1 The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord,
in every star Thy wisdom shines;
but when our eyes behold Thy Word,
We read Thy Name in fairer lines.
2 The rolling sun, the changing light,
and nights and days thy power confess;
but the blest volume thou hast writ
reveals Thy justice and Thy grace.
3 Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise
round the whole earth, and never stand:
so when Thy truth began its race,
it touched and glanced on every land.
4 Nor shall Thy spreading gospel rest
till through the world Thy truth has run,
till Christ has all the nations blest
that see the light, or feel the sun.
Isaac Watts chooses to begin this hymn with the very first verse of Psalm 19.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psa 19:1 ESV)
This hymn of praise reflects on the praise we are to give to God.
I am reminded of the story in Luke 19:
37 As (Jesus) was drawing near–already on the way down the Mount of Olives–the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luk 19:37-40 ESV)
And that is so true!!
God doesn’t need our praise—the very rocks will cry out if we are silent!
We have the opportunity to praise him! We have the opportunity to declare the glory of God.
We should take it!
But, as we look at the heavens—there is no escape from our desire to praise God.
John Glenn, speaking about his view of the Earth from the space shuttle Discovery
“To look at the window . . .as I did that first day . . . to look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible.”
This hymn declares the specifics of the heavens:
1 “The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord,
in every star Thy wisdom shines;
but when our eyes behold Thy Word,
We read Thy Name in fairer lines.”
Do we worship in this way? I struggle many times to not say the same thing—the same word of praise every time I pray.
The Psalmist David says:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. (Psa 19:1-6 ESV)
It goes back to this understanding of how marvelous it is when we see God’s glory—we are speechless—but even then the heavens declare the glory and they do the praising for us!
And as a response to experiencing this praise we see Psalm 19:7 begins to acknowledge the law of God:
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving 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 rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. (Psa 19:7-11 ESV)
Many times when I pray—I think about praising God and then I turn to my own sin—which has been exposed by his word.
I was watching the new Magnum PI (Episode 1, 2018) and there is a moment in the script where magnum asks Higgins to do something illegal on a computer. She responds that “it is only illegal if you get caught.”
When we have the word of God, we are caught! Of course, we know that we don’t need to be caught to be guilty. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, but the word of God exposes our sin and our need for a Savior.
As I wrote this portion, I reflected back on our hymn this morning and see that Isaac Watts discovered the same thing.
Verse two reads:
“The rolling sun, the changing light,
and nights and days thy power confess;
but the blest volume thou hast writ
reveals Thy justice and Thy grace.”
Yes, the heavens declare—but the Bible reveals God’s justice and his grace.
It is justice that we deserve death because of our sin.
But it is God’s grace that saves us all.
David then prays humbly:
12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psa 19:12-13 ESV)
David the man after God’s own heart reflects on the greatness and the glory of God and begins to address his sin.
He prays that even the presumptuous sins be kept away. David is careful not pre-assume that something is right.
There is an ethics lesson. We all have been in those situations where we assume that what we are doing is right, because it looks right. Deep down, however, we know that it is wrong and we need to say “no”. even if it makes sense.
So as we close today, my prayer is that you will consider the heavens. They declare God’s glory. But as you do, recognize your sin as exposed by his word. But also remember that also exposed is his grace.
Sprinkle the gospel of grace into everything you do this week.
And
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. (Psa 19:14 ESV)
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Hymn: “The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord” by Isaac Watts