What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:4-9, NASB The third question answered by the psalmist in Psalm 8 is this, “What is man?” The context of his question is considering man in light of the heavens - the moon and the stars of the firmament. Think on this for a moment as you get your mind into the right frame to think as the psalmist did. The following is from Jon Courson’s commentary on the Bible. If the sun were hollowed out, one million three hundred thousand earths could fit inside. But the sun is small compared to the star, Anteres, because if Anteres were hollow, it could hold sixty-four million suns. Anteres, however, is nothing compared to the star, Hercules, which, if hollow, could hold one hundred million Anteres. Yet the star, Epsilon, dwarfs Anteres, for if it were hollow, it could hold three million Hercules. The numbers involved in comparing earth to the star Hercules are pretty much beyond our understanding. It would be multiplying 1,300,000 X 64,000,000 X 100,000,000. That number written out is 832,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That is 832 septillion earths could fit inside the star Antares. I’m afraid we are not capable of honestly assessing how big that number is. But . . . it is something we should consider when thinking about one human on the face of one of those 832 septillion earths that it would take to fill up just 1 star in God’s created universe. Pretty insignificant is what we would have to surmise when thinking about this. That is what the psalmist is thinking - what is man in light of the universe? The God Whose creative genius and power made this earth with only His words - is far greater and more astounding than even Anteres. Yet God does take thought of mankind. Yet, says the psalmist, You, God, have made Him a little lower than God. When we truly consider this, we are left with our mouths hanging open. God made us to be image bearers! We can know Him and respond to Him - and even reflect His glory in our lives. We are truly crowned with glory and majesty. In verses 6 and 7 we see all that God intended for man to do. We were made not just as image bearers, but also as co-regents with God to rule over this earth. All that is no the earth is put under mankind’s feet - with a list of sheep and oxen first as domesticated animals - and then the beasts of the field - birds of the heavens - and all sea creatures as well. That is how we were originally made. It is enough to make the psalmist repeat what He said at the beginning of the psalm about how Jehovah, our ruler has a majestic name in all the earth. If we were not to have the New Testament - this would simply be a song that reminds us to praise God for His person - His creation - and for His wonderful gift of life and dominion to mankind. But even without the New Testament this rings a little hollow to those who live on earth now. It is hard to consider that we rule over the beasts of the field when we are terrified of many of them who are predators. Allow a man to happen on a grizzly bear or one of the huge cats like a lion or tiger - and our thoughts don’t turn to mastery - but rather to terror at what they can do to us. The same is true when we face great whales, killer whales, or sharks in the seas. And let’s not even get started with what nature can do - with things like tornados, hurricanes, lightning, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. It certainly does NOT look like we “rule” over all things. But then we are reminded of sin and the Fall of mankind. We did rule over all things at one time. Then we chose sin rather than obedience and fellowship with God. We decided we could run the earth better than God. We wanted to be our own god - making our own rules and doing things as we see fit to do them. The end of that foolish experiment is the world in which we live today. Psalm 8 - in fact this very part of Psalm 8 is quoted in Hebrews 2:5-8 where we read this: For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. Hebrews 2:5-8 We certainly do not see all things subjected to him - to man. But why does the writer of Hebrews quote Psalm 8 then? It is because he is about to tell us what we DO see at this present time. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9 What we DO SEE is JESUS! We see Him made a little lower than the angels. Jesus Christ is God - fully God - and yet He was made a little lower than the angels when He came in the incarnation. He is the God-man - perfect God and yet man. He humbled Himself as a man - and subjected Himself to suffering and death. He chose to pay the penalty that we deserved because we had sinned. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus also “tasted death for everyone.” He faced not just death in general - but death as the punishment for sin. It is because of this that Jesus was crowned with glory and honor. You can read it all in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 10. And it was because of this death that the grace of God was given to us. Salvation from the certainty of God’s wrath poured out in punishment for our sinful rebellion against Him. So we ask again, in light of the second chapter of Hebrews, the question of this psalm - What is man? The answer is both beautiful and majestic as well as horrific and tragic. The answer is both devastating and fear-inducing as well as astounding and that which should cause us to worship our Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. Man is the special creation of God, crowned with glory and majesty and given wonderful dominion over all God has made in this world. Man is also an infinitely tragic figure as he chose to throw it all away for a lie that he could be as God. Man is encased in a world that now reminds him daily that he has lost his exalted position, as death, destruction, decay, and ultimately damnation is his lot left to himself. But - by the grace of God - and by One Who was made a little lower than the angels, even though He is God - there is the hope of redeeming grace. There is One Who has suffered and died the death man deserves - so that man may by grace receive a life he does not deserve.
0 Comments
Have you ever been concerned that godly men seem to be disappearing from our landscape? Ever get discouraged because the crassness and craven words that seem to be dominating the airwaves and print media? Do you ever begin to lose heart because it seems the only ones who are getting ahead are those who use their mouths and words in such a way as to crush those who are in their path? Well, if you’ve ever felt this way – there is good news. A man who was going through the same thing wrote psalm 12. David was discouraged. He cried out to God in the midst of his circumstances saying the following: “Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. 2 They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. 3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaks great things; 4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" David watched as godly men were disappearing from the scene. The word he uses to describe these men has the idea of being like the Lord in his character – but it emphasizes the idea of kindness. These men were fading from the scene, as were faithful men. Where were the men of character and kindness who inspired confidence and gave stability to the society around them. They may not even have been popular for their godly, holy views and yet, the depth of their character and the way they lived stabilized things. The problem was – Saul was the leader – and he encouraged ungodliness in the people. He was only interested in his own power and was willing even to murder the priests of God if he thought for a moment that they were against him. David also watched as leaders arose who ruled with their words. First of all they spoke falsehood and flattery. They said one thing that would flatter you publically, but privately they were weaving a deceptive web to destroy you. Saul confessed sin in chasing David and trying to kill him. He even wept when David confronted him with it. Yet within a very short time Saul was hunting David again. The literal Hebrew in David’s cry to God was that these men “spoke with a heart and another heart.” This was the habit of Saul to speak with one heart – and yet would have another heart that was completely different from his public statements. He was double-hearted, hypocritical man. The men David watched who were in power – boasted that they would prevail with their tongues. Just their speaking would produce heroic things. They thought themselves invincible with their mouths and their speeches. They would say whatever they wanted. No one would be able to take them down. If someone were foolish enough to try, they would lash him or her with their words and tongue like someone whipping a man until he was crushed and destroyed. David’s cries for help did not fall on deaf ears. God heard David and spoke. He assured David that He was the protector of the afflicted and needy when He said this, “Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs.” It is a sweet thing it when God speaks and comforts our souls this way. The first comfort to us is that He has seen what is going on in the world. God speaks of the devastation of the afflicted – the words here describe a violent devastation. He not only hears our prayers – he even hears our groans under such violent oppression. David then reminds himself that God’s words are pure. In fact they are purer than anything imaginable. He speaks of silver refined seven times in a furnace. The beauty in that picture is that no smelter of silver would go through that process more than 3 or 4 times. At that point, one could not get the silver purer because the height of purity would have been reached. Yet David speaks of something smelted 7 times, the number of perfection in the Scriptures. That is because God’s Word is more pure that the purest substance on earth. There is absolutely no impurity in the promises of God – they are true and faithful to the end. This is why David praises God, knowing that when God makes a promise, He will keep His Word. Such a promise to David speaks not just to his generation – but also to all succeeding generations forever. They all can rely on God’s Word as their help in time of trouble and their hope in the most hopeless of moments. Even as David finishes this song to God with confidence he ends it with another reality. We live in a Genesis 3 world where the fallen state of man and the devastation it brought to this earth will remain until this world passes away. Those who look merely to human rulers will be disappointed. The world around us is devolving in sin through every generation. The reason for the devolution of man and every political system by which he seeks to govern himself – sin. There is vileness in this world that began with Adam and will not end until the last trumpet is sounded. Jesus put it in these words, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19, NASB) Evil is not static. We are reminded in Romans 1:32, “. . . although men know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Is it interesting that hundreds of years after David wrote this Psalm, Paul says pretty much the same thing in the New Testament? There is a vileness that is exalted among the sons of men. The Hebrew word David uses is expansive in its meaning. It speaks of that which is worthless and sinful. It speaks of something contemptible to God both morally and socially, and it usually involves both shameful excesses of ungodliness as well as a complete and total worthlessness to all those around. Vile indeed expresses what God sees as godless men think they reign unrestrained with their mouths and their words. When these wicked men rule – they strut. They boast of their wickedness and say that no one rules over them. Such is the world until Christ returns. An unfortunate reality is that as the years hasten to the day He does return – the wickedness of such vile strutting leaders will increase. Right will be called wrong – evil will be embraced as good. It will pave the way for the “man of sin,” the antichrist. He will be the ultimate vile, strutting ruler – boasting in himself, and even one day taking his seat in the midst of the temple of God – boasting that he is god. But he will be the last of the vile, sin-advancing rulers of this present world. He will be overcome and devastated by the sword that comes out of the mouth of Christ. That phrase simply means that the Word of God (called the sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6) is what will win the day. The victory will be enjoyed by those who put their trust in a silver sword forged 7 times in the fire – free from impurity – powerful in its every statement – and more than strong enough to deal with “the” wicked ruler – and every one of his imitators down through the ages. Trust in that word, children of the King. He spoke it – and He will arise and lift you to the safety for which you long. |
Pastor John LawrencePsalms for Life . . . God moved on several people to write the Psalms. This is a book of songs and poems written by people who were seeking to be devoted to God as they walked though their lives. This is a collection of songs and poems that express the true, wonderful, and often raw emotions that we have as we journey through life with God. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged as you read. But more than that I hope that these expositions and writings will help you to seek Him in the midst of the life you live in this world. It will be at times comforting and encouraging, while at others it will be challenging and awkward. Regardless of where you find yourself on this spectrum as you read, it will be a reminder that God invites us into His presence to truly walk with Him, know Him, and at times, pour out emotions of joy, sorrow, frustration, anger, and everything else you can imagine. He not only invites you to do this - He delights in it too! Hope you enjoy your journey! Archives
January 2019
Categories
All
|