Joining the Chorus of the Heavens: Learning to Pray Psalm 19 (part 3)

Today we complete our reading of Psalm 19 by reflecting on verses 11–14. Check out the posts on verses 1–6 and verses 7–10.

¹¹ By them your servant is warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can discern their own errors?
    Forgive my hidden faults.
¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
    may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
    innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19 reaches its climax in vv 11–14. Vv. 1–6 observed that the creation witnesses to the glory and awesomeness of God. But as we noted, the testimony of creation does not offer specifics regarding God’s character, mission, or will. Thus, there is no human response to the witness of creation except for the awe that comes from recognizing a creator.

Verses 7–10 record the clear and unambiguous witness of God’s Word through his Law. God’s Law or Torah is transformative and effective in revealing God’s truth and will for humanity. It is priceless. It is a complete revelation—just as there were six days of God’s creative activity (Gen 1:1–31), there are six different synonyms for the Torah of the LORD  six recurrences of the name the LORD. We also saw how in the New Testament Jesus serves as the perfectly faithful human and the living Word of God for the world. Jesus reveals God through his life, death, and resurrection.

In verses 11–14, humanity responds and joins with creation in declaring the good news about God. The revelation of the law or Torah of the LORD creates the response in humanity. In verse 11, the psalmist recognizes the power of God’s word in revealing God’s way through the world. They serve both to warn God’s people and to point to the way of greatest blessing. This truth overwhelms the psalmist and causes him to recognize his lack of faithfulness and the presence of both intentional and unintentional errors in his life. In other words, the law of the LORD speaks directly to us of both our potential as God’s people and our pitfalls in our struggles to love God and neighbor. What are we do in light of recognition of our own sins and lack before the LORD? This psalm has good news. We turn to God and pray for cleansing (vv. 12b–13).

God hears our prayers. Psalm 19 assumes transformation and ends powerfully. Verse 14 testifies of the LORD’s work in the life of the psalmist. He moves from awestruck observer of creation’s praise (vv. 1–6) to recipient of revelation through the law of the LORD to a person with a testimony of transformation as the psalmist’s own voice joins the chorus of creation. May we experience this transformation as well so that we can join in the witness: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Note that verse 14 contains the seventh occurrence of LORD in the psalm. With our transformed witness, the revelation of the LORD is now complete.

This psalm is rich. It reminds us of the wonder of God’s world in which we live, it revels in the power of God’s word to reveal our deepest needs, it testifies to God’s willingness to forgive and transform us, and it calls us to realign with God’s mission by adding our witness to the chorus of all creation.

What needs in the psalmist’s life does the law of the LORD reveal?

What is the connection between transformation and mission?

How does Psalm 19 teach us to pray?

Joining the Chorus of the Heavens: Learning to Pray Psalm 19 (part 2)

^{In the previous post, we began our study of Psalm 19 by reflecting on its opening six verses.}   

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,
    refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰ They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the honeycomb.

Psalm 19:7–10 marks a return to the theme of the first Psalm: the power of Scripture and the essential role that it serves the people of God. Psalm 19 is the second of three psalms in the Psalter that focus on Scripture: 1, 19, 119. Scholars refer to these three psalms as Torah psalms. Torah refers to the authoritative instruction that God delivered to Moses at Sinai for God’s people. These psalms serve to orient God’s people to their core Scripture.     According to Psalm 1, God’s people can experience a true happy state of existence by allowing God’s Word to permeate and shape their lives. Psalm 

19:7–10 reroots God’s people in the Torah after the heavy dose of lament psalms that precede it. Psalm 19 reflects on the power of Torah to transform people.
 
Scripture is an essential part of the journey of God’s people through the world as they seek to live as his missional community that reflects his character. As we learn to pray as we follow Jesus into the world on mission, we’ve already felt the power of the laments and experienced the unbridled sense of wonder in Israel’s praise (both within the lament psalms as well as in the hymn of Psalm 8). Psalm 19:7–10 reorients us to the Torah as a source of transforming truth as we seek to live faithfully as God’s missional people.
 
In vv. 7–9, we find six lines which follow a recurring pattern: (1) 6 synonym for Torah: law, statutes, precepts, commands, fear, and decrees; (2) 6 recurrences of LORD; (3) 6 adjectives that provide an attribute of Torah: perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, and firm; and (4) 6 results or effects of Torah: refreshing the soul, making wise the simple, giving joy to the heart, giving light to the eyes, enduring forever, and all of them are righteous.
 
These verses reenforce in the us the truth that God’s Word is primarily about transformation. It reveals to us specific teaching about the LORD’s character, mission, and will. Scripture is God’s roadmap for the journey of life. To live faithfully as God’s missional people we need to breathe in and out Scripture on a daily basis. It is our fuel.
 
The six-fold recurring pattern of vv. 7–9 reminds us of God’s six days of creative activity. The implication is that Scripture is complete. It teaches us the truth about the LORD. Note also that LORD is now used rather that God. With the revelation of the law of the LORD comes specificity and clarity of instruction. Creation witnesses to the existence and glory of the Creator; Scripture provides us with details and direct teaching to shape us into the people whom the LORD created us to be.
 
Verse 10 emphasizes the value and desirability of the LORD’s teaching. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, it is more valuable than gold and more delicious and savory than the finest honey. This is because it provides us with access to the will and desires of our Creator. It is the LORD’s gift to us.

What role does Scripture serve in the life of faith?
 
How would you describe or testify to the power of Scripture in your life?

Joining the Chorus of the Heavens: Learning to Pray Psalm 19 (part 1)

About Psalm 19, C. S. Lewis wrote, "I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.”[1] 

Psalm 19 reorients us to the Torah as a source of strength and sustenance for the journey.

Psalm 19 includes elements of praise and petition. It opens with a sense of awe at the distinct witness of creation to its creator (vv. 1–6). The praise continues but shifts to focus on the power of the LORD’s concrete revelation to God’s people in the form of the Torah (vv. 7-10). The psalms concludes with the psalmist recognizing his or her own need before the shining light of God’s word (vv. 11–14). In verse 14, the Psalm comes full circle with a request by the psalmist for cleansing so that he or she may join in the praise of the LORD in concert with the voices of the heavens.
Psalm 19 begins by reflecting on the witness to God by the creation itself. As we saw in our review of 146–150, the final psalms especially 148 and 150 anticipate an all creation praise of the LORD.

Psalm 19 opens memorably, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Glory refers to God’s awesomeness or weightiness. There is a witness in creation about the Creator. It is interesting that in Psalm 19 two different words for “God” are deployed. In v. 1, it is a generic word “God” that could be used of any “god.” Obviously, the psalmist has Israel’s God in mind, but it is notable that God’s personal name “LORD” is found only from vv. 7–14 when the witness of the Torah is in view.

Why is this? This is part of the beauty of Ps 19. Creation offers a witness to the reality of the divine, but look at vv. 2–4. There is revelation about God but it is not clear or specific. When we ponder the beauty and grandeur of creation, we can recognize the hand of the Creator, but we do not gain specific knowledge of God’s character, mission, or will.

Of creation’s witness, Paul writes these words in Romans 1:20, “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.”

Thus, nature shows us that there is a Creator.  But we as person’s seeking to know God need more.
We desire to know: Who is God? What is God’s will? We need a clear Word from God.  

Psalm 19 transitions to the next section by reflecting on the sun in vv. 4b–6. The sun is everywhere and brings its life-giving warmth to the entire earth. As we will see, the law or Torah of the LORD will serve in this role for people. It will be the law of the LORD that provides clear instruction and transformative truth to guide us through the world.

How does nature proclaim God’s glory?
What is your personal experience of nature’s proclamation?
What are the limitations of natural revelation?


[1] Reflections on the Psalms, 56.