wove all material objects together with microscopic particles with invisible strands of electronic and magnetic forces.  Some of these objects were given the capacity to reproduce having a form of life.  Other objects were made to keep their substance and shape with no life.  God even created an invisible dimension for Himself and the angels. 

When we “consider the heavens”, the grandest of terms such as the psalmist used, “excellent”, or any other term become feeble declarations of the marvels and magnificence of God.  No term can truly express the glory of our Creator.  As a person would stand speechlessly admiring one of the great paintings of history, we can only stand in awe at the showing of the works of creation by the hands and fingers of our eternal God and Creator.

God Crowned Man with Glory and Honor

Psalm 8:5

When we consider the work of God’s creation, there is a question that pops up with great intrigue, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”  In the middle of an infinitely expanding space and an infinitely shrinking microscopic world, there stands man.  There seems to be no end of objects that make up God’s creation.  Man is constantly finding something new to add to the infinite number of items that make up God’s creation.  So, what makes man the center of God’s attention?

First, God made man to be special.  Man was made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27).    A simple explanation of this truth is God made man to be personal as God is personal.  Man has spirit (eternal existence), soul (intelligence, emotion, will), and body.  It is his soul that makes him the image of God.  By creating man as a living soul (personality), he was given the capacity to have direct fellowship with God who is the eternal and infinite personality.  In other words, God is mindful of man because He created him to have a special place in God’s existence.  As the psalmist said, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made… (Psalm 139:14).  Although the angels were created in a higher position, their purpose is to minister not fellowship with God.  Every day from the beginning, God was walking with man in the garden until the fall. 

He then placed man upon the earth having spread it forth in preparation for his existence there (Isaiah 42:5).  Each day of creation had a part in the deliberate and perfect preparation as one would prepare for a banquet.  God not only placed man in this specially prepared banquet hall, but He also made him to be the authorized overseer of it all (Psalm 8:4-8).

So, what is man?  In comparison to God’s creation, he is not even a speck of dust.  However, God has placed His own image upon that speck of dust dressing him with a glory that supersedes all other creation on earth (Genesis 1:26-27).  Only the heavenly host was given a position above that of man, and that will change in the eternal future.

God Set His Glory Above the Heavens

Psalm 8:1

What a marvelous statement!  Right off, the statement says three major truths about God.  First, He is outside the realm of this universe.  Obviously, this is true since He is the one who created it.  God has the intelligence and the power necessary to imagine and create such a project.  Since He did it with His hands and fingers, God must be greater and outside of the realms He created.

Next, it tells us God is glorious.  He is glorious both in person and in works.  Who can describe the Person of God?  The infinity of His power, presence and intelligence go beyond man’s ability to understand, much less to describe.  The brightest mind using the highest form of speech would only give the beginning basics of the reality of who God is.  In considering His work, the psalmist declares “How excellent...”, that is to say, “Beyond description!”  Men make special trips to admire the great structures built by man.  The Eiffel Tower, London Bridge and Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, the towering Pyramids and Sphinx, and many others are advertised and sought out for tourism.  However, when compared to the spiring peaks of the Alps, the thundering roar of Niagara Falls, the vastness of the Amazon Rain Forest, the frozen ice packs of the Arctic and Antarctic, the majestic plums of Mt, Fuji, and even the night sky with it innumerable sparkling stars, man’s accomplishments fade into insignificance.

Above all, the statement tells us that God is the final authority, “Who has set…”.  God has this authority because He is the Creator.  He imagined it, designed it and made it.  It belongs to Him and no one else, “thy heavens”.  Satan tried to steal it by self-acclamation and ruin it by temptation.  However, God redeemed the universe back to Himself by the sacrifice of the Son of God and provided a restoration in the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus proclaimed this authority to the disciples saying, “All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth…” (Matthew 28:18).  The psalmist describes the futility of wicked men to usurp the divine authority, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision” (Psalm 2:4).  The day will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). 

Conclusion

It is easy to imagine the young shepherd sitting in the fields looking toward the heavens as the moon and stars shine down upon him out of the darkness of space.  His heart is stirred with wonder and praise in the realization of the grandeur of his Creator and God.  Only a fool would look at such a scene or any other demonstration of this world in which we live and say, “There is no God.”  What is even more foolish is to try to find ways to prove there is no Creator who has full authority over the universe.  It is no wonder that the psalmist says that God laughs from heaven at the wicked.  What is more important is to recognize that as part of the creation in a special sense, we belong to God and He has full authority over our lives.  Even though sinful man foolishly tries to ignore or negate the existence of God and His authority, He still wants to fulfill the original intent of man’s existence, personal fellowship.  God has provided the means to set up that fellowship forever and provides everything for the sinner to live on the earth with the purpose that every man and woman can enter that eternal fellowship.  Our prayer is that those who have not entered through Jesus Christ will do so, and those who have done so will keep a moment by moment walk with Him because that is why He created us.

Note: Please feel free to contact us for help in understanding how to have this fellowship by using the email or contact form provided.