Psalm 8
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. "To the Chief Musician upon Gittith, a Psalm of David." We
are not clear upon the meaning of the word Gittith. Some think it
refers to Gath, and may refer to a tune commonly sung there, or an
instrument of music there invented, or a song of Obededom the
Gittite, in whose house the ark rested, or, better still, a song sung
over Goliath of Gath. Others, tracing the Hebrew to its root,
conceive it to mean a song for the winepress, a joyful hymn for the
treaders of grapes. The term Gittith is applied to two other Psalms,
(81 and 84) both of which, being of a joyous character, it may be
concluded, that where we find that word in the title, we may look for
a hymn of delight.
We may style this Psalm the Song of
the Astronomer: let us go abroad and sing it beneath the starry
heavens at eventide, for it is very probable that in such a position,
it first occurred to the poet's mind. Dr. Chalmers says, "There is
much in the scenery of a nocturnal sky; to lift the soul to pious
contemplation. That moon, and these stars, what are they? They are
detached from the world, and they lift us above it. We feel withdrawn
from the earth, and rise in lofty abstraction from this little
theatre of human passions and human anxieties. The mind abandons
itself to reverie, and is transferred in the ecstasy of its thought
to distant and unexplored regions. It sees nature in the simplicity
of her great elements, and it sees the God of nature invested with
the high attributes of wisdom and majesty."
DIVISION. The first and last verses are a sweet song of
admiration, in which the excellence of the name of God is extolled.
The intermediate verses are made up of holy wonder at the Lord's
greatness in creation, and at his condescension towards man. Poole,
in his annotations, has well said, "It is a great question among
interpreters, whether this Psalm speaks of man in general, and of the
honour which God puts upon him in his creation; or only of the
man Christ Jesus. Possibly both may be reconciled and put
together, and the controversy if rightly stated, may be ended, for
the scope and business of this Psalm seems plainly to be this: to
display and celebrate the great love and kindness of God to mankind,
not only in his creation, but especially in his redemption by Jesus
Christ, whom, as he was man, he advanced to the honour and dominion
here mentioned, that he might carry on his great and glorious work.
So Christ is the principal subject of this Psalm, and it is
interpreted of him, both by our Lord himself (Matthew 21:16), and by
his holy apostle (1 Corinthians 15:27; Hebrews 2:6,7).
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Unable to express the glory of God, the Psalmist utters a
note of exclamation. O Jehovah our Lord! We need not wonder at this,
for no heart can measure, no tongue can utter, the half of the
greatness of Jehovah. The whole creation is full of his glory and
radiant with the excellency of his power; his goodness and his wisdom
are manifested on every hand. The countless myriads of terrestrial
beings, from man the head, to the creeping worm at the foot, are all
supported and nourished by the Divine bounty. The solid fabric of the
universe leans upon his eternal arm. Universally is he present, and
everywhere is his name excellent. God worketh ever and everywhere.
There is no place where God is not. The miracles of his power
await us on all sides. Traverse the silent valleys where the rocks
enclose you on either side, rising like the battlements of heaven
till you can see but a strip of the blue sky far overhead; you may be
the only traveler who has passed through that glen; the bird may
start up affrighted, and the moss may tremble beneath the first tread
of human foot; but God is there in a thousand wonders, upholding yon
rocky barriers, filling the flowercups with their perfume, and
refreshing the lonely pines with the breath of his mouth. Descend, if
you will, into the lowest depths of the ocean. where undisturbed the
water sleeps, and the very sand is motionless in unbroken quiet, but
the glory of the Lord is there, revealing its excellence in the
silent palace of the sea. Borrow the wings of the morning and fly to
the uttermost parts of the sea, but God is there. Mount to the
highest heaven, or dive into the deepest hell, and God is in both
hymned in everlasting song, or justified in terrible vengeance.
Everywhere, and in every place, God dwells and is manifestly at work.
Nor on earth alone is Jehovah extolled, for his brightness shines
forth in the firmament above the earth. His glory exceeds the glory
of the starry heavens; above the region of the stars he hath set fast
his everlasting throne, and there he dwells in light ineffable. Let
us adore him "who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon
the waves of the sea; who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and
the chambers of the south." (Job 9:8, 9.) We can scarcely find more
fitting words than those of Nehemiah, "Thou, even thou, art Lord
alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their
host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all
that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven
worshippeth thee." Returning to the text we are led to observe that
this Psalm is addressed to God, because none but the Lord himself can
fully know his own glory. The believing heart is ravished with what
it sees, but God only knows the glory of God. What a sweetness lies
in the little word our, how much is God's glory endeared to us
when we consider our interest in him as our Lord. How excellent is
thy name! no words can express that excellency; and therefore it
is left as a note of exclamation. The very name of Jehovah is
excellent, what must his person be. Note the fact that even the
heavens cannot contain his glory, it is set above the heavens,
since it is and ever must be too great for the creature to express.
When wandering among the Alps, we felt that the Lord was infinitely
greater than all his grandest works, and under that feeling we
roughly wrote these few lines:—
Yet in all these how great soe'er they be,
We see not Him. The glass is all too dense
And dark, or else our earthborn eyes too dim.
Yon Alps, that lift their heads above the clouds
And hold familiar converse with the stars,
Are dust, at which the balance trembleth not,
Compared with His divine immensity.
The snow-crown'd summits fail to set Him forth,
Who dwelleth in Eternity, and bears
Alone, the name of High and Lofty One.
Depths unfathomed are too shallow to express
The wisdom and the knowledge of the Lord.
The mirror of the creatures has no space
To bear the image of the Infinite.
'Tis true the Lord hath fairly writ his name,
And set his seal upon creation's brow.
But as the skilful potter much excels
The vessel which he fashions on the wheel,
E'en so, but in proportion greater far,
Jehovah's self transcends his noblest works.
Earth's ponderous wheels would break, her axles snap,
If freighted with the load of Deity.
Space is too narrow for the Eternal's rest,
And time too short a footstool for his throne.
E'en avalanche and thunder lack a voice,
To utter the full volume of his praise.
How then can I declare him? Where are words
With which my glowing tongue may speak his name?
Silent I bow, and humbly I adore.
Verse 2. Nor only in the heavens above is the Lord seen, but the
earth beneath is telling forth his majesty. In the sky, the massive
orbs, rolling in their stupendous grandeur, are witnesses of his
power in great things, while here below, the lisping utterances of
babes are the manifestations of his strength in little ones. How
often will children tell us of a God whom we have forgotten! How doth
their simple prattle refute those learned fools who deny the being of
God! Many men have been made to hold their tongues, while sucklings
have borne witness to the glory of the God of heaven. It is singular
how clearly the history of the church expounds this verse. Did not
the children cry "Hosannah!" in the temple, when proud Pharisees were
silent and contemptuous? and did not the Saviour quote these very
words as a justification of their infantile cries? Early church
history records many amazing instances of the testimony of children
for the truth of God, but perhaps more modern instances will be the
most interesting. Fox tells us, in the Book of Martyrs, that when Mr.
Lawrence was burnt in Colchester, he was carried to the fire in a
chair, because through the cruelty of the Papists, he could not stand
upright, several young children came about the fire, and cried as
well as they could speak, "Lord, strengthen thy servant, and keep thy
promise." God answered their prayer, for Mr. Lawrence died as firmly
and calmly as any one could wish to breathe his last. When one of the
Popish chaplains told Mr. Wishart, the great Scotch martyr, that he
had a devil in him, a child that stood by cried out, "A devil cannot
speak such words as yonder man speaketh." One more instance is still
nearer to our time. In a postscript to one of his letters, in which
he details his persecution when first preaching in Moorfields,
Whitfield says, "I cannot help adding that several little boys and
girls, who were fond of sitting round me on the pulpit while I
preached, and handed to me people's notes—though they were often
pelted with eggs, dirt, &c., thrown at me—never once gave way; but
on the contrary, every time I was struck, turned up their little
weeping eyes, and seemed to wish they could receive the blows for me.
God make them, in their growing years, great and living martyrs for
him who, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, perfects praise!"
He who delights in the songs of angels is pleased to honour himself
in the eyes of his enemies by the praises of little children. What a
contrast between the glory above the heavens, and the mouths of babes
and sucklings! yet by both the name of God is made excellent.
Verses 3, 4. At the close of that excellent little manual entitled
"The Solar System," written by Dr. Dick, we find an eloquent passage
which beautifully expounds the text:—A survey of the solar system
has a tendency to moderate the pride of man and to promote humility.
Pride is one of the distinguishing characteristics of puny man, and
has been one of the chief causes of all the contentions, wars,
devastations, systems of slavery, and ambitious projects which have
desolated and demoralized our sinful world. Yet there is no
disposition more incongruous to the character and circumstances of
man. Perhaps there are no rational beings throughout the universe
among whom pride would appear more unseemly or incompatible than in
man, considering the situation in which he is placed. He is exposed
to numerous degradations and calamities, to the rage of storms and
tempests, the devastations of earthquakes and volcanoes, the fury of