David saw the heavens, the works of the Lord's fingers, the moon and the stars, which the Lord has ordained (Psa. 8:3). This indicates that David had a view turned from looking at the earth to contemplating the heavens, in the night. In the night, if you look at the earth, you will see nothing because of the darkness. But if you look up to contemplate the heavens, you will see the moon and the stars. In this view David had a pure vision to see the pure work in God's creation and ordination. In the universe there is not only God's creation but also God's ordination. David saw the divine order in the universe.
This is the aim in the Lord's redemption—to turn us from the messy earth to the bright heaven. Before we were saved, we were in a messy situation. But after we were saved, our messy earth became a bright heaven. Our view was turned from looking at this messy earth to looking at the bright heaven. When bad news comes to me, I have to exercise to turn my view to look at the bright heaven. When I turn my view from the bad news and look up to the heavens, I can praise. We must learn to turn our view. The aim in the Lord's redemption is to turn our view from the earth to the heavens. The earth is messy, but the heavens are bright.
In Psalm 8:4 David asked, "What is man, that You remember him,/And the son of man, that You visit him?" In his view in the heavens, David turned his consideration to man on the earth. The ordination of the moon and the stars is marvelous. Then how about man on this earth? We should not forget that the psalmist in this psalm is trying the best to bring the heavens down and to bring the earth up to join with the heavens. He looked at the heavens with the moon and the stars. That is wonderful, but what about man? We may think that man is pitiful, but according to the divine view in this psalm, we are wrong. Man was pitiful in Adam and in the fallen situation, but today man in Christ is not pitiful. The man in Christ is wonderful.
Three portions of the Word speak of the same thing concerning man—Genesis 1, Psalm 8, and Hebrews 2. What is revealed in Psalm 8 was first spoken of in Genesis 1. Genesis 1 says that man was commissioned with the authority to rule over all the created things (vv. 26, 28). Psalm 8 repeats this. Then in Hebrews 2:6-8 Paul quotes Psalm 8. These three portions of the Word show us that man has been in three stages: created in Genesis 1, fallen in Psalm 8, and redeemed in Hebrews 2.
This redeemed man is no longer in a pitiful situation. He is joined to Jesus. Actually, Jesus, the incarnated God, first joined Himself with us. Now in His redemption we are joined to Him. There is an organic union between Him and us. Christ has passed through human living, and He died to solve our problems. Then He resurrected and ascended to be crowned and enthroned with glory and honor. He was breathed into us and poured out upon us. Today He is both in the heavens and also within us and outside of us. What kind of men are we? We are men who have been mingled with Christ.
Man is the central object of God in His creation for the accomplishment of His economy to fulfill His heart's desire. The first "man" in Psalm 8:4 is enosh in Hebrew. Enosh means a fragile, weak man. The second "man" in 8:4 is adam in Hebrew. Both enosh and adam in this verse refer to the God-created man in God's creation in Genesis 1:26; the Satan-captured man in man's fall in Psalm 8:4; and Christ as a man in His incarnation for the accomplishment of God's redemption in Hebrews 2:6. We should not forget Genesis 1, Psalm 8, and Hebrews 2. These three portions cover the three stages of man.
Such a man God remembers in His economy and visits in His incarnation (John 1:14; Phil. 2:7). Thank God for His remembrance, and thank God for His incarnation. He remembered us in His economy, and He visited us in His incarnation.