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Psalm 8:1-9

To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?
 
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psummer of Psalms VII: Psalm 8

Last month, I went to Iceland on a class trip with several of my fellow doctoral students. The purpose of our trip was actually to look at Old Icelandic manuscripts... but you can't go all the way to Iceland without taking a look around. So I did. It's an astonishing country, filled with glaciers and valleys, volcanoes and waterfalls, vast landscapes that can make you feel really, really small in a very, very big world.

I imagine that's something like what the author of today's psalm was feeling when he described the majesty and glory of God's creation--the work of God's fingers--all the heavens above and all the earth below. Then he asks God what is the place of mankind within all that vastness? "What are human beings that you are even mindful of them at all?

We'll come back to that question in a moment.

Before verse 1, Psalm 8 begins with an inscription: It is a Psalm of David. That could either mean it was written by David, to David, for David, about David, or in the style of David. Prepositions are pretty fluid in Hebrew, kind of like they are in English.

It is written to the leader. Like I said last week, we're not entirely sure who that refers to... leader of the country? leader of the temple? of the worship service?

And it is written "according to the Gittith." Do you know what a Gittith is? Neither do I. And neither does anyone else, although there are about as any theories as there are Bible scholars in the world. It's a word that only shows up three places in the entire Bible--all of them Psalms, and all of them are in the inscription worded exactly like this. It might have been an instrument, it might have been a style of music, or a special occasion on which this Psalm is to be sung.

So if you're keeping track, that's strike three and we haven't even gotten to the first verse yet. There is an important point here, though. If someone ever tells you the Bible is simple--you just read it and do what it says--you should ask them what Gittith they prefer to use. And when they ask you what a Gittith is, tell them it's simple. And then smile cryptically and say "Selah" over your shoulder as you walk away.

What's not cryptic, however, is the main subject of Psalm 8--the majesty and glory of God's name in all the earth. This is repeated in the first and last verses, indicating that everything in between, all the poetic descriptions flow from God's name, and are at the same time building up to it in anticipation.

One night, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were going camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night Sherlock woke Watson up and said: “Watson, look up at the stars, and tell me what you see.” Watson replied: “I see billions and billions of stars.” Holmes said: “and what do you deduce from that?” Watson replied: “Well, if there are billions of stars, and if even a few of those have planets, it’s quite likely there are some planets like earth out there. And if there are a few planets like earth out there, there might also be life out there.” And Holmes said: “No, Watson, you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent.”

• Iceland
• Created in God's image: Pass it on (God "remembers" and God "visits" humanity...so should we).