Psalm 19 - True Praise & Worship!!!
Praise and worship are…or rather should be…at the cornerstone of our faith and relationship with God and HIS son Jesus. Praise and Worship are more than just singing a song in Sunday services. They are, at the same time, both incredibly simple and complex actions. They require the positioning of our heart towards God, a setting aside of our own issues and perceptions, and they require humility on our part as we acknowledge that God (YAHWEH) is our Lord and King.
Personally, I struggle with the modern “worship” scene that many churches dive headlong into. And I am saying that as someone who has served on a music team as a musician. Any church that spends more money on its sound system, staging and stage effects, than on meeting the needs of the community around them - needs to seriously look at how they are ‘worshipping’ God. And any ‘praise and worship’ song that is based more on emotional experience rather than biblical truths and concepts needs to be reconsidered.
King David is perhaps one of the most well known praise and worship song writers of all time. Think about the songs we sing in church. New songs arrive every few months, and within a few years we forget the songs and who wrote them. Yet we are still reading David’s psalms, and we are still incorporating his words into our own modern worship songs. Psalm 19 is one such psalm of worship and praise. In it you will find verses containing phrases that you will find familiar in worship songs from the past few decades.
Psalm 19 is a beautifully written psalm, and it contains many things that we need to reflect on, but also imitate and act upon.
Psalm 19 says…
Verse 1-4: “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.”
David wastes no time in expressing his pleasure and awe at the natural world, especially in the night sky - and how they exhibit the glory of God.
He eloquently describes how the skies do not need to have anyone speak for them, nor do they need their own voice because their beauty speaks for them - and for God’s glory.
Verse 5-6: “In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”
Not only does David continue his eloquent description of God’s creation, but he does note scientific fact - “It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other” is referring to the sun rising and setting, and the Earth being round - this disproves atheist arguments that Christians believe in flat Earth.
The Sun - while not worthy of worship itself - points us towards a creator. Now with modern scientific breakthroughs in understanding how complex the Sun actually is - we should be in awe even more-so.
Verse 7-9: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.”
David now moves away from the natural evidence that should point us towards a God worth worshiping, and changes direction into the ‘Word of God’.
David informs us that the law, the directives, and instruction that God has given people are not only perfect, but they are for the purpose of refreshing our soul, that they are so trustworthy we should base all our actions and thoughts on words that God has given humanity.
The ‘Word of God’ is unwavering, and it is firm - it is not something that changes like a fad, nor is influenced by changes in cultural norms. The ‘Word of God’ is righteous in its own right, and it is something that we need to stand upon each and every day of our lives.
It is the “Fear of the Lord” - that reverent fear - that many Christians and the church at large is missing. Why is that you might ask…well it is in part due to the fact that most Christians are biblically illiterate and many churches are only preaching shallow, self-help, life coach type sermons.
Holding on to and applying the ‘Word of God’ in our lives is the foundation for having true, reverent, fear of God.
Verse 10-13: “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”
David continues his journey through the power and authority of the ‘Word of God’ in these verses by stating that there is nothing of value on this planet that is worth more than the ‘Word of God’ - nothing.
There are rewards and blessings to be had in this life and the next if we hold them close to our hearts, minds and spirit.
And by doing so we want to stay away from sin - especially wilful sin that we knowingly choose to engage in.
So repentance is a form of worship in as much as singing a song to the Lord.
Verse 14: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
I honestly wish that I could say this over my own life more often. And I am sure that this applies to you as well.
We need to ask ourselves - honestly - does what comes out of our mouths, and what resides as the treasures of our heart actually glorify and lift up the name of God? Or would they be more about our own desires?
The Apostle Paul, in speaking to the believers in Rome said, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20) - This scripture shows that those who claim to never have heard the gospel will not have an excuse - because the beauty and majesty of God’s creation provides ample enough evidence that God not only exists, but that he is powerful, divine and eternal.