“Let the words of my mouth
Be acceptable in your sight!
Let the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in your sight!
Yahweh!
My rock and my redeemer!”
David or the psalmist wants his words to be acceptable in the sight of Yahweh as he comes to the end of this psalm. He also wanted the mediation in his heart to be also acceptable to Yahweh, who is his rock and redeemer.
“Moreover by the law,
Your servant is warned.
In keeping the law,
There is a great reward.
But who can discern his errors?
Clear me from hidden faults!
Keep back your servant also from the insolent!
Do not let them have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless.
I shall be innocent of a great transgression.”
This then is prayer to follow the law of Yahweh. There is a reward for following the law of Yahweh. How can anyone discern their errors? How can they be clear from hidden faults? They have to stay away from the insolent ones. David does not want to let them have power over him. He wants to be blameless and innocent. Without the help of Yahweh it is not possible to follow the law.
“The law of Yahweh is perfect.
It revives the soul.
The decrees of Yahweh are sure.
They make wise the simple.
The precepts of Yahweh are right.
They rejoice the heart.
The commandment of Yahweh is clear.
It enlightens the eyes.
The fear of Yahweh is pure.
It endures forever.
The ordinances of Yahweh are true.
They are righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold.
They are even much finer than gold.
They are sweeter also than honey.
They are sweeter than the drippings of the honeycomb.”
In order to counteract the preceding almost pagan eulogy to the sun, the Mosaic law of Yahweh gets special mention. It is the law of Yahweh, the decrees of Yahweh, the precepts of Yahweh, the commandments of Yahweh, the ordinances of Yahweh. There can be no mistake. This is the law of Yahweh that begins with the fear of Yahweh. They revive the soul. They make the simple wise. They rejoice the heart. They enlighten the eyes. They set righteous and endure forever. They are finer than gold and sweeter than honey. Clearly the law of Yahweh is central, not the sun.
“In the heavens,
He has set a tent for the sun.
The sun comes out
Like a bridegroom
From his wedding canopy.
The sun is like a strong man
Who runs his course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens.
Its circuit is to the end of them.
There is nothing hid from its heat.”
This is almost a hymn to the sun. However, Yahweh is in control of the sun. Clearly this sun is revolving around the earth. The sun comes out like a bridegroom from a wedding canopy. What a description of a sunrise! The sun is like a strong man who cannot be deterred from his course that he runs with joy. The sun rises at one end and does a circuit to the other end of heaven or the sky. Nothing can hide from the heat of the sun.
“To the choirmaster leader, a psalm of David.
The heavens are telling the glory of God.
The firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech.
Night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech.
There are no words.
Their voice is not heard.
Yet their voice goes out through all the earth.
Their words go to the end of the world.”
Once again, Psalm 19 is a simple choral psalm of David, without any explicit setting. The Assyrians and Babylonians were interested in the heavenly bodies and often considered some of them gods. There was a natural preoccupation with the heavens and creation. The heavens proclaim the glory and handiwork of God. Day talks to day and night talks to night, but no words are exchanged. You never hear a voice or a sound. However, the voice and words of day and night go throughout the world to the ends of the earth. The heavens and the sky speak to us even if they do not have a voice or words.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 