Devotional by Monty Sholund, Founder, Village Schools of the Bible
Hello, my friend. Here we are together again and the weeks swiftly fly by. Today we take a look at a great Psalm, PSALM 8, which I call “God’s Ode to Man”. It introduces us to another word which occurs frequently in the Psalms, the word “name.” I mentioned yesterday that one should especially note the words RIGHTEOUS and REFUGE. Here is the third, the word NAME. It might be helpful for future reference if you can highlight these three words, as you read through the Psalms.
Psalm 8 starts with a great shout of praise, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” My students will remember how we pondered the Name of the Lord as we studied I Kings chapter 8, where the word occurs 8 times. We learned that God says He was going to build a Temple ‘for His Name’, and we reviewed the various names of God in Scripture: “jireh” (provider), “shalom” (peace), “nissi” (my banner), “rapha” (healer), “tsidkenu” (righteousness) and “shammah” (His presence.) When we pray in Jesus name, we are really referring to the great attributes of our wonderful God, referred to in these names.
Here (vss.2,3) David declares how God can be praised by the lips of children and infants, by the wonderful celestial stars, the sun and moon which He has created, and then he asks, “In the light of all this glory, what is man that you care for him?” And vs. 5 says, “You have made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honor.” You may notice your Bible says, “a little lower than the angels”, but your marginal reference refers to the correct translation “a little lower than God.” We haven’t been created lower than angels, my friend, we have been created just a little lower than God, created in His image, created to live for Him and shine for Him, and share His glory wherever we are, day by day . And how do we do this? By listening to vs. 6, where David says, “You have made man ruler over the works of your hands; you have put everything under his feet.” Marvelous promise, to know that by God’s Grace, I can triumph over sin, and can successfully control everything committed to me, in my family, my job, my relationships with people.
“Oh, Lord, how majestic is your name, as you have crowned each of us this day with glory and honor. May we live in the light of this great truth, free from the sin and corruption that is all around us. You live in us, and we are thankful. Bless us in this new day, as we glory in your Word. Bless my friend who is alongside, and those in special need for whom we daily pray.”
Thank you partner, for your strong encouragement. Cheerio!
Village Schools of the Bible 