Psalms 8:5

_FOR THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, AND HAST CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOUR._ Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels - Hebrew _ 'ELOHIYM_ (H430): the abstract idea of Godhead; not God Himself, because Scripture always puts an infinite distance between man and God; but the superhuman, the heavenly, such as are angels. Compare Zechariah 12:8, "The house of David shall be as 'Elohiym, as the angel of the Lord;" 1 Samuel 28:13, "I saw gods ('Elohiym) ascending out of the earth," where 'Elohiym is, supernatural beings. Hengstenberg translates, 'Thou makest him to want little of a divine standing.' He objects to the translation "angels," 'How could man, in respect to the sovereignty over the earth, be compar

5._Thou hast made him little lower. _The Hebrew copulative כי _, ki, _I have no doubt, ought to be translated into the causal particle _for, _seeing the Psalmist confirms what he has just now said concerning the infinite goodness of God towards men, in showing himself near to them, and mindful of them. In the first place, he represents them as adorned with so many honors as to render their condition not far inferior to divine and celestial glory. In the second place, he mentions the external dominion and power which they possess over all creatures, from which it appears how high the degree of dignity is to which God hath exalted them. I have, indeed, no doubt but he intends, by the first, (149) the distinguished endowments which clearly manifest that men were formed after the image of God, and created to the hope of a blessed and immortal life. The reason with whic

3-9 We are to consider the heavens, that man thus may be directed to set his affections on things above. What is man, so mean a creature, that he should be thus honoured! so sinful a creature, that he should be thus favoured! Man has sovereign dominion over the inferior creatures, under God, and is appointed their lord. This refers to Christ. In Hebrews 2:6, the apostle, to prove the sovereign dominion of Christ, shows he is that Man, that Son of man, here spoken of, whom God has made to have dominion over the works of his hands. The greatest favour ever showed to the human race, and the greatest honour ever put upon human nature, were exemplified in the Lord Jesus. With good reason does the psalmist conclude as he began, Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, which has been honoured with the presence of the Redeemer, and is still enlightened by his gospel, and governed by hi...

Verse Psalms 8:5. _THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS_] The original is certainly very emphatic: ותחסרחו מעט מאלהים _vattechasserchu meat meelohim_, Thou hast lessened him for a little time from God. Or, Thou hast made him less than God for a little time. See these passages explained at large in the notes on Hebrews 2:6, c., which I need not repeat here....

FOR THOU HAST MADE HIM - Thou hast made man as such; that is, he was such in the original design of his creation, in the rank given him, and in the dominion conceded to him. The object here is to show the honor conferred on man, or to show how God has regarded and honored him; and the thought is, that in his original creation, though so insignificant as compared with the vast worlds over which God presides, he had given him a rank but little inferior to that of the angels. See the notes at Hebrews 2:7. A LITTLE LOWER - The Hebrew word used here - חסר _châsêr_, means to want, to lack - and then, to be in want, to be diminished. The meaming is, “Thou hast caused him to want but little;” that is, he was but little interior. THAN THE ANGELS - So th

EXPOSITION Psalm VIII. is altogether a psalm of praise and thanksgiving. Its primary idea is the condescending love and goodness of God towards man. That God, who had made the heavens, and sot his glory on them, should have a regard for man, and "visit him,"_ _and not only so, but give him so lofty a position, so exalted a destiny, is a thought that is well-nigh overwhelming. The psalmist, filled with the thought, can do no less than pour out his feelings of love and gratitude in song. The Davidical authorship is generally allowed. What "upon Gittith' means is very uncertain, but the most probable conjecture is that a melody, or musical style, which David had learnt at Gath, is intended. PSALMS 8:1 O LORD OUR LORD. In the original, _Jehovah Adoneynu_;_ i.e._ "Jehovah, who art our sovereign Lord and

FOR THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS,.... Than Elohim, "than God", as this word usually signifies: and could it be interpreted of man, as made by God, it might be thought to refer to the creation of him in the image and likeness of God; but as it must be understood of the human nature of Christ, it may regard the wonderful union of it to the Son of God, on account of which it is called by the same name, Luke 1:35; and so made but a little lower than God, being next unto him, and in so near an union with a divine Person; and which union is hypostatical or personal, the human nature being taken into a personal union with the Son of God: and so these words give an instance of God's marvellous regard to it; and contain a reason, proving that he has been mindful of it, and visited it. Though rather this clause refers to the humiliation of Christ in his human nature, as it is...

8 _:_ 1. _O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens._ They are very high, but thy glory is higher than the heavens. Psalms 8:2. _Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?_ He, whose voice rolls the stars along, who makes those bright worlds to fly like sparks from the anvil of his omnipotence, how can he stoop so low as to regard his fallen creature, man, who is so small, so insignificant? Psalms 8

FOR THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS In Psalm 2, Christ was presented as Jehovah's Son and King, rejected and crucified but yet to reign in Zion. In Psalm 8, while His deity is fully recognized (Psalms 8:1), Psalm 110 with (Matthew 22:41) He is seen as Son of man (Psalms 8:4) who, "made for a little while lower than the angels," is to have dominion over the redeemed creation (Hebrews 2:6). The authority here is racial and Adamic, rather than purely divine as in Psalm 2, or Davidic as in Psalm 89. That which the first man lost, the second man and "last Adam" more than regained. ...

Psalms 8 THE SON OF MAN: ALL THINGS PUT UNDER HIS FEET _ 1. A little lower than the angels; crowned with glory (Psalms 8:1)_ 2. All things put under Him (Psalms 8:6) 3. How excellent is Thy Name over all the earth (Psalms 8:9) Psalms 8:1. In this Psalm we behold Christ again, and here as Son of Man. Three times this Psalm is quoted in the New Testament; in Matthew 21:16,...