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avoirdupois (metres and kilograms)? Does not a mother's love regard the tiny
babe at her breast as of incomparably more value than the great house in
which she lives?
David was under no misapprehension in the matter when he uttered the
words of Psalm 8. Instead of answering his question, 'What is man?' as a
modern pessimist would do, he looks at it in a God-taught way and speaks of
man's destiny and dominion. He does not speak of man's insignificance as
compared with the vastness of the heavens, but as he contemplates the moon
and the stars, evidently with Genesis 1 in mind, he sees that this vast
fabric was made with man in view; that God was working out a purpose, and
that the magnificence of that purpose puts the argument from relative size
completely aside. David does not merely say 'What is man?' but, 'What is
man, that Thou are mindful of him, and ... visitest him?'
The word 'mindful', zakar, is used in connection with remembering a
covenant:
'I will remember My covenant ... that I may remember the everlasting
covenant' (Gen. 9:15,16).
'And God remembered His covenant' (Exod. 2:24; also see 6:5).
'He will ever be mindful of His covenant ... He hath commanded His
covenant for ever' (Psa. 111:5,9).
From one point of view, man may partake of what is fleeting and
insignificant, but it is in his relation to the purpose of the ages that his
real position is seen. Israel were reminded of this principle:
'The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye
were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all
people: But because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the
oath which He had sworn unto your fathers' (Deut. 7:7,8).
The word visited, pagad, of Psalm 8:4 naturally follows upon
remembrance of the covenant:
'I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you' (Jer.
29:10).
'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed
His people ... to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to
remember His holy covenant ... the Dayspring from on high hath visited
us' (Luke 1:68-78).
David therefore in Psalm 8 has in view the fact that man is in covenant
relationship with God, and his place is in harmony with this in the scheme of
things.
When considering the teaching of Scripture concerning man, we are
necessarily brought face to face with the truth that dominion was given to
him at his creation. We have already found Psalm 8 to be a valuable passage
in connection with the nature of man and the world in which he lives, and we
must now turn to this Psalm again to learn something of his dominion:
'Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou
hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the