Psa 19:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A PSALM OF DAVID”.

OUTLINE: The modernists say that here are two completely different psalms (vv 1-6,7-14) stuck together by a compiler. If so, that compiler was a genius. However, Bullinger shows how to discern unity here: A. 1-4b. The heavens. The word written there. B. 4c-6. “In them” the sun. A. 7-10. The Scriptures. B. 11-14. “In them” (Heb) Thy Servant.

The psalm may be seen as a combination of Psa 8 and Psa 119. For other psalms about the glory of God in Nature, consider Psa 29, 65, 93, 104, 107, and 148. The names of God are specially appropriate here: El (the Mighty God) in v 1, and then Jehovah/Yahweh (the Covenant God) 7 times in vv 7-14. Cp the switch from Elohim in Gen 1 to Jehovah in Gen 2; 3. Whereas Psa 8 paints the glory of the heavens as seen by night, this psalm does the same as seen by day. The sky above man and the moral law within man (put there, of course, by God) both testify to the existence of Omnipotence. (See LGS: “Out of Whom are All Things”, Xd 1923 May.)

DECLARE: LXX sw Luk 1:1, intimating that the best declaration of the glory of God is in the story about Christ: cp. also Joh 1:14,18.

SKIES: “Firmament” (AV), LXX has sw Col 2:5: “steadfastness” or “firmness” (RSV), referring to the faith of Christ’s ecclesia.

PROCLAIM: LXX has sw Luk 9:60: to publish the gospel.

Psa 19:2

POUR FORTH: Heb naba: a spring gushing out water. The word for prophet (nabi) is probably derived from this — the spokesman who “pours forth” the word of God. See Psa 78:2; 145:7; Pro 15:2.

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT THEY DISPLAY KNOWLEDGE: The knowledge of God’s existence and power but not of His character or purpose. Rom 1:20 is not to be interpreted by this verse, but by Eph 2:10.

Psa 19:3

“Where” (AV) is in italics, and should be omitted. There is no voice. It is a silent witness, like that of the Scriptures themselves. (“They have no speech, there are no words; no sound is heard from them — yet their line goes out into all the earth”: NIV mg; cp RV); ct the voice of the Lord in the storm (Psa 29). Every word of Addison’s paraphrase, in Hymn 79, (“The spacious firmament on high…”) deserves to be carefully pondered. Yet how often it is sung vigorously but without thought!

Psa 19:4

THEIR VOICE GOES OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH: In Rom 10:18 Paul appears to be misusing his Scripture when applying “their sound (LXX) is gone out into all the earth” (apparently about the silent witness of the heavens) to the vocal message of the gospel taken everywhere by the Lord’s preachers. This use of Psa 19:1-6 is Paul’s way of declaring that this emphasis on the celestial witness to the glory of God is to be read as a parable of the preaching of the gospel, a greater witness to that same glory. JT goes yet further: “This was not all that the prophecy [of v 2] intended. How much more fully will it be accomplished when Christ and all the apostles, prophets, and saints, accepted and approved of him, shall have brought all nations into the blessedness of Abraham and his Seed” (Eur 3:679).

“Their line is gone out through all the earth” (AV) uses a word which means “boundary line” (Jer 31:39; 1Ki 7:23). Apparently Paul alludes to this phrase with ref to his preaching: 2Co 10:13,14; cp Mar 16:15. The preaching of the gospel (and its hearty reception) was the means of marking out a boundary between the heritage of the Lord and the rest of the world (cp the idea of Psa 16:6). And, as that preaching proceeds, it breaks down all other existing boundaries — ethnic and national and political.

THE SUN: The sun in the heavens is an easy figure of the message concerning Messiah in the Scriptures. In fact, two and one-half verses out of six emphasize this. All else that is mentioned in the world of Nature is Night-and-Day. Christ the Sun (2Sa 23:4; Mal 4:1,2; Mat 17:2; Act 26:13; Rev 1:16) gives Light to all his New Creation, but also comforting warmth to those who appreciate him, and the fierce heat of judgment to those who do not (see also Psa 72:17; Isa 60:1-3; 2Th 1:7,8).

VOICE: “Line” (AV) is sw in Isa 28:10,13; this suggests the idea of simple teaching. LXX, RSV, and other versions repeat the word voice. This involves the addition of one letter to the text, but preserves the parallelism with their words. (The word for “line” may also mean a harp string — so suggesting itself an audible sound, and thus maintaining the same parallelism.)

Psa 19:5

A BRIDEGROOM COMING FORTH FROM HIS PAVILION: Sym anticipation of the resurrection of Mar 16:2? Or of 2nd Coming of Mal 4:2 (or both)? The new Day is preceded by a Morning Star (2Pe 1:19) and by a brightening dawn as prophecies are fulfilled. “Chamber” is the bridal canopy of protection, referred to in Isa 4:5 (“defence” = covering) and Joel 2:16.

LIKE A CHAMPION REJOICING TO RUN HIS COURSE: “The outset of his military career” (Eur 3:431; cp Rev 19 — where Christ is first the Bridegroom and then the military leader). Cp the allusion in Jdg 5:31.

CHAMPION: “Strong man” (AV) is gibbor in Heb: a mighty man, a hero — esp in war. See 2Sa 23:8,9,16,17,22: David’s “mighty men”.

REJOICING: This Heb verb always means joy in the Lord. Some examples: Deu 28:63; 30:9; Psa 35:9; 40:16; 68:3; 70:4; 119:14; Isa 35:1; 61:10; etc.

Psa 19:6

RISES: “Going forth” (AV) is the sw Mic 5:2, ref to the divine parentage of the Messiah.

NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM ITS HEAT: Cp Heb 4:12,13, about the (personal) Word of God. Man may seek to hide from him as the Light (Joh 3:19; 9:41; 12:46,48), but he cannot escape the heat of his judgment.

Psa 19:7

Vv 7-9: