"God's Majesty"

Good morning, brothers and sisters. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Tyler. I'm one of the lay elders here at Trinity.

And it's a joy and privilege for me to be up here to bring you God's word. We've been going through numbers recently, but we're going to take a detour this Sunday, Lord willing, and we're going to be going through Psalm 8.

And normally I'm assigned a text to preach, but every so often I'll get the rare opportunity to choose a text. And I've had this text on my heart for several months now.

It's one of the most majestic psalms in the entire Psalter. And I believe it's an ancient word that speaks the time we find ourselves in today.

And my prayer is that you'll be encouraged by this psalm. So let's go to the Lord for help before we look at his word together.

Father in heaven, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Father, we pray that that would be made clear in this sermon. Father, would you open our eyes to see your wonderful majesty.

Open our ears to hear the glad tidings of the gospel. And Father, would you be glorified.

Father, give me freedom. Give me love. Father, help the truth to resound forth.

And Lord, would you draw all people to yourself by your son.

And would you get all the glory in our time together this morning.

Praise in Jesus' name. Amen.

Thank you.

Well, in a recent New York Times interview, former columnist Ross Douthit, a New Haven

resident, was interviewing Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley billionaire.

And Ross asked the question to Peter, would you prefer the human race to survive?

Thiel hesitates for a disturbingly long amount of time.

Well, I don't know.

Well, in all fairness to Peter, what to do with the human race has always been a very perplexing

question.

It's a question that's been raised in almost every age.

Almost 100 years ago, humans grappled with what to do with humanity coming out of World

War II, where the best and worst of humanity was on display.

And today, that same question is as relevant as ever.

For Peter and for many, humanity has run its course.

Humanity has now stagnated.

We need something new, something better.

A successor species.

A merger between our mind and a machine.

Let's transform humanity into something fundamentally different, something better.

We've stagnated, the thought goes.

Look at the cultural malaise.

The moral emptiness.

Fewer world-changing scientific discoveries.

Lower economic output.

Surely the universe would be much better off without humans as they currently exist.

If you listen to some of the current conversation, Peter Thiel is not alone.

Some argue that this is the only ethical thing to do to embrace this kind of engineered future.

I mean, how else are we going to reduce our carbon footprint on the earth?

What do you think about that?

Okay, well, maybe you wouldn't go as far in this bizarre techno-utopia where humans are eradicated.

But if you're like me, you find yourself asking a similar question.

What is humanity for?

What am I here for?

What should I aspire to in my life?

In an age of smartphones, screens, and social media, how can I flourish?

How can I help my kids steward these technologies?

Was I created to mindlessly scroll on the screen?

And with everything being created on TikTok like 10 minutes ago,

is there anything permanent that I can build my life upon?

How can I flourish in today's world?

Well, these are some of the questions I've been asking myself for a while now.

I'm sure some of you have been asking the same questions.

And I think Psalm 8 helps us here.

To get an answer, we're going to go back 3,000 years and look at this psalm,

which was written by a humble shepherd,

taking care of his sheep, and he looks up at the stars,

and he starts to think to himself,

Who am I?

What am I?

God, why would you even listen to me?

You are majestic, and I am just a little speck of dust.

And the words of Psalm 8 were formed in his mind.

So let me invite you to open Psalm 8.

It will be on the screen.

I don't have the page number for you.

Let's look at Psalm 8 together.

David writes this,

Oh Lord, our Lord.

How majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to steal the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

that you have set in place.

What is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings,

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the heavens,

and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the path of the seas.

Oh Lord, our Lord.

How majestic is your name in all the earth.

This is God's word.

Well, Psalm 8 is the first song of complete and total praise

in the book of Psalms.

From start to finish,

this psalm celebrates the majesty of God.

That's the main point in verse 1.

Oh Lord, our Lord.

How majestic is your name.

In all the earth.

If you look down at verse 9,

that question gets repeated.

That question sandwiches this entire psalm.

And God's majesty is the main point of this text.

David's great aim is that you and I would stand in awe

and worship of this majestic God.

What the rest of the psalm is going to unpack

and develop this thought,

David wants you to see why God is majestic.

And if you follow David's hymn of praise,

we'll look at this text in three parts.

The first part will be the greatness of God's name.

The second, the greatness of God's works.

Number three, the greatness of God's son.

So let's consider that first point together.

David considers the greatness of God's name.

He asks the question,

how majestic is your name in all the earth?

Now majesty, in effect,

means the name of God takes David's breath away.

God's name is his reputation.

His name is majestic.

Is it just in Jerusalem that God is majestic?

No.

His majesty is worldwide.

It is known in all the earth.

You know, even if you can move somehow

throughout the entire universe,

and you could somehow get to the very edge

of the universe,

God's glory wouldn't run out.

In verse one,

God's glory is even above the heavens.

The name of God takes David's breath away.

And David here begins with God's covenant name,

Yahweh.

Oh Lord.

You'll see in verse one in the English,

you'll notice that first word,

Lord,

is in all caps.

That's referring to the name that God gives himself

when God reveals himself out of the flames

in the burning bush to Moses.

You remember in Exodus chapter three,

Moses is tending the sheep of his father-in-law

on the backwoods of nowhere.

And suddenly he's confronted

with an astonishing sight.

A burning bush wasn't being consumed

and God begins to speak to him out of the bush.

And God tells Moses to go back to Egypt

as he will save his people out of slavery.

Moses says,

look,

I'm a nobody.

And he asked in verse 14,

but what if I come to the people of Israel

and say to them,

the God of your fathers has sent me to you.

And they ask me,

what is his name?

What shall I say to them?

God responds,

that I am,

that I am.

Yahweh.

That's what you're to say.

Tell them that I am sent you.

This is the God of Abraham,

of Isaac,

of Jacob,

the God of the covenant,

Yahweh.

I am who I am.

That's referring to God's raw existence.

I will be who I will be.

I don't change my identity.

There never was a time when I am was not.

God simply is.

He always was.

He had no beginning.

He had no middle.

And he will have no end.

God's existence depends on no one.

And what this means in Psalm 8

is that there's no place on the planet

that you are not totally supreme.

He is absolute reality.

There is none beside him.

God.

But then David continues.

Because he is not a distant God.

He is a personal one.

David says,

O Lord,

our Lord.

And he uses a different term.

The term Adonai.

Our Adonai.

And Adonai was an everyday personal title

that would have been used.

So when you had a human master,

you would call him Adonai.

Master.

Lord.

See, he's not only in absolute existence.

He's the very God who rules my everyday life.

He is not distant and far away.

No, in fact, he's near.

He acts in personal covenant relationship

with his people.

And David here is speaking on behalf

of the entire covenant people of God.

Our Lord.

It reminds me of the first line

of the Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God,

the Father Almighty.

A father.

A loving parent.

But then almighty.

A sovereign potentate.

God is both supreme king,

but he's also compassionate.

He is a king of glory.

The heavens cannot contain

the glory of this God.

You know, I did my undergrad years

in D.C.

And I remember being captivated

by the grandeur,

the greatness,

the glory of the city.

My dorm was on Foggy Bottom

right near the Lincoln Memorial.

And I've always enjoyed running,

so I would run around the Capitol

at night,

feeling like I was immersed in history.

You know, you see the lines

etched into the Lincoln Memorial,

things like this,

the government of the people,

by the people,

for the people,

shall not perish from the earth.

And the architecture,

the architecture was glorious,

designed to echo the glories

of ancient Rome.

I would walk around

the Capitol building,

giving tours,

and I'd say to myself,

this is where Lincoln,

this is where Adam stood.

How glorious is that?

But then I realized

those voices once booming

in those halls

are but a distant memory.

That glorious fleeting,

fading away.

Those elected to power

are here for a minute,

gone the next.

It's not just the elected leaders,

but America is fleeting

and fading.

What kind of glory

are you seeking

this morning?

To be known

in the halls

of political power,

maybe?

Success in the industry?

Athletic achievements?

Intellectual respect?

When all those things

will soon fade away

like a fading flower,

like a rainbow

that appears for a moment

and is soon gone.

But you see,

here in Psalm 8,

God's majesty

is not fleeting

nor is it fading.

This is what you can

build your life upon.

God's character,

God's essential nature

is glorious.

His intrinsic nature

is unsearchably majestic.

See, we human beings

were created for worship,

for praise.

Not that we would be praised,

but that we would find

our hearts,

our imaginations,

our minds

filled with the glory of God.

Isn't it the greatest

motivation for missions?

That all the peoples

of the earth

would have this

greatest joy

to see and savor

God's majestic name.

And this majesty

is unique,

as David will show us.

It's different.

It's paradoxical.

And the rest of the psalm

unpacks why.

And it leads us to point number two,

the greatness

of God's works.

In verse two,

out of the mouth

of babies

and infants,

you have established strength

because of your foes

to steal the enemy

and the inveterant.

That's odd.

It's paradoxical.

After just saying

the heavens

cannot contain

this majesty,

David shifts gears

and begins talking

to his enemies

in a moment.

He can just say,

you there,

I'm taking the breath

out of your lungs.

To dust you shall return.

Yet,

God chooses

to use

babies.

He uses babies

to triumph

over his enemies.

My daughter Sarah

turns one today.

Are we supposed

to understand

that babies

her age

are taking God's

enemies to the mat?

I mean,

kind of like turning

into the Hulk?

Don't make me angry.

You wouldn't like me

when I'm angry.

Okay,

my kids act like that

sometimes.

Are babies

suddenly a superhuman

strength and agility

to defeat God's foes?

No,

clearly not.

God doesn't use

babies because of

their strength,

wisdom,

or knowledge.

It's because God

chooses to use

those who are

weak,

those who are

low,

those who are

insignificant

in the world's eyes.

You see,

God doesn't use

raw power.

God chooses

to display

his power

in weakness

to silence

his enemies.

It's the same

principle that we find

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

God chooses

what is weak

in the world

to shame the strong.

Friend,

this is a deep

principle,

that God ordains

strength

from weakness.

Now,

as I was reflecting

on this,

I get up here

and I preach the word

every so often

and I feel like

inevitably

this point has

always come up.

Every time

it seems

that God is using

a weak creature

to accomplish

his ends.

I think it's

because this

is a truth

that's evident

on every page

of the Bible.

God's strength

in our weakness

is a topic

I could preach

from any page

of the Bible

because that's

how he acts.

And commentators

note that David

here may be using

figurative language

of babies

to refer to

the people

of Israel,

weak in comparison

to the surrounding

nations.

And through

these insignificant

small people,

God reveals

his majesty.

I think that's

right.

Friend,

can you say

that God

ordained strength

in your weakness?

Now,

many of you

are familiar

with this psalm.

Some of you

have even memorized

it.

And we can recite

verse 1

and we mean it.

God's name

is majestic.

O Lord,

our Lord,

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

We can say it

in good times

and we mean it.

When that bonus

check,

where the tax

refunds

hits the bank

account,

we say,

O Lord,

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

When that cancer

screening comes

back negative,

we praise God.

When you finally

get recognized

for something,

or ladies,

when that guy

finally works up

the courage

to ask you

on a date,

or even better,

proposes,

God,

I praise you,

how majestic

is your name

in all the earth.

But what about

when the times

aren't good?

What about

the times

when you feel

weak,

when the bank

account is empty?

When those

relationships,

they're falling

apart.

When you're

in a desperately

dark place,

you're helpless,

you're like a baby,

all you can do

is cry out.

I think David

knew firsthand

what that was like.

Because if you look

at the surrounding

psalm,

you'll find

Psalm 8 lives

in a very

troubled neighborhood.

And to the left

of the house,

in the neighborhood,

there are lots

of problems,

lots of pain.

From Psalm 4

to 7,

David is distressed.

He's facing slander.

His enemies

are hunting him

down.

He's emotionally

exhausted.

He's crying

himself to sleep

at night

in Psalm 6.

And to the right

of Psalm 8,

you'll find

even more problems.

And here

in Psalm 8,

we see that

David's reflecting

that God

can ordain

strength

from his weakness.

David knew

that God

can use

weak,

vulnerable,

helpless babies

to defeat

his foes.

And we can

praise him

even in our

weakness.

It's interesting

that Jesus

quotes this

passage

in his triumphal

entry into

Jerusalem

to make that

very same point.

In the Septuagint,

the Greek translation

of the Old Testament,

it reads

that out of

the mouth

of babies

and infants

you have

produced

praise

because of

your foes

and still

the enemies

and the

Avengers.

And it's

the Septuagint

that Jesus

quotes.

You remember

when he

makes his

triumphal entry

into Jerusalem

and the cloaks

are put out

on the floor

and people

are yelling

out,

Hosanna!

Hosanna!

Jesus goes

in and cleanses

the temple

of money changers

and thieves.

In the temple,

children are

yelling out,

praise!

Hosanna!

to the son

of David.

And the

reaction

from Jesus'

enemies,

the chief

priests

and the

scribes

is anger,

indignant.

And Jesus

quotes,

have you never

read?

And he quotes

Psalm 8.

In other words,

he's saying,

it is right for

them to praise

me because it's

right for people

of all ages

to praise God.

No matter what

anyone else

says,

David is saying,

the praise

of the weak

is going

to be used

to drown

out the

threats of

God's enemies.

His name,

his character

is our

protection.

God can

produce praise

from babies.

And David

doesn't just

stop there

and look at

the greatness

of God's

works.

He looks

in two

additional

directions

to reveal

God's

majesty.

To the

heavens

and to

humans.

First,

let's consider

the heavens

in verse

3.

When I

look at

your heavens,

the work

of your

fingers,

the moon

and the

stars which

you have

set in

place,

what is

man that

you are

mindful of

him,

and the

son of

man that

you care

for him?

Think

with me

for a

moment about

the splendor

of a

single

star.

Consider

the sun,

a star

that is

93 million

miles from

earth.

On the

sun,

there are

these

things called

sunspots,

violent

hurricanes that

happen on

the surface

of the

sun.

And late

last year,

scientists

detected one

of these

hurricanes on

the sun

was larger

than 10

earths put

together.

And this

powerful storm

creates an

explosive release

of solar

flares.

And the

release can

move 5

million miles

per hour.

It's so

intense,

these massive

solar storms

can cause

blackouts

here on

earth.

And that's

just the

sun.

There are

stars 2,000

times the

size of

the sun.

God

created all

of these

stars.

All of

this was

the work

of God's

finger.

The divine

digits create

the stars.

Now, of

course, God

doesn't physically

have fingers.

Fingers are

a figurative

way of

describing,

expressing his

capabilities.

How great

is his

power.

And this

was light

work for

God.

He didn't

grow weary

when creating

trillions of

stars.

He didn't

need to

enlist

volunteers at

a work

day.

He didn't

need heavy

machinery.

He created

the sun,

moon,

and stars

with his

finger.

How can

he declare

this is

the case?

Well, it's

because David

reads the

Bible, isn't

it?

David is

looking up at

creation with

his Bible

open in

his other

hands.

And he's

reading Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

He had eyes

of faith and

he saw that

God's

fingerprints were

all over how

he created

the world.

And the idea

of God's

fingers doesn't

just show his

power, it

also shows

his skill,

his craftsmanship

in how he

creates.

God's

creation is a

skillful work

of God's

fingers.

It's like the

way an expert

pianist is

able to

command every

joint,

tendon,

muscle,

and their

fingers to

strike the

key at

just the

right time.

Lifting their

fingers at

just the

right moment

to strike the

next key,

to give a

melody the

right emphasis.

And so the

listener can

savor the

subtle brilliance

of the music

of a pianist.

Or it's like

the expert

brush stroke of

a painter on

the canvas.

Or a way a

woodworker is

able to craft

a piece of

furniture using

a chisel when

cutting with

the grain.

God is a

craftsman.

And if you

read the

psalms,

it's true

just how the

psalms are

written.

God is a

poetic lyricist

employing rhyme

schemes in

his word.

God is an

artist that

crafts things

with skill.

If you pay

attention to

some of the

conversation

around AI

these days,

one of the

hopes is that

this technology

will produce

greater productivity.

And with that,

the hope is that

one day,

AI will deliver

us from the

drudgery and

boredom of

working.

More leisure,

less work.

Now, maybe

for some of you

who are working

ridiculous hours,

that will serve

you very well.

But I think we've

come to a point

in our culture

where we view

work as we do

it just enough

to support our

play.

Where heaven

will be one

long vacation.

You know,

Islam's view

of heaven

involves no

working.

It's just a

never-ending

vacation.

A vacation

for Muslim

men.

Sorry, ladies.

A type of

vacation that's

so explicit I

can't describe it

in detail to

you.

It's TGIF

except the F

never stops.

But, you

know, work

is a function

of God's

good creation.

Our creativity

in how we

work is a

part of being

made in the

image of God.

God is a

craftsman.

So, if you're

younger here,

aim to learn

a craft.

He has

created you

to work

excellently,

honestly,

creatively.

And for those

of you who

are working,

ask yourself

if your use

of AI is

helping you

do that.

Or is it

helping you

becoming a

more excellent

sub-creator

in imaging

God?

Now, this

will depend

on the

task and

what industry

you're in.

But ask

yourself,

is this

tool

helping me

be a

craftsman,

learning a

craft to

image God

and how

I'm working?

See, David

could look up

at the sky

and he saw

God's

craftsmanship.

But, you

know, from

the macro

to the very

micro,

the cosmos

teemed with

complexity,

with design,

with beauty.

You know,

how much more

can we see

this at the

molecular level?

You know,

preparing for

this sermon,

I spoke to

a couple of

Yale-trained

scientists who

are experts in

cellular biology,

and I asked

them, where do

you see God's

craftsmanship as

you observe God's

good creation?

And they had a

bunch of

examples.

They both

mention the

amazing proteins

in our body,

ATP synthesis.

Apparently,

there are these

microscopic turbines

that exist within

your cells that are

spinning thousands

of times per minute

in order to produce

energy for your

body.

It's pretty

amazing, isn't

it?

They mention the

information-carrying

capacity of DNA.

It's stunning.

One human body

holds vastly more

information than

all the data of

the tech giants.

The Amazon,

Facebook, Google,

all that data

together pales in

comparison to the

amount of data

that your DNA

holds.

If you've

translated all the

books ever written

into DNA, you

could put

everything on a

hard drive the

size of a

teaspoon.

God's creation

is teeming with

complexity, with

his craftsmanship.

And scientists

can answer the

how, the why,

and the when

sometimes, but

scientists can't

tell you the who

and the why.

We have copyright

law because we

care about who

gets credit for

a work of art.

The entire

universe displays

the ingenuity of

the creator's

artistry and how

he's created the

world.

The universe

declares who

God is.

The stars are

chorus singing

his majesty.

Psalm 19 says

the heavens declare

the glory of God.

They declare it,

they sing it,

they testify,

they proclaim,

they shout,

this God is

glorious.

Let me ask you,

you, if you

aren't reaching

this crescendo

of praise that

David is reaching

here, where are

you looking?

David says,

when I look at

the work of

your hands.

And so often

our praise is

tied to where

we are looking.

In our modern

life, how many

of us, rather

than looking up

at the cosmos,

we look down.

We look down

at our screens,

it gets dark

outside, we flip

our lights on, we

go inside, we

start watching TV.

All of us,

myself included,

will be so well

served if we

found opportunities

to look at

God's good

creation more,

and to receive

God's creation

as a gift,

which glorifies

him.

Now, I love

Basil of

Caesarea once,

one of the

Capendocian

fathers once

said this,

I want creation

to penetrate

you so much,

with so much

admiration,

that everywhere,

wherever you may

be, that each

plant may bring

to you the

clear remembrance

of our creator.

May that be so.

Receive God's

creation,

the witness

of creation

that glorifies

their creator.

And David

doesn't just

stop looking,

he doesn't

stop at the

heavens, he

looks at

something even

more glorious,

something even

greater than

the heavens.

He shifts his

focus to

humans.

And David

sees a contrast

in verse 4.

What is man?

The vastness

of space, he

looks down at

his puny

finger, there's

no contest.

Outwardly, we

pale in comparison

to the pristine

beauty of the

heavens.

Aren't we just

specks of dust

in the vastness?

We're tiny.

We have no

significance

whatsoever.

Now this

same sentiment

was expressed

recently by the

astronauts in the

recent Artemis

2 mission, for

those of you who

followed it.

In April of this

year, NASA

performed the

Artemis 2

mission, which

launched humans

the furthest

into space than

we've ever gone.

They went into

the dark side of

the moon.

like a Pink Floyd

song.

And during the

mission, the

astronauts observed

a total eclipse

as the sun

disappeared behind

the moon.

And all they

could see was a

bright halo.

At a news

conference afterward,

the crew said

they felt

infinitesimally

small.

They felt

fragile.

They didn't have

the vocabulary to

describe what

they saw.

The chief broke

down into tears.

He needed to

talk to somebody

about what he

saw in space.

That's what David

experiences in

verse 4.

He feels his

smallness.

But amazingly,

in verse 4, he

knows this

transcendent God

whose glory is

above the heavens

is mindful of

him, of us,

of you.

He cares.

Notice it's not

whether you care

for us.

He knows that

God does.

Do you live in

wonder that God

is mindful of

you?

If not,

pray.

Pray that God

helps you to

feel your

smallness.

That's

humility.

Make little of

me, God,

and so be amazed

at God's care of

you.

And if you

double-click on

that word care,

in verse 4,

it means to

visit, in the

sense that God

takes careful

notice of you and

comes to your

aid when in

trouble.

The God who

is transcendent,

he is imminent.

He is near, he

is close, he is

not far away.

But sometimes

it's hard to see,

isn't it?

It's hard to

believe that God

cares for you,

especially when

you're experiencing

pain, like David

was.

I mean, you feel

the pain of a

broken past.

You look in the

mirror and you

think to yourself,

I'm made in the

image of my past

wounds.

But God is like

the owner and the

manager.

of everything that

exists in the

entire world.

He is not too

busy to take

notice of you.

He is mindful of

you.

He cares enough to

keep your heart

beating and your

lungs pumping oxygen

every moment of

every day.

He cares enough to

bend down and hear

your prayer when you

call upon it.

Why?

Why does God take

notice of us?

We're like little

worms, grasshoppers.

Well, David answers

his own question in

verse 5.

David sees the

dignity of humanity

in the exalted

place of honor and

glory given to

every human.

Know the terms in

verse 5 that he

uses?

Yet a little lower

than heavenly

beings?

Where men and

women are just a

little bit below the

exalted status of

the heavenly courts.

You have crowned

him with honor and

glory?

humanity owns a

place of dignity and

honor.

Glory even.

Back in verse 1,

David talks about

God's own glory.

His own intrinsic

glory.

You have set your

glory above the

heavens.

How can it be that

you and I have

glory?

Well, David again

here is reflecting on

Genesis 1.

He knew his Bible.

It's because we were

stamped with the

royal image of the

glorious God.

When God said,

let us make man in

our image after our

likeness, he was

designing us, friends,

to reflect his glory

in the way that

heavens could never

do.

Humans are distinct.

They're special.

They're full of

dignity and worth.

What does it mean to

be crowned with glory

and honor?

Well, it's exposit

in verse 6.

He has given us

something that he has

not given to any

other being.

He created us as

image bearers to have

dominion.

God's authority and

rule would be mediated

by humans.

He would establish

his kingdom through

his human

representatives, the

vice regents.

Think about like a

vice president acting

on behalf of a

president.

We are to exercise

dominion in his

stead.

Now, he didn't leave

this task to angels.

He didn't program

robots to carry the

function.

He made us to

carry out this

mission.

Weak humanity is

called to rule the

universe.

You know, I was able

to exercise dominion

this week by organizing

my sock drawer.

Order from absolute

chaos.

And you could do the

same thing.

The smallest thing has

significance, friends.

Take out the garbage,

make your bed,

organize your sock drawer.

The way you work is

exercising God's

dominion in the

earth.

And to know the

value of something,

isn't it true that

you need to know what

that thing is for?

Let's say we could

travel back in time,

hop at a time machine

and you could bring

your smartphone with

you.

And suppose we went

back to the year

1825 and you left

your smartphone on the

ground for someone to

find.

And someone traveling

by horse and buggy

just happened to pick

it up.

And they look at it

and think, what in the

world is this thing

for?

Well, it must be a

small mirror.

So they put it and

they start looking at

the reflection and

you're on the phone.

Well, maybe it's used

as something to hold

a candle on.

Or maybe a coaster to

hold my drink.

No, that's not what

it's used for.

You don't know the

value of something

unless you understand

what it's meant to

be used for.

And we have to know

what God made us

for, to know the

value of who we are

as human beings.

You know, Calvin, in

the opening line of

his work, The

Institutes, wrote

this.

Our wisdom, insofar as

it ought to be deemed

true and solid wisdom,

consists almost entirely

of two parts.

Number one, the

knowledge of God.

And number two,

and of ourselves.

To know ourselves,

friend, we need to

have knowledge of God.

And to reject the

knowledge of God is to

degrade your own

humanity.

You know, oftentimes

we want to create our

own identity apart from

God.

Because we don't see the

beauty of who God

created us to be, made

in his image.

We think, if I can just

insert whatever, my

body, my job, my

spouse, if I can just

change those things,

then I'll feel very

valuable and worthy.

But what's the most

important thing about

you is that you were

created in God's image.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that you

were created with

dignity and honor?

That every single human

being carries this same

glory and honor?

Many don't.

Maybe look at Peter

Singer, a very low view

of humanity.

If it came between

saving the life of a

disabled child or a

fully healthy Labrador,

well, the decision's

easy.

The lab wins every

time.

Now, we might chafe at

that undervaluing of

humanity.

But do we functionally

act the same way?

That a dog is more

valuable than an image

bearer of God?

If you believe this, how

does this change how you

treat people?

You cannot worship and

glorify the majesty of

God and then treat his

creation with contempt.

God's grace.

When you are carrying a

grudge and you say, I

can't stand him or her.

When you ridicule someone

when you find out who

they voted for in the

last election.

Parents, when you lash out

at your children.

Parents, do you understand

that our children are made

in God's image with

dignity and honor even

when they're smaller than

us?

When you dismiss people,

people who can't help

you, old folks, special

needs folks, poor folks,

the unborn being butchered,

and you say, ah, that

ain't nothing.

You are dismissing those

who have a place of honor

in God's sight.

1 John 4, verse 20, it

1 John 4:20

says,

You know, it seems here

that the psalm is tying

the greatness of God's

works and recognizing

that greatness with the

worship of God as

creator.

How you look at God's

works, his heavens or

his humans, affects the

way you look at God as

creator.

If you don't love people

made in God's image,

friend, you don't love

God.

Some of you are thinking,

well, what you're saying

is kind of true, but

isn't there more to the

story, though, Tyler?

I mean, what about sin?

What about evil?

I mean, look at the

world around you.

Turn on the news,

Tyler.

There are tsunamis,

there are hurricanes,

there are wildfires.

We haven't exercised

dominion over the earth.

Isn't Peter Thiel

right?

Humans have stagnated.

Things are so terribly

wrong.

Well, that's the last

point, the greatness of

God's Son in verse 7a,

and David addresses this.

And of course, Adam did

fail, and sin entered the

world.

Sin has defaced, but

friend, it has not erased

God's image in sinners.

So we are made in the

image of God with dignity.

Yes, yes we are, but we

are sinners deserving of

hell and God's wrath.

That is true.

We rebel in ways that the

sun and moon and stars

never have.

And as descendants of

Adam and Eve, we are

prone to shout out,

how majestic is my name

and all the earth, as you

look in the mirror.

David knew this.

He saw it in his own

life.

And like Adam, he failed

to exercise this God-given

dominion over the earth.

But you see, he is painting

a portrait of what humanity

ought to be.

This is poetry from David.

And despite our sin, God

is committed to making his

name majestic throughout the

whole earth.

God made a binding covenant

with David, a promise, a

solemn promise, that one day

his line, there would come a

king who would exercise

perfect dominion.

That is the story of the

Bible.

God will silence his enemies.

And in Hebrews 2, the author

tells us this.

The author sees a set of

contrasts, just like we see.

He says, we don't yet see

this reality where humans

are exercising perfect

dominion.

But we see the one who

went before us, a

forerunner who did exercise

perfect dominion.

Jesus, far superior than

anything that came before

him.

He is far superior than any

king in the line of David.

And David knew that one day

God would bring down his

foe and the avenger.

Look at verse 2 again.

It's interesting, isn't it,

that David uses the enemy

in the singular, echoing

that single enemy that

slithered into the garden,

and then God promising to

crush that serpent's head.

And I love the way Jim

Hamilton put it.

He says this, God answered

Satan's triumphant roar

with a baby's cry.

out of the mouth of babies

and infants, you have

established strength because

of your foes, to steal the

enemy and the avenger.

You see, in the fullness of

time, Yahweh became a man

to execute a divine rescue

plan, the one who made all

things.

This one whose glory cannot be

contained.

The one who made this moon,

the sun, the stars, and given

them splendor.

The one who made us, who

made you, this king of glory,

of grace.

He took the form of a servant.

See, in Christ Jesus, the

eternal Son of God, who was

the radiance of the glory of

God, the exact imprint of his

nature, he did what no one

else could do.

See, Christ was the perfect

man.

He left the eternal realm of

majesty, and he did what David

describes here.

He exercised perfect dominion

when he took on human flesh.

He did what no one could do

since Adam.

He never sins.

See, he lived the perfect life

for you and me.

Jesus, the true king, crowned

with all glory and honor, took a

crown of thorns.

The one who set his glory in the

heavens, who hung the stars, the

moon, and the sky.

He himself was hung high in the

sky on a cross.

And was not his majesty on full

display as he hung there?

As he hung on the cross, he came

to give you and I a new creation.

He came to redeem what sin has

broken, to bring many sons and

daughters to glory.

And he will save you, friend.

He will set you free to praise him

with the psalmist, to save all

people everywhere if they turn from

sin and put their trust in him.

And on the third day, he rose

again from the dead.

And he's crowned with glory, honor,

and majesty.

He is the true and better David,

who is reigning forever.

And as the author of Hebrews says,

we don't yet see it now, but one

day we will.

We see the one who went before us.

We see him who, for a little while,

was made lower than the angels.

Namely, Jesus, crowned with glory

and honor because of the suffering

of death.

So that by the grace of God, he might

taste death for everyone.

See, this God is a God of grace.

That's why he's majestic.

Who is a God like him?

A king who would die for his enemies?

Whose grace is so rich and free?

Oh, friend, there is none but him.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name

in all the earth.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you that you,

God, are a majestic God.

God, your glory is above the heavens.

O Father, you've made your glory known to us

in your son.

Father, would we look to him today?

Help us to look to Jesus and define

our ultimate satisfaction in him.

O Father, would you raise us up

to newness of life,

that we would walk as image bearers of God,

doing the work that you've given us to do.

Father, we pray that you would be glorified

even now, in Jesus' name.

Amen.