Consider the Heavens

Presented to:

Bethel Chapel Pentecostal Church

Auditorium Sunday School Class

Granite City, IL

10 December 2017

Updated: December 9, 2017

By:

Boyce Belt

Consider the Heavens

Opening:

• (Slide) “Young man, the secret of my success is that at an early age I discovered I was not God.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr
• Thursday was the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  The United States felt secure and were doing their best to remain neutral in the war.  Sunday, December 7, 1941, changed that.  In spite of warnings our military was unprepared  for what happed because we ignored the obvious.  This can often be applied to our spiritual warfare as well.  We ignore the warnings and continue on as if we had not a care in the world.
• Prayer

Text:

Psalms 8 (KJV)

O Lord our Lord,

how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength

because of thine enemies,

that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;

thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen,

yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord our Lord,

how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Introduction:

Video: God Created the Heavens

We have lost the ability to wonder.  We know so everlasting much and we’re so sure of ourselves But David stood and wondered in the presence of God’s creation.^[1]

Several years ago I was driving across Oklahoma in the middle of the night.  There was a large meteor shower that night and I was amazed looking at the horizon as the meteors crossed the black sky within just moments of each other and sometimes more than one at a time.

1. Jehovah Reigns — In verses 1 and 9 the first word “LORD” is the divine name Jehovah or Yahweh.  The second Hebrew word translated “our Lord” speaks of the one in control: “Our Sovereign.”^[2]

1. The Physical World

1. God did not simply create the world and walk away.

2. The Spiritual World
3. The Heart (Mind) of Man

1. The Sovereignty of God must govern the way we think.^[3]
2. Psalm 8:2a (KJV) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies.  Jehovah is so great that He can entrust His praise to infants and children and still not be robbed of glory!  Words are only weak things yet words of praise even from sucklings and babes can defeat God’s enemies!  1 Corinthians 1:27 (KJV) But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

2. Man’s Position — Job 7:17 (KJV) What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?  and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

1. Beneath God
2. Above Creation

1. Humans were created by God for a glorious purpose; we are not just animals, the product of natural evolution and chance.  So valuable are we to God that we are special objects of His concern and favor.  He has honored us by choosing us to rule over His creation.^[4]  Man is the pinnacle of God’s earthly creation.  He is not merely a product of evolutionary process having to yield to the rights of animals.  Jesus said mankind is much better than birds and sheep.^[5]

1. Matthew 6:26 (KJV) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
2. Matthew 12:12 (KJV) How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days

2. Not only was man intrinsically distinct from the rest of creation, he was given authority over the earth and everything upon it.  Man was made to rule.^[6]
3. Genesis 1:26-28 (KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
4. God has given man dominion over all the animals.  He is intellectually superior to them and has priority over them—every animal is “under his feet” and may be brought into submission by him.^[7]
5. James 3:7 (KJV) For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
6. Our ability to exercise authority over the earth is dependent on our willingness to submit to, serve and obey the living God who holds authority over us.^[8]

3. An Attitude of Humility

1. The consciousness of our favored position is no reason for praising ourselves, but a reason for giving thanks and glory to the creator.^[9]
2. Philippians 2:3-7 (KJV) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

3. Christ’s Supremacy — The Psalms are categorized by type.  Psalm 8 actually fits two categories.  It is a Nature Psalm in that it reflects on the glory of God by observing nature.  It is also a Messianic Psalm in that it foretells of Jesus Christ.  Paul references this in Ephesians 1:19-23 (KJV) And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:  22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

1. Incarnation — Hebrews 2:6-9 (KJV) But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
2. Dominion

1. Christ’s authority exceeds every known power

3. Exaltation — Philippians 2:9-11 (KJV) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Conclusion:

Next Week: Consider the Place of the Wicked

Psalms 8 (KJV)

O Lord our Lord,

how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength

because of thine enemies,

that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,

the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;

thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen,

yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord our Lord,

how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Prayer