Psalm 8:5 NKJV
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
A Little Lower Than Angels: Crowned With Glory in Christ
MY NOTES
“For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.” — Psalm 8:5 (NKJV)
If you only judge humanity by our frailties, we look fragile indeed. Tied to the soil by physical bodies, bounded by time, and prone to weakness, we seem dwarfed by the universe and outmatched by spiritual beings. Yet David flips the world’s perspective on its head with a single, startling truth:
God did not create you to be a helpless victim of circumstance. He designed you for royalty.
For now, we live in bodies that break, age, and ache. We feel weakness, temptation, and limitation. In that sense, we’re “a little lower” than the angels. But only for a little while. Scripture reminds us that redeemed humanity will one day be raised, glorified, and even entrusted with judgment over angels.
Jesus said it plainly:
Luke 20:36 (NKJV)
“nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
God did not leave us in that lower place as a final word. He crowned us. Dominion is honor, and the highest honor wears a crown. The list that follows in the psalm—sheep, oxen, beasts, birds, fish—is not a nature lesson. It is a reminder that the authority lost in the fall is restored in Christ. We are meant to reign over creation, not let creation reign over us. Keep the world under your feet. Do not let its cares and pleasures sit on the throne of an immortal soul.
This is not flattery. Job is honest about how small we look:
Job 25:6 (NKJV)
“How much less man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm?”
Even so, God treats mankind as the favorite of this lower world. He gave us reason—wiser than the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven—and that reason is part of the crown.
Job 35:11 (NKJV)
“Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, And makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?”
Do not profane that crown by ignoring it. Do not forfeit it by living against it.
The New Testament takes this verse and places it on Jesus. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8 and then says we do not yet see everything under man’s feet. What we do see is Jesus.
Hebrews 2:5–9 (NKJV)
“But one testified in a certain place, saying: ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You visit him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”
Jesus really became human. He added a true human nature to His divine nature and, for a little while, stood lower than the angels. He who was equal with God became frail flesh. He who dwelt in the Father’s bosom was laid in a manger. The Lord of all had no place to lay His head. The Lord of life was crucified. That is how low He went. He even knew the lowest moment of all:
Matthew 27:46 (NKJV)
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”
He said of His own relationship to the Father in His humanity:
John 14:28 (NKJV)
“You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.”
The angel told Mary what kind of child this would be:
Luke 1:35 (NKJV)
“And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.’”
In Him we see what man was meant to be. We also see Him crowned with glory and honor so that, by the grace of God, He might taste death for every man. That vision is why we can believe the original purpose will stand.
For those who belong to Him, the story does not end “a little lower.” Redeemed men and women will one day be lifted even above the angels in the work God gives them.
1 Corinthians 6:3 (NKJV)
“Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?”
Revelation 1:6 (NKJV)
“and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Revelation 5:10 (NKJV)
“And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
Psalm 8 reminds us that our worth doesn’t come from achievement, appearance, or status. It comes from God’s design and God’s delight. He crowned us—not because we earned it, but because He chose to. The crown is already promised. The “little while” is already passing.
Prayer
Abba Father, thank You for making me in Your image. Forgive me for the times I have forgotten who I am in You—when I have allowed worldly fears, distractions, or sin to rule over my heart. Thank You for sending Jesus, who stepped down into our frail, human condition to bear my sin and conquer death. Help me to fix my eyes on Him, crowned now in heaven. Teach me to walk with the quiet confidence, dignity, and integrity of a child of the King, using my life to bring glory to Your excellent name. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.
Key takeaways
- The lower place is real, but it is temporary. Time is short.
- God honored mankind from the beginning, even while we look small next to the heavens.
- Christ entered that lower place on purpose, tasted death for us, and was crowned.
- In Him the lost dominion is restored. We are to rule over things, not be ruled by them.
- The destiny of the redeemed is glory that does not stop at the level of angels.
Proverb for Today
Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:3-6 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Romans 16:25-27 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
Though tied to mortality, humanity is placed in a noble, elevated position—just below the divine realm. Commentators emphasize that our present lowliness is brief, designed to look upward rather than down at the animals. While sin marred our original authority, Jesus stepped down into our mortal nature to restore what was lost. Through His humiliation and resurrection, Christ gained the ultimate crown, guaranteeing that redeemed believers will one day share in His glory.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels—a little lower in nature, since they are immortal, and but a little, because time is short; and when that is over, saints are no longer lower than the angels. The margin reads it, “A little while inferior to.” Thou crownest him. The dominion that God has bestowed on man is a great glory and honor to him; for all dominion is honor, and the highest is that which wears the crown. A full list is given of the subjugated creatures, to show that all the dominion lost by sin is restored in Christ Jesus. Let none of us permit the possession of any earthly creature to be a snare to us, but let us remember that we are to reign over them, and not to allow them to reign over us. Under our feet we must keep the world, and we must shun that base spirit which is content to let worldly cares and pleasures sway the empire of the immortal soul.
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Enduring Word
For You have made him a little lower than the angels: David saw that God made man a little lower than the angels. This very passage is quoted in Hebrews 2:5-9 to reinforce and build upon this exact point. In it he notes that man’s low estate relates only to this world, and not the world to come (Hebrews 2:5). More pointedly, the writer of Hebrews used this passage from Psalm 8 to show that Jesus really did add a genuinely human nature to His divine nature and thus also became a little lower than the angels. (Guzik)
Significantly, David did not say that man was “a little higher than the beasts,” though one could say that is true. Theologians since Thomas Aquinas have noted that man is in a middle position between the angels and the animals: lower than the angels yet higher than the animals. Yet David rightly makes us look upward and not downward; though many think of mankind as more animal than angelic, David wrote that You have made him a little lower than the angels. (Guzik)
You have crowned him with glory and honor: “In Him we have had the full revelation of the greatness of man. But we have seen more than that. We have seen Him ‘crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man.’ That vision creates our confidence that man will at last realize the Divine purpose.” (Morgan)
You have crowned him with glory and honor: Though for a little while set lower than the angels, man’s destiny is one day to be crowned with a glory and honor that surpasses even the angels. It is the destiny of redeemed men and women to one day be lifted above the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3, Revelation 1:6, 5:10).
“Satan is no doubt filled with scorn of man when he looks at him and measures him with himself. ‘Is this the creature that is to be set over all the works of God’s hands, made of earth and water, phosphates and metals? I am nobler far than he. Can I not flash like lightning, while he must creep about the world to find himself a grave?’” (Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
For thou hast made him — Thou hast made man as such; that is, he was such in the original design of his creation, in the rank given him, and in the dominion conceded to him. The object here is to show the honor conferred on man, or to show how God has regarded and honored him; and the thought is, that in his original creation, though so insignificant as compared with the vast worlds over which God presides, he had given him a rank but little inferior to that of the angels. See the notes at Hebrews 2:7.
A little lower — The Hebrew word used here – חסר châsêr, means to want, to lack – and then, to be in want, to be diminished. The meaning is, “Thou hast caused him to want but little;” that is, he was but little interior.
Than the angels — So this is rendered by the Aramaic Paraphrase; by the Septuagint; by the Latin Vulgate; by the Syriac and Arabic; and by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 2:7, who has literally quoted the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses from the Septuagint. The Hebrew, however, is – מאלהים mi’ĕlôhı̂ym – than God. So Gesenius renders it, “Thou hast caused him to want but little of God; that is, thou hast made him but little lower than God.” So DeWette, “nur wenig unter Gott.” So Tholuck renders it, “nur um wenig unter Gott.” This is the more natural construction, and this would convey an idea conformable to the course of thought in the psalm, though it has been usually supposed that the word used here – אלהים ‘Elohiym – may be applied to angels, or even men, as in Psalms 82:1; Psalms 97:7; Psalms 138:1; Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9. Gesenius (Thesau. Ling. Heb., p. 95) maintains that the word never has this signification. The authority, however, of the Aramaic, the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, would seem sufficient to show that that meaning may be attached to the word here with propriety, and that somehow that idea was naturally suggested in the passage itself. Still, if it were not for these versions, the most natural interpretation would be that which takes the word in its usual sense, as referring to God, and as meaning that, in respect to his dominion over the earth, man had been placed in a condition comparatively but little inferior to God himself; he had made him almost equal to himself.
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John Gill
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,…. Than Elohim, “than God,” as this word usually signifies: and could it be interpreted of man, as made by God, it might be thought to refer to the creation of him in the image and likeness of God; but as it must be understood of the human nature of Christ, it may regard the wonderful union of it to the Son of God, on account of which it is called by the same name, Luke 1:35; and so made but a little lower than God, being next unto him, and in so near an union with a divine Person; and which union is hypostatical or personal, the human nature being taken into a personal union with the Son of God: and so these words give an instance of God’s marvelous regard to it; and contain a reason, proving that he has been mindful of it, and visited it. Though rather this clause refers to the humiliation of Christ in his human nature, as it is interpreted in Hebrews 2:9; and so it removes an objection, as it is connected with the following clause, which might be made against what had been observed in Psalm 8:4, on account of the low estate of Christ’s human nature, when here on the earth; and the sense is, that God has been mindful of it, and visited it, notwithstanding its state of humiliation for a little while, seeing he has crowned it with glory and honor, &c. Christ was made low as to nature, place, estate, reputation, and life; he who was the most high God, in the form of God, and equal to him in the divine nature, was made frail mortal flesh, and was in the form of a servant in the human nature. He who dwelt on high, and lay in the bosom of his Father, descended into the lower parts of the earth, was formed in the womb of a virgin, and when born was laid in a manager, and dwelt and conversed with sinful mortal men upon earth: he who was Lord of all, whose is the earth, and the fulness of it, had not where to lay his head: he whose glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father, became a worm and no man in the esteem of men, was despised and rejected of men, and was of no reputation: and he who was the Lord of life and glory was crucified and killed; becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Such is the nature of Christ’s humiliation, expressed by being “made low”; the degree of it is, “lower than Elohim,” than God: he was equal to him in the divine nature, but inferior to him in the human nature, John 14:28. As Mediator he was the servant of God, and the servant is not greater than his master; nor as such so great: and he was in his low estate in such a condition as to need the help and assistance of God, which he had in the day of salvation: and especially he was lower when he, was deserted by him, Matthew 27:46.
and hast crowned him with glory and honor; by raising him from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand, committing all judgment to him; and requiring all creatures, angels and men, to give worship and adoration to him. And this being in consequence of his sufferings, after he had run the race, and endured a fight of afflictions; and because of the greatness of his glory and honour, with which he was as it were on all sides surrounded, he is said to be “crowned” with it; who a little before was crowned with thorns, and encompassed with the terrors of death and hell. This respects his mediatorial glory.
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Matthew Henry
To mankind in general. Though man is a worm, and the son of man is a worm (Job 25:6), yet God puts a respect upon him, and shows him abundance of kindness; man is, above all the creatures in this lower world, the favorite and darling of Providence. For,
He is of a very honorable rank of beings. We may be sure he takes precedence of all the inhabitants of this lower world, for he is made but a little lower than the angels (v. 5), lower indeed, because by his body he is allied to the earth and to the beasts that perish, and yet by his soul, which is spiritual and immortal, he is so near akin to the holy angels that he may be truly said to be but a little lower than they, and is, in order, next to them. He is but for a little while lower than the angels, while his great soul is cooped up in a house of clay, but the children of the resurrection shall be isangeloi–angels’ peers (Lu. 20:36) and no longer lower than they.
He is endued with noble faculties and capacities: Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. He that gave him his being has distinguished him, and qualified him for a dominion over the inferior creatures; for, having made him wiser than the beasts of the earth and the fowls of heaven (Job 35:11), he has made him fit to rule them, and it is fit that they should be ruled by him. Man’s reason is his crown of glory; let him not profane that crown by disturbing the use of it, nor forfeit that crown by acting contrary to its dictates.
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