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To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
The 19th Psalm is a beautiful progress, connecting the eyes of the reader from the obvious beauty, symmetry and perfection of the firmament to like characteristics in the law of the LORD, demonstrating how the visible revelations in one are displayed in word and logic in the other. David then ties both together in the life of a believer.
I'm sitting here in my chair looking out on a late winter scene in Vermont. We call it by a very ugly name, the stick season where the mountains to the west are covered with brown, leafless, featureless trees. The sky is a whitish gray which fade into blobs of a blueish gray. The snow on the intervening field is a patchwork of dead gray, dirty snow, ever so slowly melting and leaving the mud behind. Residents know that the next season will be mud season, a step in the wrong direction except it is followed by the explosions of the flowers and shrubs making up for the dreariness of late winter in New England.
But now for the promises of the first 6 verses of this Psalm. David assures me that hidden behind the lifeless late winter landscape is the magnificent, rich display of the firmament where light and color explode in a revelation of His love for beauty. If you have never had your breath taken away by the Northern Lights with their awesome blending of color and motion, you have a thrill to be thrilled as you watch the finger of God paint on His canvas.
Reading
Morning Psalm 114, Noon Psalm 119:57-64, Evening Psalm 54