Q. David says in Psalm 8:5 that God has made humans “a little lower than the angels.” Does this mean that angels higher than humans? If so, in what way are they higher than humans? Are angels, like humans, made in the image of God? If not, wouldn’t that make humans higher than angels? But then, if that is the case, I am not sure how to reconcile the view that humans are higher than angels with Psalm 8:5. I would very much appreciate your help with answering these questions.
I think the reference in Psalm 8 is to the position of humans within creation, rather than to status and dignity of humans as creatures made in the image of God. David does say, “You have made them a little lower than the angels.” But he then says, in parallel, “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.” He goes on to specify, in beautiful poetry, that this means “all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” This is the three-part division that we see in the creation account in Genesis: land, sky, and sea. So David means “over all the rest of creation.”
In other words, “a little lower than the angels,” who inhabit the heavenly realm, actually means “higher than any other creature in the earthly realm.” Once again, this has to do with position, not status and dignity. People are God’s vice-regents on earth. That is, they have the role of ruling the earth as God’s authorized representatives. This is a great privilege, but also a great responsibility. We are to be wise and careful stewards of the earth and its creatures.
As for the specific relationship between people and angels, the book of Hebrews says that angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.” In the vision that the apostle John reports in the book of Revelation, at one point he wanted to fall down and worship one of the angels he was seeing. But the angel told him, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!”
So it is clear that people are not inferior to angels, not if angels are their fellow servants and even serve them. In addition, Paul wrote to the Corinthians that believers will one day “judge angels.” He did not specify what this meant, and it would probably not be useful to speculate about it. But this also shows that people are not inferior to angels.
(And while the Bible also does not specify in what way angels serve as “ministering spirits” who are sent to help us, and it would also not be useful to speculate about that, we can certainly be grateful for whatever it involves!)
Good Question 