I. (19:1–6) The Eloquent Heavens. These verses describe how features of the sky tell about the Maker; in so doing the song directs attention to divine speech that goes to all humankind. The ode to the sun (vv. 4c–6) follows from the opening, giving a very specific way in which the voice of the heavens goes to all mankind (especially in the Middle East), and the thought of its searching heat leads to the next section, regarding the searching and pure law of the Lord.

The Hebrew term for “the sky above” (raqiaʿ) is “the expanse” in Genesis 1:6–8 (cf. ESV mg.), which receives the name of “heavens” or “sky.” (The sky above has the same English rhythm as the archaic the firmament.) These tell of God’s “glory,” that is, his power, wisdom, and worthiness of honor and worship.179 The sky “proclaims his handiwork”; it announces itself as an achievement worthy of our admiration. This is the tie-in with Genesis 1, whose goal is to celebrate God’s work of creating as deserving our awe and appreciation.180

To call this testimony of the heavens “speech” that “reveals knowledge” (Ps. 19:2) is a kind of paradox; the point is that the testimony of the world to its Creator is real enough, as if it were intelligible speech, even if people do not receive it. But since “there is no speech . . . whose voice is not heard,” and since “their voice goes out through all the earth” (vv. 3–4),181 no people are “without excuse” if they fail to receive or attend to it (Rom. 1:20). In Romans 10:18 Paul uses verse 4 to show that all the world has received some kind of message.

A specific item in the heavens is the “sun” (vv. 4), which rises from one “end of the heavens” and then sets in another “end of them” (v. 6). As Lewis noted, in these verses we sing of the “bridal joyousness” of the sun’s rising (which ushers in each new day), the “unimaginable speed of its daily voyage from east to west” (it sheds its goodness to all man; cf. Matt. 5:45), and finally of “its heat” that “pierces everywhere with its strong, clean, ardour.” Then the stanza finishes: “There is nothing hidden from its heat.”

II. (19:7–11) The Perfect Torah. The second section shifts from this universal testimony to the special privilege of Israel in receiving God’s special, covenantal revelation. These verses describe some characteristics and effects of God’s revelation to Moses. The terms “law” (Hb. torah; cf. comment on 1:1–2), “testimony” (ʿedut), “precepts” (piqqudim), “commandment” (mitswah), and “rules” (mishpatim) all come from the Pentateuch and are ways of referring to features of the Mosaic covenant. (In this the psalm anticipates Psalm 119, which exhausts the thesaurus for different terms for the Mosaic law.) This context probably supports Delitzsch’s suggestion that the “fear of the Lord” (19:9) is a term for the “revealed way in which God is to be feared,” namely, the religion revealed in the Torah (cf. 34:11).182

Each verse in 19:7–9 has two lines, with two different terms for Yahweh’s special revelation. Each line has the same structure: the (1) covenantal revelation of Yahweh (“law,” “testimony,” “precepts,” “commandment,” “fear,” “rules”) has (2) some characteristic (“perfect,” “sure,” “right,” “pure,” “clean,” “true”), and therefore provides (3) some benefit (“revives the soul,” “makes wise the simple,” “rejoices the heart,” “enlightens the eyes,” “endures forever,” “is righteous altogether”). The whole section builds up to the delight expressed in verses 10–11 (where “they” probably refers to all these aspects of the Torah).

The law in verse 7 is “perfect,” or “blameless” (ESV mg.; Hb. tamim); it does not suffer from defects. How could it, if it comes from Yahweh? Its benefit is that of “reviving the soul.” This Hebrew expression (lit., “causing the soul to return”) means to give refreshment or renew one’s energy (cf. Prov. 25:13, “refreshes the soul”; Ps. 23:3 uses a similar expression). The testimony is “sure,” or trustworthy (Hb. neʾeman; cf. 93:5; 111:7), because it comes from Yahweh, who is himself trustworthy (cf. Deut. 7:9; “faithful”). It “makes wise the simple”; the “simple” is a character type in Proverbs, the person who is not firmly committed either to wisdom or to folly but is easily misled (Prov. 14:15). To make such a person wise is to bring him to embrace wisdom, to a living participation in the life of the covenant people.

The “precepts” (Ps. 19:8) are “right” (yashar), or straight, showing the straight path of life; thus they “rejoice the heart” of those fortunate people who follow them. The “commandment” is “pure” (bar), that is, unmixed with evil (cf. 24:4). It therefore “enlightens the eyes”; for the eyes to have light or to be bright is for the person to be alert and active (cf. 1 Sam. 14:27; Ezra 9:8; Pss. 13:3; 38:10; Prov. 29:13)

The “fear of the Lord” often means reverence for God, but here it is, as suggested above, the revealed way by which one properly reveres God, namely, the precepts of the covenant; it is “clean” (tahor), which means that it can safely come into God’s presence,183 and thus it “endures forever.” The “rules” (traditionally “judgments”) are the judicial rulings that God has made to govern his people. The Lord’s rules are “true,” or “truth” (ʾemet), and “righteous altogether.”

When the poets call the directions or “rulings” of Jahweh “true” they are expressing the assurance that these, and not those others [of other peoples] are the “real” or “valid” or unassailable ones; that they are based on the very nature of things and the very nature of God.184

The pattern breaks in the expressive Psalm 19:10. The fundamental attitude here is one of delight: God’s instructions are more desirable than the best riches (cf. 119:127; Prov. 8:19) and more pleasurable than the finest tastes (cf. Prov. 24:13–14). And they are such that there is “great reward” in heeding their warnings and keeping their instructions—namely, assurance and character growth (cf. comment on 19:12–14).

III. (19:12–14) The Humble Response. Although some may use the law of God as a means of self-promotion, that is not what this psalm instills. Instead it leads the singers to reflect on their own moral failures, known and unknown; to rely on God’s forgiveness; and to seek protection from sin’s domination.

The searching quality of the law leads one to recognize that his or her “errors” may well run very deep, deeper than we can “discern”; they might be “hidden faults” that not even we can fully grasp. The right response is not denial but appeal for mercy: “declare me innocent” (or “clear”; Ex. 34:7), grant me forgiveness, even from “hidden” sins that one does not remember or that were committed in ignorance!

This leads on to a prayer to be kept back from “presumptuous sins,” that is, from sins committed in arrogant disregard of divine commands.185 These, when repeated, come to “have dominion” and thus to enslave. Instead the desire is to become “blameless” (which is what the law is; cf. comments on 18:20–30 [at v. 30]; 19:7–11). The term “innocent” points back to 19:12; there the innocence was declarative, while here the desire is for a practical innocence as well.

The final prayer is for one’s spoken words and inner thoughts to be “acceptable in your sight”—using an expression from the language of sacrifice (as in Lev. 22:20); thus the request is that this song be a suitable act of worship before God, like a sacrifice.

The person singing this in faith sees God as his “rock” (a source of security and refuge; Ps. 18:31) and “redeemer” (the one who rescues his faithful from danger; 69:18; Gen. 48:16).