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Psalm 8[a]

The Majesty of God and the Dignity of Human Beings

For the director.[b] “Upon the gittith.” A psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,
    how glorious is your name[c] in all the earth!
    You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:1 In the midst of disconsolate supplications, here is a hymn that chants the splendor of God. But is not the best reflection of the divine majesty the grandeur of the human being? For the Lord has made this tiny being lost in the immensity of the world the crown of all creation. In the man “crowned with glory” Paul and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews see the glorified and risen Christ, who, while on earth, was for a time made lower than the heavenly creatures, the angels (see 1 Cor 15:25-27; Eph 1:22; Heb 2:5-9).
  2. Psalm 8:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation. Gittith: possibly a musical instrument from the Philistine city of Gath, or else a song for the harvest and the winepress.
  3. Psalm 8:2 Name: according to Semitic usage, this word designates the person with all its essential qualities. See also note on Ps 5:12.