Psalm 19 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

Systematic theologians carefully distinguish between natural and supernatural revelation. Natural revelation refers to God’s glory manifested “naturally” in His creation, while supernatural revelation refers to what has been revealed by God through prophecy in the Holy Scriptures. In this wisdom psalm, David praises the Lord for both aspects of His revelation, focusing on the former in vv. 1-6 and the latter in vv. 7-11, then concluding with a corresponding prayer in vv. 12-14.

Just before sunrise this morning, I caught a glimpse of Venus, the bright morning star, hanging just below the waning crescent moon. Every night, the sky proclaims a word about God—something of His glory and power, something of His beauty and order. Likewise, every morning, the creation proclaims God’s word to us. This morning, I caught sight of three sandhill cranes searching for food in my neighbor’s yard, and I could hear their loud bugle calls through my closed windows. I know it won’t be long before they migrate south, and it makes me think of God’s wisdom in directing them to their safe haven. His care and provision for these fascinating birds reminds me of His tender care for my needs as well.

Of course, much of my understanding of creation comes from God’s Word. The Holy Spirit helps me interpret what natural revelation is actually conveying in the world. But even the unbeliever is without excuse in knowing the reality of God’s existence and something of His righteousness and glory as it is put on display each day. For every day, this type of speech goes forth into every part of the world. Nevertheless, this type of revelation will never be enough for us to know God personally, understand the way of salvation, or know how to live in a way that is pleasing to Him. That is where supernatural revelation comes in, and why the Scriptures are absolutely necessary for us to understand and draw near to God as our Maker and Redeemer.

Beginning in v. 7, David writes an ode to supernatural revelation as it is found in God’s Law, describing it as perfect, trustworthy, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous altogether. Indeed, there is no perfection lacking in the Holy Scriptures. And with each corresponding attribute of God’s Word, David shows how these perfections are good for our soul. He says that God’s perfect word revives his soul, implying that without it, his spiritual life is naturally decaying under sin, but God’s Word gives him life. Likewise, God’s sure testimonies make wise the simple, implying that he naturally plays the fool without the help of God’s Word to do what is fitting. His depressed heart is also made glad by the rightness of God’s precepts, and his darkened mind is enlightened by His pure commands. God’s Word both rebukes him for his sin and rewards him for his righteousness. There are so many tremendous benefits of reading God’s Word that David says it is more valuable than fine gold and sweeter than honey from the honeycomb itself. In other words, it doesn’t get any better than this. God’s law is better than anything this world affords.

Then in v. 12, in meditating upon God’s Word in this way, he offers a simple petition about the words that come out of his own mouth and the thoughts that are hidden deep within his heart. Contrary to God’s Word, which is altogether clean, righteous, and good, David recognizes many inconsistencies in his own life as a creature of God that does not proclaim God’s glory as it should. Instead of proclaiming God’s steadfast love each morning and His faithfulness each night, sometimes he presents a very distorted picture of who God is because of his sin. So, he prays to the Lord to preserve him from the arrogance of sin and to free him from sin’s dominion so that he might be able to seek the kingdom of God and display the King’s glory through his own words and deeds. Recognizing his natural weakness, he asks God to supernaturally put a guard over his mouth and his heart so that his words and even his meditations might be good, clean, and acceptable in God’s sight.

Each time we go to God’s Word, we should come with the same intention: to receive all its perfections by faith so that God might revive our soul and work new life into us so that we might join with the stars in the sky and the creatures of the earth in giving praise to God our Creator, our Rock, and our Redeemer.