Psalm 8

1 LORD, our Lord, 
 how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory 

in the heavens. 


2 Through the praise of children and infants 

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

to silence the foe and the avenger. 

3 When I consider your heavens, 

the work of your fingers, 
the moon and the stars, 

which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

 you put everything under their feet: 

7 all flocks and herds, 

and the animals of the wild, 
8 the birds in the sky, 

and the fish in the sea, 

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 LORD, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Questions to consider:

• Compare verse 1 with verse 9. What purpose do these verses have in the psalm?
• Can you include yourself in the use of “our”? Why?
• What things are said about God? about man? Compare and contrast God and man?
• What is the significance of the questions in verse 4? How does verse 4 relate to verse 3?
• How does verse 2 fit in with the remainder of the psalm?
• How would you describe and title this psalm? Why?

Possibilities for prayer:

This psalm seems to declare the greatness and majesty of God--something that we all too often fail to successfully and appropriately acknowledge. Today, let’s simply take some time to glorify God in all that greatness and majesty. Look more closely at the world around you today, and see the way in which God has so beautifully fashioned things, for example. Let us declare together:

“LORD, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth!”