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Psalm 8:1 - Our Amazing and Incredible God.

Psalm 8:1 (NIV) O LORD, our Lord, how 
majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set 
your glory above the heavens.  

INTRODUCTION

Delighting in God
   Key to understanding the psalmist's words 
of praise is knowing that God's name reflects 
His character. For instance, the name El Shaddai 
means "All-sufficient or Almighty One." El Elyon 
means "the Most High God" and refers to God's 
supremacy and sovereignty. The names of God reveal who 
He is.  
   Here the psalmist was truly delighting in 
who God is and what He is like. Look at the 
picture of God's amazing creation that the psalmist 
painted - "When I consider Your heavens, the work of 
Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You 
have ordained" - and hear how he was humbled and 
awed by what he saw: "What is man that You are 
mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit 
him?" (vv. 3-4). 
   Within the majestic expanse of the 
universe, we are insignificant specks. Yet our 
infinite God sees us, knows us intimately, and loves 
us ceaselessly. Such divine consideration is 
truly beyond our comprehension. 
   O Lord, our Lord, Your love for me is 
truly amazing! Teach me to delight in You. [Being 
Still With God Every Day by Henry Blackaby] 

COMMENTARY PEARL

Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise
   Lost in the silent solitude of recent 
days, I have been impressed anew with the vast 
handiwork of our incomprehensible God. 
   O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name 
fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the 
heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell 
of your strength, silencing your enemies and 
all who oppose you. When I look into the night 
sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon 
and the stars you set in place - what are mere 
mortals that you should think about them, human 
beings that you should care for them? Yet you made 
them only a little lower than God and crowned 
them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:1"5 
   Nothing proves more freeing to us as 
believers than fully embracing the sovereignty of God. 
He rules and oversees our lives with wonderful 
goodness and perfect faithfulness. I often wonder why 
we so easily and frequently forget that truth - 
why we so readily abandon the safety of His 
sovereign care in order to trust in ourselves. He 
would much rather we go with this thought: 
   Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do 
not depend on your own understanding. Seek his 
will in all you do, and he will show you which 
path to take. Proverbs 3:5"6 
   Now doesn't that make so much more sense?
   Discipline yourself to think on these 
things! Refocus your mind from the horizontal to the 
vertical. Rise above the nonsense of the human 
viewpoint and tedious worries about non-eternal 
issues. Get on with thoughts that really matter. 
   It's time we got reacquainted with our 
Maker. Allow yourself to get lost in wonder, love, 
and praise. [Chuck Swindoll www.insight.org.] 

COMMENTARY

An "Empty" Spot in the Night Sky
   After more than 15 years of dreaming, 
designing, and planning, the Hubble Space Telescope was 
launched into space on April 24, 1990, aboard the 
space shuffle Discovery. With a relatively small 
mirror of almost 95 inches (several mountaintop 
observatories have telescopes with mirrors of 400 or more 
inches), Hubble's great advantage is in being outside 
of earth's atmosphere, thus giving the 
telescope clear and stable picture taking ability. 
Hubble travels at about five miles per second, 
which gets it around the earth in just a little 
more than an hour and a half. During each orbit 
scientists have about 45 minutes while Hubble is in the 
shadow of the earth. The dark night sky is the best 
time for collecting light from the astronomical 
features that they want to investigate.  
   After studying many thousands of images 
of beautiful galaxies and supernovas, some 
scientists decided to pick a relatively empty part of 
the sky to look at. They chose a tiny dark spot 
in the night sky in the constellation Fornax. 
The tiny spot is so small that it is like 
looking through an eight foot soda straw. Or another 
way to imagine it is staring at a dime 75 feet 
away. Then, during the course of 400 orbits, they 
programmed the Hubble cameras to collect light coming 
from the "empty" spot. The camera took 800 shots 
between September 24, 2003, and January 16, 2004, 
giving a total exposure time of 11.3 days. What 
that long time exposure shows takes my breath 
away. For even with our feeble instrument, that 
picture reveals nearly 10,000 galaxies that we 
didn't know existed. Many of the galaxies are 
interacting with each other. Some of them are distorted 
from galactic collisions. Others appear normal 
and unaffected by each other, majestic spirals 
with hundreds of billions of stars. How little we 
really know about what is out there!  
   I can't wait to travel to some of these 
distant galaxies and visit other worlds where the 
inhabitants have been living unaffected by the disease, 
death, dishonesty, and deceitfulness of sin. Won't 
it be interesting to ask them about their life 
and interactions with the Creator-God? [God of 
Wonders by David Steen] 

When You Look Up, Things Will Look Up
   Weve all heard the phrase Things 
are looking up! 
   But what does it mean?
   It means the situation is improving. Your 
problems are decreasing, and your opportunities are 
increasing. 
   I want you to remember an important 
truth: Things will start to look up for you when 
you start looking up. 
   In other words, your circumstances will 
improve when you stop looking at them and start 
looking at God. 
   Over and over in the Bible, we see this 
phrase: Lift up your eyes. Its another way 
to say, Look up. Get your eyes off yourself 
and onto God. 
   God said it to Moses. He said it Abraham. 
Jesus said it to his followers. 
   Theres an old rhyme that says, Two 
men looked out from prison bars. One saw mud, 
the other saw stars. In other words, one 
inmate looked down in despair, but the other one 
looked up in hope. 
   You have that same choice, and I hope 
that you choose to see the stars. God created 
every one of them. And those stars are the exact 
same ones that were shining on the night of 
Jesus birth 2,000 years ago - and King David saw 
the same stars 1,000 years before that, when he 
wrote these words: 
   When I look at the night sky and see 
the work of your fingers - the moon and the 
stars you set in place - what are mere mortals 
that you should think about them, human beings 
that you should care for them?  O Lord, our 
Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! 
(Psalm 8:3-4, 9 NLT). 
   When we look up and see how big God is, 
it shrinks the size of our problems. Our 
problems never seem as big or as overwhelming when 
compared to the greatness of God. [Daily Devotional 
by Rick Warren: 
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re vss. 3, 4, 9] 

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

   I made you a little lower than the 
heavenly beings and crowned you with glory and honor. 
You were made for greatness, beloved. Never 
doubt your personal significance, for I created 
you in My own image - in My likeness. I formed 
you with a magnificent brain that can 
communicate with Me, think rationally, create wonderful 
things, and much more. I gave you dominion over the 
fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every 
living thing that moves on the earth. Of everything 
I created, only mankind is made in My 
likeness. This is a glorious privilege and 
responsibility; it makes every moment of your life 
meaningful.  
   One of your chief purposes in life is to 
glorify Me. I crowned you with glory so that you can 
reflect My Glory: lighting up this dark world and 
helping others come to know Me. I also want you to 
enjoy Me. I created you with unlimited capacity 
for pleasure in knowing Me. This Joy you find in 
Me here and now is a tiny foretaste of the 
eternal delights awaiting you in heaven. (Psa. 8:5; 
Gen. 1:27, 28; 2Co. 3:18) [Jesus Always by Sarah 
Young] 

   Joy is a choice. You may not have much 
control over your circumstances, but you can still 
choose to be joyful. I created you a little lower 
than the heavenly beings, and I gave you an 
amazing mind. Your ability to think things through 
and make decisions derives from your elevated 
position in My kingdom. Your thoughts are extremely 
important because emotions and behavior flow out of 
them. So endeavor to make good thought-choices. 
   Whenever you are feeling joyless, you 
need to pause and remember: I am with you. I am 
watching over you continuously. I love you with 
perfect, unfailing Love. I have given you My Spirit, 
and this Holy Helper within you has infinite 
Power. He can help you line up your thinking with 
the absolute truths of Scripture. My continual 
Presence is a biblical promise, so seek to see Me in 
the midst of your circumstances. At first you 
may perceive only your problems. But keep on 
looking till you can discern the Light of My 
Presence shining upon your difficulties, reflecting 
sparkles of Joy back to you. (Psa. 8:5; Gen. 28:15; 
Psa. 107:8; Rom. 8:9) [Jesus Always by Sarah 
Young] 

Some of my favorite characteristics of our 
majestic God that give such tremendous peace and 
comfort: 
   Eternal: no beginning or end.
   Supreme: superior over all.
   Sovereign: control over all.
   Omnipotent: all powerful.
   Omniscient: all knowing.
   Omnipresent: everywhere present.
   Omnibenevolent: supremely good.
   Immutable: does not change.
   Holy: without sin or blemish of any kind.
   True: does not lie.
   Just: totally fair.
   Loving: selfless, sacrificial, 
unconditional love. 
   Merciful: compassionate and forgiving.
   Faithful: loyal and trustworthy in all 
things. 
An amazing and incredible God.

SELECTED CROSS REFERENCES

Psalm 113:4 (NKJV) The LORD is high above 
all nations, His glory above the heavens.  

Psalm 148:13 (NKJV) Let them praise the name 
of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His 
glory is above the earth and heaven.  

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS TOPIC

Psalm 19:1, 2 - The Heavens Declare the 
Glory of God. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2017/20170411-1019.html 

Romans 1:18-20 - The Revelation of God in 
Creation. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2015/20150719-1023.html 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor 
(recent): https://www.revelationnow.com/ 

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio (recent): 
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657