Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 8. Psalm 8. And let's hear the reading of God's Word. And as we come to it, let me pray for us. Father, in your light, we see light. And so we pray that you would come now and by your Holy Spirit illuminate the reading and the preaching of your Word so that we would see Jesus more clearly love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly. And we ask this in his name, the one who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever praised. Amen. Psalm 8. To the choir master, according to the Gittith, a psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man? that you are mindful of Him and the Son of Man that you care for Him. Yet you have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor. You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under His feet. All sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God endures forever. Please be seated. Surprise. Surprise. That's what's at the heart of this psalm. It's a psalm about the unexpected, the surprising. But if we miss the surprise, then we miss the whole point of the psalm. Because it's the element of surprise which causes David to extol God's greatness in the refrain O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. We get the hint of surprise in verse 1 when we're told that the God who has set His glory in the heavens has also displayed His majesty in all the earth. The God whose glory cannot be contained by the heaven of heavens has displayed His majesty in all the earth. Now when you hear that, when you hear that God's majesty is displayed in all the earth, what do you think about? I think about creation. I think of Mount Everest or Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or the plains of the Serengeti teeming with majestic animals. I think of the Amazon Rainforest or the Grand Canyon. I think of a star-studded night in the Appalachian Mountains, a beautiful sunset over Malibu Beach. Isn't that what we think about when we hear of God's majesty in all the earth? O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the works Thy hand hath made, I see the sun, I hear the mighty thunder, Thy power, throughout the universe displayed, then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art. Yet, here's the unexpected thing in this psalm. Here's the big surprise. When it comes to talking about God's majesty in all the earth, David talks about babies, and mankind. God's name is majestic in all the earth because weak little babies defeat God's enemies. And because puny little man rules God's world. That's the logic of this psalm. The catalyst for praise for David. It's not the wonder of creation, verse 3. The amazing wonder that God cares for man, verse 4. No, the catalyst for praise in this psalm is the surprise that weak little babies defeat God's enemies, verse 2. And puny little man rules God's world, verses 3 to 8. The first surprise is obvious enough, verse 2. Out of the mouth of babies and infants You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger. The word for infants here is literally sucklings. That is babies who are still in need of their mother's milk. Yet verse 2 says that out of the mouth of babes, suckling on their mother's breasts, God has established strength. speak of strength coming from a weak, little, vulnerable baby. It's strength going in the wrong direction, isn't it? Isn't a baby's mouth supposed to receive nourishment and strength, not give it out? Yet God reverses the direction. Out of the mouth of babes and infants comes strength. The surprise factor continues in the purpose given for the baby's strength. Second half of verse 2, to still the enemy and the avenger. This word still is used in Psalm 46 to describe God causing wars to cease. Be still and know that I am God. But now look who's doing the stilling. Look who's doing the ceasing. Verse 2, weak little babies. The great and mighty enemies of God that rise up, proud and arrogant against Him, are defeated not by armies of men, not by horses and chariots, not by tanks and fighter planes, but by weak little babies. Some Bible translations interpret the word strength here as praise. And if we had time, we would look at Matthew 21. As Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the little children are running around saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. Little infants giving out praise to God for His Son, their Savior. But I want to focus our attention on the biggest surprise in this psalm, which is found in verses 3 to 8. God's name is majestic in all the earth because weak little babies defeat God's enemies, verse 2, and because puny little man rules God's world, verses 3 to 8. If you glance down at verse 3, you'll notice that it's comparatively longer than all the other verses that come after it. There's no neat parallelism like in the other verses. This verse sort of draws things out, underlining the sense of all that creation arises. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place. There's no doubt in David's mind who owns these heavens. It's not Mother Earth or Mother Nature. These are God's heavens. They're the work of His fingers. And the mention of fingers is perhaps probably the most interesting thing. Boys and girls, God made the heavens and the stars and the moon with His fingers. Now, if you know your catechism, you know that God doesn't have fingers, does he? What is God? God is a spirit and does not have a body like us. So why is this psalmist, boys and girls, talking about God having fingers? He's a spirit. Well, it's what's called, here's a big word for you, an anthropomorphism. An anthropomorphism, which is just a way of speaking about God in human terms. And it's a symbol. It's a metaphor. It conveys something about God's act of creation. It shows us He was an artist. He was a painter. The metaphor conveys the delicate, intricate, detailed care with which God made the world. He made it with His fingers. I'm sure most of us here today have been on an aeroplane. Boys and girls, if you've been on one, you remember, you look out the window as you climb up above the clouds and what do you look out on? You look out on an expansive, endless blue sky. Or if you've never been on an airplane, you're out in the mountains with no city lights around and you look up and what do you see? You see a star-studded night sky. Astrologers tell us that on a clear night, you can see about 2,000 500 stars visible to the human eye, but there are hundreds of billions of stars in the galaxy. Now, think about that metaphor, that endless blue sky, that star-studded night sky which God fashioned and shaped in such intricate detail, all of it just at the tips of His fingers, pushed and prodded by the divine digits. Boys and girls, it's as if God picked up the moon like a marble, rolled it between his thumb and first finger and just placed it in the night sky. It's like he peeled off one of those gold stars that your teacher gives you for your homework and just stuck it on the night sky. God made the heavens and the moon and the stars with his fingers. It conveys that he's an artist, that he took intricate care, but it also conveys that he's a very big artist, because all of it is just at the tips of his fingers. Now, if you're like me, you would think that the refrain of the psalm would kick in at this point. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. But that's not how the psalm progresses. David doesn't make an exclamation. He asks a question. When I consider the blue skies and the star-entrancing nights and the fact that you've made them in such intricate detail and in comparison to you, they are so small at the tips of your fingers, When I consider that, what is man that you're mindful of him? Or the son of man that you care for him? There's no exclamation of praise here. There's only a question of puzzlement, of mind-boggling wonder. What is man that you should care for him? The word for man here in the phrase Son of Man, it speaks of our fragility, our weakness, our humanity, our humanness. We are minuscule specks of dust on a rock revolving around one of billions of stars in but one of billions of galaxies. So why would the Creator God even bother with us? Boys and girls, did you bother with the ants this morning out in the car park before you came in here? Any adults bother with the ants this morning? How much more insignificant are we to the ants in comparison to how vast this universe is? And yet, and yet, God cares for us. Now the question for David is not one of doubt, but one of faith. He's not doubting that God is mindful of him or cares for him. He's dumbfounded that it's true. And it is true. God cares for you. Yes, puny little you. God cares for you. Insignificant little you are on the mind of the God who crafted billions of stars and billions of galaxies and set them all in place with His fingers. Now again, you'd expect the refrain to kick in here, wouldn't we? When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, who am I that you are mindful of me? And since you are mindful of me, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." But that, again, is not the logic of the psalm. The refrain is withheld until verse 9, which means that the catalyst for praise in this psalm is not creation, verse 3. It's not even God's care for us, verse 4. No, the catalyst for praise in this psalm is seen in the contrast between verses 3-4 and verses 5 to 8. Did you notice the word at the beginning of verse 5 when I read it earlier? Yet. But. The whole psalm turns on that one word. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Yet. But. You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. Psalm 8 is about the clash of man's insignificance and man's significance. Man is utterly insignificant in comparison to God's world, verses 3-4. But man is supremely significant as ruler over God's world. Verses 5 to 8. And it's only when these two paradoxical truths are set side by side that David bursts into praise again. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Well, let's take a look more closely at verses 5 to 8. You have made Him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned Him with glory and honor. Charles Darwin said that as human beings, we bear the image of our lowly origins. But look again at verse 5. We do not bear the image of lowly origins. Rather, we have high and holy origins. We were made to fall short only a little. from the angels. Only a little from God. Verse 4, spotlighted our humanness, our insignificance. Verse 5, spotlights our God-likeness and our significance. The significance increases in verse 6. You have given Him dominion over the works of your hands. You've put all things under His feet. Man is not just created in a high and holy state, a little lower than the angels. He's also given a high and holy job to do. Ruler of the world. David lists the things that were given rule over in verses 7 to 8 and it echoes Genesis chapter 1. There's the three realms of water, sky, and land. And then there are the animals that function and live in those realms. the domestic animals and the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea. Man is given rule over every realm and over every creature. Do you notice, boys and girls, not just the pet pony or the poodle. It's the alligator. It's the antelope. It's the lion and the cobra. It's not just your pet budgie or parrot. It's the eagles. And the hawks, not just your goldfish or your turtle, it's the blue whale and the orca, all that swim the paths of the seas. Everything has been placed under the rule of man. All creatures in all realms is under the rule of mankind. In fact, the phrase, all things in verse 6 may hint at even more than just planet Earth. Did you notice that phrase, the work of your hands? It recalls the work of your fingers in verse 3. It's just a stylistic variation of saying the same thing, which means what we have in verse 6 is a profound statement. The very thing in verse 3 that made us feel so puny and so small, the works of God's fingers, the moon and the stars, is the very thing in verse 6 that we're now given dominion over. The sun and the moon and the stars, they make us feel so small, so insignificant. But haven't we been to the moon? Didn't we stick a flag in it and say, ours, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind? We've done it, haven't we? We rule the moon. Well, I know technically speaking it was you Americans who did it. We've never heard the end of it since. But as I like to say, the Northern Irish settled America, so we all had a part to play in it. Mankind was made to rule the moon. God has placed all things under our feet. Perhaps when David penned these words, little did he know they would come to mean more than even he could have imagined. But what we have here is no Sniff of Darwinian lowly origins. Now what we have here is man as the pinnacle of God's creation, the paragon of all creatures, commissioned to rule the world and everything in it. And it is this surprise, the surprise that puny little man, insignificant little man, is given rule over God's world. That's the catalyst for praise. That's what makes David burst into praise at the end. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Weak little babies defeat your enemies. Puny little man rules your world. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. And that's the psalm in a nutshell. Those are the two great surprises that are at the heart of this psalm. But the question is, well, what are we to do with it? And so I want to suggest five points of application. Number one, be amazed at what you were made to be. Be amazed at what you were made to be. What this psalm asks us this morning is, do you have a high enough view of yourself? Because the world's your oyster. Now, of course, there's the danger. We take this too far. We see our rule independent from God. Rulers of everything apart from God. That's what our secular culture and society teaches us. It's the false gospel of self-sufficiency, self-rule. Reminds me of that famous story of Muhammad Ali, the great boxer who was flying on an aeroplane one time and as the plane was coming into land, the captain came over the intercom and said, would all passengers please return to their seats, fasten their seatbelts. And as an air hostess was walking through the cabin, she noticed that Muhammad Ali didn't have a seatbelt on. And she said, excuse me sir, the captain's asked for all passengers to fasten their seatbelts, please fasten your seatbelt and he said, Superman don't need no seatbelt. And she said, Superman don't need no aeroplane. Now put your seatbelt on. See the problem with Muhammad Ali was he thought he was completely self-sufficient, independent, autonomous, a law unto himself and if he really was then he'd need no aeroplane. And it's the exact same with us, with man's dependence on God, man's submission to God. These are two unavoidable facts and this psalm makes that abundantly clear. Notice in verse 5 and 6 how God is the subject of all the verbs. Our rule is a given rule from God. Our rule of this universe is given to us from God. Verse 5, Yet you, God, have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings. You, God, crowned him with glory and honor. You, God, have given him dominion. You, God, have put all things under his feet. You can't get a clearer statement of man's dependence on God, man's submission to God. Man in this psalm, man in the Bible, man in the world, whether he likes it or not, believes it or not, acts like it or not, is man under the rule of God as he rules the world. Even atheists are dependent upon God for their own worldview. Atheism only gets its definition by putting an A on the front of theism. Reminds me of that story of Cornelius Van Til, who said, atheists are like the little girl who wants to slap her father in the face, but in order to do so, she has to climb up onto his lap. So, keeping the right perspective, living as rulers under the ruler, as lords under the Lord of heaven and earth, that's what we must keep in perspective. But let's not miss the awe and wonder, the jaw-dropping point that David is making, the surprise that though we are creatures in submission to our Creator, the Creator has given us the whole world to rule. Do you hear that, boys and girls? The whole world is yours. Under God, it's yours. That's what David is saying here. I love that point in Prince Caspian, in the Chronicles of Narnia, where Badger is speaking of Narnia and he says, it's not men's country, but it is a country for a man to be king of. It's Aslan's country. It's not men's country. But it is a country for a man to be king of. This world is God's world. But it is a world for people, men and women, boys and girls, to be rulers of. And there's a sense in which we ought to praise God for that this morning. Puny little man really does rule this world. We do. We photograph stars. and determine when they'll appear and disappear. We predict eclipses of the sun. We send robots to planet Mars to take photos and collect rock samples. We've mastered human language and written beautiful poems and great pieces of literature. We've built bridges over the impasse of miles of water. We've blown holes in mountains to put tunnels through them. We've tamed the tiger. We've swam with killer whales. We've created the internet so you can send a photograph from Dayton to Doha in two seconds. We've developed drugs to cure Ebola. Puny little man does actually rule this world. And there's a sense this morning in which we should praise God for that. We should praise Him for the role that He's given us in His world. As reformed evangelical Christians, we're so quick to want to get to the gospel that we forget God's common grace. And there is a lot of common grace in this psalm. God is telling us there's a sense in which we should praise him for the marvelous privilege of ruling his world. And it's not just an ideological dream. It's not just a nostalgic look back at the Garden of Eden. No, David writes this in the presence of enemies, verse 2. This is a fallen world that David pictures and he still sees man as given rule over that world. So, be amazed at what you were made to be. Number two, but be aware of what you have become. But be aware of what you have become. As I listed off that list of achievements of mankind on the earth, did it sit comfortably with you? Was there a little niggle in your mind thinking, yeah, but? Well, there should have been because yes, we've sent probes into space, we've planted a flag on the moon, but in the words of Larry Norman, I say you starved your children to do it. We've mastered human language, written beautiful bits of poetry, but we also know how to twist words to tell lies. Yes, we've blown holes in mountains. We've also blown holes in buildings and killed people. Yes, we've swam with orcas, but sometimes they turn on us and kill us. Yes, we've created the internet to send photos to friends across the world, but we've also used it for the exploitation of women and children. Yes, we've developed drugs that can cure deadly diseases. We've also developed chemicals that can commit genocide. I mean, let's be honest. While we were made to fall only a little lower than the angels and rule this world for God on his behalf, we have fallen very far short from what God made us to be. as Paul says in Romans, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the reason it's happened is because we've tried to live life independent from God. We've tried to rule the world outside of His rule. We've behaved like Muhammad Ali, thinking we could rule the world on our own, fly without a seatbelt. But man in rebellion against God, man without a seatbelt, is never a pretty picture. I said earlier, this Sam asks us the question, do you have a high enough view of yourself? Well, this Sam said in the context of the whole Bible, asks the question, do you have a realistic view of yourself? Because the reality is, we've all messed up. We've all screwed up ruling God's world. Just turn on your TV. Switch on the internet. Go on your phone. The world is a complete and utter mess. G.K. Chesterton once saw in an editor's column in the newspaper a question, what is wrong with the world? The editor wrote, please send in your answers. So G.K. Chesterton wrote in an answer. He said, dear editor, I'm responding to your question in your column, what is wrong with the world? I am. You're sincerely G.K. Chesterton. What's wrong with this world? I am. What's wrong with this world? You are. We all are. We are the reason the world's a mess. And it's a mess because we have rebelled against our Creator. We have forsaken His laws and thought we could rule His world without His laws. And so we are part of the problem. So be aware of what you have become. Be amazed at what you were made to be. Be aware of what you have become. And number three, be amazed at Jesus, the proper man. Be amazed at Jesus, the proper man. Did you notice how in this psalm, man is always referred to in the singular? What is man, that you are mindful of him, not mankind or people. And the son of man, not the son of men. The son of man. Now the singular can be used in a collective sense, as I've been applying it so far of humanity in general. But it can also be used in an individual sense. And that's how the New Testament reads Psalm 8. Yes, there's application for us. Mankind in general. But we've all failed. And the New Testament writers realize that the hope for mankind can only be found in one man. In one Son of Man. In the Old Testament we have men like David and Solomon who nearly fit the picture of Sam 8. But then they fall and they fail. David perhaps comes closest as God's chosen king. He's exalted above the kings of the earth. As Sam 2 makes clear, but then we know the twist in the story. He fails to rule over his own marriage, takes another man's wife, sleeps with her, then kills her husband, and then tries to cover it up with lies. So David at one level was the son of man of Sam 8, and yet he was a failure. After David came Solomon. Solomon was a botanist and a zoologist. In a sense, he fits the picture of Sam 8 even better than David. As the prince of peace, he stills the enemy and the avenger. He never fought a war in his lifetime. He advances where David didn't, and yet in the end, we know the story, he's a complete failure, an adulterer and an idolater. So none of the great men of the Old Testament fit the picture of Sam 8? Only one man does. Great David's greater son, the one greater than Solomon, the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. This is how the New Testament deals with Sam 8. It picks up Sam 8 and it applies it directly to Jesus. In his ministry, what was Jesus' favorite title for himself? The Son of Man. The Son of Man. And didn't He observe the sparrows and commented on the lilies? He was a biologist. He was a zoologist. He was a botanist. But He didn't just rule over the good things in life. He also ruled over the bad things in life. The evil spirits, the sickness and death. He calmed the storms. He brought the chaos of creation. under his control. Here was a son of man who had all things placed under his feet and who ruled them perfectly, unlike David or Solomon. And because he ruled them perfectly in his time of probation under the law, God raised him from the dead and gave him all authority in heaven and earth. Psalm 8 finds its ultimate and perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He rules this world and Ephesians 1 says He rules the world to come. 1 Corinthians 15 says even death itself has been placed under His feet. Do you see it? The physical world, the spiritual world, the present world, the future world, all of it has been placed under a man, the Son of Man. Jesus Christ. Doesn't the title, Jesus is Lord, now mean so much more when you read it in light of Psalm 8? But here's the surprise. Remember I said the whole Psalm turns on surprise? Here's the surprise. Yes, Jesus was crowned as Lord of everything after His resurrection, but He had insignificant beginnings. He was born in Bethlehem and apart from a few shepherds, and some wise men from the east. There was no city or national celebration when the king of Israel was born. Soon after his birth, he had to flee to Egypt to save his life from Herod. When they returned, he lived in obscurity in the shameful, despised town of Nazareth. He grew up a carpenter's son. No significance in that role. Isaiah says there was no form or beauty that we should look upon him. passed him in the street, you wouldn't take a second to look at him. And when he did enter public ministry, yes, he drew big crowds, but he was also rejected by many. During his public ministry, he had nowhere to lay his head. And in the end, they gave him a death befitting a criminal and a murderer. He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed Him not." Puny little Jesus. That's how His life began. But who did esteem Him in His lifetime? Who did recognize Him? Babies and infants. As He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, a sign of humility, they greeted Him with the songs Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna to the son of the writer of Psalm 8. Childish chants coming out of the mouth of little children running around. God stilling the enemy and the avenger as Christ comes in in his triumphant journey into Jerusalem. Notice the order of Psalm 8. It begins with the praise from mouths of babes and infants. Then you have the insignificance of man. then the exaltation of man. Praise, insignificance, exaltation. Praise, humiliation, exaltation. And isn't that the pattern of Jesus' life? The children praise Him here, then He is humiliated on the cross, and then in His resurrection and ascension He is exalted to the Father's right hand. This is the great surprise. The despised Jew is now ruler of God's creation. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is His name in all the earth. So be amazed at Jesus, the proper man, the one who fulfills perfectly, Psalm 8. Number four. Be amazed at what is now yours in Christ. Be aware of what God made you to be. Be aware of what you have become in sin. Be amazed at Jesus, the proper man. And number four, be amazed at what is now yours in Christ. When we become Christians, when we become united to Christ, all that is placed under His feet, is now placed under our feet. In Christ, all things have become ours. That's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, 22-23. He says, all things are yours, whether the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours and you are of Christ and Christ is of God. Do you hear that? Everything in this world belongs to you. because it belongs to Christ, your Savior. And that means that whatever sphere the Lord has placed you in, boys and girls, whatever sphere of life you're in at the moment, studying at home or in school, playing basketball, playing baseball, girls doing ballet, if you're at high school and you're playing your sport, you're doing your hobbies, you're doing your schoolwork, if you're an adult working, whatever place God has placed you in, Rule over it to the glory of God. Shoot those balls into the hoop to the glory of God. Do your pirouettes to the glory of God. It is all being placed under your feet in Christ because it belongs to Him and you belong to Christ. And so the world really is your oyster. All things are ours, says Paul. because we're in Christ. So be amazed at what is now yours in Christ. 5. Be amazed at what you will become in Christ. Be amazed at what is now yours in Christ, but be amazed at what you will become in Christ. In Hebrews 2, 9-10, the writer says that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels. so that he might taste death for everyone in his family in order to bring many sons to glory. This weekend we've been looking at the doctrine of man in the series Glorious Dust. And we've seen four states of man. God made Adam into the state of original innocence, righteousness. Then he plunged himself and all of mankind into the state of sin and misery. Then God, in His grace, through Genesis 3.15, brings mankind, those who believe in the Redeemer, out of the state of sin and misery into the state of grace. But we learned this weekend that that's not our final state. There's a fourth state, the state of glory. From innocence into sin, back into grace, and on to glory. And that is why Jesus came. That is why the eternal Son of God was made a little lower than the angels. The Son of God became a Son of Man so that men might become sons of God. That is the Gospel. And that's the final surprise. Because when Jesus restores us to a new humanity in the new heavens and the new earth, He's not just going to take us back to the state of Adam in the garden. just a little lower than the angels. No, in the world to come, we will be co-heirs with Christ in a garden city. We will have reached a state above the angels. We will have reached the state of glory. It's what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? Yes, that's right. There's the final surprise, brothers and sisters, boys and girls. Puny little you will one day judge angels. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Let us pray. Father, what we have not known, please teach us. What we have not, would you please give us. And what we are not, would you please make us as rulers of this world under the rule of your Son, the Lord Jesus. Help us to be great lights in this world as we rule for your glory. And we ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.