Two Calls To Worship From Psalm 19
March 2013 — Grace & Truth Magazine
Two Calls To Worship From Psalm 19
Recently the world watched messages from the planet Mars that came in the form of photographs taken by Curiosity, the NASA Mars Rover. In Psalm 19 we find two messages sent to us from God – about His power and His love – that are worth our worshipful attention.
Psalm 19• A Psalm of DavidThe 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.
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.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.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.May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. God’s Power – Psalm 19:1-6
In the first, the psalm writer, David, personifies (gives human attributes to) the universe: “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” (Ps. 19:1-4 NIV). When David was a shepherd, he lived outdoors and would have seen God’s creation power in the sun, moon and stars (Ps. 8:3; 19:4-6). What message does the universe “declare ... proclaim ... reveal ... (and) voice” to us? That all of it is “the work of His hands” alone. God created the universe. Great knowledge and power would be required to provide the countless stars, the immense distances and the warmth of the sun. By looking at the universe, we see abundant evidence that God is a very powerful Creator. God’s Love – Psalm 19:7-14
When psalm writer David turns his pen to describe Scripture (which at that time comprised portions of the Old Testament written before 1000 BC), he changes the title of God from “El,” which means the powerful One behind creation (Strong’s, Hebrew 410), to “Yahweh,” which means the personal loving One who cares for His chosen people (Hebrew 3068). Scripture is a written message from God to us: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). David’s Scripture message largely contained God’s dealings with the Jews and their ancestors. He said that His words were “refreshing” and “wise,” “giving joy” and “light” and “great reward” (Ps. 19:7-11). In particular, God made covenants with the children of Israel in the days of Abraham, Moses and David (Gen. 12:2-3; Ex. 19-24; Lev.; 2 Sam. 7:5-16). In these He showed His love for them. Although they would reject Him, He would not reject them (Lev. 26:43-44). When we read the Old Testament, it becomes evident that God lovingly cares for His people, the descendants of Abraham. When we read the New Testament we discover this same care is ours as Christians. Lessons For Us
Today we still have the visible message of the created universe and the written message of the Bible. We have no excuse for not knowing what God has done for us: “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” (Rom. 1:20). In the New Testament Paul quoted Psalm 19:4 when he wrote that people had heard the message of God’s power and love as shown by Jesus: “Did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice [of the heavens, declaring the glory of God] has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18; Ps. 19:4). Seeing God’s power and love in Psalm 19 should bring us to say with the psalmist, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care” (Ps. 95:6-7). By George Hawke