Psalm 19

“I take this [Ps 19] to be the greatest poem in The Psalms and one of the greatest lyrics in the world,” opined C. S. Lewis in his book Reflections on the Psalms.

Multiple commentators and authors laud Psalm 19 as one of the noblest and greatest examples of Hebrew poetry. I would encourage you to pause for a minute and read it.

The Psalm naturally divides itself into three sections all of which ultimately give glory to God, proclaiming His reality and affirming His everlasting existence

Witness of God in the World

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

The cosmos cries there is a Creator. The creation shows design, order and intelligence. As one scientist said, “The universe behaves in an orderly way with all things following their own set of laws.”

This raises some serious questions: When did these laws originate? How did they originate? Why did they originate? And who ordinated them?

Since the 1980’s when Phillip E. Johnson began advocating for “Intelligent Design,” a growing body of scientists are rejecting the flawed Darwinian model of evolution and the idea that the universe and the complexity of life can be explained by mere random, natural causes.

Michael Denton, in Evolution: A Theory In Crisis, offered this analysis. “The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable, event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.”

Resources today are in abundance providing the average person with evidence that faith and science can co-exist. The Discovery Institute offers 6 convincing arguments for “Intelligent Design.”

Apologetic Press in their Reason and Revelation site provide numerous articles on the subject.

In a surrounding culture of paganism, the Psalmist, in verses 1-6, beautifully depicts the handiwork of God. The sun, the moon and the celestial planets declare His glory, demonstrate His creative genius, and proclaim “Our God, He is Alive.”

The Witness of the Word

If the world reveals God’s glory, then His Word reveals His goodness. The Creator has not left His creation in the dark. He has made known all the we need for life and godliness (2Pet. 1:3).

Using 6 different words to describe 6 specific effects, the Psalmist reminds us of the value, beauty and impact of God’s Word. The Psalm moves from acknowledging the Lord as the Creator, to the Divine Instructor.

The law of the Lord is the perfect testimony to teach us, reprove us, correct us, and instruct us in right living (2 Tim. 3:16).

The testimony of the Lord is sure, steadfast and reliable. It doesn’t change. And will provide wisdom beyond our years.

The statutes of the Lord are right. It rules will keep us from wrong. And bring us true joy.

The commandment of the Lord is free or error, deceit, or duplicity. It’s pure. Undefiled. And enlightening.

The fear of the Lord speaks to the reverence and respect for God’s Word.

The judgments of the Lord are accurate. And they will direct us to live a righteous life.

The value of God’s Word exceeds material wealth and is more satisfying than tasty food.

The Witness Within Us.

“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them,” wrote the philosopher Immanuel Kant, “the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”

The Psalmist closes (vv. 12-14), with a reference to that moral law within us. Batsell Barrett Baxter calls this the “sense of ought.” He writes in I Believe Because, “This ‘sense of ought,’ this moral sense within man, is not merely the result of the mores or customs of his culture. “Rather it is the innate capacity to know right from wrong.”

For the atheistic and agnostic the only alternative is a personal standard. But whose values will be use? What standard will be the basis? Can we trust our own feelings? Emotions? Opinions? And what about when ours differ?

When you operate your ethics apart from God, you end up with a Nazi Holocaust, or Putin’s genocide in Ukraine.

Thank God for His enduring witness in the world. In the world. And within those who walk in His ways.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman