Psalm 8

O LORD, our Lord, 

   how majestic is Your name in all the earth! 

You have set Your glory above the heavens. 

   Out of the mouth of babies and infants, 

You have established strength because of Your foes, 

   to still the enemy and the avenger. 

When I look at Your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

   the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, 

what is man that You are mindful of him, 

   and the son of man that You care for him? 

Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings 

   and crowned him with glory and honor. 

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; 

   You have put all things under his feet, 

all sheep and oxen, 

   and also the beasts of the field, 

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, 

   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 

O LORD, our Lord, 

   how majestic is Your name in all the earth! 

Matthew Poole:

It is a great question among interpreters, whether this Psalm speaks of man in general, and of the honour which God puts upon him in his creation; or only of the man Christ Jesus. Possibly both may be reconciled and put together, and the controversy if rightly stated, may be ended, for the scope and business of this Psalm seems plainly to be this: to display and celebrate the great love and kindness of God to mankind, not only in His creation, but especially in His redemption by Jesus Christ, whom, as He was man, He advanced to the honour and dominion here mentioned, that He might carry on His great and glorious work. So Christ is the principal subject of this Psalm, and it is interpreted of Him, both by our Lord Himself (Matthew 21:16), and by His holy apostle (1 Corinthians 15:27; Hebrews 2:6,7).