1 O Lord our Governor, how excellent is thy Name in all the world: thou that hast set thy glory above the heavens!
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 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…
Hesychius of Jerusalem · AD 450 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.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 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.
2 Out of the mouth of very babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies: that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Matthew · AD 60 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say?
Cosmas Indicopleustes · AD 550 David composed the eighth psalm with reference to Christ, speaking of his divine nature in the first verses of it, as the Lord Christ himself also testifies of it in the Gospel, when they strewed his way with branches and praised him with shouts of welcome, saying: Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Then when he says "Out of the mouths," he shows that it is most manifest. And first he shows the manifestation. Second, the reason for it, at "For I shall see." That it is manifest he proves, because that is manifest which is implanted in all people, however simple they may be, as if by a kind of natural knowledge.
3 For I will consider thy heavens, even the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 But how shall I tell what God makes? Behold the whole universe; it is His work: and the heaven, and the sun, and angels, and men, are the works of His fingers. How great is the power of God! His bare volition was the creation of the universe. For God alone made it, because He alone is truly God.
Jerome · AD 420 The psalmist is speaking here of the frailty of the body and of human weakness, and what does he say? If you consider his flesh, what is a person? If you consider his spirit, he is noble. Let us by no means scorn the flesh, but let us reject its works. Let us not despise the body that will reign in heaven with Christ.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Next he attaches the reason for this manifestation, saying "For." Cicero says in the book On the Nature of the Gods, and it was also said by Aristotle, although it is not found in his books that we have, that if any man were to enter a palace which he saw well arranged, there is no one so senseless that, even though he did not see how it was made, he would not perceive that it…
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him: and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Hebrews · AD 69 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Cosmas Indicopleustes · AD 550 How by his teaching regarding the form of a servant which he took upon him, did he deign to show mildly glimpses of his divinity, to receive accusations preferred against him by his own creatures, and to answer them, not with anger but with mildness and forbearance? O the excess of his long-suffering!
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 "What." Above the Psalmist marveled at the excellence of the divine majesty; and now he commemorates two benefits divinely bestowed upon men. Second, from this he concludes the Psalm in praise, at "Lord, our Lord," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the clemency of God toward men by comparison with those things which are above men.
5 Thou madest him lower than the angels: to crown him with glory and worship.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 He has made us "a little lower than the angels," I mean, by reason of death: but even that little we have now recovered. There is nothing therefore to hinder us from becoming nigh to the angels, if we will.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 From here on the humility and glory of the Lord Savior is related. He was made less not because of any necessity inherent in his role as servant, but by his loving free wish; as the Apostle says, "He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." The psalm continues with the words "a little less than angels," because Christ took up the cross to win the salvation of all, since…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 But there follows concerning man in comparison to the angels, to whom man is found to be close. "You have diminished him." In the angels the image of God is found through a simple intuition of truth, without inquiry; but in man through discursive reasoning; and therefore in man it is somewhat diminished. Hence it is that men are called angels: Mal.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion of the works of thy hands: and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet;
1 Corinthians · AD 55 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 But that glorifying is added, in which He rose and ascended up into heaven; "With glory," he says, "and with honour have You crowned Him; and hast set Him over the works of Your hands" [Psalm 8:6].
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Next, when he says "you have set him," he sets forth the clemency of God toward man by comparison with those things which are below man, because he willed that man have dominion over these lower things: and concerning this he does three things. First he proposes the dominion. Second, the capacity for ruling. Third, the number of subjects.
7 All sheep and oxen: yea, and the beasts of the field;
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "You have put," he says, "all things in subjection under His feet." When he says, "all things," he excepts nothing. And that he might not be allowed to understand it otherwise, the Apostle enjoins it to be believed thus, when he says, "He being excepted which put all things under Him." [1 Corinthians 15:27] And to the Hebrews he uses this very testimony from this Psalm, when he…
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Third, when he says "the sheep and the oxen," etc., he enumerates the subjects: and he lists animals so that plants may be understood as well.
8 The fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea: and whatsoever walketh through the paths of the seas.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Yea moreover," says he, "the beasts of the field." The addition of "moreover" is by no means idle. First, because by beasts of the plain may be understood both sheep and oxen: so that, if goats are the beasts of rocky and mountainous regions, sheep may be well taken to be the beasts of the field.
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Some are flying creatures, that is, birds: and some are swimming creatures, that is, fish. Second, the proud, the birds: Mt. 13: "The birds of the air devoured it": Dt. 32: "They shall be devoured by birds with a most bitter bite." Third, the greedy, who "traverse the paths of the sea," literally; or of the world: Ps.
9 O Lord our Governor: how excellent is thy Name in all the world!
Thomas Aquinas · AD 1274 Just as God is admirable for the eminence of his majesty, so he is shown to be admirable from his clemency; and therefore he concludes with wonder: "Lord, our Lord," etc. Yet it should be known that this Psalm is circular, because it has the same verse at the beginning and at the end.