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Holy Week · Easter Vigil Sixth Reading · Year B

Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (John 6:68c)

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

Moses with the Tablets of the Law, Rembrandt van Rijn
Moses with the Tablets of the Law, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1659Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Moses holding the two stones up over his head with both arms, the Hebrew lettering turned toward us and his face half hidden behind them.The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.Rembrandt van RijnRembrandt, late, painting the moment before the stones are either given or broken and leaving it open which.Gemäldegalerie, BerlinThe Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Overview & Insights

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

Mays has made a convincing case for the pairing of the Torah psalms (Pss. 1 and 2; 18 and 19; 118 and 119)[1] in order to present the eschatological kingdom of God, which will come in the context and through the instrumentality of Torah piety.[2] In the case of Psalm 18, David’s deliverance from Saul is a foreshadowing of future salvation. Psalms 18 and 19 both give a picture of God’s appearance, Psalm 18 in terms of the exodus and Sinai (18:7–15), and Psalm 19 in terms of the heavens’ declaration of God’s glory (19:1–6) and the Torah’s enlightenment (19:7–11).[3] When one should have expected the Lord to speak from his heavenly temple in 18:6b, David gave witness to the silent, yet powerful, voice of God that articulated God’s mighty acts in David’s time, akin to the mighty acts of God in the time of the exodus and Sinai (18:7–15). Again, in 19:1–4, rather than human speech, we hear God’s voice in the wonders of nature.

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Take it further: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (John 6:68c)

Commentary

Background & Word Study

The Church Fathers

Questions preachers ask

What are the two halves of Psalm 19?

The psalm praises God’s glory revealed two ways: in creation, where the heavens speak without words (19:1–6), and in the law of the Lord, which revives the soul and is sweeter than honey (19:7–14).

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