THE EXCELLENCE OF GOD
#120 THE EXCELLENCE OF GOD
Scripture Psalm 8, NIV Orig. 2-28-62
Rewr. 12-22-76
Passage: 1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Introduction
Psalm is a Christmas Cantata and Easter program rolled into one. It is the highest expression of all that the Psalmist feels. The entire congregation seems suddenly to have been made aware of what God is really about.
It is the wonder of the shepherds as they become aware, not just of the angels, but of the message being proclaimed. It is the wise men, who, having for weeks followed a star, suddenly discovered that it was leading to more than they ever imagined. It is a young Hebrew man and his wife, who believed in each other when no one else did, and who now reap the reward of their trust.
It is that marvelous discovery of what Christmas is all about. The realization that something wonderful has happened, and that it has happened at a time and place when my life is affected by it.
I. His Excellence is Seen in His Divine Imperative. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth. (Thy glory is recognized as far above the heavens as the heavens are above the earth.) He brings to the earth a being not strange to himself, with the potential to deliver personality, character, and integrity. The world is waiting for these signs of life to be communicated.
Elton Trueblood writes in The New Man for Our Time “The Christian faith cannot perform a redemptive role in the modern world unless it gives strong leadership on the central issue of faith. If the members of the church are primarily interested in erecting a new building or buying a new piano, they will not even begin to meet the need that modern seekers so deeply feel."
Additionally, it is the purpose of God to transmit His own holiness into the being of His creation. There is one irrefutable argument for our faith—a life lived in holiness.
II. His Excellence is Seen in the Majesty of His Creation. 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? We do not project the image of something in mass production, but that which is carefully, tenderly made. How many of us remember those simplistic toys of childhood that meant the more because they were turned out by the loving hands of a parent?
The concept of visitation is messianic, as in “visiteth” or “care for.” Christmas was the literal visiting of God to the things of earth. Luke 1:68 “At the birth of John, Zechariah prophesied ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people.’” Vv. 78-79 “The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness.” Acts 6:3 “(Look ye out) among you seven men of honest report.”
There is redemptive purpose in this creation. There is discovery of praise. There is the blessing which results. How many people want the same results from worship that they seek in the marketplace—the most for the least?
III. The Excellence of God is Seen in the Honor Extended His Creation. “Yet Thou has made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.” We are capable of dominion, of maintenance of physical control over the physical universe.
We have mental comprehension. Take into consideration what man has been able to understand of outer space. He had to know what to expect before men would be sent on the moon journey.
We have spiritual uniqueness. “A little lower than the angels” (Elohim). Luke 20:36 “For they are equal unto the angels.”
Conclusion
From Thomas Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”:
“Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire—
Hands, that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.”