The Heavens and the Law
1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork. 2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course. 6 His going out is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends. There is nothing hidden from its heat. 7 Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s covenant is sure, making wise the simple. 8 Yahweh’s precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. Yahweh’s commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. Yahweh’s ordinances are true, and righteous altogether. 10 They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover your servant is warned by them. In keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will 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, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
Two witnesses to God, one silent and worldwide and one worded and particular, and the psalm ends asking to be cleared of what it cannot see.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
The psalm has two halves that look at first like two psalms. The first is about the sky, the second about the law, and the joint between them is the whole point.
2 Day after day they pour out speech, and night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
The paradox is deliberate. The heavens speak continuously and say nothing audible; their testimony crosses every language because it uses none. Paul makes the same claim as an argument — God's everlasting power and divinity are perceived through the things that are made, that they may be without excuse Romans 1:20 — and quotes verse four directly when asking whether the nations had heard Romans 10:18.
4 Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
Every neighboring culture worshiped the sun. This psalm makes it a resident in a tent God pitched, and describes it with two images of ordinary human gladness. It is demoted and delighted in at the same time.
Yahweh's law is perfect, restoring the soul Psalms 19:7.
The turn. What the sky cannot do is tell anyone what God requires or that he forgives, and the second half arrives with six statements, each naming the law with a different word and each attaching a result. Perfect, restoring the soul. Sure, making wise the simple. Right, rejoicing the heart. Pure, enlightening the eyes. Clean, enduring forever. True, and righteous altogether Psalms 19:7–9.
Note what these are not. Not one of the six results is obedience achieved; every one is something done to the person — restored, made wise, gladdened, given sight. And the change of name matters: the first half calls God El, the general word available to any nation looking at the sky, and from verse seven it calls him Yahweh, the name given to a particular people in a covenant. General revelation gets the general name.
They are more to be desired than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
Both comparisons are to things people want, not to things they respect.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
The law that enlightens the eyes has shown him something, and what it has shown him is that he cannot see everything. Two categories are named — faults he is unaware of, and sins committed with the eyes open — and he asks to be cleared of the first and prevented from the second. It is the honest response of someone who has taken verses seven to eleven seriously rather than admiringly.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
Speech and thought, the outer and the inner, submitted together — and the two titles are a rock, which does not move, and a redeemer, which is the family word for the relative who buys you back.
settled What this mark means