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.
And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he rejoiceth as a strong man to run the race.
Two pictures stand side by side in this verse: a bridegroom stepping out on his wedding day, and a runner setting off with strength. Both describe the sun as it leaves its tent in the sky each morning. Commentators ask what this daily sight teaches. Does the sun point beyond itself to a Person? How far does its message travel?
The sun does not wander. God has given it a place and an hour, and it keeps them.
The early verses of the Psalm celebrate the endless witness of creation to God's greatness and glory, at least on its heavenly side. They also tell us of a tent set in the heavens for the sun. At the appointed time it comes out, shining with brightness and warmth, so that nothing is hidden from its light.
We see this every morning, and we owe more to it than we think.
The rising sun is a marvelous witness. In past ages people did not know that the earth turns, so some thought a different sun rose every morning! But the wonder of it should impress everyone... We owe so much to the warmth and light of the sun! This is why foolish people have become sun worshipers, giving no credit to the great Creator who sustains the sun.
Why a runner? Because the sun's course never tires, and that is where its gladness comes from.
The unfailing sun goes out across these heavens, from his chamber at the far end of them. His strength never runs down, and he spreads around him the joy that comes with his presence, for it is a pleasant thing to see the sun. His seems to be the joy of strength — the joy that springs from power fully proved. He always fills his place, and is always a full circle. He is always the centre of light, though the clouds of earth may gather and shut him in. He is always the centre of warmth, though winter may build its wall of frost against him. Darkness and cold and death are the sure result of his absence.
Commentators read the sun as a figure of Christ. The bridegroom picture names a relationship He holds to all He made.
He came to Israel as the Bridegroom, and His own people would not have Him. But He also stands as Bridegroom to the whole creation, for the sun is surely a figure of Him in the language of Psalm 19... As the Bridegroom He will fill the whole universe with light and joy. All creation waits for His coming. Until He appears it will go on in pain and groaning.
That reading points forward. For now, the world is lit only at second hand.
He does not shine now as the Sun of Righteousness. The moon only — a picture of the church — gives her faint light. It is night. But day will come, and the Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in His wings.
What sunlight does for the earth, the gospel does for the world.
The apostle quotes this Psalm in Romans 10:18 to link the ministry of the heavens with the ministry of the gospel. What the one does for the earth, the other does for the world. Both spread everywhere, so that nothing can hide from either the fertilising heat of the one or the saving heat of the other. The ministry of the heavens to the earth reaches all, and that is the pattern of the gospel to the world.
The point cuts against any claim that God's blessing belongs to one nation.
The heavens belonged to no land in particular, nor do the sun and stars shine for Israel alone. They are for everyone on earth. This is the goodness of God, whose rain falls on the just and the unjust, and who makes His sun rise on the evil and the good. In the same way, the law had its narrow limits, but the gospel goes out in the grace of God without restriction.
The psalm does not stop at the sun. It turns to God's word, and for good reason.
They are signs of God's creative power and goodness, but they leave the soul unconverted... Romans 1 teaches that the most we can learn from creation alone is God's eternal power and divine nature — His power as Creator. That does not meet the sinner's need, and it does not show God's grace... So what comes next in our Psalm is most important and most precious: it points us to the life-giving word.
- Appointed — God set a tent in the sky for the sun. It comes out at its appointed hour, and that steady course is what makes it a witness.
- Joyful — Its gladness is the joy of strength. It stays the centre of light and warmth, whatever clouds or frost get in the way.
- Christ — Commentators read the sun as a figure of the Bridegroom. He will fill the universe with light and joy, and creation groans until He appears as the Sun of righteousness.
- Universal — What sunlight is to the earth, the gospel is to the world. It belongs to no single nation, and nothing escapes its saving heat.
- Not enough — Creation's light shows God's eternal power, but leaves the soul unconverted. So the psalm moves on to God's life-giving word.
His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
Each day the sun crosses the whole sky, and nothing escapes its heat. The psalm makes that circuit a picture of a witness reaching everyone — but is the light it gives enough?
The sun's route covers the whole earth. The apostle quotes this psalm to show how wide God's testimony reaches.
The apostle quotes from Psalm 19 a striking and most fitting illustration of how universal God's testimony is. We can see that the psalm divides into two parts. The works of God and the law of the Lord both testify. One witness is outward and universal; the other deals with those who had the law. The heavens belonged to no land in particular, nor do the sun and stars shine for Israel alone. They are for man in the earth at large. This matches the generosity of God, whose rain falls on just and unjust, and who makes His sun rise on evil men and on good.
The sun runs the same course without a break and without tiring.
Across these heavens goes the unfailing sun, out from his chamber at the ends of them. His vigour never lets up, and he spreads around the joy that comes with his presence. His seems indeed the joy of strength — the joy that springs out of proven ability. He always fills his place. He is always full and round, always the centre of light, though the clouds of earth may gather and shut him in. He is always the centre of warmth, though winter may build its barrier of frost against him. Darkness and cold and death are the sure result of his absence.
Writers also read the sun as a picture of Christ. Its heat gives life to those who welcome it, and harms those who do not.
But the sun is clearly created to symbolise the Lord Jesus, as Malachi 4:2 implies: "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings." The time of this rising will be the beginning of the millennium. That will be a day of wonderful blessing for the world, as pictured in verse 6 of our chapter. The sun is a wonderful friend, but it can be a withering enemy in a dry land without water or shade. So the Lord Jesus is a wonderful friend, but if someone decides to be His enemy, he exposes himself to the results of that folly.
Nothing hides from the sun's heat, and one writer sees in that the pattern for how the gospel spreads.
The service the heavens render to the earth is like the service the gospel renders to the world. Both spread themselves everywhere, so that nothing is hidden from either the fertilising heat or the saving heat. The way the heavens serve the whole earth is the pattern for the way the gospel serves the world.
The sun shines on everyone alike, and one writer reads God's love the same way.
God's love is just like the sun in the heavens, about which we read, "there is nothing hidden from its heat." The sun warms the king and the beggar alike, the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the white and the black. So God's love is for all.
Sunlight exposes as well as warms, and one writer applies that to the Lord's gaze on a lukewarm church.
In contrast to the lack of heat in the assembly at Laodicea, the Lord Himself keeps His warmth and zeal. He is now glorified in heaven, and we may contemplate Him there in all His splendour. He really wants us to do just that, so that we may receive light and warmth and become zealous. A Christian who really loves the Lord "up there" in the glory has spiritual energy "down here." And nothing escapes His searching eyes, not even in Laodicea with its nice cover-ups.
The sun's circuit ends the psalm's picture of creation. One writer explains why this witness cannot be the last word.
The works of God in the heavens and the earth are tokens of His creative power and goodness, but they leave the soul unconverted. We cannot know God in a saving way except through the living and lasting word, which reveals Christ... Romans 1 teaches us that creation alone can show us only God's eternal power and divine nature — His creative power. But this does not meet the sinner's need, nor does it display God's grace.
- Circuit — The sun's route covers everything. The heavens shine for no one nation; their witness reaches all people.
- Strength — The sun never fails, never tires, never leaves its place. That is the joy of proven ability.
- Heat — Nothing hides from it. It warms king and beggar alike, and searches out the cover-ups of a lukewarm heart.
- Pattern — What the sun does for the earth is the model for what the gospel does for the world: everywhere, and freely.
- Limit — Creation's circuit can show God's power, but it cannot save. Only the word that reveals Christ does that.