In the Lord I Take Refuge: 31 Days in the PsalmsSample

The Bible restores our human dignity, scarred but not lost in the fall. Alluding to the opening chapters of Genesis, where mankind is called to exercise dominion over the created order, David brings us to praise God for the remarkable care he has entrusted to us. He is the God of the heavens, having placed the stars in their orbits, yet he has entrusted to humanity the care of the earth. When he speaks of our being crowned “with glory and honor” (v. 5), David speaks of the image of God bestowed upon every human.

The references to “foes,” “enemy,” and “avenger” in the course of praising God for his creation remind us that there was also a fall (v. 2; Gen. 3:1–24). Yet despite our fall into sin, God still dignifies his people as the stewards of his creation (Ps. 8:5–8; Gen. 1:28–31).

And yet we need a Savior to overcome not only personal sin but also the fallen condition of the creation (Gen. 3:15, 18–19). By quoting this psalm, the writer of the book of Hebrews later clarifies that Christ, our Savior, is the perfect representation of the humanity described in this psalm (Heb. 2:6–8).

The One through whom the world was created (John 1:3; Heb. 1:2) came to restore the image marred at the fall. Verses 1 and 9 of Psalm 8 not only serve as bookends for the psalm; they also anticipate the end of all things, when Christ’s enemies will be made a footstool for his feet, and his name will be majestic through all the earth (Eph. 1:22).