Ps. 8 (an Eden psalm)

My contention is this: that just as Adam is revealed in the Divine Name so too is his ability to name the animals something that springs from the same name. We see in Genesis, in the first creation story, the fact that man is made the pinnacle of creation. In the second creation story he is made the ‘gardener’ of Eden. Likewise, being alone, all of the animals are brought to him at which time they receive their name. As is clear from the Scriptures, to name something is to have control over it; it is to know the things ‘essence’ and to be able to thereby curse or bless it. It is, as we saw, why the giving of the Divine Name is so crucial. Notice how man is created as king and then, later, the animals are brought to him, by Yhwh, in order that they might find their names. I think this could be seen as tracking the strange verb tenses in our psalm: “You have made him little less….you will crown him….you will make him master….you have set everything beneath his feet.” There is the sense here that man is king but will also be ‘be made master’ over the work of Yhwh’s hands. As in Genesis, there is a sense of Adam’s superiority to creation and the fact that he exercises that authority in and by his naming; it is, in this way, an ongoing process (through his naming, Adam becomes, or shows, or exercises what he is). In the words of our psalm, Adam has ‘everything placed beneath his fee’ by the fact that everything is brought to him to be named. He shows his sovereignty over the creatures by endowing them with their names. What is not immediately evident in Genesis, but comes out in this Psalm, is that this ability to name and rule creation stems from the ‘majesty of the Divine Name’. The opening of the psalm makes clear that everything that is about to follow is praising of the divine name. This, therefore, includes Yhwh’s placing of everything ‘beneath his feet’. Also, notice how the psalm opens praising “Yhwh, our Master” and now we see man as being made “master over the work of Yhwh’s hands”. Again, the majesty of Yhwh’s name is actually revealed in his making Adam master over creation: and, hence, Yhwh’s name is revealed in Adam’s naming of creation. I want to pause here to reflect on one thing that seems unrelated at first: Adam is made the king of creation and has, as an expression of that power, the ability to name every living thing. In Genesis there is one incident when ‘man’ is made to ask for the name. This is crucial: man is here confronted with something he cannot name. It happens twice. First, it is Jacob at the river Jabok. Interestingly, Jacob is rebuffed, but he is, in turn, renamed (he is like an animal brought before Yhwh, who is “looking for a helper” and is ‘named’; or, in the words of our psalm, Israel is now placed “beneath Yhwh’s feet” as his footstool). If we look forward there is another time when man is confronted with someone he cannot name: Moses at the burning bush. Here, the Name is revealed. What we see here is the fact that the heavenly realm (either the ‘angel of the Lord’ or Yhwh himself) cannot be named by man; but, rather, He must reveal that name; and, not simply that, but, first, renames man upon being asked his name and then, within that new identity, provides them His name. Yhwh is, in this regard, not an aspect of creation and therefore when he is brought ‘in front of man’ like every other creature man can only respond with curiosity: “what shall I tell them your name is?” In the words of our psalm, all of the works of the master have been placed beneath his feet, but the Master himself has not; the Master is, therefore, not within the ‘order of naming’. However, when this name is revealed to man, so that man can now ‘name God’, something astonishing is revealed: just as creation itself suddenly springs into view so too does man’s nature as king of that creation (in this way all of the ‘wisdom’ literature finds its unity or form). In other words, if man is now given the name of the Creator, man himself must be only “slightly lower than God” and above all creation. One concluding remark about this psalm: traditionally it is numbered the eighth. However, as we saw, psalm 1 and 2 have been regarded as a single psalm (and, it is not clear how far this goes back). If they were regarded as one psalm when the psalter was compiled, that would make this psalm the seventh. As a creation psalm that so closely mimics Genesis’s creation account, it would be an entirely fitting placement. We see here the fact that man, the king of creation, has emerged and is moving into the Sabbath rest (you have made him….you will make him master). There is in this psalm that sense of Sabbath rest that has not been found in any other psalm we have encountered. The enemies only make a momentary appearance at the beginning (in much the same way the ‘waters of chaos’ make their appearance in Genesis), and the rest of the Psalm is overtaken by a praise to Yhwh’s ‘majestic name’. It is as if this psalm represents a type of Sabbath psalm, an Eden-psalm. How appropriate then that it begins and ends with praise to the Divine Name.