Psalm 19
Psalm 19 begins with recognizing God in creation. Seeing Him in the heavens above, knowing that He does not have to speak for us to know Him because He surrounds us in His creation. The Scripture declares, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul" (Psalm 19:7a), and flows to say, "Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults" (Psalm 19:12). Psalm 19:12 in the New Living Translation reads: "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults." It concludes with, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).
I love the flow of Psalm 19.
It reminds me of my path to salvation. I love God's creation and always have, but did not always attribute all of the beautiful sights to Him. The moment I saw God in the sunrise, mountains, blue skies, clouds, flowers, and trees is the moment I knew I must pray to Him. Loving His creation is what led me to love His law and to believe His law to be perfect. I realized that God's design is perfect. The flowers know to bloom in spring and the sun knows to rise and set each day. His design is not faulty, but the way we treat His perfect design is. The Psalm says that the law of the Lord revives the soul, provides wisdom, brings rejoicing, lightens the eyes, and provides warning as well as great rewards. The law of the Lord is described as more desired than fine gold, and sweeter than honey. We all tend to crave direction and guidance. We ask God where we are going. We ask Him what path we should go on. We desire our purpose to be known, and we want all of these things to be revealed. The reason why the law of the Lord is described as being so valuable is because the law is often what provides that guidance. If we read God's word, His commandments, His promises, and even the old laws, we can get a good sense of where God wants us to go. He provides us with the answers, and that is valuable.
Understanding the law of the Lord as perfect leads to knowing that our ability to submit to the law is not perfect. David calls on God to show him his sins, what is lurking? Cleanse me from my faults! Jesus forgives us of our sins and provides us grace when we do not fulfill what God has laid out for us to fulfill. The Psalm ends with a heart open to redemption, a heart that pleads for our songs to be worship and our desires to be worshipful. Nothing is hidden from God, He knows what is spoken and what is not. We pray to Him because He provides both stability as a rock and deliverance from sins as a redeemer.
Psalm 19 is beautiful. The more I sat with the word, the more I realized how interconnected the words of this Psalm are. Our relationship with God is also very interconnected. It is not about the one thing or the one thought or the one prayer, but it is about the way that our lives as a whole work for God's glory. I will be thinking about my life, asking God to show me my hidden faults and to deliver me from my sin, because I know that He is the one that provides a great reward and so I want to be pleasing to Him.
