O
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1 ESV).
“What’s in a name?” That was the famous, rhetorical question posed by the female protagonist in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet.
The context was consideration of whether names are
deterministic of character or intrinsic to identity; or, are they simply labels,
conventions having no causal influence on the person bearing that name?
“What's in a name? That which we call
a rose / By any other word would smell as sweet."
But in this
outburst of praise to begin the eighth psalm, David exults in the unparalleled
majesty of the ultimate Name. The Legacy Standard Bible renders:
O
Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
For the psalmist, God’s Name is inextricably linked to His glory. God’s glory can be distinguished from His Person, but it cannot be separated from
His Being any more than the rays of the sun can be separated from the
source.
And
so David declares, You have set your glory above the heavens.
However, in this short piece, I’m directing your attention to verse 2 which provides eternal and real-world purpose for our children’s programming, which has a century-old history at Bethel:
Out
of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of
your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
David moves from a declaration of God’s majestic worth in the first verse, to addressing the spiritual activity of those most vulnerable: infants and small children.
So what’s his point?
Somewhat unexpectedly – surprisingly, even astonishingly – young children’s praise is equated with strength, a stronghold (CSB), a bulwark (RSV) to
protect against foes, enemies, avengers.
Whose
enemies?
David
identifies as your foes, or adversaries of the Lord!
However,
those who are malicious in their attitude and attack on the Almighty can never
cause Him harm or injury.
It
is not for His security that David is concerned.
God
and His glory are bulletproof, impervious to attack, and can never be damaged
or diminished in any way.
But don’t miss this connection: the antagonists of the Lord are thwarted by the praises emanating from the mouths of little children and infants, those being nourished in a Gospel worldview from their earliest years.
Here
is the unexpected benefit of raising godly kids!
The psalmist is asserting that the praise of young children – and their growing understanding of God’s Person and work – offer spiritual and psychological protection to them, to their families, and to their communities.
TAKEAWAY: This provides a significant motivation as we begin another year of high-quality, Bible-saturated, Christ-honouring, soul-enriching children’s programming at Bethel.
The
promise of verse 2 is the manifest benefit of strong, biblical instruction for
our kids: security for them and those that they love.
May such be in evidence in the lives of our kids
at Bethel, in our families and in our community of faith as AWANA, classroom
Sunday School, BRC, and Youth Group relaunch for another school year! 