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by Katie Erickson

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 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. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19)

In his book Reflections on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis wrote, "I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world” referring to Psalm 19. This psalm is a beautiful one in the original Hebrew, and scholars praise it for both its beauty and theological depth. It’s known as a “wisdom hymn,” divided into 3 segments: praise of Creation in verses 1-6, a psalm of wisdom in verses 7-11, and a prayer for guidance in verses 12-14.

As the psalm begins in verse 1, we see how all of creation declares who God is and what He has done. Even if a person doesn’t specifically have a relationship with God through the work of Jesus, this psalm indicates that they have to at least know something about our Creator by looking at the world that He has created for us. The heavens and the skies alone show that, not to mention everything else! This is reminiscent of the fourth day of creation, where God put the sun, moon, and stars in the skies in Genesis 1:14-19. The verbs here for “declare” and “proclaim” are both participles in the Hebrew, which means they’re continual action. It’s not that the skies and heavens just proclaimed God’s glory once when they were created, but they continue to do so.

Every day and every night, we see what creation is revealing to us (verse 2). Creation does not directly speak to us with words, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t communicate (verse 3). God’s wisdom is revealed to us through His creation, as referenced in Proverbs 8:22-31. This natural revelation isn’t limited by specific words, languages, or speech, but it goes out into the entire earth. It has no geographic or linguistic barriers to those who want to hear it and ponder the one who created all of this.

In verses 4-6, the psalmist’s attention is specifically on the sun. Today with our scientific advances, we know that life is only possible on earth because of the sun and our precise distance from it; any closer and we’d be too hot, and any farther and we’d be too cold. The psalmist knew that the sun was important for life, and he describes it metaphorically as a bridegroom or the champion of a race. Of course, we also know that it is not the sun actually rising and setting, but the earth is rotating and moving around the sun. The sun shows God’s power as all-encompassing, as “nothing is deprived of its warmth” (verse 6). The sun communicates without words how God’s power is over all of the earth, no matter what.

For us today, this first section of the psalm should remind us of Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Everything that God has created reveals Himself to us, at least in a general way.

Next, the psalm moves to discussing the more specific revelation of God’s law. The word translated “law” is literally “torah” in the Hebrew, the name by which the Old Testament is known. While nature reveals God without words, God’s Word is the revealing of Himself in a more detailed and specific manner through the use of language. We see in verses 7-8 that this law encompasses statutes, precepts, and commands - meaning nothing is left out. The characteristics and benefits of this law as a whole are that it is perfect causing refreshment, trustworthy causing wisdom, right giving us joy, and radiant giving us light.

Verse 10 gives us specific examples of how this specific revelation of God’s Word is greater than the general revelation of creation: it’s more precious than gold and sweeter than honey. God’s words are more valuable than any money we could strive for, and they’re better than any of the finest foods. Why? Because “by them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward” (verse 11).

We are warned of ways we could fall away from God and break that relationship, so the Word can be used to guide what we say and do. If we could keep God’s law, there would be great reward in it for us of eternal life with Him. However, we know that this is not possible for any human being to do, as we all sin and fall short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23). But we also know that Jesus was able to live that perfect life that we could not. He kept God’s standards perfectly, so through our faith in Him and His sacrificial death and resurrection, we will be able to receive that great reward! We know about all this because of the revelation of God’s Word, which we have in the Bible.

This psalm concludes with a prayer, with the psalmist asking for God’s forgiveness for the sins he has committed and His guidance to keep him from future sins. The psalmist recognizes that he needs to be perfect and won’t live up to that standard, but he knows that God can and will guide him in that endeavor (verses 12-13). The psalm closes with verse 14, which is a prayer that we all should pray on a regular basis: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

As you reflect on this psalm, take a look at how God is revealing Himself to you in your life. Do you see and recognize the wonders of His creation, that only an all-powerful God could have created? Do you read His Word to get to know Him better? What are you doing to see God revealed in new ways in your life? I pray that your heart (and mine) would echo the psalmist’s desire to be pleasing to the Lord in all that we think, say, and do.

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