One of the most profound philosophers to ever live, Immanuel Kant, marveled at the starry heavens above and the moral law within and noted that both echo this truth of this psalm, because both reveal God's glory.
I have a growing appreciation for the Psalms.
For their poetic styles.
For their heart wrenching expressions.
For... their truth.
And I come to this psalm, a poem written by David... And I am stopped.
I have used many posts to describe the meaning of this blog, but this might be the most important one of all.
This psalm provides the perfect backdrop to the phrase, to the idea, of Inside and Overneath.
God is transcending any box of understanding I could possibly try to trap Him in.
God is immanently revealing Himself in the most paradoxical, wonderful, mysterious, and intimate of ways.
God is present.
And this idea floors me.
Present in my distress, in my happiness, in my holiness, and in my sin.
For the director of music. 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 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 hidden from its heat.
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. 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.
-Psalm 19 (NIV 1984 Version)
Can you picture David writing these words? Perhaps as a young shepherd boy he remembers stretching out on the ground in the middle of the pasture. Crickets chirping, sheep occasionally "Bhaaa-ing". And there he is taken aback by the immense beauty that is before him. No light pollution, no carbon emissions clogging the atmosphere... Just Creation in it's splendor.
Billions of stars stretched out across that Bethlehem sky.
In the middle of the day, looking up at the movement of the sun... how it just races across the sky. The clouds covering it as like a tent.
Standing in a field all day of course he would feel the immense heat that rains down from it...
It is a man who is enthralled in the creativity of God.
And then... David switches tones.
He starts talking about the Law of the LORD.
What?
You mean Deuteronomy and Leviticus and all that boring stuff?
Yes.
Because David cannot separate the God of wonders and story of His people. The law of his people. The commands of this immeasurable, loving, and wonderful God.
David describes the Law by five names, epithets, and effects. In the span of ten lines. And adds 7 statements to qualify his descriptions.
For a Jew, that is something important.
The topic is the law.
It is written in 5 sets.
And with 10 lines.
With 7 qualifying statements
Torah. (First 5 books.)
10 Commandments.
7 days of Creation which equates to completion.
Welcome to Hebrew poetry, where numbers matter.
The Law however is a rule. God’s testimony for the truth, His special and general prescription of duty, fear (as its cause) and judicial decision. It is distinct and certain, reliable, right, pure, holy, and always true. It is the Word and Rule of the LORD that revives those depressed by doubts, makes wise the unskilled (2 Tim 3:15), rejoices the lover of truth, strengthens the desponding (Psalm 13:4; 34:6), provides permanent principles of conduct, and by God’s grace brings a rich reward.
This is God swimming through the mud of humanity and getting involved in our lives.
So much so, that he dared to wrap Himself with human flesh and dwell among us. (John 1)
The clearer our view of the law, the more manifest are our sins... And the more we come to grips with the age old truth that WE NEED A SAVIOR.
God loves the fact that we need Him.
Was it His plan? No...
Was it His orginal desire? No...
Does He like the fact that we are sinners? No...
But in the midst of all the bad and evil that we have clogged ourselves with and this world with. A cry for help, mercy, and a real, honest, and true desire to be close with Our Father and Creator again... Well, nothing on earth can make His heart skip faster.
God gets to be our Savior when we understand that we need Him to be.
The Law of the LORD gives us that understanding.
Still for its full effect we need divine grace to show us our faults, acquit us, restrain us from the practice, and free us from the power, of sin.
Thus only can our conduct be blameless, and our words and thoughts acceptable to God.
Bottom line I guess is that we need the Law. The Word of God. And we can look at it in its many pages and see the Word incarnate unveiling before our very faces.
The whole of the Bible speaks toward one man: The Lord Jesus Christ.
Like in the time of Moses, David, and even during the height of the Roman Empire, when people were seeking out ways to honor and not upset "the gods", the One True God, gave them His standards so they wouldn't have to guess any longer.
What does the Lord require of you, Oh man? But to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
Psalm 19 makes this alive for me.
I hope it does for you too.
How do we become close with God?
Perhaps the words of Psalm 1 will clear that up for us,
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.Meditate upon Jesus.
Meditate upon the Scriptures.
And I hope you can find that the prayer to close Psalm 19 out can become your own:
Father,
Declare me innocent from my hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Make me blameless,
and innocent of great transgression!Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer!
