God makes Himself known through three great books,
all of which have as their theme the glory and handiwork of God.
The book of nature (v. 1-6) is read by every human being.
The book of the law (v. 7-14) converts the soul and becomes an unfailing guide.
The book of human life (v. 12-14) is a Bible to the unsaved world and must therefore be maintained with unspotted pages.
Psalm 1
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 19 – The Works and the Word of God
This is the “Psalm of the Two Books”—Nature and Scripture. If Psalm 8 were written at night, Psalm 19 was surely written by day. In Psalm 19:1, God is called El, “strong;” in Psalm 19:7-9, 14, the Hebrew Jehovah is translated “Lord,” as if His glory as Creator is the stepping-stone to loftier conceptions of the Redeemer.
Nature’s silence! No speech nor language! Psalm 19:3. What a picture of the sacred stillness of dawn! Yet the witness-bearing is universal. Line, Psalm 19:4: Nature’s harp is strung to the glory of God. Jesus is our Sun, Malachi 4:2.
Six synonyms for Scripture, and twelve qualities ascribed to it, Psalm 19:7-9. How truly might our Lord have appropriated Psalm 19:10! Let us end with confession and prayer. Errors, Psalm 19:12; see Leviticus 4:2, Psalm 19:13. Dominion, Psalm 19:13; Romans 6:14. For the seventh time Jehovah, Psalm 19:14, with two loving epithets! Can we all say my, claiming all of God? —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 19:12—Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.
It is not likely that we shall be kept from the great transgression unless we are preserved from presumptuous sins; and these in turn will befall us unless we have been cleansed from hidden faults. Just as the germ of disease taken into the system will presently reveal itself in an outburst of malignant fever, so hidden faults flower out into presumptuous sins, and these into great transgression. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).
First, we need forgiveness for secret sins. The Jewish law made large provision for sins of ignorance. A man might unawares walk across a grave, or touch some article of furniture which was ceremonially unclean, and so became defiled. Even though unconscious of actual transgression, he would find his communion with God broken. Thus, after the holiest day we have ever spent we need to ask for cleansing in the precious blood, for was which God has discerned, but which in the twilight of our ignorance, and because we compared ourselves with those beneath us in spiritual attainment, have escaped notice.
Next, we need deliverance from the love and power of sin, in lower depths than we have ever realized. We desire to pass muster at the bar, not only of our neighbours and ourselves, but of God. We desire that the Spirit should antagonize the flesh in depths below the reach of the plumb-line of our consciousness. We desire the inner purity of heart. But this is peculiarly God’s prerogative. It is his work to cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit “Cleanse thou me” (Psalm 19:12). —Our Daily Homily