1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
<html><b>the gittith</b> A musical instrument that came from Gath, where craftsmen were found to make it (Machbereth Menachem p. 60). But our Sages said (Mid. Ps. 8:1): Concerning a nation [Edom] that is destined to be trodden like a winepress, as it is written (in Isaiah 63:3): “A winepress I trod alone.” However, the contents of the psalm do not indicate it.</html>
<html><b>how mighty is Your name</b> more than the strength of the measure of the earthlings. The earthlings did not deserve that You should cause Your Shechinah to rest among them. <b>for which You should bestow Your majesty upon the heavens</b> It is fitting that You bestow it upon the heavens. But You, with Your great humility…</html>
<html><b>Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings You have established strength</b> You caused Your Shechinah to rest in the Temple, and You decreed that we thank You. This is strength [that emerges] from the mouth of the Levites and the priests, who are people raised in filth like babes and sucklings. [The word] עוללים is an expression of (Job 16:15) “and sullied my radiance in the dust,” and because of the filth, all infants are called עוללים. <b>because of Your adversaries</b> To inform them that we are Your people. <b>to put an end to</b> the disgrace of the enemy and avenger, who says, “You are no better than the other nations.” But I, when I see Your heavens, etc.,… I wonder in my heart, what is man that You should remember him?</html>
<html><b>Yet You have made him slightly less than the angels, etc.</b> Heb. מאלהים, which is an expression of angels, for You gave power to Joshua to still the sun and to dry up the Jordan, and to Moses to split the waters of the Sea of Reeds and to ascend to the heavens, and to Elijah to resurrect the dead.</html>
<html><b>Flocks and cattle</b> Heb. צנה ואלפים [equivalent to] צאן ובקר, like (Deut. 7:13), “the young of your cattle (אלפך).” צנה is an expression of industry, as (in Num. 32:24), “and enclosures for your flocks (לצנאכם)”; oveyledic in Old French, enclosures to pen the small livestock. There are many Aggadic midrashim, but they do not fit the verses.</html>