What is Man?

This my “Q&A” response for this Sunday’s Project Timothy meeting:

What does Psalm 8 teach us about man’s place in the universe?  What, if anything, was the original writer trying to spell out concerning God’s hierarchy of living things? As a result, what do we take away from the Psalm today?

Exegesis:

This Psalm opens with a declaration of on God’s majesty (v. 1).  It offers a vindication of God against His enemies (v. 2).  This vindication comes in an unexpected form:  “the mouth of infants and nursing babes” (v. 2).  Verses 3-8 expand on the ways in which human beings, created by God and acting as His vice-regents over creation, bring God glory.  Verse 9 repeats the declaration of God’s majesty as a sort of liturgical response.

 The statement that human beings rule over God’s creation and that “all things” are “put under [man’s] feet” (v.6) is picked up in two Christological passages in the New Testament, 1 Cor. 15:27 and Heb. 2:6-11.  Both of those New Testament passages refer to the parousia, in which everything that opposes God’s mission of bringing shalom to the world, including death, will finally be subject to Christ.  The NT authors see Christ as the perfect type of humanity, faithfully executing the role of the Father’s vice-regent in creation.

Hermeneutics / Application

This Psalm affirms that human beings have a unique role in God’s economy of creation and salvation.  God did not have to choose humanity for this role, as creation is filled with other wonders that bring God glory (v. 3).  God’s choice of a creature that is born weak and helpless reflects His unexpected, paradigm-changing grace, and demonstrates the foolishness of human beings who wish to exalt themselves over God.  It also imbues humanity with extraordinary dignity (v.5).  The New Testament references to this Psalm present Christ as the culmination of humanity and the hinge on which God’s plan of redemption turns.

We take away from this Psalm that human beings deserve a high degree of respect.  If man is made “a little lower than God” (v. 5), then every human being is in a sense god-like.  This has enormous ethical implications.  It provides a foundation for human rights law, for example. 

At the same time, the Psalm and its application in the New Testament remind us that humanity is not autonomous from God.  In fact, humanity, like all of creation, is designed to bring God glory.  Moreover, the “first” humanity has turned from its responsibility and has exchanged its God-given glory for the broken visage of sin.  Only in Christ, the “new” perfect man, is humanity fully restored to its place and able to enjoy all the blessings God intends for us.