Like David, after the heart of God.

Psalm 19 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

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.

In Amos 9:11 God says:  I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old.   The tabernacle of David was different than the temple of Solomon or the tabernacle of Moses. David’s tabernacle had open sides rather than walls, so that he and all of the people could see the worship of God that went on 24 hours a day every day. I doubt that it was because David lacked the resources to include the walls. He had attained great wealth and had all the resources of Israel at his disposal. I also doubt that it was because he was unaware of the design of the tabernacle of Moses. David had just researched the proper way to move the Ark of the Covenant after suffering the consequences of doing it the wrong way. Perhaps it had more to do with how, when and where David first learned to worship God and fellowship with Him. David was a shepherd in his youth. He spent many nights under the stars watching his flock. It was there, seperated from the fellowship of people that David established his fellowship with God. It was then and there that God came to know David as a man after His own heart. In today’s text from Psalm 19, David begins 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.    David knew that no human worship, contained within walls, could tell of the glory of God better than the magnitude and the expanse of the heavens. Perhaps David left the walls off of his tabernacle so that the worship within could be joined by the worship of all of creation.

David continues saying:  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. 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.  David progresses from the declaration of praise from the heavens to the testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness. As sure as the sun rises and sets every day; as sure as it provides heat for the earth, so sure and perfect is God’s word and His law.   David contiues:  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.   God called David a man after His own heart. If we then would also be after the heart of God, we should desire the judgments of God. Like David we should recognize that God’s judgment is meant to warn us, to teach us and guide us. We should not focus on the punishment for failure, but rather like David we should desire the reward in keeping God’s commandments. God’s promise is life and prosperity; blessings to those who keep His word. (Deuteronomy 30:15-16)  David says: Acquit me of hidden faults.  On the cross Jesus fulfilled his request saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)   David also says:  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.    Like David we need to recognize that while Jesus asked the Father to forgive what is unknown, for us to choose to continue in sin, presuming on God’s grace is a great transgression. 1 John 1:5-10 says:   This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

David concludes:   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.    May I too have a heart like David, a heart after Your heart. May I worship and praise you, along with creation, in the presence of people.  May I desire Your judgments and keep Your word; never presuming on Your grace. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight; heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit.  Amen.