Psalm 8

Psalm 8 is a song attributed to King David. It is used in the Jewish tradition to mark Simchat Torah (a celebration marking the end of a cycle of readings from the Torah, otherwise known as the Pentateuch, the five books found in the Old Testament attributed to Moses). Psalm 8 is also a popular scripture in the Christian tradition, as it is claimed to speak prophetically of the coming son of man "crowned with glory and honour" (verse 5).

Psalm 8 speaks of Gods majesty (verse 1), and then goes on to state why the Lord's name is majestic (or "brilliant" as the Message bible interprets it).

1. God is majestic because he has chosen what is considered weak and insignificant to shame the supposed wise and learned. (Compare verse 2 with 1 Cor 1:27).

2. God is brilliant because of his remarkable creative power - setting the stars in place with his fingers. (verse 3). Notice that the sun is not mentioned here, - perhaps David was inspired to write this psalm from his experience of gazing at the night sky as a shepherd boy.

3. God is majestic because he loves people. "What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8 verse 4, NIV). The word "man" here is the Hebrew word "enosh" meaning weak and mortal. Even though man is insignificant in comparison with the vastness of creation (verse 3), he has been given a place of great significance in the creative order (verse 5). This section of psalm 8 also foreshadows the role of Christ, and is refered to by the writer of the Hebrews in the New Testament. (Hebrews 2:6-9) Where man has failed in his role of having
"everything under his feet", Christ has succeeded by His life, death and resurrection, and is now given a "name that is above every name".

Through Christian history, Psalm 8 has a been considered and written about by many famous theologians and biblical scholars, and a number of these have been gathered together for study and reference here. To begin with, there are the insights of John Calvin (1509-1564). Calvin considers the psalm extensively in five sections: here you'll find commentary on psalm 8:1 , psalm 8:2, psalm 8:3-4, psalm 8:5-6 and psalm 8:7-9.

Matthew Henry (1662 – 1714) observes that Psalm 8 is about the greatness and majesty of God - His name is to be revered as excellent, which is shown to be proved by reference to God's wondrous works in creation. The commentary is divided into two sections - the first part is a commentary on Psalm 8 verses 1 and 2 ("Glory of God in His Works"), the second concerns the condescension of God (verses 3 to 9). Also featured in this section is the bible notes by John Wesley (1703 – 1791) on Psalm 8, and a commentary on the scripture by Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892). Spurgeon begins by providing a summary of Psalm 8, followed by an exposition of the text and some sermon aids entitled 'Hints to the Village Preacher'.

¹ God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.

 ² Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
      toddlers shout the songs
   That drown out enemy talk,
      and silence atheist babble.

 ^3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
      your handmade sky-jewelry,
   Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
      Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
   Why do you bother with us?
      Why take a second look our way?

 ^5-8 Yet we've so narrowly missed being gods,
      bright with Eden's dawn light.
   You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
      repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
   Made us lords of sheep and cattle,
      even animals out in the wild,
   Birds flying and fish swimming,
      whales singing in the ocean deeps.

 ⁹ God, brilliant Lord,
      your name echoes around the world. (Psalm 8, The Message)

This site features the scripture in various versions. There's Psalm 8 in the King James Version, (the "Authorized" version of the bible), a modern version of Psalm 8 (from "The Message" bible), the words to the psalm from the Webster's bible, and also the text from the Young's Literal Translation. There's also Psalm 8 in Latin (from the Roman Catholic Vulgate), and the Psalm from the American Standard Version of the scriptures.

If you enjoyed this site, you may which to consider visiting a site about John's Gospel, featuring more free commentary and bible versions.