Psalm 19
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
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,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
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.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
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.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday March 3, comes from Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and night tonight reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard. 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, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber. Unlike a strong man runs its course with joy. It's rising is from the end of the heavens and it's circuit to the end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous all together. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern His errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 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. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Here ends the reading. This Psalm has four sections and they are in an interesting kind of movement. It begins with Heavens and the sky and all of creation, praising God and declaring his glory. The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaim His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech night tonight reveals knowledge. And we Christians we know that all of creation points us to God and His handiwork we see in the beauty of the natural world, in the goodness of creation, God's glory and his his wonderful handiwork. It continues to talk about his voice, their voice going out and their words to the end of the world. They proclaim God's goodness. In particular, he points out the Sun, who comes up like a bridegroom leaving his chamber strides across the sky and running its course with joy. And nothing is hidden from its heat. Now it moves from there to talk about the law of the Lord. And so we get the general revelation of all of creation, showing us the glory of God. And then next, the specific revelation of the law of the Lord. Now, remember that the law of the Lord doesn't just mean his rules. This isn't just 10 commandments, it's likely what's talking about is the torah, the whole of the first five books of Moses, the covenant between God and man, that not only includes God's rules, but also includes the story of salvation in Exodus, the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is key to understanding the beauty of the law is that it's not just a set of rules, but it's also God's gospel promises for the Old Testament. It says the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. So God's law revives us his not not just his his rules, but also his promises they revive us and give us life. His testimonies Take, take the people who don't know much and make them wise, just as the revelation of Jesus Christ opens the eyes of our heart to see the world the way it is. It makes us wise. The precepts this the ideas of the Lord are right and so beautiful, they rejoice in our heart. continues the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. God's word opens our eyes to creation. The fear of the Lord is clean and dooring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous all together. This is a wonderful summary of the beauty of God's Word. In particular, this is focusing on I think the Torah, first five books of the Bible, but it is reflected in all of God's word that we get beautiful testimony, preset precepts that make us open our eyes to creation and see the amazing wisdom of God in giving his gifts to us through Jesus Christ. And that's why it goes on to describe them as things to be desired. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, in keeping them there is great reward. It ends with a warning and a promise by by following God's word, a servant is warned against sin, and promised God's grace. So it begins with the the revelation of all of creation, and then a specific revelation through God's word. And then the author reflects having read God's word and understanding his law and and the promises and the rules. He says to himself, who can discern His errors, declare me innocent from hidden faults, 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. So he reflects inward, having read God's law, understand who's understood his grace, our response is only we are great sinners. How can we discern our own errors, we don't even know how bad we are. And yet you can declare me innocent from hidden faults. You can you can protect me even from my own sin and make me blameless. And finally, it says, After these revelations of creation, the revelation of God's law, the inward reflection, it is now we speak. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Having gone through all the ways we see God's glory and reflecting on the salvation that God delivers. Each of us were called to speak, the meditations of are the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. And we asked God, even their God, make them acceptable. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai