5 Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and splendour.
Thou hast made him some little inferior to the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, [and hast set him over the works of thy hands;]
but we see Jesus, who [was] made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; so that by the grace of God he should taste death for every thing.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth. And God created Man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.
Lo, he trusteth not his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly: How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed as the moth! From morning to evening are they smitten: without any heeding it, they perish for ever.
For thou hast met him with the blessings of goodness; thou hast set a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of thee; thou gavest [it] him, length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great through thy salvation; majesty and splendour hast thou laid upon him.
{To the chief Musician. Upon Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction; -- a song of the Beloved.} My heart is welling forth [with] a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon [thy] thigh, O mighty one, [in] thy majesty and thy splendour;
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom:
Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, mighty in strength, that execute his word, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
When therefore he was gone out Jesus says, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God also shall glorify him in himself, and shall glorify him immediately.
but emptied himself, taking a bondman's form, taking his place in [the] likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and [that the] death of [the] cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal [beings], and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord to God [the] Father's glory.
For he does not indeed take hold of angels [by the hand], but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham.
foreknown indeed before [the] foundation of [the] world, but who has been manifested at the end of times for your sakes, who by him do believe on God, who has raised him from among [the] dead and given him glory, that your faith and hope should be in God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 8
Commentary on Psalms 8 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 8
Ps 8:1-9. Upon [or according to the] Gittith, probably means that the musical performance was directed to be according to a tune of that name; which, derived from Gath, a "wine-press," denotes a tune (used in connection with gathering the vintage) of a joyous character. All the Psalms to which this term is prefixed [Ps 8:1; 81:1; 84:1] are of such a character. The Psalmist gives vent to his admiration of God's manifested perfections, by celebrating His condescending and beneficent providence to man as evinced by the position of the race, as originally created and assigned a dominion over the works of His hands.
1. thy name—perfections (Ps 5:11; 7:17).
who hast set—literally, "which set Thou Thy glory," &c., or "which glory of Thine set Thou," &c., that is, make it more conspicuous as if earth were too small a theater for its display. A similar exposition suits the usual rendering.
2. So manifest are God's perfections, that by very weak instruments He conclusively sets forth His praise. Infants are not only wonderful illustrations of God's power and skill, in their physical constitution, instincts, and early developed intelligence, but also in their spontaneous admiration of God's works, by which they put to shame—
still—or, silence men who rail and cavil against God. A special illustration of the passage is afforded in Mt 21:16, when our Saviour stilled the cavillers by quoting these words; for the glories with which God invested His incarnate Son, even in His humiliation, constitute a most wonderful display of the perfections of His wisdom, love, and power. In view of the scope of Ps 8:4-8 (see below), this quotation by our Saviour may be regarded as an exposition of the prophetical character of the words.
sucklings—among the Hebrews were probably of an age to speak (compare 1Sa 1:22-24; Mr 7:27).
ordained—founded, or prepared, and perfected, which occurs in Mt 21:16; taken from the Septuagint, has the same meaning.
strength—In the quotation in the New Testament, praise occurs as the consequence or effect put for the cause (compare Ps 118:14).
avenger—as in Ps 44:16; one desirous of revenge, disposed to be quarrelsome, and so apt to cavil against God's government.
3, 4. The allusion to the magnificence of the visible heavens is introduced for the purpose of illustrating God's condescension, who, though the mighty Creator of these glorious worlds of light, makes man the object of regard and recipient of favor.
4. man—literally, "frail man," an allusion to his essential infirmity.
son of man—only varies the form of speech.
visitest—in favor (Ps 65:10). This favor is now more fully illustrated.
5-8. God has placed man next in dignity to angels, and but a little lower, and has crowned him with the empire of the world.
glory and honour—are the attributes of royal dignity (Ps 21:5; 45:3). The position assigned man is that described (Ge 1:26-28) as belonging to Adam, in his original condition, the terms employed in detailing the subjects of man's dominion corresponding with those there used. In a modified sense, in his present fallen state, man is still invested with some remains of this original dominion. It is very evident, however, by the apostle's inspired expositions (Heb 2:6-8; 1Co 15:27, 28) that the language here employed finds its fulfilment only in the final exaltation of Christ's human nature. There is no limit to the "all things" mentioned, God only excepted, who "puts all things under." Man, in the person and glorious destiny of Jesus of Nazareth, the second Adam, the head and representative of the race, will not only be restored to his original position, but exalted far beyond it. "The last enemy, death," through fear of which, man, in his present estate, is "all his lifetime in bondage" [Heb 2:15], "shall be destroyed" [1Co 15:26]. Then all things will have been put under his feet, "principalities and powers being made subject to him" [1Pe 3:22]. This view, so far from being alien from the scope of the passage, is more consistent than any other; for man as a race cannot well be conceived to have a higher honor put upon him than to be thus exalted in the person and destiny of Jesus of Nazareth. And at the same time, by no other of His glorious manifestations has God more illustriously declared those attributes which distinguish His name than in the scheme of redemption, of which this economy forms such an important and essential feature. In the generic import of the language, as describing man's present relation to the works of God's hands, it may be regarded as typical, thus allowing not only the usual application, but also this higher sense which the inspired writers of the New Testament have assigned it.
9. Appropriately, the writer closes this brief but pregnant and sublime song of praise with the terms of admiration with which it was opened.