Psalms 19:1 - Meaning and Application

From the things people see every day, the psalmist leads us to think about the unseen things of God. God’s existence is clearly shown, and his glory shines brightly in the visible heavens, in their beauty, structure, order, and the way the heavenly bodies affect the earth. This proof of God’s power exposes the foolishness of atheists, who see a heaven and still say, “There is no God,” as if they can see the effect but deny the cause. It also exposes the folly of idolaters, who saw that the heavens declare God’s glory but gave that glory to the lights of heaven, which should have turned them to God alone, the Father of lights.

Notice, first, what the creatures tell us. They are useful to us in many ways, but their greatest service is that they declare the glory of God by showing his works (Psalm 19:1). They clearly show that they are God’s works, because they could not have existed forever. Anything that changes and moves must have had a beginning. They could not make themselves, which is impossible. They also could not have come from a random collision of atoms, which is absurd and better mocked than argued with.

So they must have a Creator, and that Creator must be an eternal mind, infinitely wise, powerful, and good. In that way, we see that the heavens are God’s work, the work of his fingers (Psalm 8:3), and therefore they declare his glory. From the beauty of the work, we can easily conclude the infinite perfection of the One who made it. The brightness of the heavens points to a Creator who is light. Their vast size points to his limitless greatness. Their height points to his rule and majesty. Their influence on the earth points to his dominion, care, and goodness to all. All of this shows his almighty power, by which he first made them and still keeps them in order by the laws he set in place.

Second, notice some of the things that make this known to us. There are the heavens and the firmament, the great expanse of air and sky, along with the spheres of the planets and fixed stars. Humans have one advantage over the beasts in the way their bodies are made: animals are made to look downward, as their spirits also tend to do, but humans are made upright so they can look upward, because their spirits must soon go upward, and their thoughts should rise now.

There is also the steady cycle of day and night (Psalm 19:2). Day after day, and night after night, they speak of the glory of the God who first separated light from darkness and has kept that order without change from the beginning until now. This matches God’s covenant with Noah (Genesis 8:22), that as long as the earth remains, day and night will not stop. The covenant of grace is compared to this because it is just as firm (Jeremiah 33:20; Jeremiah 31:35). The regular change of day and night is a great display of God’s power. It reminds us that, in nature and in providence, he forms the light and creates the darkness (Isaiah 45:7), setting one against the other. It also shows his kindness to people, for he makes the coming of morning and evening bring joy (Psalm 65:8). He does not only glorify himself by this steady pattern, he also blesses us. The light of morning helps the work of the day, and the shadows of evening help the rest of the night. Day and night each testify to God’s goodness, and when one has finished, the next takes up the same witness.

The sun especially declares the glory of God. Of all the heavenly bodies, it is the most visible and the most useful to this lower world, which would be nothing but a prison and a wilderness without it. It is not unlikely that David wrote this psalm while watching the rising sun and used its brightness as a call to praise God. About the sun, observe first the place God appointed for it. God has set a tent for the sun in the heavens. The heavenly bodies are called the host of heaven, and so they are fitly said to live in tents, like soldiers in camp. The sun is said to have a tent set for it not only because it is always moving and has no fixed home, but also because its dwelling will one day be taken down like a tent, when the heavens are rolled up like a scroll and the sun is turned to darkness.

Next, notice the course God assigned it. That glorious creature was not made to be idle. Its going forth, as we see it, is from one side of the heavens, then across to the opposite side, and then back again to complete its daily journey. It does this with such steadiness that we can predict the hour and even the minute when the sun will rise in a given place on any future day. Notice also the brightness in which it appears. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his room, richly dressed and beautifully adorned, making all around him cheerful. Even the friend of the bridegroom rejoices to hear the bridegroom’s voice (John 3:29).

Notice too the cheerfulness with which the sun makes this journey. Though the path seems huge and the sun never rests for a moment, it obeys the law of creation and serves humanity with gladness. It runs its race with joy, like a strong man eager to run (Psalm 19:5). In a far greater way, Christ, the Sun of righteousness, finished with joy the work given to him. Finally, the sun’s influence reaches the whole earth. Nothing is hidden from its heat, not even the metals hidden in the earth’s depths, which are affected by it.

Third, see to whom this declaration of God’s glory is made. It is made to the whole world (Psalm 19:3, 4). There is no speech or language, no nation, where their voice is not heard. The nations were divided according to their languages (Genesis 10:31, 32), yet the witness of the heavens reaches them all. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world, proclaiming the eternal power of God in creation (Psalm 19:4).

The apostle uses this to show that the Jews should not be angry with him and others for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, because God had already made himself known to the Gentile world through creation and had not left himself without witness among them (Romans 10:18). So they were without excuse if they turned to idols (Romans 1:20, 21). And those who preached the gospel to them were doing no wrong. Since God had used these means to keep them from falling into idolatry, and those means had not worked, the apostles did well to use other means to bring them back.

They have no speech or language, as some read it, and yet their voice is heard. All people can hear these natural, deathless preachers speak to them in their own language about the wonderful works of God. When we sing these verses, we should give God the glory for all the comfort and help we receive from the lights in the sky, while still looking above and beyond them to the Sun of Righteousness.