Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September 7, 2003
Introduction
Perspective – I think there are times when we tend to lose perspective
about what is important in life and about where we’re going. Sometimes we lose perspective when our
troubles overwhelm us. Sometimes we lose
perspective after wonderful victories. I
think David does a wonderful job of keeping his perspective in life.
Psalm 8
:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David.
Gittith – Gittiyth – “a
wine-press” or, “from Gath”;
possibly an instrument from the Philistine city of Gath,
either invented in Gath or invented
by David while in Gath.
David wrote a psalm for the Gittith (Ps. 8). So did Asaph (Ps. 81) and the Sons of Korah
(Ps. 84)
Maybe it’s okay to use secular instruments in music. God can use those
electric guitars and drums.
It could be that this means it is a song of “delight”, referring to the
“wine-press”.
One suggestion even tied this psalm to David’s victory over Goliath the
giant of Gath. There are many things in this psalm common to
the story of David and Goliath.
(1 Sam 17:42-47 KJV) And when the Philistine looked about, and saw
David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth,
and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. {43} And the Philistine said unto David,
Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David
by his gods. {44} And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give
thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. {45} Then
said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear,
and with a shield: but I come to thee in
the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
whom thou hast defied. {46} This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand;
and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the
carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild
beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
{47} And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and
spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
You’re going to see the ideas of God using “youth”, the power of the “name
of Yahweh”, and references to birds and animals.
:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
LORD … Lord – the first is God’s name (Yahweh), the second is a
title, “lord”.
excellent – ‘addiyr –
great, majestic
(Ps 8:1 The Message) {1} God,
brilliant Lord, yours is a household name.
There’s a song out by Chris Tomlin called “Famous One” – the words are:
You are the Lord, the famous one, the
famous one. Great is Your name in all
the earth.
The heavens declare You’re glorious,
glorious. Great is Your name beyond the
earth.
Note that the song is addressed to God.
He is the audience of our worship.
:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength …
(Psa 8:2 NLT) You have taught children and nursing infants to give
you praise. They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.
Lesson
Perfect praise comes from kids
Jesus quotes this passage (actually quoting the Septuagint, the Greek
translation of this passage).
(Mat 21:12-16 KJV) 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 moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, {13} 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. {14} And the
blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
Jesus upset the way people had been doing church. He removed the people who were taking
advantage of the people. He reached out
to the hurting people. He brought
healing.
{15} And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful
things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna
to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
Some folks can get too religious for their own good. These folks didn’t like what Jesus was
doing. Yet Jesus was doing the very
things that God wanted to be done in His House.
One of the things they didn’t like was how the children
were praising Jesus.
{16} And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus
saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Jesus quotes Psalm 8.
Little children know how to praise Jesus correctly.
The faith of a child can touch a hard heart.
Illustration
One mom writes,
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to
elderly shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon
rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age,
particularly the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring
at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable
barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy
will never believe this!"
Another person writes,
To close each day's activities in summer and on holidays
in the Magic Kingdom
at Walt Disney World at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.,
a huge fireworks display lights up the sky. One night I noticed a small boy
about three years old perched on his father's shoulder. The child sat
mesmerized, aware only of what was exploding in the heavens. When the fireworks
were over, the little boy looked up into the sky again and said, "Thank
you, God."
Illustration
The Little Boy and
his Atheist Uncle
One day a little boy asked his atheist uncle to come see
his dog’s brand new litter, describing them as her “atheist” puppies. Naturally
the uncle was impressed that his nephew recognized his atheism and would think
to refer to the newly born puppies as atheists also. Several weeks later, he
received a call from his nephew, once again inviting him to see the puppies,
but this time, the little boy described the litter as his dog’s Christian
puppies. This perplexed the uncle, but he headed over to his nephews house to
see the puppies anyway. Naturally, the uncle was curious by the change and
asked his nephew why he now referred to the puppies as Christian puppies when
he had originally referred to them as atheist. The wise little nephew was quick
to reply, “Uncle, now their eyes are open.”
Children’s ministry
We have a great responsibility to children, yet for some
of us we seem to forget this.
Helping young ones grow in the Lord – not just
babysitting.
An outreach to parents as well – providing a place for
parents to feel comfortable in leaving their kids
Lesson
God uses small things
That day in the Temple, God was
using someone besides Jesus. He was
using the children.
God was using the smallest, most neglected group. The kids.
And He was using them by having them give praise and honor to Jesus.
You may feel like God could never use you, but He could.
:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers …
I consider – ra’ah – to
see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider
work – ma‘aseh – deed;
undertaking, enterprise
fingers – ‘etsba‘– finger,
toe
Lesson
Consider God’s greatness
It seems to be one of the key ideas in this psalm, one of the things that
leads David closer to the Lord. Thinking
about the heavens.
Astronomers believe that stars form when enormous compression waves
traveling through gas clouds create dense knots of gas in the cloud.
Gravitational forces of these denser areas attract nearby gas particles. As a
knot grows, its gravitational force increases, and it attracts more gas
particles. Eventually, the knot coalesces into a growing sphere of compressed
gas that reaches internal temperatures of a few million degrees C. At this
point the gases in the knot’s interior become so hot that their atomic nuclei
begin fusing, creating large amounts of nuclear energy and forming a new star.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library
2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
David shares a secret with us. It
wasn’t enormous compression waves that created the stars. God was finger-painting.
He’s created a pretty big universe.
In 1995, the Hubble Space Telescope focused on a small section of space and
found 2,000 galaxies in 1/25 of one degree of space. They are now estimating that the universe
contains 40 billion galaxies, with each galaxy containing somewhere between 50
and 100 billion stars.
The galaxy that our Solar System is in, the Milky Way, is so huge that our
little Solar System is just a speck that is 30,000 light years from the center
of the galaxy.
The Hubble Telescope has found star clusters 11 million light years from
earth. Quasars have been found 2 billion
light years from earth.
To get a idea of some of these distances …if the distance between the sun
and the earth (93 million miles) were represented by the thickness of one sheet
of paper …
The distance to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would be a stack of paper
73 feet high.
The distance to the edge of the Milky Way galaxy would be a stack of paper
310 miles high.
The distance to the edge of the known universe would be a stack of paper 30
million miles high.
Illustration
Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China,
said, “Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources,
and thus they attempt very little, and they always fail. All giants have been
weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and
His presence to be with them.” Like David, who said, “The battle is the Lord’s”
(1 Sam 17:47), we also need to
understand that Jesus is our source, and we can be directly connected to Him.
-- John Maxwell, Be
All You Can Be (Victor, 1987), p. 15.
Consider God’s greatness.
:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
art mindful – zakar – to
remember, call to mind
David is quoting Job here (Job 7:17-18)
Lesson
Consider your smallness
When David thinks about how awesome and wonderful God is, he realizes that
man is pretty insignificant.
We are unworthy of God. Just like
little Leroy …
Illustration
I’ve Got Your Mama
Little Leroy came into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner. His
birthday was coming up and he thought this was a good time to tell his mother
what he wanted. “Mom, I want a bike for my birthday.” Little Leroy was a bit of
a troublemaker. He had gotten into trouble at school and at home. Leroy’s
mother asked him if he thought he deserved to get a bike for his birthday.
Little Leroy, of course, thought he did. Leroy’s mother, being a Christian
woman, wanted Leroy to reflect on his behavior over the last year. “Go to your
room, Leroy, and think about how you have behaved this year. Then write a
letter to God and tell him why you deserve a bike for your birthday.” Little
Leroy stomped up the steps to his room and sat down to write God a letter.
Letter 1: Dear God, I have been a
very good boy this year and I would like a bike for my birthday. I want a red
one. Your friend, Leroy
Leroy knew that wasn’t true. He had not been a very good boy this year so
he tore up the letter and started over.
Letter 2: Dear God, I have been an “OK” boy this year. I still would really
like a bike for my birthday. Leroy
Leroy knew he could not send this letter to God either. So he wrote a third
letter.
Letter 3: God, I know I haven’t been a good boy this year. I am very sorry.
I will be a good boy if you send me a bike for my birthday. Please! Thank you,
Leroy
Leroy knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get him a
bike. By now Leroy was very upset. He went downstairs and told his Mom that he
wanted to go to church. Leroy’s mother thought her plan had worked as Leroy
looked very sad. “Just be home in time for dinner,” Leroy’s mother told him.
Leroy walked down the street to the church on the corner. Little Leroy went
into the church and up to the altar. He looked around to see if anyone was
there. Leroy bent down and picked up a statue of the Virgin Mary. He slipped it
under his shirt and ran out of the church, down the street, into the house, and
up to his room and sat down with a piece of paper and a pen. Leroy began to
write his letter to God.
Letter 4: God, I’VE GOT YOUR MAMA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND THE
BIKE. Signed, YOU KNOW WHO
When we truly begin to grasp just how BIG God is, it helps put us in our
place. We’re pretty small.
:4 and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
visitest – paqad – to
attend to, visit, look after, care for
Lesson
Consider that God cares about you
Who do you go visit?
People that are sick, in prison, new to the neighborhood, someone you’re
interested in getting to know better.
People you care about.
God has visited us in sending His Son Jesus to the earth.
As big as God is and as small as we are, it is amazing to think that God
cares about us.
Illustration
There’s a story of an auction where a shabby violin was put up for
sale. As the bidding started, the
auctioneer couldn’t get more than a few dollars bid for the violin. Then an old man came out of the audience and
picked up the violin. He dusted it off
and carefully tuned the strings. He
began to play the most wonderful melody.
As he put down the violin, the bids for the instrument shot up into the
thousands. The violin had value because
of the care of the master musician.
We have value because of God’s care for us.
:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels
angels – ‘elohiym – rulers,
judges; angels; gods; God. I think
“angels” is the proper translation since this is closer to the New Testament
commentary on this verse.
Man is lower than the angels. Yet
for some reason, we will one day judge the angels (1Cor. 6:3)
:7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
God originally put all of creation under man’s authority. Man was created and given the responsibility to
rule God’s creation. (Gen. 1:26)
:8 and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
American naval officer and oceanographer Matthew Maury (1806-1873) was a
Christian who loved reading his Bible. He also had no doubts about its
accuracy. And these facts led him to some remarkable discoveries in science.
Maury entered the US Navy in 1825, but an accident in 1839 partially
disabled him, so he left active sea duty. Three years later, still with the
Navy, he was appointed superintendent of the US Naval Observatory in Washington,
and also of the US Depot of Charts and Instruments.
Over the next 19 years Maury devoted himself to studying the winds, clouds,
weather, and ocean features ... as well as the Bible. In his Bible studies, the
words of Psalm 8 stuck in his mind: ' ... whatsoever passeth through
the paths of the seas'. Maury determined that if God's Word said there were
'paths' in the seas, then there must be paths. So he set out to find them.
He studied old ships' logs. From these he compiled charts of ocean-wind and
sea currents. To study the speed and direction of the ocean currents Maury set
adrift weighted bottles known as 'drift bottles'. These floated slightly below
the surface of the water, and thus were not affected by wind. Instructions were
sealed in each bottle directing anyone who found one washed ashore to return
it. From the location and date on which the bottles were found, Maury was able
to develop his charts of the ocean currents—the 'paths' of the seas—which greatly
aided the science of marine navigation.
It is often claimed that the Bible is not a scientific textbook. Yet the
Bible's accuracy when touching on scientific subjects has led many great
scientists, including Matthew Maury, to some outstanding scientific
discoveries.
The writer of Hebrews gives us a commentary on Psalm 8:4-6
(Heb 2:5-10 KJV) For unto the angels hath he not put in
subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
We are looking to the future, to the time when Jesus will rule and reign over
the earth.
{6} But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that
thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
The “certain place” is here in Psalm 8.
{7} Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst
him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: {8}
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all
in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we
see not yet all things put under him.
Man lost his dominion over the earth when Adam sinned in the garden.
We no longer see man having dominion over the earth.
{9} But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace
of God should taste death for every man.
Jesus took on human flesh, becoming a “little lower” than the angels in
order to die as a sacrifice for man’s sins.
He rose from the dead and is now crowned with glory and honor and is
sitting at God’s right hand in heaven.
Though man has lost dominion over nature, Jesus demonstrated it. He controlled fish (Luke 5), He controlled
the wind and the waves (Mat. 8:27).
{10} For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings.
Jesus was made the perfect “captain” or leader through suffering. He died for us and made it possible for us to
go to heaven.
:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Our God is pretty wonderful.
Perspective – think on God’s greatness.