APRIL 23 – PSALM 19
GOD’S LAW IS PERFECT
Today, we continue our series by focusing on God. Psalm 19 is a classic psalm about the beauty, majesty, glory, and perfection of the Lord. There is so much information about God in this psalm. The psalmist gives us a great model of how we can praise God and remember who He is and what He has done. It shows us that the Bible and Christianity is not just a series of rules or laws, but is a life-giving, fruit-bearing, and restoring life. A relationship with God is vital and restores us and refreshes us. It helps us in our daily lives as well as endure this long marathon, especially during prolonged trials and tribulations.
We have looked at Psalm 19 before in discussing Hebrew parallelism, but this time we will focus on meditating on God.
1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
2 Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring 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 judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted 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.
Key Takeaways:
- All of creation including the heavens reveals God’s glory and majesty
- The Law was not a burden to believers who were trying to please God with their lives. For David, keeping God’s statutes, which warned him of the dangers of folly and sin, brought reward.
- God is our Redeemer who purchased our freedom from any bondage or slavery to sin
Context:
David was moved by observing that the heavens, under the dominating influence of the sun, declare the splendor of God’s handiwork. By comparison, he then described the dominating influence of the Law of the Lord which enlightened him. Then he prayed for complete cleansing so that his life would be acceptable to God. The psalm, therefore, surveys both God’s natural revelation and His specific revelation, which prompts a response of self-examination.
The Old Testament frequently joins the description of the Lord as Law-Giver and Creator. Accordingly in the first part of this psalm, ’ēl (“God”) is used (v. 1) to denote His power as the Creator, and in the second part, Yahweh (“the Lord”) is used (vv. 7–9, 14), the personal name by which He made Himself known as Israel’s covenant God.
The psalm may also be polemical against pagan belief.[1] In polytheistic centers, the sun god was the god of justice. In this psalm, the Lord God is the Creator of the heavens, including the sun that pagans worship, and He is the Law-Giver, establishing justice in the earth.
Psalm 19, a wisdom psalm, celebrates the Word of God in the context of creation. Thus it is both a creation psalm and a Torah psalm. Both the creation psalms and the Torah psalms are regarded as subgroups of the wisdom psalms.[2]
Exposition:
The poem begins with the heavens, centers on the Word, and culminates in the heart of the servant of God. The poem has three movements: (1) a celebration of the greatness of God’s creation (vv. 1-6); (2) a celebration of the purity of the Word of God (vv. 7-11); (3) a contemplation of the life of the person of God (vv. 12-14).
Verses 1-6: David announced that the heavens declare the glory (splendor) of God’s handiwork. Verse 1 is a summary statement: the majestic Creation is evidence of the even more majestic Creator-God. All of creation including the heavens reveals God’s glory and majesty (Rom 1:18-20). Some translations include the word “firmament” which is another word for heaven (Gen 1:6). The vast expanse we see is testimony to the craftsmanship of God (Ps 8:3).
The heavens continually (day after day … night after night) display the fact that there is a Creator (v. 2). Even though Creation does not speak audibly in words its message (voice) goes out to the ends of the earth. The message from nature about the glory of God reaches all nations, and is equally intelligible to them all (cf. Rom. 1:18–20).
From the vantage point of earth, there is no heavenly body so wonderful as the sun. Dominant in the heavens is the sun. Like a bridegroom who excitedly leaves his house on his wedding day, the sun rises; and like a champion runner racing on his course, the sun makes its circuit. These verses do more than speak of nature as a witness to God’s glory; they also undermine pagan beliefs, for the same imagery was used of the sun god in ancient Near Eastern literature. In this poem, the sun is but a stunning symbol of the Creator.
Verses 7-11: In verses 7–9 David described the efficacious nature of the Law of the Lord. Just as the sun is the dominant feature of God’s natural revelation (vv. 4c–6), so the Law was the dominant element in God’s specific revelation in the Old Testament.
The perfect Law of God (“flawless” in 12:6; 18:30; Prov. 30:5) can change people. It revives the soul and the Law’s statutes can be trusted to make one wise. The Law is the Torah, which means “instruction” or “direction.” This passage (vv. 7-9) presents six words for the Law of God—law, testimony, precepts/statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments; six evaluations of the law—perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true; and six results—restoring/converting the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes, enduring forever, and righteous altogether. The value of Scripture cannot be compared with any other desirable thing, not even gold. It provides the key to wisdom, joy, and most importantly, eternal life. Verse 9 use the word “Fear,” (יִרְאָה (yir·ʾā(h))) which in this case is a synonym for the Law, for its purpose was to put fear into human hearts (Deut. 4:10).
Verses 12-14: this is simply a prayer for cleansing. Contemplation of the holy Law led David to pray for complete cleansing so that he could live an upright (blameless) and acceptable life before God, his Rock (cf. 18:2, 31, 46) and Redeemer. (On the psalmist’s request that his meditation be pleasing to God; cf. 104:34.) the discussion of the nature and perfection of the Law of God leads David to consider his own imperfection. He is aware of both hidden faults and presumptuous sins and prayed that he would be forgiven for hidden faults and preserved from sinning willfully. For sins committed in ignorance, the Law provided atonement; but for willful sins, sins committed with a high hand, there was no ceremonial prescription, though forgiveness was still available if the person repented and confessed (cf. Ps. 51). Therefore he needed the perfect Law and God’s enabling to restrain him from such sins.
Redeemer describes God as the One who purchases our freedom from any bondage or slavery. The principle meaning of the word is “defender of family rights.”[3]
Footnotes:
[1] Allen P. Ross, “Psalm,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 806.
[2] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 61.
[3] Ibid.