The Works of God and the Word of God
A word given while camping up on Yale Lake near Cougar Washington in 2004, and 5 years later in a church service.
The Setting
We are blessed by God to live in one of the most beautiful parts of His world. Each day we have abundant opportunities to take in its wonders and delights. In Psalm 19, David sings of how God reveals Himself in His Creation, and even better, in His living Word.
The Author
God named the author of this psalm “a man after My own heart.” This is the man who started as a shepherd of sheep, but became the shepherd of God’s people. He was a warrior, a poet, a prophet and a king. He stands in Scripture as one of main prefigures of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the man whom God prepared and appointed to write most of our psalms, which are at the heart of His holy worship.
Structure of the Psalm
Psalm 19 has the usual parallel structure of Hebrew poetry used in the liturgy of temple worship – the worship leader sings and the people respond. This enables God’s people to “teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” entering into the responsive rhythm of the psalm.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
The Works of God are Speaking
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard -
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
And its circuit to the other end;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
The Word of Yahweh is Acting
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes 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 judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey
and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
My Prayer in Responding
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
These are David’s poetic meditations on the voice of God in His created world, and His greater, purer, and more perfect speech in His written Word. This as an exposition of the ways that God reveals Himself to Mankind:
- General Revelation (what the Almighty reveals to all people in creation) and
- Special Revelation (what the Lord reveals particularly to His own people through the inspired Word).
The Psalmist says in Psalm 111:2
The works of the LORD are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.
And in Psalm 1,
blessed is the man who meditates in the Law of the Lord day and night.
Here we have the treasure of David’s own reflections on the works of God, and his meditations in the Word of God, set side by side, - the testimony of God in Creation, and the effectual power of God revealed in His Word.
Exegesis
God’s glory revealed in Creation
David begins with
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
He intentionally uses the language of Genesis 1.1, 1.7-8
- ha shamayim (Heavens) 1.1 “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.”
- ha raqia (Firmament) 1.7-8 “God made the firmament…and He called the Firmament Heaven”
David brings us back before time when Almighty God created all things out of nothing. He does this to remind us of what should be abundantly clear to all: that the Heavens above us, by their very existence, tell the glory of their Maker.
The tense of the Hebrew verbs indicates that Creation’s speech is ongoing:
The Heavens are declaring the glory of God
The Firmament is showing forth His handiwork.
It is not just one word given at one specific time, so that someone could claim an alibi, saying “I wasn’t there” or “I missed it.” No, it continues always, leaving us all without excuse. This is why he goes on to say in verse 2:
Day to Day pours forth speech and Night to Night reveals knowledge.
Every morning the sun rises and follows it course across the skies and every evening it sets in painted glory. Every night the stars appear and complete their ordered dance in the incomprehensible vastness of space. These marvels re-occur with uninterrupted regularity every 24 hours throughout our entire lives. The speech goes on and on continually.
And not only do we have no excuse in saying “we weren’t there when the Heavens were speaking” since the speech is perpetual, we also cannot excuse ourselves by saying “we didn’t understand the language.” Verses 3-4 tell us that the language is universal:
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
God confused the languages of men at the Tower of Babel, but He did not confound the language of the Heavens. It remains as it always has been, a universal speech understood by all.
There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard
means that there is no tribe or tongue or kindred or nation under Heaven that cannot hear it and understand it.
In verse 4 some translations have “voice” and some have “line.” The latter is the more accurate rendering of the Hebrew - “line” refers to a line of writing. David is picturing God writing His signature in Creation, from one end of the Heavens to the other, so that all may see it and know. It cannot be ignored. What is it that this universal writing says concerning the glory of God?
Paul expounds this in Romans 1:20:
…since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse..
“His eternal power and Godhead” - This is what David is saying – he relates in general terms how the Heavens speak continually, and in a language which all understand, leaving all men without excuse. Next in vss. 19.4-6, he takes us from the general to the specific: from the Heavens as a whole to the Sun as a specific heavenly body. In doing this he shows more distinctly what it is the Heavens are saying.
David could have written “The mountains declare the glory of God” and then used a mountain stream as his particular example. He could have chosen any number of instances of God’s power revealed in Creation, so why did he choose the Heavens in general and the Sun in particular?
Quite simply because some people don’t live near majestic mountains, some don’t live by the awesome ocean, some have never seen a mighty forest, or a trackless desert. But all people may look up in wonder at Heavens, all can ponder the stars at night, all are warmed and illumined by the Sun by day.
David’s first theme is the universal speech of God to all mankind, and therefore he chooses the elements of creation that are universal, which are accessible to all people without exception. We look up at night and are amazed as we consider unimaginable distances, covering galaxies with the tips of our fingers. By day we feel the warmth of the Sun, and when we consider our planetary place in the universe, we realize with awe and humility that without the Sun there would be no life on earth at all – all would be dead and dark and cold.
God has pitched a tent for the Sun in the Heavens. This is David’s poetical way of saying that God has ordained for the Sun to go to bed at night, as it were, so that we can too. God graciously gives days to labor under the Sun, and nights to rest under the moon and stars. In the perfect divine order the Sun fulfills its course each day, faithfully doing its Maker’s will. Amen!
David personifies the Sun as a Bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and as a strong man rejoicing to run his race. In Middle-eastern cultures the bridegroom prepares himself for his wedding day by being splendidly arrayed, and then coming forth from his abode in joyous and festive procession to claim his bride.
The runner who is trained and prepared for the race comes to the starting line confident in his strength, anticipating the joy of competition and the glory of victory. What attributes of God do we find illustrated here? In both of these personifications of the sun we find joy, confidence and strength.
The universal reach of God’s speech is reiterated here. As the voice of Creation “has gone out through all the earth,” so the circuit of the Sun is “from one end of Heaven to the other.” This speaks to us of the omnipresence of God: “Lord, where can I flee from your presence,” says the psalmist in Psalm 139.
What’s more, we are told of the Sun that “nothing is hidden from its heat” which reminds us of God’s omniscience - the all-knowing eye of God which “is in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” As no one can escape the heat of the sun so none can hide from the judgment of God, no, not though they cry to the mountains to fall on them. “All things are open and laid before Him with whom we have to do.”
What aspects of God’s “eternal power and Godhead” are being shown to us here? Is it too much to suggest that David’s use of the Sun here is analogous to the Living Word, Jesus Christ? Am I stepping over the hermeneutical line onto the slippery slope of allegorical interpretation?
To answer that objection, listen to how other inspired writers use the same metaphors in speaking of our glorious Lord:
Malachi says in Malachi 4.2
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings.
Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah in Matt. 4.16:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.
And Luke records the prophecy of Zachariah, the father of John Baptist in Luke 1.78:
Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.
David sings of the Heavens as declaring God’s glory, and then he refines his tune, bringing his theme into sharper definition by focusing on the Sun as the best and brightest and fullest expression of that created glory. In like manner, Scripture reveals Jesus Christ as the full and perfect expression of God’s eternal glory:
- For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4.6)
- He is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person ( Heb. 1.2)
- His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (Rev. 1.16)
The temporal created glory of the Sun pictures the eternal divine glory of the Son of God. As we “study the works of God” we are instructed by the Creation as it speaks of the glory of God, even up to the fullest and greatest expression of His glory, Jesus Christ, the DaySpring from on High.
David’s personifications of the Sun as the Bridegroom and the Runner boldly proclaim the youthful joy and strength of the Son of God:
- the One by Whom God spoke the worlds into being
- the Bridegroom who comes Leaping upon the mountains and Skipping upon the hills to claim His Bride (Song)
- the One who is God’s Word and Wisdom, who was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in His inhabited world… (Prov.8.30)
- and the One who “enlightens every man coming into the world.”
The universal scope of the Sun’s course reminds us of Him being everywhere present, and its all-penetrating heat tells of His all-seeing eye. The Heavens in general, and the Sun in particular reveal, as Paul says in Romans 1.20, “His eternal power and Godhead.”
The Efficacy of Scripture
Now we come to the second section of the psalm deals which with the Word of God. If we take this as merely a comparison of general and special revelation, that is: “On one hand we have God speaking in Creation, and on the other hand we have God speaking in Scripture” we would be missing something very important.
We have already seen that David is moving from the general to the specific.
This sharpening focus continues here, and throughout the Psalm.
But David is also moving from the lesser to the greater, beginning with the universal testimony of God to all men, and then proceeding to the particular effectual saving work of God in His elect through His inspired Word, and the Redeemer whom the Word reveals.
Remember that the psalms are songs. Imagine what the music may have been like. We have completed the first major theme, which was developed with a sprightly variation in the section on the Sun. Now we come to the central bridge in the tune at which the key modulates, because we are ascending higher and deeper into the glories of God: We are coming to His Word.
We must understand as we enter this section that it is not disjointed from what precedes it, but naturally flows from it. David has taken us from the general revelation of the glory God in the Heavens to its highest and brightest specimen, the Sun, the radiance of the Heavens which testifies to the brightness of God’s glory, and the divine attributes of Jesus Christ the Living Word. From here he takes us directly from that picture to that of which it speaks, the Word itself.
We have seen how Scripture speaks of the Son of God using the metaphor of the Sun in the sky. It speaks in the very same way of the written Word:
2Pet. 1.19 - And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
In focusing on the written Word, in verses, 7,8,9, David sets forth the multi-faceted perfections of Yahweh’s revealed truth in 3 beautiful responsive couplets, 6 lines in total, in which each line consists of exactly 5 Hebrew words:
The first word of each line is a noun (law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, judgments)
The 2nd word is “Yahweh” and qualifies the first. It is the Law of Yahweh, the testimony of Yahweh, the precepts of Yahweh, and so on.
The 3rd word is an adjective which gives us an important characteristic of the noun (it is perfect, it is sure, right, pure, clean, true)
The 4th and 5th words tell what the noun does:
(converts the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, endures forever, is righteous altogether).
“Yahweh”, the 2nd word of each line is the covenant name of God, “I AM.” – the name God revealed to Moses when He heard the cries of His people in bondage in Egypt. God in compassion and condescension commits to His people that He will come down to deliver and that that He will be with them. (Exodus 3.12). “Yahweh” is the name of God which testifies that He will be the Savior and Redeemer of His people. He is the Faithful One who has promised to be with His people and to deliver them.
In the first section of the psalm this covenant name of God is not used at all, but only the generic name for God “El” (strong one). This is because David is there speaking of the universal revelation of God to all mankind, which leaves all men without excuse, but has no power to save. But in this section on the Scriptures which are graciously given by God to His own people, we find “Yahweh” repeated in each line to show that in the Word He demonstrates his covenant faithfulness and His saving power.
Unlike the Creation which simply speaks (leaving all without excuse), the Word of God acts. It “converts the soul”, “makes wise the simple”, etc.
As the 1st chapter of the Westminster Confession puts it so well:
“Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation.”
But the Word of God is sufficient.
“our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts”
The Word of YAHWEH is acting
Vs. 7a - The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul
“The Law” is the comprehensive term for God’s revealed will. David does not use the term ‘law’ in the narrow sense that Paul does in Romans, namely that which kills us by convincing us of our guilt before God. If he did, he could never say that it “converts the soul.” Rather he uses the word as the general term for all of God’s Truth including the covenants, and the promises and prophecies concerning Christ. David tells us that it is perfect, meaning that it is completely adequate and sufficient. It is effective, converting the soul.
How is it that the Law of Yahweh converts us, and restores us to God? First it is our schoolmaster, telling us of our sin, our guilt before God, our need of a Savior. It thus leads us to Christ, and then reveals Him to our souls as the One in Whom all the promises of God to us are Yes and Amen! By the Word of God we are born again and become new creatures! By the hearing of the Word, we are given faith to trust in Him, believing in His death for our sin, and His resurrection for our justification. And as we continue to gaze into Scripture as God’s mirror, we are transformed from glory to glory, growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Vs. 7b The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple
Testimony is that which is personally attested by God Himself. What He has testified to in Scripture is as good as His own name. He stands behind what He says, and this is why David says that His testimonies are sure. If we rely on them, we are in no danger of going astray. We trust Him who cannot lie, rather than leaning on our own understanding, and thereby we, the simple ones, become wise, gaining the wisdom which is from above. But before we can acquire any true wisdom, we must learn that we are completely destitute of wisdom in ourselves. We are “simple” i.e. fools.
David says in Ps 119.99:
I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.
Vs. 8a The statutes of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart
Statutes are the specific ordinances and injunctions of Yahweh, and we are told that they are right or straight. This is in sharp contrast to the ordinances of men which are often wrong, bent, corrupt, unjust, incomplete, or self-serving. The statutes of men make us sigh and groan because they are not right, but the statutes of God cause our hearts to rejoice because they are right! We rejoice because we need have no doubt or question about hidden motives and agendas. We know the LORD is good and faithful and true and just, and so every specific edict of His we know is good because of Him who gave it.
Vs. 8b The commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes
Commandment is the word often used in the Hebrew Scriptures of the instruction of a father to a son. The commandment of Yahweh is pure. Unlike human fathers who make mistakes, or sometimes discipline with unholy anger, the fatherly instruction of our Lord is perfect in every way, always working for His glory and our good: … we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. (Heb. 12.9-10)
This fatherly instruction, the commandment of the Lord, enlightens the eyes. This means that we are given insight into the meaning of our circumstances by carefully heeding our Heavenly Father’s instruction “..a good understanding have all they that do his commandments…” (Psa. 111.10b).
This is the same Hebrew phrase used about Saul’s son, Jonathan, when he was refreshed by eating some honey:
1Sam. 14.27 – he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
In the same way, the insight we gain by heeding God’s commandments revives us in spirit, invigorates us, and keeps us from perishing. By faithful obedience as of a child to his father, we partake of the abundant life that Jesus promised.
Vs.9a The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever
The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. It is clean because it keeps us from sin. “by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil. “ The fear of man brings a snare, but the fear of God purifies us. It endures forever because God will forever be God, and we will forever be His dependent creatures who are the unworthy recipients of His mercy. Even the Seraphim in glory cover their eyes in His presence, as they sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
Vs. 9b The judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether
As we trust God to accomplish all His perfect purposes in history, and as we look forward to the fulfillment of all things under His reign, we rest knowing that the Lord’s Judgments are true, and altogether righteous. Unlike human judges, our Lord shows no partiality, cannot be bribed, knows every minutest detail, the external and the internal. All His judgments rendered past, present and future concerning angels and men, are true and they are righteous altogether. And so we need not wallow in a mire of relativism trying to determine justice on our own, or feel that we have been wronged by fate and cry out “Unfair!” We rely and commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously. The judge of all the earth shall do right.
In considering all these aspects of the redemptive power of God’s Word, David exults:
Vs. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
They are more valuable than much refined gold, than all the greatest treasures that can be imagined. David says in Psalm 119.162
“I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure!”
- Do you delight in God’s Word as you would in discovering that you had become a millionaire?
- Is it your greatest joy to come to God in His Word, and wait upon Him to see what He will speak to you?
- Do you measure your success by your meditation and practice of God’s Word?
David speaks of how good are the words of God, how desirable to the taste, “sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb…” Remember that honey mentioned before as that which “enlightens our eyes” – refreshing us, invigorating us, reviving us.
If you haven’t tasted of God and the goodness of His Word in your own soul, you cannot know what he means. You can only know this by tasting yourself. The beauty of a sunset at the coast means nothing to a blind man. So we are invited: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good…”
If you have tasted of the goodness of God, let your delight and joy in God continue to grow. Don’t be satisfied with a little. Drink deeply from the well of salvation which never runs dry. Don’t lose your first love. Rekindle your zeal and desire for God in His Word. Martin Luther warned that there is nothing so dangerous to a Christian as to grow weary of reading and hearing the Word. Let it not be so with you, but continue to treasure and delight in the Scriptures as David did.
But even as you delight in the Word, be sure that it will cut you to the quick.
the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4.12)
David understands this when he says in verse 11
Moreover by them Your servant is warned
The Word pierces and gives us understanding of the sinful tendencies of our flesh, so we know that it is only God’s grace that keeps us moment by moment. By the Word, God warns us and keeps us back from sin.
And in keeping them there is great reward.
Although He owes us absolutely nothing, God graciously rewards us greatly for keeping His Word, holding it close to our hearts, trusting it, loving it and obeying it.
We have our rewards now, and even more so in eternity. As we keep His word now, we experience joy unspeakable and full of glory, knowing that it is God who is working in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. We gain greater assurance and grow in faith, receiving grace upon grace. And in glory we will have treasures in Heaven which are incorruptible, undefiled, and fade not away.
But as the Word pierces us, we are undone, and find that we do not know the depths of our own depravity, and so as the focus continues to narrow, David cries in verse 12:
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
We are undone, but in David, we have a man of God to imitate. Like him, we must still trust in our Lord who keeps covenant and who can and will cleanse us from the many offenses that we do not even know. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1.19)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We must die daily, repent daily, confess daily, and pray daily that God will keep us from “secret sins.”
Vs. 13
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
We pray that God will keep us from secret sins, but has the Word of God made us wise to the point of knowing not only that we need God’s cleansing from hidden sins, but also that we need God’s preserving power to keep us from blatant and presumptuous sins?
David knows this about his own heart, that it is “desperately sick” and so prays that God will keep him from “great transgression.” God through His Word has shown him his own nature, so that he understands that without God’s preserving power he would be capable of the most grievous sins. This is why we pray “lead us not into temptation.”
Do you know this about yourself? Do you know that but for the grace of God you could commit the most heinous sins? If this thought offends you, then you are still clinging to some of your own righteousness which is as filthy rags, and not the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to you. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.
With this awareness of absolute and constant dependence upon God’s grace, David closes his prayer in verse 14:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my strength and my Redeemer.
As he concludes, the ever-sharpening focus comes to the final point: our own hearts in the presence of God.
It is remarkable to consider what David has done in this psalm. He began with the universal voice of God to all mankind in Creation. From there he zoomed in, in ever-narrowing circles, first to the Sun, then to the special Word of God in His Scriptures, and now finally to the ultimate locus of God’s living and powerful Word: his own heart. “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” As you hear the Word of God today, the Spirit of God is bringing this focus to bear upon you, upon the state of your own heart, and of your own response. “The Word of God is living and powerful.”
Knowing the doctrines of Scripture is not the end, but the beginning. The Word of God is the light which exposes our sin, and illuminates the path before us, leading us to our Savior. The ultimate objective in knowing the Scriptures is that through them we will know, obey, and walk with Christ Himself, our Living Lord.
Do not make the mistake of the Pharisees, whom our Lord reproved in John 5.39-40:
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
His Word, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, brings us to the root of our problem with sin: our tongues and our hearts.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Matt. 15.19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
James 3.6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body…
Thus convicted by the powerful Word of God, we join David, and humbly beseech God:
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight
Here is the prayer of one who desires to be pure in the innermost being. David knows that his Lord desires truth in the innermost parts. David desires this purity not so that he can boast, nor hope of earning favor before God, but because He loves God and want to please Him – “let them be acceptable in Your sight O Lord.” He is a man “after God’s own heart.”
Is your whole aim and purpose to please God, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever? Is your desire that your Lord be pleased with your words and the your most private thoughts, regardless of what others think of you?
If considering this discourages you, then take courage. Look at how David addresses His Lord. He says: “My Strength and My Redeemer,” (or “Rock”)
We have no strength within ourselves to withstand sin. The Holy Spirit must conquer sin in us. We rely upon Him, not ourselves. Jesus Christ is our Strength. He will cause us to triumph through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful to complete the work which he has begun in us!
Jesus Christ is our “Redeemer” – the next of kin who pledges Himself to pay the debt to buy back his relative from bondage. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He has humbled Himself and partaken of our flesh and blood. We are all sold to sin, with a debt of guilt which we could never pay. Jesus fulfilled His pledge as Redeemer-Kinsmen and bought us back from the slave-market of sin with His own lifeblood. He has freed us from the curse of sin, from the guilt of sin, and from the power of sin. In Jesus Christ we will gain the victory, and can pray with hope and confidence as David does.
Our prayer
Gracious Father, we thank you for not leaving us to ourselves, to perish in our miserable state. Thank you that You speak in Creation, and that you speak to your sheep savingly in your Word. You call the blind to see and the dead to live. Thank you that you give us the example of your servant David in prayer.
Lord, our hearts are deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; we cannot even know them. We are false and full of sin, hopeless without you, so please cleanse us from the sins that we do not even know.
We know that in flesh we are born rebels against you. Who will deliver us from this body of death? We thank you now through Jesus Christ our Lord! So by His power in us, keep us back from presumptuous sins, let them not rule over us. But rather, You rule and triumph over sin in us by the cross of Christ, and the power of your Spirit living in us. Bring all our thoughts captive to Your Holy Word. You have made us blameless by the blood of Christ. Keep us also from great transgression by Your preserving power.
Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD,
our strength and our Redeemer.
Amen.
