Psalms 8:6

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:

Ver. 6. Thou madest him to have dominion, &c.] He had so at first, Genesis 1:26, shall have again, Zec 8:12 Revelation 21:7; meanwhile (though Rebellis facta est creatura homnini, quia homo numini, the creature rebelleth against man, because man doth against God; yet) we cannot but see some footsteps remaining of that ancient sovereignty, which the very heathens also acknowledged, and therehence fetched excellent arguments for a providence (Cicero, Plutarch, Ennius). Lions hate apes, but tear men; though Simia quam similis, turpissima bestia, nobis. Hereof no probable reason be given but this, that God hath put all things under man's feet; insomuch as that the most timorous men dare kick and beat the largest elephants. Indeed, by reason of sin, as was said, we see not all things subdued, Hebrews 12:8. But why hath Nature denied to horses, asses, camels, elephants, deer, &c., a gall, which it hath given to lions, wolves, and other fierce creatures? (Bodin. Theat. Nat. p. 405). Surely herein appeareth the wonderful wisdom and goodness of God, who hath done this, that those so serviceable creatures might be the better tamed and subdued by man. Let man consider (saith one well) what excellency he hath lost through Adam's fall, and bewail his misery. Let him also, on the other side, well weigh the grace bestowed on him in Christ, and be joyful and thankful for mercy; knowing this, that if the creatures be not now subjected unto us, it is by reason of the body and relics of sin that yet remain in us; and that therefore if we would have a conquest over the creatures, we must begin first to get a victory upon sin, or else we shall never profit that way.

Thou hast put all things under his feet] The earth hath its name from treading upon it, Terra a terendo, teaching us, 1. To trample upon earthly things, as base and bootless; not to dote upon them without hearts, nor grasp them over greedily with our hands; as that covetous Cardinal Sylberperger, who took so great felicity in money, that when he was grievously tormented with the gout, his only remedy to ease his pain was, to have a bason full of gold set before him, into which he would put his lame hands, turning the gold upside down. But if silver and gold be a man's happiness, then it is in the earth, and so (which is strange) nearer hell than heaven, and so nearer the devil than God. The ancient Romans had for a difference in their nobility, a little ornament in the form of a moon, to show that all worldly things were mutable; and they wore it upon their shoes, to show that they trod all under their feet. 2. By this posture of all things under man's feet, God would teach him to use them as a stirrup, for the raising of his heart to those things above. A sanctified fancy can make every creature a ladder to heaven, and say, with that Father, Si tanti vitreum quanti rerum margaritum! If this trash be so highly esteemed, how much more the true treasure!