Psalms 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God,.... By which we are to understand not the heavens literally taken, though these with the firmament are the handiworks of God, and do declare the glory of his

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalms 19:1-14.-The book of nature (Psalms 19:1-6), and that of Revelation (Psalms 19:7-10), alike have as their theme the glory of God.

Psalms 19 THE The design of this Psalm is to adore and magnify the name of God, for the discovery of his wisdom, and power, and goodness, both by his great and glorious works of creation and providence, and especially by his word and the Holy Scripture; which he prefers before the former. The heavens declare the glory of God, . So do night and day, ,3, and the sun, . The perfection, purity, and extent of God’ s law; its effects, . He prayeth against presumptuous sins, . The heavens; these visible heavens, so vast and spacious, richly adorned with stars, so various and admirable in their course or station, so useful and powerful in their influences. Declare; not properly, but objectively, as the earth, and trees, and stars are said to speak, 38:7 ; they demonstrate or make it evident and undeniable to all men of sense or reason; they are as a most legible book, wherein even he that runs may read it. The glory of God, i.e. his glorious being or existence, his eternal power and Godhead, as it is particularly expressed, ; his infinite wisdom and goodness; all which are so visible in them, that it is ridiculous to deny or doubt of them, as it is esteemed ridiculous to think of far meaner works of art, as a house or a book, &c., that they were made without an artist, or without a hand. The firmament; or, the expansion, i.e. all this vast space extended from the earth to the highest heavens, with all its goodly furniture, the same thing which he called heavens. Showeth his handywork; the excellency of the work discovers who was the author of it, that it did not come by chance, nor spring of itself, but was made by the Lord God Almighty.

Psalms 19:1 « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.The heavens declare the glory of God] The world, saitb Clement of Alexandria, is Dei Scriptura, the first Bible that God made for the institution of man. The heavens (here instanced as a chief part of that Mundi totius machina) are compared to a scroll that is written, Revelation 6:14. As in a horn book, which little ones carry, there be letters in a paper within which appear through the same; so, under the blue sapphire of the firmament, is spread a sheet of royal paper written all over with the wisdom and power of God. This book was imprinted, saith one, at the New Jerusalem, by the finger of Jehovah, and is not to be sold, but to be seen, at the sign of glory, of every one that lifts up his eyes to heaven; where he may plainly perceive Deum esse mentem, architectricem, intelligentem, sapientem, potentem, &c. This lesson is fairly lined out unto us in the brows of the firmament, which, therefore, we are bidden to behold and discern; since therein God hath made himself visible, yea, legible, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that men are left without excuse, Romans 1:20. But because this book of nature (with its three great leaves, heaven, earth, and sea), though never so diligently read over, cannot bring a man to the saving knowledge of God in Christ, nor make him perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, behold another and better Book, even that of the Holy Scriptures, set forth, Psalms 19:7-8, &c., of this psalm, that like as where the philosopher endeth the physician beginneth; so, where nature faileth us, Scripture may inform and comfort us. In this excellent psalm, then, we have the sum of all true divinity, saith reverend Beza, the end whereof is to give us that knowledge of God, and of his holy worship, whereby we may be made partakers of eternal life. Here, then, in the six first verses the prophet showeth that God manifesteth his glory to mankind by his works; and, first, by the work of creation, Psalms 19:1; next, of government, Psalms 19:2-3, &c., and that, 1. In the revolution of the starry sky, which revolution, first, causeth a perpetual vicissitude of days and nights, and so declareth the glory of God. 2. It bespeaketh all people at once, as a catholic preacher of God’ s glory, Psalms 19:4-5. Secondly, in the constant course of the sun (that common servant, as his name importeth), Psalms 19:4, who, with his motion, Psalms 19:5, enlighteneth all things with his light, and pierceth all things with his heat, Psalms 19:6.

(1) The heavens declare.—Better, the heavens are telling. The poet is even now gazing at the sky, not philosophising on a familiar natural phenomenon, nor is he merely enjoying beauty. Not only is his æsthetic faculty satisfied, but his spirit, his religious nature is moved. He has an immediate apprehension, an intuition of God. He is looking on the freshness of the morning, and all he sees is telling of God, bringing God before him. This constitutes the essence of the greater part of Hebrew poetry. This is the inspiration of the bard of Israel—a religious inspiration. The lower, the aesthetic perception of beauty, is ready at every moment to pass into the higher, the religious emotion. All truly great poetry partakes of this elevation—Hebrew poetry in its highest degree. Some lines from Coleridge’s “Hymn before Sunrise in the Yale of Chamouni not only supplies a modern example, but explains the moral, or rather spiritual process, involved— “O dread and silent mount! I gazed upon thee Till thou, still present to the bodily sense, Did’st vanish from my thought; entranced in prayer, I worshipped the Invisible alone.”(See an article on “God in Nature and in History,” in The Expositor for March, 1881.)

PSALM XIX The heavens and their host proclaim the majesty of God, 1-6; the excellence and perfection of the Divine law, 7-10; its usefulness, 11. The psalmist prays for pardon and preservation from sin, 12, 13; and thy his Words and thoughts may be holy, 14. NOTES ON PSALM XIX The title of this Psalm has nothing particular in it; but it is not very clear that it was written by David, to whom it is attributed; though some think that he composed it in the wilderness, while persecuted by Saul. For this opinion, however, there is no solid ground. There is no note in the Psalm itself to lead us to know when, where, or by whom it was written. It is a highly finished and beautiful ode. Verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God] Literally, The heavens number out the glory of the strong God. A first view of the starry heavens strikes every beholder with astonishment at the power by which they were made, and by which they are supported. To find out the wisdom and skill displayed in their contrivance requires a measure of science: but when the vast magnitude of the celestial bodies is considered, we feel increasing astonishment at these works of the strong God. The firmament] The whole visible expanse; not only containing the celestial bodies above referred to, but also the air, light, rains, dews, &c., &c. And when the composition of these principles is examined, and their great utility to the earth and its inhabitants properly understood, they afford matter of astonishment to the wisest mind, and of adoration and gratitude even to the most unfeeling heart.

1–6. The universal revelation of God in Nature.

The heavens declare the glory of God - They announce, proclaim, make known his glory. The word heavens here refers to the material heavens as they appear to the eye - the region of the sun, moon, and stars.

1. The heavens declare—Publish, with the adsignification of praise; they celebrate, as the word often denotes. Glory of God—The moral excellence of his nature. Numbers 14:20-21; John 11:40.