Through the paise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger” (Psalm 8:3).
Psalm 8 is a psalm that resonates with us in our era of space exploration. We’ve put people on the moon, launched innumerable satellites, and even put huge telescopes like the Hubble and James Webb into space (and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is coming in ‘27). So, when the psalmist speaks in v. 1 & 3 of God’s glory being reflected in the moon, stars, and heavens—we’re right there with him.
Sandwiched in between these verses though, is another example of God’s glory. I think I can speak for most when I say that this one isn’t as clear or straightforward. Many even find it perplexing and wonder how it could be. How exactly does the praise of children and infants (think VBS) establish a stronghold against those who are enemies of God and “silence the foe and avenger?” Stars and planets are massive and to create them and set them in their place (v. 3), is staggering and requires transcendent power—but what is there about children praising God that speaks to power?
Matthew records Jesus quoting Psalm 8:3 in Matthew 21:16. It was after He had driven the buyers and sellers out of the temple. The blind and lame came to Him and He healed them. In response to this, the children in the temple courts began shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!’” This didn’t sit well with the chief priests and teachers of the law. They were “indignant,” and asked Jesus if he had heard what they were saying.
Christ answered their question affirmatively and then asked them a question. He wanted to know if they had ever read Psalm 8:3—“From the lips of children and infants, You, Lord, have called forth Your praise?” Since there is no record of an answer from them, I think it’s safe to assume that they had no substantive reply.
What transpired at the temple was exactly what the psalmist had said centuries before—through the praise of children and infants God established a stronghold and silenced His enemies. The witness of the lowly and powerless left the strong and powerful speechless.
We come across this principle of God using the “lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are” throughout biblical history (1 Corinthians 1:28). He brings a Philistine giant down through a teenage boy. He puts an Israelite baby in Pharoah’s palace. He uses a boy’s lunch to feed a multitude.
What does all of this teach us? The psalmist knows and gives us the answer at the beginning and ending of his psalm when he says, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 