God's Glory on the Earth

And Psalm 8, page 546.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise,

because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider 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, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him little lower than the heavenly beings,

and crowned him with honour and glory.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands.

You put everything under his feet.

All flocks and herds, all the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,

all that swim in the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Hebrews 2, verses 5-9, page 1202.

Hebrews 2:5–9

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come,

about which we are speaking.

But there is a place where someone has testified.

What is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the angels.

You crowned him with glory and honour,

and put everything under his feet.

In putting everything under him,

God left nothing that is not subject to him.

Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him,

but we see Jesus,

who is made a little lower than the angels,

now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death,

so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Thank you very much,

Maeve and Graeve.

Bless Ralph to come up now.

This is Ralph coming up.

Ralph is one of our elders here in the church,

and while John is away he is kind of in charge.

We can behave ourselves even, but John is over.

Absolutely.

You don't need me around for that.

Hopefully not.

Okay.

Ralph is going to be speaking to us from Psalm 8.

Just before you speak, Ralph,

will you pray to us?

Sure.

Let's pray.

Lord, again, we just thank you for gathering us here this morning.

We thank you for your word, Lord,

and thank you for the fact that we can have it

and read it freely, Lord,

without any fear of persecution or anything like that, Lord.

We just thank you now for Ralph, Lord,

and pray that you would speak to us through him, Lord.

And pray that you would bless what he has to say to us, Lord,

and what you are going to say through him, Lord.

We just pray that you would anoint him with your Holy Spirit

and us as well, Lord, as we listen to him, Lord.

Again, Lord, we just are so grateful for having people like Ralph in the church, Lord,

who are able to speak from your word,

and we just thank you for that, Lord.

Now, again, we just would ask that you would help us to concentrate, Lord,

and to take in what it is that you want to say to us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Good morning, everyone.

Thank you, Ian, for leading this morning

and for fitting in so well with the theme that we're going to look at

from Psalm chapter 8 this morning.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

I was just really struck by the songs that we were singing,

how appropriate they are when we look and when we delve into Psalm 8,

speaking of the wonder of Christ who came from heaven,

came to earth to be our substitute

and to restore us to our rightful position as God's people.

So we're going to turn, as I said, to Psalm chapter 8, page 546.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

We're continuing our summer series,

reading through the Psalms together.

Last week, for those who were here,

Ted Kelly reminded us of the death of the Psalms.

And he shared a really helpful little quote from,

or a little idea from Martin Luther,

that the Psalms are really, they're like a little Bible.

And what Luther means is that the Psalms,

they capture the whole story of the Bible.

Jesus used the Psalms to teach his followers all about himself.

The Psalms, they're just full of the promise of Jesus,

God's forever king.

So even though they were written a thousand years before Jesus ever came,

they speak fully of Jesus and who he is

and what he would be like when he came.

So this morning we're going to come to Psalm 8

and we're going to unpack the story of these nine verses together.

And I hope that in unpacking these nine verses of Psalm 8

that we will see the big story of the Bible.

So we're going to do the unfolding,

we're going to do the unpacking in four parts

or four chapters if you like.

The first one is that God shows his glory.

The second thing we're going to see is that God shares his glory.

Thirdly, we shame his glory.

And finally, God saves for his glory.

So this is the storyline as we're going to work through it this morning.

This is just to help us see where we're going

in case you get bogged down in the middle

and wonder if I'm ever going to end over the four-hour sermon.

So like all good stories, in Psalm 8,

we have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

And in this case, where we start and where we're going to finish up

is going to be the same, isn't it, if we look at Psalm 8.

King David gives us two identical bookends

that hold the whole story together.

It's that great phrase, isn't it?

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth.

It's a shout of praise about God

who is described as the Lord, the ruler.

It's speaking of God's name, this phrase, isn't it?

His reputation, if you like.

It's bigger.

It's better than anything else in all of the earth.

And this bookend, it's clearly important to the story of Psalm 8

that we understand this shout of praise,

these bookends from David.

So what do they mean?

How or why should God's name be majestic in all the earth?

We shouldn't take that for granted.

Why is that the case?

And David explains the reason for his praise

by retelling an old, old story.

In fact, he tells us the oldest story,

the story of creation.

Now, just a little aside,

when I speak of the word story,

I don't mean some kind of fairy tale.

I don't mean some kind of embellished retelling

of something that happened in the past.

We routinely tell the little kids,

you know, oh, it's only a story,

you know, and that kind of throwaway phrase.

And we have to be thoughtful and careful

how we speak, not just to our children,

but as we listen to a sermon this morning

and what I say.

So when I say story,

I don't mean a fairy tale.

For the story that we're looking at is a real story,

it's a deep story,

and it's a true story.

One that we can see the truth of

as we look all around us in creation.

So as we look closely,

we see that the main part of Psalm 8

is a poetic retelling, if you like,

of chapters 1 and chapter 2 of Genesis,

the creation account.

So in verse 1,

we read about the heavens and the earth in Psalm 8.

In verse 3,

we're told of really the creation of the sun

and the moon and the stars.

Verse 7 mentions the animals,

the birds and the fish.

And finally,

verse 8 speaks and reminds us of man and woman

being created in God's likeness

who were to rule over the earth.

People were created in the image of God.

Therefore, we can talk about people

being God's image bearers,

those that bear God's image on the earth,

the highlight of creation.

So we can't not read Psalm 8

and hear that echo of the creation story.

The echoes of the wonder

and the glory of the early chapters of Genesis.

And it's from the second part of verse 1

that we get our heading

for the first part of this story

within Psalm 8.

God shows us His glory,

especially as He has established His glory

above the heavens.

And it's true, isn't it,

when we look up at the night sky

that we can see something of the glory of God.

So let us stand with David

as he does in verse 3,

as he considers the heavens,

and look at what he calls

the work of God's fingers.

Picture yourselves,

and this is going to be difficult,

you know, you're from Ireland.

Picture yourselves on a rare cloud-free night

somewhere in West Cork.

One place I always remember is Castle Freak,

you know, the old ruins there

and the beach and stuff,

but kind of away from the light pollution,

looking up at the starry host.

And we might even be tempted

as we look up to kind of touch the stars

or poke at them,

or maybe even we feel like first three

that we can, you know,

we can move them around

and set them in place.

Well, if you've ever been tempted to do that,

to set the stars in their place,

consider this.

The earth, which is where we all are right now,

is about, around the outside,

the circumference is about 40,000 kilometres.

So if you wanted to travel

just around the earth once in a jumbo jet,

which is, you know,

about as fast as you could realistically go,

it would take you about four days,

non-stop,

just to get around the earth once.

That's just the earth.

And it's actually a midget compared to the sun

and to the stars, isn't it?

The earth might be 40,000 kilometres

around the outside,

but the sun is 4,400,000 kilometres

around the outside of our sun.

So if you want to take the same trip

and do a tour just around the sun,

just once,

it's going to take you about 400 days

to complete that journey.

Of course,

to get from the earth to the sun

is 150 million kilometres,

so it'll take you about 50 years

to get there anyway in the first place.

So after we've conquered the earth,

going around at once

and conquered the sun

going around at once,

then we have to consider

the scale of the universe.

Now, it's only an estimate

and a guess as much as we can,

but there are about 10 to the power

of 21 stars in the universe.

So that's that scientific notation.

What that means

is there are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars

that we kind of know about in the universe.

Of course, we don't really know

how big the universe is.

So after we've, you know,

had a look at the sun

and had a look at the earth,

we have a lot more to do.

One followed by 21 zeros after it.

And do you know what?

Our sun is actually quite small

compared to some of the other stars

that are out there.

In fact, it's a tiny little midget of a sun.

There's some great diagrams

and pictures and videos on the internet

that you can look up

that'll give you an idea of the scale.

But I have a picture here of one of them.

So this is the largest known star.

It may not be the biggest one

because there are gas clouds in the Milky Way

and we can't see everything.

But it's called VY Canis Majoris.

Okay?

And that's our,

this little dot here is our sun.

I can't really see it well,

but that's kind of a curve down here

of this little bit.

That's our sun in comparison

to the largest known star.

You would need about 7 billion suns

to make up one of these stars.

And this probably isn't even

the biggest one that's out there.

To do a little tour

around the outside of this one,

four days for the earth,

400 days for the sun,

11,000 years.

Just to take a trip around this one once.

So I think we can see

from the universe

and from this psalm

that the heavens

were created

with vastness and scale

in order to bring glory

to God.

When we look at the beauty

and when we look at the wonder

of the universe,

we are meant to say,

what an awesome,

what a mighty God

must have created

all of this.

It's no bother to God

to put

a thousand,

million,

million,

million stars

in their place,

even if they are

7 billion times bigger

than our own sun.

When we look,

we say,

you know,

we can barely imagine

the true size and scale

of our own sun,

yet alone consider

all the other stars.

How much more beautiful,

how much more perfect

must the creator

of all of this be?

That's why God

has created

such a wonderful universe,

to show himself.

Have you ever wondered,

have you ever had that wonder,

why the universe

is made so big?

Well,

John Piper gives

a very good explanation,

I think,

for the reason

for such splendor

in creation.

This is what he says.

Do people go

to the Grand Canyon

to increase

their self-esteem?

Probably not.

This is,

at least,

a hint

that the deepest joys

in life

come not from

savoring the self,

but from seeing splendor.

And in the end,

even the Grand Canyon

will not do.

we were made

to enjoy God.

God has created

such grand canyons

in the heavens

for us

so that we would look

for the glory

that is above the heavens

and there

that we would find him.

And in finding him,

we then find

that we are made

to enjoy him.

This is the essence

of verse 1,

isn't it?

You have set

your glory

above the heavens.

So given the glory

of God

seen in creation,

is it any wonder then

that verse 4

of Psalm chapter 8

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

follows after 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.

It has to be

our natural response,

doesn't it?

An overwhelming

sense of smallness

within ourselves

in such a vast creation.

What indeed

is special

about man

that God

would even

take notice

of him?

And the answer

given for us

is verses 5

and 6

which form part 2

of our Psalm 8 story.

God

shares

his glory.

God

has chosen

to create

man and woman

and in doing so

allows us

to share

in his glory.

And

before we

delve into that,

I think it's

important that we

first realise

that God

didn't have to

create.

God didn't have

to make us.

God was fully

complete

in eternity

past

without the creation.

you see,

within the Godhead,

the Father,

the Son and the Holy Spirit

shared and gave glory

one to another.

And it was out of this

overflowing love

that they then

created people

in their own image

and allow those people,

you and me,

to enter into a relationship

with God

so that we may share

and take part

in God's glory,

God's sharing

of his glory.

You see,

God is

a loving person.

He invites others

to share his glory.

And he has given us,

his people,

a privileged position

to rule over

his creation

and has crowned us,

as it says,

with glory

and honour.

So this is where

scripture puts

us in relation

to the rest

of creation

as God's

special

image bearers

and rulers

on the earth.

Now if we

ask the question

of verse 4

to an atheist

or a materialist,

someone that

rejects the idea

of God,

what is man

that you are

mindful of him?

Well their answer

has to be nothing.

There's nothing

special about man.

Those who reject

the idea of a creator

God must

conclude that man

simply

does not matter.

Compared to the size

and to the age

and the scale

of the universe,

man is nothing

more than

a random

collection

of a small

number of

atoms that

decide to come

together for a

short while

and after 80

years the atoms

go their

separate ways.

To avoid the

evidence for God

people begin to

build arguments,

don't they,

and justifications

as to why God

must not exist

or cannot exist.

What kind of a

God is that

who creates

people to

bow down

and worship him

in constant

praise?

He must be

very needy

or selfish

or some

kind of

egotistical

kind of

God.

Who would

want to

know a

God like

that if

that's what

he's about,

making robot

creatures to

bow down

and worship

him?

What they

are doing

in constructing

those arguments

and working

these things

through is

choosing to

ignore

scripture and

the evidence

of scripture

and verses

like 5 and 6

in Psalm

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

where we

see that

God is

unselfish

and loving.

God shares

with us

his glory.

And as we

saw something

in the quote

from John

Piper,

it is as we

enter into

beholding God's

glory that we

are most

satisfied in

God.

And as we

are most

satisfied in

God,

God is

indeed most

glorified by

his creation.

Now I

think verses

5 and 6

have a lot

of implications

for us if

we think them

through and

a lot of

application.

Really we

are responsible

as God's

image bearers

to represent

God on

earth.

So how we

behave on

earth,

whether for

good or

ill,

reflects

ultimately on

the glory of

God.

And someone

put it like

this.

I think

this is a

challenge

certainly to

me.

What would

your church

here in

Caragallion and

the worldwide

church look

like if

everyone was

as committed

as you are?

If everyone

gave and

served and

prayed exactly

like you,

would the

church be

healthy and

empowered or

would it be

weak and

listless?

Tough words

to consider,

isn't it?

How does

your life,

how do your

decisions,

how do your

priorities,

reflect on

God and

his glory?

I don't

know about

you,

but trying

to measure

myself up

to what

it says

in verses

5 and

6 and

our role,

it leaves

me with a

slightly

empty

feeling.

And so

I can look

again at

the question

in verse

4,

and it's

now a

little bit

more personal,

isn't it?

It's a

different

life.

why should

God care

about me?

I fail

to live

up to the

honour and

glory that

God has

given to

me.

There's an

unspoken

tension that's

bubbled

throughout

Psalm 8.

For all

its beautifully

written words,

something just,

it just doesn't

sit right with

us as we

read it.

The creation

order that we

read of in

Psalm 8,

the creation

account that

we read of

in Genesis

1 and

2,

it's just

no longer

reflected in

our world,

is it?

We read

in verses

7 and

verses 8

about ruling

really over

the beasts of

the field,

the flocks and

the herds,

the birds of

the air,

everything under

our feet.

But it doesn't

sound like it's

speaking of our

planet,

on planet

earth,

if we think

we're doing

well,

if we can

get Fido

the dog to

sit.

But I'll

tell you for

nothing,

no shark

intent on

eating you

is going to

swim away

because you

tell him,

well,

actually I'm

God's image

bearer,

bit of respect

here,

you know,

don't be

biting my

leg.

You know,

we really,

we don't see

this,

do we,

this kind of

creation order

and this

kind of

rule as

it's described

here.

And if we

consider it,

then we

remember,

don't we?

Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

always follows

Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1

and chapters

2.

You see,

Genesis 1

and 2

are the

high point

of the

created

universe,

man and

woman living

in perfect

harmony with

God and

each sharing

and bringing

glory one

to another.

But then

comes chapter

3 where we

read about

the fall

of man and

bang,

it's all

ripped apart,

it's all

torn apart.

Sin enters,

shame

enters,

man,

man is

corrupted

and blinded

by sin.

So instead

of seeking

our happiness

in the

creator,

we turn

to the

creation

to find

ultimate

joy and

happiness.

This is

part 3

of the

story of

Psalm 8.

We no

longer want

to see

God's

glory,

we no

longer share

in his

glory,

instead,

we,

his

creatures,

we bring

shame to

his glory.

Now Paul

in Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

in the

New Testament

puts it

better than

I ever

could,

and I

think we

would do

well to

consider his

words this

morning.

They're up on

the screen

so you don't

have to flick

over to

Romans 1.

This is what

Paul says,

and I think he

captures this

very well.

For since the

creation of the

world,

God's invisible

qualities,

his eternal

power,

and divine

nature have

been clearly

seen,

being understood

from what has

been made,

so that men

are without

excuse.

For although

they knew

God,

they neither

glorified him

as God,

nor gave

thanks to

him,

but their

thinking became

futile,

and their

foolish hearts

were darkened.

Although they

came to be

wise,

they became

fools,

and this is

the key.

They exchanged

the glory of

the immortal

God for

images made

to look like

mortal man,

and birds,

and animals,

and reptiles.

What shame

we bring

on God's

glory,

by exchanging

it for the

glory of

created things.

We turn

what are good

things in

creation

into the

ultimate thing.

We raise

it up,

and in doing

so,

we displace

God and

take him

away from

his rightful

place.

It's like

even though

we reject

God,

and we

reject

praising God

and glorifying

him,

we still

feel compelled

within our

hearts,

because we're

made in

God's image,

to praise

something,

or to glorify

something,

or to find

something,

to find some

meaning.

So we spend

our lives

looking to

heap praise

on created

things,

instead of

heaping praise

on the

creator.

You know,

it's very

simple,

our lives

should shout

out,

look at

the Lord,

but quite

often in our

lives,

they shout

out,

look at

me,

look at

my great

job,

see my

wonderful

kids,

look at

my impressive

DVD collection,

look at

my nice

car,

look at

how righteous

a Christian

I am.

What an

insult,

what an

insult to

his generous

God,

who has

shared his

glory with

us,

and given

us rule

over his

creation.

Chapter

3,

or part

3 of

our story

of Psalm

8.

Is us

shaming

his glory.

It is the

hidden story,

the hidden

part of

Psalm 8

that bubbles

under the

surface.

For all

the praise

that's in

Psalm 8,

all the

wonder of

creation that

we've thought

about is

spoiled by

us,

by our

rebellion,

by our

selfish

living.

What hope

for God's

creation with

sinful man

at the

helm?

I don't

know,

will we

ever make

it to

verse 9

and to

our final

bookend

of this

story?

But,

there is

good news,

there is

hope.

We can

actually read

Psalm 8

in one of

two ways.

the main

idea,

I think

clearly that

the writer

David has

in mind

in Psalm

8 is the

creation

account in

Genesis,

isn't it?

I think

that's very,

very clear.

But there

is another

author of

Psalm 8

besides King

David,

and that

is the

Holy Spirit.

So,

Psalm 8

also speaks

of a new

creation,

not just the

old creation

in Genesis

1 and 2,

but of a new

creation,

where order

is restored

and people

once again

live under

God's glory

as his

image bearers

and as his

people.

And it

was a

thousand years,

took a

thousand years

after Psalm

8 was

written,

that another

writer picked

up the

plot line

of Psalm

8 and

filled in

for us the

final chapter

that will get

us to

verse 9.

And it was

the reading

in Hebrews

that Graham

read,

and we're

going to

turn to

Hebrews.

If you

want to

keep a

finger in

Psalm 8

you can.

It would

be good

to turn

to Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

that's on

page 1202.

And if we

read verses

5 to

8,

we'll see

this plot

line being

picked up.

Now to

give us

some basic

context as

we jump

into the

New Testament

and jump

into Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2,

the writer

of Hebrews

has been

arguing that

God's

Son,

Jesus,

is superior

to the

angels.

So we

hear about

angels

we

mentioned.

And now

he's

pointing out

or arguing

that it

is destined

for man

to rule

once more

in a new

earth.

So verse

5.

It is not

to angels

that he

has subjected

the world

to come,

about which

we are

speaking,

but there

is a place

where someone

has testified.

What is

man that

you are

mindful of

him,

the son

of man

that you

care for

him?

You

made him

a little

lower than

the angels,

you crowned

him with

glory and

honour and

put everything

under his

feet.

In putting

everything under

him,

God left

nothing that

is not

subject to

him.

Yet,

at present,

we do not

see everything

subject to

him.

man.

So the

writer of

Hebrews is

picking up

the idea

from Psalm

8 of a

new creation

where man

once again

is ruling

over everything,

order restored.

But,

he has to

admit,

doesn't he,

that yet,

at present,

we do not

see everything

subject to

man,

so don't

try commanding

the sharks.

So if we

cannot see

this new

creation now,

where is

our hope

for today,

if it's only

a future

thing that's

far off?

How do we

know that

it's going

to come

to pass?

We're in

need of a

B-U-T

statement.

And we

have it in

verse 9.

But,

B-U-T,

we see

Jesus,

who was

made a

little lower

than the

angels,

now crowned

with glory

and honour

because he

suffered death,

so that by

the grace

of God,

he might

taste death

for everyone.

Jesus

Christ

has

stepped

in

to the

story

of

Psalm 8.

He

became

the

perfect

man

that we

read about

in Psalm

Psalms 8:5

8,

verse 5,

that's

repeated here

in Hebrews,

that was

first made

a little

lower

and then

crowned

again.

Jesus,

he was

Lord when

he went

from heaven

to earth.

at that

point he

let go

of the

display

of his

rightful

glory,

but later

Jesus was

crowned

with glory

and honour

that comes

from obedience

to the

Father.

And Jesus,

he was

obedient

even to

death

on a

cross,

and Jesus,

he tasted

death for us

all,

so that we

can be

saved

for

his

glory.

And what

we read

in Hebrews

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

is the

wonderful way

that the

tension

that's there

in Psalm

8,

that's sitting

under the

surface,

is resolved

and brought

to a

close.

God

himself

steps into

his creation

to restore

order and

bring glory

back to

himself.

And he

does this

by sending

his one

and only

son,

who came

to represent

us as the

perfect image

bearer.

He came

as a man,

he lived

as a

perfect man,

and Jesus,

he always

brought glory

and honour

back to

God the

Father.

God's

glory

is not

just way

out there

above the

heavens,

but has

come right

down to

the earth.

God's

glory was

born in a

stable,

God's

glory

lived with

all the

normal

happiness

and all

the

sadnesses

that come

from daily

life.

God's

glory

suffered

opposition

and criticism

of the

religious

leaders,

but God's

glory was

praised

by the

children

and praised

by the

infants

to shame

the foe

and to

shame

the avenger.

As it

says in

Psalm 8

Psalms 8:2

verse 2,

God's

glory

suffered

rejection

and suffered

a cruel

death on

the cross

in place

of us

obnoxious

rebels.

God's

glory

is

Jesus

on the

earth.

This is

glory,

God's

redemption

of us

through the

cross,

so that

we may

once again

share

his honour.

We

indeed

are saved

for

his

glory.

We

have a

privilege

in this

age to

read

Psalm 8

because we

can read

it in

both ways,

can't we?

We can

read

Psalm 8

and we

can look

back at

Genesis 1

and 2

and praise

God and

thank him

for such a

wonderful

creation,

or we

can read

it and

look forward

to

Revelation

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21

and

Revelation

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22

and there

we read

John

describing

for us

a new

heaven

and a

new

earth

and a

new

creation

and a

new

order.

The

good news

is the

bookends

that we

spoke

about

in

Psalm

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

that lovely

phrase

O Lord

our

Lord

how majestic

is your

name in

all the

earth

it no

longer

needs to

be

tarnished

by our

failure

for Christ

has made

all things

new.

And there's

a challenge

we spoke

about it

during the

sermon

the challenge

that is there

from Psalm

8

as to how

we will

live

and it's

there again

for us

will we

choose to

bring glory

to God

on earth

by accepting

Jesus

will that

be your

choice

or will we

continue to

turn our

back on

God

and live

for the

glory of

some

passing

thing in

creation

that ultimately

is going to

be destroyed

anyway

because of

Jesus

we can finish

the story of

Psalm 8

and get to

verse 9

can't we

and the

glory of

God will

still be

intact

O Lord

our Lord

how majestic

is your

name in

all the

earth

let us

in

Karagaline

compete

with the

heavens

in declaring

God's

glory

here on

earth

let's

pray

God

aside

ton

to

let's

to

run

from

to

on

earth

the

everyone

ues

may

if

you

Oh

I

can

late

when

the

Uhr

in

you

you

you