The Messianic Psalms - Psalm 8 — Chip Brogden

We'll rejoice and be glad in it. Hello again everyone, this is Chip Brogden coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. We're streaming online at www .watchman .net and we are continuing our series of messages on the Messianic Psalms.

The Messianic Psalms Reveal Christ and His Kingdom

Jesus said everything written about him in the law, the prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. So we are going through the book of Psalms and we are selecting those Psalms that specifically reveal, unveil, and teach us something concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and his kingdom.

And it is an exciting study, I'm glad that you joined us and I'm looking forward to really pulling out some treasure here in the book of Psalms. It's a fascinating book, it's a fascinating study, and it is so full of meaning and purpose and prophetic wisdom and insight.

These Messianic Psalms that really bring us closer to the Lord Jesus and really help us to see and to understand and discern God's purposes, all right here in the book of Psalms. So praise the Lord, we're going to get started this week in Psalms 8, so if you would grab your Bible, we'll begin reading there with Psalms 8.

And while you're turning there, why don't we go ahead and go to the Lord in prayer right now. Thank you Father for your word and for the testimony of Jesus that is contained within these prophetic scriptures, within this book of Psalms and these Messianic Psalms that teach us concerning Jesus.

Holy Spirit come and be our teacher and open our eyes, open our understanding, open our minds so that we can see and perceive and understand and have spiritual wisdom and discernment in these things. I thank you Father that your words are spirit and they are life and they are truth and Lord I pray that we would see Jesus in these scriptures.

Thank you for this opportunity that we have, Holy Spirit just open our eyes as well as our ears and our hearts so that we can see and hear what you're saying to us and what you want to teach us. Lead us deeper into truth, lead us deeper into Christ.

I thank you for it Lord and I praise you that your word is forever settled in heaven. Let your word find a home in our heart today and let it produce 30 and 60 and 100 fold return in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Psalm 8 and the Incarnation of Christ

Praise the Lord, well Psalms chapter 8 or the 8th Psalm, Psalm number 8 reads this way beginning in verse 1,. For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. Praise the Lord. Well, I told you that we'll go through the Messianic Psalms, we'll not go through them in the order in which they appear and we're not going to touch upon every Psalm in this book of Psalms, but we're going to begin a process of connecting the dots, if you will, in these Messianic Psalms beginning with the incarnation of Christ, we'll see him crucified, dead, buried, raised, ascended, seated in heavenly places, and ruling and reigning in his kingdom, we'll see all of that and that's the order in which we will deal with and study these particular Psalms, so the past couple of sessions have been introduction and now we're really getting into the meat of the Word with Psalms 8 and we're talking today about the incarnation of Christ or the fact that the Word became flesh and lived among us, the Word, Jesus Christ, who is God, became God in the flesh and John 1 says that the Word was flesh, the Word became a person, the Word became and took upon him a tabernacle, lived among us, had a body, was a real man and lived on this earth and God was in Christ as the Son of God and as the Son of Man, so when we read Psalms chapter 8, here is a Messianic Psalm that tells us something of the incarnation of Christ, so I told you that we're going to interpret or we should interpret the Old Testament with the New Testament, so as we read Psalms 8 and as you see the statements that are made, a lot of people have taught from this passage and from other passages similar to it that man has been given control of the earth, that it is man who has dominion and that God gave Adam all of this dominion and all of this authority and all of this power, gave Adam control of the earth and then Adam sinned and when he sinned the devil just came in and took over the earth and now that explains why the earth is in the situation that it's in, well I simply don't see that from scripture, I believe that people like the idea of a powerful devil because it gives them an excuse to live a defeated life, the reality is that God has never given man ownership of anything, if you will read the parables of Jesus, if you will read through those parables you see a principle coming forth and it is the principle that God owns everything but he gives tasks and responsibilities to men in the form of a stewardship, so God doesn't give ownership to anyone, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein, it all belongs to God, he is Lord of all, he is Lord of heaven and Lord of earth and the fact that Adam sinned is bad for Adam, sure he failed in his stewardship, yes that caused, that released sin into the world and that caused the problem but it was not Adam's to begin with, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, Adam had a stewardship and he failed in that stewardship but he did not have ownership, the Lord retains ownership, so basically what I'm saying is folks, the devil doesn't own anything, Jesus is Lord and the devil does not own the earth, and he doesn't own the earth because man never owned the earth to begin with, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, so when you read Psalms 8 a lot of people will take that and try to apply that to man but what this psalmist is trying to communicate to us is not how great man is, not how great mankind is, this psalmist is talking about how wonderful the Lord Jesus is, it's not talking about man having authority, it's talking about Jesus having authority and that's just my opinion until you turn over with me to the book of Hebrews and let's let scripture interpret scripture, okay?

Interpreting Psalm 8 Through Hebrews 2

That's a good rule to follow, you don't want to come up with your own conclusions about things, you don't want to listen to what somebody else says that a passage means, a real simple way to discern the meaning of a scripture is to interpret it with other scripture and especially if you can find elsewhere in the New Testament where something in the Old Testament is quoted, you can read the context in which that New Testament quote appears and you can get the interpretation for the Old Testament, it's not very complicated at all.

If you turn over to Hebrews chapter 2 and again to give you some background, the writer of Hebrews is writing to Christians who used to be Jewish and now they're being tempted to go back to Judaism because it's too difficult to claim that Jesus is the Messiah and he's trying to encourage them to continue on in the faith of Jesus and he's comparing Jesus with the angels and to help make his point, he quotes from this very passage of scripture that we just read, Psalms 8.

So if you read Hebrews chapter 2 beginning in verse 5, it says, For he has not put the world to come of which we speak in subjection to angels, but one testified in a certain place saying, and then he quotes Psalms 8, the psalm we just read, What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you take care of him?

You've made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that, verse 8, for in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him.

But now we do not yet see all things put under him. Verse 9, get this, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Now if you read this, then it becomes very evident that the writer of Hebrews interprets Psalms 8 not to apply to Adam, not to apply to mankind, but it applies to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see Jesus, verse 9 of Hebrews 2, we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

Man was created, Jesus was not. Jesus was not created lower than the angels, he was made a little lower than the angels, which means he had a position of ascendancy, a position of preeminence above all things, before all things, and that's what preeminence means.

Christ’s Preeminence Over All Things

I get people that ask me, what do you mean by preeminence? Because preeminence is a very foundational aspect of the things that we teach, it's a foundational aspect of the kingdom of God, of God's purpose, that Christ would have the preeminence in all things.

So that's not a word that we use every day, so people ask me, well what is preeminence? Well, here's the way I've written preeminence, and here's what I mean when I say preeminence. Preeminence literally means having the first, highest, chief, and best place in a position of ascendancy over everything else.

It is an ultimacy, a glory, an honor, a distinction, a prestige, an illustriousness, a renown, a notability, and a nobility that surpasses all others. Paul simply says that the aim of God is for Jesus Christ to have that kind of position in all things, beginning with each disciple, and then with the church, and ultimately in all of creation.

That is preeminence. Preeminence means the first, the full, and the final place. It means that of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things. Hallelujah. Now Jesus has always had the preeminence, but we see in Hebrews that you take Psalms 8, and you apply it, and you understand that for a time Jesus was made Lord than the angels.

For what purpose? Well, for the purpose of redeeming man, and so that's what Psalms 8 is referring to. It's not talking about Adam, and again with a prophetic passage you can interpret it at least two different ways.

You've got the literal interpretation, and then you've got the spiritual application. So certainly we're not going to say it doesn't refer to Adam whatsoever. In a certain sense it does, just like the prophetic words concerning Solomon actually are referring more to Christ, although they can be applied to Solomon.

That's the surface level interpretation. You've got a surface level interpretation here of Psalms 8. People would tend to apply that to Adam, or apply that to mankind, but really you need to go deeper and see, and this is the way it's interpreted in the New Testament, that Psalms 8 is not talking about man, it's talking about Jesus Christ.

In fact, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man more often than any other title that He calls Himself. He is constantly referring to Himself as the Son of Man. So when you see that phrase here in Psalms 8, you should immediately connect it with that, and you should immediately connect it to Hebrews 2, and then you've got the interpretation and there's no question.

Jesus Humbles Himself Below the Angels

So what does it say back in Psalms 8, verse 5? You have made Him. Made who? Made Jesus. You have made Him a little lower than the angels, and again folks, not you created Him. See, God created man a little lower than the angels, but He made Jesus a little lower.

The difference is, Jesus has always existed. Jesus as the preeminent Son of God has always existed. God did not create Him. God made Him lower. In other words, Jesus humbled Himself, and we're going to read that here in a moment, but Psalms 8, verse 5, you have made Him a little lower than the angels.

It means at one point He was above the angels. Now He has been made a little lower than the angels. For what purpose? You have crowned Him with glory and honor. You have made Him to have dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under His feet. Folks, there are so many scriptures that talk about the fact that all things are beneath the feet of Jesus. Now certainly, all things are not under our feet. Look at this, in Ephesians 1, verse 22, it says that He has put all things under His feet, whose feet?

Jesus' feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church. Colossians 1, verse 18, we've already referenced this, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.

You have put all things in subjection under His feet, it says in Hebrews 2, verse 8, we just read, for in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. That's preeminence.

When Christ has the ascendancy, when Christ has that position of preeminence and lordship over all things, all things beneath His feet, and that's exactly what Psalms 8 is saying. You made Him a little lower than the angels, you have crowned Him with glory and honor, you have made Him to have dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under His feet.

Praise the Lord, He is Lord of heaven and He is Lord of earth. Now, you made Him to have dominion, you made Him a little lower. Philippians, turn over to Philippians chapter 2, because again we are going to interpret Psalms 8 and we are going to apply this Psalm, not to Adam, not to mankind in general, but very specifically to Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God.

The Mind of Christ and True Unity

Now, Philippians 2 says, let this mind, verse 5 of Philippians 2, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. And it's going to go on here, but let's stop right there. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

There's a phrase that goes around and it's used by Christians and I understand the context and the meaning of it, but maybe we need to address it. It's used in the context of people who say something like this, I'm looking for like-minded people to have fellowship with.

Have you ever heard anyone say that? Have you ever said that? I've certainly said that. But I see like-mindedness now quite differently. Now that I've seen this in Scripture, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

You know, like-mindedness, I doubt that you're ever, sometimes like-mindedness is a code word that we use to mean I want to find people who think just like I do, who agree with everything that I say, and who are going to be just like me.

If that's your idea of like-mindedness, you're probably never going to find it. And if you do, if you do find someone who is so like-minded with you that they always agree with you, they think just the way you think, and there's never a disagreement.

If that's what you mean by like-mindedness, you probably won't find it. If you can find it, you're going to be a very boring group. So I've got a new way of looking at like-mindedness. To me, like-mindedness means I am thinking the way Jesus thinks.

I have this mind in me which was also in Christ Jesus. I've got the same attitude. I've got the same perspective. I think the same way. I look at things the same way. That is like-mindedness. Now, we might not find agreement on a horizontal level.

You and I may not see eye to eye on everything, but see, that's not really what unity is all about. Unity means that we are like Him. We are like-minded in that we are submitted to the mind of Christ.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. And that mind, that mindset is illustrated for us here in Philippians 2 as a mindset of humility. Humility. Not lording over one another. Not, not, not, not, not, not, not, not the kind of like-mindedness that causes us to only associate with people who think just the way we think.

That's not like-mindedness. Like-mindedness is to think as He thinks, to let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Now, if we have His mind, you and I are going to be in unity. If we are both submitted to Him, we'll be submitted to one another.

I'll be submitted to Christ in you. You'll be submitted to Christ in me. Now the problem is, folks, we're not submitted to Jesus completely. We don't completely have His mind. We don't let that same mind that was in Christ Jesus dwell in us richly.

And as a result, most of the time our problem is we are encountering flesh with one another. We're encountering the natural man or the carnal man or the soulishness of other people. We're not really encountering and experiencing like-mindedness insofar as the mind of Christ is concerned.

Now you and I may never agree on anything, but if we can let this mind be in us, which was also in Christ, we'll have agreement in the Spirit. Praise the Lord. I just thought I'd throw that in there. But look at this, Philippians chapter 2, verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.

He made himself lower than the angels. He made himself of no reputation. He took the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, verse 8, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself.

He humbled himself, see, and that's what Psalms 8 is talking about. It is talking about a king of the universe who comes to rule and to reign, not as a king to begin with, but as someone who humbles himself from the very beginning.

Who makes himself lower than the angels for what purpose? Well, it says, he made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

And there again, folks, is the principle of the cross. The cross is not just the instrument upon which our Lord Jesus was crucified and paid the penalty for our sins. The cross as a principle in my life says, I must empty myself, I must submit myself to the will of God, humble myself, deny myself, lose my life, that I may find my true life.

Now, death on the cross is not a happy occasion. It's not something that we want to talk about in the context, I mean, folks, we are very well educated as to the death of Jesus on the cross. But we have a long ways to go in taking that cross as a principle in our life and applying it as we live our daily life as disciples of Jesus.

Jesus says, if anyone wants to be my disciple, let him take up his cross, deny himself daily, and follow me. Take up his cross daily. It's not a once and for all thing. It's not the same physical death that Jesus died.

It is a spiritual denial. It is a denial of self. It is letting this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That's the principle of the cross. Jesus says, if you lose your life, you will save your life.

But if you try to save your life, in other words, if you try to avoid the cross as a principle of self-denial in your life, you will lose what life you have. Now, verse 9, therefore God also has highly exalted him.

Why did God highly exalt him? Because he made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. He humbled himself. He willingly laid down his life. Therefore, because of that, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. His name is above every name. And so what Psalms 8 is telling us is that this Jesus, this Messiah, this Christ who is coming, would achieve a place of dominion in which everything would be submitted to him.

Everything would be placed beneath his feet. But the key element there is that this Messiah would not come by force. This Messiah, this Christ would not come and exert himself or force himself upon the world, force himself into a position of ascendancy the way so many men try to do today.

People fight for position. They fight for power. They fight for authority. And when their power is threatened, they become very defensive and they become very hostile. But this is not the way and this is not the spirit and this is not the attitude and this is not the mindset of this one whom God has chosen to be Lord of all.

It says that he was made a little lower than the angels. In other words, he submitted himself and he was crowned. Philippians 2 simply expands upon that principle of Psalms 8. Made a little lower than the angels but crowned with glory and honor.

Sharing Christ’s Humility and Reign

Praise God. So let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. We have in Psalms 8 a picture of this king who is coming to reign in this kingdom. Now folks, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of anything is going to reflect directly upon the nature and the character of its king.

Does that make sense? If you have a king that is pompous and full of arrogance and pride, then that is going to be reflected in his kingdom. But if you have a king who is obedient, who humbles himself, who is meek, who is entirely submitted to the will of God, who is willing to empty himself, who is willing to be made lower, then you are going to see that reflected in his kingdom.

Now here is what I am getting at. If we are kings and priests of this kingdom, then we are going to reflect something of that king. We are going to reflect that same attitude, that same humility, that same meekness.

And here is the point. If we suffer with him, if we humble ourselves as he did, God will also highly exalt us. And he will allow us to rule and to reign with Jesus Christ, that name that is above every name.

Praise the Lord. We are all out of time for this session, but we will pick up again next week. This is Chip Brogdon, streaming online at www .watchman .net. Thank you for joining us. Look forward to seeing you here again next time.