Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
If you are new or visiting with us, welcome.
We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we are following after Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow after Jesus, we've become convinced that there's no one so good that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And it's for that reason that we come every Sunday to look at God's word,
because we believe that God has something to say to us.
And that's what we're doing now.
If you have been with us, you know that we're in the book of Psalms.
And as I told you last Sunday, we will not be in the book of Psalms for the next three years.
We're in the book of Psalms through the end of the summer.
And then we're going to start a series on 1 Peter.
So don't be afraid, even when you see these early number of Psalms.
And if you know, there's 150 Psalms.
So fear not.
I've given you a lot of different categories to think about the Psalms.
One of them is that they're the standard operating procedure for the Christian life.
They give us the way to act when we encounter all sorts of situations and circumstances.
I've told you that they're poems.
They make complicated things simple.
They take things that maybe are hard to understand and they boil them down.
I told you recently that they're also a guide to prayer.
The Psalms teach us how to pray.
And we've seen all sorts of varieties of Psalms.
We've seen Psalms of Lament.
Those were some of the first Psalms that we looked at this summer.
We looked at an imprecatory Psalm, a Psalm that prays for God's justice in Psalm 5.
We looked most recently, last week, at a penitential Psalm, a Psalm praying for God's grace and His forgiveness.
And we're going to come to a new category of Psalm today.
New for the summer.
We actually looked at it in December when we looked at the Psalms during Advent.
And this is a Psalm of praise.
And Psalms of praise introduce another category for us of what the Psalms do.
So if you are a parent, one of the things that you want for your child is you want them to love and celebrate certain things.
And you want them to grieve and mourn and hate other things.
And one of the things that's most heartbreaking is if you have a child and they love and celebrate things that you grieve.
And they grieve things that you celebrate.
So what you want to do as you're raising them and nurturing them and training them is you want them to grow in their emotions.
You want them to understand what's good and beautiful in the world.
And you want them to love that.
And you also want them to understand what's dangerous and terrible in the world.
And you want them to grieve and stay away from that.
And what the Psalms do for us, besides all these other things that we've looked at, is the Psalms shape our emotions.
The Psalms teach us what it is that God wants us to love and celebrate.
And what it is he wants us to grieve and mourn.
And that's what happens when we look at a psalm of praise, which is this Psalm 8 before us.
Psalms of praise are ones that talk to us about how it is and why it is that we love and celebrate God and what he's done.
Now, praise is a difficult concept, I think, to wrap our heads around.
Because it's not a word that I hear used outside of the church very often.
And so sometimes it can feel like something that's maybe a little corny or cheesy when people talk about praise.
But I'm going to submit to you today that praise is an essential part of being human, number one.
And second, it's something that we do all the time.
So if you're anything like me, anytime you buy something or purchase something,
and it used to be when you purchased something online, but now it could even be when you purchase something in person,
you're almost certainly going to receive an email.
And this email says,
Sing praises to us.
It doesn't actually say that.
What it does say is,
Would you please write us a review?
And so every time someone sends you asking you for a review,
what they're asking for is your praise.
And if you're like me,
most of the time you ignore it because you don't have time to praise people's products online.
You have more important things to do.
But if it's someone or something that you really care about,
someone that you have a personal relationship with,
you do.
You want to praise them.
So many of you know that I recently bought a house,
and my realtor asked for my review.
And of course, there was nothing I'd want to do more, right?
Because I loved my realtor.
And I thought she had done such a fantastic job and helped me in so many ways.
And so the first thing I did was go and immediately write a song of praise.
I wrote a review telling everyone how great my realtor is.
And so praise is not something that's just for those inside of the church.
It's not just for Christians.
Praise is something that's part of our lives.
It's part of what it means to be human.
C.S. Lewis, I mentioned this in December.
When he first became a Christian, he struggled with praise.
But then he came to realize, what we're talking about now,
that this is something that's essential.
And he realized that people who do not praise,
and he says this,
are like people who've never been in love.
They're like people who can't hear music.
And they're like people who have never read a good book.
In other words, praise is what we do for anything that we care about.
And so when God asks for our praise,
he's commanding us to do what we would do for anything else.
And yet he's much more worthy of our praise.
Now me explaining all of these things to you,
and explaining how praise is part of our lives,
does not make praise any easier.
Praise is still a challenging and difficult concept.
If you're like me, you don't necessarily wake up every Sunday morning,
and your first thought when your alarm goes off is,
I just can't wait until I can begin praising God.
Now if you are one of those people,
I'm glad for you.
That's what God wants for all of us,
and yet it's not something that's natural.
We don't always find ourselves walking around in this world
moved by praise for God.
And so that's why God's given us these psalms.
All the psalms of praise are answering the question of why God is so great.
And they're also helping us understand how it is that we can stir up our hearts
that we're filled with love and praise for God.
I've talked a lot recently in previous psalms
about having hope and trust and faith and confidence in God.
These psalms certainly have that,
but they're more about how we have love and celebration of God.
How do we stir up praise for God
so we appreciate Him and understand His greatness more than anything else?
That's what this psalm is going to present to us.
I've talked also in the past,
it's been a while,
but about the importance of bookends in the Bible.
If you're reading a passage of Scripture
and you see the same thing appear
at the beginning and the end,
Jesus does this in His parables sometimes,
this is a way of saying this is the point of this passage.
So I'm not going to bury the lead in Psalm 8.
There's one point,
it shows up in verses 1 and verse 9,
very beginning and the very end,
and it says,
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth.
That's the bread to the sandwich of the psalm.
And everything else is going to help us understand
why God's name is majestic.
This is like,
if we come across psalms of praise,
because there's many of them,
it's like different reviews of the same product.
If you go and look at something online,
you might read many reviews,
some of them are going to say the same thing over and over,
so you understand this is very important about this product.
Some of them are going to say different things.
You might have one review that gives you a special insight.
Same is true with the psalms of praise.
Same is true with Psalm 8.
It's going to tell us some of the things we saw in December,
and it's going to tell us new things as well.
It's going to help us understand why God is worth our praise.
And what we can do,
even when we don't feel like praising God,
to stir up our love and our celebration of Him.
And so it's with that question that we come to this psalm,
and this psalm is going to answer it.
It's going to tell us how it is,
why it is that we praise God.
And so with that introduction,
we're going to read Psalm 8.
I'm going to read it.
You're welcome to follow along in your worship guide.
This is printed near the end of your worship guide.
You'll also find it in your Bible.
You might be able to find it on your phone.
And remember,
as we come to this portion of God's Word,
that God tells us that His Word is
more precious than gold,
even the finest gold.
And He tells us that it is sweeter than honey,
even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so that is why we come week after week
to hear what God has to say.
That's why we're going to start now in verse 1.
Verse 3.
Verse 9.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Father in heaven,
we thank you again
that you have given us your Word.
You haven't left us to try to figure out
what is good and right
and what is evil and bad in this world on our own.
You haven't left us to
walk by ourselves,
but instead you have
given us your Word.
You've spoken to us
so that we would understand and know.
You're like a good Father
who wants to shape us
and teach us
what to celebrate
and also teach us what to grieve.
We ask that you would
do that now
as we look at Psalm 8,
that you would help us,
that you'd send your Spirit,
that we would be able to see
and understand
and believe
everything that you've written for us
in your Word.
We ask this
not because we deserve it
or have earned it,
but because Jesus
deserves it
and has earned it for us.
And so we ask it in His name.
Amen.
I have mentioned before
that I had not been ever
into the state of Colorado
until 2016
and that was just on the way
on a road trip out to Utah
to see the national parks out there,
especially Zion National Park.
What I have not told you about that trip
is that we made a detour
on the way back
and the detour was to be able
to visit the Grand Canyon.
We didn't have much time,
but everyone on the trip
thought we would be
making a serious and grave error
if we did not at least stop by
for a couple hours.
We're within striking distance
of the Grand Canyon.
We've never seen it.
We have to make sure we're there.
So we just dropped by
for a little bit.
We showed up on the south rim
and if you've been there,
you know you go out
and you look across layers
and layers of rock
and there's many things going on
when you look at these layers.
Some people are looking with you.
Some people are taking selfies.
Some people are on their phones.
But as I stood there
and I looked out across
the expanse of the south rim
and I saw layers and layers of rock
that went down for miles,
there was only one thing
that I could think
and it's that I felt
very, very, very small.
I did not feel like
a great or significant person
in the world.
I didn't feel like
I had tremendous influence
or power.
Instead, I realized
I am a small little ant
on the side of this great canyon.
That's exactly what the psalmist
is telling us
in verses 3 and 4.
Why is God's name
so majestic
in all the earth?
By the way,
this word about majestic,
this glory
that we're told about
in verses 1 and 2,
this strength,
is saying what we've seen before,
that God is a great king.
It's easy to have
a truncated theology
where we just think
of God as our redeemer
and he certainly is that.
God brings salvation.
He redeems us from sin.
The psalms also remind us
that he is not just our redeemer
but our king
and our creator.
And so as we're looking
at how and why
we praise the king,
the first thing the psalmist does
is he looks up
at the heavens.
Verse 3,
he's not looking
at the Grand Canyon.
More likely,
he's sitting out
in a night sky
looking up
at all the stars
that God's created
and as he looks
at the creation,
he's not touched
by light pollution
in the way that we are.
All he can do
is feel very,
very small.
Verse 4,
what is man
that you are mindful of him
and the son of man
that you care for him?
God is the great creator.
He is so great
and so powerful
that he can make things
like the Grand Canyon
and that is nothing
compared to making
the constellations
and the stars
and the universe.
And yet this great God,
verse 4,
still is mindful
and cares for small,
little humans.
This great God
still cares
and is mindful
for small,
little humans.
God's greatness
shows us
how great his love is.
It's one thing
for another person
in this world
to love us
and care for us.
That's glorious
in and of itself.
It's even more amazing
that someone
so powerful as God
would also care for us
and love us.
One of the moments
of praise
that the Psalms
hold out over and over again
is God's creation.
That God uses his world,
the world around us
that he's made
to stir up our love
and our appreciation
for him.
Because it reminds us
of two things
as it reminds the psalmist here.
First,
that God is so great.
He's so great
that he can make
the heavens and the earth.
And second,
he's so loving.
Despite our smallness,
God still delights
to care for us
and provide for us.
Despite our smallness,
God still delights
to care for us
and provide for us.
The creator of the universe
cares intimately for us.
God still does not.
I had a professor
in seminary
who did what many people do,
which is come out
to Colorado on vacation.
In fact,
when I moved out
to Colorado
and I started telling people
this is where I'm going,
I had so many folks
tell me,
I'm incredibly jealous.
That's where I go
for vacation.
You're going to get to live
where I only get to spend
a week or two every year.
And so this professor
had been out in Colorado
in the Rockies
over the summer
and he came back
to St. Louis,
hot and muggy and flat.
And he said that he and his wife
would go out hiking
in the mountains.
And there came one point
as he looked out
at the Rockies,
he began to cry.
And as he began to cry,
he thought,
the God who made
these mountains
also knows my name.
The God who made
these mountains
also knows my name.
And he was out at
the beauty that we take
for granted here.
He was moved to tears.
Why is God's name majestic
in all the earth?
His name is majestic
in all the earth
because he not only
made the mountains,
but he also knows our name.
And so if you're struggling,
like many of us,
if not all of us,
to praise God,
to be filled with a sense
of God's power
and his wonder,
one of the things
God asks us
and commands us
and tells us to do
is to look at
his creation.
Let the natural world
remind you of God's power
and his care.
As you drive west
and look at
the front range,
you can remember
that the God
who made those mountains
knows your name.
If you're struggling
to remember God's greatness
and his power
and his love,
go outside.
God's creation
for the Christian,
God's creation
is important
for our spiritual lives.
It is spiritual
to go out
into nature
and recognize
everything that God
has done
and made.
If you think
you are somebody
or something,
God's creation
will quickly put that
into perspective
for you.
If you think
you are big,
go to the south rim
of the Grand Canyon
and then you can
feel small.
Memorize Psalm 8.
When you're outside,
repeat it to yourself.
Repeat it with your family.
When you're driving
and you look
at everything
that God's made,
remember,
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
and the son of man
that you care for him.
The psalmist here
is literally looking
at literal stars
and it helps him
get in touch
with reality,
what's most true
in the world.
There's many times
in the afternoon,
you know,
we are about
a mile away
from Cheyenne Meadows Park
and the walk
from here
to Cheyenne Meadows Park
is a walk
from the south
to the north.
And so there are
many times
in the afternoon
where if I need a break
I'll walk out of the church
and I'll walk to the park
and I'll walk back.
And now I live
in a house
that's close to the park
as well
and so sometimes
I'll do that too.
I'll walk from there
to the park
and I'll walk back.
And I can remember
that whatever
the reality
of my emotions are
in that moment
and whatever
the reality
of my circumstances are,
whatever's going on
that day,
I look up
in the mountains
and I realize
that despite
the reality
of my emotions
or my circumstances,
the world
has not fundamentally
changed.
the mountains
are still there.
God is still
in control
and He still
cares for me
and He is still
mindful of me.
That is why
His name is majestic
in all the earth.
Now some of you
might be thinking
I don't need
to believe in God
to enjoy the creation.
And if you're thinking
that you would be
correct.
There are many people
who do not worship
God
who enjoy
His creation.
And so you might be
thinking
why is it that
I need to praise God
I can enjoy
this without Him.
Well first of all
yes you can
certainly enjoy
someone's work
without giving them
credit.
However
it's borderline
theft.
There's been a
scandal recently
with Amazon.com
where there have
been people
putting fake books
online,
counterfeit books
that look exactly
like the originals.
People order them
they read them
they enjoy them
they get content
out of them
and no money
goes to the author.
The money goes
to someone else.
Don't give God's
money
His praise
to someone else.
Second
Jesus tells us
in Matthew chapter 5
that the sun rises
on the evil
and the good
and the rain
falls on the just
and the unjust.
everyone enjoys
the goodness
of God's creation.
However
not everyone
will enjoy
the goodness
of God's creation
forever.
Not everyone
will enjoy
the goodness
of God's creation
forever.
But only those
who have faith
in Christ.
Part of what
we long for
and look forward
to
in our eternal
life
life.
Some people
think that it
will be
something boring.
But it in fact
will be
what C.S. Lewis
tells us about
in the last battle
the last book
of the Narnia series.
It will be
like this earth
but even better.
Like this creation
but even more glorious.
The phrase
of the characters
used in that book
is that they keep
going further in
and further up.
If you think
God's creation
is glorious now
just wait.
If you think
God's creation
is glorious now
just wait.
Now we don't
just praise God
because of his creation
because he cares for us.
That's verses
three and four.
But we also have
verses five
through eight.
We don't just
praise God
for his glory.
We praise God
because he's
allowed us
to participate
in it.
The psalmist
here is
hearkening back
to Genesis
one and two
when God
gave mankind
all of mankind
the job
of caring
for the earth.
He gave
everyone a job
which was to
fill the earth
and subdue it.
He gave
real authority
to mankind.
So when we
do our job
well
the earth
flourishes.
creation
flourishes
the world
flourishes
civilization
flourishes.
When we do it
poorly
civilization
and creation
suffer.
And God
holds us
accountable
for how we
do this
how well
we take
care
of his
creation.
Yet this
is also
a moment
of praise
for the psalmist.
He praises
God
because God
allows human
beings
these small
tiny people
who are nothing
in comparison
with God
and his
creation
to actually
be small
kings.
You notice
in verse 1
God is majestic
and he has
glory.
Verse 5
This same
God
has given
man glory.
You have
made him
a little
lower than
the heavenly
beings
and crowned
him with
glory and
honor.
In other
words this
great king
has allowed
mankind
to operate
as a lesser
king
as a regent.
In the
ancient world
often what
always happens
is you
would have
an emperor
who was
over a
great
civilization
and he
would have
provinces
or areas
that would
be far
far away
from where
his throne
was.
And so
he would
send a
representative
sometimes
you might
call this
person a
vice
regent
and this
representative
would represent
the name
of the
emperor
in that
place.
He would
represent
the emperor
to the
people who
were under
him
and he
would
represent
those
people who
were under
him
back to
the
emperor.
The
psalmist
praises God
because God
has allowed
us as
mankind to
represent God
to this
world.
When we
build and
create civilization
we are
representing God
to the
creation.
And then he
has also
allowed us to
represent the
creation back
to him.
And so when
we praise God
we are praising
him ourselves
we are also
praising him on
behalf of this
entire world.
And the
psalmist is
moved by the
fact that
God has
made it
wonderful and
glorious to
be human.
He's given
us the
wonder and
the glory of
building
civilization.
He's giving
us the
wonder and
the glory that
comes from
being able to
raise children
in the next
generation.
He's given
us the
wonder and
glory of
building cities.
He's given
us the
wonder and
the glory of
creating
institutions.
He's given
us the
wonder and
the glory of
exploring his
world and
discovering new
things.
He's given
us the
wonder and
the glory of
taking things
that are
chaotic and
bringing order
to them.
The
psalmist
praises God
because God
has crowned
us, he's
crowned humanity
with glory and
honor.
He has made
it wonderful and
amazing to be
human.
And so as
the psalmist goes
about enjoying
his work,
everything good
that God has
made in this
world but also
everything good
that God has
given him to
do, he
realizes that
the joy that
comes from
work, the
joy that
comes from
building and
creating things
whether it's
families or
institutions or
societies is a
joy that God
has given.
It's a privilege
that we do not
deserve.
God does not
need us to run
this world.
And so we
praise him because
he's chosen to
give us that
responsibility.
God does not
need us to run
this world and
so we praise him
because he's
chosen to give us
that responsibility.
That is why the
psalmist can say,
O Lord, our
Lord, how
majestic is your
name in all the
earth.
We praise God
because he's
glorious.
Part of his
glory is revealed
in his care for
us.
verses 3 and 4
and the dignity
that he gives
us.
Verses 5 through
8.
His glory is
revealed in the
care he has for
us.
Verses 3 and 4
and the dignity
he gives us.
Verses 5 through
8.
Now this psalm,
like all the rest
of the psalter,
continues from
God's people in
the Old Testament,
Israel, to God's
people in the New
Testament, the
church.
I mentioned when
we looked at
Psalm 1 that it
was quoted or
alluded to more
than any other
psalm.
Psalm 8 is also
high on the list
of psalms quoted
in the New
Testament.
And what the
New Testament
authors do over
and over again
is they apply
this psalm to
Jesus.
And they apply
it to Jesus in
several ways.
First,
O Lord, our
Lord, how
majestic is your
name in all the
earth.
that name,
that praise,
also belongs to
Jesus.
We don't just
praise the
Father, but we
also praise the
Son.
Second, it's
through Jesus
that God shows
his care for us
ultimately and
finally and fully.
So we saw in
verse 4, God is
mindful of us and
he cares for us.
He's mindful of
us and he cares
for us.
Even before sin
entered the world,
he was mindful and
cared for mankind
in Genesis 1, but
he showed his
kindness and his
care how much
and how great it
was by continuing
to care for
mankind and be
mindful of him
even after he
failed in the job
that God had
given him, even
after he rebelled.
God's care is
revealed for us by
the fact that he
sent his Son to
die for us and
pay the penalty
for our sins to
take the punishment
that we deserved
so that we could
continue to enjoy
God and praise
his name and
live in the world
that he created.
And so God's
care and his
mindfulness is
shown most of
all in Jesus.
Jesus reveals
God's care.
But Jesus also
fulfills and
completes and
accomplishes the
job that God
gave us.
He didn't just
take the penalty
for our sins,
but he did what
we were not
supposed to do,
what we were
supposed to do,
but failed in
doing.
We read
Hebrews chapter
2 as our
New Testament
reading.
If you were
paying attention,
you know that
that Hebrews
chapter 2,
it's in your
worship guide,
directly quotes
this psalm.
And it tells us
a couple things
after it quotes
them, quotes
it.
It says in
verse 8,
In other words,
Psalm 8 is
idealistic.
It is not
true that the
entire world is
under subjection
to us.
We still have
verse 2,
there are still
foes.
And there are
still things that
we cannot control
and subdue in
this world.
Part of that's
because of our
own sin and
failings.
We've chosen to
destroy the world
that God gave us
rather than care
for it.
Part of it is
because of our
lack of power
and ability.
We are not
able, we have
not yet subdued
every animal in
the world.
We do not have
control over the
fish of the sea.
And the author
of Hebrews tells
us then in the
next verse,
verse 9,
okay, so verse
8, not everything
is in subjection
to us.
This is idealistic.
Verse 9,
But we see him
who for a little
while was made
lower than the
angels, namely
Jesus, crowned
with what?
Glory and honor
because of the
suffering of death
so that by the
grace of God
he might taste
death for everyone.
In other words,
we don't see
everything in
Psalm 8 being
true right now,
but we do
see Jesus.
Jesus.
We don't see
everything in
Psalm 8 as
being true
right now,
but we do
see Jesus.
And so the
hope that is
put forward in
Psalm 8,
the reasons that
we praise God
are incomplete
now, but
complete in
Christ.
In other words,
we don't see all
things under
subjection, but
when Jesus comes
back in his
second coming,
we will.
And in his
first coming,
he has already
put all things
under subjection.
Death has been
conquered.
That's part of
what we saw in
our preparation
for worship in
1 Corinthians.
It's been put
under his feet.
It's the same
language that
comes from
Psalm 8.
And so we
praise God,
we tell him
that his name
is majestic
in all the
earth, and we
do it because
of his care
for us.
His care is
shown for the
fact that he
thinks of us
and moves
towards us,
even though he's
the great
creator.
We also
praise him for
the dignity
that he gives
us.
He doesn't
need us to
be his
representatives in
this world,
and yet he's
chosen us to
do it.
And we can
have love and
celebration of
God because we
know all of
these things are
true.
We know they're
true because of
Jesus, that he
reveals and
demonstrates and
seals God's
care for us.
And even as
we fail to
achieve the
dignity that
God has set
out for us,
Jesus achieves
it for us.
And so we
look to him
and hope in
him.
We love him
and we
celebrate him.
And most of
all we say,
oh Lord,
our Lord,
how majestic
is your name
in all the
earth.
Please pray
with me.
dear Father in
heaven, we
confess that
your name is
majestic, that
you are worthy
of our glory and
honor.
We also
confess that we
struggle sometimes
to have love
and praise for
you.
And so we ask
that you would
remind us of
your care for
us, and you
remind us of the
dignity that you've
given us, and
that you would use
it to stir up
love and
affection for
you as we
follow you with
faith.
We ask these
things not because
we have earned
them, but because
Jesus has glory
and honor in the
name above all
names because he's
earned them for us.
And so we ask it
in his name.
Amen.