INTRODUCTION TO OUR SERIES:

Psalm 8 is a wonderful Psalm that was written by King David with the central purpose of praising the Lord for his greatness as revealed to us in nature.  By God’s grace alone, with hearts filled with reverence and awe, we will be seeing our Lord in all His glory as we look at nature around us.

As a result of seeing God’s greatness, we will also be reminded of man’s insignificance, and God’s great grace which grants to this insignificant man great honor and glory.  May we all come to a greater understanding of His greatness, our insufficiency, and His great grace as we enter into this devotional series.

Lord willing, this devotional series (including this introduction) will be 10 lessons in length and will be looking at one verse per devotion.

TODAY’S TEXT:

Psa 8:1-9

(1)  To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

(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.

(3)  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

(4)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

(5)  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

(6)  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

(7)  All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

(8)  The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

(9)  O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL:

As King David describes the creation over which mankind was given rulership. In this verse, and the following, he makes it plain that ALL of the animal kingdom was originally subordinate to mankind…

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

Please note, in the case of the sheep and oxen, David is describing animals that are used by man for:

1. sheep -necessities for living (food, clothing etc)
2. oxen – manual labor (plowing, bearing burdens etc.)

But David goes further.  He then lists “beasts of the field” as also being placed under man’s control.  This phrase speaks of “a mute, or dumb beast) in other words, those which are more strong willed, less likely to understand the commands of man, and therefore more difficult to control.  This speaks of beasts such as (lions, bears etc) which are much more difficult to be tamed and used by man.

Based upon his list, King David names both domesticated animals and wild animals as being placed under man’s rulership.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

Let’s take time to stop and consider the great blessing that the Lord has bestowed upon mankind… He created the animals found in nature for the express purpose of meeting the needs of mankind.

Throughout the centuries what would mankind have done without the use of animals to supply their food, clothing, mode of transportation and as the source of much power to labor in the fields and areas of industry?

Many, many of mankind’s absolute life necessities have been supplied by the animal kingdom throughout the years.

Then, stop and think about those animals which are very difficult to tame. Prior to the fall of man, they were completely under the control of mankind.  What a sight it must have been to see the lions and bears obeying every command of Adam and Eve!

But also consider that even after the fall, the Lord has graciously reserved many species of animals to remain easily controlled and used by mankind.  Following man’s rebellion against Him, He could have allowed all the animals to be wild and very difficult to control.  How difficult would it be for man to attempt to use wool from sheep that are as dangerous as lions, or get milk from cows who are as uncontrollable as crocodiles!

However, He graciously reserved some of the animal kingdom to reamin soft-hearted and easily domesticated so that man’s need would continue to be supplied even after the fall.

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