Psalm 8:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

NIV: Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

NASB: From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.

CSB: From the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have established a stronghold on account of your adversaries in order to silence the enemy and the avenger.

NLT: You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

God is so strong and great that He can derive praise even from infants and children. Jesus referred to this verse after He cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:16). The cries of babies—here more generally meaning children—and those still being weaned can bring down the enemy. Perhaps David had in mind the cry of baby Moses, when Pharaoh's daughter retrieved him from the reeds of the Nile. Exodus 2:6 tells us that when she opened the basket, "she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying." It was this same child who grew to manhood and was used of God to stand before Pharaoh, the Hebrew's enemy, and command him to let the Hebrews go from Egypt and their slavery there.

God often chooses "what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27). Paul echoes some of the same themes in his second letter to the Corinthians. There, he explains how God places His powerful gospel in fragile, limited vessels, for His own glory (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Psalm 8:1–2 points the readers to Genesis 1, which reports God's creative work. He created everything and saw that it was good. Related Scriptures include Psalm 19:1–6, Psalm 139, Matthew 21:14–16, John 1:1–5, and Romans 1:18–20. Psalm 7 includes the ascription, ''O LORD my God'' (Psalm 7:1, 3), whereas Psalm 8:1 and 9 uses the ascription, ''O LORD our Lord.'' Psalm 8 addresses God as the God of all creation, whereas Psalm 7 addresses Him as David's personal God.

In this psalm David reflects upon God's majesty that is displayed in the creation. The heavens declare God's glory. Against the backdrop of such glory, man seems insignificant, yet God chose man to rule the earth and all its creatures. By giving man this awesome responsibility, God has crowned him with glory and honor. The psalm has a messianic tone, because Jesus Christ became a little lower than the angels by becoming a human being. Someday, when Jesus rules the world, he will restore the dominion Adam lost. All nature, including all mankind, will submit to Jesus' rule. The psalm ends as it began with a declaration of the Lord's majestic name in all the earth.

This psalm is closely related to Genesis 1, which relates the account of God's creation of the heavens and the earth as well as every living thing. God's final creation, according to Genesis 1, was Adam and Eve, the first human beings, whom He created in His own image and placed in authority ''over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'' (Genesis 1:28). Psalm 144:3 repeats Psalm 8:4, and Hebrews 2:5–9 applies Psalm 8:4–6 to Jesus. First Corinthians 15:45–47 names Adam as the first man, a man of dust, and refers to Jesus as the last Adam, a man from heaven.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 4/30/2024 3:38:59 AM