Psalm 8: Entering the Psalm

לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל־הַגִּתִּית מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד׃
יְהֹוָה אֲדֹנֵינוּ מָה־אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ בְּכׇל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תְּנָה הוֹדְךָ עַל־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃
מִפִּי עוֹלְלִים  וְיֹנְקִים יִסַּדְתָּ־עֹז לְמַעַן צוֹרְרֶיךָ לְהַשְׁבִּית אוֹיֵב וּמִתְנַקֵּם׃
כִּי־אֶרְאֶה שָׁמֶיךָ מַעֲשֵׂה אֶצְבְּעֹתֶיךָ יָרֵחַ וְכוֹכָבִים אֲשֶׁר כּוֹנָנְתָּה׃
מָה־אֱנוֹשׁ כִּי־תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ וּבֶן־אָדָם כִּי תִפְקְדֶנּוּ׃
וַתְּחַסְּרֵהוּ מְּעַט מֵאֱלֹהִים וְכָבוֹד וְהָדָר תְּעַטְּרֵהוּ׃
תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂי יָדֶיךָ כֹּל שַׁתָּה תַחַת־רַגְלָיו׃
צֹנֶה וַאֲלָפִים כֻּלָּם וְגַם בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדָי׃
צִפּוֹר שָׁמַיִם וּדְגֵי הַיָּם עֹבֵר אׇרְחוֹת יַמִּים׃
יְהֹוָה אֲדֹנֵינוּ מָה־אַדִּיר שִׁמְךָ בְּכׇל־הָאָרֶץ׃

For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O the Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Thy name in all the earth! whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou founded strength, because of Thine adversaries; that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I behold Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast established;

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him?

Yet Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet:

Sheep and oxen, all of them, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea; whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O the Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Thy name in all the earth!

¹ For the leader; “upon the gittith.”* A psalm of David.
² O LORD, our Lord,
how awesome is your name through all the earth!
I will sing of your majesty above the heavens
³ with the mouths of babesa and infants.
You have established a bulwark against your foes,
to silence enemy and avenger.
⁴ When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place—
⁵ *What is man that you are mindful of him,
and a son of man that you care for him?
⁶ Yet you have made him little less than a god,
crowned him with glory and honor.
⁷ You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
put all things at his feet:
⁸ All sheep and oxen,
even the beasts of the field,
⁹ The birds of the air, the fish of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
¹⁰ O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth!
Accessed via: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/8

1. Are there particular words, phrases, or images that call to you as you read this psalm today?
2. How does this description of the relationship between God, humankind, and the rest of the created world strike you?
3. Does the pandemic—in its various manifestations—impact your view of this text?
4. If you were writing the psalm today, what, if anything, might you change (add, omit, rephrase)?

Norman Fischer journeys through Eastern and Western spirituality and his own Jewish roots toward moving and intimate translations of Psalms, designed to “make these towering and perplexing poems accessible and beautiful in English for contemporary readers” of every spiritual path or religious background.

Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms (Penguin, 2002)

Psalm 8

Your Unsayable Name: it covers all the earth
And your presence extends ever outward
From the furthest conceivable point

Out of the mouths of babes
Who speak only wordless wandering words
You fashion your incomprehensible power
That gathers into silence all opposition
All that pressure to get in and destroy

When I behold the night sky, the work of your fingers
The bright moon and the many-layered stars which you
have established
I think:

A woman is so frail and you remember her
A man so small and you think of him

And yet
In you woman and man become as angels
Crowned with a luminous presence
And you have given them care for the works of your hands
Placed the solid growing earth under their feet

Flocks of birds and herds of deer
Oxen and sheep and goats and cows
Soaring birds and darting fishes
All that swims the paths of the sea

O you whom I am ever addressing
Your unsayable named covers heaven and earth

Norman Fischer is a poet, author, and Zen Buddhist priest. His most recent poetry titles are On a Train at Night (PURH, France, 2018) and Untitled Series: Life As It Is (Talisman House, 2018). His latest Buddhist titles are What Is Zen (Shambhala, 2016) and The World Could be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path (Shambhala, 2019).

Questions for Reflection

1. What does it mean for God’s name to be known in all of the Earth? What is the role of a Divine name?
2. What are some of the names that you use to communicate with God?
3. What imagery is present in Fischer’s translation? How do you relate to these depictions?
4. Humans are depicted as “frail” and “so small,” while also being depicted as Angelic. Can humanity be both? What are the implications of these depictions?

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Every Psalm is a three-year long musical journey consisting of simple, meditative songs based on the psalms. Our goal is to allow God to shape each song quickly, simply, and with meditation in mind. This means the songs are written relatively quickly, are structurally straightforward, and modestly produced.

Psalm 8

By Jesse and Leah Roberts
Performed by Poor Bishop Hooper

Lyrics:
oh lord our lord
how majestic is
your name in all the earth
who is man that you’d be mindful of him
son of man that you would take care of him
with honor and glory you crown him and give him
dominion over the works of your hands

Poor Bishop Hooper
Both hailing from small towns in central Kansas, Jesse and Leah Roberts began writing, recording, and performing together after their marriage in 2013. What began as a duo, weaving together a patchwork of melodies atop an upright bass and a guitar, has since blossomed into numerous, multi-faceted expressions of the technicolor story they call life. In their current project, EveryPsalm, they are releasing a psalm-based song each week…until all the psalms are sung again.

Questions for Reflection

1. What does it mean for God’s name to be known in all of the Earth? What is the role of a Divine name?
2. What are some of the names that you use to communicate with God?
3. What does it mean to have dominion over God’s creation?
4. Does the music of the lyrics match the feeling that you have when reading Psalm 8? Would you want the music to evoke different emotions?

“Hamlet” and Psalm 8

A monologue selected from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II, Scene 2. Rather than appearing in blank verse, the typical mode of composition of Shakespeare’s plays, the speech appears in straight prose.

I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the King and queene: moult no feather. I have of late, (but wherefore I know not) lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition; that this goodly frame the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy the air, look you, this brave o’er hanging firmament, this majestical roof, fretted with golden fire: why, it appeareth no other thing to me, than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man, How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, In form and moving how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel, In apprehension how like a god, The beauty of the world, The paragon of animals. And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no, nor Woman neither; though by your smiling you seem to say so.

Questions for Reflection

1. Where do you see notes of Psalm 8 in Hamlet’s speech?
2. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for then? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.” (Verses 3-5) The Psalmist notes God’s wonder in Nature. Does Hamlet do the same in his speech?
3. Spencer Klavan notes, “Both Hamlet and the psalmist consider earth, then the heavens, then mankind’s place in creation’s hierarchy. But for the psalmist, Hamlet’s “sterile promontory” bears the very signature of God. “How glorious is Thy [i.e. God’s] name in all the earth!” sings the psalmist. Where Hamlet sees noxious gas, the psalmist beholds “Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers.” Where Hamlet exclaims, “what a piece of work is a man, . . . in action how like an angel,” the psalmist marvels, “what is man, . . . Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels.” So why does Hamlet see desolation in the same places the psalmist sees glory?”
4. What does it mean to have dominion over God’s creation? What’s the role of humanity as we relate to the rest of the natural world?