"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."
Psalm 19
This Psalm naturally divides into two parts, which deal with two different revelations of God, in nature and through the Law. Its implications are very considerable and profound, for fundamental issues are involved that take us back to the beginning of creation and the fall of man. This becomes evident when we ask the question: Why two revelations of God? Was one not sufficient? Or did something happen to obscure the first and make the second necessary? And does not this raise the age-old question 'How can I find God?' One has only to pose these questions to see how fundamental the issues in this Psalm are. In the first part of the Psalm (1-6) we have the assertion that there is a revelation of God in nature. But we need to be clear as to what this means and what it does not mean. The revelation is, to be sure, glorious and universal: as the sun shines everywhere, so does the revelation of God in nature shine forth to man (the modern translations help towards a fuller appreciation and understanding of some of the more difficult phrases in these verses). But the fact that God has revealed Himself in nature, the fact that the fingerprints of God are upon all His works, does not mean that man can see this nor, even if he did see it, would it mean that he would thereby be saved. The Psalmist saw it, and all the Old Testament rejoices in this revelation; but David was within the covenant, saved by grace, and as such his eyes were opened to see it. That is the important thing. Eyes need to be opened to see it, and it is only the spiritually awakened who can see it in any vital way. More on this in the next Note.