Bible Commentary - Psalms 8

This psalm breaks sharply from the tone and content of the preceding five psalms.  Each one of those psalms was a prayer for deliverance from David’s enemies.  We see several of these psalms opening with requests for the LORD’s audience, and it really defines that particular genre.  Psalm 8, in contrast, is a psalm of praise through and through.

Psalm 8 is a psalm “of David”, but it is not contextualized into any specific time or occasion.  Prayers or petitions are often tied to specific occasions because the prayer itself is for God to change one’s circumstances relating to a specific need or crisis.  In contrast, praise is timeless.

Structurally, this psalm begins and ends with the same refrain, that God’s name is majestic and should be honored in the whole world.  In my opinion, the primary thought of this psalm is expressed in verses 3-8.  Verses 1 and 9 are the refrain, which expresses the purpose of this psalm as one of praise.

The core message of verses 3-8 contains two related ideas.  The first is the grandeur of creation.  Verse 3 states it outright, eloquently phrasing David’s awe at the glory of the heavens.  Verses 7-8 express David’s awe in a more circumspect way, but I think it’s still there.  The second idea is that God has chosen to place man as the master and center of creation.  We are the deputy of God in the same way that Joseph was the deputy of Pharaoh.

This psalm expresses David’s surprise and awe by contrasting the weakness and smallness of man against the greatness and glory of creation.  This is the central dichotomy of verses 3-4, where creation is this glorious, beautiful thing and yet “what is man” that God would pay attention to us?

Yet in spite of this, God has elevated us to be rulers of all creation.  This raises a number of interesting questions.

Why does David think that man is the lord of creation?  This is actually quite a new thought that does not have many parallels in the rest of the OT.  Generally speaking, the theology of the OT tends to emphasize the lordship and greatness of God over all creation, not the lordship of man.  For instance, consider God’s response to Job in Job 39-41.  In those chapters, God was challenging Job specifically on his LACK of mastery over creation.  The behemoth and leviathan are both specifically named as creations that man can neither kill nor tame, and by extension that creation itself is uncontrollable and untameable by man.

Elsewhere, we see famines and droughts striking Israel repeatedly, seemingly beyond their control and yet within God’s control.  For instance, when Elijah prayed to end the drought in 1 Kings 18, it was very much at God’s direction (1 Kings 18:1).  Furthermore, Elijah’s prayer itself demonstrates a subservience and dependency on God to change the weather, rather than Elijah showing mastery or lordship over it (1 Kings 18:42-43).  A remarkable miracle, but one flowing from God’s power and lordship, not Elijah’s.

In contrast, this psalm imagines man as “ruling over the works of your hands” (v. 6).  The closest prior evidence we have for man’s lordship is, in my opinion, Genesis 1-2 when God creates man, places us in the garden and commands us to fill the earth and subdue it.  Man was also made last in the creation narrative, on the sixth day, and in that regard also stands as the greatest and most important part of creation.

I wonder if David was thinking about the creation story when he wrote this psalm?  If not, what was his inspiration?  It is possible this psalm is simply prophetic, establishing a new theological principle out of David’s direct revelation from God.  Or, like I mentioned previously, it is taking from early Genesis a theological framework in which man is the center of creation.  Either way, it is quite distinct from the rest of the OT in this regard, and very important for that reason.

Astute readers may notice that I skipped over verse 2.  The reason why is that compared to the rest of the psalm, verse 2 doesn’t really fit in.  It helps establish the overall tone of praise and the greatness of creation, but I still find it perplexing.  In what way has God brought praise (or strength, depending on the translation) out of the mouths of infants?  Even more importantly, who are the adversaries and enemies that are supposed to be ashamed or silenced by this?  It doesn’t make much sense, and it fits in with the later themes even less.

As I often do in moments of confusion, I checked my NIV study bible to see what theologians have to say about this verse.  Unfortunately, in this case my study bible was not much help.  They pointed out the interesting contrast between the greatness and glory of God and the weakness of the children who praise him, as well as the irony of children and infants being the ones who silence “the enemy”.  However, they have little insight into the nature of these enemies or how it relates to the broader themes of this psalm.  They suggest the enemies could possibly be demonic forces, but have little evidence to justify that position, so unfortunately I think I will remain confused about this point.  If my readers can offer additional insight, feel free to comment below.