In one of our Lord Jesus’ teachings, He taught His disciples to look – look at the birds, look at the lilies of the fields…to show them how faithful God was (Matthew 6:26). It seems like David in Psalm 19 was doing the same. He seems to have been looking at things that caused him to worship His Lord and offer his life unto Him. What, or where did he look?
LOOK UP!
Psalms 19:1-6 (NIV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
David looked up to the heavens, and for him it proclaimed the glory and greatness of his God! Each day and night that came, every sunrise, every starry night, spoke to his heart and gave him a reason to worship.
Many people look up to the heavens and wonder if there are other beings living somewhere in space. Christians look up to the heavens and proclaim the greatness and glory of their Lord! He is our Creator, and all creation speaks of who He is. The universe was made to proclaim Him.
A Christian’s relationship with God is directly related to how great and awesome his God is in his heart. The greater our God is in our hearts, the more our relationship with Him is strengthened, the more we bow down in worship and adoration, the more we submit and obey. Looking up to the stars, admiring each beautiful day, should reveal to us more and more how great our God is.
LOOK DOWN:
Psalms 19:7-11 (NIV)
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving 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 ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
David then shifts his focus to the law of the Lord. Yes the heavens proclaim the glory of God, but He has also left us with His Word that God wants us to be looking at, words that also proclaim who our God is, and what His will is for us.
God, in His grace, left us with 66 books, written by authors inspired, all connected, all written to reveal who our God is, and what His will and desire is for us. It is in Scripture that we, His children, find all that we need for life and godliness in this world.
His Word is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, sure and altogether righteous! God’s Word revives us, makes us wise, gives joy to our hearts, gives light to our eyes. They are to be more precious than gold, sweeter than honey to us.
And it is His Word that God uses to warn us, correct us, rebuke us, that we may walk and live as He desires for us to live.
LOOK IN:
Psalms 19:12-13 (NIV)
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
As David reflected on the glory of His God, and the relevance of His word, this moved him to desire to offer to God a blameless and righteous life. When someone is given a glimpse of how great his God is, and how precious His words are, it should move him to offer to his God what is best, what is right. At the same time, this revelation of God’s glory also reveals the content of our heart. This moved David to confess and seek deliverance from the Lord.
First concerning his hidden faults. In His presence our hidden faults are revealed, faults that even our own hearts could not detect! We should never think that we are the best judge of our character or righteousness. Only God knows who we are, and only He can see all our faults, even those hidden from our own “eyes”.
And through His Word our willful sins are also exposed. What are willful sins? They are sins that we willfully commit, even if we know they go against the will of our Lord. Sometimes the pull of the world, and our fleshly desires, are so strong we willfully follow them. Here we need God’s deliverance – we ask Him to keep us from willful sins, from people and places that will tempt us to sin. Our desire is that God rules our lives, and not our sins.
In the presence of a glorious, great and awesome God one can only desire to be blameless and holy before Him.
With this, David ended his psalm by
LOOKING UP again:
Psalms 19:14 (NIV)
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Again David looked up, this time with a prayer, that his heart and his life would be pleasing to his Rock and Redeemer.
The glory and greatness of our God, as seen in creation and His word, reveals our need for Him to cleanse us, and brings a desire for us to offer to Him a heart and life that are pleasing to Him.
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