Ps. 19: Thoughts on God

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

David gets all deep and cerebral here in the 19th Psalm. But still it is a very beautiful passage. When David talks about declaring the glory of God, no words are needed. The heavens, the skies...they are the messengers. They tell everyone, regardless of language, that God is glorious. In some mystical way, that cosmic message gets out there to the world, to everyone. It's an amazing thought, really. So what about followers of other gods? Are they blinded? Do they refuse it? The writer has no thought that creation may be an accident. Its simply impossible, doesn't come up.

This display of the knowledge of God is nonstop, day and night. The sun speaks to the daytime, while the stars talk to the night. Permeating, going into all the earth...the message is a constant, as water flowing into everything. There is nothing, nobody that doesn't experience night or day, and hence nothing, nobody that doesn't experience God's glory.

God's law is perfect and it revives the soul. If you follow it, I suppose.

God's statutes are trustworthy. He doesn't go back on his word, and means what He says with integrity. "Making wise the simple..." I ponder that. Those who don't have wisdom simply need to hold to God's statutes. That in itself is wise, but gives birth then to wisdom, recursively, I spose.

Why would fear be pure? Two things I don't often see in one sentence, or describing each other. But this fear...this awe of God is pure. It cannot be contaminated because of the ineffability of God. The fear is too deep and immense to be anything but pure. It is beyond a fleshly fear, which can be unhealthy or misplaced or screwed up or pointless.

Gold is just about the most valuable thing on earth (ask those who assembled the tabernacle). Yet here David elevates the ordinances of God above that. More precious than gold, sweeter than honey. Now, I've tasted honey. And what I remember most about honey besides me not wanting to stop eating it is that it is sticky. Honey is something you experience with all 5 senses (What, you haven't heard anyone crunching on Honey Nut Cheerios?). The ordinances of God are above this.

Interesting that David calls these things a warning as well as a reward. A warning not to avoid these precepts, this fear of God. A reward in that they are highly prized (again...gold).

And I don't know how many people are up on their own hidden sins. The stuff a person does without realizing it. Will these pillars that David describes here in chapter 19 prevent these sins? Maybe not, but here is David asking for forgiveness. He is conscious of the presence of unconscious sin. Wild. I would have never thought about that. David asks God to keep him also from willful sins. When you know you are about to sin but you just don't care. Or you don't consider pleasing God, the rock and redeemer.

Overall, I feel like this Psalm is a pause...a refresher, a breather...from the frenetic pace of Psalm 18. With the conflict and fear behind him, David can meditate on God, without being distracted by the danger from his enemies.

Psalm 19 reminds me of:

Famous One by Chris Tomlin