Psalms 19: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The psalm opens with the sky and the daily circuit of the sun telling of God's glory without words. It then turns to the law of the LORD, calling it perfect, trustworthy, right, pure and true, worth more than fine gold and sweeter than honey, and says the one who keeps it is both warned and rewarded. It closes with a prayer to be cleansed of hidden faults, held back from willful sins, and to have his words and thoughts be pleasing to the LORD.

Claim by Claim

1. 19:1
   • The heavens declare the glory of God.
   • The expanse of the sky proclaims the work of God's hands.
2. 19:2
   • Each day pours out speech to the next day.
   • Each night reveals knowledge to the next night.
3. 19:3
   • There is no speech and there are no words in which their voice is not heard.
   • The wording is ambiguous: it can equally mean that there is no speech and no words and their voice is not heard at all.
4. 19:4
   • Their measuring line has gone out through all the earth.
   • Their words have gone out to the end of the inhabited world.
   • God has set a tent for the sun in the heavens.
5. 19:5
   • The sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.
   • The sun rejoices like a strong man to run his course.
6. 19:6
   • The sun goes forth from one end of the heavens.
   • The sun's circuit reaches to the other end of the heavens.
   • Nothing is hidden from the sun's heat.
7. 19:7
   • The law of the LORD is perfect.
   • The law of the LORD restores the soul.
   • The testimony of the LORD is trustworthy.
   • The testimony of the LORD makes the simple wise.
8. 19:8
   • The precepts of the LORD are right.
   • The precepts of the LORD make the heart rejoice.
   • The commandment of the LORD is pure.
   • The commandment of the LORD gives light to the eyes.
9. 19:9
   • The fear of the LORD is clean.
   • The fear of the LORD endures forever.
   • The judgments of the LORD are true.
   • The judgments of the LORD are altogether righteous.
10. 19:10
    • They are more to be desired than gold.
    • They are more to be desired than much fine gold.
    • They are sweeter than honey.
    • They are sweeter than honey dripping from the comb.
11. 19:11
    • By them the LORD's servant is warned.
    • In keeping them there is great reward.
12. 19:12
    • No one can discern his own errors.
    • The speaker asks God to cleanse him from hidden faults.
13. 19:13
    • The speaker asks God to hold his servant back from presumptuous sins.
    • The speaker asks that such sins not rule over him.
    • If they do not rule over him, he will be blameless.
    • If they do not rule over him, he will be innocent of great transgression.
14. 19:14
    • The speaker asks that the words of his mouth be acceptable before the LORD.
    • The speaker asks that the meditation of his heart be acceptable before the LORD.
    • The speaker calls the LORD his rock.
    • The speaker calls the LORD his redeemer.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

19:1

The King James "firmament" translates the Hebrew *raqia*, the vast expanse or vault spread out overhead, the word suggests something hammered out thin and stretched wide, like beaten metal. "Handywork" in 1611 English simply meant work done by the hands.

19:2

The verb behind "uttereth" pictures liquid gushing or bubbling up, like water from a spring, the days do not merely speak, they pour speech out.

19:3

This verse can be read two opposite ways in the Hebrew, and translators have long disagreed. Either "there is no speech or language in which their voice goes unheard" (the sky speaks in every tongue), or "there is no speech, no words, no voice to be heard at all" (the sky's testimony is silent). The rendering keeps the first; the second is equally possible.

19:4

"Their line" is the Hebrew *qav*, a builder's or surveyor's measuring cord, the image is of a line stretched out to mark off territory, so the sky's message covers the whole earth the way a measured boundary covers a field. Some ancient versions read a nearly identical Hebrew word meaning "their sound" or "their voice" instead, which is the form quoted in the Greek Old Testament. A "tabernacle" in King James English is a tent, not a building.

19:5

The "chamber" is the *huppah*, the canopy or bridal tent under which a wedding took place and where the couple stayed; the bridegroom emerging from it at dawn was a familiar image of a man at his most splendid. The "strong man" is *gibbor*, a warrior or champion, an athlete of the kind who ran in public contests, not simply a person who is physically strong.

19:6

In 1611 English "his" was the ordinary possessive for objects as well as people, since "its" was only just entering the language. The poem does compare the sun to a bridegroom and a runner, but "his going forth" just means the sun's rising. "Circuit" is its daily track across the sky.

19:7

"LORD" printed in capitals marks the personal name of God in Hebrew, four consonants usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud. "Law" translates *torah*, which means teaching or instruction in the broadest sense, not only legislation. "Convert" in 1611 English meant to turn something back or restore it, with no sense of changing religion, and "soul" here is *nephesh*, the whole living person, so the line means something closer to "brings a person back to life." The "simple" person is the *peti*: inexperienced, untaught and easily swayed, not stupid.

19:8

"Statutes" translates a word for orders or charges entrusted to someone's keeping. The word rendered "pure" or "clear and bright" literally means shining or radiant. "Enlightening the eyes" was a Hebrew idiom for restored strength and vitality: bright eyes meant a person was well and vigorous, dim or dark eyes meant exhaustion, grief or near-death.

19:9

"The fear of the LORD" is a standing Hebrew phrase for reverence and awe, the bearing of a subject before a king, rather than fright. "Judgments" are *mishpatim*, the rulings a judge hands down in particular cases.

19:10

"Fine gold" is a separate Hebrew word for gold that has been refined, the highest grade. Honey still in the comb, eaten before it was drained and strained, was the choicest form and a genuine luxury; ordinary sweetening came from fruit syrup, not from bees.

19:11

The word translated "reward" literally means "heel," and so "what follows behind", the consequence or outcome of something, rather than a payment handed over in exchange.

19:12

The word for "errors" comes from a root meaning to stray or wander off course, used of wrongs committed by accident or in ignorance. The point of "secret faults" is that they are hidden from the speaker himself, not that he is concealing them from others.

19:13

"Presumptuous" sins are literally high-handed ones, done deliberately, with the arm raised in open defiance. Israelite law drew a sharp line here: wrongs done unintentionally could be covered by sacrifice, but a sin committed "with a high hand" fell outside that provision (Numbers 15:30–31). "The great transgression" carries a definite article in Hebrew, as though a specific offense were meant, but which one is not stated and has never been agreed on.

19:14

"Meditation" translates a word for muttering or murmuring under the breath, thought spoken half aloud, not silent reflection. "Rock" is *tsur*, a crag or rocky stronghold of the kind fugitives sheltered in. "Redeemer" is *go'el*, a legal role in Israelite families: the nearest relative obliged to buy back land a kinsman had lost, purchase his freedom if he had been sold into slavery, or pursue justice for his killing.