November 21
Reading: Psalm 19
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
It is hard to pick a favorite psalm, but this one might be it for me. What David does in this psalm is stunning and subtle, both sure and surprising.
Like other psalms of David, this one moves. It moves from the sky above to the sun as it moves to the Word of God to David His servant. Theologically, it moves from general revelation to special revelation to the active divine illumination of the Scriptures. It moves from observation to meditation to a final request; and there is but one request in this prayer. It comes at the end. Our God is a God who speaks, and David wants his words to reflect God’s words.
God is a speaking God. He is not silent.
How does God speak? The psalm begins (vss. 1-4) with four different literary parallelisms all pointing to the same truth. The heavens are telling of the glory of God, day after day, night after night, speaking without words, to everyone in the world.
One evening, in northern Minnesota, I and eight others paddled out in our canoes into the middle of one of the biggest lakes. We were at least a half mile from any shore, watching the as the sun dipped under the hills and trees, shadows extending over the lake. Soon the sky turned from blue to deep purple. Loons were calling, echoing. A beaver tail slapped the water somewhere in the vast distance. It was a still evening, perfectly still. Stars were beginning to poke through the firmament. We lay there as the Milky Way revealed itself in all its glorious wonder. God was speaking.
As David ponders the revelation of God in the heavens, he speaks of the sun, daily, faithful, strong, joyful, penetrating.
Then in verses 7-9 we find a six-fold synonymous parallelism, each line having the same shape. In each line there is a noun used for the Scriptures and prepositional phrase attributing authorship to Yahweh and then an adjective describing these Scriptures in a different way; perfect, sure, right, pure, enduring, true. Then follows a verb showing the activity of God’s Word and finally a noun telling us the direction of that activity.
David finishes the psalm by rejoicing in the work of God’s Word in his own life. It protects, and reveals, and penetrates.
But, do you see the subtle working of even these words in the mind and heart of the reader? What is going on here? The sky, the sun, the Scriptures. God is up to something.
C.S. Lewis, ever insightful, writes about this psalm, “This searching and cleansing sun becomes an image of the searching and cleansing Law of the Lord.” The Scriptures work on the soul like the sun works in the world; powerful, persistent, pervasive, penetrating, giving life to all wherever it shines.
Let it shine into your life. Then you will shine into the world.