The Godly Man’s

Purpose

Rev Rodney A Gray

 Psalm 19

The Westminster Shorter Catechism appropriately begins with the question, “What is the
chief end of man?” The question is eminently biblical, and so is the answer: “Man’s chief
end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” It could not possibly be otherwise when
the Bible insists that God does all things for his own glory. If God does, so should we.
God says, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my
praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8). “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I
let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). The Lord
Jesus Christ yielded complete obedience to the Father because he did all things for God’s
glory. In Jesus’ prayer to the Father we find an amazing interplay between the Father
glorifying the Son and the Son glorifying the Father.

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you…I have
brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father,
glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John
17:1,4,5).

Stephen spoke of the “God of glory” appearing to Abraham (Acts 7:2). The apostle Paul
wrote to the Ephesians and outlined the gospel plan of salvation. He showed that God the
Father arranged it, God the Son accomplished it, and God the Holy Spirit applies it, all
“to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:6,12,14). He admonished the church in Corinth
to do everything “for the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). This is what the Christian
wants to do. It is the goal of everyone who knows the Lord. God’s people have always
known that what makes them different and separate from the ungodly is that they
consciously live for the glory of God. They do so because they have come to understand
that God does all things for his own glory.

But the Catechism’s answer does not stop with “Man’s chief end is to glorify God.” It
completes the thought with, “and to enjoy him forever.” And it is important to understand
this as one chief end, not two. The enjoyment of God forever is not a second or
alternative goal. It is the same goal stated in a different way. Those who understand what
it means to enjoy God are those who glorify him. Those who glorify him are those who
enjoy him. This surely was the spirit in which David penned this psalm about the glory of
God. He gladly recognized the glory of God in his works and in his word. He saw the
glory of God as the Creator, the Revealer, and the Redeemer. As a godly man he wanted
to render to God the glory that is his due. This is the chief end of every godly person.

As we take up the study of this psalm we immediately notice that it begins with a title:
“For the director of music. A psalm of David.” Many of the psalms do not have titles, but
we should not assume from this that when there are titles we can safely ignore them.
When we find a title at the beginning of a psalm, it tells us a great deal more than we
might expect. In the first place, we should consider the question of the inspiration of the
title. If all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Timothy 3:16), what about the titles
of the psalms? English translations separate the titles from the text of the psalms, but in
the Hebrew text the titles appear as the first verse or two of the psalm. Some choose to
disregard the psalm titles altogether and even exclude them from translation. The
assumption is that they were added a long time after the psalms were written. Therefore
they should be treated as not only unhelpful, but as potentially misleading. But it is
noteworthy that the prophet Habakkuk, writing well before 600 BC, included a psalm
with a title (Habakkuk 3:1). And Isaiah recorded a titled psalm of King Hezekiah that
dates from before 700 BC (Isaiah 38:9). David’s song of praise recorded in II Samuel 22
has a title that reappears as the title of Psalm 18. So it is best to assume that the psalm
titles as we find them were part of the original composition and therefore part of inspired
Scripture.

If the title of Psalm 19 is part of the inspired word of God, then we should pay as careful
attention to it as to the rest of the psalm. So, in the second place, what information may
we learn from the title? What does the title tell us? The expression, “For the director of
music,” appears in more than fifty psalms. It seems to have designated the psalm for use
in temple worship under the direction of the choir leader. A “psalm” was a song that was
accompanied by musical instruments. Two noteworthy earlier appearances of forms of
this word are found in the Song of Moses when Moses and the Israelites sang, “The Lord
is my strength and my song” (Exodus 15:2), and in the Song of Deborah when she and
Barak sang, “I will sing to the Lord, I will sing” (Judges 5:3). Fifty-seven of the psalms
are given this designation. “A psalm of David” means that David composed it. The psalm
title reminds us that David was a man of extraordinary talent. Truly he was “the sweet
psalmist of Israel” (II Samuel 23:1, KJV). The many psalms he composed are a witness to
his ability and accomplishment as a musician. When God sent an evil spirit to disturb
King Saul, David was called in to play the harp and the evil spirit would leave him (I
Samuel 16:15-23). David composed a lament upon the occasion of the death of Saul and
Jonathan (II Samuel 1:17-27). His famous last words in II Samuel 23 are another example
of his work. David’s name dominates the Book of Psalms, with more than half of them
attributed to him. So the title alerts us to the fact that David wrote this psalm – the same
David who was the man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14); the David who
confronted Goliath “in the name of the Lord Almighty” (I Samuel 17:45); the David
whom the Lord took from shepherding the sheep to be ruler over Israel (II Samuel 7:8);
the David who understood more about sin and repentance that most men (Psalms 32 and
51). Psalm 19 is “A psalm of David.”

A third consideration suggested by the psalm title follows from the second. This relates to
the institution of psalmody in Israel. When and how was the practice of singing psalms
established in Israel’s worship? I Chronicles 15 and 16 are key chapters in this regard.
David had become king over all Israel and captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites (I
Chronicles 11:1-9). He was determined to return the ark of the covenant from the house
of Obed-edom to Jerusalem. More than 20 years earlier it had been lost to the Philistines
at a place called Ebenezer (I Samuel 4:1-11). During that time, including all of the reign
of King Saul, the ark of the Lord was stored in Keriath-jearim. The men of that place had
recovered it from the Philistines and put it in the house of Abinadab. So King David
brought the ark from the house of Abinadab with great fanfare and celebration, with the
intention of carrying it to Jerusalem. But it was on the way that the Angel of the Lord
killed Uzzah for touching the ark. It is significant that “David and all the Israelites were
celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres,
tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.” If ever there was “extravagant worship,” this was it.
But it aroused the anger of the Lord because it was in the “passion” of the moment that
Uzzah touched the ark and “he died there before God” (I Chronicles 13:7-10). The Lord
was not favorably impressed with passion and extravagant worship. King David had to
learn the lesson that the ark represented the presence of the Lord among his people, and it
had to be handled in the prescribed way. His zeal turned to anger at the Lord’s stern
rebuke and David left the ark in the house of Obed-edom, where it stayed for three
months.

Once David established himself in Jerusalem it became known as the City of David.
Besides buildings for himself David prepared a tent in Jerusalem to house the ark of the
covenant (I Chronicles 15:1; 16:1). He had not forgotten about the ark of the Lord, except
that now he understood that it had to be handled “in the prescribed way.” He instructed
the Levites to take the exclusive responsibility of transporting the ark in strict accord with
what the Lord had said to Moses (I Chronicles 15:11-15). At the same time he appointed
certain Levites to sing songs with musical accompaniment in front of the ark (verses
16,17). The chief singers or choir directors, were Asaph, Heman, and Ethan. There was a
total of 288 singers and instrumentalists, all of the tribe of Levi. David delivered them a
psalm that was a compilation of parts of Psalms 96, 105, and 106 (I Chronicles 16:7-36).
The contents of this psalm are clearly God-centered. The singers were to sing before the
ark, the visible symbol of the presence of the Lord. And they were to sing in worship
directed to the Lord and in praise for “what he has done.” These singers or choirs
continued from the time of David’s ascension to the throne until Solomon dedicated the
temple and thereafter (I Chronicles 16:37; cf. 6:31,32). Later, David’s authority was
invoked for this practice in connection with King Hezekiah’s reforms (II Chronicles
29:25,26). Much later, after the return from exile, Nehemiah acknowledged David’s role
in the same way:

“For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers
and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. So in the days of Zerubbabel and
Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers”
(Nehemiah 12:46,47).

When the title of Psalm 19 invokes the name of David, it reminds us that God appointed
him to play an extraordinary role in Israel’s history. In many ways he was a type of
Christ, the only perfectly godly man. But in some ways he was like a new Moses. The
psalms show that he introduced a new phase in the worship of God’s people. He not only
composed many psalms for them to sing; he also made the singing of psalms a more
prominent part of their worship and service. But more importantly, David spoke and
wrote as a godly man. He was a man of God who spoke and wrote for all the people of
God. God’s people have always known that our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him
forever. We know this because we see the glory of God on display in everything he has
done.

The godly man glorifies God for his work of creation (verses 1-6).
Creation proclaims the Creator (verse 1).

“The heavens” are mentioned first. “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The Hebrew
language has endings for the singular and plural number, but also for the “dual” number.
The dual ending on a word indicates that there are two of whatever the word is, not one
or many. The dual would denote things that occur in pairs, such as hands, feet, wings,
lips, eyes, and ears. The fact that “heavens” is in the dual number and not the plural
shows that the Israelites thought in terms of two heavens, not one or many. Sometimes
the heavens referred to the dwelling place of God, “the One enthroned in heaven” (Psalm
2:4). “The Lord looks down from heaven” (Psalm 14:2) and he answers the prayers of his
people “from his holy heaven” (Psalm 20:6). Sometimes, however, the heavens referred
to what could be seen above the earth, the physical heavens or what we call the sky. This
is where the birds fly (Psalm 104:12), the clouds float (Psalm 147:8), the rain falls (Isaiah
55:10), and the sun and moon, the planets and stars can be seen (Genesis 1:16). In Psalm
19:1 the emphasis appears to be on the latter. The heavens include everything that can be
seen from the vantagepoint of the earth. David spoke of this with a sense of awe and
wonder: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the
stars, which you have set in place” (Psalm 8:3).

What is it about the heavens to which our attention is drawn? It is that the heavens are
declaring the glory of God. To declare means to count or number, and is similar to the
word for “book.” Someone like Ezra who wrote, studied, and explained books was a
“scribe,” which comes from the same word. In Psalm 78:3,4 the psalmist spoke of “what
our fathers have told/declared us” and how “we will tell/declare the next generation the
praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.” Such “declaring” is not random or disorderly. It is
methodical and systematic. David spoke of God’s wonderful works in this way. “Many, O
Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can
recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”
(Psalm 40:5). He applied this word to God’s thoughts and exclaimed, “How vast is the
sum of them! Were I to count/declare them, they would outnumber the sand” (Psalm
139:17,18). So whatever the heavens are declaring, they are declaring something that is
understandable. The heavens are not declaring nonsense. They are not broadcasting a
disorganized, garbled message. As the subsequent verses will show, they are declaring
something that all men ought to comprehend.

That which the heavens are declaring is said to be “the glory of God.” We observed above
that God does all that he does for his own glory. But what is the “glory” of God in the
sense that the heavens are declaring it? In addition to the introductory comments above,
we should understand several additional facts. First, the glory of God can never be
separated from God himself. To say that God does everything for his own glory is the
same as saying that he does everything for himself. “For my own sake, for my own sake,
I do this…I will not yield my glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). God’s glory is God
himself. God minus his glory could not be God. When in Isaiah’s vision the angels
exclaimed, “the whole earth is full of his glory,” they did not mean that “glory” was
something separate and distinct from God himself. The glory of the Lord Almighty is the
Lord Almighty himself (Isaiah 6:3).

In the second place, the glory of God is the same as the attributes of God. Isaiah saw the
sovereignty and holiness of God as his glory. Moses saw the sovereignty, goodness,
mercy, and compassion of God as his glory (Exodus 33:19). Samuel spoke of the
truthfulness and faithfulness of God as his glory and declared, “He who is the Glory of
Israel does not lie or change his mind” (I Samuel 15:29). Whatever characteristic the
Bible applies to God, that is his glory. This is perhaps a variation on the previous
statement, since the attributes of God cannot be separated from God himself. They are not
attachments or accessories to his nature. His attributes describe his nature.

In the third place, the glory of God is a way of describing the importance of God. The
difference between the godly man and the godless man essentially comes down to this:
the former lives as if God is all-important, and the latter lives as if God is unimportant.
The word “glory” comes from a verb meaning “to be heavy.” People thought of
someone’s importance in terms of heaviness or weightiness. The Bible uses this word to
describe Abram’s wealth (Genesis 13:2). The sons of Laban complained of Jacob’s wealth
by using this word (Genesis 31:1). Job’s “glory” was in part due to his great wealth (Job
19:9). But the idea of heaviness does not have to refer only to wealth. It can refer to the
grievousness of sin (Genesis 18:20), the harshness of slave labor (Exodus 5:9), the
hardness of Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:7), the severity of battle (Judges 20:34), and other
things. The point is that in every case the great importance of the thing is in view. It is
something that cannot be ignored. It is something that cannot go unnoticed. The glory of
a thing or person is what makes everything else pale in comparison. God is infinite, and
everything else is finite. God is eternal, and everything else is temporal. God is the
Creator, and everything else is the creation. So the glory of God means that he is more
important than anyone else. “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to
another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8).

A fourth consideration is that the glory of God is said to be visible. When Psalm 19:1
speaks of the heavens declaring the glory of God it may mean that God’s glory is seen
indirectly. God is the Creator and the heavens are the creation, so the two cannot be
identical. But sometimes the Bible tells about instances when God showed people his
glory in a more direct way. When Moses asked the Lord to show him his glory, the Lord
said, “When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with
my hand until I have passed by” (Exodus 33:22). The people of Israel were aware of this
when they said to Moses, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and
we have heard his voice from the fire” (Deuteronomy 5:24). They were referring to the
giving of the law on Mount Sinai. When the priests brought the ark of the covenant into
the newly completed temple, “the glory of the Lord filled his temple” (I Kings 8:11).
Ezekiel described in some detail a vision of God and concluded, “This was the
appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:28).

The second half of the verse is similar to the first half. This is common in the Psalms and
other poetical Scripture passages. Here we have the second half making essentially the
same statement as the first half in a slightly different way. “The skies proclaim the work
of his hands.” What are “the skies,” and how are they different than “the heavens?” The
KJV used the word “firmament” which is based on a Latin word. The word “firm” can
easily be identified in it, a fact that is significant because that is the basic idea behind the
Hebrew word. The “firmament” referred to that which is solid or fixed. It was something
beaten, stamped, or hammered into shape. For example, in Exodus 39:3 they “hammered
out thin sheets of gold.” But in our verse David was referring to something that God
hammered out in the original creation. He created an expanse to separate the waters that
were above it from the waters that were below it. “God called the expanse ‘sky.’” The
KJV says, “And God called the firmament Heaven” (Genesis 1:6-8). So the “sky” or
“firmament” is another way of describing the heavens, but not exactly. It refers not so
much to outer space but more particularly to the earth’s atmosphere that supports and
protects all living things including man. The sun and moon are said to be “in the
firmament of heaven” (KJV), but this is because they are oriented toward the earth. They
were to be light givers and timekeepers for the earth. So from the perspective of where
man lives they are “in the firmament of heaven” (Genesis 1:14-19).

What are the skies doing? They are doing something very similar to what the heavens are
doing. While the heavens are declaring, the skies are “proclaiming.” This proclaiming is
not merely to provide information, although it is that. But it is also for the purpose of
calling attention to something. When someone proclaims something, he wants people to
notice it, to consider it, and to pay attention to it. Consider Psalm 71:17,18 –

“Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare/proclaim your
marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I
declare/proclaim your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

The form of the Hebrew word behind this proclaiming means that it is urgent, intense,
and in earnest. Such was David’s repentant state of mind when he vowed to the Lord,
“my mouth will declare/proclaim your praise” (Psalm 51:15). Such was Doeg the
Edomite’s malicious state of mind when he “told” King Saul, “David has gone to the
house of Ahimelech” (Psalm 52, title). And such was Isaiah’s earnestness when he offered
comfort to God’s people with these questions: “Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told/proclaimed you from the beginning? Have you not understood since
the earth was founded?” (Isaiah 40:21).

Just as the heavens are declaring the glory of God, the skies are proclaiming the work of
his hands. Of course we know that God does not have “hands,” and he does not need
them. The Bible is describing God in a way that we can understand, because we do have
hands. This is called anthropomorphism. It is a way of describing something about God
by using human characteristics. We have seen how Psalm 8:3 regarded the heavens as the
work of God’s fingers. Verse 6 says, “You made him (man) ruler over the works of your
hands.” Psalm 102:25 says, “the heavens are the work of your hands.” The work of God’s
hands includes all that he created, to which Genesis 1:1 bears witness. The works of God
also include his works of providence, or everything he does in the governing and
maintaining of his creation. God’s providential works may be included here, but his
works of creation are primarily in view. In any case, Scripture assures us that all God’s
works will praise him (Psalm 145:10).

The KJV used the word “handiwork” here and it no doubt helped many of God’s people
to hold this verse in memory. But it is perhaps not a helpful translation in today’s
Christian climate, where superficial views of God abound on every hand. “Handiwork”
may confirm what many already believe about God, that he is some kind of cosmic
handyman, fixit man, or service and repair technician. He is assumed to “be there” for
everyone in the event that they require his services, but he should not presume to
dominate or control their lives. It has become all too common for people to expect God to
keep them healthy and happy while they have no serious interest in living their lives for
his glory. No, God is not a handyman. The creation, in every point and detail, is the work
of his hands.

We should make note of one additional point before leaving this verse. The arrangement
of the words in the Hebrew text is such that the verse begins with “The heavens” and
ends, not with “the work of his hands,” but with “the skies.” So it would actually read
something like this: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the work of his hands
proclaim the skies.” The heavens and the skies serve to bracket the total statement, while
the glory of God and the work of his hands are at the center. In other words, we are meant
to take notice of the heavens and the skies so that they will direct our thoughts to the one
who made them. The purpose of the creation is to call attention to the Creator and the
next few verses will explain this more fully.

How does creation proclaim the Creator (verses 2-4)?

In the first place, creation proclaims the Creator continuously (verse 2). We have already
seen this to some extent in verse 1. There the action words “declare” and “proclaim” are
participles, which suggest continuous action. The heavens are declaring the glory of God
and the skies are proclaiming the work of his hands. Now verse 2 emphasizes the same
idea still further. We could read it this way – “Day after day will pour forth speech; night
after night will display knowledge.” Once again the emphasis is on action that has no end
in sight. “Day after day” and “night after night” are comprehensive expressions, meaning
that no block of time is omitted. Every twenty four-hour period is divided between day
and night (Genesis 1:3-5; 8:22). David’s choice of words was a picturesque way of saying
“all the time,” “around the clock,” or “twenty four-seven.” Psalm 96:2 says, “proclaim his
salvation day after day.” Asaph proclaimed, “The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and the moon” (Psalm 74:16). Heman the Ezrahite said, “O Lord,
the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you” (Psalm 88:1). In these
instances and numerous others day and night are brought together to express ongoing
activity. Whatever the activity is, it fills up all the time in a twenty four-hour cycle of day
and night.

Then we also notice that, just as the second line of verse 1 was similar to the first line,
verse 2 as a whole seems to parallel verse 1. The three parts of each statement in both
verses are easily identified, and together they convey similar ideas.
The heavens………………declare……………..the glory of God.
The skies………………….proclaim…………...the work of his hands.
Day after day……………..they pour forth……..speech.
Night after night………….they display………..knowledge.

So day and night have a story to tell and they are telling it non-stop, all the time. It is the
same story that the heavens declare and the skies proclaim. But the shift in emphasis to
day and night teaches us that the message is being communicated without interruption. It
goes on “day unto day” and “night unto night” (KJV).

David introduced two additional action words in this verse to enhance this emphasis.
“Day after day they pour forth speech.” What is the significance of something being
“poured forth?” We may have a hint in Proverbs 18:4 – “The words of a man’s mouth are
deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.” Proverbs 15:2 says, “The
tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” In
these illustrations, the “bubbling” and the “gushing” are translations of the same word for
“pour forth.” They both express something that comes from within. But it cannot be kept
in; it is irrepressible. David used this word to describe his enemies who barked or snarled
like dogs and, he added, “See what they spew from their mouths – they spew out swords
from their lips” (Psalm 59:7). The KJV used the word “belch.” Perhaps the maxim of
Ecclesiastes 10:1 says it best – “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send
forth a stinking savor” (KJV). So when David said, “Day after day they pour forth
speech,” he meant that the day by its very nature must do this. It is in the constitution of
every day to pour out speech about the heavens declaring the glory of God and the
firmament showing the work of his hands. And if every day is speaking, every person
should be listening.

But the night is also active. “Night after night they display knowledge.” It would be easy
to make the mistake of assuming that we can learn nothing from the night. The night
brings darkness, when nothing can be seen. On the other hand, think of all that can be
seen only when night comes. While the night conceals some things, it reveals other
things. In any case, the night just as much as the day tells the story of the glory of God.
David used an interesting word here, reminding us that what the night “displays” should
fill our minds with awe and wonder. It is the word for “riddle” used frequently in the
account of Samson (Judges 14). The word appears in the Book of Daniel when the
astrologers promised to “interpret” Nebuchadnezzar’s dream but could not, and Daniel
was enabled by God to “interpret” it (Daniel 2). The same scenario followed when
Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall (Daniel 5:7,12,15). “Night unto night showeth
knowledge” (KJV). In other words, we are dependent on the night as well as the day for
the ongoing revelation of God’s glory, wisdom, and power.

In the second place, creation proclaims the Creator inaudibly (verse 3). It should catch
our attention that while the previous verses used the language of declaring, proclaiming,
pouring forth, and displaying, this verse seems to say the opposite. We do not readily pick
up on this in many translations, although the italicized words in the KJV indicate that the
translators have supplied them. With those words omitted perhaps the NASB has given a
more accurate translation – “There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not
heard.” The alternative reading footnoted in the NIV gives a similar rendering. In other
words, this is a language without words. It is a voice that is not heard. Notice the series of
three negations in this verse. Yet it is the constant communication of the glory of God and
the work of his hands. The creation is declaring the glory of God, proclaiming the work
of his hands, pouring forth speech, and displaying knowledge. But it is doing so
inaudibly, with speech, words, and a voice that cannot be heard. What does this mean? It
means that the revelation of God in the creation is directed to the mind, the heart, or the
conscience of every man. This tells us that God does not confine himself to spoken
language to communicate his glory. But it also tells us that human beings have an
amazing capacity to recognize and receive such communication if they will.

In the third place, creation proclaims the Creator universally (verse 4). “Their voice goes
out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Clearly David wanted people
to know that the revelation of God in creation extends everywhere, “into all the earth”
and “to the ends of the world.” In this instance the NIV differs from many translations by
using the word “voice” rather than “line” or “measuring line” (KJV, NASB, ESV, etc.).
The NIV acknowledges in its footnote that the Hebrew word is “line.” The problem arose
from the fact that the apostle Paul quoted this verse in Romans 10:18 from the Septuagint
or Greek translation, which used the word “voice.” He was arguing that the word of
Christ had been widely published and that the Jews had ample opportunity to hear it. He
saw a parallel between that and the creation’s universal proclamation of the Creator. As
is often the case in the work of translation, the translators were tempted to explain what
they thought it meant. But in a sense it all comes down to the same thing.

When David spoke of “their line” going out into all the earth, what did he mean? A “line”
can be a measuring line, in the sense that it determines the dimensions or boundaries of
something. The Lord said to Zechariah, “I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there
my house will be rebuilt. And a measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem”
(Zechariah 1:16). He was echoing a promise made to Jeremiah before the captivity, a
promise involving a measuring line (Jeremiah 31:39). When Ezekiel had his famous
vision of the restored temple he saw a man with a measuring line (Ezekiel 47:3). On the
other hand, the Lord had used the same figure in reverse when he promised judgment in
the days of Manasseh. The measuring line would be used to ensure complete and
systematic destruction. “I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against
Samaria” (II Kings 21:13). David, writing long before the Lord spoke through these
prophets, could not have had their words in mind. But would they have thought of his
words when the Lord spoke through them? If the “line” is the pre-determined
measurement or boundary of something, it certainly makes sense here. The message of
creation extends to all the earth, and therefore has no boundaries. It is not confined or
limited to one place as opposed to another.

The second line of verse 4 confirms this by stating it in a different way – “their words to
the ends of the world.” When the Bible speaks of the world, it often means “the people of
the world” or “the inhabitants of the world.” In other words, it has special reference to the
world as the place where people live. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the
world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the
people of the world revere him” (Psalm 33:8). “The heavens are yours, and yours also the
earth; you founded the world and all that is in it” (Psalm 89:11). “Let the sea resound, and
everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 98:7). In these and numerous
other instances the world is seen not as an abstract idea but as the habitation of the human
race. “Their words,” referring to the original proposition in verse 1, seems to contradict
the “no words” of verse 3. But verse three referred to the act of speaking words and the
resulting sound, of which there is none. But here the reference is to the idea or the content
of the words. Even though there is no audible speaking of words, there is the
communication of words and ideas. David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through
me; his word was on my tongue” (II Samuel 23:2). David spoke the word of the Lord, but
he had to speak it in human words. Indeed he confessed, “Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:4). So these words that go to the ends of the
habitable world are not spoken words, but they are words nonetheless. They
communicate truth about God that people can and should understand in words, and these
words can be assembled into complete statements to which people should respond in
giving glory to God.

What is the role of the sun (verses 4-6)?

We have seen how the psalm has explained that creation somehow proclaims the Creator
continuously, inaudibly, and universally. Now the last segment of this first division of the
psalm introduces something new. We can discover at a glance that the scope of the
psalmist’s view has changed from the heavens in general to the sun in particular. And it is
not just the sun as such, but the sun in its relationship to the heavens and to the earth. We
must keep in mind, of course, that David, like all the biblical writers, was speaking and
writing from the perspective of the earth. He was not writing as an astronomer, nor was
he concerned about whether the earth rotated around the sun or the sun around the earth.
His perspective was simply what he observed, and the sun was the most prominent thing
David observed in the heavens. He recognized in the sun a means of illustrating his point
because the sun is universally seen, felt, and known.

In the first place, the sun has a tent. “In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.”
More literally it reads, “He set a tent for the sun in them.” So David saw a parallel
between the heavens and a tent. Just as a man lives in a tent, the sun lives in the heavens.
From David’s point of view God has provided a tent for the sun in the heavens. As early
as Genesis 4:20 the Bible records that Jabal “was the father of those who live in tents and
raise livestock.” This is a common word in the Old Testament and it refers to a very
common thing: a tent. Abram “pitched his tent” (Genesis 12:8) and his family lived in
tents at least until they went into Egypt. When they came out of Egypt they lived in tents
during the time of their desert wanderings until they occupied the land of Canaan. But the
same word also applied to the “tent of meeting,” a sort of temporary retreat used by
Moses until the completion of the tabernacle (Exodus 33:7-11). Moses went into this tent
whenever he desired a meeting with the Lord. Then even the tabernacle itself was called
the “Tent of Meeting” (Exodus 27:21). Furthermore, the Lord has not only an earthly tent
among men (Psalm 78:60), but a heavenly one of which the earthly is only a rudimentary
model. David asked, “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary/tent” (Psalm 15:1)? To
dwell in the tent of the Lord is to be received by him for fellowship and worship. David
spoke of this in another way:

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the
shelter of his tabernacle/tent and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle/tent will I sacrifice with shouts of
joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord” (Psalm 27:4-6).

In the second place, the sun is like a bridegroom. But it is not like a bridegroom in the
abstract. A bridegroom cannot be an abstract idea; he is a real person. The word means
“daughter’s husband” (or son in law). Remember, the sun has a tent in the heavens.
Added to that, the sun “is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion (chamber,
KJV).” The “pavilion” is also suggestive of a tent, but perhaps an enclosed section inside
the tent. The Lord said in Joel 2:16, “Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her
chamber.” In Isaiah’s vision of the day of the Lord he spoke of a new relationship
between the Lord and his people. The Lord would be present with his people as he was in
the days of the Exodus, and “over all the glory will be a canopy” (Isaiah 4:5). This may
suggest a canopy or pavilion for a wedding or banquet. While nothing is mentioned in our
text about the bride, the sun is “like a bridegroom.” How, we wonder, is the sun like a
bridegroom? The “coming forth” likely refers to the rising of the sun at the beginning of
every new day. Since the bride is not mentioned, can it be that the bridegroom is on his
way to claim his bride?

The third thing we notice is that the sun is like a champion. It is “like a champion
rejoicing to run his course.” The KJV likens it to “a strong man.” A “champion” was a
warrior, a mighty man of valor, a man of bravery and courage. He was known for his
heroic exploits. Israel had many of them, like Saul and Jonathan (II Samuel 1:19), and
Saul’s father, Kish (I Samuel 9:1). David himself was recognized as such a man (I
Samuel 16:18). There were mighty men close to David who were famous for their
courage in battle (II Samuel 23:8). Jereboam, who rebelled against Solomon and took ten
tribes in the divided kingdom, was a mighty warrior (I Kings 11:28). Other kingdoms had
their men of renown, such as Goliath the champion of the Philistines (I Samuel 17:51).
So David was likening the sun to “a champion rejoicing to run his course.” Just as the
bridegroom was coming out of his chamber, the champion is described as anxious and
happy at the prospect of running a race. David saw the sun as running its race every day,
and doing so with undiminished vigor and power. The sun never seemed to tire of its
journey but pursued it with uninterrupted joy, even as David himself rejoiced in the
salvation of the Lord (Psalm 35:9). In fact, David said more literally, “it will rejoice like a
mighty man to run a course.”

In the fourth place, it is important to notice that the sun has a course to run. A “course” is
a path or a way to follow. David said, “You have made known to me the path of life”
(Psalm 16:11) and asked, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (Psalm 119:9). As
he observed the sun David realized that it did not meander aimlessly or unpredictably, but
seemed to follow a prescribed “course.” It always rose in the east, moved across the sky,
and set in the west. There was a consistency and predictability about the course it seemed
to follow by the day, the week, the month, and the year. “It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other.” Instead of “It rises,” the KJV more literally reads, “His
going forth.” It is the same word that described the bridegroom “coming forth” in verse 5.
The great “going forth” event in Israel’s history was the Exodus, their deliverance from
bondage in Egypt (Exodus 13:3). So in likening the sun to a champion running a course
David was acknowledging that the sun has a predetermined mission or purpose. It “makes
its circuit,” a word that probably refers to the yearly cycle of days. The word is rendered
“the turn of the year” in Exodus 34:22. Thus the sun comes out of its tent each day to run
its course and complete its circuit. It sets out on its mission repeatedly and relentlessly. It
never gets tired or discouraged, and it never quits.

The fifth and last feature of this section is that the sun heats everything. Besides the fact
that the sun gives light, the other characteristic of the sun that even unscientific minds can
grasp is that it gives heat. Both the light and the heat of the sun sustain life on earth.
While it may be possible to hide from the light of the sun, it is virtually impossible to
hide from the heat of the sun. Even the deepest depths of the oceans and the interiors of
the highest mountains are not hidden from the heat of the sun. The word “heat” is more
often related to the wrath, anger, or fury of God or men. The wise man said, “A gentle
answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1). David prayed, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in
your anger or discipline me in your wrath” (Psalm 38:1). God’s “heat” could be aroused
for various reasons, not least because of the infidelity and disobedience of his people.
Man’s “heat” could also have numerous explanations. But the heat of the sun, like the
light of the sun, is the manifestation of its nature.

In the vast panorama of “the heavens” and “the skies” David seemed to recognize that the
sun is the centerpiece. As far as the naked eye is concerned, the sun is by far the most
spectacular and glorious body that can be seen in the heavens. From the vantagepoint of
earth, it appeared that the heavens provided the setting in which the sun could fulfill its
intended purpose. Earlier we noted that a quotation of the part of verse 4 that immediately
precedes the introduction of the sun turns up in Romans 10:18. The apostle Paul was not
suggesting a prophecy and fulfillment, but a parallel between the universal proclamation
of the glory of God in the creation and the universal proclamation of the gospel in his
own day. So the one is at least suggestive of the other. When we consider that all the
Scriptures testify of Christ (John 5:39), other parallels may suggest themselves to our
minds. We know, for example, that at the end of the Old Testament the Lord promised,
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its
wings” (Malachi 4:2). Similar imagery is used elsewhere:

“He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the
noonday sun” (Psalm 37:6).
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear
guard” (Isaiah 58:8).

The “sun of righteousness,” if it is not a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, at least
points to the day of salvation that he brings to fulfillment. The Lord spoke through Isaiah
about how the Messiah would bring light to the gentile world (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6). When
Jesus began to preach Matthew recognized it as the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1,2 because it
promised that people living in darkness would see a great light and it would be like “a
light has dawned” (Matthew 4:16). Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, included this
theme in his song of praise.

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before
the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which
the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).

The glorified Christ spoke of himself as being “the bright Morning Star” (Revelation
22:16). John called him “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9). And of
course we know that in the days of his flesh Jesus claimed on numerous occasions to be
“the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35,36,46). People are saved when they are
called “out of darkness into his wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9). If the heavens provide a
stage on which the sun fulfills its mission, the whole creation exists as a stage on which
the “sun of righteousness” fulfills his mission. Just as the heavens exist for the sake of the
sun, so the creation exists for the “sun of righteousness.” As we think about how Psalm
19 bears witness to Christ, let us remember that Christ himself is the Creator of all things.
But let us remember that “all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything
for the church” (Ephesians 1:22). He is the bridegroom who goes forth in search of his
bride. He is the champion who joyfully and relentlessly fulfills his course. He is the one
who brings salvation to ends of the earth.

The godly man glorifies God for his word of revelation (verses 7-11).

The focus of the psalm suddenly shifts from the work of God in creation to the word of
God in revelation. Has David completely changed the subject? It would be a serious
mistake to think so. Some would go so far as to suggest that the first and second parts of
Psalm 19 were actually two psalms that had been prepared independently of each other
and combined by some later editor. But what we have is one psalm and we should not be
too quick to find difficulties where none exist, especially if we recognize that the unifying
theme is the godly man’s purpose to glorify God for his works and for his word. David
has brought together two strands of this theme that are very intimately related. Even so,
some have pointed out that in verses 1-6 the accent is on “the glory of God” whereas in
verses 7 and following it is on “the law of the Lord.” From this they conclude that the
messages of the two parts are different, separate, and unrelated. Nevertheless, we will
discover that this is not at all the case, but that the two parts fit together to form one
coherent whole to the glory of God. Before we venture into the particulars of this second
division, let us answer some preliminary questions that should guide us along the way.

In the first place, why has God revealed himself in both of these ways? Creation
proclaims the Creator, but is this necessary? That is, is it necessary for the creation to do
anything except exist for its own sake? And is the fact that it happens to proclaim the
glory of the Creator nothing more than an added bonus? Furthermore, if the creation
serves this purpose, what is the point of God’s revealed word, the Bible? Do we really
need it? The answer to these questions is not hard to find. Part of the answer has to do
with the nature of revelation itself. Revelation is not something that just “happens.” Nor
is it something that the creation simply does in and of itself. Revelation is not in any
sense a human activity. What David was describing in Psalm 19 and what the rest of the
Bible tells us about is something that God does. Revelation is an act of God whereby he
communicates to man that which could not otherwise be known. The God of the Bible is
the self-revealed God. Man does not learn of him or come to know that he exists by way
of investigation, research, and experimentation. God makes himself known to man. If
God does not reveal himself, he cannot be known. So it is not the creation or man the
creature, but the God who created all things, revealing himself.

The other part of the answer has to do with the nature of man, not as a human being but
as a sinner. We may ask the question, Wasn’t God’s revelation of his glory in the Creation
good enough? The answer is that it is good enough, but the problem is that man is not
good enough. Sin has blinded our eyes so that we do not see what is in front of us (II
Corinthians 4:4). Sin has spoiled our senses, faculties, and affections. Sin has corrupted
our minds, poisoned our thoughts, and polluted our hearts. Because of sin our
understanding is darkened (Ephesians 4:18) and we cannot know the things of the Spirit
of God (I Corinthians 2:14). Sin has so ravaged our humanity that we have been left in a
condition of total depravity (Romans 3:10-18). Nothing about us has been left unscathed
by sin. The Lord God sent the great flood to destroy man because he saw “that every
inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). Sin
causes a corruption that includes moral, spiritual, and physical decay. When anything is
changed from its original condition it is corrupted. It is changed from good to bad, from
perfection to imperfection, from pure to impure. A corrupted thing is a contaminated
thing. It is tainted or infected with something that does not belong. Nothing is ever
improved when it is corrupted. Such is the spiritual condition of all men and the end
result is that the world in its wisdom does not know God (I Corinthians 1:21).

In the second place, what is the difference between what God reveals in Creation and
what he reveals in Scripture? The answer naturally follows from what we have already
said. The proclamation of God’s glory in the creation is sometimes called God’s “general
revelation.” It is called “general” because it is of a general nature. It reveals the glory, the
power, and the greatness of God. It is called “general” also because it has a “general”
audience. We have already seen that it is universal in its scope and continuous in its
duration. It never stops and no one can hide from its effects. It is a general revelation to
all men in general as creatures of God. Creation proclaims the Creator in a way that
leaves all people without excuse for their failure to know God and worship him. General
revelation makes man accountable and places him under judgment. While David spelled
this out from the standpoint of the Creator, Paul the apostle considered it from the
standpoint of man the creature in Romans 1:18-32. Paul was concerned with man’s
response to what God has revealed. He wrote in very powerful language about how man
suppresses the truth that he knows about God, truth that God has made plain and can be
clearly seen. He insisted that God’s “eternal power and divine nature” have been clearly
revealed in the creation, “so that men are without excuse.” Even though every human
being has sufficient reason to worship, serve, and glorify the Creator, instead everyone
worships and serves the creation itself. This is why “the wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.” Creation proclaims the
Creator in a way that ought to compel all men to worship him. But because of sin every
person does the opposite and is therefore under the righteous judgment of God.

But this is where what is sometimes called “special revelation” comes in. This is what
David began to discuss in the second part of Psalm 19. And it is what the apostle Paul set
out to explain when he wrote his Epistle to the Romans. Special revelation is the revealed
and written word of God. It is special because it has a special purpose. It reveals the way
of life and restored fellowship with the Creator. It explains the way of salvation through
faith in the person and work of God’s appointed Mediator. It is special also because it is
for a special people, the elect people of God. Because of sin no one will ever come to
know God through looking at creation. This is why God has given us a special revelation
that explains what general revelation does not. The heart and soul of this special
revelation is the gospel. It is the message that God has sent his Son into the world to save
a people from their creature worship and make them worshippers of the Creator.
Everything in the Bible is about Jesus Christ and how he accomplishes this purpose of
God. This also explains why David used the name “LORD” when he began to discuss
God’s written word. This is God’s covenant name, his saving name. It is his proper name,
the special name by which he makes himself known to his people.

What then, in the third place, is the relationship between these two? How does what God
has done in creation relate to what God has said in Scripture? Has God given us two ways
by which we may know him, or one? There are those who believe that God can be known
by the right use of human reason applied to the natural world, and they have no real need
of the Bible. Are they right? No, they cannot be right if the Bible is right in what it says
about the condition of the natural man. He is dead in his trespasses and sins (Ephesians
2:1), his foolish heart is darkened, and left to himself he cannot seek God (Romans 3:11).
The deficiency is not in the truth that creation proclaims. The deficiency is in man
because of his unwillingness and inability to receive it. The remedy for this fatal
deficiency in man is what God’s special revelation is all about. It is written in the Bible
and embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is summarized in the gospel and by this means
God gives sinners new birth and brings them out of darkness into light (I Peter 1:23; 2:9).
It is the new birth that enables us to “see” the kingdom of God (John 3:3) and to be
“renewed in knowledge” (Colossians 3:10).
What this all means is that we cannot understand what God has done in creation unless
we understand what God has said in revelation. The former can only be understood in the
light of the latter. We know that David understood that because he wrote Psalm 19 as
Scripture that informs us about how the creation proclaims the Creator. Christians are
able to understand the world around them, not because they are all scientists in one area
of specialization or another, but because God has given them new birth. He has opened
their spiritual eyes and made them spiritually minded to read his written word to find out
what and how to think about his creative work. The Bible teaches us that this is a God-
created world. It follows from this that it is a God-related and a God-interpreted world.
This means that it is possible for a Christian to develop a well-rounded worldview
because he understands these fundamental principles. We apply these principles to
everything we find in God’s creation. It is the Bible that assures us that the heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament shows the work of his hands. The message of
Christianity is that we must learn to see everything through the lens of God’s written
word. We turn now to that written word of revelation. We immediately notice a sort of
pattern in the way David has outlined his comments about the revealed word of the Lord.
There is a series of six statements, each of which has three parts. Each statement begins
with a designation of what it is, continues with a description of what it is like, and
concludes with a declaration of what it does. In every sequence we are confronted with a
different way in which God’s special revelation is so special. We find in every case that it
is exactly suited to our need. It is perfectly qualified to diagnose our problem and
completely sufficient to give us the remedy.

The first sequence: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (verse 7).

David began with the most general, comprehensive, and common name for God’s
revealed will. It is the word “torah,” which eventually came to refer to the five books of
Moses. But here it means “that which points out or instructs,” and it is used in this sense
numerous times in Psalm 119 (verses 1, 18, 29, etc.). The godly man’s “delight is in the
law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). David said
about the righteous man that the “law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip”
(Psalm 37:31). Torah was also Israel’s covenant law. It referred to the special covenant by
which God created Israel as a nation set apart. The torah separated them from the other
nations and brought them into a unique relationship with the Lord. It informed and taught
them how they were to be different. So Moses could ask them, “And what other nation is
so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting
before you today?” Then Scripture records, “This is the law Moses set before the
Israelites” (Deuteronomy 4:8, 44). Later Moses explained, “The secret things belong to
the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that
we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). Israel’s great privilege
and responsibility could only be traced to the fact that the Lord had revealed himself to
them. The Lord had given them instruction, pointing out the way he wanted them to go.

It follows, then, that David was justified in using the word “perfect” to describe the law
of the Lord. Perfection in this sense can mean that it is complete or whole. It can mean
that there is no fault or defect in it. It can also mean that it is upright or honest. This is the
word that is often found in the instructions about the sacrifices, because they had to be
“without blemish” and “without spot” (Exodus 12:5). But people could also be described
as “perfect.” “Noah,” for example, “was a righteous man, blameless among the people of
his time” (Genesis 6:9). The Lord summoned Abram to walk before him “and be
blameless” (Genesis 17:1). David spoke of the person “whose walk is blameless” (Psalm
15:2). “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the
Lord” (Psalm 119:1). As we ponder the fact that the law of the Lord is perfect, it seems
that the accent is on the complete suitability of the law of the Lord to do what it is
supposed to do.

This brings us to the final part of this first sequence. What is the law of the Lord
supposed to do? It is supposed to “revive the soul.” Nothing else is able to do this, and
nothing else is needed to do this. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” Now
of course the soul is the self or the person himself. When David or others spoke of the
soul, they were talking about the life or the person. “How say ye to my soul” (KJV)
means “How then can you say to me” (NIV, Psalm 11:1). To say that the Lord “restores
my soul” means that the Lord restores me (Psalm 23:3). The psalmist who said, “I will
declare what he hath done for my soul” (KJV) meant “let me tell you what he has done
for me” (NIV, Psalm 66:16). What does it mean for the law of the Lord to “revive” the
soul? The word “revive” means to turn, to return, or to bring back. Just as the Lord could
bring back the captives to Zion and restore their fortunes (Psalm 126:1, 4), he could
restore the soul (Psalm 23:3). The Lord often appealed to Israel to return to him (Isaiah
44:22; 55:7). Through Zechariah he said, “Return to me and I will return to you”
(Zechariah 1:3). This gives us a hint as to what David intended by “reviving (converting,
KJV) the soul.” The revived soul is a returned soul, a returned soul is a restored soul, and
a restored soul is a soul that is back where it is supposed to be. It has been brought back
to God to be healed and made whole. It is a soul that has the assurance of the salvation of
the Lord. This is the theme of the refrain repeated in Psalm 80 – “Restore us, O God;
make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved” (verses 3, 7, and 19). “The law of
the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”

Here we have an excellent description of the sufficiency of the word of God. In it God
has given us a complete guidebook for life. It tells us where we came from, what we are
doing here, and where we are going. It tells us what is wrong with us and how to make it
right. It tells us all we need to know about our relationship with God and other people. It
answers all the great questions concerning life and death. It gives us a worldview and a
philosophy of life. It gives us our values, morals, and ethics. In short, “His divine power
has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness” (II Peter 1:3).

The second sequence: “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple”
(verse 7).

Here we begin to encounter some confusion due to the differences in the translation of
some of these terms. What the KJV called “testimony” the NIV designates “statutes.”
Other modern translations revert to “testimony.” In any case, the basic idea seems to be
something that “bears witness.” Laban and Jacob were able to settle their differences by
setting up a pillar and a pile of stones to be a “witness” to the covenant they made, and
the covenant itself was to be a “witness” between them (Genesis 31:44,48,50,52). In the
ninth commandment the Lord said, “You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Speaking prophetically of Christ, the Lord said, “See, I have
made him a witness to the peoples” (Isaiah 55:4). In Psalm 27:12 David complained that
“false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.” So “testimony” is not a bad
translation. God bears witness to himself in his revealed word. It is his own testimony
about his attributes, his works, and his commands.

Just as the law is the law of the Lord, so the statutes are the statutes of the Lord.
Therefore they can be trusted. “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy.” They are
reliable or dependable. The KJV reads, “the testimony of the Lord is sure.” This
trustworthiness is rooted in the word from which comes the word “Amen.” In both Old
and New Testaments it affirms the truthfulness and faithfulness of the word spoken. One
especially powerful example of this was when the Levites were ordered to pronounce the
curses that would come upon the people if they broke the covenant. Each time the people
were to respond, “Amen!” (Deuteronomy 27). In that way they were affirming their
understanding that the Lord would be true to his word, even if they were untrue to their
word. Jesus often prefaced his teaching with this word, rendered “Verily” by the KJV or
“Truly” by modern translations (John 3:3,5,11, etc.). The apostles often used it as a
solemn exclamation at the end of a statement (Romans 11:36; Galatians 1:5; I Peter 4:11;
I John 5:21). So the testimony of the Lord is true, faithful, and trustworthy. It is grounded
upon the character of God himself. Thus Moses could say with conviction, “Know
therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of
love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands”
(Deuteronomy 7:9).

The last part of this second sequence tells us what the trustworthy statutes of the Lord are
able to do: “making wise the simple.” Who are “the simple,” and why do they need to be
made wise? The simple are those who are easily deceived. They are gullible. They are
being led astray and they are not aware of it. Psalm 116:6 says that the Lord protects
them, for they need his protection. “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives
understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). One purpose of the Book of Proverbs is
“for giving prudence to the simple” (Proverbs 1:4). So wisdom asks, “How long will you
simple ones love your simple ways?” (Proverbs 1:22). And wisdom warns, “For the
waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy
them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm”
(Proverbs 1:32,33; cf. 7:7; 8:5; 9:4,6; 14:15,18). The simple are in danger because of
their simplicity. To be simple is tantamount to being a fool. But David understood that the
trustworthy statutes of the Lord can make the simple wise. Wisdom is God’s knowledge
applied to us and to our lives. When we apply the trustworthy statutes of the Lord to
every aspect of our lives, we are sure to become wise. “Whoever is wise, let him heed
these things and consider the great love of the Lord” (Psalm 107:43). The great appeal of
the Book of Proverbs is that people would listen to and embrace wisdom. “”Let the wise
listen and add to their learning…Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it…
The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” (Proverbs 1:5;
8:33; 12:15). The biblical perspective is that those who are willing to follow God’s way
are wise, and those who don’t are fools.

David has given us an excellent summary of the dependability of the word of God. It is a
revelation that should always inspire confidence in God. He has given us a trustworthy
revelation so that applying it to our lives we may find our way back to him. This is why
Paul could assure Timothy that the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus,” and then went on to say, “All Scripture is God-breathed”
(II Timothy 3:15,16). God’s revealed word is able to do what nothing else can do. In
another place the apostle said that Christ Jesus “has become for us wisdom from God –
that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (I Corinthians 1:30). So Christ is
wisdom from God for us because he resolves the otherwise impossible problem of sin.
And Scripture makes us wise for salvation because it reveals Christ to us as the only
Savior.

The third sequence: “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart” (verse 8).

Here again we must contend with the variances in translation. The KJV used “statutes,”
while many modern translations favor “precepts.” In any case, we will go with the NIV’s
“precepts.” Precepts are like orders. They define a charge or responsibility laid upon
someone. We are not surprised to find that this is a favorite word in Psalm 119 (verses
4,15,27, etc.). But significantly the word is related to the word for “visit” in the sense of
someone who has the oversight of someone else. We find a New Testament counterpart in
the word for bishop or overseer (Philippians 1:1; I Timothy 3:1,2). In Old Testament
times the Lord often “visited” people. He had the oversight of them and was entitled to
inspect them and look into what was going on with them. Sometimes he visited them for
the purpose of delivering them from some sort of trouble, such as when he visited Sarah
and she became pregnant (Genesis 21:1,2), or when he visited his people in Egypt
(Exodus 3:16). He said to Moses, “I have watched over (visited, KJV) you and have seen
what has been done to you in Egypt.” But sometimes the Lord visited for the purpose of
judgment. Isaiah asked them, “What will you do on the day of reckoning (visitation,
KJV), when disaster comes from afar?” (Isaiah 10:3). The Lord instructed Jeremiah, “Go
up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her
squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will
forgive this city.” Then he asked, “Should I not punish (visit, KJV) them for this?”
(Jeremiah 5:1,9).

As we consider the second component of this statement, that “the precepts of the Lord are
right,” we should think further about the meaning of “precepts.” Another emphasis
suggested by this word was when God gave someone else an oversight of something. He
instructed Moses, “Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests” (Numbers 3:10). In
other words, they were authorized to visit and oversee the sanctuary. Furthermore, the
word was used frequently for “numbering” the people. The Lord said to Moses, “You and
Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who
are able to serve in the army” (Numbers 1:3). This also conveyed the idea of an
inspection or an oversight. Moses and Aaron were responsible to know who and where
the fighting men were, and how many there were. All of these illustrations have one idea
in common. They all point to responsibility. The Lord takes responsibility for his people,
and he makes his people responsible to him. Herein we find the key to understanding “the
precepts of the Lord.” They are responsibilities the Lord places upon us, and they are
“right.” There is nothing wrong with them. They are what we might call good and
upright, like the Lord himself. “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs
sinners in his ways” (Psalm 25:8). According to Psalm 33:4, “the word of the Lord is
right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” So we are to understand that God’s dealings
with us are always straight and true. There is nothing unreasonable or unfair in what he
requires of us. If we find ourselves in disagreement with him, we may know in advance
that he is always right and we are always wrong.

If the precepts of the Lord are right, what are they able to accomplish? David’s answer is
in the words, “giving joy to the heart.” The heart, of course, is the inner man. In the sense
that it refers to the whole person it is comparable to “soul” in the previous verse. The
heart is the real person, as opposed perhaps to outward appearances. Thus, “The Lord saw
how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). Likewise the Exodus
account tells repeatedly about how the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21,
etc.). The heart figures prominently in the Psalms, and rightly so because they deal so
extensively with the struggles and experiences of the heart before God. In the last verse
of this psalm David spoke of the “meditation of my heart.” He begged for a “pure heart”
in Psalm 51:10. The psalmist confessed in Psalm 66:18, “If I had cherished sin in my
heart, the Lord would not have listened.” In the Proverbs the heart is of the greatest
importance. God’s word to a wise son is, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart”
(Proverbs 3:5) and “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). So
the heart is the center of the personality and everything comes out of the heart. David
understood that the precepts of the Lord, because they are right, give joy to the heart. The
heart can know true and lasting happiness only from the precepts of the Lord. This is why
another psalm could say, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with
gladness; come before him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:1,2). It is why David could
say, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm
122:1). This is heart happiness, and the heart is happiest when it is in step with the
precepts of the Lord.

The fourth sequence: “The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes”
(verse 8).

We can gain some insight into what “commands” means by noticing the first occurrence
of the word in the Bible. Adam and Eve were still in the Garden of Eden when “the Lord
God commanded the man” about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis
2:16). Both the verb and noun forms of this word suggest the idea of an established order.
God has set up or appointed certain normative regulations. They are like signposts or
boundary markers that he expects us to observe and not transgress. The Lord used this
word in relation to the making and worshipping of idols in the expression, “keep my
commandments” (Exodus 20:6). Moses said, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the
commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2, KJV).
A great illustration of the meaning of this word is found in a famous encounter between
Samuel and King Saul. Saul took it upon himself to sacrifice the burnt offering, which he
was not authorized to do. Samuel rebuked him for acting foolishly and said, “You have
not kept the command the Lord your God gave you” (I Samuel 13:13). The commands of
the Lord tell us where the boundaries are and keeping the commands means not crossing
those boundaries. And again we discover that this word appears numerous times in Psalm
119 (verses 6,10,19, etc.).

Furthermore, “the commands of the Lord are radiant.” How are the commands of the
Lord “radiant?” The KJV used the word “pure,” and some modern translations have
reverted to that idea. It means that something is unadulterated or unmixed with anything
of a contrary nature. It sparkles and shines like the sun on a clear day. The “Lover” was
described as “fair as the moon, bright as the sun” (Song of Solomon 6:10). The Proverb
says, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty (clean, KJV)” (Proverbs 14:4).
When it comes to the “radiance” of the Lord’s commands, David explained it best. “And
the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven
times” (Psalm 12:6). If we think of “the commands of the Lord” as signposts that point
out the boundaries of God’s established order in the world, the fact that they are “radiant”
means that they are unmistakably clear. They are not hard to find. It is not difficult to
identify them. They are like beacons of light to guide our way.

This is where the final part of this sequence comes in: “giving light to the eyes.” Just as
God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), so the psalmist could say, “The unfolding of
your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Psalm 119:130). Just as the
Lord led his people with “a fire to give light at night” (Psalm 105:39), so the godly can
say, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). In the
present context, David was extolling the ability of the commands of the Lord to enlighten
us inwardly in a way that corresponds to the way God gives light to the creation. In a
sense, every command of the Lord is a renewal of his original command, “Let there be
light.” The “eyes” that are thus enlightened are the eyes of the understanding or the mind,
as in Psalm 119:18 – “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” The
commands of the Lord have an enlightening power that is unrivaled by anything else.

The fifth sequence: “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever” (verse 9).

It is unusual to find “the fear of the Lord” used in this way. Generally this fear is the
description of the inward response of the heart produced by the right reception of God’s
revelation of himself. Fear implies a desire to please the Lord and a dread of offending
him. But since God must reveal to us how he is to be feared, David spoke of his revealed
word as “the fear of the Lord.” God’s revelation is objectively true, but it always
demands a subjective response. The Lord instructed Moses that when Israel became
established in the land and asked for a king, the king would be required to possess and
read a copy of the law so that he would know how to fear the Lord. “It is to be with him,
and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere/fear the Lord his
God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees” (Deuteronomy
17:19). The same principle underlies other texts. “Come, my children, listen to me; I will
teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 34:11). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 11:10). “The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”
(Proverbs 1:7). “The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before
honor” (Proverbs 15:33). So the fear of the Lord is put here for the word of the Lord,
because the word of the Lord always calls for the appropriate response.

Not only that, the fear of the Lord is “pure.” There is no significant difference in meaning
between this word and the word “radiant” in the previous statement, which some
translations render as “pure.” This is a more common word, however, and it was often
used to describe the purity of metals and the ceremonial cleansing of holy things. For
example, the ark of the covenant was to be overlaid with “pure gold, both inside and out”
(Exodus 25:11). Aaron and his sons were required to “distinguish between the holy and
the common, between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10). David prayed that
God would give him “a pure heart” (Psalm 51:10). We may conclude that God’s word
produces in us a reverence for him that is worthy of God himself. It is not an artificially
induced response, nor is it a cowering dread that causes us to flee from his presence. The
fear of the Lord is such that we are drawn to him in humble and reverent worship. God
has made himself known to us in Scripture for this purpose.

But let us not forget the final part of this sequence. “The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.” This means literally that “it stands forever” or better still, “it is
standing forever.” The fear of the Lord never goes out of style. It does not change with
the times. When it comes to God’s revealed word and the response it requires of people, it
is not subject to the likes and dislikes of the people to whom it is given. It stands on its
own, and it stands forever. The psalmist said that “the plans of the Lord stand firm
forever” (Psalm 33:11) and “his righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 111:3). These
things are so because they are rooted and grounded in the very character of God. The fear
of the Lord is essentially the right knowledge of him, a knowledge that he grants to us
through his special revelation. If the Lord himself endures forever, so must the fear of the
Lord endure forever.

The sixth sequence: “The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous” (verse
9).

The “ordinances” are what the KJV called “judgments.” Either translation is helpful.
Ordinances are rules that have been “ordained” by someone who has the authority to do
so. Judgments are like the decisions or verdicts of a judge. The ordinances of the Lord are
dictates or decisions he has handed down. We are required to abide by them. The word
occurs many times in Psalm 119 (verses 7,13,20, etc.). When Abraham interceded for
Sodom he cried, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Deborah
was a judge in Israel and people came to her “for judgment” (KJV), that is, “to have their
disputes decided” (Judges 4:5, NIV). David also exercised this function as king (II
Samuel 8:15). So “the ordinances of the Lord” are matters of his government and
administration of his people. The point is that he dictates to us, not we to him.

Then we notice that “the ordinances of the Lord are sure.” That is, they are true. In verse
7 we met with the word “trustworthy,” which is related to the word for “Amen.” This
word is similar but it places the accent on the truth itself. This may explain why it is
almost always translated “truth” in the KJV. So we might say that the ordinances of the
Lord are truth itself. David appealed to the Lord as “the God of truth” (Psalm 31:5). Truth
is not only what God speaks, it is what God is. In another place David prayed, “Teach me
your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may
fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). The psalmist proclaimed that “the truth of the Lord
endureth forever” (Psalm 117:2, KJV). Once again we must remind ourselves that these
descriptions of the revealed word of the Lord are rooted in his own character. He is the
God who speaks and it is done because his word is infused with his nature. Therefore the
ordinances of the Lord can be nothing other than sure and true.

To conclude this sequence David added that the ordinances of the Lord are “altogether
righteous.” We have seen that the third component in each of the six sequential
statements points to what the word of the Lord is able to do. This one seems to make an
additional comment on what it is like. It reminds us that the Lord himself is righteous,
and that the righteousness of his ordinances arises from his character. David knew that
the Lord is righteous and that he loves righteousness (Psalm 11:7). In fact, he said, “The
Lord is righteous in all his ways” (Psalm 145:17). So we should expect that the
ordinances of the Lord should be not only sure but also “altogether righteous.” Perhaps
the key to understanding the point of this phrase is the word “altogether.” The word
indicates that the word of the Lord is a unity. It is a system of truth that must be
understood as presenting one coherent message. Like “the rulers gather together against
the Lord” (Psalm 2:2), and God’s people are invited to “exalt his name together” (Psalm
34:3), and brothers are supposed to “live together in unity” (Psalm 133:1), the word of
God is “altogether righteous.” We will not see it as such if we treat it piecemeal.
Scripture can be abused to prove, defend, or justify all sorts of things that can in no way
be called “righteous.” But Scripture must be taken “altogether.” The parts must be
understood in the light of the whole, because in them God has given us one system of
truth.

The godly man’s appraisal of God’s word of revelation (verses 10 and 11).

These verses provide a transition from David’s descriptions of the word of the Lord to its
efficacy in his own life. This means that David was never content to treat the revelation
of God as an abstract idea or a theoretical concept. He embraced it personally and
practically with all its life-transforming benefits. So in the first place he spoke of its great
value. “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.” The immediate
reference is to the “ordinances” of verse 9, but it would also be appropriate to understand
“They” to encompass all of the preceding designations of God’s word. Gold was
considered a precious metal, and therefore of great value. To compare the words of the
Lord to gold is a way of describing their value. In Psalm 119 the psalmist expressed a
similar comparison. “The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of
pieces of silver and gold” and “I love your commands more than gold, more than pure
gold” (verses 72 and 127). Wisdom makes it appeal in the same way. “Choose my
instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold” (Proverbs 8:10). So the
comparison is not only to gold, but to “pure gold.” King Solomon had his royal throne
“inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold” (I Kings 10:18). No expense or labor was
spared to secure pure gold. Gold usually occurs naturally mixed with other metals and
great effort and skill are required to separate them. David insisted that the words of God
are “more precious” than that, meaning that they are “more to be desired” (KJV). Just as
God made all kinds of trees that were “pleasing to the eye” and therefore desirable
(Genesis 2:9), so the words of the Lord are more desirable than pure gold. Just as Achan
found the Babylonian articles so desirable that he risked his life to take them from the
ruins of Jericho (he said, “I coveted/desired them,” Joshua 7:21), so the words of the Lord
are precious enough to risk everything to possess.

In the second place, David compared the words of the Lord to the sweetness of honey.
“They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.” Thus he was describing the
pleasure he derived from God’s word. “Honey from the comb” was the most sought after
because it was untouched by any human process. It was literally “the dropping of the
combs.” The wise man said, “Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is
sweet to your taste” (Proverbs 24:13). Sweetness is the opposite of bitterness. Sweet
things are easy to swallow and digest. Bitter things are more difficult and can even do
harm. The Lord commanded the Israelites to include “bitter herbs” with their Passover
meal in order to remind them that their experience in Egypt had been a “bitter” one
(Exodus 1:14; 12:8). Honey is the opposite. What honey is to the physical taste, God’s
word is even better suited to the spiritual taste.

In the third place David said, “By them is your servant warned.” The words of the Lord
are beneficial by way of warning. This was especially significant to David because he
considered himself to be the Lord’s “servant.” Not surprisingly, the word “servant”
appears numerous times in Psalm 119 in relation to the word of God (verses 17,23,38,
etc.). A servant is completely at the disposal of his master. He has no life of his own, but
lives to serve his master. He waits to do the master’s bidding. He listens to his master’s
voice. A slight move of the master’s hand is to him a command to be obeyed. The servant
must be always alert and attentive so as not to miss a signal. The psalmist expressed this
eloquently in Psalm 123:1,2 –

“I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to
the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our
eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us mercy.”

So the servant of the Lord must sometimes be warned, lest he fail in his duties. He does
not know what to do unless he is told what to do. To warn is to enlighten or admonish.
Warning is for those who are exposing themselves to danger, and the warning tells them
how they may be kept safe. It played a significant role in Ezekiel’s ministry. He was sent
by the Lord to “give them warning from me” (Ezekiel 3:16-21). The word of the Lord
warns the servants of the Lord.

In the fourth place, “in keeping them there is great reward.” The revealed word of the
Lord is rewarding when it is obeyed. The principle is that reward, rather, “great reward,”
is the consequence when the words of the Lord are accepted, attended to, and applied.
But the key is to “keep” them. This word is an all too common word in the Old
Testament. It means “to exercise great care over.” Adam and Eve were put in the garden
to “take care of it (keep it, KJV)” (Genesis 2:15). The cherubim with the flaming sword
were assigned “to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). The Lord reminded
Israel numerous times to “keep my covenant” (Exodus 19:5). God’s people may know
that “he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will
neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:3,4). “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the
watchmen stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Someone who “keeps” something is
responsible to exercise careful guardianship or stewardship. David understood that when
he exercised careful guardianship and stewardship of God’s word, “great reward” was the
inevitable result.

The godly man glorifies God for his work of redemption (verses 12-14).

David has brought us from creation to revelation to redemption. He saw that the glory of
God in creation puts all men on notice that they ought to glorify God and worship him.
He saw that God’s revealed word was designed to show sinners the way they can be
reconciled to God and thus be able to willingly glorify him as they should. In the final
part of the psalm he recorded his recognition of sin and his gratitude to God for being his
Lord, his Rock, and his Redeemer. In a way David provides us with an illustration of the
lesson taught by Question 2 in the Heidelberg Catechism. Referring to Christ as the
sinner’s “only comfort in life and death,” the Catechism goes on to ask, “How many
things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and
die happy?” The answer given is, “Three; the first, how great my sins and miseries are;
the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries; the third, how I shall
express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.” These are the pressing concerns of
anyone who has a serious interest in coming to the Lord for salvation. The absence of
such concerns can only be seen as evidence of self-trust and unbelief.

The godly man trusts the Lord to forgive him (verse 12).

David began with the question, “Who can discern his errors?” David was not inquiring
whether one person can know the errors of another person. He was interested more likely
in his own errors, although the word “his” was not in the Hebrew text. It is just “errors,”
and the question is, Who can understand them? These are what might be classified as
unintentional sins or sins of ignorance. They are sins that we may commit thoughtlessly,
not because they are unusual, but because they are ordinary. The Law of Moses made
provision for such sins but stipulated that atonement had to be made for them (Leviticus
4:2-27; 5:2-4; Numbers 15:27,30,31). “Errors” are not innocent mistakes, but sins
resulting from a weakened mind that is corrupted by sin. Thus they are difficult to
“discern.” Because of sin we all lack discernment or understanding, but the wisdom of
God can supply it (Proverbs 2:3,5,9). Psalm 119 illustrates that we must seek discernment
from the word of God (verses 27,34,73, etc.). Without discernment we cannot identify
“errors.”

So David went on to say, “Forgive my hidden faults.” As he contemplated the sun earlier
in this psalm David realized that “nothing is hidden from its heat” (verse 6). All those
who, like David, trust the Lord to be their Redeemer, have been brought to the conviction
that nothing about them can be hidden from the Lord. In his sin with Bathsheba David
learned about “secrets” (the word “faults” was added). He deceived himself in thinking
he could sin in secret (II Samuel 12:12), but in his repentance he said, “Against you, you
only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4). If the Lord saw him
even before he was born, nothing could be hidden from him (Psalm 139:15). The godly
man is not a sinless man. He is a man who knows what God wants done about sin. So
rather than attempting to conceal his sins from the Lord, he begs forgiveness for them.
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them
finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). When David asked the Lord to forgive, he was asking to
be released or discharged from the guilt of his sins. The commandment said, “You shall
not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless
who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7). The Lord declared to Moses that “he does not
leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:7). Yet David was appealing to the holy and just
God who was also his Redeemer, asking for that very thing.

The godly man trusts the Lord to keep him (verse 13).

Here David turned to what he called “willful sins” in distinction from “errors.” “Keep
your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.” We remember that David
referred to himself as “your servant” in verse 11. Just as a servant needs to be warned, he
also needs to be kept from willful sins. The KJV used the word “presumptuous” and
again the word “sins” has been supplied. Willfulness or presumption implies something
done out of pride, arrogance, or defiance. “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the
Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That
prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22). In
another place David complained to the Lord, “The arrogant are attacking me” (Psalm
86:14). Sin is often committed in defiance, arrogance, and willfulness. A particular sin
that is willfully repeated soon controls a man. It becomes a life-dominating pattern that is
not easily shaken off. David, wary of this possibility, prayed against it. “Let them not
have dominion over me” (KJV). In Psalm 8:6 David spoke of how God created man to be
the “ruler over the works of your hands.” Isaiah spoke about the Sovereign Lord and how
“his arm rules for him” (Isaiah 40:10). In a similar sense, when we presume to sin against
God, we find ourselves under sin’s rule or dominion. From all such danger David wanted
the Lord to “keep” him. The KJV renders it “keep back,” which is perhaps clearer. It
means to hold something back instead of giving it up. Abraham, for example, did not
keep back his son when God tested him (Genesis 22:12,16). On the other hand God did
keep Abimelech from sinning against Sarah (Genesis 20:6). If the Lord does not keep us
or hold us back, we would all run headlong into sin.
But then David added, “Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” The
godly man wants to be blameless and innocent in the sight of God. To be “blameless” has
to do with completeness or wholeness. The blameless man is not a perfect man, but a man
of integrity. He does not live a double life nor is he torn between divided loyalties. Such a
man was Noah (Genesis 6:9). God called Abraham to be the same (Genesis 17:1). A form
of this word was used in verse 7 to describe the law of the Lord as “perfect.” David used
it in Psalm 15. “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy
hill? He whose walk is blameless” (verses 1,2). So to be blameless is not to be sinless, but
to be kept from the dominion of sin. “Keep your servant…may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless.” But he also wanted to be “innocent of great transgression.”
“Innocent” is the same word translated “forgive” in verse 12. “Great transgression” could
be “much transgression,” a sense similar to that of “great reward” in verse 11. The KJV
suggests some particular transgression, calling it “the great transgression” by adding the
definite article. This has led some to speculate that David had in mind Adam’s first
transgression, the guilt of which passed upon all men (Romans 5:12-19). But the text is
not that specific. “Transgression” is any deliberate rebellion against rightful authority,
something David knew all too well (Psalm 51:1,3). Isaiah spoke of Israel’s rebellion
(Isaiah 1:2) as did Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:29). David knew that the power of God working
through his word could keep him from the rule of sin and thus innocent of much
transgression.

The godly man trusts the Lord to accept him (verse 14).

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight.”
In the light of all he has said we must come to the conclusion that David’s words and
meditation were more the Lord’s than his own. He spoke as one whose thoughts and
affections were permeated by the word of God. He fit the profile of the man in Psalm 1,
who “meditates” on God’s law. When the Old Testament wants to tell about the “mooing”
of cattle, the “cooing” of doves, or the “roar” of the lion, it will likely use this same word.
When cows moo, doves coo, and lions roar, they are making the sounds that best express
their true nature. We would be surprised if they made any other sounds than those that
are consistent with what they are. So God’s people make the sounds that express their
true nature. They, like David, make the sounds of the word of God. We have seen already
that “The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart” (verse 8). The heart’s
meditation is what the heart thinks about and desires. It is really the fruit of the precepts
of the Lord taking root in the heart. David hoped that his words and meditation would
please the Lord. He did not ask that the Lord judge them to be perfect, but “pleasing” or
“acceptable” (KJV). He wanted the Lord to look with favor upon them. This word was
used in Isaiah 42:1 when God said, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one
in whom I delight.” The wise man said, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he
makes even his enemies live at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). The psalmist said, “For
the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).
David derived such great pleasure from the word of God that he had every reason to hope
that God would take pleasure in the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart.
Now in the concluding words of this psalm we hear David confessing the faith of
everyone who knows the Lord. “O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” The Lord is a
“rock,” like a rock formation, symbolizing his strength and stability. The rocks were
places of protection and safety, especially in the desert. David knew this well when he
said, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I
take refuge…And who is the Rock except our God?…The Lord lives! Praise be to my
rock! Exalted be God my Savior!” (Psalm18:2,31,46). “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my
prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to
the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the
foe” (Psalm 61:1-3). But the Lord is also a “Redeemer.” The role of “redeemer” is a
prominent theme in the Book of Ruth. Boaz became a “kinsman redeemer” for Ruth and
Naomi. But he could do so only because he was related to them. The basic idea of the
role of redeemer was to do as a kinsman should do and thus to help his relative out of
difficulty or danger. It is a word that indicates obligation; someone was obligated to
someone else because they were related. One type of difficulty in which one might be
called upon to fulfill the duty of the kinsman redeemer is described in Leviticus 25:23-28.
A relative had fallen on hard times and found it necessary to sell some of his property.
The law provided that “his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman
has sold.” The same sort of provision was made in the case of someone who sold himself
as a slave (Leviticus 25:47-55). The references to the “avenger of blood” in Numbers 35
may also be associated with the obligations of the kinsman redeemer. In each case the
kinsman was to accept responsibility for his relative’s person and property and do the
work of redemption. David understood that the Lord is the Redeemer of his people. “My
lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I, whom you have redeemed” (Psalm
71:23). Asaph said, “They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High
was their Redeemer” (Psalm 78:5).

The role of redeemer was destined to be fulfilled and accomplished in the person and
work of Jesus Christ. He who is God became our kinsman in order to redeem us from the
hopeless and helpless condition in which he found us (Galatians 4:4,5; Philippians 2:6-8;
Hebrews 2:14,15). He took the initiative with us, seeking and saving the lost (Luke 15:3-
10; 19:10). He redeemed us when we were aliens, outcasts, undesirables, even enemies of
God (Romans 5:6-10; Colossians 1:21). He appeared on the scene at just the right time as
the one who is able, willing, and authorized to redeem (John 1:10-14; 3:14-16; Acts
4:12). And like his ancestor Boaz (Ruth 3:18), though in a much greater way, he did not
rest until the work of redemption was fully accomplished (Romans 3:24; I Corinthians
1:30; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:7,14; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12).

First draft, 1980

Revised June/October, 2007