<<  PSALM XIX.  >>

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1. The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
2. Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language;
Their voice is not heard.
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,
5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.
6. His going forth is from the end of the heavens,
And his circuit unto the ends of it;
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7. The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul:
The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the
simple.
8. The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening
the eyes.
9. The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever:
The ordinances of Jehovah 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 droppings of the
honeycomb,
n. Moreover by them is thy servant warned:
In keeping them there is great reward.
12. Who can discern his errors?
Clear thou me from hidden faults.
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 clear from great transgression.
14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart
Be acceptable in thy sight,
O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.

 

1. The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
2. Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowledge.
3. There is no speech nor language;
Their voice is not heard.

1-5. The Divine truth will go forth in every direction. P. P.

2. In these passages by heavens are signified the angelic heavens. A. 9408.

The glory of Jehovah, when concerning the Word, signifies its internal sense, thus the interiors of the Word. The reason why the interiors of the Word are called glory is, because the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a
sun is the light of heaven, which gives sight to the angels there, and at the same time intelligence and wisdom. From that Divine light is all glory in heaven, which is such as to exceed all human apprehension. A. 9429.

The angels of heaven perceive nothing else by glory than the Divine truth. R. 629.

The glory in which the Lord is to come signifies Divine truth in its light, in which the spiritual sense of the Word is. T. 780.

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,
5. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.
6. His going forth is from the end of the heavens,
And his circuit unto the ends of it;
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

5. The sun stands for love. A. 414.

By the sun is here understood the Divine love, because the Lord dwells in the good of His own love in the heavens. The tabernacle here stands for the Lord's heaven from the good of love. E. 799.

6. 7. Speaking of the Lord, whose state of Divine power is described by such things as are of space. A. 3387.
This truth will go forth from the. Lord from the first things to the last things of heaven and the church. P. P.

7. From the extremity of the heavens to their extremities stands for all things and every where. A. 9666.

7. The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul:
The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the
simple.
8. The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening
the eyes.

The precepts of the decalogue were therefore called the testimony, because they were of the covenant, and thus of the conjunction between the Lord and man, which conjunction cannot exist unless man keeps the precepts, not flnly in the external form, but also in the internal. A. 4197-

8-10. The subject is the Word and the things which are of the Word, which are manifestly its precepts, statutes, judgments, testimonies, commandments, and ways. What these things signify specifically cannot at all be seen from the sense of the letter, in which sense they are hardly more than repetitions of the same thing. But it may be seen from the internal sense in which one thing is signified by precepts, quite another by statutes, and others by judgments, testimonies, commandments, and ways. A. 3382.

As to what concerns the signification of testimony a distinction is made in the Word between laws, statutes, judgments, precepts, testimonies, words, commands, truths, covenants, as may be manifest from very many passages especially in Psalm cxix. where all those things are named, and testimonies in verses 2, 14, 31, 46, 59, 88, 91, in, 124, 138, 144, 168. A. 9503.

By testimonies and commandments are signified such things as teach life, by the law and precepts those which teach doctrine, and by statutes and judgments those which teach rituals. E. 392.

8-12. This Divine truth perfects man, because it is wisdom. P. P.

9. The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever:
The ordinances of Jehovah 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 droppings of the
honeycomb,
n. Moreover by them is thy servant warned:
In keeping them there is great reward.

9, 10. "The fear of Jehovah is clean" means love, and "the judgments of Jehovah are truth" means faith. A. 2826.
The judgments of Jehovah stand for truth Divine, sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honeycomb for enjoyments from good, and pleasures from truth. A. 5620.

Judgment relates to truth, and justice to good. R. 668. By the judgments of Jehovah are signified the truths and goods of worship, righteousness or justice being predicated of the good of life and worship thence derived. As good is also signified by gold, and fine gold, it is therefore said that they are more desirable than gold and than much fine gold, gold standing for celestial good, fine gold for

10 spiritual good, and desirable meaning what is of the affection and love. Since the goods with which a man is affected are also delightful, therefore it is said that they are sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honeycombs. Sweet denoting what is delightful, honey natural good, and the dropping of the honeycombs natural truth. E. 619.

13, 14. There will be no pride. P. P.

15. By Jehovah in the Word of the Old Testament no other is meant than the Lord, for He is called Jehovah God and the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, the Saviour, the Maker. A. 7091.

Since the Lord by the passion of the cross fully glorified His Human, that is united it to His Divine, and thus made
His Human also Divine, it follows that He is Jehovah and God as to both. Wherefore in many places in the Word He is called Jehovah, God, and the Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer, Saviour, and Former. L. 34. Now, because after the union of the Human with the Divine in himself, which was like that of the soul and the body in man, there were no longer two but one person, according to the doctrine of the Christian world, therefore the Lord as to both is Jehovah and God, wherefore it is sometimes said Jehovah and the' Holy One of Israel, the Redeemer and Saviour, and sometimes Jehovah the Redeemer and Saviour. L. 34.

That the Lord is called Jehovah is manifest from these passages. L. 38.

12. Who can discern his errors?
Clear thou me from hidden faults.
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 clear from great transgression.
14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my
heart
Be acceptable in thy sight,
O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.

These passages prove that Jehovah and the Lord are one, and because they are one, and not two, that the Lord from eternity who is Jehovah himself, is by the assumption of the Human the Redeemer and Saviour. R. 281.

That the Divine which is called the Father, and the Divine Human which is called the Son, are one like the soul and the body. R. 613.

Memorable Relation. Being confirmed from all these passages, those that sat upon the seats said unanimously
that Jehovah assumed the Human to save and redeem men. R. 962.

The foregoing statement repeated. B. 120. From these passages—Isaiah xlviii. 17; xliii. 14: Psalm xxxi. 5, etc., and very many others every man who has eyes, and whose mind has been opened by means of them can see that God, who is one, descended and became man for the purpose of accomplishing the work of redemption. T. 83.

Statement of R. 962 repeated in T. 188.

The spiritual sense of the first commandment is, that no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshipped, because He is Jehovah, who came into the world and wrought the redemption, without which no man and no angel could have been saved. T. 294.

In that primeval time (the Apostolic Church) all in what was then the Christian world acknowledged that the Lord Jesus Christ was God, to whom was given all power in heaven and earth, and power over all flesh, according to His own express words. T. 637.

Redemption stands for deliverance from damnation. This vindication and liberation was effected by the Lord's subjugating the hells. The continual vindication and liberation is effected by His having glorified His Human, that is having made it Divine, for thereby the hells are kept continually subjugated. This is what is signified by His redeeming man, and by His being called in the Word a Redeemer. E. 328.

Here by "O Jehovah, my rock" is signified the same as by Jehovah God, namely the Lord as to Divine good and Divine truth, and He is called Redeemer from regeneration, which is effected by Divine truths. E. 411.

That the Lord the Saviour Jesus Christ is called in the Word of both testaments a stone and a rock is plain from the following passages, Deuteronomy xxxii. 15, 18, 30: ii. Samuel xxiii. 3: Psalm lxxviii. 10, 11, 22, 32, 35, 42, etc.
Coro. 2.

Thus there will be what is pure and acceptable. P. P.
Jehovah my rock and my redeemer. D. P., Page 86.

Whole Chapter. The Lord is treated of in the whole Word. Ath.

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)