The Festival of Holy Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
Psalm 8 “Our Lord’s Name is Majestic in all the Earth”
June 22, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Almighty and everlasting God, who taught us to know and to confess in true faith that in three persons of equal power and glory You are one true and everlasting God and to be worshiped as such we humbly ask You, keep us at all times steadfast in this faith against whatsoever may assail us, You, who lives and reigns, ever one God, now and forever. Amen. (The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 135)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 8th Psalm. We read the verses once more in Jesus’ name:
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is ever One God, world without end, dear fellow redeemed:
When a family creates a dynasty, there is nothing else that will really matter except how the name is perceived. Whether it’s the first name or the last name, this is what people will know when it comes to the family. In protecting the name, we see that this has worked. We remember the emperors who took on the name Ceasar. There are certain kings and queens we know in Europe. We even see the popes pick out a name for their legacy. Whether it’s for world renown, or just a last name in a small town, our love is if our name can hold some weight. We are gathered here because of a great and wonderful name that far exceeds the renown and legacy of man. On the last Sunday of the Festival season, it is only fitting that we give praise to our Triune God. As we call on His name, we can call on Him, singing, O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
As we sing and praise His name, we witness how the world handles there being a God. Of course, in Scripture we find clarity and learn how great His name is, but even just talking with people out in the world and they will fight us, as they have a hard time admitting there is a God. They will try to say they don’t believe in Him, but they believe in a higher power. The knowledge of God is powerful, and as we hear in this psalm, our God is personal that people of any age can sing His praises. We have watched in our families that what the psalmist writes is true. “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” God’s name is easy for even children to believe that He is God and He saves them from the evil one. The old evil foe has our number. While a name or age may or may not get us out of trouble, this criteria of name and age doesn’t compare to the majesty of God’s name.
There are many who don’t find it all that special, in fact, they find His name insulting. What makes His name majestic, and worthy of praise is because His name is about our creation and salvation. To acknowledge the name “Jesus”, which means “God saves”, it means we must acknowledge we need salvation. When you are young as we just heard, there is no reason to question the need for salvation. It is simply a joy to trust in His Word and name. We see the Words of our psalm come to life in the city of Jerusalem. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant (Matthew 21:15). Jesus’ detractors not only physically saw with their own eyes the work of Jesus on His people, but they heard the children praise His name that reflects His glory and crown.
While those who are against God don’t care to hear about His glory and kingship, unfortunately, to their dismay, His name is glorified all around them. The Psalmist writes, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Everything around us is here because of the powerful Word of God, the Father speaking through His Son. The world sees the sun, moon, stars, trees, and mountains. Dwelling in His creation, it is easy to lose sight of the majesty of His name we witness daily with our own eyes. Diving into His creation and seeing the job of the Father as the provider, now we look at what the psalmist says about the creation of us. What is man to God, especially now? Accusations fly against Him, that He doesn’t care about us. While some will admit His creation is beautiful and glorious, what about when this beautiful nature turns on us in the forms of fire, floods, storms, and other natural disasters? These things can kill man!
So, as the psalmist writes, does God care about him? We look at creation and now see the damage we have caused because of our sins, the majesty of God could have been all about our destruction. After the fall, God looked down, sad about His creation. The psalmist writes about God’s first thoughts of us. “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” In the Garden, we had the job to care for the majesty of God’s creation and we threw it away. Now for man to stand in front of God and see His majesty and glory, like our ancestors, we can only run and hide. We need someone to stand before Him on our behalf. Our name which once held a special title is no longer an option. God’s wrath wants to burn against all our flaws because now instead of showing Him glory, our very nature would rather misuse His glorious name. There are times when we don’t want to acknowledge that He cares for us in His creation, providing us with our daily bread, that is, everything we own.
While man can be selfish and doesn’t deserve God’s mercy, to know the glorious and majestic name of God means to know His care is about saving His creation who has wronged Him. So, with great love, God made a promise that He would send His Son into the world. The only begotten Son of the Father comes down for His people’s aid. With the Son bringing His people salvation, the shouts of the children point out His promise is kept. “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:8-10). In the second person of the Trinity, we see the value of the name we confess. He didn’t redeem His people with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.
Now the Son didn’t have to do this. He was there at creation; He had all power and glory. Yet, He didn’t make full use of His divine power. Suffering man’s trials, He prayed to His heavenly Father for strength, and the Father sent holy angels to aid Him in bringing relief. Here is the perfect trust in God’s Will. With a perfect name for the task ahead, the Son gave up His life on the cross, giving man the sweet blessing of salvation. And just like at the beginning of the week hearing the children shout Hosanna, Jesus’ glorious death wasn’t the end, but the beginning. The beginning of man’s salvation and now seeing what the Son of God is now ruler of. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and their fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the season. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22). The failed task of man is picked up by the perfect obedience of the Son.
What started as a psalmist rejoicing in the wonders of God and proclaiming about His handiwork is now found in the Son who put on your flesh. As the Son taught and revealed that He was true God, now His blessings must find a way to go to His people. As you already see how on your own you must run before His majestic presence, the impossible had to be done. You see the impossible and reversal of man as Jesus didn’t run from God’s law but embraces it all. The Son of God and all He has done; He gives to you through His death and resurrection. He now calls you His own. While the Father has revealed the great plan of His work carried out through the Son, now you receive this gift. Jesus having completed His work and name’s sake, saving you, He leaves as He said, “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13).
With Jesus’ ascension into heaven, now the third person of the Trinity reveals to you how the work of Jesus becomes your own. With His ascension, He now sends the comforter. The Holy Spirit brings you this message of how loving your God is. The story of your Salvation rings loud and clear each time you hear it because of the power of His Word. Power that is carried to you because of the Holy Spirit. While you will face the temptations of earthly power and running when that power has ultimately failed, in repentance, which is the guilty letter of the law, brought to you by the Holy Spirit to turn your heart into One who sees the greatness of the blessed Trinity. You see the Father’s love who doesn’t want to condemn, The Son’s love to give up His life, and the Holy Spirit’s love to bring the blessings of the Father and the Son directly to you.
These blessings spell out to you why you have come to rejoice in His name. He is the I Am, here with you now. He is God with you as you hear and see Him in the Word and Sacraments. He saves you with His death and resurrection, something only God can do. The world will try to run this off as foolishness, and there will be times when sin will win, and you will fight against a person of the Trinity to try and prove your point. As God points out your faults, He then reveals how He takes them away and restores you again. You see your Triune God at work, and without Him, you could never be saved. With a name that is great, holy and saves, you can go this week singing of your Triune God, O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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