The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Oratio - the word on my lips
It’s OK. You can admit it. You’ve been secretly thinking that this oratio business, and my suggestions that you should be reading the Bible out loud are really kind of silly, right?
If you listen to the audio version of these articles, then you never do go back and read the psalm out loud for yourself. And you certainly don’t read it more than once, trying out different ways of hearing it. Or if you read the print version of these articles, then you read them silently. And maybe, just possibly, you try to “listen” to yourself read the psalm inside your head. But I’m betting that very few of you are actually reading out loud. For some reason, some kind of false shyness, people are reluctant to do that these days.
It’s your loss.
And now it appears that you are very much in the minority. Oh, you might be like most people in your reluctance to read out loud. But ALL THE REST OF CREATION is doing it!
The sun is doing it. The moon and stars are doing it. The sky is doing it. The day is doing it and the night is doing it. They are all of them speaking, proclaiming, declaring. Look at those first verses again.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
It’s not just that the heavens look lovely, or that the sky looks beautiful. David says that they have words to say, knowledge to share, a message to proclaim. Their voice is heard. If you are willing to listen, you can hear it all over the earth.
And what is Creation talking about? What is it trying to tell you?
Meditatio - the word in my mind
David says that the Creation is sharing with you “the law of the Lord.”
Don’t think “law,” like a list of rules and requirements, although there are certainly “laws of nature.” But broadly speaking, the Torah, the news about the nature of God, the knowledge that God is our Creator, and he is to be worshiped and praised. That’s the message of the sky and the heavens, day and night.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” That’s the law, and it’s not spoken by the sun and the moon like a threat or a warning. It’s not, “you better do this.” But the stars in the sky declare that God is worthy of being loved, that surely you will want to respond to his wonder and majesty by being wholly devoted to him. You would surely love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, because he gave you your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength.
This is why David can describe the law as so incredibly sweet. It revives your soul. It makes you wise. It rejoices your heart. It enlightens your eyes. The law of God is perfect, sure, right, and clean. It is to be desired more than gold, because it brings its own reward. And in following God’s law, in loving our heavenly Father, we discover treasures that gold cannot buy.
Tentatio - the word in my world
Ah, but then comes our reality. We do not keep God’s law, do we?
And here is where this joyful song gets more difficult for us. We listen to the excited singing of the Creation, telling us how wonderful the Creator is, but then we don’t follow his word.
David is immediately aware of it. After he lists the many ways in which God’s law is so wonderful, then he says, “who can discern his errors?”
If we look inside ourselves, what do we see? We can’t even see clearly through the fog of our own confused feelings and ideas where we have done good or evil. And we fear that we have failed to follow God’s word in more ways than we can even recognize.
“Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!” he pleads. Only God can help him to follow faithfully. But here is his goal and desire. When he sees God’s Creation, when he hears the sermon of the skies, then this is what he most desires.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
David prays that his speech will be like the words spoken by the sun, moon, and stars. Social scientists claim that we speak anywhere from 6,000 to 16,000 words per day. I suspect we use relatively few of those words to tell about the greatness of God. Not directly. But, like the Creation, we speak words of information, affirmation, encouragement, excitement, joy, and correction. When our words are in harmony with God’s words, God’s law, then we are speaking like the sun and the sky.
David wishes that the words he speaks would be the same words spoken by the sky and the earth, words that declare the wonder of God, the Creator. Then the meditation of his heart, the thoughts that he mulls over and over, will not be about himself or his own desires, but they will be the Lord’s desires. Then his meditation will be acceptable to God.
How can this happen? Not to worry. The Lord is not only his rock, his firm foundation, but he is also his Redeemer. He is the one who has bought us back, paid our debt, and restored us to himself. Just like the sun is described as being like a bridegroom who comes out radiant to claim his bride, or like a strong runner who comes out to run his course, so God’s Son came forth to redeem us. He raced toward the cross, and he finished his course. He rose again, radiant with life, to claim us as his Bride.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
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