(To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.) The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands.
Psalm 19 calls the sky as its first witness, speaking before the psalm ever names Scripture. Commentators ask what it says, who can hear it, and where its witness stops.
The psalm has two halves. Creation speaks first. From verse 7 the law of the LORD speaks. Each witness has its own subject and its own hearers.
The two witnesses of Psalm 19 still give their testimony, and nothing has spoiled it: (1) "The heavens declare the glory of God"; and (2) "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul" (v. 7). Both witnesses speak the truth, as far as they go. The first declares God's power and divinity. Everyone alive has this witness testifying to them all the time. So all who do not turn to God are "without excuse" (Rom. 1:20). The second was sent mainly to the nation of Israel. It speaks of the holiness of God and exposes the sinfulness of man, leaving him nowhere to turn for mercy but God.
The psalm points upward, and that choice is deliberate. Man has spoiled everything within his reach. He has not touched the sky.
It is a solemn thought that whatever man has touched he has corrupted. Creation groans wherever man has been. But if I look where man cannot reach, at the moon and the stars, all is glorious… The heavens are spread over all. The sun runs its tireless circuit from one end of the sky to the other. They are the bright, unchanging witnesses of the divine glory, and man's defiling hand cannot reach them.
The name matters here. The sky does not announce God's covenant name. It announces God as God. The name changes in verse 7.
Notice something else, for this Psalm has great depth. The heavens do not declare the glory of Jehovah — that is His covenant name — but of God. The law of Jehovah converts the soul — it is perfect.
If the message is that plain, the failure to receive it needs explaining. One writer argues that people have not misread the evidence. They have thrown it out.
Creation is open to everyone's view, and it is full of signs of God. Evidence of a divine hand at work lies scattered above man and around him. Even the most darkened mind would struggle to escape the conviction that the wisdom and power on display there is nothing less than divine. Yet, widespread, continuous, and eloquent as its testimony is, men have not read God's plain speech in it. And note the charge against man. It is not just a misreading of the evidence. It is a complete rejection of it.
Paul quotes this passage in Romans 10 when he asks whether Israel had heard. The sky preaches without words to the whole world. Paul makes that his picture of a message that crosses every border.
The heavens testified so plainly that only unbelief could claim earth was everything. But Israel boasted so highly in her earthly inheritance that she shut out everyone who was not a Jew. Yet their own Scriptures declared what their eyes saw every day. A heavenly testimony went out into all the earth, and its words to the ends of the world. This heavenly message is only a picture of the blessed worldwide gospel. That gospel is sent from the Son of Man in the heavens. It is not God speaking on earth, but from heaven, and so it is a voice addressed to all men everywhere — Jews and Gentiles.
Creation is enough to leave people without excuse. It tells you that God is. It does not tell you what He is like toward sinners.
Creation should indeed speak, and its voice be heard. What is invisible in the Creator is still seen. The things He has made make it plain — His eternal power and divine nature. They do not show His grace, or truth, or love. They do show infinite power and design, and that leaves people without excuse. Creation declares the power of God. It does not reveal what He is in Himself — His nature. But unless a person shuts his eyes on purpose, it is evidence enough that a Creator-God exists.
A person can study the heavens and still miss what the psalm sees. Faith, not learning, is what sees God's hand.
Those who study the stars may speak of the varied glories of the heavenly bodies. They may tell of their great discoveries. Yet they may never think of Him whose glory is before their eyes… It takes God-given faith to see the hand of God in creation. Scripture says, "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God" (Heb. 11:3). The youngest child in the family of God knows more about where creation came from than the greatest thinker who does not know God.
- Speaks — The sky is a sermon that never stops. It declares God's eternal power and divine nature to everyone alive.
- Unspoiled — The psalm looks up because whatever man touches he corrupts; the heavens stay beyond his defiling hand.
- Everywhere — This witness reaches every land. So unbelief is not an honest mistake. It throws out the evidence.
- Limited — The sky shows God's power, not His grace, truth or love. For those you must look elsewhere.
- Faith — Telescopes see stars. Faith sees the glory. The youngest believer sees further here than the finest mind without God.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
A testimony runs over every human head without pause. The sky talks, and it never stops talking. So the question is not whether God has spoken to the world. It is why a message sent every day and every night is so easily missed.
Day and night both speak here. One writer traces where this witness began and why nothing has silenced it.
Creation is the earliest witness of God to man. As soon as man fell, he needed something more, and in the mercy of God he found it. If men turned their back on that, or corrupted it with their own folly, the witness of creation still remained, and they could not silence it. The testimony is continuous and progressive. One day adds its tale to that of another, and one night likewise to the one that went before it. Never exhausted, the story never ends. The day has many voices, each subdued by the sheer number of them. It is like a river of speech flowing on and on. The night, with its quiet breathing, speaks in the hush — perhaps more clearly to the more attentive ear.
The psalmist insists on the word "speech." The same writer asks how seriously anyone takes it — skeptic or believer.
So the psalmist gives speech to creation, and he is in earnest about it. He wants us to know that he means every word of this. He says it is "speech" and it is "words" — really that. Words, despite the sneer of the skeptic. Words, despite the dullness of God's own people. Words truly there to be heard by those who listen for them... how much does the average Christian hear of this continual witness to God in the many voices of the day and the night?
Nobody lives outside the range of a message sent every day and every night. Romans draws the conclusion.
Every day and night the voice of creation speaks in unmistakable language (v. 2). If anyone refuses such clear witness, he is ignorant on purpose. He has no excuse. Even the darkest lands that do not know God hear this voice. Romans 1:19-20 implies as much, presenting creation as a clear testimony — a testimony that people realize condemns the sin they indulge in: "So they are without excuse." So there is no place in the world without a testimony from God (v. 4).
This testimony stays clean because of where it is. Man has spoiled everything he can reach. He cannot reach the sky.
It is a solemn thought that whatever man has touched he has corrupted. Creation groans when a man has been there. But if I look where man cannot reach — at the moon, the stars, and so on — all is glorious... The heavens spread over all. The sun goes round in its tireless circuit from one end to the other. Both are bright, unchanging witnesses of the divine glory, above man's defiling hand.
The second half of the verse gives knowledge to the dark hours, not only to the bright ones.
In this psalm we can clearly see that creation, set before us like this, is really God's faithfulness. This is the realm where God's handiwork, His eternal power and divinity, is plain to grasp — unless we are blind, as we naturally are... Verse 2 tells us clearly that this testimony communicates; it passes something on. God draws our attention to the testimony to Himself in the words "Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge." But if there is darkness, God is willing to give light there, a testimony.
The sky's message has a limit. Later the psalm brings in a second witness, and one writer pairs the two, each with its own job.
The two witnesses of Psalm 19 still bear their uncorrupted testimony: (1) "The heavens declare the glory of God"; and (2) "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul" (v. 7). These witnesses plainly speak the truth according to their measure. The first declares God's power and divinity. The second speaks of the holiness of God and exposes the sinfulness of man. It shuts him up to God alone for mercy. It leaves him without excuse too, if he does not seek that mercy from Him.
- Voice — The testimony grows: each day adds to the last, each night to the night before, and the story never ends.
- Words — The psalmist means "speech." These are real words for anyone who listens, though even God's own people are dull to them.
- Reach — No place on earth is left out. Even the darkest lands that do not know God hear this voice.
- Verdict — The witness is clear. Refusing it is a choice that leaves people without excuse.
- Limit — The heavens declare God's power and divinity. The law does the other job: it exposes sin and shuts man up to God alone for mercy.
There is no speech and there are no words, yet their voice is heard.
Psalm 19 opens with the heavens declaring God's glory. This verse describes how they do it: no syllable, no language, yet a voice that carries. So why do so many people miss it? And what can a wordless witness do?
Translators read the line in two ways. One: there is no place where the voice goes unheard. The other: there is no speech and no words, yet the voice is heard. Either way the point stands. Creation speaks without making a sound.
This testimony of creation goes out to everyone. There is no audible voice, as there was with the prophets. Still, the testimony is there in a silent voice, in the way things are presented. They have no speech, yet the voice of the testimony is heard.
This voice is not a code that only a few can decipher. It reaches everyone, everywhere.
Every day and night the voice of creation speaks in language no one can mistake (v. 2). So if someone refuses such clear witness, he is ignorant by choice: he has no excuse. Even in the darkest places where God is unknown, their voice is heard. Romans 1:19-20 hints at this. There creation stands as a clear testimony, and people realize it condemns the sin they give themselves to, "So they are without excuse." So there is no place in the world that lacks a testimony from God (v. 4).
The point is so plain that it should not need saying at all.
Let us feel the shame, then, of needing to be told something so simple: that nature's speech is meant to be heard. Nature is the witness to everyone, so its teaching is not meant for a select few. It is for all.
Notice which parts of creation the psalm picks out.
Despite the unbelief in man's heart, whether it shows itself in evolution or modernism, the Creation remains. The Psalmist declares, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork". Every part of creation declares the eternal power and divinity of God. Yet it matters a great deal that the inspired writer of Psalm 19 names parts of creation which man has no power to touch or corrupt. He speaks of the unbroken march of day and night, and of the sun's endless circuit. In God's estimate this witness to His power and divinity is so strong and convincing that it leaves men without excuse.
If the signal is that strong, the failure lies with the listener. One writer traces it to what the human heart wants to find.
Now take the witness of nature to the Creator, which we have described as so powerful and so certain. How do we explain how little conviction it produces, the apparent fruitlessness of this line of evidence? Is it not that men's hearts have wanted some other meaning so badly that they have shut their eyes to what it really shows? They will not see the God it points to. They would gladly give anyone or anything but Him the glory for such handiwork... Yet even with this lack of desire for God, these silent witnesses remain, to be accusers if nothing more.
So there is something this silent voice cannot do.
They are signs of God's creative power and goodness, but they leave the soul unconverted. No one can know God for salvation except through the living and lasting word (1 Peter 1:23). That word reveals Christ, and in Him the Father Himself is revealed and glorified, and our need is met... Romans 1 teaches us that the most anyone can learn from looking at creation alone is God's eternal power and Godhead — His creative power. But this does not meet the sinner's need, and it does not display God's grace.
The reach described here later became an image for something else that spreads without borders.
The testimony of creation is a picture of the testimony the gospel now gives, because both go out to all. God had given His testimony, whether man saw it or not.
- Silent. The sky has no audible voice, as the prophets had. Yet its testimony is heard.
- Simple. Its message was never meant for a trained elite. Nature's speech is for everyone.
- Untouchable. The psalm names the parts of creation man cannot corrupt: day, night, the sun's circuit. The witness stands whatever men say about it.
- Refused. Men wanted another meaning, so they ignored the true one. The silent witnesses then stand as accusers.
- Not enough. Creation shows eternal power and Godhead, not grace. Only God's word reveals Christ and meets the sinner's need.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their language to the extremity of the world. In them hath he set a tent for the sun,
The psalm opens with the sky as a preacher. This verse says how far that wordless sermon travels, and it points to the tent God set in the sky for the sun. Two questions follow. How can a silent witness reach anyone? And how far can it take a person?
The heavens make no sound, yet their message is not vague. One writer says the silence lies in the delivery, not in the message.
The language that "day unto day utters" is as little unclear as its "pouring forth" is small. The knowledge that "night unto night shows" is no secret doctrine, but breathes its whisper in the ears of all. "There is no speech nor language, their voice is not heard." Not in spoken form; yet "their line is gone out through all the earth, and their sayings to the end of the world."
(The older wording here reads "their voice is not heard" and "their line is gone out"; the ESV has "whose voice is not heard" and "their voice goes out.")
Because the reach is total, so is the accountability.
Every day and night the voice of creation speaks in unmistakable language (v. 2). If someone refuses such clear witness, he is willfully ignorant: he has no excuse. In the darkest heathen lands their voice is heard. Romans 1:19-20 shows this. There creation stands as a clear testimony, a testimony that people realize condemns the sin they indulge in, "so that they are without excuse." So there is no place in the world that lacks a testimony from God (v. 4).
The psalm looks up, and one writer sees a reason for that. Man has handled the ground under our feet. He has never touched the heavens.
In Psalm 19 we have the testimony of creation and of the law. It is a solemn thought that whatever man has touched he has corrupted. Creation groans when a man has been there. But if I look where man cannot reach, at the moon, the stars, and so on, all is glorious... The heavens spread over all. The sun goes on its tireless circuit from one end to the other. Both are bright, unchanging witnesses of the divine glory, and man's defiling hand cannot reach them.
The second half of the verse narrows from the whole sky to one object. Everything alive depends on the sun, and that dependence is a picture.
This testimony of creation reaches everyone. There is no audible voice here, as there was with the prophets. The testimony still comes through, in the silent voice of the way things are set out. They have no speech, yet the voice of the testimony is heard. The whole creation would be useless without that sun. Wealth would mean nothing without the sun, for there could not be a grain of wheat if there were no sun. So the place the sun has in relation to this creation, the Son of God has in relation to us.
The apostle Paul borrows this line in Romans 10 to answer a question about the gospel's reach, and the borrowing is deliberate.
Psalm 19 is used in the most beautiful way to suggest that the limits are the world. Just as the sun in the heavens is not for one people or land alone, no more is the gospel. There is no language where their voice is not heard. "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." The gospel goes out to everyone. Jewish claims were therefore set aside. It was not done by new and fuller revelations, but by this divinely skilful use of their own Old Testament Scriptures.
Wide as it is, the sky's message has a limit. It cannot save.
They are signs of God's creative power and goodness; but they leave the soul unconverted. No one can know God in a saving way except through the living and lasting word (1 Peter 1:23), which reveals Christ... We learn from Romans 1 that looking at creation alone teaches us only God's eternal power and divine nature — His creative power. But this does not meet the sinner's need, and it does not display God's grace.
- Wordless — the testimony carries no speech and no language, yet it is not unclear; it whispers in the ears of all.
- Unspoiled — man corrupts what he touches, but he cannot reach the heavens, so that witness stays bright and unchanging.
- Universal — the voice goes out to the end of the world; there is no place on earth without a testimony from God, and so no excuse.
- Central — in that sky He set a tent for the sun, and what the sun is to creation, the Son of God is to us.
- Not enough alone — creation shows His eternal power, but leaves the soul unconverted. Only His living word reveals Christ and saves.