How Majestic Is Your God

Good evening. I.

Bring you greetings from the Saints at Christ the King Baptist Church in Watsonville and. We are thankful to have another congregation in the area that we can know is worshiping the one true God and be encouraged.

So thank you for letting me fill this pulpit and be able to bring you guys the word of the Lord this evening.

Would you bow your heads and pray with me? Oh.

Heavenly Father how majestic is your name in all the earth?

Lord.

Over the heavens you have placed your glory. You have made yourself known in your creation and you have made yourself known through your revealed word. Lord we pray now this evening that your revealed word would go out.

That your people would be nourished and encouraged and that we would all have a more majestic Look of our one true God. Lord, we pray your spirit would move. Would use the words of your book to sanctify us to make us love our Savior Jesus More and more and make us conformed into the image of Christ.

We pray this in his name.

Amen.

Our Thoughts of God Are Too Small

Friends our thoughts of God are Often too small. We tend to question and doubt God instinctively instead of trusting him. The great reformer Martin Luther was once having a conversation With his friend, although you wouldn't have known that after you read his book against him Erasmus.

And he told him your thoughts of God are too human. This is something that we should take time to meditate on and make sure our thoughts of God are not too human weak or creaturely. So let's go to God's Word this evening open your Bibles to Psalm 8 hear the word of the Lord to the choir master according to the Gidath a psalm of David.

The Majesty of God in Psalm 8

Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth? You have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouth of babies and infants. You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger.

When I look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet all Sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea. Whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Oh Lord our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the earth? Hear the Word of God. Friends we come to Psalm 8 a glorious majestic song a song that really makes us lift up our heads and look to the heavens.

But as we do this in Psalm 8 we immediately can start thinking about God's creation and realizing. Oh, we see God it is so beautiful. It is it's so great and ensure. This is a good thing to think or we pick up Psalm 8 and immediately we gravitate to I must be the man God is mindful of and is caring for.

Now these are fine and true things to consider and to meditate on. But when we look at this, we must remember the context of the Psalms. They aren't all individual Psalms that have no context. No, this Psalm in particular is obviously within the context of the first seven Psalms 1 and 2 being foundational and pointing our eyes Towards the coming Christ who God has put on his holy hill.

Then we see how David is a type of Christ. But clearly falls short in many ways. We see how David is persecuted by Absalom his son and Psalms 3 through 7 and then we get to Psalm 8. Psalm 8 has all of this context that flows into it when we come to pick it up this evening.

So before we jump in let me just give you what I think is the main idea of Psalm 8 as we begin to Unpack it. Here's your main idea. This is what you can take home tonight. This is what you can write in your notes.

If you're a note taker.

God is.

Majestic. We see this through his covenants his creation and his condescension. Using the weakness of men to conquer his foe for his ultimate glory. So let's look now diving into God's Word. We begin with Oh Lord our Lord.

How majestic is your name in all the earth? I see that your guys's pew Bible is the ESV. Or at least that's the one I saw. Hopefully that's it calmly is giving me a head shake. So it's okay. But you'll note that that very first word in your Bible under Psalm 8 is Oh Lord.

And and what's significant about it? It's all in capital letters, right? Are you seeing that. I'm seeing some head nod. That's okay. It's an evening service, but I'm expecting some interaction. Oh Lord is how this psalm begins and why is it in all capital letters?

What's happening here? David is calling upon the covenantal name of God. He is using Yahweh. He is using that name to remind us that God is a covenant making God and if you go all the way to verse 9 What do you see?

Will you see an inclusio or you see the beginning of the psalm and the end of the psalm? They begin and end the same way. Oh Lord our Lord. How majestic is your name and all the earth? Verse 9 Oh Lord our Lord.

How majestic is your name and all the earth the context of Psalm 8 then is going to be a covenantal one. We see the covenantal name of God. It is important. It is one that draws our eyes up. It is knowing that God must have condescended to us in making a covenant with his creation.

We have a majestic God That would even be mindful of man. But I wonder do we just take majestic for granted. Remember Luther said your thoughts of God are too human. Our thoughts of God are often too small.

Do we understand that this? Majestic Aspect of God is a characteristic of him. The Hebrew word that is translated in our Bibles as Majestic can be described with four other words. So let's think about those quickly number one.

Mighty.

Pertaining to actions that show a great physical power. Our God is mighty. Secondly large. Pertaining to a large size and so fit for a purpose implying to have a stately or awesome appearance. How majestic is our God?

Number three is awesome. Pertaining to a state of grandeur and high status. And then number four is beautiful. Pertaining to that which has a lovely desirable appearance. Friends are these the things that you typically think about when you think about your God?

One who is awesome one who is mighty one who is large and one who is beautiful. Or do you tend to think of God? After the thoughts of men someone something you can put into a box. David continues inspired by the Holy Spirit and he says you have set your glory above the heavens now.

I'm sure you guys love the Psalms as much as I do. But certainly Psalm 19 begins ringing in your head as you hear this description. Psalm 19 one right the heavens declare the glory of God in the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Of course, this is referring to God's glory being evident in all of creation. This covenantal God has condescended in order for humans to be able to understand him. Just think of that for a moment God did not need that God is ah say meaning he doesn't need anything from anyone yet.

He is condescended to you and to me to reveal himself for his glory and your good. How majestic is our God. We see that David is describing that God is so large and so majestic that his glory is set above the heavens.

Glory is similar to majesty. In fact, the semantic range of both words overlap with each other. Meaning that God's grandeur is set above the heavens. Heavens referring to the sky for David. Meaning that God is so large and so powerful and so weighty that he cannot be contained even in our own skies our God is majestic.

But then David moves in verses 2 through 4 to some interesting things. He says out of the mouth of babies and infants. You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger.

It was a great joy for me this evening to hear little people making noises in this congregation because to at Christ the King we have lots of little people making lots of noise. Amen because that's what they're doing.

They're they're testifying to our God and how Majestic that our God is but at the same time you're not hearing your baby or infant. Specifically say oh look the Lord has established his strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger.

So what's going on here? Well, remember that all of Scripture is inspired by God and it just so happens. I'm not saying that you have to follow Holy Week and hopefully I don't get run out of this place or even bringing it up but Palm Sunday, right there was Jesus came into the temple and if you go to Matthew chapter 21, please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 21.

If you have them. You're going to see Jesus quoting this song. And not just here. We'll see somewhere later in the sermon in the book of Hebrews, but here we see.

Jesus.

The Word Incarnate is going to quote a song. Do you guys understand in hermeneutics or the way you study your Bible? This is a clue right when when the one who wrote all of the words of Scripture the very creator of the entire Universe is going to quote the Old Testament.

Our ears should perk we should listen very carefully. So we see in Matthew 21 on Palm Sunday Jesus has already cleansed the temple starting in verse 14 and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children crying out in the temple Hosanna to the Son of David. They were indignant and they said to him. Do you hear what these are saying?

And Jesus said to them. Yes. Have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies? You have prepared praise and leaving them. He went out of the city to Bethany and large lodged there. Christ I think is doing two things here.

First he's making a claim to the divine. He's saying that he is a divine being. He is actually the one in Psalm 8 that is being Referred to. He's saying don't you know that these little ones can't do anything but praise me in this situation and.

Then as we read in verse 2 that out of the mouth of babies and infants. You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger. I think Christ is calling the scribes and the chief priests his enemies.

We see how the weakness of man the majesty of God. Let's continue in verses 3 and 4 secondly out of the overflow of Majesty David is in awe that God actually cares and is mindful of man. When I look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place.

What is man that you are mindful of him and the Son of Man that you care for him? Again, man is only mentioned in the sense of why are you even mindful of us? Friends something to think about on this sabbath day.

That God is mindful of us. He cares for us. He loves us. This majestic awesome large mighty God is mindful of us. Now when I hear of mindful I can become A bit aloof. I can I can think aloof like uh, i'm mindful that I need to know.

That it's sunday so i'm not gonna mow the lawn but monday is coming. Now i'm in watsonville so we still have lawns and things like that that we have to deal with. But that's I don't think that's what is is happening here.

Right something that I haven't gotten around to yet. This is not God's mindful. God's mindful is that he remembers you. He knows your name and he understands what is going on in your life. Secondly, we hear that he cares for us in this mindfulness.

This word means that he attends to you like a nurse. Who's helping a patient? Now remember where we just were. This incredible the incredible majesty of God the observation of the power of God that turns into reverence.

How incredible that God knows what you are going through and is mindful of you and is caring for you. Unfortunately, we tend to say to God. I can't believe you are mindful of me at all. But we tend to see or we tend to say rather God.

Are you even there? God, do you even hear me? God, do you even care? Now some of you might not admit To saying something like this, I would never say something like that. But if we're being true to ourselves those thoughts come into our mind those doubts.

Raise in our heart and we must take them captive with the reality. That our majestic God is always mindful of us. Now let's look at God's mindfulness for man. That he would actually care for the son of man.

Verses five through eight we see God's mindfulness of man. Yet you made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen and also the beasts of the field the birds of the heaven. The fish of the sea whatever passes along the paths of the sea. Now before we get into the two ways in which God is mindful of you we need to understand a couple of things first.

First is the use of son of man in the hebrew. We actually read this same title in daniel chapter 7 verses 13 through 14. Which refers to the messiah that the jews were looking to? We also read this in the new testament that christ refers to himself as the son of man.

In fact, it is the title which he refers to himself the most often. So who is david talking about here? When he says Man that you are mindful of him son of man that you care for him. Friends, I think david inspired by the holy spirit is doing two things here.

He is pointing backwards toward creation and he's pointing forwards towards justification.

In your.

Creation we see that god is mindful of us. We can look back to um in verses 5 through 8 that we just went to and parallel that with genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 through 28. We read then god said let us make man in our image.

After our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens. And over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So god created man in his own image. In the image of god, he created him male and female. He created them. And god blessed them and god said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. It's interesting. That david seems to be calling us back To the creation that god created man and was mindful of them.

We as humans were given honor and glory. Not because we're awesome. Not because we're impressive. Not because we're large or sizable or majestic or weighty. But because we were made in the very image of god.

Everything else was made by god speaking it into existence. Humans were made from dirt and from the very breadth of god. How is god mindful of us? He has placed us above every other living thing on the earth.

He has given us the cultural mandate to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over every living thing. This is incredible. God is mindful of you so much that he made you in his image. How majestic?

Is your god? Not only is god mindful of you in your creation. But god is mindful of you.

In your.

Justification. Now we're going to see something different. In fact, the author of the book of hebrews gives us another aspect of this verse. Remember the best commentary Of scripture is scripture. So if we're going to look into the new testament and see how the new testament is giving us What the old testament means we should take that.

We should go to that and say this is good. We shouldn't be worried about that. So why don't you turn with me in your bibles? To hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. For it was not to angels That god subjected the world to come Of which we are speaking.

It has been testified.

Somewhere.

Now.

Here is my quick note for students. This will not work as a citation for any paper that you are giving. Okay, you have to tell people where it came from. But this is the inspired author of hebrews who tells us it was testified somewhere in the bible.

I just like that i'm gonna i'm gonna use that moving forward. But here's here's what is the testimony that was testified somewhere and maybe you'll hear and be reminded. What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower. Oh, i'm, sorry for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now in putting everything in subjection to him.

He left nothing outside his control. At present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him for a little while was made lower than the angels.

Namely.

Jesus.

Crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of god He might taste death for everyone for it was fitting that he for whom and by whom all things exist. And bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through Suffering for he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

Friends, it's interesting how the author of hebrews will take this reality. And then apply it and say hebrews 8 It's not just talking about god being mindful of you in your creation, but hebrews 8 is pointing towards.

Jesus.

A good hermeneutic for all the psalms is that you're going to find christ. And we have found him here. As the inspired new testament has given us the ability to read this and say ah. This isn't about me in particular.

Although I can certainly get things from it that god is mindful of me. But more specifically psalm 8 is giving glory to christ. And that although he was made a little lower than the heavenly beings. He is crowned with glory and honor.

And whereas adam fell through with the dominion mandate and broke the covenant of works Jesus came with a better covenant and he did not break it. He fulfilled that covenant and so doing we can be forgiven of all of our sin.

And cry out with loud voices how majestic Is our god? So friends as we consider psalm 8 this evening a short run-through of this majestic psalm I want you to recognize. When you have made your thoughts of god to human.

When you are complaining or doubting. Or scared about what may happen in our world. That's pretty easy. You guys live in silicon valley things change really quickly here. There can be a fear of not having all the things that you need.

And forgetting how majestic your god is. So in application this evening, yes, we're already there praise the lord. I want you to cultivate an awareness of god's majesty. How do we cultivate an awareness of god's majesty?

J .R. Packer in his book knowing god is very insightful on this subject. He says how may we form the right idea of god's greatness? The bible teaches us two steps that we must take. The first is to remove from our thoughts of god limits that would make him small.

The second is to compare him with the powers and forces which we regard as great. Friends, do you see how psalm 8 has done that for us this evening? It shows us that god has placed all the stars in their place.

This is aside and these can always get me into trouble. Did you just see recently uh the pictures from mars. About all the galaxies and stars that you could see from one of those rovers. I don't know this could have been ai or not.

But as you as you look out and see the majesty of god's creation. It should make you feel very very small and also very very loved. That this god would be so mindful of you that he would send jesus to die for all of our sins.

In fact our environment screams Of the creator. I I live in watsonville and you might think isn't that agriculture? But yes, we're like agriculture to the beach, right? And so we have in our area the mighty ocean.

As I drive I get to see the glorious ocean. And see how powerful and mighty god's work is in those waters. And then as I continue driving the one as I came over here to come see you guys I get to see the large redwoods that stretch to the heavens.

That shows us that our god is so intricate and glorious in his creation. And if that weren't enough I had to drive over mountains to get here. And as I drove through that crazy mountaintop experience with all of those drivers that almost got me here late I got to see god's majesty.

On display as you look past the mountains and you just see more and more hills with trees on the top of them. It is our creator saying.

Look.

At me.

His majesty is above all of that. This is how we start to rid our minds of the smallness of god. And compare him to the powers and forces which we regard as great and god regards as so minuscule. The author of hebrews interprets psalm 8 as we saw to refer to christ.

And the glory and honor that god crowned him with because of his suffering. Death that he tasted instead of you and me. Are we starting to get the picture? How majestic? Is your god? How awesome in power his infiniteness his beauty?

He created you from the dust and when you openly rebelled against him in your sin that caused a divide between The two of you he made his son lower than the heavenly beings in which he created. In order to suffer on your behalf and die for you.

This is how much god cares and is mindful of you friends. Stop thinking.

Of god.

In human ways.

He.

Is.

Majestic. And you might rightly be thinking and saying well, what about my anxiety? What about my marriage? What about my career that turns over every couple of years and whatever startup it may be. What about my children?

What about. What about?

What about?

I don't know about you. But when preachers start saying those things I feel my heart start beating faster as I start to consider those things going. Oh, no. What about those things? Friends a high view of god will affect the way in which we think about all other things.

Colossians 3 right i'm sure You've heard this before. Go to colossians chapter 3. We're just going to sit here for a moment and I promise i'm almost done. Colossians chapter 3. If then you have been raised with christ seek the things that are above where christ is Seated at the right hand of god set your minds on the things that are above.

Not on the things that are on earth for you have died and your life is hidden with christ in god. And when christ who is your life appears then also you will appear with him in glory. As we begin to seek and set our minds on the things that are above on the heavenly things on the things that have such Majesty that we can never wrap our minds around it.

We start to realize we have a great and majestic.

God.

We start to think differently. Now some of you have assigned majesty to something else. You may have Assigned majesty to the creation and not the creator. Friends this evening as we conclude I would remind you to repent.

To ask god to fill your heart with an understanding Of his great power that will lead you to a reverence and fear and to have a high view of our majestic.

God.

Oh lord.

Our lord how majestic is your name in all the earth? Would you pray with me? Lord, thank you for this evening. Thank you for this opportunity for me to bring psalm 8 to your people. God, I pray That their minds are full of thinking about your majesty thinking about how awesome.

Large.

Powerful weighty glorious Infinite all-knowing all powerful all present Not needing anything. God you are. Would you shake the cobwebs out of our mind? Would you renew our minds in your majesty? So that we would cling to you Trust you Love you anew.

God be with us this evening. We pray in jesus name. Amen.