This is Part 3 (Read Part 1 & Part 2) in a four-part series on “Identity” leading up to our 2025 Conference on the same topic. For more info and registration details, click Here.
“What is Man”: Power, Autonomy, Glory, and Identity in Psalm 8
I believe the two most fundamental questions of every human are “Who am I?” and “Who are you?” We constantly ask these questions ourselves and others. This was the case even before the Fall: the first question was answered by God (Gen. 1:26-27), and the second question was raised and answered by man (Adam): “This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23).[1] As Genesis illustrates, these ontological questions have always been the most fundamental inquiry of humanity. To put it differently, to be human is to identify—an endless quest of identifying self and others.
There are two ways to answer these creaturely questions: God’s way or another way, and our choice will lead us down different paths. In Genesis 3, the serpent’s questions sound like this: “Who are you, Eve? No, not what God says. Who are you really? What are you capable of? Who do you really want to be?” By questioning what God actually said, the serpent stirred Eve’s heart to question God’s goodness and authority. As a result, she attempted to re-identify herself—her power, autonomy, and eternal glory. This choice of self-worship, along with Adam’s cooperation, changed the identity and destiny of humanity.
“O LORD, Our Lord”: God’s Strength in Our Weakness
As we see in Psalm 8, David had the same questions as Adam and Eve, and perhaps the same desire as they did: power, autonomy, and glory. Instead of seeking those or the answer to the questions, however, David praised God first (vv. 1-2);
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.
To David, who God is matters more than who I am because power and authority belong to the Lord. If we can choose between strength and weakness, we all would choose to be strong “to still the enemy and the avenger.” Our Creator, however, establishes strength “out of the mouth of babies and infants.” This is one of the core principles of who we are: we are strong when we are weak. Jesus taught his disciples to be servants—to bethe least to be the greatest (Matt. 23:11, Luke 9:48), and he set a model of God-glorifying weakness to break the stronghold of death (Phil. 2:5-8). God often answers our prayers for strength by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
When we seek strength, we become weak just like Adam and Eve. When we seek God who is strong, however, we become strong even though we are weak.[2] At the core of our identity is God’s strength.
“When I Look at Your Heavens”: God’s Mindful Care for the Weak
In the following verses (vv. 3-4), David continued his praise of the Lord:
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?
When David looked up to the sky, he could not help but ask God a question: “What is man? What is the son of man?” Compared to the wondrous creation, he feels small and unworthy. Still, he knew that his Creator was mindful of him and cared for him. Just like all things in the created world, David was fully known by God (“For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.” Ps. 103:14), and such thorough knowledge was the foundation of God’s mindful care for him. Based on his understanding of the Lord, David’s questions led to an acknowledgment of God’s complete knowledge of him and intimate care for him.
When we seek autonomy (self-care) mindlessly and carelessly, we lose the mindful care of our Creator. When we seek God who cares for us, we are cared for by our loving Father. At the core of our identity is God’s care and mindfulness of us.
“Crowned Him with Glory and Honor”: God’s Ultimate Gift of Sacrifice
After raising a rhetorical question, David guides his readers to the climax of his praise to the Lord (vv. 5-8):
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.
This passage is a fulfillment and a demonstration of Genesis 1:28, the first divine blessing for humanity.[3] As creatures who seek glory and honour, we might want to concentrate on what “a little lower than the heavenly beings” actually means. The focus here, however, is not on our identity—our current state or status.[4] Rather, David points us toward the One to be crowned with glory and honour. The author of Hebrews also supports this by quoting Psalm 8:4-5 and then adding his comments that Christ was “crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). To bring glory and honour to us, Jesus gave himself as an atoning sacrifice.
When we seek to glorify ourselves, we will walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:19). When we strive to bring glory to the Father, he will crown us with glory and honour. At the core of our identity is the glory of God.
“How Majestic is Your Name in All the Earth!”: Our Identity in Christ
As the descendants of Adam and Eve, we are prone to shout out, “How majestic is my name in all the earth!” In other words, we try to answer the ontological question “Who am I?” by securing our power, autonomy, and glory. The true answer to the question of our identity, however, comes from God our Creator who strengthens us, cares for us, and crowns us with glory and honour. Being strengthened by the Spirit, cared by the Son, and crowned by the Father, we can confess and declare like Paul: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
[1] I used English Standard Version (ESV) Bible in this article.
[2] For counselling those who feel weak and belittled, you can assign Scripture memorization and meditation (e.g., Josh. 1:6-9, Ps.73:26, Isa. 41:10, 2 Tim. 1:7) and some songs to listen and sing (e.g., God Is The Strength Of My Heart, You Are My All In All, and The Lord Is My Strength and My Song).
[3] “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
[4] State as conditional (internal-external factors), status as hierarchical (a relative position of rank).
Jeemin Moon is a native of South Korea and is Director of Biblical Care & Counselling Studies at Heritage College & Seminary. He is pursuing a PhD in Biblical Counselling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary under the supervision of Dr. Jeremy Pierre. Jeemin holds a BA in Counselling Psychology a BA in English (Handong Global University, Pohang, Korea), an MDiv in Worship Leadership, and a ThM in Biblical Counselling (both at SBTS). He also serves as a music ministry director at Grace Bible Church in Cambridge, ON
