It is a good thing to study Psalm 19 when getting ready to study the rudimentary Law of God—The Ten Commandments. This wonderful Psalm expresses the profound relationship between nature, God and persons.
Psalm 19:1-4a
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
Let’s begin, though, with a little literary exploration of this Psalm. We are indebted to Robert Alter and his fine book, The Art of Biblical Poetry[1], for some of the concepts here. In all world literature we find the structure of parallelism—the pairing of concepts and images for a variety of purposes. These purposes include reiteration, expansion, intensification of meaning, describing or pointing to meaning, and/or the focusing, specification, concretization and dramatization of ideas.[2] When Psalm 19 is read lightly, it appears that it could be the smashing together of two different poems, as several commentators have tried to describe. Even some of the phrases seem contradictory: the heavens and skies pour forth speech and then in the next line they have no speech or use no words! But others have determined that the Psalm is both purposeful and profound in its structure. Steve Johnson writes that “we must change our perspective to think of these two sections as a married couple who are so very different, but who support and make one another better because of their differences.”[3] I see the deliberate parallelism established by the poet between nature and word, elements and voice, and symbolism and law, also known at Torah.
For instance, the first four verses describe nature giving voice to the existence, power and presence of God. Other imagery, that is familiar to many of us, are the phrases about rocks crying out and trees clapping their hands. The anthropomorphism of nature is rife throughout Scripture. And this is not merely a literary device. It is, I believe, the description of God revealing himself in one of a multitude of ways. The Apostle Paul wrote about this in his letter to the Romans. Romans 1:20 is couched in a far more negative context—that of judgment for the wicked—than Psalm 19, but the truth still rings true. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. The Psalmist is filled with the glory and wonders of God reflected in nature. In these initial verses we see the parallelism very clearly: Telling of/the glory of God, proclaiming/his handiwork, pouring forth speech and declaring/his knowledge, voices going out/with world-wide words. Everywhere the Psalmist looks, everything he senses and hears in creation, is testimony to God’s glory and greatness. Some commentators draw clear parallels all the way back to the creation accounts in Genesis! And how appropriate that is, for our omnipresent God is indeed alive from before creation and throughout history and reflected splendidly in the sky, the earth and all of his dominion!
As I have been meditating on this Psalm, it also occurs to me that God has written natural law into our existence. The heavens, the firmament, days and nights, terra firma, the laws of physics and gravity—all are established for us. They “speak” security. We feel that they are indestructible and we build our lives on these things. We trust them to always be there. We, as Christians, understand that even these things are dissoluble upon the return of Christ—the new heavens and new earth are ever set before us in the words of Jesus (Matthew 24) and in the Revelation to the Apostle John. But until that time, we find in them the symbols and metaphors, better yet, the reflection of the everlasting, ever-powerful, never-changing, ever-present God!
The Psalmist then moves to other kinds of parallelism—that of the human relationship of marriage and champions compared to the glory of the sun. These foundational human realities, as well as the sun, are now descriptive similes of the glory and brilliance of God. Just as a loving marriage and human achievement are great sources of joy, so is our God! The natural law of the sun’s course, rising and warming everything around the globe, is the very picture of the steadfastness of God.
Psalm 19:4b-6
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
And now we come to a break in the pattern . . . or do we? It is abundantly clear in the mind of the Psalmist that all of the glorious reflections of God in nature are eternally tied to the glorious reflection of God in his physically written Law, commanded by God to be written down (Exodus 34:27). Just as nature is perfect, right, pure, trustworthy, true, valuable and sweet, so is the Law of God! This is a splendid parallel to the previous set of verses and intensifies the comparison to focus, specify, concretize and dramatize the importance and profound need for the Law of God. But this parallel provides another function. It shows the a fortiori—how much more so[4]—reality of the Law of God. For when all of the physical things we rely on disappear, God’s Law will never disappear!
Psalm 19:7-10
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
The Psalmist here lays out the parallels differently—the characteristics of the law and then its consequence for the law-abider. By the time we get to end of the list, the only thing left to the Psalmist is to return to some of those natural laws—gold is precious, honey is sweet. Peter Craigie writes: “And the poet adds force to this final description of Torah by likening its worth and desirability to fine gold and sweet honey: the treasures for which humans strive so ardently, and the food which imparts such sweetness to the tongue, are both less desirable than the Lord’s Torah.[5] It’s as if the Psalmist has run out of similes and can only go back to what he knows from his human experience. I almost hear him shouting in verses 7-9 and then speaking in a hushed voice as he searches for more ways to describe the wonderful law of God. Did he whisper these lines in awe?
Then comes the reality. We are not that pure and lovely. We need a vital relationship with God and his law, his wonderful Torah, to help us to reflect his glory. For without his law, we become like the ravenous pagans doomed to destruction that the Apostle Paul wrote about in Romans 3!
Psalm 19:11-14
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
The teacher in me begs to ask you what the parallels are in the lines above. In what ways do these parallels heighten or deepen your understanding?
The Psalmist then concludes—no more parallels necessary. This is the humble heart prayer of one who is completely dependent upon the Almighty God he knows and loves. (v. 14)
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
This is a psalm of David. You remember that guy who set up a man to be killed in battle so that he could marry the woman he impregnated? Yes, that guy. That guy who knew what it was like to be a law-breaker. That guy who understood the power of secret and not-so-secret sin. And that guy who understood the dire consequence of sin. He’s the one whose words we read. He is also the guy who understood God’s righteousness, God’s forgiveness, and God’s power to make him blameless even after sinning. And he pleads with God, in the light of the glory of God’s creation and Torah, to make him pleasing to his Redeemer.
There is no literary or physical parallel between the weakness and neediness of humans and the greatness and glory of God. And yet, God continues to reach out to us in a myriad of ways. He continues to point back to his law that protects us and give us joy. He graciously receives us back when we fall and teaches us when we are ignorant. This is what the Psalmist knew and with which he tried every form of parallelism and simile to communicate in worship. He called out for God’s help and rested in the fact that God will enable us to live as we should when we follow his wonderful law.
“Everything the Lord requires of us is an expression of His own holiness and is in harmony with the structure of the universe in which we live.”[6]
~W.T. Purkiser
Amen.
M.R. Hyde
Copyright 2020
[1] Basic Books, a Division of Harper Collins Publisher, 1985.
[2] Ibid. p. 19.
[3] Faith Connections Bible Study Guide: Fall 2020, The Foundry Publishing, Kansas City, Missouri, 2020, p. 6.
[4] Ibid. p. 11.
[5] Word Biblical Commentary: Vol. 19, Psalms 1-50, Word Books, Waco, Texas, 1983, p. 182.
[6] Beacon Bible Commentary: Vol. 3, Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, Missouri, 1967, p. 184.
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