Songs of the Soul: What Is Man?
Psalms 8 & 14
Human beings are a mystery. We are capable of breathtaking beauty and unthinkable evil — soaring creativity and devastating cruelty. How can both be true?
The Bible doesn’t shy away from this tension. In fact, it faces it head-on, often within just a few verses. And remarkably, both of these perspectives — humanity’s glory and humanity’s fallenness — come from the same author. David wrote both Psalm 8 and Psalm 14. In one, he celebrates the grandeur of humanity made in God’s image; in the other, he laments the corruption of that same humanity turned away from God. Together, they give us a complete and honest picture of the human condition.
Crowned with Glory – Psalm 8
Psalm 8 begins and ends with the same line — an inclusio, a poetic frame meant to draw our attention to what lies between:
“O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (vv. 1, 9)
The psalm opens with awe. David looks at the vastness of creation — moon, stars, galaxies — and marvels that God, who made it all, would care for us at all.
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?” (vv. 3–4)
The more David looks up, the smaller he feels — and yet, paradoxically, the more significant he becomes. For he realizes that though humanity is tiny compared to the cosmos, God has crowned us with glory and honor.
“You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands.” (vv. 5–6)
This is humanity as God intended — noble, responsible, made in His image (Genesis 1:26–27). We are created to reflect His character and steward His world.
But the key to Psalm 8 is not just what it says about us — it’s what it says about God. His name brackets the entire psalm because human dignity flows from divine majesty. We matter because we are made by the One whose name is majestic in all the earth.
When we lose sight of God’s glory, we inevitably lose sight of our own. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory, “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses… the dullest, most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.”
Psalm 8 reminds us that every person bears the imprint of divine worth — and therefore deserves to be treated with dignity. To truly know God is to look at others through His eyes.
Fallen in Folly – Psalm 14
But then comes Psalm 14 — and the tone shifts dramatically. If Psalm 8 lifts us to the heavens, Psalm 14 drags us back down to the earth.
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.” (v. 1)
The word “fool” doesn’t mean unintelligent; it means morally deficient. It’s not a failure of IQ, but of the will — a refusal to acknowledge God. The fool is not necessarily an atheist in words, but in life — a functional atheist, living as though God does not exist, as though His authority and grace are irrelevant.
This is what it means to deny God in the heart: when your life itself becomes a denial of His presence, His authority, and your need for His mercy.
Psalm 14 reveals the self-centeredness of the human condition. When self sits at the center, everything else bends and breaks. “The one you love is the one you serve,” and when you love yourself above all, you end up serving yourself above all. The result is a life where God is pushed to the edges — and we live as though He doesn’t matter.
Paul quotes Psalm 14 directly in Romans 3:10–12:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away… there is no one who does good, not even one.”
This is humanity as it is — fallen, bent inward. As John Calvin observed, “There is no one who has not within himself the seed of every sin.”
Psalm 14 is not just about the atheists “out there.” It’s about all of us. We all know what it’s like to live as though God were not real — to make choices based on fear, pride, or self-interest rather than trust in Him.
And yet, even here, the psalm hints at hope:
“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!” (v. 7)
The psalm ends not with despair but with longing. Salvation must come from beyond us — from God Himself.
Redeemed in Glory – From Psalms to Christ
The tension between Psalms 8 and 14 — between glory and corruption — finds its resolution not in humanity, but in Jesus.
Hebrews 2:6–9 quotes Psalm 8 and applies it directly to Christ:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them…
You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
and put everything under their feet.”
And then the writer of Hebrews adds: “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we see Jesus…”
We see Jesus — the true Son of Man, who perfectly reflected the image of God, who lived the life we failed to live and died the death our folly deserved. In Him, God’s majesty and man’s dignity are reunited.
This is the gospel according to the Psalms:
We were created in glory (Psalm 8),
corrupted by sin (Psalm 14),
and redeemed through Christ (Hebrews 2).
True Humanity Restored
Psalm 8 tells us that we are made for glory.
Psalm 14 tells us that we have fallen from glory.
And the gospel tells us that Jesus came to bring us back to glory.
When we worship, we are reoriented toward this reality — we remember who God is, who we are, and who we are becoming.
As Tim Keller said, “We are far worse than we ever dared admit, and far more loved than we ever dared hope.”
This is the biblical view of humanity: broken yet beloved, sinful yet sacred, fallen yet redeemable.
And this is why we can pray with David, not in despair but in awe:
“O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Reflection & Discussion Questions
- When you think about humanity, which comes more naturally — wonder or cynicism?
- How does seeing people as image-bearers change the way you treat them — even those who are difficult to love?
- Where in your life do you see evidence of “functional atheism”?
- How does the gospel of Jesus Christ restore both your sense of dignity and your awareness of sin?
Closing Prayer
Lord, You made us in Your image and crowned us with glory, but we have turned from You and sought our own way. Forgive us for living as if You are not there. Restore in us the wonder of being Your creation and the humility of being Your children. Thank You that in Jesus, the true image of God, we see both what we were meant to be and what we will become.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. Amen.