Read & explore together
How Majestic Is Your Name!
Psalm 8 is a song of praise that begins and ends with the same line about Yahweh’s majestic name. Between those lines, the poem looks at the heavens and reflects on the honoured place given to human beings.
Understanding the passage
Read these words in context
This passage is poetry and song addressed to Yahweh. The speaker praises Yahweh’s glory above the heavens, mentions strength established from the lips of babes and infants, considers the moon and stars, and asks why God cares for human beings. The psalm ends by repeating its opening praise.
Psalms 8:1–9Main takeaway
Psalm 8 praises Yahweh’s majesty and says that, although human beings seem small beside the heavens, God has given them honour and rule over other living creatures.
Explore the poem and its images
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A song framed by praiseThe psalm opens and closes with the same joyful words: “Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Explanation
The psalm opens and closes with the same joyful words: “Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” This repetition frames the whole poem with praise. Verse 1 also says Yahweh has set his glory above the heavens, so both earth and heavens are part of the psalm’s view of his greatness.
02Strength from babes and infantsVerse 2 brings in a surprising picture. It says that from the lips of babes and infants God has established strength because of his adversaries, so that the enemy and avenger might be silenced.
Explanation
Verse 2 brings in a surprising picture. It says that from the lips of babes and infants God has established strength because of his adversaries, so that the enemy and avenger might be silenced. The verse states that strength is established in this way, even through those described as very young.
03The heavens and the human questionThe speaker considers the heavens as the work of God’s fingers, especially the moon and the stars that he has ordained.
Explanation
The speaker considers the heavens as the work of God’s fingers, especially the moon and the stars that he has ordained. This leads to a question: what is man that God thinks of him, and the son of man that God cares for him? The poem sets human life against the greatness of the heavens.
04Honour and rule among creaturesThe psalm says human beings are made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honour.
Explanation
The psalm says human beings are made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honour. It also says they are made ruler over the works of God’s hands, with all things under their feet. The examples listed are sheep, cattle, animals of the field, birds of the sky, and fish of the sea.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01How does the repeated line at the start and end shape the whole psalm?
Compare Psalms 8:1 and Psalms 8:9 and notice how both verses keep the focus on Yahweh’s majestic name in all the earth.
02What does verse 2 actually say God establishes from the lips of babes and infants?
Read Psalms 8:2 carefully and answer using its own words about strength, adversaries, and the enemy and avenger.
03Which creatures are named as being under human rule in this psalm?
Look closely at the list in Psalms 8:6, Psalms 8:7, and Psalms 8:8 and name the groups the poem mentions.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Psalms 8:1–9
1Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!
2From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained,
4what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.
6You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:
7All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field,
8the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!