Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Turn to the book of psalms. Psalm number eight.
[00:00:05] Psalm number eight.
[00:00:13] Psalm number eight.
[00:00:20] Let's read the psalm together, and then let's do something different.
[00:00:27] Let's do a responsive reading this time.
[00:00:31] So I'll read the first verse, and if you all will read the second verse in unison, and then we'll alternate there until we get to the end. Okay?
[00:00:40] The subtitle says to the chief musician upon Gitteth, a psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth who has set thy glory above the heavens.
[00:01:07] When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained.
[00:01:23] For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor.
[00:01:39] All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field.
[00:01:51] O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Let's pray.
[00:02:01] Lord, you do have an excellent name in all the earth. Lord, we wish that everyone in the earth would see and know and recognize and acknowledge your name.
[00:02:14] Not just put your name on their lips, but would trust in your name. For you've said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[00:02:25] And, Lord, we ask you that you would bless our study of psalm eight tonight. Please be our teacher. Please help us to understand the truths of these scriptures that are laid out before us and help us to get strengthen and greater understanding. Especially, Lord, help us to see the Lord Jesus more clearly and to see you and to see your work among us and how good you are to us, to condescend to us.
[00:02:56] And so bless our time of our study tonight.
[00:02:59] Help your people to grow in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:03:03] So this song begins, of course, begins and ends, begins the same way that it ends, and it begins with, o Lord, our Lord.
[00:03:13] How excellent is thy name in all the earth when you think about the name of God. The name of God, what is a name? A name is an identifier.
[00:03:24] A name identifies an individual. You know, there's a great deal in the Bible about the Lord's.
[00:03:32] Now we know there are counterfeits that have the name tag. We were at, my wife and I were at a, like, a pastor's retreat conference in North Carolina over the past few days, and they gave us name tags. And, you know what? If I switch the name tag out with somebody else, that doesn't make me that person, does it?
[00:03:54] Right. If I switched out John Smith and I took John Smith's name tag and wrap and put it around my neck, that didn't make me John Smith, even though I might have the name of John Smith. The name of the Lord is important, just like we've seen with the name of Jesus, that equivalent name to Joshua, as we saw in Matthew at the beginning of the book of Matthew in our study. In Matthew, the Lord's name is unique. And the Lord, the Lord's name throughout the Bible is an important identifier of who he is. So much so, it's even in the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Which is not talking about saying a bad word. A lot of people think it's talking about saying a four letter word. No, no, no. That's talking about what I just described, you know, taking God's name and wrap it around your neck and then living in a way that is inconsistent with the name that's attached to you.
[00:04:52] And so that's what it means to take the name of God in vain to. But the name of God is important. And this says his name is excellent. The key word, the root of that is excel. That means the word excellent means is that it rises above every name, right? It excels every name that there is. And we know this is true of Jesus. In Philippians, the Bible says that one day at the name of Jesus, at the name, his name will be called out in some way, fashion or form. And at that name, every knee will bow to him, every tongue will confess to God that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. His name is excellent. It excels every other name. That's why to be called by others a christian. Who was I talking to?
[00:05:47] Oh, I was talking to a pastor friend that was at that conference, and he was talking about some of his. They went out and did some evangelism on the street corner, and some nasty person drove by and said some ugly things and said, you christians, this and that and the other, right? And they actually, by doing that, fulfilled the scripture. Because it wasn't that group standing on the corner saying, we are christians. It was someone who was antagonistic to Christ that was calling them christians, calling the name of the Lord upon them. You know, I would say that's a greater name to have than any of our names. Wouldn't you agree to have the Lord's name called upon you by another? Because you and I so closely align with his character, with who he is, with his message.
[00:06:43] And that's what this psalm begins and ends with, his name. How many of you know, how many of you know what it's like when you are out in public among unbelievers, just society, and you hear someone talking about Jesus and your ears kind of.
[00:07:00] Well, first of all, it's kind of uncommon to hear that. But especially, you know, having been a missionary, if I ever heard that in Cambodia, that would be big, big news. Way bigger than it is here. But even here, even here, you hear it and your ears perk up. The name of the Lord draws our attention. The name of the Lord identifies who he is to us. And of course, we know the Lord has many names. Now let's go to verse number two.
[00:07:28] 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. Interesting. Just out of the blue, this.
[00:07:40] This statement is made. Now, a babe. A babe is just a baby. Okay? Simple enough, right? A suckling is a child who has not yet been weaned. Right? He's still nursing. That's what a suckling is. And so you have this picture of babies. Now, you might think of that. You might think, well, you know, usually kids are weaned, you know, depending on what society you're in. In our day, ladies wean their babies when they're what, a year?
[00:08:07] Ladies, help me. Something like that. Okay. Depends. It depends on, you know, what book you've been reading, basically. But some wean early, but in a lot of places, they wean two or three years old. They wean their child. But here's the thing is, you think of a baby, can't speak. You think of a suckling as not someone who would be able to really say anything. And yet God says, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength. So even in scripture. We'll look in just a minute. But in Luke 1021, in fact, let's just pause here and go to Luke chapter ten. I want to show you something about this babe, and we'll see something about these babes, these babies. Luke chapter ten, verse in verse number 21, Luke 1021. Notice the Lord Jesus now is praying to his father.
[00:09:09] And he says, in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, o father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. Notice that. Wise and prudent. That's key.
[00:09:25] If we're going to understand what the Lord's about to say, we have to understand this part. Okay? Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Now, who is he talking about when he says babes? He's not talking about the kids. He's not talking about the kids around him. He's referring to his disciples in the context here. And I'll show it to you. His disciples that had been following him, that these men who were not well educated, they were not well learned men in letters, they weren't that type of person.
[00:10:05] They were people with calluses on their hands and parched skin, probably tanned from the sun. They were working people. They were not of the educated elite. These were just regular people.
[00:10:19] And the Lord said, the Lord, calling them babes, thanked his father, that they understood the truth.
[00:10:28] And yet the wise and prudent didn't notice what it says in verse number three.
[00:10:35] Go your ways. This is when Jesus is sending out his disciples, out to preach ahead of him. Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
[00:10:48] Now hang tight a second here. If I can find something to mark my place here.
[00:10:55] Lambs among wolves. What is a lamb?
[00:10:59] It's a baby sheep, right? It's a babe. Right? It's a babe. It's not just a sheep, it's a baby sheep. What's a wolfenk? Obviously an enemy of a lamb, right?
[00:11:14] Would you say that a lamb or a baby, a human baby is particularly experienced? No, we wouldn't say that.
[00:11:25] Would you say that a baby's a well educated. No, we wouldn't say that. But you contrast that kind of defenseless, kind of naive.
[00:11:34] You think of a lamb out in the field. A lamb would be very naive. A lamb doesn't know what it's supposed to be afraid of, right? That's what a babe is. But a wolf, on the other hand, being a predator, is a cunning and calculating animal.
[00:11:53] It is one who has experience. It knows the flavor of blood and it likes it.
[00:12:00] That's what a wolf is. And what a wolf. A wolf will crouch. A wolf will even get downwind of its prey so that the prey cannot pick up its scent.
[00:12:13] A wolf uses cunning and uses surprise and chooses to attack the weak, the lamb within the flock. This is what a wolf is. Because a wolf is not a simple, naive kind of ignorant creature. You might say, well, just leave it like that. It's not that kind of creature. It's a cunning. It's a deceptive predator. You see this contrast?
[00:12:37] Now look at verse.
[00:12:39] Go a little bit further down.
[00:12:45] So he tells them to go preach and then to get down to verse number 13 or verse eleven, he says, if they don't receive you, then basically brush the dust off against them of your feet. Verse 13. Woe unto thee, chorazin. Woe unto thee, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works that had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for tyre and sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou, capernaum, which art exalted to heaven. Notice the pride. You see. It shalt be thrust down to hell.
[00:13:27] He that heareth you heareth me. And he that despiseth you despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. So the Lord brings up these people who had not received Christ, even though he grew up in that same vicinity. Capernaum, Bethsaida. Those were in Galilee, near where Nazareth was.
[00:13:49] So the Lord is saying, all right, you got the lambs and the wolves. You got the babes, the simple kind of ignorant, naive creature. And then you have a calculating, cunning, shrewd wolf so it can prey on people. Now you have people that have rejected Christ.
[00:14:09] And then in verse 21, he says this. I thank thee, o Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent. Who's he talking about? He's talking about those who rejected him.
[00:14:21] Right? In the context. He's talking about Bethsaida and Capernaum and Chorazin and the other cities in that area who did not receive him because he was of that country, right?
[00:14:32] And has revealed them unto babes, unto the lambs. In fact, you could even look at that wolf in verse three in reference to the Nazarenes, who. Remember, in our study of Nazarenes, remember, they sought to thrust Jesus over the edge of the cliff in Nazareth. We looked at that. In other words, they rejected what God said. They rejected the testimony of Christ.
[00:15:02] So we might say it like this. Here's what I'm trying to show you. A babe in back. In our text here in psalm eight, a babe might be considered one who is naive, one who is simple, one who is uneducated, one who is ignorant, one who is sincere, one who is trusting, one who is uncalculating and untransparent. Let me shoot straight with you.
[00:15:32] I don't know about you, but I think this is good advice.
[00:15:38] You should probably, and I should probably make a note of people who are calculating, who are behind the scenes trying to manipulate situations.
[00:15:51] You all know what I'm talking about.
[00:15:54] You meet somebody and you're never getting the full package. You never feel like the whole, the book is open, right?
[00:16:01] And you feel like you're getting part of it and they're doing something else instead of just being an open book and being transparent.
[00:16:10] Because the Lord says that. He says, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, they don't have the capacity to be calculating or deceptive or manipulative. They don't have the capacity to be disingenuous because they're kids. That's the way kids are. If you want an honest opinion of the way you look, just ask a kid.
[00:16:32] I mean, Robert, am I fat?
[00:16:36] So listen, Robert is not. Nothing comes into Robert's mind. If one of us was to go up to Robert and say, am I fat? Nothing comes into his mind about, well, how's it going to make him feel? Will I look bad? Or, you know, he's not. No. You know what he's going to do if he answers? If he's brave enough to answer? He's just going to tell you what he thinks without any calculation.
[00:16:56] Without any calculation.
[00:16:58] That's a babe, right? I. These kids right here, that's what we're talking about.
[00:17:06] Now go to Matthew, chapter number 21, if you would, because the Lord Jesus quotes this verse.
[00:17:21] Matthew 21.
[00:17:31] Notice what happens in verse twelve. And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers and seats, the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer. But ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple and saying, notice the children were crying. Now, this is not boohoo crying, this is shouting. Okay? When the Bible says crying, it's not talking. The Bible uses the word weeping.
[00:18:12] We say cry, we mean tears.
[00:18:15] Bible says cry, it means shout. When the Bible wants to talk about tears, it uses the word I. Okay? Just so little so you don't get confused. So these aren't a bunch of kids, a bunch of moms holding on to the kids and they're all crying. No, it's not. That is, there's these little kids. When Jesus is coming into the temple, this is the. They call it. The triumphal entry where Jesus is on the, on the donkey, right? The donkey's foal. And he's coming into Jerusalem and there's a huge crowd of people and the kids are crying out, here's what they're shouting. Hosanna to the son of David. Save. Save. Now that, just as an expert tip, a little note. Remember we talked about the name Jesus, reference to the name Joshua Jehoshua. This is that part of save. That's where Hosanna. I know we don't say it the same way, but that's what the word Hosanna, it means. Save. Save. Now, that's what it means.
[00:19:15] They were sore displeased when they heard the kids crying.
[00:19:24] There's a certain kind of condescending kind of tone.
[00:19:34] These kids, what do they know?
[00:19:37] Right? What do they know?
[00:19:40] Ignorant little kids, just saying stuff, repeating what everybody else is saying.
[00:19:45] And Jesus actually calls them out and says, hearest thou what these say?
[00:19:53] That is the chief priests and scribes, hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto him, unto them, yea, you know what that means?
[00:20:01] That means. Uh huh.
[00:20:04] Yes.
[00:20:06] Have you never read. Now, this is a quotation out of psalm eight. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Notice it's a little bit different. This says perfected praise. It says in the other one, it says ordained strength. But whether you're talking about perfecting praise or ordaining strength, what you're talking about is in both cases, it's coming out of the mouth of a child.
[00:20:30] Out of a mouth of a child.
[00:20:33] There's something that's very pleasing to God about. Now, this is actually, what's interesting is in psalm eight, when I was talking about children, I described it as one who is naive, one who is simple, uncalculating, one who is ignorant or sincere and trusting and transparent. Because these are all the reason I did that is, these are characteristics of children. This is the way children are.
[00:21:00] This is the way children are. But of course, Jesus was. He's referring to actual, literal children. But the application is to us this way.
[00:21:09] The Lord is pleased with the simple, the sincere, the uncalculating praise of a person who's not thinking about how it might make them look or what others might think or how it might profit them or how, you know, all of those side issues trying to, you know, in other words, use their relationship to God.
[00:21:36] No, these kids, when they saw Jesus. In fact, if you read the context here, notice verse 14 and the blind. And the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. Those kids saw that.
[00:21:50] They saw the son of God heal people immediately. This is not hospital healing. This is nothing. You know, take an aspirin and call me in the morning. This is immediate, complete healing.
[00:22:04] They saw it. Is it any wonder, then, that they were shouting Hosanna?
[00:22:11] Here's the thing. The scribes saw it, too.
[00:22:14] But why weren't they shouting? Because they were calculating.
[00:22:21] You see, those miracles? Those miracles should have been the final word on who Jesus is, right? That's the whole purpose of the miracles. The purpose of the miracles were to be a demonstration of who he was. I am the son of God. I have proof. And that's the purpose of. The purpose of the miracles. Don't misunderstand. The purpose of the miracles was not to set an example for us to build a hospital. That's not the purpose. The purpose of the miracles was as a sign to show who he was, because he did the works that no other man did.
[00:22:56] Right? That's the purpose of the miracles.
[00:22:58] He did these miracles. Those priests, those chief priests and those scribes saw the miracles, but would not give him praise. They would not. You know why? Because they were thinking about their power, and they were thinking about his fame and influence, and they were thinking about the fact that he would not keep the, the traditions of the elders. And they were thinking about, you know, how it might make them look and the rules for the synagogue and how they had threatened to kick people out of the synagogue. And they were thinking about all these other. You see how calculating that is, instead of just taking it at face value, transparently, in sincerity, in simplicity, as it's presented to them. There was all these other things they were thinking about.
[00:23:40] A child is not like that. A child sees it and is like, whoa, Hosanna.
[00:23:48] What comes in the heart comes out the mouth. And for parents, that's sometimes a problem, and it's sometimes embarrassing. How many of you have been embarrassed?
[00:23:59] The one just came into my mind at Walmart with Joshua, but I'm not gonna embarrass John. You know what I'm talking about. You can tell whoever you want to tell later. But that was one. It's like my wife's like, get over here, Boyden. Because he just came up and out, and that's the way kids are. And in this case, what came out was praise.
[00:24:23] Praise.
[00:24:25] Shouldn't we want to be just sincere, genuine, simple, childlike christians? Jesus said, if a person doesn't come to the kingdom of God, as a little child, he shall not enter therein. I mean, even to enter the kingdom of God, which we know is by the new birth, right? Faith in Christ, which comes followed by the new birth.
[00:24:50] But you have to humble yourself. That goes back to our study of repentance, right? You have to come as a little sincere child, but as a believer. Now, should not our faith, should not our actions just be that simple?
[00:25:04] Lord, make me like a little kid, not just in this, but in our faith. Our simple, simple faith. Like if Brother Joseph, if Seth asked you something, to do something, he never questions if you can do it, even if you can't, right? He doesn't.
[00:25:25] That's the kind of, you see, the Lord wants us like little kids, like little babes in our praise and our sincerity.
[00:25:35] The Lord delights.
[00:25:38] The Lord delights in this kind of simplicity.
[00:25:48] Now think about christians today in our world. How many. Listen, now, please listen. How many christians in our world desire and long for well known and powerful people to validate Christianity with their approval?
[00:26:18] Donald Trump comes on the tv, and Donald Trump says a couple nice things about Jesus and about Christianity.
[00:26:25] Millions and millions and millions of people who believe in Jesus, you know, whatever.
[00:26:30] And Christians, and Christians are like, whoa. I mean, look, I mean, we know we are, we know we're doing something right now. We know that doesn't validate Christianity. Do you think the Lord, the Lord is more likely to pay attention to a child crying out than he is some well known, influential person? Because, listen, it's the simplicity.
[00:26:58] It's the simplicity, the sincerity, the transparency.
[00:27:06] But somehow in Christianity, we think we have to have the big shots and the powerful to say good things about our savior. We don't need that. God doesn't need it for sure. He doesn't need it. And he doesn't think much of the approval, the support, the praise of the mighty or influential people of this world. He is not impressed like we are. He's just not. The Lord is not flattered by the praise of the worldly, wise and powerful. He's not flattered.
[00:27:35] He accepts the praise of the lowly, even little kids.
[00:27:41] He delights in using the nothings of the world to glorify him.
[00:27:52] You know what? This is the history of the church. You know that. You have twelve disciples. They were all ignorant, unlearned, and even Paul, you say, well, Paul was well educated, true. But after he got saved, he burned all those bridges and he was despised. First Corinthians 413 says it. Look it up later. It says it plainly. He was like, the off scouring of the word. In other words, something you would scrape off into the trash can.
[00:28:18] That's how he was treated, you see?
[00:28:25] Look at verse three, if you would, in psalm eight, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him.
[00:28:41] Notice it says in verse three, thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained. Let me just encourage you and remind us all that the created world is God's domain.
[00:29:02] It doesn't belong to science. It belongs to God.
[00:29:06] You know, I'm thankful for science because every time I learn something new about science, I think of verse number four, what is man?
[00:29:17] It seems like the more we learn about science, you know, they have, you know, they had the hub for a long time, they had the Hubble telescope, and now they have the James Webb. Thank you. I know, David, it would be on the tip of his tongue, the James Webb telescope. And it can take crisper, more sharp pictures, but it can also, because of the crispness of the pictures, it can see in much. I mean, we're talking about exposures two weeks long or longer. It stares at one black spot in the sky without any light pollution from the earth, the atmosphere, and it stares at one spot for two weeks with the shutter open.
[00:29:57] You know what? Because of that, it can see further and further in light that's dimmer than any other. In other words, it's black to us and it can see dim light. So that means it can see further, further away from the, from the earth than the Hubble could.
[00:30:16] And so every time they do that, you know what happens every time they do it? Because of the James Webb telescope, the age of the universe is having to be lengthened. You know, it used to be 3.5 billion, and now it's like 7 billion or whatever. You know, it just keeps going up because the technology is showing there's more to it than that. And you know what? There'll be more to it and they'll have to increase it. You know, they're so sure of how old the universe is, you know, plus or minus a billion years.
[00:30:43] You know, that's like me saying, you know, I'm 150 pounds, plus or minus, you know, 47,000 tons. I mean, it's just ridiculous. But what it does show us is all this while God is like, that's my heavens. I made it with my fingers.
[00:31:06] Every new thing we learn about it. We just think I. Wow.
[00:31:11] I thought I understood the scale of God maybe a little bit, and now I just. It blows it out even more.
[00:31:23] But notice this, verse three. When I consider thy heavens, this is a change in perspective.
[00:31:33] It's a change in what we are looking at and focusing upon God wants us when we look at his heavens. Isn't amazing. People study the stars, the heavens, these very things, and because the heart is blinded, they do not see the very thing that God is showing them.
[00:31:54] God intends us to look at the heavens, and that perspective is intended to make us seem small and insignificant. What is man? What is man?
[00:32:07] I saw a picture not too long ago. In fact, it was put out by just an amateur astronomer on September 1, so. Just a few days ago?
[00:32:17] Yeah.
[00:32:20] And what he did is he has a backyard telescope. He pointed it at the sun. He has filters, you know, that filter out the light. But he took a picture of the sun over several hours, just one little quadrant of a quadrant of the sun.
[00:32:35] And so you can see there's apparently some solar flares that have been going on. So he's taking a picture of that. And so you see these beautiful flares coming off, right? These, like, little ribbons and wisps of solar material coming off, right.
[00:32:50] And in the video. And I can send you the link if you want it. Just text me. In the video, he puts a picture, a scale, two scales, image of the earth next to his picture of the sun so that you can get an understanding of the scale of the flares, not the sun, of the flares.
[00:33:09] The flares extend out from the surface of the sun by, like, the diameter of the earth times 20.
[00:33:21] And we think we're big shots.
[00:33:27] We think we're every listen, everything that we know, everything that we think, every bit of significance, every bit of power, every bit of authority, every bit of knowledge, every achievement, everything that humanity can possibly be is just like nothing in that picture.
[00:33:55] And this is exactly what the Lord wants us to see.
[00:34:01] Man's power, man's knowledge, man's achievements, man's authority, man's determination, man's significance. The Lord wants us to see that we are nothing. You know how we do that? By looking up at what he made in the heavens.
[00:34:23] We have little silly things we tell each other. Anything is possible if you have the courage to pursue it.
[00:34:31] Limits only exist in the mind if you set your mind to it. We can achieve anything.
[00:34:38] No, you can't.
[00:34:40] No, you can't.
[00:34:43] You know why? Because we are nothing.
[00:34:47] What is man?
[00:34:49] But the question is, more important than that. But before we get there, listen to this. Isaiah 4017. All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity. How can you have less than nothing? What's zero minus anything?
[00:35:08] Ben, how many of you taking calculus? Anybody taking calc. Priscilla. What's zero minus anything?
[00:35:16] Obviously negative zero.
[00:35:20] Psalm 62 nine. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the balance you think of scales, right? To be laid in the balance. They are altogether lighter than vanity. Vanity is already nothing lighter than vanity. Now we're subtracting zero again. Daniel 435. Daniel says this and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what does thou now think about this?
[00:35:55] We look up at the stars. We look up at the heavens. And the more our technology. You know it's one thing if you live 2000 years ago and you look up at the stars and you know you're limited by the knowledge of that time. We're not there anymore. We have advanced technology. Yeah. Advanced. Yeah. I mean I just contradicted myself, did I not? But we have as we think, advanced technology. We know the scales of these things.
[00:36:17] God made it all.
[00:36:20] We are nothing, just less than nothing.
[00:36:25] We aren't even. We haven't even arrived at the degree of a speck.
[00:36:33] And psalm eight says this, what is man? But it's not what is man period. Or what is man? Question mark is this, what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him. The question about what is man is to then lead us to the question of why, lord, do you have anything to do with us?
[00:37:00] God? When you think about the sun, rather average in the size of the stars in the universe, how many stars? I mean nobody knows any of these answers. They guess and then they act smart.
[00:37:16] But what this verse shows us is that significance, power, knowledge, achievements.
[00:37:25] What of mankind? What of his importance? What of his significance are such that would prompt a visit from the Almighty? And the answer is none.
[00:37:35] So then if there's nothing in man of significance that would urge God or obligate God to have anything to do with us, the word used is visit or even think. Visit is one thing, but this says.
[00:37:48] This says what?
[00:37:50] This says art mindful. That means you even think about it at all.
[00:37:56] Why then does God think about such people as we who are less than specs. Do you know why? Not because we're significant, but because he is a God.
[00:38:11] God visits man because he is a God that is full mercy and compassion. And he is a God who condescends to the lowest.
[00:38:30] If man suddenly vanished from the earth. You think of the little blue marble, right? If man suddenly vanished from the earth. There was a COVID pandemic.
[00:38:40] Just use my imagination.
[00:38:44] And everybody died.
[00:38:48] Would that make any difference in the universe at all?
[00:38:55] None at all.
[00:38:57] There would be absolutely and literally no effect upon God's created heavens.
[00:39:04] You see?
[00:39:05] Then why does God think about us? Why does God visit us and you think about God visiting us? Keep reading. We're almost finished.
[00:39:16] Verse five. For thou hast made him. Now in verse four is man. Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels. And hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him man to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet. Mandy. All sheep and oxen. Yea, and the beast of the field. The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea. And whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. There's two ways you can look at verse number five and verse six.
[00:39:47] The way that you read it in a plain reading in psalm eight. Is this talking about man and all the things that God, when he created man upon the earth. Gave him dominion over?
[00:39:57] But Hebrews chapter two tells us. Because it says. Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels. Verse five. And hast crowned him with glory and honor. Verse five. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Six. Thou hast put all things under his feet. And Hebrews points out. Hebrews chapter two points out. You know what? But all things in the absolute sense are not under man's feet.
[00:40:23] So the writer of Hebrews says. So this is talking about somebody else.
[00:40:27] It's talking about Jesus. Who is made Hebrews two. Who is made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death. Crowned with glory and honor. That he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. So here's what you have to conclude.
[00:40:43] Man is nothing.
[00:40:45] Man is nothing. The description here is just staggering.
[00:40:54] But we see how the Lord Jesus came as the representative of man. The perfect man, right? So that he, being our representative, sinless representative. He could stand in our place and bear our sins and taste our death.
[00:41:11] And that's what he did.
[00:41:14] The only way he could do that. Is if he condescended way down to something less than a speck.
[00:41:22] And that's what psalm eight tells us.
[00:41:25] Jesus tasted death for every man. Hebrews two nine he suffered as a man. Hebrews 210 he called men his brethren. In Hebrews 211 he as a man destroyed the destroyer of man, the devil. In Hebrews 214 he intercedes as a man. Hebrews 217. And he comforts the tempted as a man. Hebrews 218.
[00:41:52] Because our Lord was mindful. Verse four he visited us.
[00:42:03] And so we conclude in verse number nine. And we say amen.
[00:42:07] I'll give you the chance to say it.
[00:42:10] O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.
[00:42:16] Amen. Let's pray to.
