Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testifieth, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of thine hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things. in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. And now, let's turn to Psalm 8, where we find our text. Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has 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 honor. 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. And the Word of God I want to open unto you tonight, beloved, is found in the verses three and four. Notice, 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. Beloved congregation of Christ, Psalm 8 is a psalm of wonder. We find here recorded the wonder that King David experienced in the depths of his soul and heart when he mused upon God and upon the works of God. And the purpose of this psalm in Holy Scripture is that we are filled with that same wonder and amazement when we consider God himself and the works that he has done. The keynote of the psalm is expressed in verse 1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Then, after the reason is given for that great statement of worship, the psalm ends with the very same words, Jehovah, Jehovah, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Notice, in all the earth. There is no speech or language where that testimony of creation, that witness to the greatness of God, is not heard. And yet there are those who deny that excellency of God's name, the shining forth of his glory in all of his works. They are mentioned in the second verse as enemies of God, enemies who must be silenced or stilled. Lest anyone think that the excellence of God's name is recognized only by adults or confessed only by those who have some special training in theology or some special experience in their past life, David says that God hath ordained strength out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. Even tiny children recognize the glory of God in creation round about. Why is this? Well, according to Matthew chapter 11, God is pleased to reveal Himself and His salvation to babes while He hides it from the wise and the prudent. And when Jesus entered into Jerusalem, according to Matthew chapter 21, Palm Sunday, of course, we're talking about, the little children shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The priests and the elders were sore displeased. And Jesus says to them, Yea, have ye never read out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? The glory of God which is above the heavens is recognized. It is exclaimed over. It is confessed humbly by members of the church of every age group. And therefore we trust also that the little children, you little children that are present here tonight, will understand most, if not all, of what I have to say tonight. The picture that we ought to have in our minds as we consider this word together is this. David is out walking in a field on a clear summer evening. Above him, the velvety purple and blue vault of the heavens twinkles with the light of countless stars. And he beholds the pale light of the moon as well. Immediately, looking up into the heavens, his thoughts turn unto God. He says, Those heavens are the works of God's hands. The moon and the stars have been ordained by God. It's all His great work. And as He continues to gaze upward into the heavens, He considers the number of the stars, and He tries to count them, but He has to stop. He can't keep them all straight. And then He begins to think of the distance between the earth and the moon, and the distances between the individual stars, and he becomes faint just thinking about it. He understands the immensity of the heavens when he considers that the glory of God is above those heavens. He can only murmur to himself, what is man? What is man? Psalm 8 is not the only place in the Word of God where that question is asked. I want to mention two other passages at this point because we want to include them in the sermon tonight and in our understanding of Psalm 8. First of all, there is Job 7, 17 through 18. In Job 7, this man of God is loathing earthly life, that is, natural earthly life apart from Jesus Christ. And he asks, what is man? That thou shouldest magnify him, and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him, and that thou shouldest visit him every morning and try him every moment. I say we'll include that in our exegesis and in our exposition tonight. Secondly, our text is quoted by the writer to the Hebrews in chapter 2, which we have read. In fact, almost the entirety of Psalm 8 is quoted in Hebrews 2. And the quote is followed by these words. But now we see not yet all things put under him. Him is man. including ourselves. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man with these things in mind. We call your attention tonight to man's proper amazement, man's proper amazement. Why amazement? Because of what he is. Secondly, because of what God does. And finally, because of his glorious future. Man's proper amazement because of what he is, because of what God does. and because of his glorious future. What is man? That's the question that we do well to ask of ourselves periodically throughout our lives. In fact, we must live every day in the consciousness of the correct answer to that question, what is man? There are several preliminary points that we ought to make first of all. We are not of a mind tonight to change the question what is man to the question what is a human being or what is humankind. In the mind of many, the feminists and so on, our text would be just another example of sexist language. and must go through the entire Bible and get rid of all that sexist wording. God may not be referred to in the masculine but the deity may be feminine or at least neuter. All ideas then relating to the headship of man in marriage and in family and the leading role that man has in the church of Jesus Christ that also must be eliminated and eradicated. And our text then also comes under the knife of the feminists. It is accused of expressing a male bias, and therefore the question should be rephrased, what is a human being if not what is a woman? The text says clearly, pointedly, purposefully, what is man? And we must let that stand, not only to be faithful to the Word of God, but in order also to get at the true sense and meaning of this text. In the second place, to answer the question, what is man? Whatever you do and whatever I do, don't ask man for an answer. You'll never get at the truth that way. Man will say about himself that he's the product of a long evolutionary process, that he has animal forebearers and non-human ancestors, and therefore he is a creature that's on the rise. He's getting better and better, higher and higher all the time. In fact, He will tell you that you really cannot answer that question because the answer will only apply for a short time anyway. We cannot answer definitely and surely because the answer given is transitory. We can tell you what man is today they will say, or what man is in the 21st century, they will say. But because man is always changing and always improving, the answer given is only going to be approximate and good for a short time. Don't ask man what he is, secondly, because he's a fallen sinner And by nature, he will only lie. He lies about God. He lies about history. He lies about creation. He lies about the neighbor. And he lies about himself. And he's proud of himself and his accomplishments. He gives himself way too much credit. He glosses over his weaknesses and shortcomings. and exaggerates His worth and attainments. Don't ask Him. Go to God. Go to God's inspired Word. Ask God what man is. Hear from the Creator of man and the Lord of man and the Savior of man, who and what you are. In verse four, the text reveals indirectly what man is by the use of two terms, man and son of man. In the Hebrew language, there are four words for man. Two of those words are used in verse four. What is man? Literally, the term is enosh, meaning frail, weak, and miserable. The emphasis of this word or this name is on the complete lack of strength and power. What is the Son of Man? Literally there, the word is Adam. Adam means man. That's the name of our first father, the first man who ever lived. But the word Adam is related to Adamah, which means the earth, dirt, dust, the ground. That's also the truth regarding man. Not only is he weak and without any strength whatsoever, But his beginning and his end is the earth. He's made of the dust of the earth and to that dust he shall return. That's the idea of those names or words. And the psalmist makes man's innate weakness, his lowliness and smallness stand out the more vividly by putting this in the form of two questions. What is man? What is the Son of Man? And the idea is that if God, whose glory is above the heavens, compared to whom we are but little specks of dust on the balance that don't even cause the balance to wiggle, if God would totally ignore us, He wouldn't be doing us an injustice at all. Miserable men, moving around on the face of the earth, mingling with all kinds of lower creatures. Why doesn't God simply despise us and reckon us of no account? And yet, that great, that glorious, that excellent God condescends, comes down from heaven to earth to such weak and vile creatures as we, and adorns us with glory and enriches us with numberless blessings. Isn't it proper then that we be filled with amazement as we live under the measureless heavens which God has made? when we consider that His glory is greater than the moon and the stars that He has created, and when we remember as well that we are sinners of the deepest stain, that God is mindful of us, that God is constantly, from eternity to eternity, thinks about us and visits us Who can understand it? How humbling, beloved, how humbling. And if we are not astonished by this, and if we are not deeply moved by that miracle of condescension, we can only be ungrateful and hard. that creature of the dust, God takes and magnifies him. He crowns that speck of dust with glory and honor. First, God makes of man a creature that's a little lower than the angels. That's our position in the scheme of things, in the great universal plan of God at the present time. Just a little tiny bit lower than the angels. The reference here is to holy angels, the elect angels who never fell and who never shall fall. Their spiritual being, these spiritual beings have their proper abode in heaven. there to stand in the presence of God, adoring Him, singing His praises, doing His will perfectly, leaving heaven, coming to this earth as messengers of the gospel from time to time. Some are archangels, some are cherubim, others are seraphim. all arranged by God round about his great white throne. Well, the child of God occupies a position just a little bit lower than those angels in this life. Further, as far as the rest of the earthly creation is concerned, God made man to have dominion over all the works of his hands. God has put all things under his feet. Sheep and oxen, all the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea. Man is the king of the earth. Every creature is subject unto him and is here for his use. It means a man is a steward in the great household of God called creation. He has royal power and dignity. That also, of course, is denied by all unbelief today. Man's kingship, man's rulership over all the creatures of the earth. They don't want to hear that. So you've got the animal rights movement that says that man is no better or really different from a dog or a cat or any other animal. The animal rights people. The tree huggers don't cut trees. They're living things also. We can get along without timber and lumber. Those that advocate abortion. Those that advocate same-sex marriage and the allowance of homosexuality. I mention these all not because the text is referring to them or touching on them. I mentioned these several, what, five, six different movements. positions because they're all in bed together. Did you ever notice that as you read the news or listen to the news? They're all hand in hand and arm in arm. They march together. They're bedfellows. Strange, isn't it? What does one have to do with the other, really? Animal rights and homosexuality rights. How do they march together? How do they support each other? How do they get behind the same political candidates? I thought about that. I suppose you have also, as you expose yourself to the news media, and have come to the conclusion that there's only one answer. They're all rebels. against the Word of God. That's their lowest, and I mean lowest, common denominator. They're all rebels against the clear teaching of the Word of God. But that's the contents that our psalm gives to God's being mindful of us and visiting us. That's our position according to creation. And although we lost that high position, what the canons of dirt call that high estate and dignity through the fall of Adam, nevertheless we are restored to such royal position and honor by Jesus Christ. But there's more. God does even more for us than make us rulers of the earth. And it's here that we want to consider with you the words of Job. Not only does God magnify man to such a high position, but God has set His heart upon man. That's amazing. That God is mindful of us. That He has precious thoughts about us all of the time. Psalm 139, you have the Sabbath there saying, How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O Lord. And I have an idea that David is lying down as he thinks these words and later pens them. How precious are God's thoughts? And he starts thinking about all those things that God does for him and thinks about him. And he says, And when I awake, I am still with thee, David. falls asleep in prayer, thinking about God, enumerating God's precious thoughts regarding Him and all His people, and he wakes up, and he's still with God, and he's still thinking about God. I say, not only is it amazing that God has thoughts of us, but God even sets His heart upon us. That's a very powerful way of expressing the love of God for His people, for the new human race of the elect. God's heart is the Father heart. God's heart is filled with an eternal, strong love, and God's heart cannot rest until all of His will and His desire regarding His people has fully been satisfied and reached. When you speak of the heart of God and you read of that in Scripture, then you are speaking and reading of Christ. David was a man after God's own heart. David, the great type of Jesus Christ as King, a man after God's own heart. David's heart beat in tune with the beating of God's heart. It went in the same direction that God's heart went. But David sinned, and he did not love God perfectly at all times. Christ is the man after God's own heart par excellence without any equal. Never at any time or in any way did Christ fail to love God and to serve His purpose and to glorify His name. When God set His heart upon His people, beloved, God's heart went out to that people to bind us unto Himself and to bring us unto himself in mansions of glory. And that required that Christ come into this world, make himself of no reputation whatsoever, humble himself unto death, even the death of the cross. Now let's notice something else. Although we are all called sons of man in this psalm, that was the favorite name of Jesus. A name that he used more often than any other name. He could have gone up and down Palestine saying, I'm the son of God, listen to me. And that would have been true indeed. He could have made all kinds of claims to divinity. And all those claims would have been true, and men ought to have bowed before Him in humble subjection and obedience. But He didn't. Son of man. Way back when I was in college, I had a Greek professor. And we've translated the entire Gospel of Mark, as I recall, who made this remark, which I didn't understand at the time, but I do now. He said, nothing proved more convincingly that Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus was divine, than the fact that he referred to himself most often as the Son of Man. That's true. Think of that. He is God, the Son of God, but He is also truly man. Like unto us in all things, sit accepted. God so loved the world, this entire cosmos, including the new human race of the elect, that He sent His only begotten Son. out of his father heart, from his father's side, that he might condescend unto us and taste death for every one given unto him. And now when we read of these things in Hebrews chapter 2, that long quote from Psalm 8, The writer makes a certain concession there. He admits that something is true only in part or in principle. He says God made us a little more than the angels or inferior to the angels for a little while. He writes that man is crowned by God with glory and honor. He says that man is set over all the works of God's hands and all things are put in subjection under his feet. But then he says, but now we see not yet all things put under him, that is put under you and under me and under all of the people of God. We don't see that yet. That doesn't mean it's not true. Scripture says it is true, but it is true in a beginning way, in a principle way. We don't experience and live our kingship over all creatures of the earth fully and perfectly as yet. But then the writer to the Hebrews goes on to say, Hebrews 2.9, but we see Jesus. who is the Son of Man, who also was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and we see Him crowned with glory and honor. Christ, the Son of God in our flesh, the Son of Man in truth, who partook of the flesh and blood of His brethren, He suffered and died. He rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven. And we see Him there at God's right hand, glorified in the human nature with the glory that He had with God before the foundations of the world. And because He is our Head, because we belong to Him for time and for eternity, His glorification speaks of your glorification. His being crowned with glory and honor means that that will also be the portion of every believer. Only there will be a change when the church joins her head in heaven. A change that God has had in mind from all eternity. A change that was always in the heart of God. regarding us, and that's what we call our glorious future. For that glorious future promised to us in the Word of God, we should also be filled with amazement. Notice, we were made a little lower than the angels, and we were put in a royal position in which every earthly creature is made subject to us. But in heaven, in heaven we are going to be higher than the angels. And all things in heaven and on earth will be under our feet. Can you understand that? More importantly, do you believe that? It's almost too much, isn't it? But faith does not stagger at such a promise. One day, to be higher than all those glorious angels, and to have not only earthly creatures under us, but all things in heaven under us as well. It's necessary at this point to prove that Christ, in His human nature, in His human body and soul, was exalted above all the angels. That's clear in Hebrews 2, verses 2 and 3, where the word of the Lord Jesus Christ is contrasted to the word of the angels and is said to be more powerful. That's clear in verse 5, where we read that God did not put the world to come under the angels, but he did this in respect to Christ. And that's clear from every passage that speaks of Christ's exaltation to God's right hand, such as Philippians 2 10, where we read that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. Every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. That verse and others like it simply say this, beloved, Christ has been exalted to the pinnacle of the entire universe. That's where He is. Not only will we confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ, world without end, we shall participate in that Lordship over all things. For both he that sanctifyeth and they that are sanctified, says the writer to the Hebrews, are of one for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. I ask you to turn for a few moments to First Corinthians chapter six. Either turn to it and look at it or listen extremely carefully. In First Corinthians chapter six, we find Paul being highly critical of the church at Corinth because members of the church there went to worldly courts in order to get some financial relief because brothers in the church had defrauded them. Somebody had gypped them out of some money. And Paul says, why don't you suffer yourself to be defrauded? And you go to a worldly court, you go to the world itself to get justice. Why don't you go to the weakest lowliest member of the church and let them judge you. And then he says, Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? Know ye not that ye shall judge angels? That puts the children of God far above the world of unbelief and far above the angels for the greater judges the lesser. Our destiny, then, beloved, is to be raised by Christ. Our destiny is to be judged by Jesus Christ first, before all other rational, moral creatures. And then When we have been judged and perfectly justified by Christ and His shed blood, declared to be innocent before the judgment seat of God, then we and all the church justified in Christ will go and stand next to Jesus Christ in the judgment. All the assembly of the elect shall stand with Christ and then judge the devils and judge the angels and judge all unbelieving, wicked men. Did you catch that? We're going to participate in that judgment with Christ. And when separation is finally made between the sheep and the goats, between the wheat and the chaff, And we enter the everlasting kingdom of God. We sit on thrones and we wear crowns. And with Christ, we'll rule over absolutely everything. Now let's return to an earlier thought. When I walk outside at night and I consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars which God has ordained, what is man? What am I? Weak and frail, whose beginning is the dust and whose end is the same. What am I that God is mindful of me and visits me every day and has set His love upon me and sent Christ for me? What am I to have such a high place in His counsel with all the saints that I may live and reign with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth? What can explain all these things? Nothing in you, O man, or in me, O man, but only the grace and mercy of God can explain such wonderful, amazing things. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. For all things are of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And let all the people say, Amen. Let us pray. Father in Heaven, we thank Thee for Thy Word, for the Gospel tonight, for Thy sure promises regarding the rest of our earthly days, and then all the timelessness of eternity. Strengthen our faith in Thy Word. Grant that we may long for the coming of Christ and for the renewal of all things, for the destruction of His and our enemies, and for that glorification of the church. Forgive our sins this night for Jesus' sake. Amen.