The
superscript: To
the choirmaster. A Psalm of David
Spurgeon writes: “In his earliest days the Psalmist (David), while keeping his father’s
flock, had devoted himself to the study
of God’s
two great books –nature and Scripture… he is wisest who reads both the
world book and the Word book as two volumes of the same work and feels
concerning them – My Father wrote them
both.”[1]
OUTLINE
1. 19: 1-6 General Revelation – God’s World Book
2. 19:7-11 Special Revelation – God’s Word Book
3. 19:12-14 Application - Revelation brings about conviction and prayer
1. 19: 1-6 General Revelation – God’s World Book
“The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork…”
About three years before I became a Christian at the age of 19, my father and I camped in the desert. As we lay in ours sleeping bags under a stunning Namibian night sky, I was suddenly overcome by the vastness and the grandeur of the Namibian night sky, and especially and the Milky way which is 100,000 light years in diameter and which consists of more than 100 billion stars.
Just
for context: A light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year. One
light-year is about 9 trillion km. That is a 9 with 12 zeros behind it! Light
travels at a speed of 300,000 km per second. Our Sun is our
closest star. It is about 150 million
miles away. So, the Sun's light takes about 8.3 minutes to reach us. This means
that we always see the Sun as it was about 8.3 minutes ago. Being overcome by
our night sky, I asked my father, “Is
there a God”? His creation was
speaking to me, but I only discovered the answer
three years later, when the Word
of God
became clear to me on a Thursday evening on the 22nd June
1978, when I met the Creator of the Universe in a University
dining room hall.
David as a shepherd
spent many nights under a
clear sky – and what he saw is what we see
at night and in the day, from a
northern hemisphere perspective. What he
saw is described in the first six
verses of this Psalm.
19: 2-3a
“Day to day pours out speech, and night
to night reveals knowledge….” Note - 'pours
out speech'! Not mere subtle hints or
suggestions. It's a noisy silence! Ironically, this deafening silence above pours out speech like a bubbling
spring - day after day, night after
night, and in never-ending succession.
These all proclaim the revelation of the glory of God. During the
day God is proclaimed in the sun, sky, clouds, rain and rainbows, in the
majesty of the mountains, the barrenness of
the southern Namibian desert, the
stunning dunes, the vastness of the southern
Atlantic ocean, the beauty of our savannahs, the rich array of so many animal species. When the day is done,
the night takes over with a display of moon, planets, stars and galaxies. Day and
night they consistently proclaim, God is glorious ! Note where the
emphasis lies! This is important, because, according to our fallen human nature
we easily shift the emphasis from the Creator to the created. Namibians are
tempted to worship creation. They say that they feel closest to God when
they are in the bush or in a desert.
They are close, yes, for this is our Creator’s
world. But they are not close enough to God. This is the great sin that
the apostle Paul addresses in Romans 1.
Nature is not God. Nature is God's handiwork. Creation doesn't sing
its own praise. It proclaims its Creator’s praise. So, when I am overcome by
the grandeur of a Namibian night sky, and the knowledge that the Milky Way I
see up there is so massive, and I a tiny
creature on a tiny planet in a tiny
solar system – because there are so many, many more solar systems each with trillions of stars-then my heart is not drawn in adoration to that of which I see a little
part. My heart is drawn to the God who made
this universe.
David was surrounded
by nations that actually worshipped the sun, moon and stars. The
Christian also looks at creation - the sun, moon and stars, but he does not
worship them. The Christian does not believe that the universe evolved by pure
chance. The Christian does not get guidance from the stars. The Christian worships
the Creator of the heavens and the earth - that same God who was David’s God.
19: 4b-
6 Special mention is made of the sun. "He has
set a tent for the sun" refers
to the sky - the heavens - probably where the sun goes during the night
and then appears resplendent like a bridegroom leaving
his chamber… running its course with joy… bursting with energy - and "like a strong man” the sun runs its course from one
end of the heavens to the other end. The
point is that the sun ( which is set there by God) is not a god. It is God's
creation and perhaps the closest supreme
illustration of the glory of God, whose
glory we cannot hope to behold and live. (Paul experienced that in Acts 9!).
The glory of God infinitely outshines the sun! As nothing escapes the heat of
the sun, so the presence of its Creator is felt by all (19:6).
Now, as stunning
and profound as the night heavens and the days may be, the revelation of God in Scripture is much
better. We now see a transition
from the beholding God's WORLD and WORKS to the witness of His WORD. Both spring
from the same source; both declare the
same truth—God's Glory. But bothare not equal in their power to bring us to
God. GENERAL Revelation is not sufficient
to save us. We need SPECIAL
Revelation.
Now before we move on we
must note this: When David described Creation in 19:1-6, he used the name that is commonly used of God as Creator – Elohim (cf. Genesis1). But now in 19:7-14,
when he introduces God’s Word, he uses the covenant name YAHWEH (capitalised in
the ESV) seven times. When God revealed
himself personally to Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3:13,14) he says, my Name is ”I AM THAT I AM” – the self
existent One – YAHWEH. This is the God
of the TORAH to which we are introduced
now.
2. 19:7-11 Special Revelation –
God’s Word Book
And in 19:7-9
we find this special revelation -
God’s Word – amplified in terms of six
nouns, six adjectives, six verbs. The focus is on the identity (the nouns), the
quality (the adjectives), and the function (the verbs) of Scripture.
1. 19:7a "the
law (noun-identity) of the Lord
is perfect (adjective- quality), reviving
(verb- function) the soul" (v. 7a). The law is the Torah is the most general term for the
law. As a law, it points us in the perfect direction of what is right and away
from what is wrong. Its function is to revive/refresh/renew our souls. God’s Word revives us!
2. 19:7b "the
testimony (N)of the Lord is sure (A), making wise (V) the simple" . The written Word is
the record of God's testimony to who He is and what He will provide for us in
His Messiah-Jesus. This testimony is sure/ dependable/ trustworthy. The Bible gives
true wisdom to simple, naïve, gullible people like us.
3. 19:8a
"the precepts (N) of the Lord
are right (A), rejoicing (V) the heart" . God's precepts
are never wrong. They are true truth and accurate. God's precepts make us happy and joyful, for
they liberate us. God’s precepts
are God's remedy for a sad, depressed, broken
heart. If you are there, then do yourself a favour and read, memorize and
meditate over God's precepts. Perspective will return.
4.
19:8b "the
commandment (N) of the Lord is pure,(A) enlightening (V) the eyes"
. That word "pure" may also be rendered "radiant" (NIV).
God's commandments are radiant. They bring
light into the darkness of our human ignorance. And all of a sudden our eyes see as they have
never seen before. This is specifically
the work of the Holy Spirit according to
John 14/16. He is given to illuminate
the truth as it is in Jesus.
5.
19:9a "the fear (N) of the Lord is clean
(N), enduring forever (V) " . David has in mind that fear of
God that the Bible produces in us. It is clean both in terms of its essence and
its impact on our hearts. It endures forever – even into eternity. God's Word
does not change with the seasons or with fashions; it endures forever.
6.
19:9b "the
rules (N) of the Lord are true (A), and righteous (V) altogether" . What God says in his
word is never false. It always produces what is right. The certainty of God's Word is our foundation.
Now if you have all
that contained in God’s special revelation, what more do you need? No wonder
that David writes in
19:10-11 “…more
to be desired "than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and
drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in
keeping them there is great reward".
While the general revelation of 19:1-6
cause us to be in awe of what we see, we are helped in 19:7-9 to see the Creator. It is like seeing an
exquisite artwork, but then meeting the Artist.
There is a satisfaction and joy in knowing that this world and all that
we see has an original source – a personal Creator.
In 19:11 we are reminded...
(i) by way of a warning – to ignore the Word is at our peril
(ii) by way of an encouragement - to heed the Word revives the soul, provides wisdom for our
walk in this world, joy for the heart, enlightenment for the eyes, enduring truth
you can count on, and the provision of righteousness.
3. 19:12-14 Application - Revelation brings about conviction and prayer
19:12-14
Here we see that David was overcome
by God’s truth in its totality,
and when that happens there is always
conviction of sin, leading to
prayer. David prays as he becomes
aware of the fact he sinned both
consciously and unconsciously. He prayed that God would protect him from both. He prayed that he might be possessed of a
blameless heart.
So this Psalm ends with
these words, “Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and
my Redeemer” (19:14). A heart filled to the brim with the revelation of
God’s work, both in general and
in special revelation is a precious, mind stretching, sin
revealing and soul cleansing exercise.
