And Psalm 8, page 546.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise,
because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider 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, the son of man that you care for him?
You made him little lower than the heavenly beings,
and crowned him with honour and glory.
You made him ruler over the works of your hands.
You put everything under his feet.
All flocks and herds, all the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,
all that swim in the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Hebrews 2, verses 5-9, page 1202.
It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come,
about which we are speaking.
But there is a place where someone has testified.
What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the angels.
You crowned him with glory and honour,
and put everything under his feet.
In putting everything under him,
God left nothing that is not subject to him.
Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him,
but we see Jesus,
who is made a little lower than the angels,
now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death,
so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Thank you very much,
Maeve and Graeve.
Bless Ralph to come up now.
This is Ralph coming up.
Ralph is one of our elders here in the church,
and while John is away he is kind of in charge.
We can behave ourselves even, but John is over.
Absolutely.
You don't need me around for that.
Hopefully not.
Okay.
Ralph is going to be speaking to us from Psalm 8.
Just before you speak, Ralph,
will you pray to us?
Sure.
Let's pray.
Lord, again, we just thank you for gathering us here this morning.
We thank you for your word, Lord,
and thank you for the fact that we can have it
and read it freely, Lord,
without any fear of persecution or anything like that, Lord.
We just thank you now for Ralph, Lord,
and pray that you would speak to us through him, Lord.
And pray that you would bless what he has to say to us, Lord,
and what you are going to say through him, Lord.
We just pray that you would anoint him with your Holy Spirit
and us as well, Lord, as we listen to him, Lord.
Again, Lord, we just are so grateful for having people like Ralph in the church, Lord,
who are able to speak from your word,
and we just thank you for that, Lord.
Now, again, we just would ask that you would help us to concentrate, Lord,
and to take in what it is that you want to say to us.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Good morning, everyone.
Thank you, Ian, for leading this morning
and for fitting in so well with the theme that we're going to look at
from Psalm chapter 8 this morning.
I was just really struck by the songs that we were singing,
how appropriate they are when we look and when we delve into Psalm 8,
speaking of the wonder of Christ who came from heaven,
came to earth to be our substitute
and to restore us to our rightful position as God's people.
So we're going to turn, as I said, to Psalm chapter 8, page 546.
We're continuing our summer series,
reading through the Psalms together.
Last week, for those who were here,
Ted Kelly reminded us of the death of the Psalms.
And he shared a really helpful little quote from,
or a little idea from Martin Luther,
that the Psalms are really, they're like a little Bible.
And what Luther means is that the Psalms,
they capture the whole story of the Bible.
Jesus used the Psalms to teach his followers all about himself.
The Psalms, they're just full of the promise of Jesus,
God's forever king.
So even though they were written a thousand years before Jesus ever came,
they speak fully of Jesus and who he is
and what he would be like when he came.
So this morning we're going to come to Psalm 8
and we're going to unpack the story of these nine verses together.
And I hope that in unpacking these nine verses of Psalm 8
that we will see the big story of the Bible.
So we're going to do the unfolding,
we're going to do the unpacking in four parts
or four chapters if you like.
The first one is that God shows his glory.
The second thing we're going to see is that God shares his glory.
Thirdly, we shame his glory.
And finally, God saves for his glory.
So this is the storyline as we're going to work through it this morning.
This is just to help us see where we're going
in case you get bogged down in the middle
and wonder if I'm ever going to end over the four-hour sermon.
So like all good stories, in Psalm 8,
we have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
And in this case, where we start and where we're going to finish up
is going to be the same, isn't it, if we look at Psalm 8.
King David gives us two identical bookends
that hold the whole story together.
It's that great phrase, isn't it?
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth.
It's a shout of praise about God
who is described as the Lord, the ruler.
It's speaking of God's name, this phrase, isn't it?
His reputation, if you like.
It's bigger.
It's better than anything else in all of the earth.
And this bookend, it's clearly important to the story of Psalm 8
that we understand this shout of praise,
these bookends from David.
So what do they mean?
How or why should God's name be majestic in all the earth?
We shouldn't take that for granted.
Why is that the case?
And David explains the reason for his praise
by retelling an old, old story.
In fact, he tells us the oldest story,
the story of creation.
Now, just a little aside,
when I speak of the word story,
I don't mean some kind of fairy tale.
I don't mean some kind of embellished retelling
of something that happened in the past.
We routinely tell the little kids,
you know, oh, it's only a story,
you know, and that kind of throwaway phrase.
And we have to be thoughtful and careful
how we speak, not just to our children,
but as we listen to a sermon this morning
and what I say.
So when I say story,
I don't mean a fairy tale.
For the story that we're looking at is a real story,
it's a deep story,
and it's a true story.
One that we can see the truth of
as we look all around us in creation.
So as we look closely,
we see that the main part of Psalm 8
is a poetic retelling, if you like,
of chapters 1 and chapter 2 of Genesis,
the creation account.
So in verse 1,
we read about the heavens and the earth in Psalm 8.
In verse 3,
we're told of really the creation of the sun
and the moon and the stars.
Verse 7 mentions the animals,
the birds and the fish.
And finally,
verse 8 speaks and reminds us of man and woman
being created in God's likeness
who were to rule over the earth.
People were created in the image of God.
Therefore, we can talk about people
being God's image bearers,
those that bear God's image on the earth,
the highlight of creation.
So we can't not read Psalm 8
and hear that echo of the creation story.
The echoes of the wonder
and the glory of the early chapters of Genesis.
And it's from the second part of verse 1
that we get our heading
for the first part of this story
within Psalm 8.
God shows us His glory,
especially as He has established His glory
above the heavens.
And it's true, isn't it,
when we look up at the night sky
that we can see something of the glory of God.
So let us stand with David
as he does in verse 3,
as he considers the heavens,
and look at what he calls
the work of God's fingers.
Picture yourselves,
and this is going to be difficult,
you know, you're from Ireland.
Picture yourselves on a rare cloud-free night
somewhere in West Cork.
One place I always remember is Castle Freak,
you know, the old ruins there
and the beach and stuff,
but kind of away from the light pollution,
looking up at the starry host.
And we might even be tempted
as we look up to kind of touch the stars
or poke at them,
or maybe even we feel like first three
that we can, you know,
we can move them around
and set them in place.
Well, if you've ever been tempted to do that,
to set the stars in their place,
consider this.
The earth, which is where we all are right now,
is about, around the outside,
the circumference is about 40,000 kilometres.
So if you wanted to travel
just around the earth once in a jumbo jet,
which is, you know,
about as fast as you could realistically go,
it would take you about four days,
non-stop,
just to get around the earth once.
That's just the earth.
And it's actually a midget compared to the sun
and to the stars, isn't it?
The earth might be 40,000 kilometres
around the outside,
but the sun is 4,400,000 kilometres
around the outside of our sun.
So if you want to take the same trip
and do a tour just around the sun,
just once,
it's going to take you about 400 days
to complete that journey.
Of course,
to get from the earth to the sun
is 150 million kilometres,
so it'll take you about 50 years
to get there anyway in the first place.
So after we've conquered the earth,
going around at once
and conquered the sun
going around at once,
then we have to consider
the scale of the universe.
Now, it's only an estimate
and a guess as much as we can,
but there are about 10 to the power
of 21 stars in the universe.
So that's that scientific notation.
What that means
is there are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars
that we kind of know about in the universe.
Of course, we don't really know
how big the universe is.
So after we've, you know,
had a look at the sun
and had a look at the earth,
we have a lot more to do.
One followed by 21 zeros after it.
And do you know what?
Our sun is actually quite small
compared to some of the other stars
that are out there.
In fact, it's a tiny little midget of a sun.
There's some great diagrams
and pictures and videos on the internet
that you can look up
that'll give you an idea of the scale.
But I have a picture here of one of them.
So this is the largest known star.
It may not be the biggest one
because there are gas clouds in the Milky Way
and we can't see everything.
But it's called VY Canis Majoris.
Okay?
And that's our,
this little dot here is our sun.
I can't really see it well,
but that's kind of a curve down here
of this little bit.
That's our sun in comparison
to the largest known star.
You would need about 7 billion suns
to make up one of these stars.
And this probably isn't even
the biggest one that's out there.
To do a little tour
around the outside of this one,
four days for the earth,
400 days for the sun,
11,000 years.
Just to take a trip around this one once.
So I think we can see
from the universe
and from this psalm
that the heavens
were created
with vastness and scale
in order to bring glory
to God.
When we look at the beauty
and when we look at the wonder
of the universe,
we are meant to say,
what an awesome,
what a mighty God
must have created
all of this.
It's no bother to God
to put
a thousand,
million,
million stars
in their place,
even if they are
7 billion times bigger
than our own sun.
When we look,
we say,
you know,
we can barely imagine
the true size and scale
of our own sun,
yet alone consider
all the other stars.
How much more beautiful,
how much more perfect
must the creator
of all of this be?
That's why God
has created
such a wonderful universe,
to show himself.
Have you ever wondered,
have you ever had that wonder,
why the universe
is made so big?
Well,
John Piper gives
a very good explanation,
I think,
for the reason
for such splendor
in creation.
This is what he says.
Do people go
to the Grand Canyon
to increase
their self-esteem?
Probably not.
This is,
at least,
a hint
that the deepest joys
in life
come not from
savoring the self,
but from seeing splendor.
And in the end,
even the Grand Canyon
will not do.
we were made
to enjoy God.
God has created
such grand canyons
in the heavens
for us
so that we would look
for the glory
that is above the heavens
and there
that we would find him.
And in finding him,
we then find
that we are made
to enjoy him.
This is the essence
of verse 1,
isn't it?
You have set
your glory
above the heavens.
So given the glory
of God
seen in creation,
is it any wonder then
that verse 4
of Psalm chapter 8
follows after verse 3?
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.
It has to be
our natural response,
doesn't it?
An overwhelming
sense of smallness
within ourselves
in such a vast creation.
What indeed
is special
about man
that God
would even
take notice
of him?
And the answer
given for us
is verses 5
and 6
which form part 2
of our Psalm 8 story.
God
shares
his glory.
God
has chosen
to create
man and woman
and in doing so
allows us
to share
in his glory.
And
before we
delve into that,
I think it's
important that we
first realise
that God
didn't have to
create.
God didn't have
to make us.
God was fully
complete
in eternity
past
without the creation.
you see,
within the Godhead,
the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit
shared and gave glory
one to another.
And it was out of this
overflowing love
that they then
created people
in their own image
and allow those people,
you and me,
to enter into a relationship
with God
so that we may share
and take part
in God's glory,
God's sharing
of his glory.
You see,
God is
a loving person.
He invites others
to share his glory.
And he has given us,
his people,
a privileged position
to rule over
his creation
and has crowned us,
as it says,
with glory
and honour.
So this is where
scripture puts
us in relation
to the rest
of creation
as God's
special
image bearers
and rulers
on the earth.
Now if we
ask the question
of verse 4
to an atheist
or a materialist,
someone that
rejects the idea
of God,
what is man
that you are
mindful of him?
Well their answer
has to be nothing.
There's nothing
special about man.
Those who reject
the idea of a creator
God must
conclude that man
simply
does not matter.
Compared to the size
and to the age
and the scale
of the universe,
man is nothing
more than
a random
collection
of a small
number of
atoms that
decide to come
together for a
short while
and after 80
years the atoms
go their
separate ways.
To avoid the
evidence for God
people begin to
build arguments,
don't they,
and justifications
as to why God
must not exist
or cannot exist.
What kind of a
God is that
who creates
people to
bow down
and worship him
in constant
praise?
He must be
very needy
or selfish
or some
kind of
egotistical
kind of
God.
Who would
want to
know a
God like
that if
that's what
he's about,
making robot
creatures to
bow down
and worship
him?
What they
are doing
in constructing
those arguments
and working
these things
through is
choosing to
ignore
scripture and
the evidence
of scripture
and verses
like 5 and 6
in Psalm
chapter 8
where we
see that
God is
unselfish
and loving.
God shares
with us
his glory.
And as we
saw something
in the quote
from John
Piper,
it is as we
enter into
beholding God's
glory that we
are most
satisfied in
God.
And as we
are most
satisfied in
God,
God is
indeed most
glorified by
his creation.
Now I
think verses
5 and 6
have a lot
of implications
for us if
we think them
through and
a lot of
application.
Really we
are responsible
as God's
image bearers
to represent
God on
earth.
So how we
behave on
earth,
whether for
good or
ill,
reflects
ultimately on
the glory of
God.
And someone
put it like
this.
I think
this is a
challenge
certainly to
me.
What would
your church
here in
Caragallion and
the worldwide
church look
like if
everyone was
as committed
as you are?
If everyone
gave and
served and
prayed exactly
like you,
would the
church be
healthy and
empowered or
would it be
weak and
listless?
Tough words
to consider,
isn't it?
How does
your life,
how do your
decisions,
how do your
priorities,
reflect on
God and
his glory?
I don't
know about
you,
but trying
to measure
myself up
to what
it says
in verses
5 and
6 and
our role,
it leaves
me with a
slightly
empty
feeling.
And so
I can look
again at
the question
in verse
4,
and it's
now a
little bit
more personal,
isn't it?
It's a
different
life.
why should
God care
about me?
I fail
to live
up to the
honour and
glory that
God has
given to
me.
There's an
unspoken
tension that's
bubbled
throughout
Psalm 8.
For all
its beautifully
written words,
something just,
it just doesn't
sit right with
us as we
read it.
The creation
order that we
read of in
Psalm 8,
the creation
account that
we read of
in Genesis
1 and
2,
it's just
no longer
reflected in
our world,
is it?
We read
in verses
7 and
verses 8
about ruling
really over
the beasts of
the field,
the flocks and
the herds,
the birds of
the air,
everything under
our feet.
But it doesn't
sound like it's
speaking of our
planet,
on planet
earth,
if we think
we're doing
well,
if we can
get Fido
the dog to
sit.
But I'll
tell you for
nothing,
no shark
intent on
eating you
is going to
swim away
because you
tell him,
well,
actually I'm
God's image
bearer,
bit of respect
here,
you know,
don't be
biting my
leg.
You know,
we really,
we don't see
this,
do we,
this kind of
creation order
and this
kind of
rule as
it's described
here.
And if we
consider it,
then we
remember,
don't we?
Genesis
chapter 3
always follows
Genesis
chapters 1
and chapters
2.
You see,
Genesis 1
and 2
are the
high point
of the
created
universe,
man and
woman living
in perfect
harmony with
God and
each sharing
and bringing
glory one
to another.
But then
comes chapter
3 where we
read about
the fall
of man and
bang,
it's all
ripped apart,
it's all
torn apart.
Sin enters,
shame
enters,
man,
man is
corrupted
and blinded
by sin.
So instead
of seeking
our happiness
in the
creator,
we turn
to the
creation
to find
ultimate
joy and
happiness.
This is
part 3
of the
story of
Psalm 8.
We no
longer want
to see
God's
glory,
we no
longer share
in his
glory,
instead,
we,
his
creatures,
we bring
shame to
his glory.
Now Paul
in Romans
chapter 1
in the
New Testament
puts it
better than
I ever
could,
and I
think we
would do
well to
consider his
words this
morning.
They're up on
the screen
so you don't
have to flick
over to
Romans 1.
This is what
Paul says,
and I think he
captures this
very well.
For since the
creation of the
world,
God's invisible
qualities,
his eternal
power,
and divine
nature have
been clearly
seen,
being understood
from what has
been made,
so that men
are without
excuse.
For although
they knew
God,
they neither
glorified him
as God,
nor gave
thanks to
him,
but their
thinking became
futile,
and their
foolish hearts
were darkened.
Although they
came to be
wise,
they became
fools,
and this is
the key.
They exchanged
the glory of
the immortal
God for
images made
to look like
mortal man,
and birds,
and animals,
and reptiles.
What shame
we bring
on God's
glory,
by exchanging
it for the
glory of
created things.
We turn
what are good
things in
creation
into the
ultimate thing.
We raise
it up,
and in doing
so,
we displace
God and
take him
away from
his rightful
place.
It's like
even though
we reject
God,
and we
reject
praising God
and glorifying
him,
we still
feel compelled
within our
hearts,
because we're
made in
God's image,
to praise
something,
or to glorify
something,
or to find
something,
to find some
meaning.
So we spend
our lives
looking to
heap praise
on created
things,
instead of
heaping praise
on the
creator.
You know,
it's very
simple,
our lives
should shout
out,
look at
the Lord,
but quite
often in our
lives,
they shout
out,
look at
me,
look at
my great
job,
see my
wonderful
kids,
look at
my impressive
DVD collection,
look at
my nice
car,
look at
how righteous
a Christian
I am.
What an
insult,
what an
insult to
his generous
God,
who has
shared his
glory with
us,
and given
us rule
over his
creation.
Chapter
3,
or part
3 of
our story
of Psalm
8.
Is us
shaming
his glory.
It is the
hidden story,
the hidden
part of
Psalm 8
that bubbles
under the
surface.
For all
the praise
that's in
Psalm 8,
all the
wonder of
creation that
we've thought
about is
spoiled by
us,
by our
rebellion,
by our
selfish
living.
What hope
for God's
creation with
sinful man
at the
helm?
I don't
know,
will we
ever make
it to
verse 9
and to
our final
bookend
of this
story?
But,
there is
good news,
there is
hope.
We can
actually read
Psalm 8
in one of
two ways.
the main
idea,
I think
clearly that
the writer
David has
in mind
in Psalm
8 is the
creation
account in
Genesis,
isn't it?
I think
that's very,
very clear.
But there
is another
author of
Psalm 8
besides King
David,
and that
is the
Holy Spirit.
So,
Psalm 8
also speaks
of a new
creation,
not just the
old creation
in Genesis
1 and 2,
but of a new
creation,
where order
is restored
and people
once again
live under
God's glory
as his
image bearers
and as his
people.
And it
was a
thousand years,
took a
thousand years
after Psalm
8 was
written,
that another
writer picked
up the
plot line
of Psalm
8 and
filled in
for us the
final chapter
that will get
us to
verse 9.
And it was
the reading
in Hebrews
that Graham
read,
and we're
going to
turn to
Hebrews.
If you
want to
keep a
finger in
Psalm 8
you can.
It would
be good
to turn
to Hebrews
chapter 2,
that's on
page 1202.
And if we
read verses
5 to
8,
we'll see
this plot
line being
picked up.
Now to
give us
some basic
context as
we jump
into the
New Testament
and jump
into Hebrews
chapter 2,
the writer
of Hebrews
has been
arguing that
God's
Son,
Jesus,
is superior
to the
angels.
So we
hear about
angels
we
mentioned.
And now
he's
pointing out
or arguing
that it
is destined
for man
to rule
once more
in a new
earth.
So verse
5.
It is not
to angels
that he
has subjected
the world
to come,
about which
we are
speaking,
but there
is a place
where someone
has testified.
What is
man that
you are
mindful of
him,
the son
of man
that you
care for
him?
You
made him
a little
lower than
the angels,
you crowned
him with
glory and
honour and
put everything
under his
feet.
In putting
everything under
him,
God left
nothing that
is not
subject to
him.
Yet,
at present,
we do not
see everything
subject to
him.
man.
So the
writer of
Hebrews is
picking up
the idea
from Psalm
8 of a
new creation
where man
once again
is ruling
over everything,
order restored.
But,
he has to
admit,
doesn't he,
that yet,
at present,
we do not
see everything
subject to
man,
so don't
try commanding
the sharks.
So if we
cannot see
this new
creation now,
where is
our hope
for today,
if it's only
a future
thing that's
far off?
How do we
know that
it's going
to come
to pass?
We're in
need of a
B-U-T
statement.
And we
have it in
verse 9.
But,
B-U-T,
we see
Jesus,
who was
made a
little lower
than the
angels,
now crowned
with glory
and honour
because he
suffered death,
so that by
the grace
of God,
he might
taste death
for everyone.
Jesus
Christ
has
stepped
in
to the
story
of
Psalm 8.
He
became
the
perfect
man
that we
read about
in Psalm
8,
verse 5,
that's
repeated here
in Hebrews,
that was
first made
a little
lower
and then
crowned
again.
Jesus,
he was
Lord when
he went
from heaven
to earth.
at that
point he
let go
of the
display
of his
rightful
glory,
but later
Jesus was
crowned
with glory
and honour
that comes
from obedience
to the
Father.
And Jesus,
he was
obedient
even to
death
on a
cross,
and Jesus,
he tasted
death for us
all,
so that we
can be
saved
for
his
glory.
And what
we read
in Hebrews
chapter 2
is the
wonderful way
that the
tension
that's there
in Psalm
8,
that's sitting
under the
surface,
is resolved
and brought
to a
close.
God
himself
steps into
his creation
to restore
order and
bring glory
back to
himself.
And he
does this
by sending
his one
and only
son,
who came
to represent
us as the
perfect image
bearer.
He came
as a man,
he lived
as a
perfect man,
and Jesus,
he always
brought glory
and honour
back to
God the
Father.
God's
glory
is not
just way
out there
above the
heavens,
but has
come right
down to
the earth.
God's
glory was
born in a
stable,
God's
glory
lived with
all the
normal
happiness
and all
the
sadnesses
that come
from daily
life.
God's
glory
suffered
opposition
and criticism
of the
religious
leaders,
but God's
glory was
praised
by the
children
and praised
by the
infants
to shame
the foe
and to
shame
the avenger.
As it
says in
Psalm 8
verse 2,
God's
glory
suffered
rejection
and suffered
a cruel
death on
the cross
in place
of us
obnoxious
rebels.
God's
glory
is
Jesus
on the
earth.
This is
glory,
God's
redemption
of us
through the
cross,
so that
we may
once again
share
his honour.
We
indeed
are saved
for
his
glory.
We
have a
privilege
in this
age to
read
Psalm 8
because we
can read
it in
both ways,
can't we?
We can
read
Psalm 8
and we
can look
back at
Genesis 1
and 2
and praise
God and
thank him
for such a
wonderful
creation,
or we
can read
it and
look forward
to
Revelation
chapter 21
and
Revelation
chapter 22
and there
we read
John
describing
for us
a new
heaven
and a
new
earth
and a
new
creation
and a
new
order.
The
good news
is the
bookends
that we
spoke
about
in
Psalm
chapter 8
that lovely
phrase
O Lord
our
Lord
how majestic
is your
name in
all the
earth
it no
longer
needs to
be
tarnished
by our
failure
for Christ
has made
all things
new.
And there's
a challenge
we spoke
about it
during the
sermon
the challenge
that is there
from Psalm
8
as to how
we will
live
and it's
there again
for us
will we
choose to
bring glory
to God
on earth
by accepting
Jesus
will that
be your
choice
or will we
continue to
turn our
back on
God
and live
for the
glory of
some
passing
thing in
creation
that ultimately
is going to
be destroyed
anyway
because of
Jesus
we can finish
the story of
Psalm 8
and get to
verse 9
can't we
and the
glory of
God will
still be
intact
O Lord
our Lord
how majestic
is your
name in
all the
earth
let us
in
Karagaline
compete
with the
heavens
in declaring
God's
glory
here on
earth
let's
pray
God
aside
ton
to
let's
to
run
from
to
on
earth
the
everyone
ues
may
if
you
Oh
I
can
late
when
the
Uhr
in
you