Mini Moment: Join the Song of the Heavens (Psalm 19)

Our world is full of words.

Voices talk constantly. Ads and emails whiz by at staggering speeds. Even our thoughts shout in the silence.

But in today’s Mini Moment of the Unwrapping Rest podcast, I invite you to linger over the words of Psalm 19. Marvel with me as we catch the refrain of a different conversation, one that sings of the goodness of God.

It’s not the latest praise chorus or a rock concert, but the ages old testimony of the skies recorded in verse 1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.”
This communication doesn’t rely on the words of any spoken language and “yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

David heard the sweet testimony of nature and began to think about the law of the Lord, what we know as Scripture. He called it “perfect,” “trustworthy,” and refreshing for the soul.

God’s Word gives joy to the heart and light to the eyes. It endures forever. The psalmist points out that its decrees are firm, adding that “all of them are righteous.”

I hear wonder in David’s words as he writes that these decrees “are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.”

They are a warning, he reminds us, and come with the promise that in keeping them there is great reward.

I love the honesty of David’s heart as he moves to confession. He realizes he is blind to his own errors, asking God to “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.”

And then David wrote one of my favorite verses: “May these words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Those words have always spoken to me as a writer, but I also hear a deeper plea that is captured beautifully in The Message paraphrase: “These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.”

That prayer turns the words of our mouths from just more of the babbling noise of the world into fuel for our souls drawn from the Source of Life. It has us speaking God’s Word back to Him, taking it as food for our thoughts and our souls.

Today, as you step back into the noise of the world, remember to taste the sweet words of Scripture and join the song the heavens sing to the One who loves you so very much.

Rest in His love today, tomorrow, and all the days to come. He is so good.