Excellent Name!

Psalm 8:1
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.


I love the poetic, flowing words of this psalm. I guess I am a typical male! I appreciate the majesty of the Lord, but sadly fail to render enough praise to Him. My heart is pricked as I read and study this verse.

I can picture this scene; The psalmist is engrossed in worship. He lifts his hands in submission to the powerful realization of the glory of the Lord, in comparison to the slutty nature of himself as revealed by the Holy Spirit. His heart at once condemns him and overflows with praise to the Father above. Then in a vain attempt to capture this, he pens this verse.

I enjoyed Matthew Henry's commentary:
(From Matthew Henry:)
The psalmist seeks to give unto God the glory due to his name. How bright this glory shines even in this lower world! He is ours, for he made us, protects us, and takes special care of us. The birth, life, preaching, miracles, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus are known through the world. No name is so universal, no power and influence so generally felt, as those of the Saviour of mankind. But how much brighter it shines in the upper world! We, on this earth, only hear God's excellent name, and praise that; the angels and blessed spirits above, see his glory, and praise that;

O Lord, our Lord.

Such intensity! The writer opens his mouth and flows out of an overwhelmed heart, this love line pours out to the observers ear. "O Lord!" We see the truth that God is God, and we are but dirt having the davine breath of life in our lungs.

The writer throws a comma in and makes the statement personal. He adds the words "Our Lord!" If we ever understand the nature of our God given opportunity to enjoy a real, living, intimate, one on one love affair with this Lord, that can be and is Our Lord, it will open many new avenues of adoration towards Him.

How excellent is thy name in all the earth.

The word excellent means; First Class, Superior, eminently good.

To get the full impact of these words, every other description must fail! Any example of the worthiness of such a God as our God, pales in comparison. I believe in doing things as best I can, but when it comes to the Lord, He is; Superior! He is always First Class, and eminently good!

I love the chant: God is good all the time! All the time God is good! A-Men!

Who has set thy glory above the heavens.

We are fortunate and yet limited in our skewed view of God. We see His glory all around us. His glory is seen in the thing around us and we know are felt in and among us. The earth can not contain the true glory of the Lord. What we see is not what we get! The best picture of His glory is marred by sin and shame of this world, it is only partially viewed from this dark side. One day soon the Lord will peel back the clouds and shout for us to come home, and then... watch out, the true unspeakable glory will echo from our mouths: "O Lord, Our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens."

Is His name excellent in your heart and mouth?