Read Psalm 8 and Psalm 100. How are God and people portrayed in these psalms? What do these psalms reveal about God’s character?

 Creation plays a crucial role in the Psalms, in upholding God’s sovereignty. The heavens, which are “His handiwork,” proclaim His glory and power (Ps. 19:1-4, Ps. 97:6). God’s name is majestic in all the earth (Ps. 8:1, 9). The Lord has created everything; He has no beginning (Ps. 93:2) and no end (Ps. 102:25-27). He is everlasting and superior over the gods of the nations, which are only “the work of men’s hands” (Ps. 115:4), nothing more. The idols “have hands, but they handle not” (Ps. 115:7); as for the Lord, “in his hand are the deep places of the earth . . . and his hands formed the dry land” (Ps. 95:4, 5).

 Several psalms portray God’s power over the forces in nature that other nations believed to be divine (e.g. Psalm 29, Psalm 93, and Psalm 104). These psalms reassert the claim that the Lord reigns over all creation and is supreme in power and dignity. Psalm 100:3 strikes one subtle form of idolatry—self-reliance, stressing that God made us, “and not we ourselves.”

 Creation also testifies to God’s love. Everything that exists owes its existence to God, who also sustains life (Ps. 95:7, Ps. 147:4-9). Notice that God not only granted people existence but He also made ancient Israel “His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps. 100:3, NKJV). The notion of “His people” and “His sheep” reveals God’s desire for a close relationship with His people.

 Only the Creator has the power to bless and cause His people to increase, and thus, He is the only One worthy of their worship and trust. Numerous psalms call everything that has breath, all the earth, the sea, and everything in it to shout for joy before the Lord.

 The glory of God is seen in the creation, even in the fallen earthly creation, and the Psalms point us to God alone as worthy of worship.