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[0:00] study together Psalm 8. And so that is our first scripture reading this night. It's page 540 if you have a church Bible. It's Psalm 8, so we'll read the whole psalm.

[0:15] And let's worship God as we submit our minds to hearing the public reading of his holy word.

[0:26] O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens.

[0:41] Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?

[1:07] The son of man and the son of man that you care for him. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour.

[1:21] You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

[1:41] O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Amen.

[1:52] May God bless. Turn back to Psalm 8. Tonight, as you might have guessed, we're focusing particularly on verses 5 and 6.

[2:09] Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You've given him dominion over the works of your hands.

[2:21] You have put all things under his feet. Well, it's my contention that all of the Psalms are about Jesus.

[2:39] Maybe you disagree. Maybe you find it difficult to know where Jesus is in some of the Psalms, especially some of the more difficult Psalms.

[2:50] And that might be a good thing to discuss tonight over supper. How could some of these Psalms that are in our Bibles be about Jesus? And of course, in a general sense, the theme of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is what the whole of the Bible is about.

[3:12] But the Psalms are specifically about Jesus. It would have been something that Jesus himself drew our attention to.

[3:23] You'll remember on the Emmaus Road, that account there given in Luke 24, 44. Jesus says, everything must be fulfilled that's written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms.

[3:39] He specifically draws our attention to the Psalms as being about him. And the Psalm that we sung together, Psalm 22, that's easy and obvious in one sense for us to see how that relates to Jesus and his experience on the cross.

[3:58] There are very specific references there, aren't there? But some of the other Psalms, we need help to understand that they are definitely about Jesus.

[4:09] And Psalm 8 is one of these Psalms. I don't know if we would draw the conclusion that Psalm 8 is definitely about Jesus if it weren't for the light that the New Testament shines back into this Psalm.

[4:23] And so tonight, I hope you'll bear with me as we look at some of the places in the New Testament where Psalm 8 is referenced. And we'll see what that is drawing our attention to.

[4:36] I learned Psalm 8 as a very young child in Sunday school. And when I learned Psalm 8 as a child, I thought that the primary teaching in Psalm 8 was that it was saying that children should praise the Lord, which it certainly does say.

[4:55] And that we have dominion over creation. And it's a great Psalm, isn't it? Because it mentions the animals and the fish and everything in the sea and all that.

[5:07] It's wonderful. But is that all that this Psalm is about? Perhaps I should have been more alert to the fact that this Psalm is about more than that because, as I was saying this morning, to the children, Jesus himself specifically draws our attention to this Psalm.

[5:28] He says that this is about him. We covered it this morning, but with your permission, I would like to read again. We didn't read it this morning.

[5:40] We talked about it. Matthew 21. This account of Jesus cleansing the temple. I think this should bring a smile to the face of every true Christian.

[5:52] Jesus entered the temple, drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

[6:02] He said to them, It's written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

[6:15] But when the chief priest and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant. And they said to him, Do you hear what these are saying?

[6:27] And Jesus said to them, Yes. Have you never read, Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise.

[6:41] And leaving them, he went out to the city of Bethany and lodged there. It's a wonderful image. Jesus is saying, This is about me.

[6:52] Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies. And that alone would surely draw our attention to Psalm 8, wouldn't it? We would think, Right, great.

[7:03] Jesus is right here, being praised as our saviour. But I think, It might be unique, As a psalm, That There's even more than that.

[7:17] There's at least three other places in the New Testament, Where these verses from this psalm, Are quoted specifically. And the Holy Spirit must be drawing our attention to something important here.

[7:31] Something that is worth emphasising. This is not An accident. We don't believe In accidents in that sense. So what is it that these repeated quotes Are drawing our attention to?

[7:49] Well, I want us to look at These three other places In the New Testament And consider together What it is telling us about Christ. It's telling us about Something about Christ's humiliation Being made a little lower.

[8:05] Than the angels. It speaks of his exaltation, Mostly, In putting everything under his feet. And then we'll also look at how This psalm speaks to us as the church.

[8:19] And how the church, Through our union with Christ, Also experience and take part in This great victory Of seeing our enemies being put Under our feet.

[8:32] The first place I want us to look at then Is Hebrews chapter 2. Perhaps some of you will be Familiar with that passage.

[8:46] The beginning of Hebrews There are a number of psalms Quoted which draw our attention To the work of our Saviour. Page 1204, If you have a church Bible Hebrews 2.

[9:03] Again, if you'll bear with me I will read quite an extended Section From this Because really Hebrews 2 From verse 5 All the way to 18 It will be Taken to be an extended Exposition Of these verses From Psalm 8 The writer to the Hebrews says Now it was not to angels That God subjected the world to come Of which we are speaking It's been testified somewhere What is man that you are mindful of him Or the son of man that you care for him You made him For a little while lower Than the angels You crowned him with glory And honour Putting everything in subjection Under his feet Now in putting everything In subjection to him He left nothing outside his control At present We do not yet see everything In subjection to him But we see him Who for a little while Was made lower than the angels

[10:04] Namely Jesus Crowned with glory And honour Because of the suffering Of death So that by the grace of God He might taste death For everyone And so on I'll leave the reading there For a moment This part of the New Testament Is worthy of Several sermons And we're just going to look Quite briefly at this Because it is the Reference which Draws our attention By dealing more fully With this Psalm To Christ's Humiliation Tonight I want us to focus Of course On Christ's Exaltation But First comes His Humiliation Our catechism Speaks of Christ's Humiliation In terms of Emptying himself Of all his glory

[11:04] He takes upon himself The form of a servant Doesn't he As Philippians Reminds us It speaks of him Humbling himself In his conception And birth And then Throughout his life In being subject To the law Subject to temptation From Satan And so on But most especially In his death Catechism Lists it off Betrayed by Judas Forsaken by his Disciples Scorned And rejected By the world Condemned by Pilate Tormented By his Persecutors Having also Conflicted with the Terrors of death The powers of Darkness Felt and borne The weight Of God's wrath Laid down his Offering His life An offering For sin And enduring The painful Shameful

[12:05] And cursed Death Of The cross Hebrews Tells us That all of these Things are Included In this In this Psalm In this part Of the Psalm That describes Jesus being made A little lower Than the angels Or as it has it Here in Hebrews 2.7 He made him For a little while Lower Than the angels Our Saviour Did this For us But of course In doing that Christ is also Exalted And that is what I want to Major on This evening We've looked at This section From Hebrews And we could Carry on To see more

[13:06] Of what That passage Tells us About Christ's Exaltation But There are two Other places In the New Testament That reference The exaltation Of Christ As it is Explained to us Through Psalm 8 And The part Of the Psalm That In Psalm 8 That speaks Of Christ's Exaltation Is this Repeated phrase You put Everything Under His feet And Maybe you Know this But maybe You don't But in Bible times When a King Was Had won A great Military Victory Then those Who had been Defeated Would have Their Would be Brought out And the King Would put His feet On the Neck Of those

[14:06] Who had Been Defeated A symbolic Way of Demonstrating Their Complete And total Subjection We have a Reference to This practice In Joshua Chapter 10 You could Turn that up Later on Perhaps if you're Interested to Study that in More detail But This is what Is spoken of In Putting Everything Under His feet And so How does This reference To the Son of Man having Dominion over All the Works of The Lord's Hands Relate To Jesus Well let's Turn up 1 Corinthians And chapter 15 It's page 115 If you're Using a Church Bible I'm just

[15:07] Going to Read Verses 24 To 28 1 Corinthians 15 Verses 24 To 28 Then comes The end When he Delivers the Kingdom of God the Father After Destroying Every rule And every Authority And power For he Must reign Until he Has put All his Enemies Under his Feet The last Enemy to Be destroyed Is death For God Has put All things In subjection Under his Feet When it Says all Things are Put in Subjection It's plain That he Is accepted To put All things In subjection Under him When all Things are Subjected To him Then the Son himself Will also Be subjected To him Who put All things In subjection Under him That God May be All in All Now the

[16:08] Context here Is that Paul Is talking about The resurrection Of the dead What Paul Is saying Is that In effect The resurrection Is the Core Of the Gospel Message Jesus Has risen From the Dead And that Fact is The Is the The reason We're here Tonight It's the It's the The central Truth Of the Gospel But the Point is That's being Made Here is that Jesus has Not risen As a Glorified Carpenter He hasn't Risen Even As a Particularly Powerful Or glorified Itinerant Preacher No he's Risen As the King Of kings And lord Of lords And he has Begun To reign But We don't

[17:08] Yet see Everything Put in Subjection To him But he is Victorious And he's Been crowned With Glory And Honor And so The exercise Of his Dominion That is Spoken Of in These Verses Is something That we are To Long for To long To see More of The outcome Of Jesus Beginning to Reign Is perfectly Certain But it Won't be Fully Complete Until that Last day When he Returns I was Speaking this Afternoon With Norman And he said That someone Had Quietly And smartly Summarised The book Of revelation In two Words Jesus Wins I thought

[18:10] That was Helpful But right Now we Are involved In a Battle And it's A battle That's Every bit As brutal As these Battles That raged In Joshua's Day But it's A spiritual Battle And those Defeated Kings Who in Joshua Chapter 10 Were dragged Out of That cave And faced That Humiliation And Execution Ultimately As they Were Found Themselves Under The feet Of the Israelite Army Commanders Well it's In the Same way That all Christ's Enemies Will be Destroyed All of His words Will be Fulfilled And What The Writer To The Corinthians Is Telling Us Here Is That It's The Fact Of Christ's Resurrection That Connects Directly To This Fulfillment Of This Prophecy In Psalm 8 That All Of Christ's

[19:10] Enemies Will Be Defeated We Will See Them All Under His Feet I Mentioned That Psalm 22 Gives Us This Insight Into Christ's Thoughts On The Cross And As We Read Psalm 22 We See That Christ's Thoughts On The Cross Are Very Straightforwardly Ones Of Being Under Attack From His Enemies His Experience On The Cross Was One Of Real Conflict With Real Spiritual Enemies And This Verse That Speaks Of All His Enemies Being Put Under His Feet Occurs As I've Stressed In A Number Of Places In The New Testament Why

[20:10] Why Does The New Testament Emphasize This Aspect Of Christ's Glorification So Much Well I Want To Suggest That Perhaps Part Of The Reason Is Because We Can Be A Bit Squeamish About That Element Of Christ's Exaltation Defeat Of Enemies Is Not Something We Talk Of Very Much And It's Because We Don't Understand Or Fully Realize Our Spiritual Perception If You Like As We Consider This Morning Is Not Sufficiently Clear To See That We Are Involved In A Real Conflict Imagine If For Example We Were To Ask President Zelensky Who Is Involved In A Real Battle A Real Conflict With The Russians At The Moment What

[21:11] He Would Like To See More Of Would He Say I Find It So Heart Warming To Hear Of These Accounts Of Humanitarian Self Sacrifice Amongst My People No What He Really Wants Is The Defeat Of His Enemies He Wants The Conflict To Be Brought To An End And It Should Be The Same For Us Now Having Said That The Sentiment Of This Psalm Is Not A Licence For Us To Wish Harm Against Those Who Are Opposing Us In On Moral Issues Or In In The Religious Realm The Bible Makes It Clear To Us That No Person Is Beyond Redemption No

[22:11] One Falls So Low As To Be Beyond His Reach And So In That Sense We Have No No No Mandate To Demonize Our Enemies However There's No Such Hope Of Redemption For Satan And The Fallen Angels Love And So We Can And Should Long For Their Humiliation And Defeat Because As We Thought This Morning Ephesians Six Reminds Us That Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh And Blood But Against Spiritual Forces Of Wickedness In High Places but having said that it's also true that every person who does not acknowledge Christ as king is robbing him of his glory they're claiming dominion over some part of creation as if it didn't belong to Christ and the more you reflect on that the more we come to see that that is in fact a horrible treason and a dreadful crime those who are truly Christians will seek Christ's glory first and foremost and so we will pray longing for the day of his return we will cry out like the saints under the altar in Revelation 6 how long oh Lord

[23:50] I wonder if we were to be told suppose for some reason I had some special revelation and told you that Christ returns at midnight tonight how would we feel?

[24:07] many of us our initial reaction would be oh if only it could be held off for a minute while I tell my friend about Christ while I get my own house in order I think that's how many of us would react but our natural reaction here is a wrong one we're to speed the day of his coming we're to long to see all his enemies put under his feet this prophecy in Psalm 8 and its complete fulfillment is as certain as any of other Jesus' other words to us so we're called to rejoice in this truth in fact the prophecy is given in Psalm 8 if you notice as if it's already happened it's in the past tense you have put them under his feet but in the meantime we are called to live as faithful

[25:09] Christians in the light of this truth we're to have confidence in his perfect sovereignty and that will allow us to strike a biblical balance in our lives there's no call for us to run about like like headless chickens screaming some sort of version of open air preaching in case Christ returns in ten minutes time but for Christians who know that all things have been put under his feet they have a quiet confidence in the ultimate victory of the gospel Jesus wins as Norman's friend said so we have that confidence to invite our friends and neighbours to come and hear the gospel being preached even in a time of vacancy where we don't know who will be preaching we have that confidence to give a reason for the hope that's in us and we have confidence to bear witness as a church that is able each member of this church able to exercise the gifts that we've been given in his service well lastly

[26:28] I want us to consider what this means for us as a church I want us to look at another New Testament reference Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22 we read this earlier you may remember I'll find it myself Ephesians 1.22 and especially oh yeah this verse and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all these opening sections of the epistle to the Ephesians are tremendous aren't they rightly rightly these are favourite passages for many Christians there's a there's a sort of tumbling quality to these passages as Paul is writing to the Ephesians isn't he and he's got this sense of there's a sense almost of him falling over himself as he as he tries to get out the words to tell them how good it is to be a follower of Jesus he's bursting to tell them about the riches that are theirs this glorious inheritance it's as if it's even better it just keeps getting better and it's at the end of this bit of good news these blessings this glorious brilliance of being a part of the church that Paul comes to this as a kind of a climax of it to say that he's put all things under his feet he's referencing

[28:44] Psalm 8 again he's been praying that they'll know how good it is to be a Christian and he just keeps coming back to this point doesn't he he comes back to speak of the glory that belongs to the church which is that we see all things put under Jesus feet but we are united to Christ and so we share in this victory Paul is stressing this connection that what happens to Christ happens to the church the doctrine of our union with Christ is one that we should never tire of delving into again forgive me for another catechism quote the catechism says that our union with Christ is defined as a work of God's grace whereby the church is spiritually and mystically yet yet really and inseparably joined to

[30:18] Christ as their head and husband the catechism of course isn't making this stuff up Jesus speaks of this in many many places in the New Testament think of the prayers towards the end of John's gospel where Jesus says about I and them and you and me that they may be brought to complete unity or think of in the account of the conversion of the apostle Paul Jesus says Saul Saul why do you persecute me Jesus so intimately identifies himself with the church that persecution of the church is persecution of him or think of

[31:18] Christ's words at the end of Matthew's gospel to put it negatively there he says whatever you did not do for the least of these you did not do for me and in Ephesians and elsewhere this doctrine is put forth even more plainly using the analogy of the body we're all joined to the head that is Christ and so this is why in Ephesians 1 verse 22 you see this this linking to Psalm 8 through our union with Christ the church his body is a new redeemed humanity that will in a real and meaningful sense see the fulfillment of this prophecy of everything being put under our feet so what is the future of the church well perhaps I rephrase that question what is

[32:32] Psalm 8 really about I think that we will miss the mark badly if we think that Psalm 8 is merely speaking about humanity in some abstract sense having dominion over creation I learned today that some of you are farmers if you're a farmer or a gardener or as I am an ecologist you'll know that our dominion over creation is very very imperfect isn't it we do not see everything under our feet at the moment I worked on farms myself and I know that you at times cannot even persuade an animal to walk up into the back of a trailer our dominion over creation is not what is spoken of in Psalm 8 we do have real dominion over creation in a sense but that's not really a full fulfilment of what we see in this in this

[33:46] Psalm first and foremost it is the Lord Jesus Christ who's glorified and given this authority and sees this subjection of his enemies but both in the Psalm itself and in these New Testament passages that we've been considering together we see its meaning more perfectly is that through our union with Christ it's the future of the church that is spoken of here the body of Christ this is a time of conflict and a time of suffering for the church on a global scale there's a lot of direct suffering here in our own presbytery one of our elders not so long ago lost his job simply for being a member of the free church of Scotland and this year our general assembly sometime was devoted to making preparations for future court cases against those in the church who would speak the plain truth of the bible and face potentially legal consequences as a result we are small and we are weak and the future to us humanly speaking is worrying and difficult perhaps in our darker moments we worry about the future of this congregation and certainly for us it must seem incongruous to sing this psalm which speaks about this total and complete victory when things don't feel perhaps as if they're thriving in the church in Scotland in general and perhaps in your own experience and in your own congregation to sing this psalm rightly as New Testament

[35:55]  Christians we need to sing with joy about something more than merely our dominion over creation this psalm as I've tried to show is about this perfect rule that we will have in a new creation where Christ is clearly our head and where we as the church his body take part in this dominion over a new and redeemed creation with every enemy completely and perfectly defeated everything in that new creation will point in a more perfect and a more glorious way to the glory majesty and excellency of Christ and that is the future that we look forward to as his body the church amen may God bless these thoughts to us let us know to be to heaven whatever