What Is Man?

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him (Psalm 8:4)

The Psalms no doubt are one of the favourite books in Scripture for many believers. The Psalms contain something for every human emotion under the earth, whether sorrow or joy. I describe Psalm 8 as a miniature systematic theology. David begins with God, his creation and man in God’s world. In verse 4, David explores the place of humanity in God’s world: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

In this question, David is awe stricken by the insignificance of humanity in God’s world yet acknowledging humanity’s dignity. Though seemingly insignificant, man is crowned with glory and honour.¹ The question What is Man can only be answered by firstly looking at God. For any proper view of ourselves we must first have a proper view of God. An improper view of God will produce an improper view of ourselves. A low view of God will produce a distorted high view of ourselves.

Psalm 8 opens with the Sovereignty of God: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens (v.1). Note how the same word “Lord” has been spelt differently. The first in all capitals and in the second, only the first L is capitalised. This is not for beauty or style. The two words are two different words in the original Hebrew. And the translators way of telling us is by making distinction in spelling.

LORD is the word Yhwh or what is commonly rendered Jehovah. This is the covenant name of God. The name by which God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush: “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:13-14). This is the Self-existent, Sovereign, Almighty God. The name Yaweh captures ALL that God is in his Sovereignty. He created all things and controls all things. The second Lord is the name Adonai; Jehovah is Master. So David doesn’t just acknowledge the covenant name of God. But identifies also that God is Master over Israel and indeed all humanity. In this Psalm, God is the active actor. Man is only a recipient of what God does or has done.

(i) Who establised strength out of the mouth of babes and sucklings? God

(ii) Who set the moon and stars in their place? God

(iii) Who is cares for humankind? God

(iv) Who has revealed himself to humankind? God

(v) Who made humankind and granted them all the privileges? God.

One may argue that Yhwh and Adonai, are names of the national God of Israel. But that will be wrong. God’s majesty transcends the nation Israel. He has displayed himself in all the earth. Jehovah is not only the national deity of Israel, he is a God Sovereign over all the earth. The text says “how excellent is thy name in all the earth! “This speaks of the extent of the Sovereignty of God. It is not limited to national Israel. God’s power is across the whole world. This is God’s world! Not man’s world. David expresses this in v.3 where he describes creation as the work of God’s finger.

After surveying all the wonders of God, David turns attention to humanity. It is instructive to note that the point of comparison in this Psalm is not human beings with their fellow human beings. If you compare yourself to your fellow human being, you will come out with a distorted sense of significance based on ideologies like race, tribe, education, wealth, gender, sexuality etc. The comparison is between God and Humanity. That brings us to our true level. Considering the grandeur of God and his creation, the observer, David sees a chasm between God and man.

God is Holy. We’re not

God is Sovereign. We’re not

God is Almighty. We’re not

God is the Creator. We’re are his creation

Now the first view the Bible give of humankind is imago dei; we are image bearers of God (Genesis 1:26-27). In the order of God’s creation, human beings have a delegated authority over God’s creation (vv.6-8) As image bearers of God therefore, our life has dignity. But our dignity is not intrinsic in ourselves. It is external; God given.

If human beings have dignity, what’s David’s problem in asking What’s man?

There appear a paradox here. Man is an image bearer of God with dignity, yet David questions our worth. What is Man? David must know something about humanity that makes us unworthy of God’s mercy. Though created in the image of God, that image has been distorted and stained by sin (Psalm 51:5). We are sinners separated from the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and justly deserve judgement than mercy. But despite this, God has displayed his goodness and mercies towards us. He cares for us. He has crowned us with glory and honour. God has condescended as it were to our level, calling us out of our sinful state into a relationship with him in the person of the Lord Jesus.

Psalm 8 has been described as a Messianic Psalm which means that it is a Psalm that points to Christ (Hebrews 2:6). And this is instructive. It is in Christ we find forgiveness of sins and restoration of our dignity. It is in Christ that our relationship with God is restored. It is in Christ that God is making all things new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Notes

1. David Guzik, “Psalm 8-The Glory Of God In Creation”, https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-8/