The Heavens Declare the Glory of God: Psalms 19:1-14

Rev. David Hall (Penrith Presbyterian Church)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hand. Day after day they four forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, 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 hiding from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statues 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 ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:1-14)

One of the popular children’s songs in English about God goes: “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do”. Little children often have a very simple but trusting view of God. The question for us is, if we were asked to describe God, would we use these words? Would we say that our God is so big, so strong and so mighty that there’s nothing our God cannot do? Are we really convinced of the power and might of our sovereign God?

Psalm 19 is a psalm that expresses something of the power and glory of God. It reminds us of God’s glorious might and power. It helps us, who believe in Jesus, to see again some small part of the awesomeness of God. It is also a challenge to anyone who does not yet believe in Jesus to think about who God really is and what he has done. The psalm helps us to see something of the glory of God.

Glory in the heavens

First the writer of the psalm draws our attention to the glory of God seen in the universe around us. The opening words are:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalms 19:1)

This is a truth written about 3000 years ago, some 1000 years before Jesus was born. It was written by a man called David. As a young man he had been a shepherd—but God had taken him from looking after his father’s sheep, to being a skilled soldier, to becoming a great king who was responsible for leading the people of Israel, the people of God in Old Testament times. We don’t know exactly when he wrote the words of this psalm, but perhaps when he wrote these words he may have been remembering the days when he was a young man working for his father in the country, looking after the sheep by day and night. In those days he had no iPhone to talk to anyone on. Neither did he have an MP3 player to listen to. So as the sheep grazed peacefully in the grass he had plenty of time to look up and think about what he saw above him.

His conclusion was that in the heavens above, the glory of God is declared and his handiwork is proclaimed. The words David uses are very interesting. The heavens and the sky above are not simply passively showing God’s glory. They are declaring and proclaiming his work and his glory. It is important to see the parallelism of this first verse. David is repeating the same idea but phrased a little differently. He speaks of the heavens or of the sky above, this is clearly all that is visible above the earth. He uses two very active verbs, to declare and to proclaim. These two words remind the reader that what is seen above the earth is bearing witness to who God is and what he has done. God’s glory and God’s handiwork are testified to by the visible created universe above the earth. Here is a clear link between God’s creation and his glory. This is a reminder of the opening chapters in Genesis of the account of creation. During God’s work of creation, the words “And God saw that it was good” (or similar) were repeated (see Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). At the end of creation, as God surveys everything that he made, the comment is “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Because the created universe was made by the almighty God it is very good, and as such it testifies clearly to the work of God and the glory of God. These two ideas are inseparable. Just as God created the universe in the beginning and saw that it was very good, so as we look at the universe, in particular the heavens above, and see the intelligence, creative, and craft of God, this reveals something of his eternal incomprehensible glory.

One of the questions that challenge us is: When was the last time we took some quiet time to consider the glory of God in the heavens above; when did we last actually look up and contemplate the vastness and beauty of our God? It is true that many people today lead very busy lives, and sometimes there seems to be no time to pause for a moment and look up and see the heavens above.

There are also a couple of good practical reasons for not looking up. During the day the sun is just too bright. Secondly, most of the time if we are walking or driving or travelling our attention is focused on the land around us; we are looking where we are going and we cannot be looking upward. Walking and driving around a busy city requires that we keep our attention on the people or cars around us so we won’t have some sort of accident.

But perhaps many of us have simply lost sight of the magnificence of the universe that God has created and maintains. Maybe we have watched too many science fiction or futuristic movies. Maybe we have seen too many Hollywood massive tidal waves and tornadoes. Maybe we just don’t take time out to sit and look and reflect on the wonder and work of God that is before our eyes. Or perhaps we have become so familiar with the grandeur, beauty and power that we simply don’t think about it anymore. Now would be a good time to take time out to listen to the heavens, proclaiming and declaring God’s handiwork and glory.

What is it, then, that David saw; what work did the skies proclaim? They proclaimed the handiwork and glory of a purposeful creator God. They speak to all who look of an ultimate designer, a magnificently creative architect, an engineer of a scale we cannot comprehend, and an artist whose beautiful and spectacular creation is impossible to grasp. And all of this creation declares his glory.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they display knowledge. (Psalms 19:2)

David reminds us that this display of glory is continual. Day after day, night after night. The heavens speak not just of the great creator but the one who day by day sustains the universe we live in. What do the heavens speak about? Perhaps we would say his power, his strength, his creativity, his eternal nature, his love. What is the knowledge that is displayed? It is the knowledge of a creator and a designer whose work we cannot comprehend. Even in this day of technological advances people are only just beginning to gain some understanding of the complexities, intricacies and also the vastness of this universe in which we live.

David, in this second verse, is emphasizing the regularity or constancy of the universe that God has made. God made our planet so we could live on it. The whole universe is perfectly designed by God for his glory, and part of his glory is that we live and breathe on this wonderful planet Earth. Days and nights, sun, rain, wind and snow are part of God’s perfect schedule to enable people to live and enjoy him. The seasons and times are God’s timetable for planet Earth. God provides day for activity and night for rest—simply by spinning the world so that it spins once every 24 hours. Just think with me about how God has designed this world to spin on its axis. The speed at the equator is about 1674 km per hour. Earth’s mass is estimated to be about 6.0 x 10²⁴ kg (6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tonnes: 6.0 x 10²¹ t). This rotation has been going on for thousands and thousands of years continuously at the same speed. And how does this massive planet stay in place? All of this surely demonstrates the brilliance of God’s creation.

Let’s just compare this spinning planet for a moment with a washing machine. Our experience with automatic washing machines over the years has not been very successful. We always seemed to have had problems with our washing machines. If our washing machine lasted five years before it broke down that was a real achievement. It rotates a lot, lot slower than the earth. Its mass or weight is a lot, lot less than the Earth—but it only lasts for about five years.

Does it ever occur to you when you wake up in the morning to consider whether today the rotation of the Earth might stop? That sometime around lunch time the earth will grind to a halt? That there will be a malfunction in the rotation of the earth and it will stop rotating? It never occurs to us because this universe pours forth speech about the magnificent designer whose knowledge and power is infinite. The universe tells us clearly of a master creator who has made everything very good. It also tells us of a God who not only created the universe but lovingly maintains it every moment of every day.

Day after day and night after night, his hands and mind control this universe.

And this is not something that only some people can see and experience. God displays his universe to every person in the world:

There is no speech or language
    where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world. (Psalms 19:3-4a)

It is true that the world is full of many different cultures, languages and people groups. But we all get to see the same universe. God in his goodness displays his glory to us here in Mongolia and to everyone throughout the world. Where ever we are in this world, God displays his handiwork and his understanding. It is just another of God’s gifts that all who live on this planet get to see God’s proclamation in the heavens. Consider for a moment how just and fair God is that all people get to see his glory and to hear the declaration and proclamation of the universe—God’s handiwork. How sad it is that so many reject his glory.

David moves now from the general to the specific—from reflecting on the whole of the universe to looking more closely at the sun.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
    which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
    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 hidden from its heat. (Psalms 19:4b-6)

If we had the time, we could explore further the writer’s specific example of the sun, which reminds us of God’s awesome power and might. It is enough to remind ourselves that without the sun we would be in a very bad state. This magnificent global power station is both our heating and our light.

Lest we forget how ‘hot’ it is, scientists tell us that at the outer edges of the sun the heat can be about 60,000 °C—but on the sun’s surface it can be about 1,000,000 °C. These are beyond anything we can imagine. We find a day when the temperature is above 40 °C to be very hot. We just don’t have words to describe the heat and energy of the sun.

We have a wonderful advantage over David when we consider all the pictures and technical information we now have about our universe and in particular our sun. We have all manner of telescopes and satellite imaging that enables us to look at close up images of the sun. In his day he saw the heavens through his own eyes. I don’t imagine he was able to see the sun like we can. We have the advantage of advances in technology that allow us to obtain pictures way beyond what we can see with our own eyes. These tell even more clearly about our glorious God, the one who created this brilliant universe that reflects his power and knowledge. If David was impressed by God’s handiwork, how much more we should be. If David was moved to acknowledge the glory of God because of what he saw in the heavens, how much more should we who see more clearly the beauty, power and majesty of God’s creation?

The glory of his Word

But then David turns to another demonstration of God: his written and shared Word:

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving 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 ordinances of the Lord are sure
    and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalms 19:7-11)

The writer turns from the physical laws that guide the universe to the spiritual laws that guide us. Most of us, I think, struggle with the word law. For many of us our idea about law is often not very pleasant. We perhaps associate law with unnecessary restrictions or of being made to feel guilty. But we need to look carefully at this passage to understand what David is really speaking about.      

He uses six descriptive words – law, statutes, precepts, commands, fear and ordinances. The simplest explanation is that these are an attempt to describe all that God has communicated directly to his people. We could perhaps say they are God’s loving words for our salvation. In our day and age we would describe this as the Bible. For David it would have been at least the first five books of the Bible. As the heavens declare God’s glory, so his spoken revelation declares specifically who he is, who we are, and our relationship to God. Just as the heavens proclaim God’s glory and handiwork, so the Word of God displays God’s glory and handiwork.

God’s Word is described as being:

·         perfect

·         trustworthy

·         right

·         pure

·         sure and altogether righteous.

The effect of God’s Word in our lives is described as:

·         reviving the soul

·         making the simple wise

·         giving joy to the heart

·         giving light to the eyes

·         being more precious than gold

·         being sweeter than honey

·         warning

·         rewarding.

But just as when we consider the universe, we recognize that we are so much more fortunate than David. We can see images of the universe that were physically impossible for him. In the same manner, through the coming of the Lord Jesus, we have not only his written Word as a revelation but his own Son—the living Word. The New Testament records for us that universe shattering event. The God of the universe—this one who created it, the one who keeps it going, the all-powerful, all knowing God—became a baby. Jesus is the perfect demonstration of God. God proclaims his immeasurable love and grace towards us in sending his son. Jesus demonstrates both his love for the Father and for us in going freely to die in our place. Thankfully God has given us four wonderful accounts of Jesus ministry and his death and resurrection in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Lord Jesus is in the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3a)

God has revealed himself to all people through his creation. God has revealed his plan of salvation for all people through his Word and his Son. David turns now from considering God’s world and God’s word to look at himself.

The glory of God in God’s people through Christ

The creation account in Genesis chapter 1 teaches that the highlight of God’s creation was the creation of people. Man and woman created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). But what does David see when he looks inward? And what do we see when we look at ourselves?

David writes:

Who can discern his errors?
    Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
    may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
    innocent of great transgression. (Psalms 19:12-13)

David is very conscious that in fact sometimes the glory of God is hidden in himself. God’s glory is distorted through his errors, his hidden faults and his willful sins. Is that the effect that this Psalm has on us? When we consider the glory of God in the heavens and when we consider the glory of God in his perfect pure Word and our Lord Jesus, does it make us see again how we have not honored God in our lives? There are many things in our life that don’t reflect God’s glory but reflect our own self-centeredness. The universe shows his glory, God’s Word shows his glory, the Lord Jesus shows his glory, but what of our lives? Our lives often seem quite a wreck. How can our lives radiate his glory? How can this sinful being please God?

We begin to see the solution in the last part of the verse. David speaks of being blameless and being innocent of great transgression. But being told to be blameless is being asked in one sense to do the impossible. We are not able to be blameless by ourselves, and we certainly cannot in any way remove our past blameful behavior. How can we be blameless? How can we who were created for God’s glory and rebelled against it possibly show his glory? We turn to the final verse to see David’s life-giving words:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)

David echoes our deepest desire—to please our God. To please the one who made this world. To please the one who keeps this universe going. To please the one who desires to be friends with us.

But how can we please him? We find the solution in the last two words: “my Redeemer”.

David understood that God was his redeemer, the one who saved him. But our understanding of God as savior is found in Jesus. David has considered the wonderful handiwork of God in the universe that God has made and sustains. David has considered God’s wonderful work of revealing himself through his Word. All of this proclaims God’s glory and handiwork. And yet the most magnificent demonstration of God’s glory, power and understanding is to make a sinner like you or me into one of his children.

Through the death of Jesus on the cross, Jesus has paid the price of our rebellion. He has made it possible for everything wrong we have ever done and every wrong thing that we will do to be cancelled out. One of the great mysteries of the universe is that when God looks at those who believe in Jesus—in the place of our sinfulness God sees Jesus sacrifice. In the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:21,

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”.

Whenever I read that verse I am reminded of the traditional Mongolian clothing for men and women. It’s called a dell. A new dell for an important occasion is very nice and clean—it is often worn over clothes that are old and have been worn for many days or weeks. So with us, the dell of Jesus’ righteousness covers perfectly the dirt of our sin. Our sins are made clean by the righteousness of Christ. Although in ourselves we can never be blameless, yet in and through Christ’s glorious sacrifice, through him giving his life for us, paying the penalty for our rebellion, we are clothed in his righteousness and appear blameless in the sight of God. All of this is for the praise of his glory.

Conclusion

The heavens declare God’s glory.

The Word of God declares God’s glory, and the Son of God declares God’s glory.

The miracle of Jesus’ work of salvation in our lives declares God’s glory.

How then should we respond to our glorious creator, savior God?

First God wants to save us from our sin and to redeem us through Christ his Son. Even though we know we are wretched sinners, his Word and his Son promise that by trusting in him our sins can be washed away.

Second, we need to look around again and realize through the work of God’s hands—this universe that he made and sustains—God is awesomely powerful. To be protected by this God means that absolutely nothing can happen to us that God does not allow. We are perfectly protected. We learn this from the heavens, from his word and from Jesus.

Thirdly there is an interesting difference, in this psalm, between God’s revelation in the heavens and God’s revelation through his Word and his Son. Everyone can see God’s revelation in the heavens, but not everyone can see God’s revelation through his Word and his Son. His desire is for us to be involved in spreading his word of salvation—the message of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

We began with the words of a children’s song about God. So let’s take those words and change them a little in the light of this psalm:

God’s bigness and strength are seen in the saving work of Jesus.
God’s bigness and strength are seen in protecting and keeping us in this world.
God’s bigness and strength are seen in enabling us to share Jesus with others.

And all of this reflects his glory.

There really is nothing that God cannot do in this universe, in this world, in this country and in us.

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. (Hosea 6:3a)