A Psalm the World Hates

By David Ettinger

Disdaining God
The world disdains God.

I am defining the word “world” as this earth’s “system” as ordered by Satan. Because Satan reigns in the hearts of unsaved men and women, they are naturally opposed to the things of God as well as those things which contradict the philosophy of the world system.

“Those things” are displayed in the brief but radiant Psalm 8. Let’s look at four truths asserted in this Psalm which oppose the world’s satanic ideology and see why the world hates it.

God Glorified
The opening verse reads: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth.”

Psalm 8 passionately sings God’s praises, giving Him the glory He deserves. Such atheists as writer Isaac Asimov must have reviled it. He wrote: “To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.” Another reviler would have been preeminent atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who said: “There is no God. There’s no heaven. There’s no hell. There are no angels. When you die, you go in the ground, the worms eat you.”

Yet Psalm 8 deflates such derision without apology, constraint, or compromise as it exalts: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!”

God Proclaimed as Creator
Verse 3 reads: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained …”

The Hebrew word for “ordained” is kuwn, which can also be translated as “established” or “fashioned.” To “fashion” something is to “make” it. God here is proclaimed as the “fashioner” of the heavens, again without constraint, explanation, or hesitance: He is the Creator. Period.

Upon such a declaration do scorn and disgust thrive. Judith Hayes, author of The Happy Heretic, stoutly states: “If we are going to teach ‘creation science’ as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.” I doubt she is keen on Psalm 8.

Nor is evolutionist Scott D. Weitzenhoffer, who penned this ditty: “Debating creationists on the topic of evolution is rather like trying to play chess with a pigeon; it knocks the pieces over, [poops] on the board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory.”

Yet Psalm 8 rejects such detractors, proudly stating with conviction that God is the creator of all things, and that those who believe it need not recoil because of it.

Man Elevated
Psalm 8:4-5 says: “What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!”

The human race is the acme of God’s creation. The heavens, oceans, and mountains are breathtaking, but pale by comparison to humanity.

This is because God created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:27), meaning He endowed us with the ability to think His thoughts, respond to His love, and joyfully obey Him.

However, there are those who see humanity differently. British diplomat David Ormsby Gore is one of them: “It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump.”

And Hungarian-British author Arthur Koestler wrote: “The disastrous history of our species indicates the futility of all attempts at a diagnosis which do not take into account the possibility that homo sapiens is a victim of one of evolution’s countless mistakes.”

Mistakes? Psalm 8 contrarily declares man as the product of an all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful God.

The Human Race in Partnership with God
Verses 6-8 read: “You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”

God has assigned man to watch over His creation, and in so doing, has made man the most intellectually advanced of His creatures. This partnership – God as Creator, man as caretaker – means that man is superior to all other creatures.

Yet, many see humans and nature as equal. Said atheist philosopher James Rachels: “As Darwin clearly recognized, we are not entitled – not on evolutionary grounds, at any rate – to regard our own adaptive behavior as ‘better’ or ‘higher’ than that of a cockroach, who, after all, is adapted equally well to life in its own environmental niche.” And Native American tribal chief Sitting Bull said: “Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.”

Such champions of man/nature equality wince at the man-above-all-creation teaching of Psalm 8.

A Final Word of Praise
Psalm 8 closes as it begins: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (v. 9).

God’s name is to be praised throughout the universe. Even if man chooses not to praise His name, it nonetheless radiates in resplendent majesty. God’s name is indeed majestic, and He gives man the honor of heralding this sacred truth.

Psalm 8 trumpets God’s greatness and glory, and does so proudly and fearlessly. No wonder it is a Psalm the world hates!

Tagged: Glorifying God, God As Creator, God in Control, Psalm 8

Posted in: Application, Bible study, Bible teaching, Christianity, Creation, Culture, Devotional, Editorial/Blog, Glorifying God, God the Creator of All Things, God's Beauty, God's Divine Plans, Knowing God Better, Loving God, Old Testament, Psalms, The Beauty of God