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O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Psalms 8:1 · New Living Translation · underlined terms are tappable
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, who has set your glory above the heavens!
  • KJV O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
  • BSB For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
  • NKJV O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
  • NASB Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, You who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David marvels that God's name is majestic across all the earth and His glory set above the heavens. Creation everywhere displays the surpassing splendor of God.

Overview

This royal hymn frames the whole psalm with the refrain praising the majesty of Yahweh's name. God's renown fills the earth while His glory transcends even the heavens, declaring both His immanence and His transcendence. The opening points beyond creation to the Creator whose glory is ultimately revealed in Christ, in whom dwells the fullness of God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Ps 8:9Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
  • Ps 113:2–4Blessed be Yahweh’s name, from this time forward and forever more.
  • Ps 57:5Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth!
  • Ps 148:13let them praise Yahweh’s name, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens.
  • Exod 15:11Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
  • Ps 57:10–11For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.
  • Exod 34:5–7Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name.
  • Hab 3:3God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.
  • Ps 145:1A praise psalm by David. I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.
  • Heb 7:26For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
  • Ps 72:17–19His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.
  • Phil 2:9–11Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
  • Isa 26:13Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but by you only will we make mention of your name.
  • Ps 36:5Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
  • Ps 81:1For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. By Asaph. Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob!
  • Rev 19:6I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
  • Deut 28:58If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;
  • Ps 84:1For the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. How lovely are your dwellings, Yahweh of Armies!
  • Phil 3:8Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
  • 1 Kgs 8:27But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
  • Ps 63:1A Psalm by David, when he was in the desert of Judah. God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
  • Ps 68:4Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, his name! Rejoice before him!
  • Ps 108:4–5For your loving kindness is great above the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
  • Eph 4:10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
  • Song 5:16His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
  • John 20:28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
  • Matt 22:45“If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 8:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 8:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.