Psalm
19:2, 4–6; antiphon, Psalm
19:1—Many of the psalms praise the
Lord for His deliverance from enemies, both mortal and spiritual. Psalm 19 is a
hymn of praise to God because of the majesty and glory that are His by His very
nature. The glory of God is revealed by the entire creation. Those who
attribute the earth and the cosmos to mere happenstance are only deceiving
themselves.
Psalm 19 –
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.’[2]
The Lord restores Jerusalem, His Church, because she
is the mother of His children, whom He comforts “as one whom his mother comforts” (Isaiah 66:13). We are “satisfied from her consoling breast”
with the pure milk of the Word, and we “drink
deeply with delight from her glorious abundance” (Isaiah 66:11). The
messengers of Christ bestow such gifts upon His Church. For He sends them out
“as lambs in the midst of wolves” (Luke 10:3), bearing in their bodies the
sacrifice of His cross, by which “the
kingdom of God has come near” (Luke 10:9, 11). Wherever He enters in with
this Gospel, Satan is cast out and falls “like lightning from heaven” (Luke
10:18). Thus, we do not “boast except in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). Rejoicing in this
Gospel, we “bear one another’s burdens”
in love, according to “the law of Christ”
(Galatians 6:2). [3]
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. [4]
[1] Lift High the Cross, copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[3] Lectionary summary, LCMS commission on worship
[4] Collect for Psalm 19, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
[5] Ibid
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