1. O Lord our
Lord. Unable to express the glory of God,
the psalmist exclaims, “O Jehovah our Lord!” We need not wonder at this, for
no heart can measure, no tongue can utter, the half of the greatness of
Jehovah. The whole creation is full of his glory and radiant with the
excellency of his power; his goodness and his wisdom are manifested on every
hand. Universally he is present, and everywhere is his name excellent. There is
no place where God is not. The miracles of his power await us on all
sides. Everywhere, and in every place, God dwells and is manifestly at work.
Nor on earth alone is Jehovah extolled, for his brightness shines forth in the
firmament above the earth. His glory exceeds the glory of the starry heavens;
above the region of the stars he has set fast his everlasting throne, and there
he dwells in light ineffable. Let us adore him (Job 9:8–9; Nehemiah 9:6).
This psalm is addressed to God, because none but the Lord
himself can fully know his own glory. The believing heart is ravished with what
it sees, but only God knows the glory of God. What a sweetness lies in the
little word our; how much is God’s glory endeared to us when we consider
our interest in him as our Lord. How excellent is thy name. No words can
express that excellency, and therefore it is left as a note of exclamation. The
very name of Jehovah being excellent, what must his person be. Note the
fact that even the heavens cannot contain his glory, it is set above the
heavens, since it is and ever must be too great for the creature to
express.
2. Not only
in the heavens above is the Lord seen, but here below, the lisping utterances
of babes are the manifestations of his strength in little ones. Many men have
been made to hold their tongues, while sucklings have borne witness to the
glory of the God of heaven. Did not the children cry “Hosanna!” in the
temple, when proud Pharisees were silent and contemptuous? And did not the
Saviour quote these very words as a justification of these infant cries? Early
church history records many amazing instances of the testimony of children for
the truth of God. He who delights in the songs of angels is pleased to honor
himself in the eyes of his enemies by the praises of little children. What a
contrast between the glory above the heavens, and the mouths of babes and
sucklings! Yet by both the name of God is made excellent.
3–4. Astronomy
shows us what an insignificant being man appears amidst the immensity of
creation. Though he is an object of the paternal care and mercy of the Most
High, yet he is but as a grain of sand to the whole earth, when compared to the
countless myriads of beings that people the amplitudes of creation. What is the
whole of this globe in comparison of the hundred millions of suns and worlds
which by the telescope have been descried? What are they, in comparison with
the glories of the sky?
5–8. These
verses may set forth man’s position among the creatures before he fell; but as
they are, by the apostle Paul, appropriated to man as represented by the Lord
Jesus, it is best to give most weight to that meaning. In order of dignity, man
stood next to the angels, and a little lower than they; in the Lord Jesus this
was accomplished, for he was made a little lower than the angels by the
suffering of death. Man in Eden had the full command of all creatures, and they
came before him to receive their names as an act of homage to him as the
vice-gerent of God to them. Jesus in his glory is now Lord not only of all
living but of all created things, and, with the exception of him who put all
things under him, Jesus is Lord of all, and his elect, in him, are raised to a
dominion wider than that of the first Adam, as shall be more clearly seen at
his coming. Well might the psalmist wonder at the singular exaltation of man in
the scale of being, when he marked his utter nothingness in comparison with the
starry universe.
5. A little lower than the angels. A little lower in nature, since they are immortal, and only
a little, because time is short; and when that is over, saints are no lower
than the angels. The margin reads “a little while inferior to.” Thou
crownest him. The dominion that God has bestowed on man is a great glory
and honor to him; for all dominion is honor, and the highest is that which
wears the crown. A full list is given of the subjugated creatures, to show that
all the dominion lost by sin is restored in Christ Jesus. Let none of us permit
the possession of any earthly creature to be a snare to us, but let us remember
that we are to reign over them, and not to allow them to reign over us.
9. Here the
poet returns to his first state of wondering adoration. O for grace to walk
worthy of that excellent name which has been named upon us, and which we are
pledged to magnify!
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
