The works and the Word of God
should not be separated. They are both revelations, and the one is necessary to the right interpretation of the other. If we study God's works by themselves, we are apt to forget God's Word, and so forget God himself. If, on the other hand, we confine ourselves to God's Word, we are in danger of falling into a similar error—that of forgetting God's presence in his works, and so turning the world without us into a world without God. The psalmist shows us a more excellent way. "The occasion of this psalm is a thunderstorm; but it does not limit itself to the external natural phenomenon, but in it perceives the self-attestation of the God of redemptive history" (Delitzsch). If Psalms 8:1-9. should be read at night when the sky is bright with stars, and Psalms 19:1-14. by day when the sun is high in the heavens, this should be studied in the gloom of the storm, when the lightnings flash and the thunders roll, and the terrors of the Lord are on every side. It is then we can realize its deep grandeur and beauty, and feel its power to bring us nearer God.
1. The first thing is that we should take the right standpoint. "Not to the earth confined ascend to heaven." We must rise above the things seen, above the various forces working around us, above the mere reasonings and imaginations of our own hearts. We must take our place by the side of the highest, "the God-like ones," "the sons of the mighty"—the angels, who are in truest sympathy with God. It is as we hear with their ears, and see with their eyes, and enter into fellowship with them in mind and spirit, that we can truly behold Jehovah's glory, and fitly sing his praise (Psalms 19:1).
2. The true spirit with which to contemplate the magnificent spectacle is reverence and trust (Psalms 19:2). Thus prepared, we are able to recognize God's presence. A "voice" implies a speaker. Behind all the glory of visible and natural things there is the glory of God. He is the Force of all forces, and the Life of all life. The man of science may see nothing in the thunderstorm but cold material law, and the savage may recognize only a mysterious power which fills his soul with fear and trembling; but if we are of the same spirit as the psalmist, we can rise from the seen to the unseen, and acknowledge the presence and the glory of God.
3. Further, we are able to confess with humility and awe the supreme majesty of God. The storm in progress witnesses to his eternal power and Godhead. We behold his glory as the Lord of heaven and earth. We see him not only as the Lord of the "waters," but of the dry land; not only of "the cedars," but of all living creatures; not only of the children of men, but of all the host of heaven (Psalms 19:3-9).
4. Lastly, we are able to rejoice in God as our God, the supreme Object of our fear and love. The psalm ends as it began, with God. At the beginning we are raised from earth to heaven, and in the close we have heaven brought down to earth. It is as we ascend with Christ to God that God will descend with Christ to us. Thus we are enabled to confide in God as our almighty King and our gracious Redeemer. "The Lord will give strength unto his people." These are the two great blessings of salvation. "Strength" we have lost through sin; but it is recovered through Christ. God's people are strong to do, to suffer, and to endure, to overcome evil and daily to perform their vows in the service or' their Lord (Philippians 4:13). God's people have "peace "—that inner harmony and calm which results from oneness with God. Amidst all the stress and struggle of life, though there should come wars and famines and pestilences, when men's hearts are failing them for fear, they are able to say "It is the Lord!" He will keep us from evil; he will bless us with strength and with peace.—W.F.