Psalm 8:1 Kommentar

This psalm is a solemn meditation on, and admiration of, the glory and greatness of God, of which we are all concerned to think highly and honourably. It begins and ends with the same acknowledgment of the transcendent excellency of God's name. It is proposed for proof (Psa 8:1) that God's name is excellent in all the earth, and then it is repeated as proved (with a "quod erat demonstrandum" - which was to be demonstrated) in the last verse. For the proof of God's glory the psalmist gives instances of his goodness to man; for God's goodness is his glory. God is to be glorified, I. For making known himself and his great name to us (Psa 8:1). II. For making use of the weakest of the children of men, by them to serve his own purposes (Psa 8:2). III. For making even the heavenly bodies useful to man (Psa 8:3, Psa 8:4). IV. For making him to have dominion over the creatures in this lower world, and thereby placing him but little lower then the angels (Psa 8:5-8). This psalm is, in the New Testament, applied to Christ and the work of our redemption which he wrought out; the honour given by the children of men to him (Psa 8:2, compared with Mat 21:16) and the honour put upon the children of men by him, both in his humiliation, when he was made a little lower then the angels, and in his exaltation, when he was crowned with glory and honour. Compare Psa 8:5, Psa 8:6, with Heb 2:6-8; Co1 15:27. When we are observing the glory of God in the kingdom of nature and providence we should be led by that, and through that, to the contemplation of his glory in the kingdom of grace. To the chief musician upon Gittith. A psalm of David.

The psalmist here sets himself to give to God the glory due to his name. Dr. Hammond grounds a conjecture upon the title of this psalm concerning the occasion of penning it. It is said to be upon Gittith, which is generally taken for the tune, or musical instrument, with which this psalm was to be sung; but he renders it upon the Gittite, that is, Goliath the Gittite, whom he vanquished and slew (1 Sa. 17); that enemy was stilled by him who was, in comparison, but a babe and a suckling. The conjecture would be probable enough but that we find two other psalms with the same title, Ps. 81 and Psa 84:1. Two things David here admires: - I. How plainly God displays his glory himself, Psa 8:1. He addresses himself to God with all humility and reverence, as the Lord and his people's Lord: O Lord our Lord! If we believe that God is the Lord, we must avouch and acknowledge him to be ours. He is ours, for he made us, protects us, and takes special care of us. He must be ours, for we are bound to obey him and submit to him; we must own the relation, not only when we come to pray to God, as a plea with him to show us mercy, but when we come to praise him, as an argument with ourselves to give him glory: and we shall never think we can do that with affection enough if we consider, 1. How brightly God's glory shines even in this lower world: How excellent is his name in all the earth! The works of creation and Providence evince and proclaim to all the world that there is an infinite Being, the fountain of all being, power, and perfection, the sovereign ruler, powerful protector, and bountiful benefactor of all the creatures. How great, how illustrious, how magnificent, is his name in all the earth! The light of it shines in men's faces every where (Rom 1:20); if they shut their eyes against it, that is their fault. There is no speech or language but the voice of God's name either is heard in it or may be. But this looks further, to the gospel of Christ, by which the name of God, as it is notified by divine revelation, which before was great in Israel only, came to be so in all the earth, the utmost ends of which have thus been made to see God's great salvation, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16. 2. How much more brightly it shines in the upper world: Thou hast set thy glory above the heavens. (1.) God is infinitely more glorious and excellent than the noblest of creatures and those that shine most brightly. (2.) Whereas we, on this earth, only hear God's excellent name, and praise that, the angels and blessed spirits above see his glory, and praise that, and yet he is exalted far above even their blessing and praise. (3.) In the exaltation of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of God, who is the brightness of his Father's glory and the express image of his person, God set his glory above the heavens, far above all principalities and powers. II. How powerfully he proclaims it by the weakest of his creatures (Psa 8:2): Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, or perfected praise, the praise of thy strength, Mat 21:16. This intimates the glory of God, 1. In the kingdom of nature. The care God takes of little children (when they first come into the world the most helpless of all animals), the special protection they are under, and the provision nature has made for them, ought to be acknowledged by every one of us, to the glory of God, as a great instance of his power and goodness, and the more sensibly because we have all had the benefit of it, for to this we owe it that we died not from the womb, that the knees then prevented us, and the breasts, that we should suck. "This is such an instance of thy goodness, as may for ever put to silence the enemies of thy glory, who say, There is no God." 2. In the kingdom of Providence. In the government of this lower world he makes use of the children of men, some that know him and others that do not (Isa 45:4), and these such as have been babes and sucklings; nay, sometimes he is pleased to serve his own purposes by the ministry of such as are still, in wisdom and strength, little better than babes and sucklings. 3. In the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of the Messiah. It is here foretold that by the apostles, who were looked upon but as babes, unlearned and ignorant men (Act 4:13), mean and despicable, and by the foolishness of their preaching, the devil's kingdom should be thrown down as Jericho's walls were by the sound of rams' horns. The gospel is called the arm of the Lord and the rod of his strength; this was ordained to work wonders, not out of the mouth of philosophers or orators, politicians or statesmen, but of a company of poor fishermen, who lay under the greatest external disadvantages; yea, we hear children crying, Hosanna to the Son of David, when the chief priests and Pharisees owned him not, but despised and rejected him; to that therefore our Saviour applied this (Mat 21:16) and by it stilled the enemy. Sometimes the grace of God appears wonderfully in young children, and he teaches those knowledge, and makes those to understand doctrine, who are but newly weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts, Isa 28:9. Sometimes the power of God brings to pass great things in his church by very weak and unlikely instruments, and confounds the noble, wise, and mighty, by the base, and weak, and foolish things of the world, that no flesh may glory in his presence, but the excellency of the power may the more evidently appear to be of God, and not of man, Co1 1:27, Co1 1:28. This he does because of his enemies, because they are insolent and haughty, that he may still them, may put them to silence, and put them to shame, and so be justly avenged on the avengers; see Act 4:14; Act 6:10. The devil is the great enemy and avenger, and by the preaching of the gospel he was in a great measure stilled, his oracles were silenced, the advocates of his cause were confounded, and unclean spirits themselves were not suffered to speak. In singing this let us give God the glory of his great name, and of the great things he has done by the power of his gospel, in the chariot of which the exalted Redeemer rides forth conquering and to conquer, and ought to be attended, not only with our praises, but with our best wishes. Praise is perfected (that is, God is in the highest degree glorified) when strength is ordained out of the mouth of babes and sucklings.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 8 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, a Psalm of David. Some think this psalm was composed when the ark was brought to the house of Obededom the Gittite; and that it was delivered to him and his sons, as others were to Asaph, to Jeduthun, to the sons of Korah, &c. (l). But against this lies a strong objection, that Obededom and his sons were porters, and not singers, Ch1 26:4; and for the same reason "gittith" cannot be the name of a musical instrument which was kept in his family, and presided over by them (m). Some are of opinion this word had its name from Gath; and that this psalm was wrote by David when he was there (y); or that it is the name of a musical instrument invented and made there, and which was brought from thence (z): And so the Targum paraphrases it; "upon the harp which was brought from Gath.'' A word like this signifies "winepresses": and hence the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, render it "for the winepresses": which Theodoret interprets of churches, where Christ the true vine is gathered by believers, and they prepare the mystic wine. Some think (a) the psalms which bear this name were composed for the feast of tabernacles: when, having got in their vintage, they filled their presses, and squeezed their grapes, and therefore gave thanks; it was usual, even with the Heathens (b), to make use of the harp, and other instruments of music, at the gathering of the grapes to be squeezed and pressed. Some of the Jewish writers (d) apply it to the times of Edom's destruction, who was to be trodden down as in a winepress, foretold in Isa 63:1; and others interpret it of the times of Gog and Magog, when the prophecy in Joe 3:13; shall be fulfilled (d) and some have thought this psalm to be a song of praise, like one of those sung by them that tread in the winepress; the time of vintage being a time of joy. The ancient Christian writers explain it of the sufferings of Christ, when he trod the winepress of his Father's wrath. But the word "gittith" is either the first word of some song, as Aben Ezra thinks; or the name of the tune, as Kimchi; or rather of the musical instrument to which this psalm was set and sung. Though the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 2:6; citing some passages from this psalm, only says, "one in a certain place testified"; without mentioning either the number of the psalm, or the name of the writer; yet it is certain that David was the penman of it: and both from the testimony of that writer, and from a citation of Christ himself, it is evident that the subject of this psalm is the Messiah, and that it belongs to his times; see Heb 2:6. So the Syriac scholiast; "the eighth psalm is concerning Christ our Redeemer.'' (l) Aben Ezra in loc. (m) R. Moses apud ibid. (y) Ben Melech in loc. vide Kimchi ibid. (z) Jarchi in loc. (a) Vide Godwin. Synops. Antiqu. Heb. l. 2. s. 1. c. G. (b) Phurnutus de Natura Deorum, p. 84. (d) Rabbini apud Jarchium in loc. (d) Midrash Tillim apud Viccars. in loc.

O Lord our God,.... Jehovah, the one God, who is Lord of all angels and men, and in an especial manner Lord and King of saints; how excellent is thy name in all the earth! by the "name" of God is not meant any particular name of his, by which he is called; but either himself, his nature and perfections; or rather that by which he is made known, and particularly his Gospel; see Joh 17:6; this is excellent in its nature, it being good news, and glad tidings of good things, which display the love, grace, mercy, and kindness of God to men, as well as his wisdom, power, truth, and faithfulness; and in the subject matter of it, Christ and his righteousness, and life and salvation by him, the spiritual blessings of grace it publishes, and the exceeding great and precious promises it contains; and in its usefulness for the enlightening, quickening, and converting sinners, and for the comforting and reviving of drooping saints. It is the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, and excels the law in glory. It cannot well be said how glorious it is; it is marvellously excellent; and that "in all the earth", being carried by the apostles, who were sent by Christ with it, into all the world; where it has shone out, and appeared gloriously to Gentiles as well as Jews. This clause shows that this is said by David prophetically of Gospel times; for not in his time, nor in any period under the Old Testament, was the name of the Lord glorious and excellent in all the earth. His name was great in Israel, but not in all the world. He showed his word, and gave his statutes and ordinances to Jacob; but as for the Gentiles, they were without them, and were strangers to the covenants of promise, Psa 76:1; but this was true of the first times of the Gospel; and will be still more fully accomplished when the prophecies in Mal 1:11; shall be fulfilled; who hast set thy glory above the heavens: meaning his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness of his glory; in whom is all the fulness of the Godhead, the glory of all the divine perfections; so called Psa 63:2; and the setting of him above the heavens designs the exaltation of him at the right hand of God; where angels, principalities, and powers, became subject to him, and he was made higher than the heavens, Heb 7:26. And it was in consequence, and by virtue of this, that the Gospel was spread throughout the earth; for upon Christ's exaltation the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, and they were endowed with girls qualifying them to carry the Gospel into each of the parts of the world.

The Majesty, or as holy David calls it, the Glory, is manifested among the creatures that it has produced and governs. These are the back parts of God, which he leaves behind him, as tokens of himself like the shadows and reflection of the sun in the water, which show the sun to our weak eyes, because we cannot look at the sun himself, for by his unmixed light he is too strong for our power of perception.

“How wonderful your name.” Through this name, in fact, death was dissolved, demons imprisoned in bonds, heaven opened, gates of paradise thrown wide, the Spirit sent down, slaves made free, enemies become sons, strangers become heirs, human beings become angels. Why speak of angels? God became man, and man became God; heaven accepted the nature from earth, earth accepted the one seated on the cherubim along with the angelic host. The wall was removed, the partition dissolved, what were separate were united, darkness was banished, light shone, death was swallowed up.

Accordingly it is said, "O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is Your Name in all the earth!" [Psalm 8:1]. I ask, how is His Name wonderful in all the earth? The answer is, "For Your glory has been raised above the heavens." So that the meaning is this, O Lord, who art our Lord, how do all that inhabit the earth admire You! For Your glory has been raised from earthly humiliation above the heavens. For hence it appeared who You were that descended, when it was by some seen, and by the rest believed, whither it was that You ascended.

The church says, “O Lord, our Lord.” For after the recognition of Christ when one is freed from the slavery of idolatry, one begins to call on God and the Lord. Always the whole earth truly is full of the marvelous creations, the works of God. And even more marvelous the name of that One, namely, Christ, has been made wonderful among all the nations and foreign peoples through faith in him.

Concerning this solemnity it is said through the Psalmist, "Your magnificence is exalted above the heavens."

Above he set forth a Psalm in which David prayed concerning his persecution; here he sets forth a Psalm of thanksgiving: and first a Psalm is presented for the benefits bestowed upon the whole human race. Second, another for the benefits bestowed upon him for the destruction of enemies, or for the goods granted. Third, for the evils removed, at "I will give thanks": for here he expresses the affection of a man considering the benefits of God bestowed upon the human race, and giving thanks. The title is "Unto the end, a Psalm of David, for the winepresses," and since the rest has been explained above, I shall explain here only the last part. Here it should be noted that in Dt. 16 it says: "Seven days you shall celebrate the feast of tabernacles, when you gather in your produce from the threshing floor and the winepress," etc. For it should be known that David had a special devotion in celebrating the feasts, and he did something special for the praise of God. Now the feast of tabernacles was the principal one. And this took place during the vintage in commemoration of the divine benefit, when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt in tents, and brought them into the promised land where there are fruits: and therefore it was necessary that they have the most beautiful fruits, at which time were the winepresses; and therefore it says "for the winepresses." This is the literal sense. But spiritually, the winepress is the Church: Is. 5: "He planted a choice vineyard, he built a winepress in it"; Mt. 21: "He planted a vineyard, and dug a winepress in it." He says therefore "for the winepresses," that is, for the Churches of the world: and the Church is called a winepress, because just as in a winepress the wine is separated from the grape skins, so in the Church the good are separated from the wicked by the work of ministers: even if not always in place, yet in disposition. For the same reason it is also called a threshing floor: because there the grain is separated from the chaff. Likewise, from the words literally set down, the spiritual sense is separated. Likewise the winepresses are the martyrdoms, in which the separation of souls from bodies takes place, while the bodies of those who are trampled by affliction and persecution for the name of Christ remain crushed on the earth, but their souls flow forth to rest in the heavens. This Psalm is divided into two parts. First the Psalmist marvels at the divine excellence. Second, at his clemency, at "What is man." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows that the majesty of God is admirable. Second, that it is manifest, at "Out of the mouths of infants." Concerning the first he does two things: first he sets him forth as wonderful. Second he makes clear the reason for what was said, at "For your magnificence is elevated," etc. He says therefore, "Lord" of all: Esth. 13: "You are Lord of all"; but especially "our Lord," we who worship you, who cling to you. Jerome has "our Ruler": Jgs. 8: "I will not rule over you, nor shall my son, but the Lord shall rule over you." "How admirable is your name," etc., namely of your divinity: Ps. 92: "Wonderful are the surges of the sea," etc. Gen. 32: "Why do you ask my name, which is wonderful?" Likewise, of the incarnate Christ: Is. 9: "His name shall be called Wonderful." But is it only in Judea, as the Jews say, or in Africa, as the Donatists claim? No; but "in all the earth": Mal.: "From the rising of the sun to its setting, great is my name among the nations." The reason for the wonder is added: "For your magnificence is elevated," because in the heavens your greatness appears. Wonder occurs when someone sees an effect and is ignorant of the cause. Therefore something is wonderful in two ways: either because the cause is totally unknown, or because it does not produce an effect that perfectly manifests the cause. The first is not the case with God: because he produces an effect: Rom. 1: "The invisible things of God are known through the things that have been made," etc. He produces, I say, an effect, yet not one that perfectly manifests the cause: and therefore he remains admirable: and this is what he says: "your magnificence," that is, your praise or your power, which can do great things, "is elevated above the heavens," surpassing the making of the heavens beyond all proportion. Hence he excludes the error of those who say that God is the form of the heaven: for according to this he would be proportionate to the heavens. Likewise of those who say that he acts by necessity of nature: because he would not extend himself above the heavens: yet he can make something infinitely greater. Or "above the heavens," that is, above the Scriptures, because he is more than is praised in the Scriptures: Sir. 43: "Glorifying God as much as you can, he will still surpass it, and admirable is his magnificence." Or "your magnificence," that is, your Son, God and man, "is elevated" in the ascension "above the heavens": Eph. 4: "He who descended is the same who ascended above all the heavens," etc.

Upon [or according to the] Gittith, probably means that the musical performance was directed to be according to a tune of that name; which, derived from Gath, a "wine-press," denotes a tune (used in connection with gathering the vintage) of a joyous character. All the Psalms to which this term is prefixed [Psa 8:1; Psa 81:1; Psa 84:1] are of such a character. The Psalmist gives vent to his admiration of God's manifested perfections, by celebrating His condescending and beneficent providence to man as evinced by the position of the race, as originally created and assigned a dominion over the works of His hands. (Psa 8:1-9) thy name--perfections (Psa 5:11; Psa 7:17). who hast set--literally, "which set Thou Thy glory," &c., or "which glory of Thine set Thou," &c., that is, make it more conspicuous as if earth were too small a theater for its display. A similar exposition suits the usual rendering.

(Heb.: 8:2-3) Here, for the first time, the subject speaking in the Psalm is not one individual, but a number of persons; and who should they be but the church of Jahve, which (as in Neh 10:30) can call Jahve its Lord (אדנינוּ, like אדני from אדנים plur. excellentiae, Ges. ֗108, 2); but knowing also at the same time that what it has become by grace it is called to be for the good of the whole earth? The שׁם of God is the impress (cognate Arabic wasm, a sign, Greek σῆμα) of His nature, which we see in His works of creation and His acts of salvation, a nature which can only be known from this visible and comprehensible representation (nomen = gnomen). (Note: Cf. Oehler's art. Name in Herzog's Real-Encyklopdie.) This name of God is certainly not yet so known and praised everywhere, as the church to which it has been made known by a positive revelation can know and praise it; but, nevertheless, it, viz., the divine name uttered in creation and its works, by which God has made Himself known and capable of being recognised and named, ifs אדּיר amplum et gloriosum, everywhere through out the earth, even if it were entirely without any echo. The clause with אשׁר must not be rendered: Who, do Thou be pleased to put Thy glory upon the heavens (Gesenius even: quam tuam magnificentiam pone in caelis), for such a use of the imperat. after אשׁר is unheard of; and, moreover, although it is true a thought admissible in its connection with the redemptive history (Psa 57:6, 12) is thus obtained, it is here, however, one that runs counter to the fundamental tone, and to the circumstances, of the Psalm. For the primary thought of the Psalm is this, that the God, whose glory the heavens reflect, has also glorified Himself in the earth and in man; and the situation of the poet is this, that he has the moon and stars before his eyes: how then could he wish that heaven to be made glorious whose glory is shining into his eyes! It is just as impracticable to take תּנה as a contraction of נתנה, like תּתּה Sa2 22:41, = נתתּה, as Ammonius and others, and last of all Bhl, have done, or with Thenius (Stud. u. Krit. 1860 S. 712f.) to read it so at once. For even if the thought: "which (the earth) gives (announces) Thy glory all over the heavens" is not contrary to the connection, and if נתן עז, Psa 68:34, and נתן כבוד, Jer 13:16, can be compared with this נתן הוד, still the phrase נתן הוד על means nothing but to lay majesty on any one, to clothe him with it, Num 27:20; Ch1 29:25; Dan 11:21, cf. Psa 21:6; and this is just the thought one looks for, viz., that the name of the God, who has put His glory upon the heavens (Psa 148:13) is also glorious here below. We must, therefore, take תּנה, although it is always the form of the imper. elsewhere, as infin., just as רדה occurs once in Gen 46:3 as infin. (like the Arab. rı̆da a giving to drink, lı̆da a bringing forth - forms to which לדה and the like in Hebrew certainly more exactly correspond). תּנה הודך signifies the setting of Thy glory (prop. τὸ τιθέναι τὴν δόξαν σου) just like דּעה את־ה the knowledge of Jahve, and Obad. Psa 8:5, שׂים קנּך, probably the setting of thy nest, Ges. 133. 1. It may be interpreted: O Thou whose laying of Thy glory is upon the heavens, i.e., Thou who hast chosen this as the place on which Thou hast laid Thy glory (Hengst.). In accordance with this Jerome translates it: qui posuisti gloriam tuam super caelos. Thus also the Syriac version with the Targum: dejabt (דיהבת) shubhoch 'al shemajo, and Symmachus: ὃς ἔταξας τὸν ἔπαινόν σου ὑπεράνω τῶν οὐρανῶν. This use of the nomen verbale and the genitival relation of אשׁר to תּנה הודך, which is taken as one notion, is still remarkable. Hitzig considers that no reasonable man would think and write thus: but thereby at the same time utterly condemns his own conjecture תּן ההודך (whose extending of glory over the heavens). This, moreover, goes beyond the limits of the language, which is only acquainted with תּן as the name of an animal. All difficulty would vanish if one might, with Hupfeld, read נתתּה. But תנה has not the slightest appearance of being a corruption of נתתה. It might be more readily supposed that תּנה is an erroneous pointing for תּנה (to stretch or extend, cf. Hos 8:10 to stretch forth, distribute): Thou whose glory stretches over the heavens, - an interpretation which is more probable than that it is, with Paulus and Kurtz, to be read תּנּה: Thou whose glory is praised (pass. of the תּנּה in Jdg 5:11; Jdg 11:40, which belongs to the dialect of Northern Palestine), instead of which one would more readily expect יתנּה. The verbal notion, which is tacitly implied in Psa 113:4; Psa 148:13, would then be expressed here. But perhaps the author wrote תּנה הודך instead of נתתּ הודך, because he wishes to describe the setting out of the heavens with divine splendour (Note: In the first Sidonian inscription אדּיר occurs as a by-name of the heavens (שמם אדרם).) as being constantly repeated and not as done once for all. There now follows, in Psa 8:3, the confirmation of Psa 8:2: also all over the earth, despite its distance from the heavens above, Jahve's name is glorious; for even children, yea even sucklings glorify him there, and in fact not mutely and passively by their mere existence, but with their mouth. עולל (= מעולל), or עולל is a child that is more mature and capable of spontaneous action, from עולל (Poel of עלל ludere), (Note: According to this derivation עולל (cf. Beduin עאלול, ‛âlûl a young ox) is related to תּעלוּל; whereas עוּל as a synonym of יונק signifies one who is supported, sustained. For the radical signification of עוּל according to the Arabic ‛âl, fut. o. is "to weigh heavy, to be heavy, to lie upon; to have anything incumbent upon one's self, to carry, support, preserve," whence ‛ajjil the maintained child of the house, and (ajjila (Damascene ‛êla) he who is dependent upon one for support and the family depending upon the paterfamilias for sustenance. Neither Arab. ‛âl, fut. o., nor gâl, fut. i. usually applied to a pregnant woman who still suckles, has the direct signification to suckle. Moreover, the demon Ghul does not receive its name from swallowing up or sucking out (Ges.), but from destroying (Arab. gâl, fut. o.).) according to Sa1 22:19; Psa 15:3, distinct from יונק, i.e., a suckling, not, however, infans, but, - since the Hebrew women were accustomed to suckle their children for a long period, - a little child which is able to lisp and speak (vid., 2 Macc. 7:27). Out of the mouth of beings such as these Jahve has founded for Himself עז. The lxx translates it the utterance of praise, αἶνον; and עז certainly sometimes has the meaning of power ascribed to God in praise, and so a laudatory acknowledgment of His might; but this is only when connected with verbs of giving, Psa 29:1; Psa 68:35; Psa 96:7. In itself, when standing alone, it cannot mean this. It is in this passage: might, or victorious power, which God creates for Himself out of the mouths of children that confess Him. This offensive and defensive power, as Luther has observed on this passage, is conceived of as a strong building, עז as מעוז (Jer 16:19) i.e., a fortress, refuge, bulwark, fortification, for the foundation of which He has taken the mouth, i.e., the stammering of children; and this He has done because of His enemies, to restrain (השׁבּית to cause any one to sit or lie down, rest, to put him to silence, e.g., Isa 16:10; Eze 7:24) such as are enraged against Him and His, and are inspired with a thirst for vengeance which expresses itself in curses (the same combination is found in Psa 44:17). Those meant, are the fierce and calumniating opponents of revelation. Jahve has placed the mouth of children in opposition to these, as a strong defensive controversive power. He has chosen that which is foolish and weak in the eyes of the world to put to shame the wise and that which is strong (Co1 1:27). It is by obscure and naturally feeble instruments that He makes His name glorious here below. and overcomes whatsoever is opposed to this glorifying.