PSALM 19 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

ITRODUCTIO

The story of Psalm 19

We do not know when David wrote Psalm 19. Perhaps it was one morning when he had been out all night with his sheep. He saw the sunrise over Moab. What David saw spoke to him about God. David remembered the stars that he saw at night. God made the stars. In the morning David saw the sun. God made the sun. All that David saw told him about God. He heard no words, there was no language. But David knew that everything was telling him about God.

Then David remembered something else. He remembered the word of God. We call it the Bible. That told him about God as well. David did not have the whole Bible. He only had the start of the Old Testament. But it told him about God. And it made David very happy. But it also made David think. It made him say to himself, "Am I a good or bad man?" He prayed that God would forgive him. David was, perhaps, sitting on the top of a great rock. That spoke to him about God as well! God was like a rock to David. So David called God "My Rock". He also called God his Redeemer. A Redeemer is someone that pays the price to make a slave free.

SPURGEON

It would be idle to enquire into the particular period when this delightful poem was composed, for their is nothing in its title or subject to assist us in the enquiry. The heading, "To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David," informs us that David wrote it, and that it was committed to the Master of the service of song in the sanctuary for the use of the assembled worshippers. In his earliest days the psalmist, while keeping his father's flock, had devoted himself to the study of God's two great booksnature and Scripture; and he had so thoroughly entered into the spirit of these two only volumes in his library that he was able with a devout criticism to compare and contrast them, magnifying the excellency of the Author as seen in both. How foolish and wicked are those who instead of accepting the two sacred tomes, and delighting to behold the same divine hand in each, spend all their wits in endeavouring to find discrepancies and contradictions. We may rest assured that the true "Vestiges of Creation" will never contradict Genesis, nor will a correct "Cosmos" be found at variance with the narrative of Moses. He is wisest who reads both the world-book, and the Word-book as two volumes of the same work, and feels concerning them, "My Father wrote them both."

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

This Psalm begins with an example of parallelism where the first phrase is followed

by a second which says the same thing in different words. Hebrew poetry does not

rhyme like we tend to do with poetry, but has ideas ideas duplicated rather than

sound. We like the similar sounds of rhyming, but they like the similar thoughts that

parallel each other, but with a different vocabulary. The thoughts rhyme rather

than the sounds of the words. This means the heavens declare, and the skies

proclaim are synonymous, and mean the same thing. Also, the glory of God and the

work of his hands mean the same thing. God's work is his glory, and it is his

awesome work in the heavens that makes us glorify him in praise for being such an

amazing Creator of the wonders of the skies. The more man studies the heavens the

more they stand in awe at such artistry and glory.

As awesome as the heavens are with the sun, moon and stars plus millions upon

millions of other galaxies greater than our own, it is all the work of just the fingers

of God. Psalm 8:3 says, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers...

This vast and mighty universe that has no end that man can see with the most

amazing telescopes, is just like a finger painting to God. He used his fingers to map

out the universe. What must heaven be like when God uses both arms and both

hands to create a new heaven and earth? o mind can begin to comprehend such a

work of glory. This universe glorifies God beyond what any voice or music can

convey, and so it will take endless praise to thank the Lord for what he had planned

for us in his even greater work of creation. Job said, "Can you fathom the mysteries

of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the

heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can

you know? (Job 11:7-8)

We give honor and glory to people who do works of wonder. The great artist, the

great author, the great musician, the great general, the great actor, the great sport

hero, the great in every profession, and every endeavor are all glorified because of

their works and achievements. How much more ought we to glorify the Creator who

had done what we see in the heavens. It is almost impossible for an astronomer to be

an unbeliever, for they see the beauty and order that only an unbelievable mind

could bring about. They could not dream of it all being a mere accident of mindless

matter.

Carl Boberg, a Swedish minister, was celebrating these benefits in the 1880's when

he penned some lines which have become one of the best-loved hymns in the

Christian world. Inspired by the greatness of God as revealed in creation, Boberg

wrote:

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Erwin Lutzer writes: In creation, God went public. It is as if David sees the

heavens as a preacher standing behind a pulpit announcing the glory, or

weightiness, of God. The Hebrew word for God in these verses is the basic title for

God the Creator God. From the telescope to the microscope nature shouts the

virtues of a magnificent God.

ohn Piper, The glory of God is the beauty and excellence of His manifold

perfections. It is an attempt to put into words what God is like in His magnificence

and purity. It refers to His infinite and overflowing fulness of all that is good. The

term might focus on His different attributes from time to time - like His power, and

wisdom and mercy and justice - because each one is indeed awesome and beautiful

in its magnitude and quality. But in general God's glory is the perfect harmony of

all His attributes into one infinitely beautiful and personal being.

The Word of God and the works of God are a twofold witness for the glory of God

that leaves man without excuse when they deny, defy, or just pass by the reality of

God's existence, and the beauty of his mind revealed in his creation. Science is the

study of the creation, and theology is the study of the creator who made it. These

two sciences are often thought to be enemies, but the fact is, they are the best of

friends, for all that science discovers in the works of God confirms what God reveals

in his Word. Paul said it in Romans 1:20: For since the creation of the world, His

invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,

even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

BARES,The heavens declare the glory of God - They announce, proclaim, make known his glory. The word heavens here refers to the material heavens as they appear to the eye - the region of the sun, moon, and stars. The Hebrew word is used in the Scriptures uniformly in the plural number, though in our common translation the singular number is often used. Gen_1:1, Gen_1:8-9, Gen_1:14, Gen_1:17, Gen_1:20; Gen_6:17; Gen_7:11, Gen_7:19, Gen_7:23; et soepe. The plural, however, is often retained, but without any special reason why it should be retained in one place rather than in another. Gen_2:1, Gen_2:4; Deu_10:14; Ezr_9:6; Psa_2:4; Psa_8:1, Psa_8:3; Psa_18:13. The original idea may have been that there was one heaven above another - one in which the sun was placed, another in which the moon was placed, then the planets, the fixed stars, etc. Above all was supposed to be the place where God dwells. The word glory here means that which constitutes the glory or honor of God - his wisdom, power, skill, faithfulness, benevolence, as seen in the starry worlds above us, the

silent, but solemn movements by day and by night. The idea is, that these convey to the mind a true impression of the greatness and majesty of God. The reference here is to these heavens as they appear to the naked eye, and as they are observed by all men. It may be added that the impression is far more solemn and grand when we take into the estimate the disclosures of the modern astronomy, and when we look at the heavens, not merely by the naked eye, but through the revelations of the telescope.

And the firmament - See the note at Dan_12:3. The word rendered firmament -

rqya, means properly an expanse - that which is spread out - and is applied to the heavens as they appear to be spread out or expanded above us. The word occurs elsewhere in the following places, and is always rendered firmament in our common version, Gen_1:6, Gen_1:7 (twice), Gen_1:8, Gen_1:14, Gen_1:15, Gen_1:17, Gen_1:20; Psa_150:1; Eze_1:22-23, Eze_1:25-26; Eze_10:1; Dan_12:3. The word firmament - that which is firm or fixed - is taken from the word used by the translators of the Septuagint,

sterema, from the idea that the heavens above us are a solid concave. In the Scriptures the stars are represented as placed in that expanse, so that if it should be rolled together as a tent is rolled up, they would fall down to the earth. See the note at Isa_34:4. The reference in the passage before us is to the heavens as they appear to be spread out over our heads, and in which the stars are fixed.

Showeth his handywork - The heavens make known the work of his hands. The idea is that God had made those heavens by his own hands, and that the firmament, thus adorned with sun, and moon, and stars, showed the wisdom and skill with which it was done. Compare Psa_8:3.

CLARKE, The heavens declare the glory of God - Literally, The heavens number out the glory of the strong God. A first view of the starry heavens strikes every beholder with astonishment at the power by which they were made, and by which they are supported. To find out the wisdom and skill displayed in their contrivance requires a measure of science: but when the vast magnitude of the celestial bodies is considered, we feel increasing astonishment at these works of the strong God.The firmament - The whole visible expanse; not only containing the celestial bodies

above referred to, but also the atr, light, rains, dews, etc., etc. And when the composition of these principles is examined, and their great utility to the earth and its inhabitants properly understood, they afford matter of astonishment to the wisest mind, and of adoration and gratitude even to the most unfeeling heart.

GILL, The heavens declare the glory of God,.... By which we are to understand not the heavens literally taken, though these with the firmament are the handiworks of God, and do declare the glory of his perfections, especially his wisdom and power; these show that there is a God, and that he is a glorious one: but either Gospel churches, often signified by the kingdom of heaven, in the New Testament; the members of them being heaven-born souls, and the doctrines and ordinances ministered among them being from heaven; and there being a very great resemblance between them and heaven, in the company and communion enjoyed in them; and who declare the glory of the divine perfections, which is very great in the handiwork of their redemption; and who ascribe the glory of their whole salvation to God: or rather the apostles and first preachers of the word, as appears from Rom_10:18; who were set in the highest place in the church; had

their commission, doctrine, and success from heaven; and who may be called by this name, because of the purity and solidity of their ministry, and their constancy and steadfastness in it, and because of their heavenly lives and conversations: these declared the glory of the divine perfections; such as those particularly of grace, goodness, and mercy, which are not discoverable by the light of nature or law of Moses, as, they are displayed in the salvation of men by Christ, in the forgiveness of their sins, the justification of their persons, and the gift of eternal life unto them: they taught men to ascribe the glory of salvation to God alone, Father, Son, and Spirit; they set forth in their ministry the glory of Christ, of his person, and of his offices and grace; and they showed that redemption was his handiwork, as follows:

and the firmament showeth his handiwork; for the same persons may be called the firmament, since they that are wise are said to shine as the brightness of it, Dan_12:3. These were like to stars in it, and were the light of the world, and declared that redemption is the work which Christ undertook, and came into this world to perform, and which he has finished; his hands have wrought it, and his own arm has brought salvation to him. The Targum interprets the heavens and the firmament, of such persons as contemplate the heavens, and look upon the firmament or air; and so do some other Jewish writers (w).

HERY, God's glory, (that is, his goodness to man) appears much in the works of creation, but much more in and by divine revelation. The holy scripture, as it is a rule both of our duty to God and of our expectation from him, is of much greater use and benefit to us than day or night, than the air we breathe in, or the light of the sun. The discoveries made of God by his works might have served if man had retained his integrity; but, to recover him out of his fallen state, another course must be taken; that must be done by the word of God.

EBC, Is this originally one psalm or bits of two, pieced together to suggest a comparison between the two sources of knowledge of God, which the authors did not dream of? The affirmative is strongly maintained, but, we may venture to say, not so strongly sustained. The two parts are said to differ in style, rhythm, and subject. Certainly they do, but the difference in style accounts for the difference in structure. It is not an unheard of phenomenon that cadence should change with theme; and if the very purpose of the song is to set forth the difference of the two witnesses to God, nothing can be more likely than such a change in measure. The two halves are said to be put together abruptly without anything to smooth the transition. So they are, and so is Psa_19:4 put by the side of Psa_19:3; and so does the last turn of thought (Psa_19:12-14) follow the second. Cyclopean architecture without mortar has a certain impressiveness. The abruptness is rather an argument for than against the original unity, for a compiler would have been likely to try to make some sort of glue to hold his two fragments together, while a poet, in the rush of his afflatus, would welcome the very abruptness which the manufacturer would avoid. Surely the thought that binds the whole into a unity-that Jehovah is El, and that nature and law witness to the same Divine Person, though with varying clearness-is not so strange as that we should have to find its author in some late editor unknown.Psa_19:1-6 hymn the silent declaration by the heavens. The details of exposition must

first be dealt with. "Declare" and "makes known" are participles, and thus express the continuity of the acts. The substance of the witness is set forth with distinct reference to its limitations, for "glory" has here no moral element, but simply means what Paul calls "eternal power and Godhead," while the Divine name of God ("El") is used in intended contrast to "Jehovah" in the second half, a nuance which must be obliterated if this is a conglomerate psalm. "His handiwork," in like manner, limits the revelation. The heavens by day are so marvellously unlike the heavens by night that the psalmists imagination conjures up two long processions, each member of which passes on the word entrusted to him to his successor-the blazing days with heaven naked but for one great light, and the still nights with all their stars. Psa_19:3 has given commentators much trouble in attempting to smooth its paradox. Tastes are curiously different, for some critics think that the familiar interpretation gives a flat, prosaic meaning, while Cheyne takes the verse to be a gloss for dull readers, and exclaims, "How much the brilliant psalm fragment gains by its omission!" De gustibus, etc. Some of us may still feel that the psalmists contrast of the awful silence in the depths of the sky and of the voice that speaks to opened ears thrills us with something very like the electric touch of poetry.

MEYER, THE WORKS AND THE WORD OF GOD

Psa_19:1-14

This is the Psalm of the Two Books-Nature and Scripture. If Psa_8:1-9 were written at night, Psa_19:1-14 was surely written by day. In Psa_19:1, God is called El, strong; in Psa_19:7-9; Psa_19:14, the Hebrew Jehovah is translated Lord, as if His glory as Creator is the stepping-stone to loftier conceptions of the Redeemer.

Natures silence! No speech nor language! Psa_19:3. What a picture of the sacred stillness of dawn! Yet the witness-bearing is universal. Line, Psa_19:4, is compass or territory, but some translate it chord. Natures harp is strung to the glory of God. Jesus is our Sun, Mal_4:2.

Six synonyms for Scripture, and twelve qualities ascribed to it, Psa_19:7-9. How truly might our Lord have appropriated Psa_19:10! Let us end with confession and prayer. Errors, Psa_19:12; see Lev_4:2, R.V., margin, Psa_19:13. Dominion, Psa_19:13; Rom_6:14. For the seventh time Jehovah, Psa_19:14, with two loving epithets! Can we all say my, claiming all of God?

CALVI, 1.The heavens declare the glory of God. (444) I have already said, that this psalm consists of two parts, in the first of which David celebrates the glory of God as manifested in his works; and, in the other, exalts and magnifies the knowledge of God which shines forth more clearly in his word. He only makes mention of the heavens; but, under this part of creation, which is the noblest, and the excellency of which is more conspicuous, he doubtless includes by synecdoche the whole fabric of the world. There is certainly nothing so obscure or contemptible, even in the smallest corners of the earth, in which some marks of the power and wisdom of God may not be seen; but as a more distinct image of him is engraven on the heavens, David has particularly selected them for contemplation, that their splendor might lead us to contemplate all parts of the world. When a man, from beholding and contemplating the heavens, has been brought to acknowledge God, he will learn also to reflect upon and to admire his wisdom and power as displayed on the face of the earth, not only in general, but even in the minutest plants. In the first verse, the Psalmist repeats one thing

twice, ACCORDING to his usual manner. He introduces the heavens as witnesses and preachers of the glory of God, attributing to the dumb creature a quality which, strictly speaking, does not belong to it, in order the more severely to upbraid men for their ingratitude, if they should pass over so clear a testimony with unheeding ears. This manner of speaking more powerfully moves and affects us than if he had said, The heavens show or manifest the glory of God. It is indeed a great thing, that in the splendor of the heavens there is presented to our view a lively image of God; but, as the living voice has a greater effect in exciting our attention, or at least teaches us more surely and with greater profit than simple beholding, to which no oral instruction is added, we ought to mark the force of the figure which the Psalmist uses when he says, that the heavens by their preaching declare the glory of God.

The repetition which he makes in the second clause is merely an explanation of the first. David shows how it is that the heavens proclaim to us the glory of God, namely, by openly bearing testimony that they have not been put together by chance, but were wonderfully created by the supreme Architect. When we behold the heavens, we cannot but be elevated, by the contemplation of them, to Him who is their great Creator; and the beautiful arrangement and wonderful variety which distinguish the courses and station of the heavenly bodies, together with the beauty and splendor which are manifest in them, cannot but furnish us with an evident proof of his providence. Scripture, indeed, makes known to us the time and manner of the creation; but the heavens themselves, although God should say nothing on the subject, proclaim loudly and distinctly enough that they have been fashioned by his hands: and this of itself abundantly suffices to bear testimony to men of his glory. As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.

(444) Dr Geddes has remarked, in reference to this psalm, that poem ever contained a finer argument against Atheism, nor one better expressed.

E-SWORD, The heavens declare the glory of God. The book of nature has three leaves, heaven, earth, and sea, of which heaven is the first and the most glorious, and by its aid we are able to see the beauties of the other two. Any book without its first page would be sadly imperfect, and especially the great Natural Bible, since its first pages, the sun, moon, and stars, supply light to the rest of the volume, and are thus the keys, without which the writing which follows would be dark and undiscerned. Man walking erect was evidently made to scan the skies, and he who begins to read creation by studying the stars begins the book at the right place.

The heavens are plural for their variety, comprising the watery heavens with their clouds of countless forms, the aerial heavens with their calms and tempests, the solar heavens with all the glories of the day, and the starry heavens with all the marvels of the night; what the Heaven of heavens must be hath not entered into the heart of man, but there in chief all things are telling the glory of God. Any part of creation has more instruction in it than human mind will ever exhaust, but the celestial realm is peculiarly rich in spiritual lore. The heavens declare, or are declaring, for the continuance of their testimony is intended by the participles employed; every moment God's existence, power, wisdom, and goodness, are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above. He who would guess at divine sublimity should gaze upward into the starry vault; he who would imagine infinity must peer into the boundless expanse; he who desires to see divine wisdom should consider the balancing of the orbs; he who would know divine fidelity must mark the regularity of the planetary motions; and he who would attain some conceptions of divine power, greatness, and majesty, must estimate the forces of attraction, the magnitude of the fixed stars, and the brightness of the whole celestial train. It is not merely glory that the heavens declare, but the glory of God, for they deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a conscious,

intelligent, planning, controlling, and presiding Creator, that no unprejudiced person can remain unconvinced by them. The testimony given by the heavens is no mere hint, but a plain, unmistakeable declaration; and it is a declaration of the most constant and abiding kind. Yet for all this, to what avail is the loudest declaration to a deaf man, or the clearest showing to one spiritually blind? God the Holy Ghost must illuminate us, or all the suns in the milky way never will.

The firmament sheweth his handy-work; not handy, in the vulgar use of that term, but hand-work. The expanse is full of the works of the Lord's skilful, creating hands; hands being attributed to the great creating Spirit to set forth his care and workmanlike action, and to meet the poor comprehension of mortals. It is humbling to find that even when the most devout and elevated minds are desirous to express their loftiest thoughts of God, they must use words and metaphors drawn from the earth. We are children, and must each confess, I think as a child, I speak as a child. In the expanse above us God flies, as it were, his starry flag to show that the King is at home, and hangs out his escutcheon that atheists may see how he despises their denunciations of him. He who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself down an atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar. Strange is it that some who love God are yet afraid to study the God-declaring book of nature; the mock-spirituality of some believers, who are too heavenly to consider the heavens, has given colour to the vaunts of infidels that nature contradicts revelation. The wisest of men are those who with pious eagerness trace the goings forth of Jehovah as well in creation as in grace; only the foolish have any fears lest the honest study of the one should injure our faith in the other. Dr. M'Cosh has well said, We have often mourned over the attempts made to set the works of God against the Word of God, and thereby excite, propagate, and perpetuate jealousies fitted to separate parties that ought to live in closest union. In particular, we have always regretted that endeavours should have been made to depreciate nature with a view of exalting revelation; it has always appeared to us to be nothing else than the degrading of one part of God's works in the hope thereby of exalting and recommending another. Let not science and religion be reckoned as opposing citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops brandishing their armour in hostile attitude. They have too many common foes, if they would but think of it, in ignorance and prejudice, in passion and vice, under all their forms, to admit of their lawfully wasting their strength in a useless warfare with each other. Science has a foundation, and so has religion; let them unite their foundations, and the basis will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let the one be the outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, and admire and adore; and in the other, let those who have faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the sanctuary where human learning may present its richest incense as an offering to God, and the other the holiest of all, separated from it by a veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, we pour out the love of a reconciled heart, and hear the oracles of the living God.

SPURGEO, Ver. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God. The book of nature has three leaves, heaven, earth, and sea, of which heaven is the first and the most glorious, and by its aid we are able to see the beauties of the other two. Any book without its first page would be sadly imperfect, and especially the great Natural Bible, since its first pages, the sun, moon, and stars,

he who begins to read creation by studying the stars begins the book at the right place.

The heavens are plural for their variety, comprising the watery heavens with their CLOUDS of

countless forms, the aerial heavens with their calms and tempests, the solar heavens with all the glories of the day, and the starry heavens with all the marvels of the night; what the Heaven of heavens must be hath not entered into the heart of man, but there in chief all things are telling the glory of God. Any part of creation has more instruction in it than human mind will ever exhaust, but the celestial realm is peculiarly rich in spiritual lore. The heavens declare, or are declaring, for the continuance of their testimony is intended by the participles employed; every moment God's existence, power, wisdom and goodness, are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above. He who would guess at divine sublimity should gaze upward into the

fidelity must mark the regularity of the planetary motions; and he who would attain some conceptions of divine power, greatness, and majesty, must estimate the forces of attraction, the magnitude of the fixed stars, and the brightness of the whole celestial train. It is not merely glory that the heavens declare, but the "glory of God, "for they deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a conscious, intelligent, planning, controlling, and presiding Creator, that no unprejudiced person can remain unconvinced by them. The testimony given by the heavens is no mere hint, but a plain, unmistakable declaration; and it is a declaration of the most constant and abiding kind. Yet for all this, to what avail is the loudest declaration to a deaf man, or the clearest showing to one spiritually blind? God the Holy Ghost must illuminate us, or all the suns in the milky way never will.The firmament sheweth his handywork; not handy in the vulgar use of that term, but hand work. The expanse is full of the works of the Lord's skilful, creating hands; hands being attributed to the great creating Spirit to set forth his care and workmanlike action, and to meet the poor comprehension of mortals. It is humbling to find that even when the most devout and elevated minds are desirous to express their loftiest thoughts of God, they must use words and metaphors drawn from the earth. We are children, and must each confess, "I think as a child, I speak as a child." In the expanse above us God flies, as it were, his starry flag to show that the King is at home, and hangs out his escutcheon that atheists may see how he despises their denunciations of him. He who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself down an atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar. Strange is it that some who love God are yet afraid to study the God declaring book of nature; the mock spirituality of some believers, who are too heavenly to consider the heavens, has given colour to the vaunts of infidels that nature contradicts revelation. The wisest of men are those who with pious eagerness trace the goings forth of Jehovah as well in creation as in grace; only the foolish have any fears lest the honest study of the one should injure our faith in the other. Dr. Macosh has well said, "We have often mourned over the attempts made to set the works of God against the Word of God, and thereby excite, propagate, and perpetuate jealousies fitted to separate parties that ought to live in closest union. In particular, we have always regretted that endeavours should have been made to depreciate nature with a view of exalting revelation; it has always appeared to us to be nothing else than the degrading of one part of God's work in the hope thereby of exalting and recommending another. Let not science and religion be reckoned as opposing citadels, frowning defiance upon each other, and their troops brandishing their armour in hostile attitude. They have too many common foes, if they would but think of it, in ignorance and prejudice, in passion and vice, under all their forms, to admit of their lawfully wasting their strength in a useless warfare with each other. Science has a foundation, and so has religion; let them unite their foundations, and the basis will be broader, and they will be two compartments of one great fabric reared to the glory of God. Let one be the outer and the other the inner court. In the one, let all look, and admire and adore; and in the other, let those who have faith kneel, and pray, and praise. Let the one be the sanctuary where human learning may present its richest incense as an offering to God, and the other the holiest of all, separated from it by a veil now rent in twain, and in which, on a blood sprinkled mercyseat, we pour out the love of a reconciled heart, and hear the oracles of the living God."

EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Whole Psalm. The magnificent scenery to which the poem alludes is derived entirely from a contemplation of nature, in a state of pastoral seclusion; and a contemplation indulged in, at noontide or in the morning, when the sun was travelling over the horizon, and eclipsing all the other

heavenly bodies by his glory. On which ACCOUNT it forms a perfect contrast with the eighth

Psalm, evidently composed in the evening, and should be read in connection with it, as it was probably written nearly at the same time; and as both are songs of praise derived from natural phenomena, and therefore peculiarly appropriate to rural or pastoral life. John Mason Good.Whole Psalm. The world resembles a divinity school, saith Plutarch, and Christ, as the Scripture telleth, is our doctor, instructing us by his works, and by his words. For as Aristotle had two sorts of writings, one called exoterical, for his common auditors, another acromatical, for his private scholars and familiar acquaintance: so God hath two sorts of books, as David intimates in this Psalm; namely, the book of his creatures, as a common place book for all men in the world: The heavens declare the glory of God,Psalms 19:1-6; the book of his Scriptures as a statute book for his domestic auditory, the church: The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, Psalms 19:7-8. The great book of the creatures in folio, may be termed aptly the shepherd's kalendar, and the ploughman's alphabet, in which even the most ignorant may run (as the prophet speaks) and read. It is a letter patent, or open epistle for all, as David, in our text,Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world; there is neither speech nor language but have heard of their preaching. For albeit, heaven, and the sun in heaven, and the light in the sun are mute, yet their voices are well understood, catechising plainly the first elements of religion, as, namely, that there is a God, and that this God is but one God, and that this one God excelleth all other things infinitely both in might and majesty. Universus mundus (as one pithily) nihil aliud est quam Deus explicatus: the whole world is nothing else but God expressed. So St. Paul, Romans 1:20 : God'sinvisible things, as his eternal power and Godhead, "are clearly seen" by the creation of the world, "being understood by the things that are made." The heavens declare this, and the firmament shows this, and the day tells this, and the night certifies this, the sound of the thunder proclaims, as it were, this in all lands, and the words of the whistling wind unto the ends of the world. More principally the sun, which as a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. The body thereof (as mathematicians have confidently delivered) is one hundred and sixty-six times bigger than the whole earth, and yet it is every day carried by the finger of God so great a journey, so long a course, that if it were to be taken on the land, it should run every several hour of the day two hundred and twenty-five German miles. It is true that God is incapable to sense, yet he makes himself, as it were, visible in his works; as the divine poet (Du Bartas) sweetly:

"Therein our fingers feel, our nostrils smell, Our palates taste his virtues that excel,

He shows him to our eyes, talks to our ears, In the ordered motions of the spangled spheres."

So the heavens declare, that is, they make men declare the glory of God, by their admirable structure, motions, and influence. Now the preaching of the heavens is wonderful in three respects. 1. As preaching all the night and all the day without intermission: verse 2. One day tells another, and one night certifies another. 2. As preaching in every kind of language: Psalms 19:3. There is neither speech, nor language, but their voices are heard among them. 3. As preaching in every part of the world, and in every parish of every part, and in every place of every parish: Psalms 19:4, Their sound is gone into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world. They be diligent pastors, as preaching at all times; and learned pastors, as preaching in all tongues; and catholic

pastors, as preaching in all towns. Let us not then in this UNIVERSITY (where the voices of so many great doctors are heard), be like to truants in other schools, who gaze so much upon the babies, (the pictures or illustrations of a book), and gilded cover, and painted margent of their book, that they neglect the text and lesson itself. This is God's primer, as it were, for all sorts of people; but he hath another book proper only for his domestic auditory the church: "He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation, neither

body of the Holy Scriptures, is a most absolute canon of all doctrines appertaining either to faith or good manners; it is aperfect law, converting the soul, giving wisdom to the simple, sure, pure, righteous, and rejoicing the heart,etc. John Boys.Whole Psalm. Saint Chrysostom conjectures that the main intention of the greatest part of this Psalm consists in the discovery of divine providence, which manifests itself in the motions and courses of the heavenly bodies, concerning which the psalmist speaketh much, from Psalms 19:1-7. Saint Austin upon the place, is of a quite different opinion, who conjectures that Christ is the whole

subject of this Psalm; whose person is compared to the sun for excellency and beauty, and the course of whose doctrine was dispersed round about the world by his apostles to which Saint Paul alludes (Romans 10:18); "Have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, "etc., and the efficacy of whose gospel is like the heat of the sun, which pierceth into the very heart of the earth, so that into the secrets of the soul. I confess this allegorical exposition is not altogether impertinent, neither is that literal exposition of Saint Chrysostom to be blamed, for it hath its weight. But to omit all variety of conjecture, this Psalm contains in it:

1. A double kind of the knowledge of God, of which one is by the book of the creature; and this divines call a natural knowledge: there is not any one creature but it is a leaf written all over with the description of God; his eternal power and Godhead may be understood by the things that are seen, saith the apostle. Romans 1:20. And, as every creature, so especially the heavens do lead us to the knowledge of a God; so Psalms 19:1 : The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handywork; they are the theatres, as it were, of his wisdom, and power, and glory. Another is by the book of Scripture; and this knowledge is far more distinct and explicit: with the other even the heathen do grope after a deity, but with this Christians do behold God, as it were, with open face. The characters here are now fresh, spiritual, complete, and lively. The word of God is the singular means to know God aright. Look, as the light which comes from the sun, so that word of God, which is light, is the clearest way to know God who is light itself. Hence it is that the psalmist stands much upon this from Psalms 19:7-12, where he sets open the word in its several encomiums and operations; namely, in its perfection, its certainties, and firmness; its righteousness, and purity, and truth; and then in its efficacythat it is a converting word, an enlightening word, an instructing word, a rejoicing word, a desirable word, a warning word, and a rewarding word.

2. A singular and experimental knowledge of himself. So it seemeth, that that word which David did so much commend, he did commend it from an experimental efficacy; he had found it to be a righteous, and holy, and pure, and discovering word, laying open, not only visible and gross transgressions, but also, like the light of the sun, those otherwise unobserved and secret atoms of senses flying within the house; I mean in the secret chambers of the soul. Obadiah Sedgwick, 1660,

Ver. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, etc. The eminent saints of ancient times were watchful observers of the objects and operations of nature. In every event they saw the agency of God; and, therefore, they took delight in its examination. For they could not but receive pleasure from witnessing the manifestations of his wisdom and beneficence, whom they adored and loved. They had not learned, as we have in modern times, to interpose unbending laws between the Creator and his works; and then, by giving inherent power to these laws, virtually to remove God away from his creation into an ethereal extramundane sphere of repose and happiness. I do not say that this is the universal feeling of the present day. But it prevails extensively in the church, and still more in the world. The ablest philosophers of modern times do, indeed, maintain that a natural law is nothing more than the uniform mode in which God acts; and that, after all, it is not the efficiency of the law, but God's own energy, that keeps all nature in motion; that he operates immediately and directly, not remotely and indirectly, in bringing about every event, and that every natural change is as really the work of God as if the eye of sense could see his hand turning round the wheels of nature. But, although the ablest philosophy of modern times has reached this conclusion, the great mass of the community, and even of Christians, are still groping in the darkness of that mechanical system which ascribes the operation of this natural world to nature's laws instead of nature's God. By a sort of figure, indeed, it is proper, as the advocates of this system admit, to speak of God as the author of its natural events, because he originally ordained the laws of nature. But they have no idea that he exerts any direct and immediate agency in bringing them about; and, therefore, when they look upon these events they feel no impression of the presence and active agency of Jehovah.

But how different, as already remarked, were the feeling of ancient saints. The psalmist could not look up to heaven without exclaiming, The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. When he cast his eyes abroad upon the earth, his full heart cried out, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches." In his eye everything was full of God. It was God who "sent springs into the valleys, which run among the hills." When the thunderstorm passed before him, it was "God's voice in the heavens, and his lightnings that lighted the world." When he

heard the bellowings, and saw the smoke of the volcano, it was "God who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the hills, and they smoke." Edward Hitchcock, D.D., L.L.D., 1867.

Ver. 1. The heavens declare, etc. Man has been endued by his Creator with mental powers capable of cultivation. He has employed them in the study of the wonderful works of God which the universe displays. His own habitation has provided a base which has served him to measure the heavens. He compares his own stature with the magnitude of the earth on which he dwells; the earth, with the system in which it is placed; the extent of the system, with the distance of the nearest fixed stars; and that distance again serves as a unit of measurement for other distances which observation points out. Still no approach is made to any limit. How extended these wonderful works of the Almighty may be no man can presume to say. The sphere of creation appears to extend around us indefinitely on all sides; "to have its centre everywhere, its circumference nowhere." These are considerations which from their extent almost bewilder our minds. But how should they raise our ideas toward their great Creator, when we consider that all these were created from nothing, by a word, by a mere volition of the Deity. "Let them be, "said God, and they were. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." "For he spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalms 33:6; Psalms 33:9. What must be that power, which so formed worlds on worlds; worlds in comparison of which this earth which we inhabit sinks into utter nothingness! Surely when we thus lift up our thoughts to the heavens, the moon and the stars which he hath ordained, we must feel, if we can ever feel, how stupendous and incomprehensible is that Being who formed them all; that "the heavens" do indeed "declare the glory of God; "and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Temple Chevallier, in "The Hulsean Lectures for 1827."

Ver. 1. I have often been charmed and awed at the sight of the nocturnal heavens, even before I

throughout with the purest azure, and decorated with innumerable starry lamps. I have felt, I know not what, powerful and aggrandising impulse, which seemed to snatch me from the low entanglements of vanity, and prompted an ardent sigh for more sublime objects. I thought I heard, even from the silent spheres, a commanding call to spurn the abject earth, and pant after unseen delights. Henceforth I hope to imbibe more copiously this moral emanation of the skies, when, in some such manner as the preceding, they are rationally seen, and the sight is duly improved. The stars, I trust, will teach as well as shine, and help to dispel both nature's gloom and my intellectual darkness. To some people they discharge no better a service than that of holding a flambeau to their feet, and softening the horrors of their night. To me and my friends may they act as ministers of a superior order, as counsellors of wisdom, and guides to happiness! Nor will they fail to execute this nobler office, if they gently light our way into the knowledge of their adored Makerif they point out with their silver rays our path to his beatific presence. James Hervey, A.M., 1713-1758.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

JEFFERSO WILLIAMS There is no pause in their song. Day after day,

night after night the heavens pour fourth speech. The Hebrew word for pour

forth is bubbling up and pictures a natural spring that continually gives a

fresh water supply. There is neither pause nor break in their concert of

beauty, vastness, and steadfast order. The sun, the great circuit riding

preacher of the sky, proclaims Gods power, presence, and provision.

BARES,Day unto day - One day to another; or, each successive day. The day that is passing away proclaims the lesson which it had to convey from the movements of the heavens, about God; and thus the knowledge of God is accumulating as the time moves on. Each day has its own lesson in regard to the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God, and that lesson is conveyed from one day to another. There is a perpetual testimony thus given to the wisdom and power of the Great Creator.Uttereth speech - The word here rendered uttereth means properly to pour forth; to

pour forth copiously as a fountain. Compare Pro_18:4; Pro_1:23; Pro_15:2, Pro_15:28. Hence, the word means to utter; to declare. The word speech means properly a word; and then, a lesson; or that which speech conveys. The idea is, that the successive days thus impart instruction, or convey lessons about God. The day does this by the returning light, and by the steady and sublime movement of the sun in the heavens, and by all the disclosures which are made by the light of the sun in his journeyings.

And night unto night showeth knowledge - Knowledge respecting God. Each successive night does this. It is done by the stars in their courses; in their order; their numbers; their ranks; their changes of position; their rising and their setting. There are as many lessons conveyed to man about the greatness and majesty of God by the silent movements of each night as there are by the light of the successive days - just as there may be as many lessons conveyed to the soul about God in the dark night of affliction and adversity, as there are when the sun of prosperity shines upon us.

CLARKE, Day unto day uttereth speech - Each day is represented as teaching another relative to some new excellence discovered in these manifold works of God. The nights also, by the same figure, are represented as giving information to each other of the increase of knowledge already gained.

The labors of these our instructers know no intermission; but they continue incessantly to lecture us in the science of Divine wisdom. There is one glory of the sun, which shines forth by day; and there are other glories of the moon and of the stars, which become visible by night. And because day and night interchangeably divide the world between them, they are therefore represented as transmitting, in succession, each to other, the task enjoined them, like the two parts of a choir, chanting forth alternately the praises ot God. - Bisbop Horne.

GILL, Day untoday uttereth speech,.... This, with the following clause,

and night untonight showeth knowledge, some understand of the constant and continued succession of day and night; which declares the glory of God, and shows him to be possessed of infinite knowledge and wisdom; and which brings a new accession of knowledge to men; others, of the continual declaration of the glory of God, and of the knowledge of him made by the heavens and the firmament, the ordinances of which always continue; the sun for a light by day, and the moon and stars for a light by night; and so night and day constantly and successively proclaim the glory and wisdom of God: but rather this is to be understood of the constancy of the Gospel ministry, and the continuance of the evangelic revelation. The apostles of Christ persevered in their work,

and laboured in the word and doctrine night and day: they were in it at all seasons; yea, were instant in season and out of season; and though they are dead, the Gospel continues, and will do as long as day and night remain: and these, like overflowing fountains, sent forth in great abundance, as the word (x) rendered "uttereth" signifies, the streams of divine light and knowledge; they were full of matter, and their tongues were as the pen of a ready writer; they diffused the savour of the knowledge of Christ, in great plenty, in every place where they came. These words express the continuance of the Gospel revelation, as the next do the extent of it.

HERY, From the things that are seen every day by all the world the psalmist, in these verses, leads us to the consideration of the invisible things of God, whose being appears incontestably evident and whose glory shines transcendently bright in the visible heavens, the structure and beauty of them, and the order and influence of the heavenly bodies. This instance of the divine power serves not only to show the folly of atheists, who see there is a heaven and yet say, There is no God, who see the effect and yet say, There is no cause, but to show the folly of idolaters also, and the vanity of their imagination, who, though the heavens declare the glory of God, yet gave that glory to the lights of heaven which those very lights directed them to give to God only, the Father of lights. Now observe here,

1. What that is which the creatures notify to us. They are in many ways useful and serviceable to us, but in nothing so much as in this, that they declare the glory of God, by showing his handy-works, Psa_19:1. They plainly speak themselves to be God's handy-works; for they could not exist from eternity; all succession and motion must have had a beginning; they could not make themselves, that is a contradiction; they could not be produced by a casual hit of atoms, that is an absurdity, fit rather to be bantered than reasoned with: therefore they must have a Creator, who can be no other than an eternal mind, infinitely wise, powerful, and good. Thus it appears they are God's works, the works of his fingers (Psa_8:3), and therefore they declare his glory. From the excellency of the work we may easily infer the infinite perfection of its great author. From the brightness of the heavens we may collect that the Creator is light; their vastness of extent bespeaks his immensity;, their height his transcendency and sovereignty, their influence upon this earth his dominion, and providence, and universal beneficence: and all declare his almighty power, by which they were at first made, and continue to this day according to the ordinances that were then settled.

JAMISO, uttereth pours forth as a stream; a perpetual testimony.

E-SWORD, Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. As it one day took up the story where the other left it, and each night passed over the wondrous tale to the next. The original has in it the thought of pouring out, or welling over, with speech; as though days and nights were but as a fountain flowing evermore with Jehovah's praise. Oh to drink often at the celestial well, and learn to utter the glory of God! The witnesses above cannot be slain or silenced; from their elevated seats they constantly preach the knowledge of God, unawed and unbiassed by the judgments of men. Even the changes of alternating night and day are mutely eloquent, and light and shade equally reveal the Invisible One; let the vicissitudes of our circumstances do the same, and while we bless the God of our days of joy, let us also extol him who giveth songs in the night.

The lesson of day and night is one which it were well if all men learned. It should be

among our day-thoughts and night-thoughts to remember the flight of time, the changeful character of earthly things, the brevity both of joy and sorrow, the preciousness of life, our utter powerlessness to recall the hours once flown, and the irresistible approach of eternity. Day bids us labour, night reminds us to prepare for our last home; day bids us work for God, and night invites us to rest in him; day bids us look for endless day, and night warns us to escape from everlasting night.

CALVI, 2.Day unto day uttereth speech. Philosophers, who have more penetration into those matters than others, understand how the stars are arranged in such beautiful order, that notwithstanding their immense number there is no confusion; but to the ignorant and unlettered,

the CONTINUAL succession of days is a more undoubted proof of the providence of God. David, therefore, having spoken of the heavens, does not here descend from them to other parts of the world; but, from an effect more sensible and nearer our apprehension, he confirms what he has just now said, namely, that the glory of God not only shines, but also resounds in the heavens. The words may be variously expounded, but the different expositions which have been given of them make little difference as to the sense. Some explain them thus, that no day passes in which God does not show some signal evidence of his power. Others are of opinion that they denote the augmentations of instruction and knowledge, - that every succeeding day contributes something new in proof of the existence and perfections of God. Others view them as meaning that the days and nights talk together, and reason concerning the glory of their Creator but this is a somewhat forced interpretation. David, I have no doubt, here teaches, from the established alternations of days and nights, that the course and revolutions of the sun, and moon, and stars, are regulated by the marvellous wisdom of God. Whether we translate the words Day after day, or one day to another day, is of little consequence; for all that David means is the beautiful arrangement of time which the succession of days and nights effects. If, indeed, we were as attentive as we ought to be, even one day would suffice to bear testimony to us of the glory of God, and even one night would be sufficient to perform to us the same office. But when we see the sun and the moon performing their daily revolutions, the sun by day appearing over our heads, and the moon succeeding in its turns the sun ascending by degrees, while at the same time he approaches nearer us, and afterwards bending his course so as to depart from us by little and little; and when we see that by this means the length of the days and nights is regulated, and that the variation of their length is

arranged ACCORDING to a law so uniform, as invariably to recur at the same points of time in every successive year, we have in this a much brighter testimony to the glory of God. David, therefore, with the highest reason, declares, that although God should not speak a single word to men, yet the orderly and useful succession of days and nights eloquently proclaims the glory of God, and that there is now left to men no pretext for ignorance; for since the days and nights perform towards us so well and so carefully the office of teachers, we may acquire, if we are duly attentive, a sufficient amount of knowledge under their tuition.

SPURGEO, Ver. 2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. As if one day took up the story where the other left it, and each night passed over the wondrous tale to the next. The original has in it the thought of pouring out or welling over, with speech; as though days and nights were but as a fountain flowing evermore with Jehovah's praise. Oh to drink often at the celestial well, and learn to utter the glory of God! The witnesses above cannot be slain or silenced; from their elevated seats they constantly preach the knowledge of God, unawed and unbiased by the judgment of men. Even the changes of alternating night and day are mutely eloquent, and light and shade equally reveal the Invisible One; let the vicissitudes of our circumstances do the same, and while we bless the God of our days of joy, let us also extol him who giveth "songs in the night."

things, the brevity both of joy and sorrow, the preciousness of life, our utter powerlessness to recall the hours once flown, and the irresistible approach of eternity. Day bids us labour, night reminds us

to prepare for our last time; day bids us work for God, and night invites us to rest in him; day bids us look for endless day, and night warns us to escape from everlasting night.EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS

Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Psalms 19:1" for further information.

Ver. 1-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 19:1" for further information.

Ver. 1-4. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. See Psalms on "Psalms 19:1" for further information.

Ver. 1-4. Like as the sun with his light beneficially comforteth all the world, so Christ, the Son of God, reacheth his benefits unto all men, so that they will receive them thankfully, and not refuse them disobediently. Robert Cawdray.

Ver. 2. Day unto day, etc. But what is the meaning of the next wordOne day tells another, and one night certifies another? Literally, dies diem dicit, is nothing else but dies diem docet. One day tells another, is one day teaches another. The day past is instructed by the day present: every new day doth afford new doctrine. The day is a most apt time to learn by reading and conference; the night a most fit time for invention and meditation. Now that which thou canst not understand this day thou mayest haply learn the next, and that which is not found out in one night may be gotten in another. Mystically (saith Hierem), Christ is this "day, "who saith of himself, "I am the light of the world, "and his twelve apostles are the twelve hours of the day; for Christ's Spirit revealed by the mouths of his apostles the mysteries of our salvation, in other ages not so fully known unto the sons of men. One day tells another, that is, the spiritual utter this unto the spiritual; and one night certifies another, that is, Judas insinuates as much unto the Jews in the night of ignorance, saying, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he, lay hold on him."Matthew 26:28. Or, the Old Testament only shadowing Christ is the night, and the New Testament plainly showing Christ is the day. John Boys.

Ver. 2. Day unto day, or day after day; the vicissitude or CONTINUAL succession of day and night speaketh much divine knowledge. The assiduity and constancy without any intermission by the heavens preaching is hereby expressed. John Richardson.Ver. 2. Uttereth, poureth forth abundantly; sheweth demonstrates clearly and effectively, without ambiguity. Job 36:2. Many in the full light of gospel day, hear not that speech, who yet in the night of affliction and trouble, or in the conviction of their natural darkness, have that knowledge communicated to them which enables them to realise the joy that cometh in the morning. W. Wilson.

Ver. 2. Sheweth knowledge. We may illustrate the differing measures in which natural objects convey knowledge to men of differing mental and spiritual capacity by the story of our great English artist. He is said to have been engaged upon one of his immortal works, and a lady of rank looking on remarked, "But Mr. Turner, I do not see in nature all that you describe there." "Ah, Madam, "answered the painter, "do you not wish you could?" C.H.S.

HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER

Ver. 1-5. Parallel between the heavens and the revelation of Scripture, dwelling upon Christ as the central Sun of Scripture.

Ver. 2. Voices of the day and of the night. Day and night thoughts.

Psalms 19:3*

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.Instruction to be derived from the revolution of day and night

I. The almighty power of the Creator and Preserver of the universe. The very act of creation, or the producing of any being out of nothing, gives us the most enlarged idea of Omnipotence. The Almighty not only at first created, but continually upholds, the work

of His hands. His mighty energy is continually displayed in the preservation of all the creatures He hath made.

II. The goodness of God. Attend particularly to man, the noblest work of God. Every faculty of our nature and every circumstance of our condition afford abundant evidence of the goodness of God. Through the faculty of reason we are blessed with moral perception: we know what is right and what is wrong. The exercise of our mental powers is accompanied with pleasure. In the scheme of redeeming grace unfolded in the Gospel we have the most illustrious display of the Divine benignity which men or angels have ever witnessed. And if we consider ourselves as creatures in a state of trial we find ourselves furnished with all the direction, assistance, and encouragement that such a state requires.

III. The wisdom of God. Wisdom, whenever it is employed, must have happiness for its object; and when that is promoted by fit means, wisdom shows itself to the utmost advantage. Every object that contributes to our happiness is admirably contrived for that end; and every evidence of Divine goodness brings with it a concomitant proof of Divine wisdom, The body and the mind want the rest of night, and partake of this refreshment, The faculties of the soul cannot long bear intense application. Attend now to the religious and moral instructions which this subject suggests.

1. Let every revolution of day and night raise our thoughts to God. Let us attend to the daily revolution, not with the coldness of a philosophic inquirer, but with the ardent piety of devout worshippers of the God of nature and grace. But it is in the scheme of redemption, unfolded in the Gospel, that we behold the Divine perfections shining with the most resplendent lustre. The light of the sun of righteousness throws new beauty upon the creation of God.

2. Consider the experience we have had of the power, goodness, wisdom, and mercy of God in the by-past of our life. It were endless to enumerate the instances of the Divine goodness and mercy in which we have shared.

3. Every revolving year, every revolving day, tells us that the period of our probation is hastening to an end. Then watch against a worldly temper and disposition of mind. Watch against building our hopes on general truths and promises, without any evidence of our interest in them. (James Ross, D. D.)

Silent sounds

It sounds rather curious, does it not, to hear about one day speaking to another? Though you have listened ever so hard, yet you have not been able to hear a day speaking. That is true; and David, who wrote this Psalm, knew that also, for he says in the very next verse, No speech, no language, their voice is not heardand yet, day unto day uttereth speech! How can theft be? Because there are more ways of speaking than one. There is the way the deaf and dumb speakon their fingers. Their voice is not heard, yet they speak. Then a book speaks. The moment it is open, and you see the words, you understand what they meanthey speak to you. There is a tribe of savage people tar away, and what do you think is the name they give to a book? They call it the whisperer. But it does not whisper; it has no voice nor sound, and yet it speaks. Now, how do you come to understand what people saywhen they speak on their fingers? or how do you ever come to know what a book says? Isnt it by first learning how to understand? And you carry the way to understand inside yourself. So is it that we understand thousands of things round about us, and that tells us of God, The way, then,

to understand what the days speak is to get much of Gods spirit into our hearts. The days say

I. Theres nothing new! Today is just like yesterday. Yesterday came up beautiful, became brighter, had clouds and sunshine, and then faded away. So it will be with today. Yesterday carried away on its white wings the spirits of thousands of men and women, and wee, wee children too; and the night came, and covered their bodies, and they were seen no more. So it will be today. Theres nothing new. But as you listen again you hear the days say

II. Everything is new! There is nothing new about the day, but everything is new about you. The temptations you will have today wont be the same that you had yesterday; the night has come like a black wall between you and yesterday, and today you get a fair start again; and today you may do better than yesterday, or today you may do worse, but you cant blame yesterday. It is gone; this is a new day, but, take care! you will be tempted today in another way. So, you can t afford to forget Jesus: a new day means a new way, and only Jesus can guide you rightly upon it. But this also the days say

III. Time tells of eternity! As the days pass away, we pass away with thempassing away, out into eternity. When you are in a train or a tramcar you notice that all the people do not go to the journeys end. Some go only a little way, others go farther, new ones come in; perhaps you yourself get out before the whole journey is done. Anyway, they are very few who go all the way. It is just the same with our lives. Some only go a short distance through the daysGod calls them away when they are young. Some go a little farther, others a little farther still; but they are very few indeed who come to be very old. Shouldnt every day, then, make us think of what is to be the end of all? (J. Reid Howett.)

Night unto night sheweth knowledge.

The teaching of the night

God divided the sovereignty of time between day and night.

I. Night teaches the individuality of our being. For more than the day, it shows us what it is to be alone with ourselves and God. It drives all the faculties and sensibilities of the soul inward upon itself. The hours of darkness are fearful to those who are afraid to be with themselves and God. Jesus used to retire to desert places, that He might, during the night time be alone with the Father. I have myself spent the hours of night alone upon high mountains. A solemn experience.

II. The retirement of the soul, in which Gods presence is most felt, need not take us away from the crowded paths of life. Where we see most of man, there we can see most of God. A spiritually minded man once said that he felt Gods presence with him in walking the crowded and noisy streets of New York as really as he did in the sanctuary or in the solemn hour of devotion.

III. The night of the natural world is the symbol of the deeper night of sorrow and disappointment that settles down upon the soul. God surrounds us with both, that we may feel for His hand in the darkness, and find ourselves safe with His protection. We learn from the night of affliction and trouble many lessons which we could never master in the light of broad day. In the awful night hour of death we need not find ourselves alone. He has been all the way through the valley of the shadow of death, and He will not leave us to grope in vain for His hand. (D. Marsh, D. D.)

HAWKER, In like manner, the regular succession of day and night prove no less his order and government. He maketh the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise him. Psa_65:8. And so universal are those teachings, that there is no nation under the sun but hath this book of God in creation opened to their view.Reader, remark by the way the perpetuity of this order and regularity, as a confirmation of Gods covenant with Noah. After the deluge the Lord promised, that while the earth remained seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night, should not cease. And, although this promise was made more than four thousand years since, yet God is as true to his promise as though it was made but yesterday. Mark this, Reader, as a further proof of divine faithfulness, and remember what God commanded by Moses, Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God. Gen_8:22; Deu_7:9.

SBC 1-6, Part First.The praise of the Divine glory in the natural world of creation is first general (vers. 1-4) and then particular (vers. 4-6).

I. The whole visible expanse of sky is the theme or occasion of praise. Its teaching or testimony is (1) constant and continuous, (2) independent of language, and (3) universal.

II. The commission given generally to the heavens to declare Gods glory and to the firmament to show His handiwork is centred in the particular ascendency and sovereignty of the orb of day. (1) He has a position which implies supremacy. (2) The bright and radiant bravery of the sun is illustrated by significant comparisons. (3) The two leading features of his supremacy are clearly indicated: the wide sweep of his command and the penetrating, all-searching potency of his beams.

Part Second.

The transition from the natural world to the spiritual is made with startling abruptness. As in the stroke of a magic wand, the sun is gone. Another sun breaks forth from a higher heaventhe law of the Lord.

I. This sudden substitution implies similarity or analogy. (1) The law of the Lord has a fixed position; (2) a resplendent beauty and authoritative power; (3) a sweep and range to take in the uttermost bounds of human consciousness and experience, as well as a piercing, fiery energy to ransack every nook and cranny in the thoughts and intents of the human heart.

II. In this great analogy a difference is to be noted. The heavens are the result in time of what God, as the Almighty, is pleased from all eternity to determine fully to do; the law is the image from everlasting to everlasting of what God, as Jehovah, from everlasting to everlasting necessarily is. And as what God in His essential nature is transcends incalculably in glory what God, in the exercise of His discretionary choice, may think fit to do, so the law of Jehovah transcends the heavens which declare His glory, and in which He has set a tabernacle for the sun.

R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 113.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

BARES,There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard - Margin, Without these their voice is heard. Hebrew, without their voice heard. The idea in the margin, which is adopted by Prof. Alexander, is, that when the heavens give expression to the majesty and glory of God, it is not by words - by the use of language such as is employed among men. That is, there is a silent but real testimony to the power and glory of their great Author. The same idea is adopted substantially by DeWette. So Rosenmuller renders it, There is no speech to them, and no words, neither is their voice heard. High as these authorities are, yet it seems to me that the idea conveyed by our common version is probably the correct one. This is the idea in the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. According to this interpretation the meaning is, There is no nation, there are no men, whatever may be their language, to whom the heavens do not speak, declaring the greatness and glory of God. The language which they speak is universal; and however various the languages spoken by men, however impossible it may be for them to understand each other, yet all can understand the language of the heavens, proclaiming the perfections of the Great Creator. That is a universal language which does not need to be expressed in the forms of human speech, but which conveys great truths alike to all mankind.

That the passage cannot mean that there is no speech, that there are no words, or that there is no language in the lessons conveyed by the heavens, seems to me to be clear from the fact that alike in the previous verse Psa_19:2, and in the following verse Psa_19:4, the psalmist says that they do use speech or language, Day unto day uttereth speech; their words unto the end of the world. The phrase their voice refers to the heavens Psa_19:1. They utter a clear and distinct voice to mankind; that is, they convey to people true and just notions of the greatness of the Creator. The meaning, then, it seems to me, is that the same great lessons about God are conveyed by the heavens, in their glory and their revolutions, to all nations; that these lessons are conveyed to them day by day, and night by night; that however great may be the diversities of Speech among men, these convey lessons in a universal language understood by all mankind; and that thus God is making himself constantly known to all the dwellers on the earth. All people can understand the language of the heavens, though they may not be able to understand the language of each other. Of the truth of this no one can doubt; and its beauty is equal to its truth.

CLARKE, There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard - Leave out the expletives here, which pervert the sense; and what remains is a tolerable translation of the original: -

Einomerveeindebarim,belinishmakolam.No speech, and no words; their voice without hearing.

Becholhaaretsyatsakavvam:Ubiktseythebelmilleyhem.Into all the earth hath gone out their sound; and to the extremity of the habitable world, their eloquence.

The word kau, which we translate line, is rendered sonus, by the Vulgate, and

, sound, by the Septuagint; and St. Paul, Rom_10:18, uses the same term. Perhaps the idea here is taken from a stretched cord, that emits a sound on being struck;

and hence both ideas may be included in the same word; and kavvam may be either their line, or cord, or their sound. But I rather think that the Hebrew word originally

meant sound or noise; for in Arabic the verb kavaha signifies he called out, cried, clamavit. The sense of the whole is this, as Bishop Horne has well expressed it: -

Although the heavens are thus appointed to teach, yet it is not by articulate sounds that they do it. They are not endowed, like man, with the faculty of speech; but they address themselves to the mind of the intelligent beholder in another way, and that, when understood, a no less forcible way, the way of picture or representation. The instruction which the heavens spread abroad is as universal as their substance, which extends itself in lines, or rays. By this means their words, or rather their significant

actions or operations, ,areeverywherepresent;andtherebytheypreachtoallthenations

thepowerandwisdom,themercyandlovingkindness,oftheLord.

St.PaulappliesthisasaprophecyrelativetotheuniversalspreadoftheGospelofChrist,

Rom_10:18;forGoddesignedthatthelightoftheGospelshouldbediffusedwheresoeverthe

lightofthecelestialluminariesshone;andbeasusefulandbeneficent,inamoralpointofview,

asthatisinanatural.AlltheinhabitantsoftheearthshallbenefitbytheGospelofChrist,asthey

allbenefitbythesolar,lunar,andstellarlight.And,indeed,allhavethusbenefited,evenwhere

thewordsarenotyetcome.JesusisthetrueLightthatlightetheverymanthatcomethintothe

world.Hislight,andthevoiceofhisSpirit,havealreadygonethroughtheearth;andhiswords,

andthewordsofhisapostles,arebymeansoftheBibleandmissionariesgoingouttoallthe

extremitiesofthehabitableglobe.

OnthesewordsIshallconcludewiththetranslationofmyoldPsalter:-

Rom_10:1Rom_10:1Rom_10:1Rom_10:1HevenstellesthejoyofGod;andthewerkesofhishandesschwisthefirmament.

Rom_10:2Rom_10:2Rom_10:2Rom_10:2Daytildayriftesword;andnyghttilnyghtschewesconying.

Rom_10:3Rom_10:3Rom_10:3Rom_10:3Naspecheser,nenawordes,oftheqwilkthevoycesofthaimbenoghtherd.

Rom_10:4Rom_10:4Rom_10:4Rom_10:4Inalthelandyedethesouneoftham;andinendesofthewereldthairwordes.

Rom_10:5Rom_10:5Rom_10:5Rom_10:5IntheSounhesetthistabernacle;andheasaspousecomandforthofhis

chaumber:hejoyedalsgeauntatryntheway.

Rom_10:6Rom_10:6Rom_10:6Rom_10:6Fraheestheventhegangyngofhym:andhisgaynerasetiltheheestofhym:nanees

thathymmayhydefrahishete.

Alltheversions,excepttheChaldee,renderthelastclauseofthefourthversethus:Inthesun

hehathplacedhistabernacle;astheoldPsalterlikewisedoes.Theysupposedthatifthe

SupremeBeinghadalocaldwelling,thismustbeit;asitwastoallhumanappearancesthefittest

place.ButtheHebrewis,Amongthemhathhesetatabernacleforthesun.Heisthecenterof

theuniverse;alltheotherheavenlybodiesappeartoservehim.Heislikeageneralinhis

pavilion,surroundedbyhistroops,towhomhegiveshisorders,andbywhomheisobeyed.So,

thesolarinfluencegivesmotion,activity,light,andheattoalltheplanets.Tononeoftheother

heavenlybodiesdoesthepsalmistassignatabernacle,noneissaidtohaveafixeddwelling,but

thesun.

GILL, There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard,.... Not the voice of the day and night; as if the sense was, that there is no people, of any speech or language under the sun, but there is something said every day and night of the weather, what it is, or will be, as the face of the heavens appears morning and evening: but of the heavens and firmament; the meaning of which some take to be this; either that though they have no proper speech nor language, yet there is a voice in them which is heard, declaring the glory of God and his handiworks; and the words may very well be rendered, "they have no speech nor words, without these their voice is heard"; or that there is no people, nation, or language under the heavens; see Dan_3:4; though they are ever so different one from another, so as not to be able to understand each other; yet the voice of the heavens, uttering and proclaiming the glory of their Maker, is heard and understood by them all: but rather this is to be interpreted of the extent of the Gospel ministry by the apostles; who, according to their commission, went everywhere preaching the word, to men of all nations, of every speech and language; for which they were qualified, by having the gift of various tongues bestowed upon them; so that there were no nations, of ever so barbarous a speech and language, but they were capable of speaking to and of being understood by them; and though they could not understand one another, they all heard the apostles speak in their own tongues the wonderful works of God, Act_2:4. Their voice, in the ministration of the Gospel, was heard in every nation externally, and by many internally: faith came by hearing; and they received the word with gladness and readiness. This gives the Gospel revelation a superiority to the legal one; that was only made to one nation, to the nation of the Jews; the voice of that was not heard elsewhere; but the voice of the Gospel is heard in all nations; this revelation is published throughout the world: and this shows that these words belong to the times of the apostles, after they had received a commission from Christ, to go into, all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; which was done before the destruction of Jerusalem, Mat_24:14; and which is further confirmed by what follows.

HERY, To whom this declaration is made of the glory of God. It is made to all parts of the world (Psa_19:3, Psa_19:4): There is no speech nor language (no nation, for the nations were divided after their tongues, Gen_10:31, Gen_10:32) where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone

through all the earth (the equinoctial line, suppose) and with it their words to the end of the world, proclaiming the eternal power of God of nature, Psa_19:4. The apostle uses this as a reason why 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 by the works of creation, and left not himself without witness among them (Rom_10:18), so that they were without excuse if they were idolaters, Rom_1:20, Rom_1:21. And those were without blame, who, by preaching the gospel to them, endeavoured to turn them from their idolatry. If God used these means to prevent their apostasy, and they proved ineffectual, the apostles did well to use other means to recover them from it. They have no speech or language (so some read it) and yet their voice is heard. All people may hear these natural immortal preachers speak to them in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.

In singing these verses we must give God the glory of all the comfort and benefit we have by the lights of the heaven, still looking above and beyond them to the Sun of righteousness.

JAMISO, Though there is no articulate speech or words, yet without these their voice is heard (compare Margin).

PIPER The second observation of David's I want us to see is in verse 3,

"There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard." In other

words, the knowledge which pours forth from days and nights is visual not

verbal. We know from verses 7 and following that David loved the verbal

revelation of God, so he is not belittling that. But he also delights in the

visual revelation of God and puts it first probably because it is completed by

the verbal but also because it comes first not only in the order of creation

(God made things for man before He spoke to man) but also in the order of

every life (a child learns by seeing the world before he can understand

languages).

PIPER The second observation of David's I want us to see is in verse 3,

"There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard." In other

words, the knowledge which pours forth from days and nights is visual not

verbal. We know from verses 7 and following that David loved the verbal

revelation of God, so he is not belittling that. But he also delights in the

visual revelation of God and puts it first probably because it is completed by

the verbal but also because it comes first not only in the order of creation

(God made things for man before He spoke to man) but also in the order of

every life (a child learns by seeing the world before he can understand

languages).

E-SWORD, There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Every man may hear the voices of the stars. Many are the languages of terrestrials, to celestials there is but one, and that one may be understood by every willing mind. The lowest heathen are without excuse, if they do not

discover the invisible things of God in the works which he has made. Sun, moon, and stars are God's travelling preachers; they are apostles upon their journey confirming those who regard the Lord, and judges on circuit condemning those who worship idols.

The margin gives us another rendering, which is more literal, and involves less repetition; no speech, no words, their voice is not heard; that is to say, their teaching is not addressed to the ear, and is not uttered in articulate sounds; it is pictorial, and directed to the eye and heart; it touches not the sense by which faith comes, for faith cometh by hearing. Jesus Christ is called the Word, for he is a far more distinct display of Godhead than all the heavens can afford; they are, after all, but dumb instructors; neither star nor sun can arrive at a word, but Jesus is the express image of Jehovah's person, and his name is the Word of God.

BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, No speech nor language; their voice cannot be heard.

Silent voices

The Psalmist, like a true poet, had a keen eye and ear. He saw in the firmament the glory of God, and he heard, around him and beneath, a chorus of praise to the Most High. Two interpretations have been put upon this verse. The first, that there is no country or clime, no speech or language, where the voice of the firmament, etc., is not heard, seeing their line or instruction is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. The other is, that there is no audible voice, no sound that falls upon the ear. Addison writes, What though in solemn silence, etc.

I. Silent voices have often a most powerful influence.

1. They may move a man more than uttered words. The voices of nature, the music of the spheres, as it is called, is silence. Lectures have their place, but audible voices are not so soul-stirring as voices inaudible.

2. The spring, and every season of the year, brings many lessons, and yet there is no speech or language, its voice is not heard. No man ever heard, with his bodily ear, the language of either day or night, yet every day speaks of Gods infinite resourcesof His goodness, of His power and glorymore articulate than any man could speak.

3. Solitude speaks to the soul. The mountain top, the dense forest, the restless sea; but their voice is not heard. The expression of human feeling is often more powerful when inarticulate.

II. In order to apprehend silent voices we must ourselves be silent. Put away distracting thoughts, and humbly listen only to God as He speaks to the soul and conscience. Men cannot even hear music unless they are still, silent, and undistracted. With the soul men hear God, and not with the physical ear, unless they are still and undistracted. It is very desirable that men should commune with God in their work, and be still before Him with their souls, and not with their intellects only. The active intellect is more often used against God than for Him. But God cannot be reached by intellectual processes any more than love, or than the beauties of a landscape can be explained by argument, or than music can be brought home to the soul by logical syllogism. (James S. Swan.)

The silent testimony

Language is always a difficulty, a snare, a temptation, an inconvenient convenience. It brings us into all our troubles; it is when we speak that we create heterodoxies; could we

but be silently dumbly goodcould we look our prayers, and cause our face to shine with our benevolence, and our hand do a quiet work of beneficence, how happy would the world be! Words do not mean the same thing to any two men; they may be accepted for momentary uses and for commercial purposes, but when it becomes a matter of life and death, time and eternity, truth and error, words are base counterfeits, that should be nailed to the counter of creation, as things by which a false commerce has been kept up amongst earnest and ardent men. Blessed be God for the silent testimony, for the radiant character, f