LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for September 6: God is revealed

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for September 6: God is revealed focuses on Psalm 19.

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The book of Psalms often is called Israel’s hymnbook, but it is far more. An extraordinary book of worship, it also presents astounding statements of theology, sweeping views of history, cunning observations of the natural world, probing comments about human life and revealing insights into the Lord’s activities.

Above all, Psalms guides readers to experience the Almighty God in a fulfilling, personal way. Do you want to draw close to God? Psalms shows you how. Do you want to experience the Lord? Psalms shows you how. Do you want to discuss your life circumstances with the Redeemer? Psalms shows you how.

Many believers have some favorite psalms. The first and last verses of this week’s psalm stand among the more memorable passages from Psalms. Furthermore, the message of Psalm 19 strongly influenced the Apostle Paul’s presentation in the book of Romans.

An observant reading of Psalm 19 reveals two insights. First, verses 1-6 discuss God’s revelation of himself in the natural world while verses 7-14 state God’s revelation of himself through his word. Second, the word “God,” is used once in verses 1-6, and in contrast, the phrase, “the Lord,” is used seven times in the remaining eight verses.

Because the two sections of this psalm have such contrasting topics and uses of the divine names, some have suggested Psalm 19 was once two psalms that were placed together. No evidence exists to support this view and reflection on the message of the psalm shows the strong contrast delivers the grand message that God has revealed himself to people and awaits their response.

A more careful reading of the psalm discloses a third way God is referenced. Verses 11-14 use the possessive personal pronouns “your” and “my” five times to refer to God. The psalm therefore transitions from the distant and transcendent glorious God to the revealing Lord to the personally known Lord.

This three-fold plan drives the flow of the psalm: God declares himself in nature (verses 1-6), God reveals himself personally in his word (verses 7-11) and God’s people respond to his personal revelation with a personal response (verses 12-14).

One way to appreciate the development of the psalm is to read the opening and closing statements together: “The heavens declare the glory of God … May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight …” How does the author work from the opening declaration about God’s glory being proclaimed by the outward universe to the climactic and resounding response of one’s inner being to the personally known Lord? This is the grand lesson of the psalm: My God, whom the heavenly creation sings about, speaks to my inner being. How, then, shall I respond to him?

In the first section of the psalm, verses 1-6, David asserts the heavens proclaim God’s glory. The basic concept of glory refers to honor. God deserves glory for his creative and redemptive acts. In fact, God actually draws glory to himself by providing light to announce his presence, such as the light that lit up Moses’ face after meeting with the Lord, the light that engulfed Jesus at his transfiguration, and the light that shone around Saul on the road to Damascus. In our passage, the light of the heavenly objects is associated with the light of God’s glory. Thus the heavens shine forth a declaration of God’s glorious presence.


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In fact, God’s glory is voiced in a way heard by all humanity. Psalm 19 provides an example of how the heavens declare God’s glory by referring to the sun’s movement. The writer realized the sun’s repetitive daily and seasonal movement in the sky pointed to the reality that the sun unfailingly obeyed the rule of one more powerful than it. The sun’s ceaseless movement testifies to God’s greatness, authority and power.

Verses 2-4 repeatedly refer to a “voice” that continually “goes out” from the heavens to human beings of every language. This voice calls attention to creation and points to its ruler. Creation’s message is far from a complete revelation about God, but, nevertheless, it’s message is bold, powerful, clear and persistent. God has written testimony about himself into creation!

In Romans 1:20, Paul wrote that God’s eternal power and divine nature are seen in nature, thereby clarifying the message of the “voice” of creation. Paul concluded mankind is without excuse regarding knowledge of God, because God has made himself plainly known to humanity (Romans 1:19, also Romans 10:18). God has declared himself sufficiently through creation that people should seek to experience and enjoy him just as they seek to experience and enjoy creation.

While discussing the sun, the psalm refers to God “pitching a tent.” Such a thing sounds like camping today. A tent signified a residence for the ancient Hebrews. This psalm declares that God has assigned a dwelling place for the sun. Thus instead of being the dominant “god” of the heavens, the sun rigorously obeys a deity of higher authority, never deviating from its duty as it travels its assigned pathway.

The second section of the psalm, verses 7-11, declares with equal fervor the grandness of the Lord’s personal revelation to his people through his law. Often the rules and commands of Christianity have been criticized as being oppressive, cold and outmoded, but this is not the sentiment of the author. The Lord’s law is seen first as a divine revelation, given as a privilege to those who realize it’s worth and receive it into their lives. Indeed the Lord’s law has its own testimony, as glorious as the testimony of the heavens above, declaring the majesty of our divine ruler who commands his human creation just as he commands the sun.

Eight striking statements are made about the Lord’s personal revelation in verses 7-10. Five statements make parallel descriptions of the Lord’s law. The sixth statement indicates the proper response to the Lord. The last two statements declare the human estimate of the Lord’s law.

Notice the five statements that describe the Lord’s law (vv. 7-9). First, five nouns in parallel poetry nail down the character of God’s word: law, statute, precept, command and ordinance. Each of these concepts point directly to authority. God on his own authority has declared his law. No other governing power has ratified his law.

To emphasize this point, the name of the Lord is repeated in each parallel statement. Normally repetitiveness is considered poor style, but here, the repetition calls attention to the truth: the Lord who rules the universe, has enacted his law on his own authority and has revealed it to his people.

The Lord’s law is then described as perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant and sure. The result of following the Lord’s law also is commended—it revives the soul, makes the simple wise, gives joy to the heart, gives light to the eyes and is righteous. This last point summarizes the law’s duty: It fulfills the Lord’s self-imposed obligations to his people by guiding them in a way that fulfills the requirements of their relationship with him. This point alone causes the devout to delight in God’s law.

Verse 9 states “the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.” The fear of the Lord is neither stark terror nor mere acknowledgement. The fear of the Lord is the determination of those who love the Lord to live as carefully by his will (or law) as the sun obediently moves through the sky. God’s people understand the dire consequences of disobeying the Lord, but their motivation is to please him, not simply to satisfy a checklist of demands.

For some, the word “fear” conflicts with passages that urge believers not to be afraid of God and to be bold before him. The Hebrew thought is that while true fear rarely motivates nonbelievers to obey any of God’s laws, the transformed hearts of God’s people cause them to do what such a fear should produce—obedience to God’s will. The key is the motive: the devoted heart that desires to please God.

Verse 10 provides two final statements declaring the value of God’s ordinances (law). More precious than gold and sweeter than honey are not sentiments heard about secular law. But the devout believer sees God’s presence and heart in his ordinances. Thus God’s law proclaims God’s glory and presence just as the heavens.

The third section of the psalm, verses 12-14, provides the climax to the psalm by contemplating the proper response to God’s revelation, ending with the famous climactic submission of the inward person to God’s approval. The psalm says in effect, “God’s glory shines throughout the universe, but does God’s glory shine from within me?”

The probing question of verse 12 is really an acknowledgement of human weakness. Though we accept God’s rule, we find ourselves ignorant of how we have broken it. There are obvious, external ways that we have broken God’s law, but the real problem is with the mysterious internal factors that cause us to break God’s law—and his heart—and therefore our hearts.

Verse 13 summarizes the real problem: the willfulness to sin. Yet God’s transformative action upon the heart is trustworthy because it yields blamelessness for the believer. Blamelessness is a difficult concept for some to fathom, especially in light of great sins, or the pervasiveness of sin. David, this psalm’s writer, also wrote the song in 2 Samuel 22: “For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not done evil by turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.”

For some, these words seem sensationally out of step with the known sinful blunder of David with Bathsheba. Yet these words illustrate the grand character of the Lord and why his people exalt him and declare his glory. The point is not that David, or we, never sinned, or at least only had petty sins, but that the Lord’s salvation transforms people from sinful behavior and fully cleanses them so they can dwell in his eternal presence. Because of God’s glorious work in our lives, we are made blameless in his sight.

This thought leads into the final momentous verse which calls upon the Lord to monitor the believer’s speech and inner condition. The word “speech” is taken from verses 2 and 3. Since human speech can reflect one’s inner condition, the writer calls upon the Lord to guide his speech so it may declare God’s glory, not one’s sinful behavior against God.

And of course one’s speech derives from the condition of one’s heart. Therefore if one’s meditation is right, one’s speech should be righteous and pleasing to the Lord, with the effect that one’s voice will be added to the voices of creation which glorify God.

The psalm ends with the two terms—Rock and Redeemer. The appeal for help has been made to the unmovable strength (Rock) of one’s life and the blameless condition of the writer’s heart is due to the glorious transforming work of the Redeemer.

This psalm does not discuss redemption directly, yet the process of redemption clearly is seen in the progress through the three sections of the psalm—God calls our attention to himself; God reveals his claim on our lives; and God transforms us when we respond to the glorious testimony about him.

May our voices and our hearts glorify the Lord who has revealed himself to us.


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