psalm 19, God’s works and words

Read Psalm 19 at Bible Gateway.

Psalm 19 hebrew paragraph divisions:

Psa 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork;
Psa 19:2, Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge;
Psa 19:3, There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard;
Psa 19:4a, Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world; {n}
Psa 19:4b, In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun;
Psa 19:5, Like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, rejoicing like a strong man to run its race;
Psa 19:6a, Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat;
Psa 19:7, Law of YHVH perfect, converting /soul + testimony of YHVH sure, making wise /simple;
Psa 19:8, Statutes of YHVH are right, rejoicing /heart + commandment of YHVH is pure, enlightening /eyes;
Psa 19:9, Fear of YHVH is clean, enduring forever + judgments of YHVH /true, righteous altogether;
Psa 19:10, More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
Psa 19:11, Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward;
Psa 19:12, Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults;
Psa 19:13a, Keep me back also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me; {n}
Psa 19:13b, Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression;
Psa 19:14a, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight; {n}
Psa 19:14b, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. {p}

I have not been able to uncover the chiastic structure made by Psa 19, however, notice that the psalm is roughly divided in half. The first half, vs. 1-6, describes the excellence of the LORD’s works. The second half, vs. 7-14, describes the excellence of the LORD’s words. They are both speaking the same message: the LORD God is great and glorious, let the earth and all its inhabitants stand in awe of Him!

It is perhaps from this passage of Scripture that Francis Bacon, the father of the scientific method, was inspired to write:

“Let no man … think or maintain that a man can search too far, or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or the book of God’s works, divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in both.” The Advancement of Learning, 1605.

There is a smaller chiastic structure in the second half:

Psa 19:10-14
1a) Psa 19:10-11a, The words of the LORD are more desirable than gold + sweeter than honey;
1b) Psa 19:11b, By them I am warned + by keeping them I am rewarded;
central axis) Psa 19:12-13a, Two-part theme repeated twice:
–> 1.1) Psa 19:12a, Who can understand his errors?;
–> 1.2) Psa 19:12b, Cleanse me from secret faults;
–> 2.1) Psa 19:13a, Keep me back from presumptuous sins;
–> 2.2) Psa 19:13a, Let them not have dominion over me;
2b) Psa 19:13b, Then I shall be blameless + innocent of great transgression;
2a) Psa 19:14, Let my words + my meditation be acceptable to You.

Has anyone else noticed that if the Torah is to be cast aside and its words discarded, then the Psalms also must be cast aside and its words discarded? For they are intertwined. Here David is praising the excellence of the LORD’s Law – yes, the commandments found in Torah – and explains why obedience to commandments is such a blessing to the believer.

We humans are fallen and cannot be trusted to come up with correct definitions of right and wrong, good and evil. We err every day in something, and it escapes our notice. The perfect Law of God brings secret faults and presumptuous sins to light, so that we may be cleansed of them, so that they may not have dominion over us. The Torah is a great and accurate plumb line, by which we can gauge the straight and true path.

The A pair reveals that as we cherish the LORD’s word (which includes Torah and His commandments), as we seek to learn and know it, as we “ingest” it like honey, it likewise has a transforming effect on the meditation of our hearts, and the words of our mouths (which proceed from our hearts). Our words begin to align with His words, so that our meditation and our words become acceptable in the LORD’s sight. He receives our words and approves of them, as we receive His words, approve of them, and indeed treasure them as the treasure they are.