Psalms 8

Psalms 8:1

Wisdom Belongs to God

From nature Job now turns to the Origin of wisdom (Job 28:23). Here is the answer and that is that the Creator of the world knows the wisdom. He only understands the way of wisdom because it is His wisdom. He also knows the place of wisdom because wisdom dwells with Him. In one glance He overlooks everything on earth, He sees to the farthest corners of it (Job 28:24). He sees everything “under the heavens”, that is the whole universe.

He sees what He has created, and He governs it all. Everything is in His hand. Thus He imparts “weight to the wind” (Job 28:25). The waters that go over the earth under the impulsion of the wind are measured by Him (cf. Isaiah 40:12). The waters of the rain that He pours out over the earth are accompanied by thunder and lightning, with thunderbolt (Job 28:26). God governs the extent and duration of a storm that is accompanied by rain and thunder. Man is powerless in the face of this. The fact that man is incapable of managing and directing God’s works of creation does not mean that God has lost control of them. He is still in control.

God has dealt with wisdom like a skilled craftsman (Job 28:27). He “saw it”, “declared it”, “established it”, and “searched it out”. Seeing wisdom means that He knows where wisdom is. It is noticing its presence. He declares wisdom, which means that He gauges or fathoms wisdom, that He knows all its facets and aspects. Then He establishes the wisdom for the work He is going to do or the action He is going to perform. Finally, He searches out wisdom in order to know how He is going to apply it. In short, God knows wisdom through and through.

Creation is the work of His wisdom (Proverbs 3:19). Because of that wisdom, creation is a faultless work, without flaws, a work of which it could be said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). God knows His creation inside and out in all its complexity. It is also a perfect whole. It is thousands of years old, and everything still functions as He ordained it. Look at the wind and the rain. They are still there. They never had to be adjusted. They never need to be replaced by something better, as is the case with everything man thinks up and makes.

Psalms 8:2

Wisdom Belongs to God

From nature Job now turns to the Origin of wisdom (Job 28:23). Here is the answer and that is that the Creator of the world knows the wisdom. He only understands the way of wisdom because it is His wisdom. He also knows the place of wisdom because wisdom dwells with Him. In one glance He overlooks everything on earth, He sees to the farthest corners of it (Job 28:24). He sees everything “under the heavens”, that is the whole universe.

He sees what He has created, and He governs it all. Everything is in His hand. Thus He imparts “weight to the wind” (Job 28:25). The waters that go over the earth under the impulsion of the wind are measured by Him (cf. Isaiah 40:12). The waters of the rain that He pours out over the earth are accompanied by thunder and lightning, with thunderbolt (Job 28:26). God governs the extent and duration of a storm that is accompanied by rain and thunder. Man is powerless in the face of this. The fact that man is incapable of managing and directing God’s works of creation does not mean that God has lost control of them. He is still in control.

God has dealt with wisdom like a skilled craftsman (Job 28:27). He “saw it”, “declared it”, “established it”, and “searched it out”. Seeing wisdom means that He knows where wisdom is. It is noticing its presence. He declares wisdom, which means that He gauges or fathoms wisdom, that He knows all its facets and aspects. Then He establishes the wisdom for the work He is going to do or the action He is going to perform. Finally, He searches out wisdom in order to know how He is going to apply it. In short, God knows wisdom through and through.

Creation is the work of His wisdom (Proverbs 3:19). Because of that wisdom, creation is a faultless work, without flaws, a work of which it could be said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). God knows His creation inside and out in all its complexity. It is also a perfect whole. It is thousands of years old, and everything still functions as He ordained it. Look at the wind and the rain. They are still there. They never had to be adjusted. They never need to be replaced by something better, as is the case with everything man thinks up and makes.

Psalms 8:3

Wisdom Belongs to God

From nature Job now turns to the Origin of wisdom (Job 28:23). Here is the answer and that is that the Creator of the world knows the wisdom. He only understands the way of wisdom because it is His wisdom. He also knows the place of wisdom because wisdom dwells with Him. In one glance He overlooks everything on earth, He sees to the farthest corners of it (Job 28:24). He sees everything “under the heavens”, that is the whole universe.

He sees what He has created, and He governs it all. Everything is in His hand. Thus He imparts “weight to the wind” (Job 28:25). The waters that go over the earth under the impulsion of the wind are measured by Him (cf. Isaiah 40:12). The waters of the rain that He pours out over the earth are accompanied by thunder and lightning, with thunderbolt (Job 28:26). God governs the extent and duration of a storm that is accompanied by rain and thunder. Man is powerless in the face of this. The fact that man is incapable of managing and directing God’s works of creation does not mean that God has lost control of them. He is still in control.

God has dealt with wisdom like a skilled craftsman (Job 28:27). He “saw it”, “declared it”, “established it”, and “searched it out”. Seeing wisdom means that He knows where wisdom is. It is noticing its presence. He declares wisdom, which means that He gauges or fathoms wisdom, that He knows all its facets and aspects. Then He establishes the wisdom for the work He is going to do or the action He is going to perform. Finally, He searches out wisdom in order to know how He is going to apply it. In short, God knows wisdom through and through.

Creation is the work of His wisdom (Proverbs 3:19). Because of that wisdom, creation is a faultless work, without flaws, a work of which it could be said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31). God knows His creation inside and out in all its complexity. It is also a perfect whole. It is thousands of years old, and everything still functions as He ordained it. Look at the wind and the rain. They are still there. They never had to be adjusted. They never need to be replaced by something better, as is the case with everything man thinks up and makes.

Psalms 8:4

The Revelation

Here we see how man, once he knows where the wisdom is, can get this wisdom. This is by fearing the Lord (Adonai). This is what Job has done, just as he has turned away from evil (Job 1:1). These two always go together. Those who fear God can only hate evil and turn away from it. Wisdom is not simply truth, but truth applied to conscience. That is to say, truth that puts man in his true place and enables him to receive what God has to say. The consequence is to turn our backs on evil.

The “fear of the Lord” makes man bow before Him, before Whom the seraphs cover their faces. This fear is not anguish, but awe and reverence, worship. If this fear is there, God can be seen everywhere: in the depths, on earth and in the air, everywhere in the universe (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13). Materialistic man does not see the fear of God as valuable. He only seeks materialistic advantage for this life.

God is the “only wise God” (Romans 16:27). Job knows that he does not possess wisdom and that his friends do not possess it and that it can only be found with God. He will experience the scope of these words only at the end of the book.

Psalms 8:6

Introduction

Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych: 1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness. 2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God. 3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter (Job 31:35).

Domestic Prosperity

Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech (Job 29:1). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury.

He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him (Job 29:2; Psalms 91:11; Psalms 121:7). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now.

Also in Job 29:3 he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. Job 18:6). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection (Job 29:2), he had also lost Divine guidance.

He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” (Job 29:4; Psalms 25:14). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned (Job 29:2-3).

Job knew God as “the Almighty” (Job 29:5). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him (Psalms 128:3).

The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made (Job 29:6). Butter here is lebani, a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.

Psalms 8:7

Introduction

Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych: 1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness. 2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God. 3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter (Job 31:35).

Domestic Prosperity

Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech (Job 29:1). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury.

He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him (Job 29:2; Psalms 91:11; Psalms 121:7). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now.

Also in Job 29:3 he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. Job 18:6). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection (Job 29:2), he had also lost Divine guidance.

He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” (Job 29:4; Psalms 25:14). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned (Job 29:2-3).

Job knew God as “the Almighty” (Job 29:5). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him (Psalms 128:3).

The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made (Job 29:6). Butter here is lebani, a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.

Psalms 8:8

Introduction

Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych: 1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness. 2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God. 3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter (Job 31:35).

Domestic Prosperity

Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech (Job 29:1). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury.

He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him (Job 29:2; Psalms 91:11; Psalms 121:7). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now.

Also in Job 29:3 he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. Job 18:6). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection (Job 29:2), he had also lost Divine guidance.

He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” (Job 29:4; Psalms 25:14). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned (Job 29:2-3).

Job knew God as “the Almighty” (Job 29:5). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him (Psalms 128:3).

The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made (Job 29:6). Butter here is lebani, a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.

Psalms 8:9

Introduction

Job 29-31 form a whole. It is Job’s closing speech, a summary of what he has said so far. We can see these three chapters as a kind of triptych: 1. In Job 29 Job speaks about his former prosperity and greatness. 2. In Job 30 he speaks of his present disgrace, not so much in the loss of his possessions, but more in the loss of dignity and friendship with God. 3. In Job 31 he professes his innocence at length by swearing an oath under which he puts his signature, as it were, at the end of that chapter (Job 31:35).

Domestic Prosperity

Maybe Job paused after his previous speech to hear if there was a reaction. Now he starts a new speech (Job 29:1). With this third part of his monologue he completes his defense. It looks like a closing argument in front of a jury.

He expresses his longing for the time “gone by”. If only he could be back in that time, that time when God let him live in prosperity. The first thing he says with nostalgia for that time is that it was a time when God watched over him (Job 29:2; Psalms 91:11; Psalms 121:7). In doing so, he indicates that the greatest loss of all the losses he has suffered is the awareness of God’s nearness rather than the material loss. The protection he enjoyed then, he has now lost. He feels that God used to be for him and that He is against him now.

Also in Job 29:3 he acknowledges that his happiness and prosperity were due to God. God made His lamp shine over his head. This allowed him to go his way in His light (cf. Job 18:6). God led him through all kinds of situations in which he saw no way out. But now, in addition to Divine protection (Job 29:2), he had also lost Divine guidance.

He also thinks back with melancholy to “the friendship of God” (Job 29:4; Psalms 25:14). This relationship of friendship was over his tent, which means that his home and family were marked by it. He knew and experienced this relationship “in the prime” of his days. By this is not meant his ‘boyhood days’, but the time of his maturity, when his life had come to full development and he was in the power of his life. But also fellowship with God was gone, as was the protection and guidance of God already mentioned (Job 29:2-3).

Job knew God as “the Almighty” (Job 29:5). He knew that this Almighty God was with him. It was not a general knowledge for him, but he lived in the consciousness of God’s presence. But also the joy of God’s presence was gone. He also lost his “children”. How he had enjoyed them when they were around him. Their presence was all the more proof of God’s blessing as a result of his fear of Him (Psalms 128:3).

The bathing of his steps in butter is the figurative indication of the abundant production of milk from his cattle, from which butter was also made (Job 29:6). Butter here is lebani, a curds or drained yogurt. He also possessed a large quantity of oil that his olive trees had produced. Olive trees grow on rocky ground. When he saw his supply of olive oil, it was as if it had been poured by the rock into a stream. All this abundance indicates that Job was a very wealthy man. But nothing is left of all this prosperity.