The Victorious Cry of a Baby
I won't ever forget the birth of both of my sons. There are so many details about those days I won't forget, but among the top of that list are their cries.
There should be a word for the two to three seconds between the baby's birth and their first cry. I bet the Germans have one for it, but there's certainly not one in English.
The anticipation.
The watching.
The wonder.
Then the excitement.
When I think of a baby's cry, I think of weakness. I think of need and lack. I think of going to get a bottle for the umpteenth hundred time. The one thing I don't think of is strength.
But that's exactly what David sings about in Psalm 8:2:
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Can we be honest and say that's an odd verse? It seems out of place in the rest of the chapter. The rest of Psalm 8 calls back to Genesis 1 and 2. The moon, stars, fish, birds, beasts of the field, and dominion language all point us back to those first chapters of creation.
Verse 2 seems to be the odd one out. Or is it?
Can you think of another passage close in proximity to Genesis 1-2 that talks about a child conquering an enemy of God?
You're right. Genesis 3:15:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
This is God talking to Satan. Satan's offspring, or children, are all those who opposed God and His people. So that's why David can use the plural word in Psalm 8 "foes." But David also uses the singular "the enemy" and "the avenger" because he is reflecting on Genesis 3:15 and how the story will unfold. The word "offspring" can be what's called a "collective singular," where a singular word conveys plurality. In English, we say sheep, fish, and deer for both the singular and plural. So "offspring" could mean either. However, Moses uses the singulars in the latter half of the first to describe that actual battle that will occur between the seed of the woman and the serpent himself.
Jim Hamilton writes, "[I]n the promise of Gen 3:15 God answered Satan’s triumphant roar with a baby’s cry." (Psalms, vol. 1, EBTC, 153)
One baby was to be born of a woman who will silence the Enemy by a head-crushing blow. This would establish God's strength, majesty, rule, and sovereignty over all the earth.
When a small cry rang out in Bethlehem one starry night, it wasn't one of weakness. It was strength.
There should be a word for the two to three seconds between the baby's birth and their first cry. I bet the Germans have one for it, but there's certainly not one in English.
The anticipation.
The watching.
The wonder.
Then the excitement.
When I think of a baby's cry, I think of weakness. I think of need and lack. I think of going to get a bottle for the umpteenth hundred time. The one thing I don't think of is strength.
But that's exactly what David sings about in Psalm 8:2:
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Can we be honest and say that's an odd verse? It seems out of place in the rest of the chapter. The rest of Psalm 8 calls back to Genesis 1 and 2. The moon, stars, fish, birds, beasts of the field, and dominion language all point us back to those first chapters of creation.
Verse 2 seems to be the odd one out. Or is it?
Can you think of another passage close in proximity to Genesis 1-2 that talks about a child conquering an enemy of God?
You're right. Genesis 3:15:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
This is God talking to Satan. Satan's offspring, or children, are all those who opposed God and His people. So that's why David can use the plural word in Psalm 8 "foes." But David also uses the singular "the enemy" and "the avenger" because he is reflecting on Genesis 3:15 and how the story will unfold. The word "offspring" can be what's called a "collective singular," where a singular word conveys plurality. In English, we say sheep, fish, and deer for both the singular and plural. So "offspring" could mean either. However, Moses uses the singulars in the latter half of the first to describe that actual battle that will occur between the seed of the woman and the serpent himself.
Jim Hamilton writes, "[I]n the promise of Gen 3:15 God answered Satan’s triumphant roar with a baby’s cry." (Psalms, vol. 1, EBTC, 153)
One baby was to be born of a woman who will silence the Enemy by a head-crushing blow. This would establish God's strength, majesty, rule, and sovereignty over all the earth.
When a small cry rang out in Bethlehem one starry night, it wasn't one of weakness. It was strength.
1 Comment
Outstanding word. Keep at it!