Thursday, August 9, 2018
Psalm 8:5, 6, 9 . . . For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet . . . O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
"O LORD, OUR LORD, HOW EXCELLENT IS YOUR NAME . . ." (3)
In the book of Hebrews (2:6-9) the Holy Spirit tells us that David, in this middle section of our psalm, was speaking about our God-Man Savior, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was on Earth, He didn't look like God. He didn't look like an angel. When Jesus hung on the cross, the Jewish "Bible experts" mocked Him, saying, "He's the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross . . . Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him" (Matthew 27:42).
And that's not even the worst of it. Jesus' shame and humility went deeper when it became clear that God did not want Him either. Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46). At the cross Jesus was more like a worm than a man. Isaiah writes, "He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. . . ." (53:3).
Ah, but that is not all (praise God!). After Jesus had paid the ransom price on the cross to redeem the world of sinners, our psalm prophesies that the Father would crown Him with glory and honor, putting all things under His feet. As St. Paul writes, "God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name . . . that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father . . ." (Philippians 2:9ff).
Ashamed of Jesus? Sooner far Let evening blush to own a star.
He sheds the beams of light divine O'er this benighted soul of mine.
Ashamed of Jesus, that dear Friend On whom my hopes of heav'n depend?
No; when I blush, be this my shame, That I no more revere His name.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 346:2, 4)
