Purkey’s
B i b l e S t u d y
Outlines
H O M E
P A G E
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This Bible study outline was prepared by Rev. Ronald C. Purkey.
This is the “Sunday School Lesson of the Week” and is one of many
Bible study
outlines posted on this web site.
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VALUED BY GOD
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 8:1-9
INTRODUCTION: The universe is huge and
full of magnificence, so why should God pay any attention to weak and
insignificant men and women? But He does! He can use the weakness of
babes to reveal His great strength (Matthew
We are important because God made us in His image.
Sin has marred that image, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, that image can be
restored.
We are important because God has shared His
dominion with us. Man lost that dominion when he sinned, but Jesus Christ has regained
it.
Yes, we are important to God, and He has a purpose
for us to fulfill. He wants us to “reign in life” through His Son (Romans
I. TO PRAISE
HIS MAJESTIC NAME (Psalm 8:1-2)
A. The Lord
Is Praised. (Psalm 8:1)
The majesty of the Lord is evident in all creation,
if a person only has eyes to see it. Every area of natural science teems with
evidences of the wisdom and power of the Creator. God’s glory is higher than the
heavens. The planets, the stars, the limitless universe give only a
partial view of how very great God really is. Yet sophisticated men shrug off
the evidence as if it did not exist.
B. The Lord
Is Worthy. (Psalm 8:2)
Infants in their innocent faith sing
of God’s greatness in their simple hymns. It is exactly as Jesus Christ Himself
declared: “[God] hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matthew
Whether we think of babes in a literal way or as those disciples of the Lord who have
childlike faith in Him, it is still true that they form a fortification for the
Lord because of His enemies. They can often silence an
enemy of God through an innocent question or a naive observation. Just as it
takes only a small pin to prick a large balloon, so these simple followers of
the Lamb often bring low the lofty pretensions of those who deny God’s hand in
creation and His divine intervention!
II. TO
POSSESS HONOR
A. He Is The
Creator. (Psalm 8:3)
1. Ordained.
“Which thou
hast ordained”
means that God put them in their places. I often look at the moon and a star
that is very bright when it gets over into the southwest. I have often wondered
why it is there. I know only that it is there because Jesus wants it to be
there. He put it there. In my office I have certain things placed here and
there. I have a book in a certain place -- because that is where I want it. Now
the stars are not arranged according to the way I want them -- I might move
that one out in the southwest -- but they are placed where our Lord Jesus wants
them to be. He is the One who is ordaining.
2. Fingers.
The heavens are the work of His fingers. It is
interesting that when the Word speaks of salvation, it refers to the bared arm
of the Lord: “Who hath believed our
report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). But
when it speaks of the creation of the heavens and the earth, it calls it His finger-work.
As John Wesley put it, “God created the heavens and the earth and didn’t half
try.” Creation was His finger-work, like the crocheting that a woman does.
3. Glory.
God put His glory above His creation. It is great
to us, and there is a glory in creation, but we do not worship His creation. We
worship the Creator. His finger-work
tells out His glory and His power.
B. He Is The
Compassionate One. (Psalm 8:4)
1. What is man?
There are those still working on the problem of,
“What is man?” Man is a complicated creature. He is a human being. He belongs
to the human race, and there are people still trying to figure out how he got
here. The Bible says that God created us and put us on earth. Then man went
afoul, he turned aside, he disbelieved God, and he disobeyed Him. Why would God
be mindful of man? Why didn’t God just wipe man out and get rid of him?
2. Man is a failure.
Man is a huge failure. We do not like to hear that.
We want to hear about success. Sometimes I think the most difficult job in the
world is to be a cancer specialist. Since I have worked in hospice with cancer
patients, I have gotten pretty close to that group, and they are pessimists, as
I see it. They do not have many success stories in their field. Well, man does
not have a success story; he is really a miserable failure. He has gotten his
world in a mess.
Vernon McGee’s comments: The psalmist asks, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” I will
tell you why man is important. Some two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus
Christ visited him. He made a trip to earth and died on a cross to let us know
that He loved us. He did not save us by love; He saved us by grace because we
did not have anything to offer -- we were not worth saving. Yet God the Son
came to this earth. I do not know if there are any other planets which are
inhabited -- there may be -- but I know that Christ has not been there to die
on a cross. He came only to earth for that purpose. -- Thru the Bible with J.
C. He Is The Savior.
(Psalm 8:5)
When the Lord Jesus made Old Testament appearances,
He came as the Angel of the Lord; but when He came to
Why Are We Here?
Ray Stedman, one of the great writers and speakers of our day,
has suggested in a
sermon on Psalm 8 that this question of people's significance in the universe is, and will
become, a prevailing
question for modern culture. He says,
"You will recognize that this is
the question that cries for an answer in our day. What is man ? Where
did he come from? What is his purpose here? Why does he exist on this small planet in this vast universe? Is there meaning, is there significance, is there reason
for his living? Those are the questions
that are being asked more and more.
You can hardly open a magazine today but what you find writers who are trying
to come to grips with that question. What is man? Why are we here?”
Our willingness to engage people in conversation around these questions
should not frighten or discourage
us. As author David Shirk once said,
"It is not necessary to have the answer to everyone's questions if
we have the solution to everyone's problems." Pointing people in the
direction of God's saving grace for humanity is an adequate response to the cultural question, "Why are we
here?" – David C. Cook Publishers, Bible-in-Life
A. The
Control Of God’s Works. (Psalm 8:6)
Man was given dominion over the works of God’s
hands, but man lost that. Man does not control this universe today. Science
thought it had things under control, but now we find that science has polluted
this earth; and it looks as if our earth will become a big garbage can. Science
is responsible for polluting this earth. If you have been worshiping science and
want to get out of the garbage can, you need a God who can help you.
“Thou madest
him to have dominion … thou hast put all things under his feet” -- but they have not been
put there yet, and will not be until Jesus returns.
B. The Glory
Of God’s Works. (Psalm 8:7-8)
God made it all. He is the Creator. God made the
beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. God made it
all. He is the Creator. He made you and me. In
C. The Consummation
Of God’s Works. (Psalm 8:9)
Not today, but someday the name of the Lord will be
excellent in all the earth. In our time, we live in a universe that is
groaning, travailing in pain, waiting for the redemption (Romans
“But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1
CONCLUSION: Once again I would like to
remind you that this is a messianic psalm. It emphasizes the humanity of Christ
and His ultimate victory as
APPLICATION: So what does this all mean
to you and me? There are at least five questions we need to ask ourselves as we
examine our hearts and lives.
·
First,
can we join in corporate worship because we are truly God’s people? God is
dealing with the Church today, made up of all believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Have you trusted Him as your Savior, as the One who died for all your
sins and rose again from the dead? If you have, you have been born into God’s
family (John
·
Second,
do we realize that our weaknesses are God’s opportunities for Him to show His
strength through us? Someone once said, “God is not looking for great men and
women, but rather, men and women who will prove the greatness of God.” We show
God’s greatness when we move out of the way in humility and allow Him to work
on our behalf.
·
Third,
do we realize the God who created the universe is the same God who dwells
inside of us? The same God who created the universe also raised His Son, the
Lord Jesus, from the dead. The apostle Paul expressed his passion to the
believers at the church in
·
Fourth,
do we realize the grace of God in our lives? We are frail human beings that God
remembers and watches out for. When we realize that we were dead in our
trespasses and sin, and that God has saved us by His matchless grace, made us
alive in Christ, and raised us up to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that realization should change the way we live today (Ephesians 2:1-9). Paul
encouraged the believers in
·
Finally,
do we understand God’s plan and program for our lives and how we fit into the
“big picture”? The Lord Jesus was our Forerunner. He was made a little lower
than the angels to taste death for us. He is now crowned with glory and honor
and will have dominion when all things are put under His feet. Are we living a
life that is pleasing to Him and that will be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of
Christ?
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: “God loves us,
not because of who we are, but because of who He is.”
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