How Majestic Is Your Name
Psalm 8 summary: what it means
Psalm 8 is a short hymn that begins and ends with the same line: how majestic the LORD's name is in all the earth. Between those two lines it looks up at the night sky, at the moon and the stars, and asks why a God who made all that would think about human beings at all. The answer is that he has given people a high place, crowned with glory and honor and set over the creatures.
The psalm never answers its question with a reason. It simply states what God has done: made humans a little lower than the angels and put the animals, birds and fish under their rule. Then it closes by repeating its first line word for word, so the whole psalm is framed by praise of God's name rather than of humanity.
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Psalm 8: How Majestic Is Your Name
World English Bible, public domain. allpsalms.com/psalm-8
Psalm 8 commentary: explained verse by verse
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory above the heavens!
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
The psalm opens by speaking to God directly and calling his name majestic across the whole earth. The second sentence lifts his glory above the heavens. Earth and heavens set the scale for everything that follows.
Also read Psalm 72:17-19, Philippians 3:8, Exodus 34:5-7, Deuteronomy 28:58
From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
This is the psalm's surprise. Strength against God's enemies is said to come from the lips of babes and infants, the weakest voices there are. The verse does not explain how, but the point is that God does not need the strong to silence the enemy.
Also read Psalm 4:4, Psalm 46:10, 1 Corinthians 1:27, Isaiah 37:20-29
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
The writer looks at the night sky and calls it the work of God's fingers. Fingers suggest fine, careful work rather than effort. The moon and stars are described as ordained, set in place by God.
Also read Exodus 31:18, Job 25:5, Psalm 136:7-9, Job 36:24
what is man, that you think of him?What is the son of man, that you care for him?
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
This is the question the whole psalm turns on. Set against the size of the heavens, a human being looks small, and the writer asks why God would think of him or care for him. The question is asked twice, first of man and then of the son of man.
Also read Exodus 4:31, Isaiah 40:17, 1 Peter 2:12, Isaiah 51:12
For you have made him a little lower than the angels,and crowned him with glory and honor.
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
The answer is not that humans are small after all. God has made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. The language is royal, and a crown is something given, not earned.
Also read 2 Samuel 14:29, Philippians 2:7-11, Hebrews 2:7, 1 Peter 1:20-21
You make him ruler over the works of your hands.You have put all things under his feet:
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
Humans are made rulers over the works of God's hands. The same God whose fingers set the stars in place in verse 3 has put all things under human feet. The authority is handed over by God, not seized.
Also read 1 Corinthians 15:24-27, Psalm 110:1, Genesis 1:28, Matthew 28:18
All sheep and cattle,yes, and the animals of the field,
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The list begins with the animals people know best, sheep and cattle, and then widens to the animals of the field. It spells out what all things in verse 6 includes.
Also read Genesis 2:20
the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
The list reaches the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. Land, sky and sea are all covered, so the rule described in verse 6 has no gap in it.
Also read Job 38:39-30, Genesis 1:20-25, Job 40:15-34, Psalm 148:10
LORD, our Lord,how majestic is your name in all the earth!
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
The psalm ends with its opening line repeated exactly. After all the talk of human glory, the last word goes back to the majesty of God's name. The frame makes clear which of the two the psalm is really about.
Also read Job 11:7, Psalm 104:24, Psalm 8:1, Deuteronomy 33:26
A prayer from Psalm 8
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, and the moon and the stars you set in place, I wonder why you think of us at all. Yet you do think of us, and you care for us. You have crowned us with glory and honor and made us rulers over the works of your hands, the flocks and herds, the birds and the fish. Help me to hold that charge with care and to remember whose work it is. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Amen.
Psalm 8 Bible study questions
- In verse 3, what does the speaker look at before asking the question in verse 4?
- Verses 6 to 8 list what has been put under human feet; what kinds of creatures are named?
- Verse 4 asks what man is, that God should think of him; when, if ever, has feeling small led you to wonder rather than fear?
- Verse 6 makes humans rulers over the works of God's hands; what might that responsibility mean in your daily life?
- Psalm 8:3 and Psalm 19:1 both look up at the heavens; how does each psalm describe what the heavens show?
Questions about Psalm 8
What is the summary of Psalm 8?
Psalm 8 praises God's name, looks at the night sky, and asks why God cares for human beings. It answers that God has crowned people with glory and honor and set them over the rest of creation, then closes with the same praise it began with.
Who wrote Psalm 8?
The heading attributes it to David. It is addressed to the Chief Musician and mentions an instrument of Gath.
What does Psalm 8:3-4 mean?
Verses 3 and 4 set the size of the heavens against the smallness of a person and ask why God would think of or care for human beings. The rest of the psalm answers by describing the honor God has given them.
What does Psalm 8:1-2 say?
Verse 1 praises God's name across all the earth and his glory above the heavens. Verse 2 says God has established strength from the lips of babes and infants, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
What does Psalm 8:9 mean?
Verse 9 repeats the first line of verse 1 word for word: LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Ending where it began frames the whole psalm as praise of God.
What does Psalm 8 say about human beings?
It says God has made human beings a little lower than the angels, crowned them with glory and honor, and made them rulers over the animals, birds and fish.
Psalm 8 KJV: the King James Version
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.1
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.2
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;3
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?4
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.5
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:6
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;7
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.8
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!9
Psalm 8 in Hebrew
The Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain. Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible, which counts a psalm's heading as verse 1, so they can run one ahead of English Bibles.
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1 לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ עַֽל־הַגִּתִּ֗ית מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃
2 יְהוָ֤ה אֲדֹנֵ֗ינוּ מָֽה־אַדִּ֣יר שִׁ֭מְךָ בְּכָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּנָ֥ה ה֝וֹדְךָ֗ עַל־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
3 מִפִּ֤י עֽוֹלְלִ֨ים ׀ וְֽיֹנְקִים֮ יִסַּ֪דְתָּ֫ עֹ֥ז לְמַ֥עַן צוֹרְרֶ֑יךָ לְהַשְׁבִּ֥ית א֝וֹיֵ֗ב וּמִתְנַקֵּֽם׃
4 כִּֽי־אֶרְאֶ֣ה שָׁ֭מֶיךָ מַעֲשֵׂ֣י אֶצְבְּעֹתֶ֑יךָ יָרֵ֥חַ וְ֝כוֹכָבִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר כּוֹנָֽנְתָּה׃
5 מָֽה־אֱנ֥וֹשׁ כִּֽי־תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ וּבֶן־אָ֝דָ֗ם כִּ֣י תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ׃
6 וַתְּחַסְּרֵ֣הוּ מְּ֭עַט מֵאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְכָב֖וֹד וְהָדָ֣ר תְּעַטְּרֵֽהוּ׃
7 תַּ֭מְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂ֣י יָדֶ֑יךָ כֹּ֝ל שַׁ֣תָּה תַֽחַת־רַגְלָֽיו׃
8 צֹנֶ֣ה וַאֲלָפִ֣ים כֻּלָּ֑ם וְ֝גַ֗ם בַּהֲמ֥וֹת שָׂדָֽי׃
9 צִפּ֣וֹר שָׁ֭מַיִם וּדְגֵ֣י הַיָּ֑ם עֹ֝בֵ֗ר אָרְח֥וֹת יַמִּֽים׃
10 יְהוָ֥ה אֲדֹנֵ֑ינוּ מָֽה־אַדִּ֥יר שִׁ֝מְךָ֗ בְּכָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Psalm 8 in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible
The Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain. It follows the Greek and Latin numbering, so this psalm is Psalm 8 there.
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1 Unto the end, for the presses: a psalm of David.
2 O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens.
3 Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger.
4 For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.
5 What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest hi?
6 Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour:
7 And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
8 Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields.
9 The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea.
10 O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth!
Psalm 8 in Latin
The Clementine Vulgate, public domain, where this psalm is Psalm 8.
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1 In finem, pro torcularibus. Psalmus David.
2 Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra ! quoniam elevata est magnificentia tua super cælos.
3 Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem propter inimicos tuos, ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.
4 Quoniam videbo cælos tuos, opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quæ tu fundasti.
5 Quid est homo, quod memor es ejus? aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?
6 Minuisti eum paulominus ab angelis; gloria et honore coronasti eum;
7 et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
8 Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus, oves et boves universas, insuper et pecora campi,
9 volucres cæli, et pisces maris qui perambulant semitas maris.
10 Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra !
Printable Psalm 8: free, large print and PDF
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Psalm 8 at a glance
| Verses | 9 |
| Heading in the text | For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. |
| Attributed to | The heading attributes it to David, and addresses it to the Chief Musician, on an instrument of Gath. |
| Type | Praise |
| Number in Greek and Latin Bibles | Psalm 8, the same |
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Psalm 8 in other translations
This page prints the World English Bible and the King James Version because both are public domain. The NIV, ESV, NKJV, NLT and NASB are under copyright, so they cannot be printed in full here. You can read Psalm 8 in those translations at Bible Gateway.
Where Psalm 8 belongs
Psalms of DavidBook 1 of the Psalms
How this page was made
The psalm text comes from public domain translations and is not edited. The summary, the verse notes and the answers are written for this page from the text of the psalm itself. Where a claim goes beyond the text, it is sourced below.
Sources
- Text: World English Bible and King James Version, both public domain, from ebible.org source
- Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Douay-Rheims: Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Latin text: Clementine Vulgate, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Numbering: Greek and Latin psalm numbering, Wikipedia, Psalms source