Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham

Psalm 8:1-9; A Psalm of Wonder

• Jason Sterling

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Jason Sterling June 22, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin

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Jason Sterling:

If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me. Psalm chapter 8 this morning. We're continuing our journey this summer through various psalms. In the last three weeks we have been looking at psalms of lament. Thought we would change the pace a little bit this morning and look at this Psalm 8, which is a psalm of wonder and a psalm of praise. This is one of the most beloved and recognizable passages in the book of Psalms. I think you'll see what I mean as we read. Follow along with me. This is God's word.

Jason Sterling:

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babies and infants. You have established strength because of your foes to steal the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man? That you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him. Yet you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and also the beast of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Let's pray and ask for God's help this morning. Let's pray together, father, please come Anytime we open up the Scriptures. We need the Spirit to come and teach us and to correct and show us Jesus, make our hearts alive, and so that's what I'm asking that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to receive your word, this word that you have for us on this morning. Be with the one who preaches. Help me, give me boldness, but also great humility as I open up the Bible this morning. Please be near to us In Jesus' name. Amen.

Jason Sterling:

King David in Psalm 8, he's standing outside on a clear night and he is looking up at the moon and the stars. And as he studies this vast creation of God and as he studies the night sky, david is struck by a question that many of us have asked, or perhaps you're even asking this morning In this vast world, in this vast and magnificent universe, do I really matter? Maybe you have felt that same overwhelming smallness that David has felt in this psalm. Perhaps it hit you when you were scrolling through social media and you were comparing your life to everyone else's highlight reel around you else's highlight reel around you. Or maybe it hit you in the hospital waiting room or at a graveside when you were confronted with your own mortality and the fragility of life. That's when it often hits me.

Jason Sterling:

As a pastor, I'm in and around lots of suffering and it seems like weekly I come home to my wife, susie, and I just simply say life is so fragile. Maybe you have felt that smallness when you realized that your greatest achievement in life quickly fades from the memory and in a short no one remembers, nor do they really care. For example, who can remember the Super Bowl champions from two or three years ago? Maybe you can, but oftentimes even accomplishments that are watched and viewed by millions quickly fade and are forgotten. You might have felt that smallness when you're staring at a stack of bills and everyone around you seems to be doing just fine and completely has things figured out. Or maybe it comes when you are overwhelmed by parenting and the task ahead, and we could go on and on and on. One of the deepest cries of every human heart is do I matter?

Jason Sterling:

David answers that question in this psalm, and his answer will transform how we see ourselves, transform how we see our purpose and our place in God's world. In order for us to be transformed, we need to consider three things we see from this passage. Consider three things we see from this passage God's majesty, the first thing we need to consider. Secondly, our place in creation and then, lastly, consider our calling. So, consider God's majesty, consider our place in God's world, in creation, and lastly, consider our calling. Let's jump into that. Let's look at our first heading consider God's majesty. Look at verse one.

Jason Sterling:

Notice how, david you probably picked up on this when we were reading but he structures this Psalm with bookends that talk about the greatness of God oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? And then he describes God's glory as being set above the heavens. And so every time you go out and you look up, you are seeing an intentional display of God's majesty and glory. Look at verse three glory. Look at verse three. When I look, the new international version says consider. So when I consider your heavens, the work look this is an amazing verse the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place. So think about the word let's just walk through this. Notice the word when.

Jason Sterling:

And so David is describing a specific moment when he slows down and he stops. And he doesn't just look up and glance at the sky above, he looks up and contemplates it. There's deep contemplation. Think about the word consider, gaze intently to examine carefully something. And so David isn't just looking up and going, oh well, that's great, that's beautiful. No, he stops. He is meditating on the vastness of God's world and the vastness of God's creation. And notice what captures him. You see it in the verse the work of God's fingers. Think about the work and the precision work of fingers. Think about a skilled surgeon doing a very difficult surgery. Or think about an artist who uses their fingers and their hands to create very fine details in a painting or in a drawing or sketch of some sort. David looks up at the moon and the stars and he sees them as the delicate finger work of God.

Jason Sterling:

Verse 3 again, look at the end Set in place. Every star has been set in place with divine intention. Nothing is random, everything is deliberately positioned in God's world and in his universe. And that leads David to this profound question. Look at verse four. What is mankind? What is man? That you are mindful of him? Important to note. He's not asking if God cares. He knows God cares. That is assumed. But he is astounded in this moment and amazed in this moment at why the creator of this vast world would think about and consider and be mindful of fragile, small, mortal human beings like us. Think about this the nearest star to us is 4.2 light years away. Let me put that in perspective. If you were to get in your car, set the cruise at 75, whatever highway speed you go and you did not stop, it would take you 30 million years to get to the nearest star. Years to get to the nearest star. It's estimated that in our galaxy there is over a hundred billion stars and yet this God, who set each of those in place with his fingers, knows you by name and is mindful of you personally.

Jason Sterling:

I feel like stopping the service. Let's do the benediction, chris, come up and let's fall down on our face and let's worship, because that is amazing and it should stop us. Notice the progression God's greatness leads to contemplation. The contemplation you see it here leads to perspective, and that perspective leads to this fundamental question about our place in the world. David is not having a crisis of faith. He's having a moment of clarity. And in that moment of clarity it doesn't paralyze David and he doesn't go whoa pitiful me. It drives him up to God, not away from God.

Jason Sterling:

And so when you're lying awake at 2 am and you're worried about your children and you're worried about your health and you're worried about your finances and you're worried about your relationship status and you're worried about your future, consider this. Consider Psalm 8, that the one who put the stars in place is mindful of you. When you feel small, when you feel invisible and forgotten, in whatever context that is for you, walk outside on a clear night and look up If there are too many lights around you. Drive outside of Birmingham on a clear night and look up If there are too many lights around you. Drive outside of Birmingham, lay down, look up in content, don't glance. Don't glance. Consider and contemplate the creation of God and remember that the God who put the stars in place knows your name and he cares for you and knows and cares about the details of your life.

Jason Sterling:

The question is not whether or not you will feel small in this world. Of course you will. We all have those feelings when we're overwhelmed by life or whatever the circumstances might be. The question is what do you do with that feeling? Will you let it drive you to despair, or will you let it drive you up, drive you to look up at the God who is mindful of you? Secondly, let's consider our place in creation. It gets even better, believe it or not.

Jason Sterling:

Look at verse five. Yet you have made him human beings, a little lower than the heavenly beings. Follow the footnote If you have the ESV, the English Standard Version, and you'll see there a little lower another way to translate it is than God and crowned him with glory and honor. This is a stunning reversal that changes absolutely everything in our lives, if we can grab hold of this inside of our hearts. He's contemplating how fragile life is in God's vast creation, and fragile we are. And then he starts talking about our unique position in creation as human beings. Our elevated position in creation as human beings, a little higher than the animals but lower than God, echoes, of course, of Genesis, chapter 1. Human beings, the pinnacle of creation, made in the image of God, reflecting the glory of God in ways that other parts of creation? Do not. But here's what really got me this week. But here's what really got me this week. Did you notice the coronation language in the second part of the verse? God has crowned humanity with his own glory and honor, and this isn't an earned crown. This isn't an earned dignity and glory. It is bestowed upon us by God. You did not crown of glory and honor on your head.

Jason Sterling:

One of my favorite books of recent years is Theo of Golden. If you've been around me any length of time, you've probably heard me talk about this book. It's a book by Alan Levi and it's a story about an 86-year-old man who leaves his sophisticated life in New York City and moves to this small southern town in Georgia and he walks into a coffee shop and he sees 92 portraits of people in the town and in the community and something moves him and he decides that these portraits need to go to their owner. They need to go to the owner of the portraits or whoever the portrait is. Whoever I think you get the picture. Whoever that picture is of needs to go to that person. And so he decides to take the next year and he writes a note and he reaches out to this person and he meets them and he gives them the portrait and starts to get to know these people on a deep friendship level.

Jason Sterling:

He befriends an eccentric, homeless woman named Ellen, and he befriends a young cellist, an artist, a barista, a store owner, a custodian, a lawyer and a high school student. He wants them to know their beauty and their dignity and their potential. Theo sees far more in them than they see in themselves and you know what starts to happen the entire city is transformed. When people begin to see themselves, through Theo's eyes, as worthy of their portraits being painted, as worthy of being known, as worthy of being celebrated, it changes everything. They start to treat one another differently and they start to recognize the inherent dignity in their neighbors that they had previously overlooked. That is exactly what happens if we grasp Psalm 8.

Jason Sterling:

If we grasp Psalm 8. That's what happens if we specifically grasp verse 5. When you start to understand that, by the grace of God, god has bestowed on you his glory and honor, it changes you, not only how you view yourself, but also the way you treat the other people around you. You see, this verse addresses, and this Psalm addresses, the fundamental question that every person asks do I matter? And David notice where he goes looking for the answer. And David notice where he goes looking for the answer. He doesn't go down here, he doesn't go to human achievement and he had lots of human achievement. He doesn't go outside of himself, he doesn't go to the culture, he looks up to God and he lets God tell him who he is.

Jason Sterling:

And, friends, the fact that God has crowned you and given you, made in the image of God, glory and honor and dignity. It addresses both pride and despair. If you struggle with feelings of a poor self-image or if you are always full of shame and feeling worthless. We remember that God, the God of the universe, he has crowned you with his glory and honor. You matter not because of what you have accomplished, or what you accomplish or don't accomplish, or what your grade point average is, or how good you are morally, or how many followers you have on social media and whether you're an influencer or not. You matter because God says you matter. He tells you who you are because God says you matter. He tells you who you are, and maybe this morning you're a person that tends to struggle with pride.

Jason Sterling:

Well, remember that your crown and your glory is bestowed. It is not earned All the things that you have achieved. Whatever they are, they are gifts from Almighty God. Because you are crowned with glory and honor, you can hold your head high without being arrogant, and you can bow your head low without falling into despair. Because God says you are royal and you wear a crown without falling into despair. Because God says you are royal and you wear a crown, it has profound, profound implications, too, on how we treat one another. And this is when it gets tough, because if God crowns you, we normally like that. But it also means God has crowned others as well. God has crowned the person in your workplace or in your school, or in your family, or in your church or in your neighborhood. He has crowned the ones that annoy you and whose views you despise. He's given them the same glory and honor that he's given you.

Jason Sterling:

And think about Theo. When we begin to see others as worthy of being known and celebrated and having their portraits painted, it changes everything. I mean, just think about that with me for a second and think about our world. What would happen if we started to see all the people around us as people who have been bestowed with the crown of glory and honor just by being human Doesn't mean you agree with them about everything. But if we saw them as human beings, created in the image of God, bearing his image and starting to recognize God's glory in people that we tend to overlook, friends, that would change our world. It would change our neighborhoods and our schools and our churches and our cities and our country.

Jason Sterling:

Remember when you wonder, do I matter? You know what your heart's crying out for. Your heart's crying out for God. He is the only one that can answer that question definitively. If you look down here for the answer to that question, it will destroy you. If you look to this world and your accomplishments and the culture to tell you who you are and to validate you, it will destroy you. God made you and he gets to tell you who you are, and so look up and be reminded of who you are, that you wear a crown, and let God answer that question in your life. Lastly, consider our calling.

Jason Sterling:

Look at verses six through 8. David declares that God has given humanity dominion over his creation. So another clear allusion to Genesis, chapter 1. The word dominion here gets at this idea of care and stewardship and wisdom and careful rule. And so God has put humanity and we know this from the creation account in Genesis 1, has put humanity in charge of caring for and stewarding creation. How are we doing? How are we doing with that? Well, you start reading the Bible and look around. We have failed, haven't we? Miserably, as stewards of God's creation? Think about it this way Pretend you're going out of town for a couple of weeks, let's say on a trip.

Jason Sterling:

You get your neighbor over, you say I need you to take care of my home and you tell them where everything is. You tell them exactly what needs to be done. You give them a key to your place. You leave. You come back in two weeks and you pull up to the driveway and you say something's not right. The windows are broken out, your door's left wide open. The place is a disaster. The pets are starving because they've not been fed, your garden is trampled, your flowers have not been watered. They are dying. Your neighbor, we could say, has failed in the stewardship of your home.

Jason Sterling:

That is humanity's story. That is our story with creation. God entrusted us with his beautiful world and we have left it a mess of our mentally, morally, economically, technologically, relationally. We have been terrible stewards. We have served and used our dominion to dominate rather than serve, to exploit rather than cultivate, to take rather than give. That's the bad news. The good news is, the gospel transforms everything, and you know how? In Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 6 through 9. And if you have your Bible open, please turn there, if not write it down, look this up later, because it reveals that this psalm ultimately points to Jesus Christ.

Jason Sterling:

The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8 and then makes this critical observation Listen, in putting everything under them, humanity, god has left nothing that is not subject to them. And yet, at the present time, we do not see everything subject to them. And yet, at the present time, we do not see everything subject to them. In other words, at the present time, we look around and it's a mess. And this psalm has promised complete dominion, but we see, in reality we fail to achieve it. Then comes the gospel.

Jason Sterling:

If you keep reading in Hebrews, chapter 2, listen to this. I love this, but we do see Jesus. But we do see Jesus, who made himself a little lower than the angels for a little while. Listen, not crowned with glory and honor, but with death. Isn't that astounding? The hymn in Psalm 8 is ultimately not about humanity in. It is about Jesus, the perfect human, who succeeded where we have failed.

Jason Sterling:

How did Jesus accomplish dominion over creation? His life Think about the life of Jesus. He demonstrated perfect dominion with his acts of restoration and service, rather than personal power. He calmed the storm. Why? To bring peace. He fed the hungry, he healed the sick. Why To restore and heal creation. We also see it in his dominion, his ultimate expression, through his death, through making himself a little lower than the angels for a little while, by hanging from a cross, and he shatters death's hold over humanity. How, through his resurrection, he ascends into heaven. He sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, now ruling over creation.

Jason Sterling:

And right now, romans 8 says all of creation is groaning and waiting for Jesus, our King, to return and finally and fully bring perfect peace to this world and perfect dominion to this world over creation, the way God intended it. Last question so what do we do until then? We don't just say well, whatever, right, no. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we live out our callings as redeemed stewards. As redeemed stewards, god has redeemed us, not just our souls, yes, but also our calling. We're not just saved from something, we're saved to something and for something, and that something is to be caretakers of creation, the way God intended us to be. And so now this is another sermon, but let me give you a couple of takeaways and ways to apply this.

Jason Sterling:

Now, united to him, we can begin to exercise dominion as stewards and serve, rather than exploit, everything God has given you, has been placed under you and under your care to steward. And of course we naturally go to the environment. Of course that's part of this, but it's way broader than that. It means stewarding your gifts, the gifts that God has given you. And so that gets at your work and what God's called you to do. It gets at how you treat your employees. Are you a good steward of the people that God has placed under you? It gets at the stewardship of your family and the stewardship of your wealth and your money. And it gets at the stewardship and how we care for our neighborhoods and how we care for the neighbors around us See how extensive. And it gets at how we steward and use our words, and we could go on and on. We are called to be different, to be the kind of stewards who point people to the perfect steward, jesus Christ, who is making all things new.

Jason Sterling:

And so, as we close the next time, you feel overwhelmed and you feel small and you wonder in this vast universe, do you really matter and does God really care?

Jason Sterling:

Do what David did and look up and consider God's glory and majesty that he has displayed in creation. Consider the crown of glory and honor that he has placed on your head and, lastly, consider your sacred calling that God has given human beings to steward this world with wisdom and care and love. Let's pray, father, thank you that you are mindful of us. And, holy Spirit, I pray that we would live believing that this week, that you have crowned us and made us in the end, to the image of God, which is an amazing thing, and I pray that, through your spirit, you would help us to see others that way. And then, lastly, would you help us? It's hard. We need you, holy Spirit, to help us be good stewards of all that you have given us. So would you help us in our little corner of this vast world that you have put us over? Help us to be good stewards of it. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.