Psalm 8 (NIV) 

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.

1 Lord, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory 

in the heavens. 

2 Through the praise of children and infants 

you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

to silence the foe and the avenger. 

3 When I consider your heavens, 

the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, 

which you have set in place, 

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them?  

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels  

and crowned them with glory and honor. 

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; 

you put everything under their feet: 

7 all flocks and herds, 

and the animals of the wild, 

8 the birds in the sky, 

and the fish in the sea, 

all that swim the paths of the seas. 

9 Lord, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

Personalizing the Psalms

This summer we are focusing on one Psalm per week. In your own time alone with God, consider using one or more of the practices to reflect on the Psalm. Take your journal with you wherever you go this summer. At the end of the summer you will have a journal full of your own reflections, thoughts and prayers!

• Journaling: Write out the Psalm in your journal. Make notes in the margins to amplify or clarify words. Be creative with doodling, drawing, highlighting words or phrases, collaging with cut-out words or pictures.
• Reading: Take time to slowly read aloud the Psalm. What words or phrases stand out to you? What questions do you have? What words or phrases repeat?
• Memorizing: Commit to memory one or more verses.
• Praying: How does this Psalm inspire praise, confession, lament, gratitude, or guidance for yourself, others or the world? 

1. Priority of praise

• Who God is: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 
• Who we are: Crowned with glory and honor… them rulers over the works of your hands

2. Paying attention

• What do I see? When I consider your heavens…
• What does God see? What is mankind that you are mindful of them?

3. People of praise

• Power of praise: Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold
• Practice of praise: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!