Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm 19- Our Wonderful God

Book 1: Psalms 1—41

Book 2: Psalms 42—72

Book 3: Psalms 73—89

Book 4: Psalms 90—106

Book 5: Psalms 107—150

Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

More than a third of the Psalms were designed for song

David wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms.

He was a great poet and musician.

As he watched the sheep, he would sing praise to God.

This psalm is perhaps the result of his looking into the heavens and singing praises to God.

vv.

1–6 Creation’s Speech—praise for God

vv.

7–10 Torah’s Speech—instruction of humanity

vv.

11–14 Servant’s Speech—prayer to God, humble

response.

Its been recognized Psalm 19 is composed of 2 psalms

Section A deals with hymnic praise of Yahweh in nature.

Section B deals with the glory of the Lord.

Psalm 19 creates problems for those readers whose approach to interpretation requires that they fix a genre label on every Psalm in order to understand it.

The grand sweep of Psalm 19 is nothing short of stunning.

It begins with the skies above (vv.

1–6), then moves to the Scriptures below (vv.

7–11), and finally to the prayerful meditation of our own souls (vv.

12–14).

We should look up and listen.

1-6 Creation’s Speech-Praise for God, God’s creation resounds with a speech that human beings can neither hear nor understand.

Earth moves very fast.

It spins (rotates) at a speed of about 1,000 miles (1600 kilometers) per hour and orbits around the Sun at a speed of about 67,000 miles (107,000 kilometers) per hour.

We do not feel any of this motion because these speeds are constant.

God’s glory is constant!

Don’t grow numb to the fact that this whole thing is in his hands.

1-6 Focuses on creation.

It is playful, flexible and uses more generic name for God , EL, example- Yah, short for Yahweh

Together they all unify the Psalm

The dense occurrence of Speech firmly establishes speech as main poetic theme of the psalm.

The ordinances of the Lord are truth, they are righteous altogether.

Psalm 19 was sung out, celebrating his law, Torah, supreme Rev of himself.

In singing this psalm- God’s people celebrate his law, Torah.

1-6 instruction.

V1-6 Creation speaks of it’s maker

Psalm 19 has been variously described both as a problem child of the psalter and as the greatest poem in the psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.

CS Lewis- The Greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.

V1. the heavens & sky above - Recall Genesis 1

The blessings come from up above

Pollution

V1 Features of the sky bear witness to their maker, divine speech goes out to all humanity.

V1 Revelation of God through nature leaves man with no excuse Romans

Many commentators have noted that 1-6 focus on creation but the focus is on the speech which creation lauds her creator.

1-4 are replete with references to speech, declare, pour forth, yabbia Hb = to gush forth but in OT it almost exclusively refers to act of speaking.

1-4 God’s creation resounds with a speech that human beings can neither hear nor understand.

There is no speech nor are there words, neither is their voice heard, here the poet personifies creation, yet stresses that personified in poetry, creation remains a fundamentally different sort of creature than human beings.

Creation is given a tongue

Creation reveals the knowledge of God’s supremacy.

So, I’ll say it again: look up and listen, for the sky and all it contains is one continuous chorus singing God’s glory (Ps.

19:1–2).

It “pours forth” (v. 2) praise, not in mere hints or whispers but in deafening shouts of supremacy and splendor.

The word “pours forth” means to bubble up and over like an irrepressible mountain spring.

“One day ‘bubbles forth’ speech to the next day, and one night speaks to the next night.

As a boiling pot bubbles over, so one day cannot contain its news to itself.

In never-ending succession the message is relayed, as a baton is passed from one runner to the next.

The message is the revelation of the glory of God”

V1-6 To all who will look and listen, during the day God is proclaimed in cloud and sky and rain and rainbows.

When day is done, the night takes over with moon and meteors and galaxies galore.

Together, day and night consistently proclaim one message: “God is elegant!

God is exquisite!! God is enthralling!!!”

V3 speech, its voice isn’t heard- all people receive it..although not all attend to it.

V3 The speech here is that mentioned in 2, it voice is not heard, ie all people receive it although don’t attend to it.

Ray Comfort - evangelist 69, from New Zealand, lives USA

V3. speech OMER (HB)= news, a matter of something

V4.

Paul uses these words to show that all the world has received some kind of message.

V4 Paul uses scriptures from OT.

It is the Gospel thats to the ends of the earth.

The psalm is quoted in Romans 10:18, and its thought may also underlie the argument of Romans 1:18ff., that God’s eternal power and deity are ‘clearly perceived in the things that have been made’.

Its theology is as powerful as its poetry.

Only the Christian is moved to filial wonder and joy at the thought of their Maker.

4c–6.

The sun, suddenly and emphatically introduced in 4c, now dominates the scene, exultant and magnificent, yet obedient.

God has assigned it its place to occupy (4c) and its course to run; the whole sky its mere tent and track.

Such are God’s servants and visible establishment (‘the outskirts of his ways’, Job 26:14).

Israels neighbors worshipped the Sun and Moon, but we worship the one who speaks these into creation.

V5,6 Revolve around the sun

V5 Bridegroom, 8x in OT and 2 in NT.

Both in Matt.

Fasting and with the 10 virgins.

V5 Like a bridegroom, an imagery of festive joy, the bridegroom would be adorned with fine clothing and joyful procession would accompany bride and bridegroom.

V5 Strongman Gibor (HB)- an athlete running with vigor.

Strongman, and bridegroom together= radiance and power of the sun.

Usain Bolt a Jamaican sprinter Ran a 100 m sprint in 9 seconds, So Fast that his Shoes Caught on Fire.

Sun 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius).

its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth.

Jesus is the bridegroom, we are his bride.

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But even as this focus shifts, the poetic theme of the psalm—speech—continues.

What we have now is the speech of the psalmist, who has been moved by the abstract speech of creation and the concrete word of God to utter a personal prayer to the Lord of heaven and earth.

In addition to this thematic connection with the rest of the psalm, there are other connections

Perfect = Tamim (HB) Blameless.

V1-7-11 Mosaic Law addresses the soul

The relation between God’s instruction through creation and his law anticipate the role of Christ as mediator in creation and redemption.