Psalms 8:1 - Meaning and Application

The psalmist here sets out to give God the glory due to his name. Dr. Hammond suggests, from the title of this psalm, that David may have written it on the occasion of Goliath the Gittite, the Philistine giant he defeated and killed (1 Samuel 17). That enemy was silenced by one who seemed, by comparison, like a little child. The idea is possible, but it is weakened by the fact that two other psalms carry the same title, Psalms 81 and Psalms 84:1.

David admires two things here. First, he admires how clearly God displays his own glory, Psalm 8:1. He speaks to God with humility and reverence as Lord and as his people’s Lord: “O Lord, our Lord.” If we believe that God is the Lord, we should openly admit that he is ours. He is ours because he made us, protects us, and takes special care of us. He must be ours because we are bound to obey him and submit to him. We should own that relationship not only when we pray for mercy, but also when we praise him and seek to honor him.

David says, “How excellent is your name in all the earth!” God’s glory shines clearly even in this lower world. The works of creation and providence, God’s wise rule and care, show every person that there is an infinite Being, the source of all being, power, and perfection. They also show that he is the sovereign ruler, mighty protector, and generous giver of all creatures. His name is great, bright, and majestic in all the earth. The light of it shines before everyone (Romans 1:20), and if people close their eyes to it, that is their own fault. In every place there is some witness to God, whether by speech or by the way his works speak for themselves. This also points forward to the gospel of Christ, through which God’s name, once known mainly in Israel, was made known throughout the whole earth, to the farthest ends of it (Mark 16:15, 16).

God’s glory shines even more brightly in the upper world. “You have set your glory above the heavens.” God is far more glorious than the noblest creatures, even those that shine most brightly. We on earth only hear of God’s excellent name and praise that, but the angels and blessed spirits above see his glory and praise that directly. Even so, God is exalted far above their blessing and praise. In the exaltation of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of God, who is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the exact image of his person, God set his glory above the heavens, far above all powers and authorities.

Second, David admires how powerfully God proclaims his glory through the weakest of his creatures, Psalm 8:2. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have ordained strength,” or “perfected praise,” that is, the praise of your strength (Matthew 21:16). This shows God’s glory in the kingdom of nature. The care God takes of little children, who at birth are the most helpless of all animals, and the special protection and provision they receive, should lead every one of us to honor God. This is a great example of his power and goodness, made even more clear because we have all benefited from it. We owe our survival to this care, because otherwise we would have died at birth.

This also shows God’s glory in providence. In governing this lower world, he makes use of people, some who know him and some who do not (Isaiah 45:4), and these are all people who were once babes and sucklings. At times he is pleased to carry out his purposes through those who still seem, in wisdom and strength, little better than babes and sucklings. It also shows his glory in the kingdom of grace, the Messiah’s kingdom. Here it is foretold that the apostles, who were looked on as babes, unlearned and ignorant men (Acts 4:13), weak and despised, and through the seeming foolishness of their preaching, would overthrow the devil’s kingdom, as Jericho’s walls fell by the sound of rams’ horns. The gospel is called the arm of the Lord and the rod of his strength. It was given to work wonders, not through philosophers, orators, politicians, or statesmen, but through a group of poor fishermen, under the greatest outward disadvantages.

Even children cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” when the chief priests and Pharisees would not own him, but despised and rejected him. Our Savior applied this passage to that event (Matthew 21:16), and by it he silenced the enemy. At times God’s grace appears wonderfully in young children, teaching them knowledge and understanding even when they are just weaned from milk and taken from the breasts (Isaiah 28:9). At times God’s power brings great things to pass in his church through very weak and unlikely means, and so it confounds the noble, wise, and mighty by what the world calls base, weak, and foolish, so that no human being may boast before him. Then the excellence of the power is plainly seen to be from God, not from man (1 Corinthians 1:27, 28).

God does this because of his enemies, who are proud and insolent, so that he may silence them, put them to shame, and rightly judge those who oppose him. See Acts 4:14 and Acts 6:10. The devil is the great enemy and accuser, and through the preaching of the gospel he was greatly silenced. His oracles were shut up, the defenders of his cause were confounded, and even evil spirits were not allowed to speak.

As we sing this, let us give God the glory of his great name and of the great things he has done by the power of his gospel. In that gospel, the exalted Redeemer rides out conquering and to conquer, and he should be met not only with our praise, but with our best desires for his triumph. Praise is made complete, that is, God is glorified in the highest degree, when strength is appointed out of the mouth of babes and sucklings.