How Majestic Is Your Name

Questions This Sermon Answers:

1. What does Psalm 8 mean?

Psalm 8 is a song about the wondrous nature of God. Rather than dwelling only on what God has said and done, David drops everything, lifts his eyes to the heavens, and adores God Himself. The psalm opens and closes with the same refrain, "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:1), framing the whole as a meditation on God's majesty and on the dignity God gives to lowly man.

2. What does "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name" mean?

It is David's opening and closing cry of praise to the majesty of God. "Excellent" points to a name surpassing all others, set "above the heavens" (Psalm 8:1). In Scripture God's name and His identity are intertwined, so to exalt His name is to worship His very nature. The Westminster Confession (2.1) describes this God as infinite in being and perfection, the One whose excellence the whole earth is meant to declare.

3. What is the tetragrammaton in the Bible?

The tetragrammaton is the four-consonant Hebrew name of God, Y-H-W-H, written without vowels in ancient Hebrew. Its original pronunciation is uncertain; some say "Yahweh" and some "Jehovah," but no one is absolutely sure. Around the fifth century B.C. the Jews, honoring the third commandment, decided it was safer not to speak the name at all, so over the centuries the pronunciation was lost. This is the personal covenant name behind the praise of Psalm 8.

4. Why do English Bibles translate God's name as "LORD" in small capitals?

Because the translators are rendering the sacred name YHWH rather than the ordinary word for "lord." To avoid pronouncing the holy name, Jewish readers substituted "Adonai" in Hebrew and "Kyrios" in Greek, both meaning "Lord." English versions such as the NKJV follow that reverent practice by printing "LORD" in small capitals wherever YHWH appears, as in Psalm 8:1, distinguishing the covenant name from the common title.

5. What does the third commandment mean by taking God's name in vain?

The third commandment says, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain." It does not forbid speaking God's name but forbids using it emptily, carelessly, or irreverently. Because God's name and His nature are intertwined, to misuse His name is to denigrate the One behind it, much as calling a king a janitor perverts your understanding of him. The name is to be used wisely and reverently, hallowed as the Lord's Prayer teaches.

6. What does "what is man that You are mindful of him" mean?

Standing under a sky full of stars, David feels how small he is and asks why the infinite God would even notice him (Psalm 8:4). The wonder of the verse is that God is attentive to us and honestly cares about us. If you have ever struggled with self-esteem, remember that the God of all creation, if you are His child, treats you as a son or daughter, not as a speck of cosmic dust but as one He invites into His own family.

7. What does it mean that God crowned man with glory and honor?

Psalm 8:5 says God made man "a little lower than the angels" and "crowned him with glory and honor." Though small against the backdrop of creation, man is uniquely dignified as God's image-bearer. The Westminster Confession (4.2) teaches that God created man, male and female, in His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. This crown is a gift of grace, not a human achievement, displaying the worth God assigns to those who bear His likeness.

8. What does dominion over creation mean in Psalm 8?

Psalm 8:6-8 says God put "all things under his feet," the sheep and oxen, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. Dominion means humanity is appointed steward over the works of God's hands, not owner of them. Like a valet who may drive a car but never forgets it is not his, we manage what God appoints. King David, the most powerful man of his day, knew he was a glorified steward, and when he failed it weighed on him, as Psalm 51 shows.

9. How is the hymn "How Great Thou Art" connected to Psalm 8?

The beloved hymn "How Great Thou Art" is based on Psalm 8. Its words, "O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made," echo David considering the heavens, "the work of Your fingers" (Psalm 8:3). The hymn captures the psalm's aim, for considering all the worlds God's hands have made gives us a smaller view of self and a larger view of Him.

10. How does Psalm 8 teach humility?

Psalm 8 teaches humility by fixing our eyes on the majesty of God rather than on ourselves. David had every earthly right to exalt his own name, yet he routinely pointed to the glory of God alone. Healthy faith is a humble faith; John the Baptist, renowned in his day, said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). We should all have one name on our lips, and it should not be our own.