How Excellent Is Your Name

By Regaina Thompson

Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens! 

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

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 You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen--- even the beasts of the field,

The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the  paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth! 

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What a beautiful Psalm of praise! How often do we spend time just praising God for his beautiful creation?

Two of my favorite places are the ocean and the mountains. I live by the ocean.  It is  very awesome to watch, especially when I get a chance to watch the sunrise! 

As I write this devotional, I am sitting in the middle of the mountains in Telluride, Colorado. This is my first trip to Colorado and these mountains are magnificent. I have seen the Alps and they have some of the most beautiful waters. I live in Virginia  near the Appalachians (not near as close as the ocean, but close enough). I have never been able to understand how people can stand in these mountains and not believe in a creator. He is so evident here.

In this Psalm, David wonders, as he looks at creation, why God is even mindful of man. Man is supposed to be God’s greatest creation, and yet we seem to have such difficult time acknowledging and praising Him. We have seen in previous Psalms how David turned to God in times of trouble. For some reason, this seems to be easier for us than is praise.

We should also follow David’s example of praise. Jesus also gives us an example of praise to the Father. In Matt 6:9-13  he showed the disciples how to pray. His prayer began and ended with praise.

The New Testament gives us this command in Phil 4:4,"Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS and again I say rejoice."

Col. 3:15-17 says "... be thankful, ...singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

There are many commands to praise and to thank God for everything. We should be thankful, even when things are not going the way we planned or wanted.

Let us always remember to praise and to thank God for everything, 

...as readily as we ask Him for everything.