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"God's Glory and Human
  Dignity"

  Psalm 8

   Good News Translation (GNT)

"HEBREW TITLE:
 A psalm by David."

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  1  O Lord, our Lord,
         your greatness is seen in all the world!
      Your praise reaches up to the heavens;
  2  it is sung by children and babies.
         You are safe and secure from all your
         enemies;
            you stop anyone who opposes you.

  3  When I look at the sky, which you have made,
         at the moon and the stars, which you set
         in their places -
  4  what are human beings, that you think of
         them;
         mere mortals, that you care for them?

  5  Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; [b]
         you crowned them with glory and honor.
  6  You appointed them rulers over everything
   you made;
         you placed them over all creation:
  7   sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;
  8   the birds and the fish
         and the creatures in the seas.

  9  O Lord, our Lord,
         your greatness is seen in all the world!

   Footnotes
   Psalm 8:5 yourself; or the gods, or the angels.

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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union

'God's Glory and Human Dignity''

   Psalm 8

This psalm brings us to the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2.
God created the heavens and the earth and his glory and majesty can be discerned in both.

His greatness is evident 'in all the earth'. The universe with its hundreds of billions of galaxies testifies to the splendour and awesomeness of God - but it itself is not God and therefore should not be worshipped.

God's glory is 'above the heavens' and there is none like him.
Surely God is greater than his throne (heaven) and footstool (earth) (Isaiah 66:1).

God's greatness is unreachably lofty but he also touches tiny infants and children (v 2), who have little understanding and are often considered insignificant.

Just considering how a tiny infant is put together fills us with wonder (Psalm 139:13, 14).

We all reflect God's glory - we are not the products of chance and accident but the handiwork of Almighty God. Herein lies our dignity.

We have been made 'a little lower than the heavenly beings' and crowned by God with glory and honour. God has given us dominion over the earth's creatures (vs 6-8) and made us his divine representatives.

We have dignity because God, our Creator, is glorious and majestic. Yet, we are puny when compared with God. How can the creator of this great universe be concerned about individual human beings like us?

Nevertheless the Bible confirms that God loves individuals and died for individuals on the cross. We have dignity, but we are also sinners.

We have forgotten God's majesty and our dignity and we have fallen into idolatry and sins (Romans 1:18-32), but when we remember God's glory and our dignity, then we can truly worship God and treat others (even our enemies) with respect and love
(Matthew 5:44; 2 Timothy 2:24).

Other versions are available here

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