Catholic Commentary on Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)

Two Books of Revelation

Psalm 19 is one of the great psalms of the tradition, and C.S. Lewis called it the greatest poem in the Psalter. It combines two complementary revelations of God: creation, which speaks of God without words, and the Law, which speaks of God in words. Both are given to David and both lead to the same place: the worship of the God who made both sky and Scripture.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. The creation speaks a silent, universal language. It needs no translator. The person in Lagos and the person in Oslo and the person in Manila can all look up at the same sky and hear the same wordless declaration: something made this. Something immense and beautiful and ordered made all of this. The Catechism calls this natural theology, the knowledge of God available to every human being through the visible world (CCC 31).

The Perfection of the Law

Then the psalm turns to the specific revelation of Scripture, and the accumulation of praise is extraordinary: the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes are trustworthy, making the wise the simple. The precepts are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees are firm and righteous. More precious than gold, sweeter than honey from the honeycomb.

The Catholic tradition has always held these two books of revelation together, as the Catechism teaches: Sacred Scripture and the natural world are two distinct but complementary expressions of the same divine wisdom (CCC 286). The scientist and the theologian are both reading in the same library.

The Hidden Faults

The psalm closes with one of the most beautiful prayers in Scripture: May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Before the prayer, a petition for cleansing from hidden faults and from deliberate sins. The person who has been dazzled by the glory of the heavens and the perfection of the law knows how far short they fall of both. The gap between the glory and the self produces humility, which produces the most honest prayer.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, go outside today and look up. Not at your phone. At the sky. The heavens are still declaring the glory of God; the skies are still proclaiming the work of his hands. Let them speak. Then come back inside and open the Scripture. The same God who made the sky made the word. Both are meant for you.

Prayer

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer, the heavens declare your glory and your word revives my soul. Cleanse me from hidden faults. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, today and always. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

19
The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
 
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 Without speech or language,
without a sound to be heard,* 19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard
4 their voice † 19:4 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew their measuring line has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.‡ 19:4 Cited in Romans 10:18
 
In the heavens He has pitched
a tent for the sun.
5 Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course,
6 it rises at one end of the heavens
and runs its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
 
7 The Law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
bringing joy to the heart;
the commandments of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the judgments of the LORD are true,
being altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
11 By them indeed Your servant is warned;
in keeping them is great reward.
 
12 Who can discern his own errors?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
13 Keep Your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless
and cleansed of great transgression.
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in Your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

*19:3 19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard

†19:4 19:4 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew their measuring line

‡19:4 19:4 Cited in Romans 10:18

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