PSALM EIGHT
WHAT IS MAN? 
 
  Psalm eight is a song of contrasts that strike a chord of awe in the
believer's heart.  It tells of the Glory of God in the heavens - and
the singing of little children.  The theme is very clear.  There is
something in man which is unique. 
  The first astonishing statement is that God has ordained strength out
of the mouths of babes and sucklings.  Elsewhere this phrase is
translated, "HE has ordained praise."  Speech is strength.  How
helpless you feel when you cannot communicate.  Even a babe can cry and
by that cry move the hearts of adults.  Young children can by their
very innocence rebuke the agnosticism of their elders.  The story is
told of a man who determined that his children should be atheists like
himself.  So he had a text printed which read, "God is nowhere!" 
Later, when his eldest child was learning to read, he overheard the boy
reading the text to his little sister.  "I can read now Mary.  See that
text Daddy put on the wall.  This is what it says.  G-o-d-,GOD, i-s is,
n-o-w- now, h-e-r-e here."  Man is unique in his verbal expression, no
other creature is able to communicate freely with speech as man does. 
Our strength is to Praise the Lord audibly.  
  The psalmist poses the question, what is frail man that God is
mindful of him, and the son of the red earth that God visits him?  In
all the universe, man is most frail.  Every sickness we suffer proves
this.  Millions can be wiped out by microbes.  The Glory of God is that
He is able to use the weak to confound the mighty.  Other creatures
have, for their strength, greater attributes than man has.  The young
of other creatures fend for themselves from birth, but poor man is
frail from the start.  Yet it is man that rules the earth. 
  In the spiritual hierarchy, man is at the bottom.  The psalmist says,
"Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."  But even here man
is unique in creation in that he is able to communicate in the
spiritual realm.  He is the only creature on earth who prays.  We
should never forget who we are.  The man who thinks he is an animal
usually acts like one.  There is plenty of evidence of human bestiality
in modern society.  It is time we took our proper place in the economy
of God.  Man is seen in the right manner when we consider his
relationship to God.  God is his creator - "Thou hast made him!"  God
is mindful of man.  We have one who cares for us.  We have one who
protects us.  We have one who will never forget us. 
  God visits men.  Contrary to the general opinion that God is
difficult to find, the problem is the other way round, God has sought
for centuries to make a satisfactory contact with man.  So much so that
in these last days He has spoken unto us by His Son.  
  In his song the psalmist says that God visits the 'son of man'.  The
implication here is that God reveals Himself to each successive
generation.  God has no grandchildren.  We are born of God by faith in
Jesus Christ.  Glory, honour, and dominion will be accorded to man. 
These are elements which you cannot take to yourself.  Self-honour,
self-glory, self-agrandizement, destroy real glory, honour and
dominion, and leave the individual looking like a fool. 
  Man is unique.  God loves him.  God's Son died for him.  By faith man
can become a son of God.



Copyright (c) 1995, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved.



----------------------------------------------------
file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-008.txt
.