Tuesday prior to Epiphany 3

 

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Psalm 19: (1-6) 7-14; key verse, verse 14—May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. These words are quite familiar – they are often uttered by the pastor before the sermon. By these words the preacher is asking that he only proclaim God’s Words and not his own. By these words the hearer asks that these words of the Lord penetrate the heart and mind so that faith may be strengthened and nourished. May the Word of the Lord give us both direction and encouragement not only this coming Sunday but throughout this New Year.

The Heavens, the Word, and the Glory of God

The title tells us both the author and the audience of the psalm: To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Some believe that the Chief Musician is the Lord GOD Himself, and others suppose him to be a leader of choirs or musicians in David’s time, such as Heman the singer or Asaph (1 Chronicles 6:33, 16:5-7, and 25:6).

“This Psalm reflects, more than any other, the beauty and splendor of the Hebrew poetry found in the Psalter. C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.’” (Willem VanGemeren)

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight: David closed this glorious psalm with a humble surrender of his mouth and heart to God. He knew that real godliness was not only a matter of what a man did, but also of what he said and thought in his heart.

This was not a proud proclamation that David knew he was innocent and blameless; it was a plea to be made so by the transforming power of God.

 

Acceptable in Your sight: “The psalm ends, not on the note of avoiding sin, but on that of offering back to God the mind’s fitting response to His own words, as a pure sacrifice (cf. Hosea 14:2). This is the probable implication of acceptable, a term often found in sacrificial contexts.” (Kidner)

O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer: King David looked to the Lord GOD to be his strength and redemption. He knew that he needed a Redeemer, and that the faithful God would rescue him.

Strength can also be translated as Rock. God’s strength is like a mighty rock that rescues us and gives us a firm standing place.

Redeemer is that great Hebrew word goel, the kinsman-redeemer. It was the goel who bought his relative out of slavery, who rescued him in bankruptcy and total loss. King David looked to God Himself as his kinsman-redeemer.

“If our Rock were not our Redeemer, we should be without hope. If our Redeemer were not our Rock, still might we be afraid. It is good that we never forget the mutual interpretation of these two revelations of God.” (Morgan)

This psalm has run a glorious course. It begins with recognizing the glory of God in creation, and then the glory of His written revelation. Next to this great God and His great works, David knew himself to be small and sinful. Yet this great God would also be David’s strength and Redeemer as David put his trust in Him.[2]

Collect for Psalm 19: Heavenly Father, you have filled the world with beauty. Open our eyes to see your gracious hand in all your works, that rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness, for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.[3]

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[1] Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts “Ezra Reads the Torah” copyright © WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use
[2] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-19/
[3] Collect for Psalm 19, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. I © 1994, The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delphi, NY