In the 1980s, Sandy Patty made a Michael W. Smith song very popular. The song was “How Majestic is Your Name,” taken from Psalm 8. Today I want to share Charles Spurgeon’s notes taken from his Treasury of David on this verse.
“Unable to express the glory of God, the Psalmist utters a note of exclamation. O Jehovah our Lord! We need not wonder at this, for no heart can measure, no tongue can utter, the half of the greatness of Jehovah. The whole creation is full of his glory and radiant with the excellency of his power; his goodness and his wisdom are manifested on every hand.
The countless myriads of terrestrial beings, from man the head, to the creeping worm at the foot, are all supported and nourished by the Divine bounty. The solid fabric of the universe leans upon his eternal arm. Universally is He present, and everywhere is His name excellent. God worketh ever and everywhere. There is no place where God is not. The miracles of his power await us on all sides. Traverse the silent valleys where the rocks enclose you on either side, rising like the battlements of heaven till you can see but a strip of the blue sky far overhead; you may be the only traveler who has passed through that glen; the bird may start up affrighted, and the moss may tremble beneath the first tread of human foot; but God is there in a thousand wonders, upholding yon rocky barriers, filling the flower cups with their perfume, and refreshing the lonely pines with the breath of his mouth.
Descend, if you will, into the lowest depths of the ocean. where undisturbed the water sleeps, and the very sand is motionless in unbroken quiet, but the glory of the Lord is there, revealing its excellence in the silent palace of the sea. Borrow the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the sea, but God is there. Mount to the highest heaven, or dive into the deepest hell, and God is in both hymned in everlasting song, or justified in terrible vengeance. Everywhere and in every place, God dwells and is manifestly at work. Nor on earth alone is Jehovah extolled, for his brightness shines forth in the firmament above the earth. His glory exceeds the glory of the starry heavens; above the region of the stars, he hath set fast his everlasting throne, and there he dwells in light ineffable.
Let us adore him “who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea; who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” (Job 9:8, 9.) We can scarcely find more fitting words than those of Nehemiah, “Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.”
Returning to the text, we are led to observe that this Psalm is addressed to God because none but the Lord himself can fully know his own glory. The believing heart is ravished with what it sees, but God only knows the glory of God. What a sweetness lies in the little word our, how much is God’s glory endeared to us when we consider our interest in him as our Lord. How excellent is thy name! no words can express that excellency; therefore, it is left as a note of exclamation. The very name of Jehovah is excellent. What must his person be. Note the fact that even the heavens cannot contain his glory, it is set above the heavens since it is and ever must be too great for the creature to express.”
Take time to read all of Psalm 8 and allow it challenges you to pause and thank God for who He is, the love and responsibility He has given to man, and the intricacy of the revelation of Him in all created things.
