O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8:1 opens a Messianic psalm with worship. David does not begin with man, creation, or the dominion later given to the Son of man. He begins with Jehovah and the excellence of His name. The New Testament makes the psalm’s Messianic character certain. Christ applied verse 2 to the praise of the children in the temple (Matthew 21:16), Hebrews applies verses 4-6 to Jesus crowned with glory and honour (Hebrews 2:6-9), and Paul uses the same dominion language of Christ (I Corinthians 15:27). The opening praise therefore leads to Christ.
“O LORD.” David addresses Jehovah directly. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the ancient Hebrew tetragrammaton, JHVH. This is not a general meditation about deity. It is worship directed to the living God who has revealed Himself. Much of Psalm 8 speaks of man, the son of man, dominion, sheep, oxen, beasts, fowl, and fish. Yet the first and last verses fix the center: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (v.9). Man’s appointed glory exists to magnify God’s name, not to compete with it.
“Our Lord.” The worshippers confess His mastery, authority, rule, and possession, and they confess it as their own. David does not say only that Jehovah is Lord in some abstract sense. He says our Lord. This is a confession of submission. To call God our Lord while resisting His commandments would be a contradiction. Jesus asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). If He is our Lord, His word governs us.
The confession fits the Messianic character of the psalm. When the children cried in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David, and the chief priests were sore displeased, Christ received their praise by quoting this psalm: “And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Matthew 21:16). He accepted praise that belongs to God. The New Testament brings the glory of this psalm to Him.
“How excellent.” David does not say only that God’s name is good or worthy. He speaks in wonder. God’s name surpasses all earthly names because He surpasses every creature. Excellence here is not human prestige, reputation, or popularity. It belongs to God because of what He is. His power, wisdom, holiness, truth, mercy, judgment, and dominion are without equal. “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).
This should govern worship. Low thoughts of God produce weak praise. If His name is excellent, worship should not be casual, distracted, or shaped by human taste. The heart should rise in admiration. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).
“Is thy name.” God’s name represents Him as He has revealed Himself: His identity, character, authority, and glory. His people praise the God they know by revelation, not one invented by imagination. False ideas about God are therefore not harmless. To attach God’s name to things He has not revealed dishonors Him. “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). The glory due to His name is determined by who He is.
The New Testament heightens this truth in Christ. God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that every knee should bow, “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). Psalm 8 begins with the excellence of Jehovah’s name, and the exalted Christ receives the confession that belongs to that divine glory.
“In all the earth.” The excellence is universal. Jehovah’s name is not excellent in Israel only, nor in one sanctuary, language, people, or age. Every nation lives under His rule, every creature depends upon His power, and every land owes Him praise. The psalm will extend the dominion of the son of man over the works of God’s hands, the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea (vv.6-8). The name of Christ was afterward published among the nations: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“Who hast set.” God Himself has appointed the display of His glory. His glory is not something men confer upon Him. He does not become glorious through human recognition. We do not add glory to God as though He lacked it; we acknowledge, publish, and praise the glory He already possesses. “And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 72:19).
“Thy glory.” Glory is the manifested greatness, majesty, honour, and excellence of God. The heavens declare it, but the verse says His glory is set above them. Creation displays Him without containing Him. Men are tempted to worship impressive created things because they can see them. Scripture directs the eye beyond them: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). The created order is evidence, not deity.
“Above the heavens.” The verse lifts the worshipper higher than the highest visible creation. God is not contained within the universe He made. Solomon confessed that the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him (I Kings 8:27). The New Testament shows the same height in Christ. Hebrews says, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:9), and Paul says He ascended up far above all heavens (Ephesians 4:10).
Begin where David began, with God Himself. Let creation humble you, let Christ’s exaltation enlarge your praise, and let the first and last confession of this psalm govern everything between them. Worship the LORD our Lord, whose name is excellent in all the earth, and confess with every tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8:1 opens a Messianic psalm with worship. David does not begin with man, creation, or the dominion later given to the Son of man. He begins with Jehovah and the excellence of His name. The New Testament makes the psalm’s Messianic character certain. Christ applied verse 2 to the praise of the children in the temple (Matthew 21:16), Hebrews applies verses 4-6 to Jesus crowned with glory and honour (Hebrews 2:6-9), and Paul uses the same dominion language of Christ (I Corinthians 15:27). The opening praise therefore leads to Christ.
“O LORD.” David addresses Jehovah directly. LORD in all capital letters is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the ancient Hebrew tetragrammaton, JHVH. This is not a general meditation about deity. It is worship directed to the living God who has revealed Himself. Much of Psalm 8 speaks of man, the son of man, dominion, sheep, oxen, beasts, fowl, and fish. Yet the first and last verses fix the center: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (v.9). Man’s appointed glory exists to magnify God’s name, not to compete with it.
“Our Lord.” The worshippers confess His mastery, authority, rule, and possession, and they confess it as their own. David does not say only that Jehovah is Lord in some abstract sense. He says our Lord. This is a confession of submission. To call God our Lord while resisting His commandments would be a contradiction. Jesus asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). If He is our Lord, His word governs us.
The confession fits the Messianic character of the psalm. When the children cried in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David, and the chief priests were sore displeased, Christ received their praise by quoting this psalm: “And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Matthew 21:16). He accepted praise that belongs to God. The New Testament brings the glory of this psalm to Him.
“How excellent.” David does not say only that God’s name is good or worthy. He speaks in wonder. God’s name surpasses all earthly names because He surpasses every creature. Excellence here is not human prestige, reputation, or popularity. It belongs to God because of what He is. His power, wisdom, holiness, truth, mercy, judgment, and dominion are without equal. “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).
This should govern worship. Low thoughts of God produce weak praise. If His name is excellent, worship should not be casual, distracted, or shaped by human taste. The heart should rise in admiration. “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).
“Is thy name.” God’s name represents Him as He has revealed Himself: His identity, character, authority, and glory. His people praise the God they know by revelation, not one invented by imagination. False ideas about God are therefore not harmless. To attach God’s name to things He has not revealed dishonors Him. “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). The glory due to His name is determined by who He is.
The New Testament heightens this truth in Christ. God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that every knee should bow, “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). Psalm 8 begins with the excellence of Jehovah’s name, and the exalted Christ receives the confession that belongs to that divine glory.
“In all the earth.” The excellence is universal. Jehovah’s name is not excellent in Israel only, nor in one sanctuary, language, people, or age. Every nation lives under His rule, every creature depends upon His power, and every land owes Him praise. The psalm will extend the dominion of the son of man over the works of God’s hands, the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea (vv.6-8). The name of Christ was afterward published among the nations: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
“Who hast set.” God Himself has appointed the display of His glory. His glory is not something men confer upon Him. He does not become glorious through human recognition. We do not add glory to God as though He lacked it; we acknowledge, publish, and praise the glory He already possesses. “And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 72:19).
“Thy glory.” Glory is the manifested greatness, majesty, honour, and excellence of God. The heavens declare it, but the verse says His glory is set above them. Creation displays Him without containing Him. Men are tempted to worship impressive created things because they can see them. Scripture directs the eye beyond them: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). The created order is evidence, not deity.
“Above the heavens.” The verse lifts the worshipper higher than the highest visible creation. God is not contained within the universe He made. Solomon confessed that the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him (I Kings 8:27). The New Testament shows the same height in Christ. Hebrews says, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:9), and Paul says He ascended up far above all heavens (Ephesians 4:10).
Begin where David began, with God Himself. Let creation humble you, let Christ’s exaltation enlarge your praise, and let the first and last confession of this psalm govern everything between them. Worship the LORD our Lord, whose name is excellent in all the earth, and confess with every tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.