Psalms 8:9

Verse Psalms 8:9. O Lord our Lord] The psalmist concludes as he began. Jehovah, our prop and support! his name is excellent in all the earth. The name of JESUS is celebrated in almost every part of the habitable globe; for his Gospel has been preached, or is in the progress of being preached, through the whole world. Bibles and missionaries are now carrying his name, and proclaiming his fame, to the utmost nations of the earth.

The whole of this Psalm, and the seventh and eighth verses in particular, have been the subject of much spiritualization in ancient and modern times. I shall give two examples: one from the pious Bishop Horne; the other from the ancient Latino-Scotico-English Psalter, mentioned before.

That of Bishop Horne, on the Psalms 8:7, is as follows: "Adam, upon his creation, was invested with sovereign dominion over the creatures, in words of the same import with these, Genesis 1:28, which are therefore here used, and the creatures particularized, to inform us that what the first Adam lost by transgression, the second Adam gained by obedience. That glory which was set above the heavens could not but be over all things on the earth; and accordingly we hear our Lord saying, after his resurrection, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and earth,' Matthew 28:18. Nor is it a speculation unpleasing or unprofitable to consider that he who rules over the material world is Lord also of the intellectual or spiritual creation represented thereby.

"The souls of the faithful, lowly, and harmless, are the sheep of his pasture; those who like oxen, are strong to labour in the Church, and who by expounding the word of life tread out the corn for the nourishment of the people, own him for their kind and beneficent Master. Nay, tempers fierce and untractable as the wild beasts of the desert, are yet subject to his will. Spirits of the angelic kind, that, like the birds of the air, traverse freely the superior region, move at his command; and these evil ones, whose habitation is in the deep abyss, even to the great leviathan himself, all, all are put under the feet of the King Messiah; who, because he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, was therefore highly exalted, and had a name given him above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, whether of things in heaven, or things on earth, or things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; Philippians 2:8, c." Thus far the pious bishop.

I shall now give, as a singular curiosity, the whole Psalm, with its translation and paraphrase, from the ancient MS. already mentioned inserting first the Latin text; next, the translation; and, thirdly, the paraphrase. The Latin text seems to be the old Itala, or Antehieronymian; at least it has readings which have been thought peculiar to that version.

PSALM VIII

Ver. Psalms 8:1. Domine Deus noster, quoniam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra.

Trans. Lord our Lord, qwat thi name es wonderfull in al the Erde.

Par. The prophete in louing, bygynnes and says: Lord of al, thow ert specialy our Lord that dredes the, loves the. Thi name that es the ioy and the fame of thi name Ihesu: for the creaturs that thu hes made and bought qwat it es wonderful. Als so say withouten end: for nane suffis for to knaw al creaturs: in qwilk wonder of the, and that in al the Erd, nought in a party anely.

Quoniam elevata est magnificencia tua super Celos.

Trans. For lyfted es thi worchyp aboven hevens.

Par. That es at say, thu ert mare worthy to be loued and wirchepyd than any Aungel or haly Saule may thynk.

Ver. Psalms 8:2. Ex ore infancium et lactencium perfecisti laudem, propter inimicos tuos, ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.

Trans. Of the mouth of nought spekand, and sowkand, thou has made louying, for thin enmys, that thou destroye the enmy and the venger.

Par. Nought anely thow ert loued of perfite men, bot of the mouthe of barnes that spekes nought: Zit there er tha that kan nought speke the wisdom of this werld: and of soukand, the qwilk gladdely resayves the lare of haly Kyrk theare moder. Thow has made thi luf thug perfyte for thin enmys: fals cristen men, to schame and to schende for thai er wer than er haythen men. That thu destruy the enmy; that es, he that es wyse in his awen eghen; and wil nought be underloute til thi wil: and the venger: that es he that defends his Syn; and sais that he synnes nought; or that his syn es les than other mennes.

Ver. Psalms 8:3. Quoniam videbo celos tuos, et opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quas tu fundasti.

Trans. For I sal se thi hevens werkes of thi fyngers the mone and the Sternys the quilk thow groundid.

Par. Thow destrues al that es contrariand til the; bot i in al thying confourom me to do thi wil; for thi i sal se in lyf withouten end. Thi hevens, that es Aungels and Apostels the qwilk er werkes of thi fingers: that es, that er mode perfyte thurgh the Haly Gost, of qwam es seven gyftes. Of he be bot a Spirit, als mani fyngers er in a hand. And i sal see the Mone, that es haly Kyrk: and the sternes that es ilk a ryghtwise man by hym selfe, the qwilk thu groundid in charite.

Ver. Psalms 8:4. Quid est homo quod memor es ejus; aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?

Trans. Qhat es man that thu ert menand of hym: or son of man for thou visites hym?

Par. Als it war with despyte, he sais man, erdely and synful, qwat es he, that thu has mynd of hym. Als fer sett fra the; at the lest gyfand hym hele and ese of body. Or son of man: that es, he that es gastely, and beres the ymage of heven. Qwat es he, for thou visits hym. Als present the qwilk es nere the for clennes of lyf. Or son of man he calles Crist, thrugh qwam he visits mannes kynd.

Ver. Psalms 8:5. Minuisti eum paullo minus ab angelis: gloria et honore coronasti eum; et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.

Trans. Thow lessed hym a littil fra aungels; with ioy and honour thu coround hym: and thu sett him aboven the werkes of thi hend.

Par. Crist was lessed fra aungels, for he was dedely, and mught suffer pyne; but a littel; for in other thyng, es he abouen aungels, thair Kyng and Sychthu thou coround hym with ioy, that es with brighthede of body, na mare sufferand pyne; and honour, for he es honourable til al: and thou sett hym abouen aungels and al creatures.

Ver. Psalms 8:6. Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus: oves et boves insuper et pecora campi.

Trans. Al thynges thu underkest undyr his fete: schepe and oxen al over that, and the bestes of the feld.

Par. That undyr hys Lordschyp and hys myght, in has cestyn al thyng: tha er schepe that er innocentes, als well aungels als men. And oxen, tha er, traveland men gastely, in haly Kyrk, over that; and the bestes of the feld; thai er lufers of this werld, wonnand, in the feld of fleschly lusts; noght in hillis of vertus; and so be the brode way thai ga til hell.

Ver. Psalms 8:8. Volucres celi et pisces maris qui perambulant semitas maris.

Trans. Fowls of heven and fysche of the see, that gas the wayes of the see.

Par. Fowls of heven, er prowde men that wald hee thair setil abouen al other. Fysches of the see, er covaytus men, the qwilk in the ground of the werld, sekes erthdly gudes, that all stretes in the see, sone wither oway. Al thir sal be underlout til Crist onther herts in grace, or thare in pine.

Ver. Psalms 8:9. Domine Deus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra.

Trans. Lard our Lard qwat thi name is wonderful in al the erth.

Par. Als he bigan swa he endes, schewand that bygyning and endyng of al gode, is of Gode; and til his louing agh i for to be done.

The reader will no doubt be struck with the remarkable agreement between the pious bishop of Norwich and this ancient translator and paraphrast, particularly on the 7th and 8th verses. The language also is in several respects singular. The participle of the present tense, which we terminate with ing, is here almost always terminated with and. So Spekand, sowkand, gyfand, sufferand, traveland, for speaking, sucking, giving, suffering, travelling, c.

As the participle signifies the continuance of the action, the termination and seems much more proper than ing speak - and, i.e., continuing to speak; give - and, continuing to give; suffer - and, suffer more; travel - and, travel on, c. There are some words in this ancient MS. which I have met nowhere else.

ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTH PSALM

This Psalm begins and ends with a general proposition, figured by an exclamation, which contains an admiration for he admires what he cannot perfectly comprehend. "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens." Such is the glory of thy divinity, power, and goodness, that it fills not only the earth, but transcends the very heavens, in which angels and blessed spirits, though they know much more than we on earth, yet cannot comprehend thy Majesty, which fills all and exceeds all.

This general proposition being premised, the prophet descends to some particular instances, in which the excellence of God's name particularly appears; and he mentions three: I. Infants. II. The heavens, with the moon and stars. III. Man himself.

I. The excellence of God's power, divinity, and goodness, appears in infants: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength." 1. The sucking of babes, and speaking of young children, are evident demonstrations of God's excellent name; for who taught the babe to suck, or the dumb infant to speak, but the Lord our Governor? 2. The children that cried "Hosanna!" in the temple, struck with the miracles of our Lord; while the priests, through envy, were dumb. 3. Or by babes may be meant such as the worldly-wise repute no better than children and fools. By simple prophets, ignorant fishermen, humble confessors, and faithful martyrs, hath he stilled the enemy and the avenger; confounded the wisest philosophers, and stopped the mouths of devils.

II. The next instance in which the glory and excellence of God's name appears is the heavens, the moon and the stars: these are the works of his fingers, and therefore called Thy heavens; whose amplitude is great, order and orbs wonderful, beauty admirable, matter durable, and motions various yet stable; together with the stars, whose multitude is innumerable, magnitude vast and various, order admirable, and influences secret and wonderful. The varying, yet regular and constant course of the moon, her changes, phases, and influences on the earth and the waters, on men and other animals. All these have been ordained by the all-wise God; and the earth and its inhabitants are receiving continual benefits from them.

When I consider these things, then I say to myself:

III. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" This is the psalmist's third instance to manifest the excellence of God's providence and government of the world, in which he reflects upon man in his baseness and in his dignity.

1. In his baseness, vileness, and misery, signified by the question, What is man? As if he should say, What a poor creature? how miserable! What except dust and ashes, as to his body, when he was at the best; for he was taken from the dust of the ground, even when his soul was formed in the image of God. But now miserable dust while he lives, and to dust he shall return when he dies. What then is this miserable creature, of what worth, that thou, so great, and so glorious a Being, who art higher than the heavens, shouldst visit and take care of him!

2. This is his dignity; he can know, love, serve, and enjoy thee for ever; and thou settest thy love upon him above all other creatures. This thou hast showed in the following ways:-

1. In visiting him, and in being mindful of him: 1. Thou visitest him by conferring on him many temporal blessings. 2. In illuminating his mind by thy Holy Spirit. 3. In sending him thy law and thy Gospel, by prophets and apostles. 4. In giving thy Son to take upon himself human nature, and to die, the just for the unjust, that thou mightest bring him to thyself, through whom he is to receive remission of sins, and an eternal inheritance among the saints in light. 5. In making him, fallen and wretched as he is, lord of thy creatures; giving him all sheep and oxen, the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the fish of the sea. 6. But this universal dominion belongs principally to the Lord Jesus, through whom and by whom all good comes to man, and to whom all glory should be given, world without end. Let God's excellent name be exalted throughout all the earth!