Psalm 8:6 NKJV
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
Reclaiming Your God-Given Authority
MY NOTES
“You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;bYou have put all things under his feet,” — Psalm 8:6 (NKJV)
David has already said we are a little lower than the angels, and only for a little while. Now he names the honor that comes with that place. God did not need anything from us. He still handed us the works of His hands. That is not a small courtesy. It is love with authority attached.
Look at the next lines, and you can hear Genesis in them. Sheep and oxen. Beasts of the field. Birds. Fish that pass through paths we cannot even see. David knew the first chapter of Scripture. The charter is as old as creation itself.
Genesis 1:28 (NKJV)
“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
After the flood, God did not cancel the assignment. He renewed it.
Genesis 9:2 (NKJV)
“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.”
James confirmed how far that reach still goes:
James 3:7 (NKJV)
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind.”
Even a simple meal can preach this verse. When Peter heard, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (Acts 10:13, NKJV), he was standing inside an old gift. God put living things under our feet so we could serve ourselves with their labor, their produce, and, when needed, their lives. That is why our use of them should send us back to the Lord, not inflate us.
Here is the catch. The gift is real, but it is easy to flip. What God put under our feet can climb into our lap if we allow it to. Profits, pleasures, animals, schedules, screens, even good work—any of it can start giving orders. Keep your distance. A father who forgets he is the father soon has children who will not move when he speaks. A believer who cuddles what belongs underfoot soon finds prayer crowded and the soul no longer marching in order.
The fall threw the original order into confusion. We lost more than comfort. We lost honor and slid into bondage. Christ is the lawful Heir. In Him the faithful recover what Adam lost. But He has not yet taken full possession of that empire in the way the psalm finally means it. Paul saw that clearly.
1 Corinthians 15:24–27 (NKJV)
“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.”
If everything is already under His feet in the finished sense, death would not still tyrannize His people. Death still does. So there is a better state coming. The world was made for human good. That purpose is not abandoned. It is waiting for the last enemy to go down.
Hebrews says the same thing with the same psalm:
Hebrews 2:8 (NKJV)
“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. We see Jesus. The promise of dominion is only partly true among us now. It is true in the ultimate Man, and it will be true in His risen people.
Paul uses the same logic elsewhere. If every knee must bow, then the story is not finished while so many still refuse.
Romans 14:10–11 (NKJV)
“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.’”
Psalm 8:6 reminds us who we are—and who we will be.
It calls us to hold earthly things lightly, refusing to let what God placed under our feet climb up and sit on the throne of our hearts. Dominion means stewardship, not slavery. The world is meant to serve us, not master us.
And one day, when Christ abolishes death itself, this verse will be fulfilled in radiant, resurrected glory.
Prayer
Abba, thank You for the incredible honor You have placed upon humanity, and thank You for the grace that restores us through Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times I have allowed the worries, demands, or distractions of this world to rule over my mind and heart. Help me to keep the things of this earth in their rightful place beneath my feet. Teach me to walk as a wise, faithful steward of the gifts, time, and influence You have given me. Fix my eyes on Jesus, who sits victorious above every power, and grant me the confidence to walk daily in His peace and authority. In the triumphant name of Jesus, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Dominion is a gift of love, not a license to grasp.
- The assignment began in Genesis and still stands, even after the flood.
- What belongs under our feet becomes a snare the moment we lay it on our chest.
- In Adam the order was broken; in Christ it is recovered, though not yet complete.
- Death is still an enemy. Its end is certain because the psalm points past the present hour.
- Stewardship now is practice for the fuller reign to come.
Proverb for Today
My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding, That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge. Proverbs 5:1-2 NKJV
Daily Scripture
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 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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Commentaries:
Enduring Word
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands: David understood the mandate given to Adam and His descendants at creation (Genesis 1:26-28 and 9:2). By both God’s decree and through superior ability, man indeed has dominion over the other creatures and resources of the earth. (Guzik)
i. “In this section of the psalm, allusions to the first chapter of Genesis are inescapable, which shows that David was thoroughly acquainted with this book.” (Boice) Perhaps this knowledge of God’s word came from David’s mother, whom he twice in Psalms refers to as a maidservant of the LORD (Psalm 86:16 and 116:16).
ii. As part of this authority, mankind has the responsibility to wisely manage the creatures and resources of this earth in a way that gives God glory and is good for man. It means that it is wrong to see man as merely part of the ecosystem (thus denying his God-ordained dominion). It is also wrong for man to abuse the ecosystem, thus making him a bad manager of that which ultimately belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). The mandate of dominion asks man to use the creatures and resources of the earth, but to use them wisely and responsibly. (Guzik)
You have put all things under his feet: Here, David developed the idea introduced in the first line of Psalm 8:6. The dominion of man extends to all things, including sheep, oxen…beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. (Guzik)
i. The Apostle Paul quoted this passage in 1 Corinthians 15:27. Paul quoted it in much the same way that the writer of Hebrews did in Hebrews 2:5-9, showing that this promise of dominion is now only incompletely fulfilled among men. Yet it will be ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, the ultimate Man, and will be one day also completely fulfilled in His resurrected followers. (Guzik)
ii. In light of all this, it is a great tragedy when a man is captured and held in bondage by the things of this world. We were born to have dominion over such material things, instead of being in bondage to them. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Thou madest him to have dominion — Thou didst cause him to have, or didst give him this dominion. It does not mean that God made or created him for that end, but that he had conceded to him that dominion, thus conferring on him exalted honor. The allusion is to Genesis 1:26, Genesis 1:28.
Over the works of thy hands — His works upon the earth, for the dominion extends no further.
Thou hast put all things under his feet — Hast placed all things in subjection to him. Compare Psalms 47:3; Psalms 91:13; Lamentations 3:34; Romans 16:20; 1 Corinthians 15:25. The language is taken from the act of treading down enemies in battle; from putting the feet on the necks of captives, etc. The idea is that of complete and entire subjection. This dominion was originally given to man at his creation, and it still remains (though not so absolute and entire as this), for nothing is in itself more remarkable than the dominion which man, by nature so feeble, exercises over the inferior creation. it is impossible to account for this in any other way than as it is accounted for in the Bible, by the supposition that it was originally conceded to man by his Creator. On the question of the applicability of this to Christ, see the notes at Hebrews 2:6-9.
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John Gill
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands,…. All power in heaven and in earth being given to him: when he was raised from the dead, and when he ascended on high, and was set down at the right hand of God, he was made or declared Lord and Christ; Lord of the hosts of heaven, of all the angels there, King of saints, King of kings, and Lord of lords. All things in heaven and earth, which God has made, are put into his hands, to subserve his cause and glory, and for the good of his people; for he is head over all things to the church. The Ethiopic version reads, “all the works of thy hands”; among whom are angels. This is a greater dominion than was given to the first man, Adam, Genesis 1:25;
thou hast put all [things] under his feet; or put them in subjection to him, as the phrase signifies, and as it is interpreted, Hebrews 2:8. Good angels are subject to him, as appears by their ministration to him, their dependence on him, and adoration of him, 1 Peter 3:22; devils are subject to him, whether they will or not; and so are wicked men, whose power and wrath he is able to restrain, and does; and the church is subject to Christ, as her head; and so all good men, willingly and heartily, and from a principle of love, obey his commands: yea, all creatures in the earth, air, and sea, are in subjection to him; an enumeration of which is given in the following verses.
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Matthew Henry
He is invested with a sovereign dominion over the inferior creatures, under God, and is constituted their lord. He that made them, and knows them, and whose own they are, has made man to have dominion over them, v. 6. His charter, by which he holds this royalty, bears equal date with his creation (Gen. 1:28) and was renewed after the flood, Gen. 9:2. God has put all things under man’s feet, that he might serve himself, not only of the labour, but of the productions and lives of the inferior creatures; they are all delivered into his hand, nay, they are all put under his feet. He specifies some of the inferior animals (v. 7, 8), not only sheep and oxen, which man takes care of and provides for, but the beasts of the field, as well as those of the flood, yea, and those creatures which are most at a distance from man, as the fowl of the air, yea, and the fish of the sea, which live in another element and pass unseen through the paths of the seas. Man has arts to take these; though many of them are much stronger and many of them much swifter than he, yet, one way or other, he is too hard for them. Jam. 3:7. Every kind of beasts, and birds, and things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed. He has likewise liberty to use them as he has occasion. Rise, Peter, kill and eat, Acts 10:13. Every time we partake of fish or of fowl we realize this dominion which man has over the works of God’s hands; and this is a reason for our subjection to God, our chief Lord, and to his dominion over us.
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Calvin’s Commentary
Thou hast set him over. David now comes to the second point, which I have just now spoken of, namely, that from the dominion over all things which God has conferred upon men, it is evident how great is the love which he has borne towards them, and how much account he has made of them. As he does not stand in need of any thing himself, he has destined all the riches, both of heaven and earth, for their use. It is certainly a singular honor, and one which cannot be sufficiently estimated, that mortal man, as the representative of God, has dominion over the world, as if it pertained to him by right, and that to whatever quarter he turns his eyes, he sees nothing wanting which may contribute to the convenience and happiness of his life. As this passage is quoted by Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:27), where he discourses concerning the spiritual kingdom of Christ, some may object and say, that the meaning he puts upon it is very different from the sense which I have given. But it is easy to answer this objection, and the answer which I give to it is this, that generally the whole order of this world is arranged and established for the purpose of conducing to the comfort and happiness of men. In what way the passage may properly apply to Christ alone, I have already declared a little before. The only thing which now remains to be considered is, how far this declaration extends — that all things are subjected to men. Now, there is no doubt, that if there is any thing in heaven or on earth which is opposed to men, the beautiful order which God had established in the world at the beginning is now thrown into confusion. The consequence of this is, that mankind, after they were ruined by the fall of Adam, were not only deprived of so distinguished and honorable an estate, and dispossessed of their former dominion, but are also held captive under a degrading and ignominious bondage. Christ, it is true, is the lawful heir of heaven and earth, by whom the faithful recover what they had lost in Adam; but he has not as yet actually entered upon the full possession of his empire and dominion. Whence the apostle concludes, that what is here said by David (153) will not be perfectly accomplished until death be abolished. Accordingly, the apostle reasons in this manner, “If all things are subdued to Christ, nothing ought to stand in opposition to his people. But we see death still exercising his tyranny against them. It follows then, that there remains the hope of a better state than the present.” Now, this flows from the principle of which I have spoken, that the world was originally created for this end, that every part of it should tend to the happiness of man as its great object. In another part of his writings, the apostle argues on the same principle, when, in order to prove that we must all stand at the last day before the judgment-seat of Christ, he brings forward the following passage, Unto me every knee shall bow,” (Romans 14:10.) In this syllogism, what Logicians call the minor proposition must be supplied, (154) namely, that there are still too many who proudly and obstinately cast off his yoke, and are averse to bow the knee in token of their submission to him.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Thou hast put all things under his feet.” Hermodius, a nobleman born, upbraided the valiant captain Iphicrates for that he was but a shoemaker’s son. “My blood,” saith Iphicrates, “taketh beginning at me; and thy blood, at thee now taketh her farewell;” intimating that he, not honouring his house with the glory of his virtues, as the house had honoured him with the title of nobility, was but as a wooden knife put into an empty sheath to fill up the place; but for himself, he by his valorous achievements was now beginning to be the raiser of his family. Thus, in the matter of spirituality, he is the best gentleman that is the best Christian. The men of Berea, who received the word with all readiness, were more noble than those of Thessalonica. The burgesses of God’s city be not of base lineage, but truly noble; they boast not of their generation, but their regeneration, which is far better; for, by their second birth they are the sons of God, and the church is their mother, and Christ their elder brother, the Holy Ghost their tutor, angels their attendants, and all other creatures their subjects, the whole world their inn, and heaven their home.
—John Spencer’s “Things New and Old.”
“Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands,” etc. For thy help against wandering thoughts in prayer… labour to keep thy distance to the world, and that sovereignty which God hath given thee over it in its profits and pleasures, or whatever else may prove a snare to thee. While the father and master know their place, and keep their distance, so long children and servants will keep theirs by being dutiful and officious; but when they forget this, the father grows fond of the one, and the master too familiar with the other, then they begin to lose their authority and the others to grow saucy and under no command; bid them go, and it may be they will not stir; set them a task, and they will bid you do it yourself. Truly, thus it fares with the Christian; all the creatures are his servants, and so long as he keeps his heart at a holy distance from them, and maintains his lordship over them, not laying them to his bosom, which God hath put “under his feet,” all is well; he marches to the duties of God’s worship in a goodly order. He can be private with God, and these not be bold to crowd in to disturb him.
—William Gurnall.
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