The Excellence and Glory of God

1. Read: Psalm 8

2. About the Text:

1) This is a Psalm of David.

2) No doubt David spent many nights under the starry skies.

3) He reflected on God’s creation frequently.

4) The Psalm begins with David’s magnifying the excellence and glory of God.

5) What does this Psalm teach us about that?

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. God’s name is excellent.

1) David has in mind the name Yahweh.

2) God gave this name to Moses.

3) “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.”’” (Exodus 3:14-15).

4) God is the God of all being.

2. His name is excellent in all the earth.

1) There is none comparable to the name of God, the Great I AM.

a. Pagan deities were commonly named after things in the creation.

a) Dagon the fish god.

b) Asherah the sea goddess.

c) Beelzebub the fly god.

b. God’s name is above and beyond all of these names.

2) God’s reputation is also great being associated with the highest of moral standards.

a. The 10 commandments.

b. Law of Moses

3) ““Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).

3. His glory is above the heavens.

1) “The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens” (Psalm 113:4).

2) When Solomon built the temple, he said of God, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”

3) “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).

1. God demonstrates His strength through babes and nursing infants.

1) After Jesus entered Jerusalem, children were saying “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

2) The chief priests and scribes asked Jesus if he heard these things.

3) Jesus quoted this Psalm and said: “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Matthew 26:16).

2. God chooses the weak things of the world to show His strength.

1) “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

2) “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

3. The greatest enemy was Satan.

1) God overcome Satan through the power of the cross.

2) “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

3) “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

4. God does not need to conquer with His power; He can use the simplest of things.

1. God shows His excellence above the earth by His chief creation, mankind (v.3-5).

1) Looking at the multitude of stars in the heavens, one might think that those are the greatest of God’s creation.

2) But God is mindful of man; He visits man.

a. He visited Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:8).

b. He was with the children of Israel in the tabernacle.

c. He came to earth as a man in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

d. He dwells in each Christian today through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

3) Man is made a little lower than the angels.

a. His body is made of dust (Genesis 2:7).

b. His body will return to dust (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

4) Man is crowed with glory and honor.

a. Because he is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).

b. Because he is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 11:7).

c. Because he has a spirit that will return to God (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

d. Because God chose to be a man (John 1:14).

e. Because God redeemed man with His Son (1 Peter 1:18).

f. Hebrews 2:6-9 quotes these verses to show that Jesus partook of humanity.

2. God shows His excellence above the earth by man’s dominion (v.6-8).

1) Man has dominion over the works of God’s hands.

2) The animals of the earth are subject to man’s dominion.

3) “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’” (Genesis 1:26).

4) They may be used for food, agriculture, labor, entertainment, friendship.

5) “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:28).

6) God’s assigning man as steward over the earth demonstrates God’s wisdom and providence.

3. God’s name is truly excellent in all of the earth (v.9).

1. The Excellence and Glory of God is seen to be above . . .

1) The Heavens

2) His Enemies

3) The Earth

2. Invitation