The heavens are telling of the glory of God

Psalm 19 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
² Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
⁴ Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
⁵ Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
⁶ Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts 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 forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹² Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
¹³ Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

The psalmist begins today saying:  The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.    Some would say that this reveals the lack of knowledge and understanding of the heavens, of the sun and its relation to earth, and so proves the foolishness of scripture. But in truth, who is more foolish, the one who sees what he doesn’t fully understand and attributes its magnitude to God, or the one who pretends to know more than he does, declaring mere speculation as fact? Is it more foolish to believe that the expanse of the heavens reveals the greatness of the God who created it, or to theorize that something, everything came from nothing? While the psalmist may not have understood that the earth rotates on its axis and orbits around the sun, causing days and nights; seasons and years, he attributes its perfect balance to God. He knows: there is nothing hidden from its heat.    Many with more knowledge, believe against the greatest odds, that although a slight variation in the earth’s distance from the sun, would cause devastating heat or cold, all that we see and what is unseen,(either too great in magnitude or too minute in intricacy) happened and is sustained by mere chance.

The psalmist continues to state what comes with faith, believing in the greatness God of creation.  The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.     Knowing that the greatness of God is beyond human understanding, that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend an infinite God; that we who are locked into finite time, living only a twinkling in the scheme of eternity, cannot fully understand eternity or the God who was and is and will be, the psalmist and those who believe, not only accept the precepts of the Lord, but rejoice in them. Faith accepts and believes that the God who knows more than we can even imagine, also knows what is best for us. The psalmist, and I myself may not have the scientific knowledge that some have, but I trust what Proverbs 9:10-11 says:   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.    I will seek knowledge of God rather than the knowledge of man.

In Romans 1:20-32, Paul states what comes from denying God rather than believing.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.     The heavens and all of creation are evidence of the greatness of God. The depravity of our society, the selfish greed and violence of the world are evidence of man’s decision to deny God. Still God in His goodness has given each one the right and the ability to choose for themselves. Will you trust God believing in faith what cannot be fully understood, or will you trust in the speculation of man? If you would put all your faith in and believe the random chance that all that we know is just a coincidence, the luck of a series of unrelated events, you might want to buy a lottery ticket today. Odds are much greater that you will win than that all that is seen and all that is unseen happened by chance. Good luck!

For myself, with the psalmist I say:  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.   Amen.   Thank You heavenly Father, Creator God; Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer and precious Holy Spirit, my teacher and guide.   Amen.