Psalm 19
Psalm 19 is the 19th psalm in the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The heavens declare the almighty of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 18. The Latin version begins "Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei". The psalm is attributed to David.
The psalm considers the glory of God in creation, and moves to reflect on the character and use of "the law of the ". Psalm 1, this psalm and Psalm 119 have been referred to as "the psalms of the Law". It forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox Church and Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music, notably by Heinrich Schütz, by Johann Sebastian Bach who began a cantata with its beginning, by Joseph Haydn, who based a movement from Die Schöpfung on the psalm, and by Beethoven, who set a paraphrase by Gellert in "Die Himmel rühmen des Ewigen Ehre". Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville wrote a grand motet Caeli enarrant in 1750 and François Giroust in 1791.
Commentary
The classical Jewish commentators all point to the connection the psalmist makes between the Sun and the Torah. These connections include:- The Torah enlightens man, just as the sun lights his way
- Both the sun and the Torah testify to the glory of their Creator
- The Torah is more perfect, whole, or complete than the powerful sun
- While the sun conveys God's glory and greatness in the physical world, the Torah expresses God's glory in the spiritual realm.
John Mason Good theorizes that this psalm was composed either in the morning or around noon, when the bright sun eclipses the other heavenly bodies; he contrasts this with Psalm 8, in which the psalmist contemplates the starry sky in the evening. Praising the poetry of this psalm, 20th-century British writer C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying: "I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world".
On the matter of unity, Artur Weiser states that the first part are a completely distinct song from the second. He upholds that not only the subjects, but also the metrics, the language and the tone are distinct and the two parts could not have been composed by the same author. Lewis, on the other hand, indicates nature as "an index, a symbol, a manifestation, of the Divine" and he points that here "the searching and cleansing sun becomes an image of the searching and cleansing Law", on which he suppresses the idea of these two subjects not being correlated. Rav Elchanan Samet identifies the same problems that Weiser did: "These two halves are strikingly different from one another in their content as well as in their style, to the point that it is difficult to point to verbal, stylistic, or conceptual connections between them." Nonetheless, he points that these two parts have been in unity since the Septuagint and agrees with it, "the inclination to adopt this solution is liable to stem from intellectual laziness."
Concerning Psalm 19's place in the architectural arrangement of the Psalms, Psalm 18 precedes Psalm 19, wherein David's adversaries are vanquished. Following this triumph and following Psalm 19, a succession of five royal Psalms, Psalms 20 through 24, according to O. Palmer Robertson, seemingly accentuating the unequivocal establishment of the Davidic kingdom
The centrality of Psalm 19 within a literary chiasm extending from Psalm 15 to Psalm 24 has been also expounded upon in Carissa Quinn's doctoral thesis.
Text
The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 18.| # | Hebrew | English | Greek |
| Εἰς τὸ τέλος· ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυΐδ. - | |||
| 1 | The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. | ΟΙ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΙ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ, ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα. | |
| 2 | Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. | ἡμέρα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐρεύγεται ῥῆμα, καὶ νὺξ νυκτὶ ἀναγγέλλει γνῶσιν. | |
| 3 | There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. | οὐκ εἰσὶ λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι, ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν· | |
| 4 | Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, | εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν. | |
| 5 | Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. | ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ ἔθετο τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ· καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς νυμφίος ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ παστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἀγαλλιάσεται ὡς γίγας δραμεῖν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ. | |
| 6 | His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. | ἀπ᾿ ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἡ ἔξοδος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ κατάντημα αὐτοῦ ἕως ἄκρου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἀποκρυβήσεται τῆς θέρμης αὐτοῦ. | |
| 7 | The law of the is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the is sure, making wise the simple. | ὁ νόμος τοῦ Κυρίου ἄμωμος, ἐπιστρέφων ψυχάς· ἡ μαρτυρία Κυρίου πιστή, σοφίζουσα νήπια. | |
| 8 | The statutes of the are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the is pure, enlightening the eyes. | τὰ δικαιώματα Κυρίου εὐθέα, εὐφραίνοντα καρδίαν· ἡ ἐντολὴ Κυρίου τηλαυγής, φωτίζουσα ὀφθαλμούς· | |
| 9 | The fear of the is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the are true and righteous altogether. | ὁ φόβος Κυρίου ἁγνός, διαμένων εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος· τὰ κρίματα Κυρίου ἀληθινά, δεδικαιωμένα ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, | |
| 10 | More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. | ἐπιθυμητὰ ὑπὲρ χρυσίον καὶ λίθον τίμιον πολὺν καὶ γλυκύτερα ὑπὲρ μέλι καὶ κηρίον. | |
| 11 | Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. | καὶ γὰρ ὁ δοῦλός σου φυλάσσει αὐτά· ἐν τῷ φυλάσσειν αὐτὰ ἀνταπόδοσις πολλή. | |
| 12 | Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. | παραπτώματα τίς συνήσει; ἐκ τῶν κρυφίων μου καθάρισόν με. | |
| 13 | Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. | καὶ ἀπὸ ἀλλοτρίων φεῖσαι τοῦ δούλου σου· ἐὰν μή μου κατακυριεύσωσι, τότε ἄμωμος ἔσομαι καὶ καθαρισθήσομαι ἀπὸ ἁμαρτίας μεγάλης. | |
| 14 | Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O, my strength, and my redeemer. | καὶ ἔσονται εἰς εὐδοκίαν τὰ λόγια τοῦ στόματός μου καὶ ἡ μελέτη τῆς καρδίας μου ἐνώπιόν σου διὰ παντός, Κύριε, βοηθέ μου καὶ λυτρωτά μου. |
Uses
The final verse in both the Hebrew and KJV versions, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer," is used as a prayer in both the Jewish and Christian traditions. A version which refers to "the meditation of our hearts", i.e. those of the congregation, is often used at the start of a sermon.Judaism
Psalm 19 is recited in its entirety during the Pesukei dezimra of Shabbat and Yom Tov. It is also recited as the psalm of the day on Shavuot in the Gra siddur. In Siddur Avodas Yisroel, it is recited as the psalm of the day on Hanukkah, and as the Shabbat psalm for the Torah portion of Yitro. Some say this psalm on a wedding day, and as a prayer for heavenly guidance.The verses of this psalm are recited before each hakafah on Simchat Torah.
In the ancient Jewish text Perek Shirah, verse 2 is said by the heavens and verse 3 is said by the day.
Verses 8 and 9 are recited in the synagogue after the first person is called up to the Torah.
Verses 12 and 13 are part of Selichos.
Verse 15 is recited in several parts of the Jewish prayer service, including: at the conclusion of the Amidah; and in some communities during the removal of the Torah scroll from the Ark on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Yom Tov; as part of Selichos; and at the conclusion of Tefillah Zakah, a prayer for Yom Kippur eve.