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The Revelation of God’s Glory in Creation (vv.1-6) |
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1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; |
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. |
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2 Day to day pours forth speech, |
And night to night reveals knowledge. |
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3 There is no speech, nor are there words; |
Their voice is not heard. |
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4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, |
And their utterances to the end of the world. [1] |
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In them He has placed a tent [2]
for the sun, |
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; |
It rejoices as a strong man to
run his course. |
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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. |
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The Revelation of God’s Glory in Redemption
(vv.7-14) |
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7 The law of Yahweh is perfect, [3] |
restoring the soul; |
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The testimony of Yahweh is sure, |
making wise the simple. |
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8 The precepts of Yahweh are right, |
rejoicing the heart; |
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The commandment of Yahweh is pure, |
enlightening the eyes. |
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9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, |
enduring forever; |
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The judgments of Yahweh are true; |
they are righteous altogether. |
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10 They are more desirable [4] than gold, |
yes, than much fine gold; |
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Sweeter also than honey |
and the drippings of the honeycomb. |
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11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; |
In keeping them there is great reward. |
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12 Who can discern his errors? |
Acquit me of hidden faults. |
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13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; |
Let them not rule over me; |
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Then I will be blameless, |
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. |
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14 Let the words of my mouth |
and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your
sight, |
O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer. |
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[1] Creation both declares and displays God’s glory. The Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 19:4 because the bride of Jesus is to both declare and display God’s glory in salvation. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of
Christ. But I say, surely they have
never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “Their
voice has gone out into all the earth, And
their words to the ends of the world.”
(Romans 10:17-18) The glory of God in salvation is not only something the world is to hear in the church’s declaration (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Our Creator and Redeemer teaches us that the glory of God is to be displayed in the church’s life and love, “You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden; “A
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved
you, that you also love one another. It’s important that Christ’s bride declares God’s glorious work of salvation that is found only through faith in Jesus. And it is also important that the she displays the glory of Jesus in her life and love. Some have questioned whether Paul is taking into consideration the context of Psalm 19. Clearly the larger context of Psalm 19 incorporates redemption (vv.12-14). An argument could also be made that Paul takes into context the surrounding Psalms 18, 20, 21, and 22 which he presumably would have interpreted as Messianic (cf. Romans 15:9). Like Psalm 19, Psalm 22 envisions a universal chorus of praise in which the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea, All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the
nations will worship before You. |
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[2]
God pitched a tent in the heavens for the sun and He pitched a tent on the
earth for His law (cf. Ex.26:7-14; 33:7-11; John 1:14). Creation
teaches us about God’s glory. The Law
teaches us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans
3:23). The Law teaches us of our need
for God to be our Redeemer (vv.12-14).
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[3] Vern Poythress warns, Modern people may no longer
make idols in the form of physical images, but their very idea of “scientific
law” is an idolatrous twisting of their knowledge of God. They conceal from
themselves the fact that this “law” is personal and that they are responsible
to him. Or they substitute the word “nature,” personifying her as they talk
glowingly of the works of “mother nature.” But they evade what they know of
the transcendence of God over nature. (“Why Scientists Must Believe in God:
Divine Attributes of Scientific Law”; Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March, 2003), pp. 121). |
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[4] Psalm 19 is about the preciousness and desirability of the law of God and Psalm 19 then uses the language of the 10th Commandment. ü
The 10th Commandment forbids
coveting anything that belongs to our neighbor, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s
house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his
female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your
neighbor” (Exodus 20:17). ü Psalm 19 says that all God’s commandments are to be coveted more than gold, than much pure gold.
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