By Toni Ford
When writing Psalm 19, David wanted to emphasize God’s revelations of Himself in creation, scripture and the human heart. C.S. Lewis referred to this Psalm by saying, “I take this (Psalm 19) to be the greatest poem in The Psalms and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” I have to agree with C.S. Lewis that this is one of the greatest Psalms written, mainly because it describes not only the beauty of our God but also His majestic character.
God as our Creator. Have you ever seen a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or looked up in the sky only to see a galaxy of stars and planets shining so brightly? In this Psalm, verses 1-6 gives us a beautiful example of all the ways our God speaks to us through His creation, day after day and night after night. David understood this concept and experienced it himself as a shepherd tending to his flock amidst God’s creation. David had an even greater understanding of the importance of worshipping the Creator and not the creation. Even today, our God’s speech “pours out” through His creation to each of us – silently, abundantly and universally.
God as our Instructor. The God of creation is also the God of personal revelation to His people. In Psalm 19: 7-11, David describes six different names for God’s Word, six attributes of the Word and six ministries of the Word. God in His Word is our testimony, our instructor, our director, the one who provides us with daily instruction on how to live our lives, He gives us warnings on what to do and not do, and He is our protector. The way we treat the Bible is the way we treat the Lord. How precious is His Word to us? More precious than great wealth? He longs to give us an appetite, a love, a burning desire for His Word. Our responsibility is to ask and make the time to let Him teach us in His Word.
God as our Redeemer. The last few verses in Psalm 19 take us one step closer to our Lord by challenging us to let the Lord examine our hearts. When you study God’s creation with a Bible in your hand, you can’t help but see Jesus! The Word of God is a light and a mirror to help us see ourselves, search our hearts and recognize our sins. Creation is God’s “wordless book,” and the Scriptures are God’s Holy Word to us, but God wants to hear our words as “sacrifices” that please Him. Therefore, when we allow Him to examine our hearts and we confess our sins to Him and share our most inner thoughts with Him, He becomes our Rock and our Redeemer. He not only paid the price to set us free, but He also keeps us safe, protecting us from ourselves and this world in which we live.
Dear Jesus, thank you for being our Creator, our Instructor and our Redeemer. We need you in our lives in each of these ways. We love you and surrender our lives to you afresh today.
If you would like for me to join you in prayer please email me at tonif77@gmail.com and I would love to pray for you.