TRV
Translation
King James Version
¶ To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Complete Jewish Bible
For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of David: ADONAI! Our Lord! How glorious is your name throughout the earth! The fame of your majesty spreads even above the heavens!
Berean Standard Bible
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
American Standard Version
O Jehovah, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth, Who hast set thy glory upon the heavens!
World English Bible Messianic
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!
Geneva Bible (1599)
To him that excelleth on Gittith. A Psalme of Dauid. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy Name in all the worlde! which hast set thy glory aboue the heauens.
Young's Literal Translation
To the Overseer, `On the Gittith.' A Psalm of David. Jehovah, our Lord, How honourable Thy name in all the earth! Who settest thine honour on the heavens.
In the KJVVerse 14,014 of 31,102
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Commentary on Psalms 8 verses 1–2
1 ¶ To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
The psalmist here sets himself to give to God the glory due to his name. Dr. Hammond grounds a conjecture upon the title of this psalm concerning the occasion of penning it. It is said to be upon Gittith, which is generally taken for the tune, or musical instrument, with which this psalm was to be sung; but he renders it upon the Gittite, that is, Goliath the Gittite, whom he vanquished and slew (1 Sa. 17); that enemy was stilled by him who was, in comparison, but a babe and a suckling. The conjecture would be probable enough but that we find two other psalms with the same title, Ps. 81 and Psa 84:1. Two things David here admires: -
I. How plainly God displays his glory himself, Psa 8:1. He addresses himself to God with all humility and reverence, as the Lord and his people's Lord: O Lord our Lord! If we believe that God is the Lord, we must avouch and acknowledge him to be ours. He is ours, for he made us, protects us, and takes special care of us. He must be ours, for we are bound to obey him and submit to him; we must own the relation, not only when we come to pray to God, as a plea with him to show us mercy, but when we come to praise him, as an argument with ourselves to give him glory: and we shall never think we can do that with affection enough if we consider, 1. How brightly God's glory shines even in this lower world: How excellent is his name in all the earth! The works of creation and Providence evince and proclaim to all the world that there is an infinite Being, the fountain of all being, power, and perfection, the sovereign ruler, powerful protector, and bountiful benefactor of all the creatures. How great, how illustrious, how magnificent, is his name in all the earth! The light of it shines in men's faces every where (Rom 1:20); if they shut their eyes against it, that is their fault. There is no speech or language but the voice of God's name either is heard in it or may be. But this looks further, to the gospel of Christ, by which the name of God, as it is notified by divine revelation, which before was great in Israel only, came to be so in all the earth, the utmost ends of which have thus been made to see God's great salvation, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16. 2. How much more brightly it shines in the upper world: Thou hast set thy glory above the heavens. (1.) God is infinitely more glorious and excellent than the noblest of creatures and those that shine most brightly. (2.) Whereas we, on this earth, only hear God's excellent name, and praise that, the angels and blessed spirits above see his glory, and praise that, and yet he is exalted far above even their blessing and praise. (3.) In the exaltation of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of God, who is the brightness of his Father's glory and the express image of his person, God set his glory above the heavens, far above all principalities and powers.
II. How powerfully he proclaims it by the weakest of his creatures (Psa 8:2): Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, or perfected praise, the praise of thy strength, Mat 21:16. This intimates the glory of God, 1. In the kingdom of nature. The care God takes of little children (when they first come into the world the most helpless of all animals), the special protection they are under, and the provision nature has made for them, ought to be acknowledged by every one of us, to the glory of God, as a great instance of his power and goodness, and the more sensibly because we have all had the benefit of it, for to this we owe it that we died not from the womb, that the knees then prevented us, and the breasts, that we should suck. "This is such an instance of thy goodness, as may for ever put to silence the enemies of thy glory, who say, There is no God." 2. In the kingdom of Providence. In the government of this lower world he makes use of the children of men, some that know him and others that do not (Isa 45:4), and these such as have been babes and sucklings; nay, sometimes he is pleased to serve his own purposes by the ministry of such as are still, in wisdom and strength, little better than babes and sucklings. 3. In the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of the Messiah. It is here foretold that by the apostles, who were looked upon but as babes, unlearned and ignorant men (Act 4:13), mean and despicable, and by the foolishness of their preaching, the devil's kingdom should be thrown down as Jericho's walls were by the sound of rams' horns. The gospel is called the arm of the Lord and the rod of his strength; this was ordained to work wonders, not out of the mouth of philosophers or orators, politicians or statesmen, but of a company of poor fishermen, who lay under the greatest external disadvantages; yea, we hear children crying, Hosanna to the Son of David, when the chief priests and Pharisees owned him not, but despised and rejected him; to that therefore our Saviour applied this (Mat 21:16) and by it stilled the enemy. Sometimes the grace of God appears wonderfully in young children, and he teaches those knowledge, and makes those to understand doctrine, who are but newly weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts, Isa 28:9. Sometimes the power of God brings to pass great things in his church by very weak and unlikely instruments, and confounds the noble, wise, and mighty, by the base, and weak, and foolish things of the world, that no flesh may glory in his presence, but the excellency of the power may the more evidently appear to be of God, and not of man, Co1 1:27, Co1 1:28. This he does because of his enemies, because they are insolent and haughty, that he may still them, may put them to silence, and put them to shame, and so be justly avenged on the avengers; see Act 4:14; Act 6:10. The devil is the great enemy and avenger, and by the preaching of the gospel he was in a great measure stilled, his oracles were silenced, the advocates of his cause were confounded, and unclean spirits themselves were not suffered to speak.
In singing this let us give God the glory of his great name, and of the great things he has done by the power of his gospel, in the chariot of which the exalted Redeemer rides forth conquering and to conquer, and ought to be attended, not only with our praises, but with our best wishes. Praise is perfected (that is, God is in the highest degree glorified) when strength is ordained out of the mouth of babes and sucklings.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–2. Public domain.
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Gregory of NazianzusAD 390
ON THEOLOGY, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2(28).3
The Majesty, or as holy David calls it, the Glory, is manifested among the creatures that it has produced and governs. These are the back parts of God, which he leaves behind him, as tokens of himself like the shadows and reflection of the sun in the water, which show the sun to our weak eyes, because we cannot look at the sun himself, for by his unmixed light he is too strong for our power of perception.
John ChrysostomAD 407
COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 8:1
“How wonderful your name.” Through this name, in fact, death was dissolved, demons imprisoned in bonds, heaven opened, gates of paradise thrown wide, the Spirit sent down, slaves made free, enemies become sons, strangers become heirs, human beings become angels. Why speak of angels? God became man, and man became God; heaven accepted the nature from earth, earth accepted the one seated on the cherubim along with the angelic host. The wall was removed, the partition dissolved, what were separate were united, darkness was banished, light shone, death was swallowed up.
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 8
Accordingly it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Your Name in all the earth!" [Psalm 8:1]. I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The answer is, "For Your glory has been raised above the heavens." So that the meaning is this, O Lord, who art our Lord, how do all that inhabit the earth admire You! For Your glory has been raised from earthly humiliation above the heavens. For hence it appeared who You were that descended, when it was by some seen, and by the rest believed, whither it was that You ascended.
Hesychius of JerusalemAD 450
LARGE COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 8:2
The church says, “O Lord, our Lord.” For after the recognition of Christ when one is freed from the slavery of idolatry, one begins to call on God and the Lord. Always the whole earth truly is full of the marvelous creations, the works of God. And even more marvelous the name of that One, namely, Christ, has been made wonderful among all the nations and foreign peoples through faith in him.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 29
Concerning this solemnity it is said through the Psalmist, "Your magnificence is exalted above the heavens."
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 8:1 serves as a majestic and profound overture to a psalm of creation and humanity, declaring the unparalleled sovereignty and magnificent splendor of God. It immediately establishes the divine transcendence, celebrating the Lord's glorious character and reputation as supremely excellent, universally manifest across all creation, with His glory exalted even beyond the celestial spheres. This opening declaration sets the stage for a contemplation of God's cosmic majesty and His surprising condescension towards humankind.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The opening verse of Psalm 8 employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound message of divine majesty. The most prominent is Apostrophe, a direct address to an absent or imaginary person or a personified abstraction, evident in the psalmist's immediate and fervent cry, "O LORD our Lord." This direct address immediately draws the worshiper into an intimate, yet reverent, conversation with the divine. Hyperbole is also present in the declaration that God's glory is "above the heavens," an intentional exaggeration used to emphasize the immeasurable, infinite, and transcendent nature of God's majesty, surpassing even the most expansive and awe-inspiring elements of creation. Furthermore, the concept of God's "name" representing His entire character, attributes, and reputation is a powerful form of Metonymy, where a closely associated attribute stands for the whole. This allows the psalmist to encapsulate the entirety of God's being and actions within a single powerful concept, emphasizing the comprehensive and pervasive nature of His excellence.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 8:1 lays the theological groundwork for understanding God's relationship with His creation and, subsequently, with humanity. It establishes God as the sovereign, transcendent Lord whose glory is not confined to a temple or a single nation but is universally manifest and supremely excellent throughout the entire earth and beyond the heavens. This declaration of His cosmic majesty serves to magnify His astonishing condescension, making His subsequent attention to humanity (as explored in later verses of the psalm) all the more remarkable. The dual address "O LORD our Lord" encapsulates both His covenant faithfulness (Yahweh) and His universal dominion (Adonai), presenting a God who is both intimately involved with His people and infinitely powerful over all. This foundational truth invites profound worship and humility, recognizing that the Creator of the universe is also the one who cares deeply for His people.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 8:1 calls us to lift our gaze beyond the immediate and mundane, to contemplate the infinite majesty of God. In a world often consumed by self-importance, human achievements, or overwhelmed by pressing problems, this verse reorients our perspective, reminding us of the ultimate reality: God's unparalleled excellence and His glory that transcends all creation. Acknowledging "O LORD our Lord" means recognizing Him as both our covenant God, intimately involved in our lives, and our absolute sovereign, ruling over all. This recognition should evoke profound awe, leading to genuine worship and a deep sense of humility. When we truly grasp the vastness of His glory, our own concerns, while real, shrink in comparison, yet simultaneously, our trust in His providential care grows, knowing that such a powerful and excellent God is actively involved in His creation and in our lives. This verse encourages a posture of adoration, submission, and finding security and purpose in the greatness of the One who reigns supreme.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the phrase "O LORD our Lord" in Psalms 8:1?
Answer: The phrase "O LORD our Lord" is highly significant, representing a powerful combination of God's personal covenant name and His universal title of sovereignty. The first "LORD" (capitalized) translates the Hebrew Yᵉhôvâh (יהוה), the ineffable, personal name of God revealed to Moses, signifying His self-existence, eternal nature, and covenant faithfulness (see Exodus 3:14). This is the name by which God entered into a unique relationship with Israel. The second "Lord" translates the Hebrew ʼâdôwn (אֲdōnay), which means "master," "sovereign ruler," or "owner." By combining these two, the psalmist emphasizes that the God who has entered into a personal, covenant relationship with His people is also the absolute, supreme ruler over all creation. This dual address underscores both God's intimate accessibility and His transcendent authority, inviting both reverence and trust. It proclaims that the God who is "our" God is also the sovereign Lord of all, deserving of universal praise.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 8:1, with its declaration of God's "excellent name" and His glory "above the heavens," finds its ultimate fulfillment and most profound expression in the person of Jesus Christ. While the psalm initially praises God the Father as the Creator, the New Testament reveals that all things were created through and for Christ, who is Himself the very "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus is the One through whom God's glory is most perfectly revealed, being the "radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3). The "excellent name" of God is supremely manifested in the "name that is above every name," the name of Jesus, at which "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (Philippians 2:9-11). Furthermore, the glory that God has set "above the heavens" is the very glory into which Christ ascended after His resurrection, taking His rightful place at the right hand of the Father, where He now reigns as Lord of all (Acts 2:33-36). Thus, Psalm 8:1 not only extols the Father's cosmic majesty but also prefigures the unparalleled glory and universal dominion of the Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we truly know and worship the excellent name of our Lord.