THE first occurrence of the Hebrew word rendered “above” in this text is:
Genesis 1:2 Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In the Revised Version the text reads, Psalm 8 [RV] 1...Who has set Your glory upon the heavens. Both renderings are correct, for the original word has the idea of: nearness, over, upon, against. The glory of God is far above all heavens, but it rests upon them. One thing is taught by the text, and that is that the glory that shines in the heavens is the glory of God.
Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have You ordained strength because of your enemies, that You might still the enemy and the avenger.
Psalm 8:4-8 What is man, that You are mindful of him? and the son of man, that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have
crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
Man was made of the dust of the earth, and had in himself no
more glory than the dust that still remained on the face of the
earth; yet God made him in His own image, “crowned him with
glory and honor,” and caused him to have dominion over the
works of His hands.
Since God is light, it was but natural that the being who was to
be His representative on the earth, should bear His glory, even to a higher degree than the heavens, over which he was given dominion.
And here is the comfort of this for the struggling, trembling Christian: Since God can silence all His enemies by babes and sucklings, what an abundant deliverance must be ours when He bows the heavens and comes down, riding upon the heavens for our help, and in His excellency on the sky:
Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have You ordained strength because of your enemies, that You might still the enemy and the avenger.
Psalm 8:4-8 What is man, that You are mindful of him? and the son of man, that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have
crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
Man was made of the dust of the earth, and had in himself no
more glory than the dust that still remained on the face of the
earth; yet God made him in His own image, “crowned him with
glory and honor,” and caused him to have dominion over the
works of His hands.
Since God is light, it was but natural that the being who was to
And here is the comfort of this for the struggling, trembling Christian: Since God can silence all His enemies by babes and sucklings, what an abundant deliverance must be ours when He bows the heavens and comes down, riding upon the heavens for our help, and in His excellency on the sky:
Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rides upon the heaven in your help, and in His excellency on the sky."
E.J. Waggoner