Psalm Devotional
The Two Witnesses
Written by Anthony Selvaggio. This devotional was first published in the June 2004 issue of The Reformed Presbyterian Witness.
Psalm 19 affirms that there is a God, and He is not silent. He has revealed Himself through the testimony of two witnesses: creation and the Word. The question is, are you listening?
Are You Hearing the Heavens? (vv. 1-6)
In verses 1-2, the psalmist draws us back to Genesis. He uses the vocabulary of creation: “heavens,” “skies,” “day,” and “night.”
The psalmist tells us that creation is crying out to humanity. The heavens “declare,” the skies “proclaim,” and this testimony continues day and night. The heavens are a continual choir singing creation’s song and pointing the creature to his Creator. The question is, are you listening?
Although there is a debate regarding how to translate verses 3-4a, what is clear is that, while creation is crying out, it does so without a literal voice. Note the paradox here: Creation speaks with a deafening, yet soundless voice. It is manifest everywhere, but not heard by everyone. Some, like C. S. Lewis, look into the heavens and hear the song of the Creator. Others, like the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, look into the heavens and hear nothing. The Scripture tells us that creation is speaking, and the question is, are you listening?
The pervasiveness of God’s message in creation is further explained through the imagery of the sun in verses 4b-6. Like the sun, God’s message in creation runs throughout the heavens and “nothing is hidden from its heat” (v. 6). The question is, are you listening?
Are You Treasuring the Torah? (vv. 7-11)
Here we learn that the declaration and testimony of creation is matched by a second witness to God’s glory: His Word. In verses 7-8 God’s Word is described as “perfect,” “trustworthy,” “right,” and “radiant.” We are told that it revives us, makes us wise, gives us joy, and gives us light. Verses 9-11 describe the inestimable value of the Torah, God’s Word, as the psalmist compares the Word to the purest gold and sweetest honey. The psalmist tells us that the Torah is a treasure and that if we heed it, it will bring us “great reward.” The question is, are you listening?
Making It Personal (vv. 12-14)
In verses 12-14, the perspective of the psalm shifts, so that the psalmist is now speaking in the first person. His eyes have scanned the grandiose landscape of the creation and the Torah. His ears have heard the testimony of God, and he now feels the radiant heat. The spotlight is now on him; and, in the face of God’s perfection, the psalmist comes to the place of confession. In verse 12 he acknowledges that he has secret and hidden sins, and in verse 13 he prays for preservation from willful sins.
Do you see the problem with hearing God’s testimony in creation and the Torah? Once you’ve heard it, it demands a response. It demands holiness and righteousness. It demands what we by nature do not have. The psalmist recognizes this, and in verse 14 he looks outside of himself, he looks to his lord, his Rock and Redeemer, and prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart would be made acceptable to God.
The language employed here, “acceptable in your sight,” is priestly language. It was used of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament (Lev. 1:3). God demanded an animal without defect. Only such a perfect sacrifice was acceptable in His sight. Now the psalmist prays that he would possess this type of perfection. He has heard God’s testimony, and now he casts himself on God for righteousness. He pleads for an alien righteousness to render him blameless.
The good news is that Jesus, the firstborn over all creation, the Word incarnate, declares to us that He will become for us our righteousness, holiness, and redemption (I Cor. 1:30). The question is, are you listening?
