Psalm 19
Behold Your Great God
When we meet someone, what we learn about them shapes how we respond to them. If you meet someone taller than you, you must look up to see their face. If you meet someone and find out they are your boss, you speak to them respectfully. How do we respond to the Creator of the universe when he makes himself known?
This Psalm considers and celebrates God’s two principal ways of revealing himself: through his creation and in his word. We learn about his power and glory but also his character and purposes. But in this Psalm, King David seeks to highlight how we as the people of God respond to the Living God who created the world and speaks to us through his word.
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
In this first part, the King invites us to tune into the concert of creation, so that we might hear the cosmic chorus singing of the multifaceted splendour of our Sovereign.
David tells us that every ray of sunlight, every nimbus and cumulus cloud, every constellation of stars in the black velvet sky don’t just suggest a creator’s existence but broadcast the Triune God’s glory.
He is telling us that if we listen carefully, we can hear the lyrics of creation’s song pointing beyond itself to its Author.
For many of us in the western world, our interactions with nature increasingly tend to be more often accessed and mediated through pixelated screens. They have afforded us the opportunity to see sights that were never available to our ancestors. We get glimpses of remote and beautiful places and phenomena which captivate us.
But they are minimised and tamed. They don’t capture the experience of standing in awe of a wide open sky which engulfs us, or a wild winter sea which humbles us.
Yet when we step outside and away from our smartphones, looking up to the orb that lights the sky, David states that the blazing sun itself is only a small prop in the theatre of God’s grand creation. And every part of that points to the great Architect himself.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring for ever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
More wonderfully, the King says the God who has revealed his glory in the heavens has made himself known personally through his word.
See the affection and awe from his description of God’s law. It is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure and firm.
See his own personal experience of it, how it has become more precious than all that glimmers in the world, and tastes more fresh than the sweetest nectar.
And see its great reward for those who receive it by faith and with thanksgiving. Light, joy and wisdom fill the soul refreshed by the word. For in the word, we encounter its Author in a manner that nature alone cannot achieve. Nature causes us to look up, but the Word comes down to us, implanting himself in our hearts bringing life and salvation (James 1.21).
In nature we get a glimpse of God’s glory. In the word of God, we encounter personally the holiness and grace of God.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
The King wants us to cherish and treasure God’s revelation through his creation and his word. But he also demonstrates to us the right and righteous response to our Rock and Redeemer.
When we behold God’s grandeur and holiness, we are made acutely aware of our smallness and sinfulness. And so we pray that God would forgive us, even of those sins we have hidden from sight. And not just forgiveness but protection, that God would guard us and our hearts from temptation, delivering us from the Evil One.
But once more, it is beyond that. It’s not just a prayer that we would kill sin but also cultivate righteousness in our lives (Romans 6.13). We pray that our thoughts, words and deeds, transformed by the grace of God’s Word, would honour and hallow our Great God.
Glory be to God the Father, whose glory burns bright through the seams of creation.
Glory be to God the Son, the embodied Word, who reveals the true God.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who inspired the written word and illuminates it for God’s people.
Ever three and ever One.