> [[psalm-07|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-09|Next →]] --- # Psalm 8 ## Divine Majesty and Human Dignity 1 For the leader; “upon the *gittith*.” A psalm of David. ^psalm-08-1 2 O LORD, our Lord, ^psalm-08-2 how awesome is your name through all the earth! I will sing of your majesty above the heavens 3 with the mouths of babes and infants. ^psalm-08-3 You have established a bulwark against your foes, to silence enemy and avenger. 4 When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, ^psalm-08-4 the moon and stars that you set in place— 5 What is man that you are mindful of him, ^psalm-08-5 and a son of man that you care for him? 6 Yet you have made him little less than a god, ^psalm-08-6 crowned him with glory and honor. 7 You have given him rule over the works of your hands, ^psalm-08-7 put all things at his feet: 8 All sheep and oxen, ^psalm-08-8 even the beasts of the field, 9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, ^psalm-08-9 and whatever swims the paths of the seas. 10 O LORD, our Lord, ^psalm-08-10 how awesome is your name through all the earth! \* (Psalm 8) While marvelling at the limitless grandeur of God (([[psalm-08|Ps 8]]:2] – [3]), the psalmist is struck first by the smallness of human beings in creation (([[psalm-08|Ps 8]]:4] – [5]), and then by the royal dignity and power that God has graciously bestowed upon them (([[psalm-08|Ps 8]]:6] – [9]). \* (8:1) Upon the gittith: probably the title of the melody to which the Psalm was to be sung or a musical instrument. \* (8:3) With the mouths of babes and infants: the psalmist realizes that his attempts to praise such an awesome God are hopelessly inadequate and amount to little more than the sounds made by infants. Established a bulwark: an allusion to lost myth telling how God built a fortress for himself in the heavens in primordial times in his battle with the powers of chaos. This “bulwark” is the firmament. Enemy and avenger: probably cosmic enemies. The primeval powers of watery chaos are often personified in poetic texts ([Ps 74:13] – [14]; [89:11]; [Jb 9:13]; [26:12] – [13]; [Is 51:9]). \* (8:5) Man…a son of man: the emphasis is on the fragility and mortality of human beings to whom God has given great dignity. \* (8:6) Little less than a god: Hebrew *‘elohim*, the ordinary word for “God” or “the gods” or members of the heavenly court. The Greek version translated ‘*elohim* by “angel, messenger”; several ancient and modern versions so translate. The meaning seems to be that God created human beings almost at the level of the beings in the heavenly world. [Heb 2:9], translating “for a little while,” finds the eminent fulfillment of this verse in Jesus Christ, who was humbled before being glorified, cf. also [1 Cor 15:27] where St. Paul applies to Christ the closing words of ([[psalm-08|Ps 8]]:7]. a. (8:3) ([[matthew-21|Mt 21]]:16]; [Wis 10:21]. b. (8:5) [Ps 144:3]; [Jb 7:17]. c. (8:5) [Heb 2:6ff]. d. (8:7ff) [Gn 1:26], [28]; ([[wisdom-09|Wis 9]]:2]; [1 Cor 15:27]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[psalm-07|← Previous]] | [[psalm-00|TOC]] | [[psalm-09|Next →]]