Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 8:9
O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
9. How can the Psalmist better close than with the same exclamation of reverent wonder with which he began; repeated now with fuller significance, after meditation on the way in which the truth it asserts is most signally declared!
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O Lord our Lord, how excellent … – Repeating the sentiment with which the psalm opens, as now fully illustrated, or as its propriety is now seen. The intermediate thoughts are simply an illustration of this; and now we see what occupied the attention of the psalmist when, in Psa 8:1, he gave utterance to what seems there to be a somewhat abrupt sentiment. We now, at the close of the psalm, see clearly its beauty and truthfulness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. O Lord our Lord] The psalmist concludes as he began. Jehovah, our prop and support! his name is excellent in all the earth. The name of JESUS is celebrated in almost every part of the habitable globe; for his Gospel has been preached, or is in the progress of being preached, through the whole world. Bibles and missionaries are now carrying his name, and proclaiming his fame, to the utmost nations of the earth.
The whole of this Psalm, and the seventh and eighth verses in particular, have been the subject of much spiritualization in ancient and modern times. I shall give two examples: one from the pious Bishop Horne; the other from the ancient Latino-Scotico-English Psalter, mentioned before.
That of Bishop Horne, on the 7th and 8th verses, is as follows: “Adam, upon his creation, was invested with sovereign dominion over the creatures, in words of the same import with these, Ge 1:28, which are therefore here used, and the creatures particularized, to inform us that what the first Adam lost by transgression, the second Adam gained by obedience. That glory which was set above the heavens could not but be over all things on the earth; and accordingly we hear our Lord saying, after his resurrection, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and earth,’ Mt 28:18. Nor is it a speculation unpleasing or unprofitable to consider that he who rules over the material world is Lord also of the intellectual or spiritual creation represented thereby.
“The souls of the faithful, lowly, and harmless, are the sheep of his pasture; those who like oxen, are strong to labour in the Church, and who by expounding the word of life tread out the corn for the nourishment of the people, own him for their kind and beneficent Master. Nay, tempers fierce and untractable as the wild beasts of the desert, are yet subject to his will. Spirits of the angelic kind, that, like the birds of the air, traverse freely the superior region, move at his command; and these evil ones, whose habitation is in the deep abyss, even to the great leviathan himself, all, all are put under the feet of the King Messiah; who, because he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, was therefore highly exalted, and had a name given him above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, whether of things in heaven, or things on earth, or things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; Php 2:8, c.” Thus far the pious bishop.
I shall now give, as a singular curiosity, the whole Psalm, with its translation and paraphrase, from the ancient MS. already mentioned inserting first the Latin text; next, the translation; and, thirdly, the paraphrase. The Latin text seems to be the old Itala, or Antehieronymian; at least it has readings which have been thought peculiar to that version.
PSALM VIII
Ver. 1. Domine Deus noster, quoniam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra.
Trans. Lord our Lord, qwat thi name es wonderfull in al the Erde.
Par. The prophete in louing, bygynnes and says: Lord of al, thow ert specialy our Lord that dredes the, loves the. Thi name that es the ioy and the fame of thi name Ihesu: for the creaturs that thu hes made and bought qwat it es wonderful. Als so say withouten end: for nane suffis for to knaw al creaturs: in qwilk wonder of the, and that in al the Erd, nought in a party anely.
Quoniam elevata est magnificencia tua super Celos.
Trans. For lyfted es thi worchyp aboven hevens.
Par. That es at say, thu ert mare worthy to be loued and wirchepyd than any Aungel or haly Saule may thynk.
Ver. 2. Ex ore infancium et lactencium perfecisti laudem, propter inimicos tuos, ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.
Trans. Of the mouth of nought spekand, and sowkand, thou has made louying, for thin enmys, that thou destroye the enmy and the venger.
Par. Nought anely thow ert loued of perfite men, bot of the mouthe of barnes that spekes nought: Zit there er tha that kan nought speke the wisdom of this werld: and of soukand, the qwilk gladdely resayves the lare of haly Kyrk theare moder. Thow has made thi luf thug perfyte for thin enmys: fals cristen men, to schame and to schende for thai er wer than er haythen men. That thu destruy the enmy; that es, he that es wyse in his awen eghen; and wil nought be underloute til thi wil: and the venger: that es he that defends his Syn; and sais that he synnes nought; or that his syn es les than other mennes.
Ver. 3. Quoniam videbo celos tuos, et opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quas tu fundasti.
Trans. For I sal se thi hevens werkes of thi fyngers the mone and the Sternys the quilk thow groundid.
Par. Thow destrues al that es contrariand til the; bot i in al thying confourom me to do thi wil; for thi i sal se in lyf withouten end. Thi hevens, that es Aungels and Apostels the qwilk er werkes of thi fingers: that es, that er mode perfyte thurgh the Haly Gost, of qwam es seven gyftes. Of he be bot a Spirit, als mani fyngers er in a hand. And i sal see the Mone, that es haly Kyrk: and the sternes that es ilk a ryghtwise man by hym selfe, the qwilk thu groundid in charite.
Ver. 4. Quid est homo quod memor es ejus; aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?
Trans. Qhat es man that thu ert menand of hym: or son of man for thou visites hym?
Par. Als it war with despyte, he sais man, erdely and synful, qwat es he, that thu has mynd of hym. Als fer sett fra the; at the lest gyfand hym hele and ese of body. Or son of man: that es, he that es gastely, and beres the ymage of heven. Qwat es he, for thou visits hym. Als present the qwilk es nere the for clennes of lyf. Or son of man he calles Crist, thrugh qwam he visits mannes kynd.
Ver. 5. Minuisti eum paullo minus ab angelis: gloria et honore coronasti eum; et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
Trans. Thow lessed hym a littil fra aungels; with ioy and honour thu coround hym: and thu sett him aboven the werkes of thi hend.
Par. Crist was lessed fra aungels, for he was dedely, and mught suffer pyne; but a littel; for in other thyng, es he abouen aungels, thair Kyng and Sychthu thou coround hym with ioy, that es with brighthede of body, na mare sufferand pyne; and honour, for he es honourable til al: and thou sett hym abouen aungels and al creatures.
Ver. 6, 7. Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus: oves et boves insuper et pecora campi.
Trans. Al thynges thu underkest undyr his fete: schepe and oxen al over that, and the bestes of the feld.
Par. That undyr hys Lordschyp and hys myght, in has cestyn al thyng: tha er schepe that er innocentes, als well aungels als men. And oxen, tha er, traveland men gastely, in haly Kyrk, over that; and the bestes of the feld; thai er lufers of this werld, wonnand, in the feld of fleschly lusts; noght in hillis of vertus; and so be the brode way thai ga til hell.
Ver. 8. Volucres celi et pisces maris qui perambulant semitas maris.
Trans. Fowls of heven and fysche of the see, that gas the wayes of the see.
Par. Fowls of heven, er prowde men that wald hee thair setil abouen al other. Fysches of the see, er covaytus men, the qwilk in the ground of the werld, sekes erthdly gudes, that all stretes in the see, sone wither oway. Al thir sal be underlout til Crist onther herts in grace, or thare in pine.
Ver. 9. Domine Deus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra.
Trans. Lard our Lard qwat thi name is wonderful in al the erth.
Par. Als he bigan swa he endes, schewand that bygyning and endyng of al gode, is of Gode; and til his louing agh i for to be done.
The reader will no doubt be struck with the remarkable agreement between the pious bishop of Norwich and this ancient translator and paraphrast, particularly on the 7th and 8th verses. The language also is in several respects singular. The participle of the present tense, which we terminate with ing, is here almost always terminated with and. So Spekand, sowkand, gyfand, sufferand, traveland, for speaking, sucking, giving, suffering, travelling, c.
As the participle signifies the continuance of the action, the termination and seems much more proper than ing speak – and, i.e., continuing to speak; give – and, continuing to give; suffer – and, suffer more; travel – and, travel on, c. There are some words in this ancient MS. which I have met nowhere else.
ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTH PSALM
This Psalm begins and ends with a general proposition, figured by an exclamation, which contains an admiration for he admires what he cannot perfectly comprehend. “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” Such is the glory of thy divinity, power, and goodness, that it fills not only the earth, but transcends the very heavens, in which angels and blessed spirits, though they know much more than we on earth, yet cannot comprehend thy Majesty, which fills all and exceeds all.
This general proposition being premised, the prophet descends to some particular instances, in which the excellence of God’s name particularly appears; and he mentions three: I. Infants. II. The heavens, with the moon and stars. III. Man himself.
I. The excellence of God’s power, divinity, and goodness, appears in infants: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength.” 1. The sucking of babes, and speaking of young children, are evident demonstrations of God’s excellent name; for who taught the babe to suck, or the dumb infant to speak, but the Lord our Governor? 2. The children that cried “Hosanna!” in the temple, struck with the miracles of our Lord; while the priests, through envy, were dumb. 3. Or by babes may be meant such as the worldly-wise repute no better than children and fools. By simple prophets, ignorant fishermen, humble confessors, and faithful martyrs, hath he stilled the enemy and the avenger; confounded the wisest philosophers, and stopped the mouths of devils.
II. The next instance in which the glory and excellence of God’s name appears is the heavens, the moon and the stars: these are the works of his fingers, and therefore called Thy heavens; whose amplitude is great, order and orbs wonderful, beauty admirable, matter durable, and motions various yet stable; together with the stars, whose multitude is innumerable, magnitude vast and various, order admirable, and influences secret and wonderful. The varying, yet regular and constant course of the moon, her changes, phases, and influences on the earth and the waters, on men and other animals. All these have been ordained by the all-wise God; and the earth and its inhabitants are receiving continual benefits from them.
When I consider these things, then I say to myself:
III. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?” This is the psalmist’s third instance to manifest the excellence of God’s providence and government of the world, in which he reflects upon man in his baseness and in his dignity.
1. In his baseness, vileness, and misery, signified by the question, What is man? As if he should say, What a poor creature? how miserable! What except dust and ashes, as to his body, when he was at the best; for he was taken from the dust of the ground, even when his soul was formed in the image of God. But now miserable dust while he lives, and to dust he shall return when he dies. What then is this miserable creature, of what worth, that thou, so great, and so glorious a Being, who art higher than the heavens, shouldst visit and take care of him!
2. This is his dignity; he can know, love, serve, and enjoy thee for ever; and thou settest thy love upon him above all other creatures. This thou hast showed in the following ways:-
1. In visiting him, and in being mindful of him: 1. Thou visitest him by conferring on him many temporal blessings. 2. In illuminating his mind by thy Holy Spirit. 3. In sending him thy law and thy Gospel, by prophets and apostles. 4. In giving thy Son to take upon himself human nature, and to die, the just for the unjust, that thou mightest bring him to thyself, through whom he is to receive remission of sins, and an eternal inheritance among the saints in light. 5. In making him, fallen and wretched as he is, lord of thy creatures; giving him all sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of the sea. 6. But this universal dominion belongs principally to the Lord Jesus, through whom and by whom all good comes to man, and to whom all glory should be given, world without end. Let God’s excellent name be exalted throughout all the earth!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
9. Appropriately, the writercloses this brief but pregnant and sublime song of praise with theterms of admiration with which it was opened.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O Lord our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! The psalm ends with the same words with which it begins; which shows that the sense of this, with which the psalmist was affected, continued with him, and doubtless increased, after such a confirmation of it, by the instances he was led to take notice of. [See comments on Ps 8:1].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 8:10) 8:10. He has now demonstrated what he expressed in Psa 8:2, that the name of Jahve whose glory is reflected by the heavens, is also glorious on earth. Thus, then, he can as a conclusion repeat the thought with which he began, in a wider and more comprehensive meaning, and weave his Psalm together, as it were, into a wreath.
It is just this Psalm, of which one would have least expected it, that is frequently quoted in the New Testament and applied to the Messiah. Indeed Jesus’ designation of Himself by , however far it may refer back to the Old Testament Scriptures, leans no less upon this Psalm than upon Dan 7:13. The use the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 2:6-8) makes of Psa 8:5 of this Psalm shows us how the New Testament application to the Messiah is effected. The psalmist regards man as one who glorifies God and as a prince created of God. The deformation of this position by sin he leaves unheeded. But both sides of the mode of regarding it are warranted. On the one hand, we see that which man has become by creation still in operation even in his present state; on the other hand, we see it distorted and stunted. If we compare what the Psalm says with this shady side of the reality, from which side it is incongruous with the end of man’s creation, then the song which treats of the man of the present becomes a prophecy of the man of the future. The Psalm undergoes this metamorphosis in the New Testament consciousness, which looks more to the loss than to that which remains of the original. In fact, the centre of the New Testament consciousness is Jesus the Restorer of that which is lost. The dominion of the world lost to fallen man, and only retained by him in a ruined condition, is allotted to mankind, when redeemed by Him, in fuller and more perfect reality. This dominion is not yet in the actual possession of mankind, but in the person of Jesus it now sits enthroned at the right hand of God. In Him the idea of humanity is transcendently realised, i.e., according to a very much higher standard than that laid down when the world was founded. He has entered into the state-only a little ( ) beneath the angels – of created humanity for a little while ( ), in order to raise redeemed humanity above the angels. Everything ( ) is really put under Him with just as little limitation as is expressed in this Psalm: not merely the animal kingdom, not merely the world itself, but the universe with all the ruling powers in it, whether they be in subjection or in hostility to God, yea even the power of death (1Co 15:27, cf. Eph 1:22). Moreover, by redemption, more than heretofore, the confession which comes from the mouth of little children is become a bulwark founded of God, in order that against it the resistance of the opponents of revelation may be broken. We have an example of this in Mat 21:16, where our Lord points the pharisees and scribes, who are enraged at the Hosanna of the children, to Psa 8:3. Redemption demands of man, before everything else, that he should become as a little child, and reveals its mysteries to infants, which are hidden from the wise and intelligent. Thus, therefore, it is , whose tongue is loosed by the Spirit of God, who are to put to shame the unbelieving; and all that this Psalm says of the man of the present becomes in the light of the New Testament in its relation to the history of redemption, a prophecy of the Son of man , and of the new humanity.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. How excellent is thy name A suitable refrain, in echo of Psa 8:1, after so lofty a tribute of honour to man and praise to God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘O YHWH, our lord,
How excellent is your name in all the earth.’
This repetition of Psa 8:1 again summarises a main purpose of the Psalm, to give glory to Israel’s God (and ours), and especially for the final restoration that He will bring about when He will be all in all.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Psalmist, after reciting the wonders of redemption in the person of him by whom all things are restored, makes a beautiful response to his own first exclamation of wonder and praise, and again extols Jehovah in the covenant mercies of redemption, as the object of adoration through all the earth. Hail, Lord of all! blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to him that was slain and now liveth forever. Amen.
REFLECTIONS
MY SOUL! pause over the wonders contained in this hymn of praise. Let him have all thy praise, and to him be all the glory offered, whom Jehovah delighted to honor. Contemplate Jesus the Mediator. Behold him set up from everlasting. See his goings forth for the salvation of his people. Trace the footsteps of his mercy in all that long train of revelations concerning him, when his name was secret, and when he stood forth in covenant engagements, but yet not having tabernacled in substance of our flesh, the Mediator of his people. Behold how he longed for the fulness of time to come, when he should become sin for his people, that his people might be made the righteousness of God in him. Wherefore, precious Jesus, (suffer me to ask thee) wherefore didst thou so often assume a visible appearance, when all the while to us thy name was secret; and wherefore didst thou present thyself before thy redeemed sometimes as a man, and sometimes as an angel? Was it not that, by such palpable testimonies, thou mightest show how much thou didst love thy church, thy spouse, the poor ruined nature of man? And wherefore was it, O thou Holy One of God! that thou didst thus manifest thyself otherwise than thou dost to the world, but to testify what a longing desire thou hadst to the work of redemption, which the Father gave thee to do, and which thou didst voluntarily undertake for the salvation of thy chosen? Oh! well may every redeemed soul cry out with the Prophet, What is man, that thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that thou visitest him? And wherefore is it now, dearest Lord, that since all power is thine in heaven and in earth, that thou still condescendest to regard the humblest, the poorest of thy people, but to show, equally so, that no change of place hath made any change in thine heart and thy love towards them. Having loved thine own which are in the world, thou lovest them unto the end. Oh! for grace, that this love, this favor, this mercy, this good will, may be carried in the rich streams of it from thy heart into mine. Oh! for grace to bow the knee, the whole soul, and body, and spirit, before thee, and to praise Jesus, who is the supreme Monarch of all creation. Oh! for grace to join this hymn of praise, and to sing aloud, with all the redeemed both in heaven and in earth, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name throughout the world, and whose glory is above the heavens!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 8:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!
Ver. 9. O Lord our Lord, &c. ] Prius incipit Propheta mirari quam loqui, et desinit loqui non mirari. The psalmist endeth as he began, transported with an ecstasy of admiration. So he begins and ends many of his psalms with Hallelujah. Between God and us the distance is infinite; and, if it were possible, our love and thankfulness should fill up that distance, and extend itself to infiniteness, saith a grave divine.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 8:9
9O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Psa 8:9 This Psalm ends as it began (Psa 8:1 b). The theme and major character of the Bible is God!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. How are the heavens and infants related?
2. Does YHWH have fingers?
3. Why is it theologically significant that YHWH creates the sun and moon?
4. How is man in Psa 8:4 a related to son of man in Psa 8:4 b?
5. Is man a little lower than the angels or God? Why?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Psa 8:1, Psa 104:24, Deu 33:26, Job 11:7
Reciprocal: Neh 10:29 – the Lord Psa 18:23 – upright Psa 57:11 – General Psa 118:12 – in the name Psa 135:13 – Thy name Psa 148:13 – for his name
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3. Concluding reflection on God’s majesty 8:9
The psalm closes with a repetition of the psalmist’s amazement at God’s marvelous ways in entrusting so much responsibility to insignificant humans (cf. Psa 8:1).
"The universe testifies to the power and glory of God but somewhat as a foil against which to measure the centrality of humankind in the divine design. But beyond this is the perfect One of whom men and women at their best are only a dim foreshadow-Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord." [Note: Merrill, "Psalms," p. 411.]
The whole psalm extols the majesty of God. He is a remarkable sovereign because He has entrusted His magnificent creation to feeble humankind. While this psalm points out the frailty and failures of man as God’s vice-regent, it also glorifies man as being the capstone of creation and God’s chief concern in creation. It is one of the greatest revelations of the dignity of man. [Note: See Swindoll, pp. 27-36, and Ronald B. Allen, The Majesty of Man: The Dignity of Being Human.]