II. DAVID’S INSPIRED PRAISE
OF THE EXCELLENCY OF CHRIST
Psalm 8 is David’s inspiration, his inspired praise of the excellency of Christ.
A. The Lord’s Name Being Excellent (Majestic)
in All the Earth, and His Splendor (Glory)
Having Been Set above the Heavens
The Lord’s name is excellent in all the earth, and His splendor has been set above the heavens. I want to say again that this psalm tries the best to join the earth to the heavens and to bring the heavens down to the earth, making the earth and the heavens one.
In Psalms 3—7 it was a mess on the earth according to David’s human concept. Here in Psalm 8, something, that is, the Lord’s name, is excellent (majestic) in the earth according to the divine revelation, and the Lord’s splendor (glory) is above the heavens in the sight of David. Today the earthly people do not see this revelation. They do not have such a view, but we have such a heavenly view about Jesus. Above David in the heavens was the glory, and with David on this earth was an excellent name. Thus, his view, his vision, brought him away from the view of the messy earth. The news media reports all the bad things that happen on this earth every day. To live anywhere on earth without the church life would be terrible.
B. Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings
the Lord Having Established Strength (Praise)
Because of His Adversaries,
to Stop the Enemy and the Avenger
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the Lord has established strength (praise—Matt. 21:16) because of His adversaries, to stop the enemy and the avenger (Psa. 8:2). We have seen that babes and sucklings are the youngest, smallest, and weakest among men, indicating the highest consummation of the Lord’s work in His redemption. In God’s salvation, the top consummation is to perfect the smallest and the weakest to praise God.
When we enjoy Christ’s redemption to the uttermost, we will be bold to praise the Lord. When we are discouraged and disappointed, we may sigh and groan. But when we praise the Lord, this is the highest experience of our enjoyment of Christ. The enjoyment of Christ will make us so strong to utter a complete and a perfected praise to the Lord. We all have to learn how to praise. This is the highest consummation that God has completed in His redemption through Christ.
We all need to be the babes and sucklings in the church life. We may not be old in our physical age, but in our Christian experience we may be like tired and fatigued old folks. If we are still young in the Lord, we will praise the Lord on the way to the meetings. When we were in Elden Hall in Los Angeles, a certain brother was shouting praises to the Lord while he was driving to a meeting. A policeman saw him, followed him, and told him to pull over. The policeman asked the brother what happened to him. Then the brother said, "I was praising Jesus!" Then the policeman let him go. This is the right way to come to the meeting. When we drive to the meeting, we should sing, praise, and shout, "Amen! Hallelujah! Amen! Lord Jesus! Amen!" Many of us will not do this because we have become too old. To be old means to be weak. We need to shout more, say "Hallelujah" more, say "Amen" more, praise more. Our meetings should be full of joyful noise.
A number of the sisters among us are still in their early twenties, but their fatigued attitude makes them seem like they are over one hundred years old. With them there is no freshness and no strength. With them nothing is in the morning; instead, everything is in the sunset. They need to learn to praise the Lord. The weakest among men being perfected to praise the Lord indicates the highest consummation of the Lord’s work in His redemption.
The Lord does such a consummate work because of His adversaries. He does this to insult Satan. It is as if God says, "Satan, you have done that much. Let me show you how much I can do. I can do much, much more than what you can do. Look at all My children now. They are all babes and sucklings praising Me." This praising shuts Satan’s mouth. The enemy’s speaking is stopped by our praising. The Lord establishes strength, perfects praise, out of our mouths because of His adversaries (within), for the stopping of the enemy and the avenger (without).
(Life-Study of Psalms, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee)
