Psalm 8 | The Song of God’s Greatness (Featuring Music from Andrew Word)

[Music] [Music] Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Pastor Patrick podcast. My name is Patrick Daly and I am the pastor of Ontario Community Church and I'd like to welcome you here to episode 8 of the Pastor Patrick podcast. I cannot believe how quickly time has just been going by. We're already in episode 8. Uh if this is your first time watching or listening to this podcast, we began in March of this year 2025.

And by the grace of God, we've been able to utilize technology, podcast, technology, distribution, and being able to broadcast to you wherever you are at in the world or wherever you're at uh regionally or even locally. I would like to just welcome you here. No matter where you are at in life's journey, you are loved by God and God calls you for greater purpose and you are loved by him. I hope that you had a great weekend and it's just here at Ontario Community Church. We had a wonderful weekend.

We had something known as a family dedication where we had 10 kids uh dedicated to their Lord um to the Lord with their families and with friends as well. It's just a wonderful time. And let's not forget we had Mother's Day, which is just such a great time with um all of the moms bringing their families to church and it's just such a wonderful time together. And uh there's just been a lot that's been going on um at the church and just in my own life and it's all about juggling and balancing things and just being able to u be mindful of things that are happening and u being discerning in the process. So, that's just been kind of the uh ministerial update of what's been going on and um it's just definitely been very rewarding in that.

So, today on episode 8, we're going to be going over Psalm 8, which is a reflection of God's majesty. And when we think of God's majesty, we have to think of how big our God is. That God is majestic in his name. And we think of God being the creator of heavens and earth, making the stars in the sky. And um certainly thinking of how small we are as human beings.

For those of you who you might have gone to a mountain or you've seen the vastness of the sea or even looking at the stars and the sky, it helps us realize how small we really are in comparison to how God has made the heavens and the earth. And the really wonderful thing about that is that he made you and I. He's made all of us with such intentionality and such intricacy. And just thinking about all of that is certainly remarkable. It helps us and it should help us in our faith journey.

And we have to think about God's glory that it fills the entire universe. It fills the sky. And what's so beautiful about that is not only the fact that God is the creator, right? We think of the triune God, the creator, the redeemer and the sustainer, right? God being the creator, um Christ being the redeemer and the holy spirit being the sustainer, right?

The triune God. We um at Ontario Community, we are trinitarian. And we think of this just wonderful um essence of the trinity, right? The father, son, and spirit. And in all of that, we think of the triune God, right?

the creator of the heavens and the earth and every single one of us in all of that. It's incredible for us to realize and to recognize that the same God who made all of this, right? The the uh fish in the sea, the birds of the air, the mountains, all of these things, he made all of us with intentionality and he desires for us to enter into a relationship with him. He cares for humanity. He cares for each and every one of us.

And it's a great reminder whether you are a Christian or you're not a Christian, whether you are a believer or maybe you've gone through some experiences in life where you just need that gentle reminder that God is always there for you and he cares for each and every one of us as part of his creation. You know, when I think about it, whenever my wife and I, we go up traveling up into the mountains, one of the really beautiful things is on a clear night, maybe you have experienced this before, and you look at the stars in the sky, thinking about the heavens, right? And and just kind of taking it all in, right? Whenever you go into any sort of nature, taking all of that in and realize how small you are, but yet knowing that God loves you and he knows how many hairs you have on your head, right? Just as God knows how many sands are on the seashore.

All of these things is just to know the intricacy and intentionality of our Lord and our God. And that's so beautiful. When we think of all of these psalms that we're going over, it's so important for us to know the poetic language and the language that uh the sense of humanity, the sense of us being able to grow in the faith or to come to know who Christ is. And I hope that whether you again whether you are a Christian or you're not, I hope that this um this episode today will serve you well. And so what I'm what we're going to go ahead and do, I'm going to go ahead and read from Psalm 8.

I'm going to read all nine of those verses where we use I still use my little brown Bible, the um the NIV translation. It's a good translation. You can read or follow along in whatever translation of your choice. And we'll read it and we'll just go ahead and utilize what is known as the OIA method. It's the same um framework that I use at Ontario Community, right?

Observation, interpretation, and application. So, um, before we do that, let's go ahead and just take a time of prayer. And we'll go ahead and read scripture. And Lord and heavenly father, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for uh the use of technology. We're grateful that um we can open the word and we can study it and read it together.

Father, I'm very uh grateful that this message is being uh transmitted to different people through uh sound waves, right, through data and video and audio and all these things. And I pray for every single person who listens to this uh podcast, whether it's the video form or the audio form. I just pray that every single person knows that they are loved by you and that you extend an invitation to the table of plenty. you extend this invitation to salvation to believe in you, to grow in you, and to be moved to do good in your holy name. We're grateful for your word and how it really just helps us grow and it it speaks to us no matter where we are at in life's journey.

Father, I don't know the scope of what everyone is going through who's listening or watching this, but I certainly pray that they can experience your love and your grace even through this digital media that we have, through this technology. And so, we're just grateful for this extension of the ministry. And I just pray that um you will do a new thing. You will work in and through each and every person who listens and watch. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray and we all say together.

Amen. So Psalm 8, here we go. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against 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 mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels, right? And crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands. You put everything under their feet and flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.

All that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. What a powerful psalm that speaks of God's creation and certainly the essence of who God is. And we begin in here looking at that first verse where it says,"Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." Right? And David is beginning with this sense of praising God for who he is and how he is majestic in his name.

The language that is used here, right? He is declaring the name Jehovah, right? A personal and powerful name. We know that God has many different names and he is praising God nonetheless. We can think of a a another psalm because the beauty of scripture is how uh scripture is interconnected with each other.

Certainly what I encourage for everybody uh whether you attend Ontario Community or not is to look at the context but also look at the connections within scripture. That's incredibly powerful for our growth and for our development in understanding scripture, but also growing in the things of the Lord. I want to turn over there to Psalm 113 real quick. Um, you may know it. It's Psalm 113:3.

Very similar language here. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. Right? So, very similar language. How majestic is your name.

And going on in that Psalm 113:3, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord it is to be praised. And that's so powerful even for us to recognize how powerful and how majestic the Lord is. Again, when I've mentioned the stars in the sky and the fish in the sea, it's all showing as evidence part of the natural order of things, the things that we can observe in everyday life. Right? when we see the sun that does rise or we seeing that it sets when's the last time you have done that when is the last time you have praised God in knowing that his name is above all names in the earth and so that's very very powerful.

We then go into this second verse where it says through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger. I always think it's very interesting when we are looking about this idea of the praise of children, right? Through the praise of children and infants, you've established a stronghold. We think about this, a stronghold against enemies. That's very interesting because we know that in scripture that children are a blessing from the Lord.

And we know that um in scripture when Christ is mentioning about how let the children come to me and even in scripture how we are to have the mind of the ch of a child having this sense of awe and wonder of who God is and having this sense of curiosity is something that's uh nothing short than uh humbling for an adult such as myself or if you're an adult and and you're watching this that's something for you to think about that we're to have a mind of the child and here it's saying the praise of children that it it somehow is establishing a stronghold against enemies. Now, that's really remarkable and it might be a little hard for us to fully uh wrap our minds around and to understand, but it goes to show how God is um well, he demonstrates his strength through that which is considered to be weak. Right? We think of children, they're cute and cuddly, but they're not really strong. I mean they are strong for their size because they can walk and talk and crawl on the ground.

But it is seen as something that is more humble and and as more more as weak and that God will protect them and that somehow in in scripture here that God is going to establish a stronghold against enemies to silence the foe and the avenger. And I think that's just really beautiful, especially if number one, if you're a child, but also if you have children in thinking about that that there's this stronghold that is established by the Lord when it comes to children. And so in this um I want you to actually go for a second here because this is actually very interesting. I want us to turn to Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew. It's going to be Matthew chapter 21 um verse 16 here.

Um, let's see. Matthew 21 verse16 here. When do you hear what these children are saying? They asked him. Yes, replied Jesus.

Have you never read from the lips of children and infants, you Lord have called forth your praise? That's something that is similar to this Psalm 82 where it's talking about child children praising the Lord. And you know, I I I think about this image of how um in some churches they you have kind of a children's Sunday where they're all praising the Lord. Well, talk about spiritual warfare, right? That it's establishing a stronghold against the enemy.

Well, we certainly need to have children who are praising the Lord all the time, but it's certainly a call for us to recognize in ministry and in the church. This this idea and this notion for children to praise God. And so, yeah, it's very similar. It's not the exact language here, but it it's it's quoting Psalm 82 in in kind of its own way, but re recognizing this childlike praise in scripture. And so in all of this, let's let us recognize here um the power of praise, not just for us adults, but also for us as children.

And also when we're looking at that first verse, when we get up in the morning, when we begin our day and we see the sunrise, or maybe for you, you might wake up before the sun rises or after. It's taking in intentionally throughout your day recognizing the power of who God is. That he is strong, that he is mighty, and that his name is majestic. And so what I would challenge for you then is to the next time that you wake up or before you go to sleep is to recognize or find something that you can acknowledge the splendor of God, the beauty of nature because it's all connected. You know, when you think of um apologetics for a second, when it talks about the clock and the clock maker, right?

When we think of an example of a pen, we look at a pen and we utilize the pen for its ink and whatnot. Um but we see that something made this something made this pen, whether it's a factory or it's it's used in a specific thing. You know what? With that in mind, I even have a a pen that was made for me that was made out of wood. And what's really wonderful about it is realizing that it was made with intentionality, right?

There were tools that were used much like I'm I'm literally showing two pens here, is that they were both made by someone or something, whether a a man or a machine kind of thing. And when we think about that, that is something that we can directly observe, right? We we know with our technology, our vehicles, there were a lot of hands that were in it. Uh um intricate hands that were making whatever it is. When we think about nature, then we can experience nature and enjoy nature, but also it it it all goes back to the idea that the earth and the universe was all made with such intentionality and with care.

I mean, let's think about it for a second here. The the very notion that Earth is the only planet that has life in it. I'm not talking about planets that can sustain life because I know there's a constant search for that. But the fact that there is life is just something that's remarkable. Now, I don't know if there are going to be other planets with life in it.

Maybe, maybe not. But it's still this very idea. Look at all of the millions or or billions or however many stars there are and planetary systems. they don't have life in them. It's still remain to be the case that only earth has life in it.

And there's something to that. And I mean that's something that is beyond my understanding. But clearly God had his hand in that. And again, whether or not we find another planet one day where there's life in it, we we would praise God for that. But it's realizing that hasn't been the case yet.

But if it is, it's still realizing how rare life is, whether it's one planet or only 10 planets. This constant pursuit, all of these dead planets. I mean, it's it's pretty cool looking at all the planets and seeing, oh, wow, look at how how God has um made all of the planets in the sky. Look at all of that, right? You think of Mars and Venus, and you think of all these uh um really scientific names for planets.

That's something that's truly remarkable. But and I I bring all of this in because we observe the universe. We observe nature and we recognize someone or something made that. And um as a Christian, it's recognizing that God is the creator of all of that. And yet he still made us.

That's incredible. Let's now go into verse three. Right. So this first part, the first two verses is David appreciating God, right? He's appreciating um his majestic name, God's majestic name and the praise of the children as spiritual warfare essentially.

We then go into the admiration, right, where God is or excuse me, where David is admiring the Lord, right? Verses um 3 to8 here. We start off with verse three where it says, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place." Just that verse alone is something that's remarkable. Um it's it's this sense and and maybe you have experienced this before is being overwhelmed by the beauty of the earth so to speak, right? Uh being overwhelmed that God the creator created the stars and the sky and cares for them.

Right? When I consider your heavens, when I think about the stars in the sky, when I think about the heavens, the work of your fingers. Now, that's beautiful language, right? Like I was using that pen as an example, right? That is the work of a someone who is working with wood kind of thing.

Now, that's really cool. But thinking of God working with his hands and creating a planetary system, creating the universe, that's hard for us to wrap our minds around. But it's that's the language that David's using here. the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars. So, not only does God making these the moon and the stars and the skies, these planetary systems, these galaxies and whatnot, but setting them into place.

Think about that. So, it's not just um you know, I it's putting a certain star in a certain place at a certain moment. That's remarkable. And again that can be definitely hard for us to wrap our mind around but it's pretty pretty cool language in that which you have set into place and that can be very overwhelming for us certainly when we are reading the scriptures like this and we're thinking well wait just a minute how does that even begin to work right that that's a you know I'm I'll be honest I don't know how that all of that works but in in any sense it's Still, it can be overwhelming for us whether you're a Christian or not to be overwhelmed by how many stars there are in the sky. Much like when you try to count the hairs on your head or the amount of uh sand on the seashore, these kind of things, it can be overwhelming, but it should help you realize the scope and the power of God.

I want to go ahead and turn to Isaiah uh chapter 40 verse uh verse 26, which is a very similar passage here. I have a lot of scripture here today. when we think about this. So turning over there, uh Isaiah chapter 40, it's verse 26 here, I'll even start in verse 25. 25 and 26.

To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Says the holy one. Now that's a good question to ask. But it's this 26 that we can think of.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Right. Look up your um lift up your eyes and look up to the heavens. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all of these?

That's a good question. He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name because of his great power and mighty strength. Not one of them is missing. Do you see how that's connected with what we're seeing here in Psalm 8 here when it's talking about right he who brings out the starry host one by one talking about the creation account talking about stars in the sky talking about planets so maybe that's an encouragement for you to look up to the sky sometime look up at the heavens for a second and that it is God who brings these starry hosts one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Now, that is insane.

The amount of stars that are in the sky, and we haven't even discovered all of them, but yet God knows them by name. That's a that's kind of a man, it makes your mind spin for a second there in thinking about that. But in that, God knowing all of the planets and the stars by name, he also knows you by name. That is an amazing God that we worship and that the one that we love. We then go into verses four and five.

So you have verses three, right? Talking about the fingers, the moon and the stars, setting them in place. Verse four, it says, "What is mankind then that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care um that you care for them?" What an interesting question. And in fact, it even goes in further and I want to continue in verse 5. You have made them, you've made human beings, mankind a little lower than the angels and have crowned them with glory and honor here.

So it's interesting this whole idea that God is being mindful of human beings, right? Thinking for a second, what is mankind that you God are mindful for them? human beings that you care for them because God does care for each and every single person. He desire he not only created us but gives us the opportunity for us to choose in salvation by believing in the Lord and being saved. And that's just remarkable.

The same God that knows all the star systems by name knows you by name and is mindful to you being mindful of you. human beings that you care for them. And then that verse five, you've made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. And we have to think for a second when we talk about this idea of Genesis. One of the big things, and we'll turn over to Genesis for a second, but I want you to think for a second here that God has given us life.

He gives us of our time, our talent, and our treasure. And we are to steward everything that God gives to us. We are to be stewards of how we manage our time much like how we um manage our finances, right? And how we manage our talents. We can think immediately of so many parables when it's talking about that the you have the parables of the talents.

What are you going to do? And and that's the whole essence of of when we're thinking of talents, especially in scripture. What are you going to do with what God has given to you is the question. And that's so tied in with Psalm 8 here. To be tasked and to be given so much that God entrusts the earth and creation to humanity.

Now, that's a great responsibility and I know we can go into a lot of, you know, political on um and and I don't want to go there. I just want us to be mindful of what the text is saying that we are to care for the earth, what God, much like how we are to care for what God has given to us and entrusted to us. And I pray that whatever time or talent or treasure that you have, you may steward what God has given to you. And I want to turn over to Genesis, uh, Genesis chapter 1. And you may know this, you may not know this.

That's okay. uh Genesis 1 uh 26- 27 when we go in the very beginning of the Bible where it says then God said let us make mankind in our own image in our likeness so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky over the livestock and the wild animals and over all the creatures that move among the ground. So God created mankind in his image. In the image of God he created them. Male and female he created them.

And it's to show for a second here when we're looking at the text how this is connected with Genesis and how this is connected with uh stewardship, our time, our talent, and our treasure and and this Psalm 8. It's all connected here. When we think about how in that verse five, we've made we've been made a little lower than angels. That's kind of an interesting one. um when we think about it and crown them with glory and honor that we are given this beautiful life here on the earth.

We're given the ability to steward and it's our responsibility to steward the earth much like how we are to steward our lives. Let us consider that everything in your life is a gift. Well, your very life is a gift from God. And let's take that to heart here that God is entrusting creation to humanity. And so there's a lot of sense of um stewardship and this sense of humility being thankful and and that's what I was trying to say.

We are to be grateful for what God has given to us. Now, that doesn't mean we're perfect in managing everything. And that certainly means that what God has given to me will be different than how what God has given to you. Whether you're listening or watching, you have your own situation and your own circumstance. And that's something for us to consider, for us to take to heart and to keep in mind.

What's beautiful about this is that David goes even further in those uh verses 6 to8. I want to read that you made them rulers over the works of your hands. See this is this is again talking about stewardship of the earth much like how we were reading in Genesis where humanity was made in the image of God and they were entrusted with the earth to steward it. It's the same thing here. You've made them rulers over the works of your hands because the earth, the universe is all made by God's hands.

And we are to steward those kind of things much like how we are to steward our lives. And so that I mean when I read that I think that's incredible. You made them rulers of the work of your hands and you put everything under their feet. And just like we were mentioning in Genesis, all the flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. And so we think about this that God has made us rulers.

Well, when you think of rulers, sometimes we can have a really weird or maybe even a skewed version of being a ruler. You can be an evil ruler or you can be a good ruler. Much like how you can steward what God has given to you wisely or foolishly, right? We can think of so many different connections with scripture. Much like a perfect example that I can think of off the top of my head is the man who builds his house on sand versus the man that builds him his house on the solid rock, right?

Or when we're even talking about the parable of the talents, some of them were using, right? You don't want to be the one that buries the talent in the ground. You want to be able to utilize your talents. That's the whole premise of that. And it really goes to show us when we think about it that we are given responsibility.

Uh one there's a book that I read, the guy's name is Cain Ramsay, if you ever want to look him up. Um, I took a a course and I've read his book and I I love basically something that really stuck out to me that I want to share that is connected with what we're going over is that responsibility is our ability to respond and that's always stuck with me when we think about that when we're thinking of human responsibility, right? We are to respond with ability. When we think of the Christian faith and our Christian walk, we are to respond to God's call for our life and it's our ability to respond to him when we think of that responsibility. I think that's just kind of a cool I guess a play on words when we think about it, but it's something that we all have responsibility and that is manifest in our stewardship over our own lives.

much like how humanity is to steward God's creation. And so what I want to show you is I'm going to turn there. Let's see. It's in Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2:es 6-9, which is a good one.

I'll just start from 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 mankind that you are so mindful of them? A son of man that you care for him.

You made them a little lower than the angels. You crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet. Doesn't that sound familiar when we're looking at the connections with that? I mean, in my mind, when when I'm reading that, I'm just thinking, how how incredible and how amazing is that to just see um that sort of connection with the text here, seeing it's it's almost a verbatim uh quotation of Psalm 8 that you have made them a little lower than angels, right? and and crown them with glory and honor.

And we see that in Hebrews that Jesus fulfills this Psalm 8. So not only are we as human beings tasked to steward creation, we can see that the greatest ruler is Jesus Christ and we can find that in Hebrews. So that's just wonderful. Many of you may have seen there there's an image that comes out um you can find it on the internet seeing all of the cross references and the connections that's found within scripture. It's really remarkable because you can see how God's hand has been used within the text and that God speaks to us through his word much like how uh the working of the Holy Spirit continues to work in and through lives of of of men and women of people every single day.

It's truly it it that is an overwhelming thing. You want to know an overwhelming feeling, look at the context of the text, but also the connection, the connecting passages within scripture. That'll help you on your faith journey. And so seeing that, I mean really that that's a true reference that Jesus is a fulfillment of that Psalm 8 that the greatest ruler or dominion is as some people would say is found in Jesus Christ. But see using the word dominion or ruler might have a very negative connotation, but it's showing that Jesus is king.

He is Lord of all creation. Do you see how it's all tied in there? It's remarkable. And so what I want you to think about when you're looking at some of these verses is the intentionality that God has made in your life. When you're reading that, I want you to see that you are a person of value, that God loves you, that you're made as in his image, just as that Genesis verse is saying.

So we see that and we're seeing that um we are made with such intentionality. We are to steward the earth. Again, much like how we are to steward our very lives. Remarkable. And so what I would encourage for you just in reading that is recognizing that we are to spend some time in creation this week, right?

Spend some time appreciating um the intricacy of the mountains or the sky or the ocean. Or maybe you're in an area where you can't really see nature. Well, you can certainly look at videos if you can or or maybe take a trip if you can and just look and appreciate with intentionality the amount of work that God put utilizing his fingers. And I'm thinking, my goodness, that's that's mind-blowing when we think about it. And this then takes us to um the last verse, verse 9 from Psalm 8 where it says, 'Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, which is just like how it was in the beginning, right?

Lord, Lord, how majestic is your name in all. It's verbatim. It is the same thing. The psalm ends the same way that it began praising God and worshiping him. And when we think about this, we can think about, well, how amazing when you see these book ends, the beginning and the end.

And when we think of worshiping God, we should be grounded in praising the living God. That God is living and active much like his word is living and active. And that when we think of the power, right, just like I'm talking about the connections within scripture, also the power of our God making all of the universe, making everything in it, and making you as well, knowing the stars by name. I mean, how many of us remember every single person we've ever met? I mean, there are some people they struggle with even remembering your if you just met.

I know I've had my struggles with that. I just meet somebody who what was your name by the way? That can be a challenge. But knowing that God knows you by name, much like he knows the stars and all of his creation is incredible. I kind of think there's a there's that uh TV show um Cheers.

And u many of you may may have seen it, maybe not. It the premise of the theme song says that you want to go where everyone knows your name. Well, in the same way, you want to go to the Lord who knows you and calls you by name because that is where it's at. That is the beauty of our Lord and our God. We should be grounded in the greatness of God.

We should have the Lord as our firm foundation and trusting in him. It's much like how we find in Psalm 145. I'm going to turn there real quick. Psalm 145. Uh, one more page.

Psalm 145 verse3, great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. That's why we get overwhelmed. That's why we get overwhelmed by the greatness of God, the essence of who he is. And I think it's it it actually humbles us much like how in the very beginning when we're talking about the praise of children and how children have this sense of awe and wonder for the Lord because they themselves are overwhelmed in their understanding of who God is.

They have this sense of curiosity. And in the same way we should as well because just as that verse is saying great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. No one. And when I think about that, I'm like, I I can't fathom and and and even wrap my mind around just all of the intricacies of even one thing of one planet, right?

Or of one person. I mean, how how many of us even understand ourselves? We don't even understand ourselves. So, how are we supposed to understand creation, let alone a a planet at that? And I'm not saying that to um I'm saying that to kind of so that you can recognize the scope of God's understanding of his creation.

It's really remarkable and it's really it is a humbling experience, isn't it? It's humbling in realizing that overwhelming feeling of the greatness of our God. And so in this, let that wonder, if you ever get overwhelmed by creation or overwhelmed by how powerful and how great God is, let that turn into worship. That moment where you're kind of humbled by this sense of awe and wonder. Let that turn into worshiping and praising God, being grateful for who God is and thanking him for his creation.

When's the last time you have done that? I think it's a wonderful call for us to experience nature and to look and observe the things that are in the earth. You can even find beauty in everyday people as well. That's another thing. Finding God in the everyday, right?

Finding God in in everyday people, everyday moments, even the small moments as well certainly as the big ones. And so what I challenge for you is to consider that first and that last verse where it says,"Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth." And maybe, just maybe, maybe you can begin or even end your day with that kind of prayer. Lord, how majestic is your name in all of the earth. Or just you could say, you could even say, "Lord, how majestic is your name?" Or, "Lord, how powerful is your name? I praise you." Whatever it is, you can kind of take it and make it your own thing.

But that is the power of this kind of psalm. Just eight verses, but showing the scope of how powerful God is. The praise of children and how it's basically a weapon against the enemy. Knowing that God knows all the planets and sets them in place and the same intentionality even is with us and that we are to steward everything that God has given to us including the earth. It's a responsibility that we have and we should respond accordingly not just to our God's call for salvation for us but also collectively we should respond and steward what God has given to us.

It is incredible. We're going to go ahead and move on to the song that we have today. The song that we have is titled You Are the Light by Andrew Word. And what I encourage for you is to let these lyrics resound in your mind. Right?

It it it's kind of a an echo as it were of what we're finding in Psalm 8. The wonder of who God is, right? Being in this sense of awe and wonder of God's glory. And the lyrics of this song is saying that you are the light in the darkness like the morning walking in my heart. It's a very reflective song.

And um if uh I'm going to have uh Andrew's social that you can, you know, like and follow, subscribe if you want to and check out his music. And Andrew, if you're listening to this, really appreciated your song and just how it's connected with what we're going over here at the Pastor Patrick podcast. So, I'm going to go ahead and play this song and we will then go into the interpretation and the application of Psalm 8. Here we go. [Music] You are the [Music] light.

You are the light in the darkness. You are the light. You are the light in the darkness. Like the morning is waking in my heart. Like the morning is breaking in my [Music] heart.

You are the [Music] light. You are the light in the darkness. You are the light. [Applause] [Music] You are the light in the darkness. [Music] Like the morning is waking in my [Music] heart.

Like the morning is breaking in my heart. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh, heat. [Music] Oh, oh, you are alive. [Music] You are the [Music] light. You are the [Music] light.

You are the light. [Music] Like the morning is waking in my [Music] heart. Like the morning is breaking in my heart. [Music] [Applause] [Music] All right. Well, welcome back.

That's a beautiful song. I thought it's just a very reflective and very reverent song. And uh yeah, that song is titled You Are the Light by Andrew Word. So, just a beautiful song. You know, that's one of the great things when we are considering psalms and we're considering worship, right?

knowing that psalms were essentially music and now we don't have all the notation and stuff uh much like it was used for or what instruments specifically and whatnot. However, it's going to show that it shows that intentionality um praising God wherever you're at in life. And we can think of worship how it is used to describe who God is, his power, his might, his glory. But also we can use songs um as such a way to be able to praise God in in any season of life to worship him. And it's it's not necessarily just about it's not about us.

It's certainly about God and glorifying him in this and um certainly knowing how some songs are talking about how God has transformed us, how God has worked in us. And even when we think of uh some of these psalms where it's about lament or we think of grief and all of these different human emotions, it's very poetic. It's very beautiful to have these kind of things. So that was just again very beautiful song. And this now takes us over to the interpretation as we have been going through the observation.

What can we observe in the text? And now it is well what can we learn about this? Right? Because that that's a question that we can think of. What does this mean for us?

We observe the text as the word of God is our source. It's our book that we our collection of books as it were for us to learn and to grow in and to wrestle with even. So what can we learn from this? And the first thing that comes to mind is that God is greater than anything that we can fathom. Um and yet in that God is close to us.

He's there. he's present with us. We think of how the universe is so vast, right? And and there's I know there's lots of scientific theories out there and I know one of them is talking about the universe is continuing to expand. Some say it'll expand and it'll retract, whatever.

I I don't fully understand all of this for sure, but the idea that it is so vast and potentially it is even expanding is remarkable. And there's a lot of people they they see the Lord and they think, well, God is so big and powerful. There's no way he could possibly want to connect with me. But we find in scripture that God is close to us. And that goes to show that even our own view of God might not be well fully accurate.

And thinking about having a God who is close to us, who desires for us to know him, to enter into his presence as it were, is something that is kind of well, it's hard for us to wrap our mind around. And so just because God creates the universe that is so vast, full of space and planets and and black holes and nebulas and all of these things, such beauty in the universe does not diminish. It does not diminish how God cares for us. I want to make that very clear. The same God who knows all of these planets and sets them in his care cares for you.

And I don't know about you, but that's that's convicting in my heart. That makes me think, "Wow, God really does love me. And I am of great value. You are of great value. You're made in his image.

That can be overwhelming, but it's something that's very powerful that should cause us to turn to him. There's a another psalm I want to turn to. It's Psalm 147. A lot of scripture we've got today, and that's fine. Psalm 147.

Uh, one more page. One of the last Psalms. Psalm 147:es 3 um oh there it is verses 3 to 4. I I'll even begin in verse one where it says praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God.

How pleasant and fitting to praise him. This verse two the Lord builds up Jerusalems. He gathers the exiles of Israel. And that verse three is the one that I I really wanted to kind of uh stick out here where it says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of stars." There it is again.

And he calls them by name. Verse five, great is our Lord and mighty in in in power. His understanding has no limit. Even in that verse six, the Lord sustains the humble and casts the wicked to the ground. how connected that is.

And that verse where it's talking about that God heals the brokenhearted is a call for us to go to the Lord, right? When we think of um how he determines the numbers of stars and he knows them by name. There's a lot of things that we can unpack and how this is connected and things that we can learn. God knows you by name and he heals and restores. So when we think about how we are to respond to salvation, God's call, invitation for our life, it's us responding to God.

That God is waiting for you to respond to him. He is waiting for you to come into his presence. And when we use that kind of language, when we think about that, to know that God is the healer, he is the comforter, he is our strength in our weakness, all of these things should cause us to want to be closer to God. Because here's the thing, and I I I say this to a lot of people as a pastor and and when I do work within the community and when I work, you know, in public as well, is kind of recognizing that when we look at the world and the culture that we live in, yeah, we could talk about all the culture wars, he said, she said kind of thing, opinions, left versus right, all these different things, but essentially we have to think of how people are people, right? All fall short of the glory of God.

Right? No person is perfect. And I say it so many times, man will fail you, but God will never fail you. In fact, what God does is he comforts us. He heals us and he restores us.

He transforms us, making us from um molding us, as it were, into the person that he wants us to be. And and I know that can be very humbling for us to think about us being molded by God. But when we think about transformation, it is knowing that God is going to change us in such a way where we become more like him. I want to be more like God. I don't want to be like other people.

I want to be transformed by the Lord. And I hope that for you, you can see putting on the new self, bearing fruit, the fruit of the spirit, right? We think of living and loving like Jesus Christ. Well, man, I want to be like Jesus. I don't want to be like how other people are.

And that's not to say that all, you know, all people are bad or whatever. It's to say instead of focusing on people, it's focusing on God. That's what I mean when I say this. And it's something that for us I want to seek God and his presence. And I hope for you you can say the same.

That's the first thing. The second thing then is recognizing that you are not insignificant. Yes, you listener. Yes, you viewer or whoever you are or wherever you are or whenever you are listening to this. You are not insignificant.

You're made in the image of God. You have been designed intentionally and you are loved deeply by the Lord and you are called for a greater purpose. This is powerful. Your worth is not tied into your achievements or the things that you do. Rather, it is God who crowned you with honor.

In other words, it's not about what you can do. Rather, it is about what has been done for you. That God loves you. and again invites you to the table of plenty. He invites you to the vineyard.

Even I'm using very parabolic language as I've preached many parables. In other words, it is believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believing in the Lord, and being saved. The other language we can think about is an invitation that God extends an invitation. Are you going to respond to the invitation? Or when we think about um I know Revelation is a classic one where it's in I think it's Revelation 3 where Jesus is knocking at the door and are you going to let him in?

Um when you look past that verse it's talking about judgment that's going to happen but the premise of that is still there that God is knocking at the door are you going to let him in? So it's the same thing responding to the Lord and thinking about how it is what God has done for you rather than what you can do. And I know when we think of the world that we live in, we're a very uh checkbox kind of culture, right? If you want to get a degree in something, you need to take these classes and pass these tests and do the homework and then you get your A+, right? And you move on.

Or if you want to get a certain training, uh that's how a lot of the world works. You have to do do and do some more in order to make it in the world. But that's how the world works as opposed to the things of God, the things that are higher. I think of how Colossians says that we are to set our minds on things that are higher or it's what is it in Hebrews chapter 6 where we are to lay aside the elementary things not being divided in things but rather focusing on the more advanced things the more higher things you know I'm going to actually go ahead and turn there because it's that powerful of this this is something that is very near and dear to my heart when we're thinking about this because look we are all given purpose and we are all called for something greater. Let's not be divided over things, right?

Uh it's Hebrews chapter 6. Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rights, which is baptism essentially, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. and God permitting we will do so that we are to set aside the elementary things. We are to seek the higher things. Right?

Just as I mentioned in Colossians, set your mind on the things that are higher. There's a lot of times where it's talking about let's not fight and argue over these elementary things or the lower things as it were. Let's seek the higher things of God. And I bring all of this up because of the fact it all begins with responding to that invitation. and it from responding receiving salvation through faith by believing in the death, burial, and resurrection.

That's not the end of your life. That is the beginning of your spiritual walk in the Lord. And and and some of the language I like to use with people, we're all on a spiritual journey. And we should all be on a spiritual journey to knowing the Lord. And upon that, that is the beginning of your life in Christ, in him, so that we continue to grow and we become more like the Lord.

In that, we are called to live and love like Christ and to follow what ask ourselves, what does God have in store for my life? What does God want me specifically to do? And how can I follow his way? Because he's going to be transforming us. And that's a beautiful thing.

And so let's not be divided. In fact, let's focus on God's word, right? The truth of God's word and the love that um Christ has for us. One of the things that I also want to share with you, I'm guess I'm sharing a lot of scripture here. And again, that's fine, is what we find in Ephesians.

Now, many of you may know Ephesians 2:es 8-9. Uh it's a very common one. Um let me pull that up right here. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves.

It is a gift from God. Right? There we go. Talking about stewardship again. We with what we've been given.

We're to steward it. Verse 9, not by works so that no one can boast. A lot of people like to stop there, but I encourage for you to always look at that following verse. Right? Again, look at the context and look at the connections with scripture.

We are God's handiwork. We are created in Christ to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. The powerful thing about this is when we're thinking of this second point, you are not insignificant. You are intentionally designed. Right?

When we think of the uh the verses where it says that God knew us before we were born, that that we were knit together in our mother's womb. Well, we we can look at ultrasounds and these kind of things and that we are loved by God and we have been given purpose. We are given life. We're given time, talent, and treasure that we are to steward. And in the same way that God created these planets with such intentionality, we have been made with such intentionality.

But here's the thing, we are alive and we unlike a planet, right? a planet's just a solid rock or whatever it is, gas or or liquid or whatever it is, any of those things, it's not living. Now, yes, as the verse um in Psalm saying, we're lower than angels, but we're still given that crown, right? That um crowned with honor. So let us respond knowing that that honor, that intentionality that we're made with such um intentionality, made in the image of God.

Seek the Lord, be saved, and grow in him. Set aside those elementary things as I was mentioning earlier, and focus on the higher things. For again, as that verse 10 says, we are God's handiwork. We are created so that we can do good works. And the language I like to use is doing good in the name of Christ.

And we do that by the words that we speak and the actions that we do. And the third thing then is that worship is the proper response. The proper response when understanding or grasping God's majesty, right, and our humanity. In other words, it is when we are worshiping the Lord, it is recognizing the greatness of God and how small we are. Now, that that can be very interesting when we think about th this whole psalm, this idea of the heavens declaring the glory of God, the vastness of the universe, how big creation is, it should lead us to worship the living God, that which created, right?

As I mentioned with this pen, if you forgot, this pen was designed by someone or something, right? Much like really any of the material things that we have. In the same way, when we look at the universe, that should that which has been created should lead us to the creator, which is God. And that makes us realize we're part of that which is created. And we should therefore seek God.

We should worship him. Right? So again, worship is that proper response when fully grasping and understanding the greatness of God and our humility that we're small in comparison to God. We're small in our understanding compared to the vastness and the limitlessness of who God is. And this awe and wonder like I was talking about with children and and their praise.

Children having this sense of awe and wonder of who God is. Well, we should be like those children. And I know that's pretty humbling for me when I I have to be like a child, God. But really, this awe leads us to adoration, right? Being in awe and wonder of who God is.

That essentially is the fear of the Lord. That sense of awe and wonder of who God is and realizing that we well recognizing how great God is should lead us to worship. So let us be in that awe and wonder. Look at observe the world around you. Observe people and think God made all this.

It truly is overwhelming. And in that I want to turn to then it's going to be in Romans. And I think this is something that you'll find to be very interesting. In Romans chapter I know I'm moving my notes everywhere. Uh Romans 11.

That's Romans 6. I had the it's it's still Romans 11. So Romans 11, this is a good one. Verse 33. Listen to this.

This is the doxology. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Right? That's heavy right there. How uncarchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out.

Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever.

Amen. Powerful. Again, it's showing this sense of the depth of who God is. Again, that'll overwhelm you. Much like the creation account, when we think about how knowledgeable God is and the wisdom, the vastness, the limitlessness, God existing outside of the space and time continuum, that's overwhelming to think about.

But in all of this, we should live our lives in a sense of awe and wonder of who God is and recognize who God is. And if you are a Christian, who you are in him. If you're not a Christian, know that in knowing Christ, you are a new creation. You're to put on the new self and to be transformed to become an ambassador for Christ. That's beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful. And so those are the lessons that we can learn from Psalm 8. It then takes us into this final piece which is how do we live this out? And there are three ways that we can take this out. I try to keep it to three points here.

is recognizing the name of God that the name of God is powerful and it's not just when we recognize God's name certainly there's emotion that's involved with it but it's not only emotions it is acknowledging the greatness of God and the essence of who he is one of the things one of the verses that I think of um in this that I I want to share with you is going to be I'm going to turn just Just a second. It's in Proverbsap 18. A lot of scripture here. Proverbs 18:10 where it says, "The name of the Lord is a fortified tower. The righteous run to it and are safe." Isn't that interesting?

Recognizing the name of God. Let me read that again. The name of the Lord is a fortified tower. The righteous run to it and are safe. Right?

When we think of the name of Jesus, we think of the name of the Lord. It is recognizing just like again how we are reading in Psalm 8 verse one and verse 9. Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. It is recognizing the power of the name of our Lord that it is the name above all names. And so what I would encourage for you is when you wake up or sometime during the week, think about how majestic the name of God is or how strong and how powerful the name of the Lord is.

Maybe you can do that before you even reach your phone. Think about that. The moment you wake up or before you go to bed, the last thought that you have or whenever you can identify, maybe commuting to work or whatever. So recognize God's name is the first one. The second one then is to reflect.

Take some time to reflect intentionally on the creation that God has for the universe. I want to turn over. I'm going to turn over there in just a second here. But we think we can see that God's glory, God's creation is on display for all of us to see as evidence to see this. These are the things that are created.

I want to find the creator. I want to seek that which is um I want to seek the one that created all of this. And that should be a pursuit for all of us when we think of the world and and all of the things in it. It should redirect us to focus on him and to see there's something more to this earth. There's got to be something that made all of this.

It's so it should lead all of us into recognizing the power of who God is. And that's it's powerful. I want to turn to Job 12. That's a book that a lot of people um neglect. But in this Job 12 7-10 where it says, "But ask the animals.

Ask. Ask the animals and they will teach you. Or the birds in the sky and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth and it will teach you. Or let the fish in the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this. That is a insane question to ask, right? That's a powerful question to ask. In verse 10, in his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Whoa.

Job would be a cool study to do. We think about this asking the animals, let the birds tell you what it's we think about how this is that which is created that testify to the power of God. And we are to discover it. See, this is what's interesting. A lot of animals will know where they have to go in their migration patterns.

They are not anxious about the meals that they're going to have next, but we sure do. It's not to say that we're less than animals, but it's to show our human responsibility that we are to respond in seeking that which is higher. in recognizing these animals like this verse is saying, right? I I want to go over it one more time here because ask the animals, they will teach you. The birds in the skies, they will tell you.

It all is testifying to the power of God. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? And I I suppose the implication is that they do know. They know that the hand of God is in this. At least that's what this verse in Job seems to be implying here.

And in this verse 10, in his hand is the life of every creature. So we think of the fingers that are making the universe, but in his hand, you know, it reminds me of is that song, he's got the whole world in his hand, right? He's got the whole wide world in his hands. And this could be a reference to that. In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

what powerful depth and wisdom we find from the word of God in here. And so again, reflect intentionally on God's creation. Maybe it's looking at the birds in the sky, looking at the fish in the sea. All of it is saying, "Look at the creation account. Look at that which has been created on the earth." And think all of this is the hand of God as it were.

how powerful, how remarkable and powerful God is. And yet in that, he gives us the chance for us to observe and to discover God. That is really cool when we think about this. And so I would encourage for you to take 5 10 minutes to be out in nature wherever you're at. But I hope it's starting to warm up and and you're really um you take time to be mindful of who God is and look at observe the world around you.

Let creation speak of who God is, his majesty and let that overwhelm you as it were. Let that testify to the power of God. And finally, the third one then is to remember your God-given role. And that you have been created with such intentionality. You're made in the image of God, but you have been given time, talent, and treasured.

You are to steward all that God has been given to you. I have mentioned how we as human beings, as mankind, humankind, we are to steward the earth. But as an image bearer, bearing the image of God, we are to steward what God has given to us. and how you live your life should reflect God's glory. That is a challenge for should be a challenge for all of us.

And it it reminds me of I'm going to go ahead and turn there. Um just give me a second here. I have it. There it is. Um it's in Colossians 3:1 17, which is a good one.

3:1 17. I'll even start from verse 15. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since as members of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through the psalms, hymns, and songs.

Do you realize what it's saying here? It's saying, utilize the Psalms. Let the message of Christ dwell with you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through the Psalms. Right? through hymns and through songs of the spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

And then finally, whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father. And we think about that. Recognize that you were made for much more than what the world has to offer. You were designed with greater purpose and such intentionality. And so whatever you do, do it in excellence for the glory of God.

And that's taken from that Colossians chapter 3 verse 17. And ask and reflect for yourself. Then how can you reflect God's glory in what you say and in what you do? How does that manifest in your own relationship and your everyday living? Certainly, we are called to live in love like Jesus.

We're called to be ambassadors for Christ. And so how you live that out is unique to you. And so as we conclude then Psalm 8 here, it is supposed to make us be in awe and wonder of who God is, recognizing that well God's name, right? How majestic the name of God is. And let us think for a second.

We should be in awe and wonder of who God is. It should remind us that God is the ruler of all creation, right? The Lord of all creation. The galaxies, the stars, the nebulas, the black holes, all of those things are part of God's creation. And yet in all of that, the same God who made the universe is there for you, waiting for you to respond to his invitation, his call for salvation.

And let us remember, you have been given so much. May you steward it well. And ask yourself the question, how can you respond to God's greatness or God's call for your your life? Are there distractions in your life? How can you clear that out?

And how can you focus intentionally on the living God? And so as we close in Psalm 8, let us remember how majestic the name of God is. That God made the universe with his fingers. The testimony of children being used as spiritual warfare. And that well, we have been given so much.

And it is our responsibility to steward our lives and to respond to God's call for our life through salvation and becoming molded, being more like Jesus Christ every single day. I want to thank you so much for tuning into the Pastor Patrick podcast. May you live and love like Jesus. [Music]