Psalm 19

-


     C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying that Psalm 19 was "the greatest poem in the Psalter, and one of the most beautiful lyrics in the world."  I am not a judge of literature, but I tend to agree with him! Have you read this Psalm recently? It is only 14 verses, and does not take long at all to read.  While it is very beautiful to read,  it is more than pretty words.  This short song draws our hearts to the Creator and His law, ultimately turning our hearts and minds to repentance and worship. 

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.               Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.                             There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.                                         Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,                                                                                 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.                                                                                                                                    His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Psalm 19:1-6, KJV

    Often in Hebrew poetry, you will see what is called parallelism.  This is where similar thoughts are repeated, often the second phrase building on the first.  Its really easy to see in Psalm 19!  You can almost hear the words being sung by the Hebrews in their times of worship.  The word pictures are vivid!

    In the first 6 verses we are reminded of the glory of the Creator, as shown in the skies, and then more specifically, the sun.  The sun is compared to a bridegroom.  Who is our bridegroom? Jesus!  I love the play on words in the English language of sun/son. (The sun points us to The Son.) The heat of the sun  leads us into the next section of the Psalm, which talks about the Word of God which convicts and guides us. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.                                                                                                                     The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.                                                                                                   The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.                                                                                                           More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.                                                                                                     Moreover by them is they servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:9-11, KJV

   Understanding that Jesus fulfilled all of the law and the prophets and we are not bound by the Law, we must also remember that the Words of the Lord endure forever.  All of God's commands and laws are given for our edification and to point us to Jesus.  The Law leads us to the response we see in the final verses of Psalm 19: 

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.                                Keep back they servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.                      Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in they sight, O Lord, my strength, and my  redeemer. 

Psalm 19: 12-14, KJV

    Reading and meditating on God's Word leads to repentance and a burning desire to walk in His ways.  The Psalmist begs for protection from the power of sin and asks that his petition be accepted by the Lord, our redeemer.  Here we are brought back to Jesus, our redeemer. From the glory of the Creator as seen in the Creation, to the heat of the sun pointing us to the Law which makes us understand the heart of God to bowing at the feet of our Savior, is this not a beautiful progression?  

    I hope this spurs some desire for you to look into this Psalm more.  God's Word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than a two-edged sword.  It will convict and draw our hearts to Jesus.  

💓 Heather Sparks 💓


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Is Well With My Soul

-
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. We are all reeling from the images we are seeing of our neighboring communities after Hurricane Helene blew through our region and dropped unprecedented amounts of rain. TVA has stated this was a 1 in 5,000 year event. There has been much loss of life and personal property. With the loss of my nephew fresh on my mind, I have found myself thinking of the words and humming the old hymn "It is Well" frequently. The story behind this hymn (along with the lyrics) tells that the state of our soul is the only thing that truly matters.  The author, Horatio G. Spafford was a businessman from Chicago. He had a successful legal practice and was a devout Christian. Spafford’s lost almost everything overnight in the great Chicago Fire of 1871. To add to this tragedy, his young son had just passed away a short time before the fire...
Read more

Adorning the Gospel

-
Image
  We all love to make things look nice, don't we?  Ourselves, our children, our cars, our homes --- most people like for our lives to be attractive to others and for our own enjoyment.  While I usually brush it off as false, Sam knows that I love hearing him or the kids tell me I am beautiful.  The beauty of nature is breathtaking.  God made us all to love pretty things.      Brother Doug has been leading us through the book of Titus recently.  Titus 2 speaks to every category of Christian -- older men, older women, young men, young women, and those in bondage.  A couple things stood out to me as Doug was teaching that have been running through my mind for the last couple of weeks.   3  Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior,  not slanderers  or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,  4  and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,  5  to be self...
Read more

Joy To The World!

-
Image
     One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the music!  Christmas music brings a special element of joy to the season.  There are so many great Christmas songs in almost every style, from whimsical and folksy all the way to classical.  I am always excited for the time when the radio station switches to all Christmas music so that our car rides are serenaded with the sounds of the season.  The familiar melodies are comforting and cheerful, for the most part.  Many of these songs have been ingrained in my mind since infancy and I can't remember a time that I did not know them.  Just like all familiar music, however, I catch myself mouthing and humming along to lyrics that I know like the back of my hand without giving any consideration to what those words mean!  My older kiddos don't always appreciate this overly analytical approach to music that may cause me to nix a song or two from their playlists at times.  However, f...
Read more