Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 19:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 19:5. Which is as a bridegroom, c. — This is a reference to the rising of the sun, as the following verse is to the setting. He makes his appearance above the horizon with splendour and majesty every creature seems to rejoice at his approach; and during the whole of his course, through his whole circuit, his apparent revolution from east to west, and from one tropic to the same again, no part of the earth is deprived of its proper proportion of light and heat. The sun is compared to a bridegroom in his ornaments, because of the glory and splendour of his rays; and to a giant or strong man running a race, because of the power of his light and heat. The apparent motion of the sun, in his diurnal and annual progress, are here both referred to. Yet both of these have been demonstrated to be mere appearances. The sun's diurnal motion arises from the earth's rotation on its axis from west to east in twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, and four seconds, the mean or equal time which elapses between the two consecutive meridian-transits of the same fixed star. But on account of the sun's apparent ecliptic motion in the same direction, the earth must make about the three hundred and sixty-fifth part of a second revolution on its axis before any given point of the earth's surface can be again brought into the same direction with the sun as before: so that the length of a natural day is twenty-four hours at a mean rate. The apparent revolution of the sun through the twelve constellations of the zodiac in a sidereal year, is caused by the earth's making one complete revolution in its orbit in the same time. And as the earth's axis makes an angle with the axis of the ecliptic of about twenty-three degrees and twenty eight minutes, and always maintains its parallelism, i.e., is always directed to the same point of the starry firmament; from these circumstances are produced the regular change of the seasons, and continually differing lengths of the days and nights in all parts of the terraqueous globe, except at the poles and on the equator. When we say that the earth's axis is always directed to the same point of the heavens, we mean to be understood only in a general sense; for, owing to a very slow deviation of the terrestrial axis from its parallelism, named the precession of the equinoctial points, which becomes sensible in the lapse of some years, and which did not escape the observation of the ancient astronomers, who clearly perceived that it was occasioned by a slow revolution of the celestial poles around the poles of the ecliptic, the complete revolution of the earth in its orbit is longer than the natural year, or the earth's tropical revolution, by a little more than twenty minutes; so that in twenty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-three entire terrestrial revolutions round the sun, the seasons will be renewed twenty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-four times. And in half this period of twelve thousand eight hundred and eighty-two natural years, the points which are now the north and south poles of the heavens, around which the whole starry firmament appears to revolve, will describe circles about the then north and south poles of the heavens, the semi-diameters of which will be upwards of forty-seven degrees.

Coming out of his chamber — מחפתו mechuppatho, from under his veil. It was a sort of canopy erected on four poles, which four Jews held over the bridegroom's head.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 19:0 Knowing God

The wonders of the universe display God’s glory, power and wisdom. Although these things cannot speak, day after day they tell people that there is a God and teach them something of his nature (1-4a). The sun, with its splendour and brilliance, is a particularly notable witness to God’s glory (4b-6).
If, however, people are to know God personally and live according to his will, they need a more detailed knowledge than the physical creation can provide. They need God’s written Word. That Word is the authoritative revelation of God’s will for them. The knowledge that comes from it gives them new life, confidence, wisdom, joy, understanding and purity (7-9). It has a worth that is beyond value, and brings an enjoyment that is beyond comparison (10). It warns and instructs people, making them more sensitive to sin and giving them an increased desire to cleanse their lives and live blamelessly (11-13). As the Word does its work, they will want all their thoughts, words and actions to be pleasing to God (14).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. 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."

"A tabernacle for the sun." This emphasizes the manner in which the sun dominates the entire theater in which the earth is set. "Far from worshipping the sun, as many ancients did, the psalmist regards it as an agent of God, who has set up a tent in the vast heavens for the sun's continual use."Leslie McCaw in The New Bible Commentary, Revised p.462. This, of course, harmonizes with Genesis where it is revealed that the design of the starry host was not that of controlling men's destiny, or of receiving human worship, but of serving mankind by providing light at night for human use.

The status of the sun, not as a god to be worshipped, but as a servant of the purpose of God, is seen in the two beautiful metaphors used to describe it here. These are: (1) as a bride-groom living in a tent which God provided, and (2) as a strong man running a course assigned to him.

"And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." Here is another remarkable instance of scientific accuracy in the Bible. One might say that "nothing is hid from the light thereof"; but that is not strictly true. The bottom of the ocean is a place of perpetual darkness, as are the caves of the earth; but all of the heat in the earth has its source in the sun. This is even true of the fossil fuels and of wood that is burned to provide heat.

The great pity is that many human ears do not hear the message of glory, power and divinity of God; but that cannot negate the fact and clarity of the message. It only indicates the inexcusable sin of those who will not hear, as Paul clearly stated in Romans 1:20-21.

Why do some not hear? Maclaren noted that such deafness could be due to men's having, "Stopped their ears with the clay of earthly appetites and occupations, or stuffed them with scientific wadding of the most modern kind."Alexander Maclaren, Vol. 1, p. 190. Regarding those who do not hear, they have missed hearing the only voice that is capable of reassuring and blessing mankind.

We may inquire, in what way do the heavens declare the glory of God?

(1)    Their vastness, which is beyond all human calculation is surely a witness of the omnipotence and wisdom of God. There are not merely trillions of the heavenly bodies, but trillions of trillions of them; no man, however learned, has ever dared to guess "just how many" there actually may be.

(2)    The orderly and systematic behavior of the heavenly host speaks eloquently of a Designer, who could not possibly be anyone other than God Himself. This writer once saw in the principal Library in New York City a tabulation of every single eclipse of the sun during the last 2,500 years, giving the exact duration in minutes and seconds of every one of them, and also disclosing the part of the earth in each case where the eclipse would have been visible. Such order and design cannot possibly be imagined apart from the thundering truth that "There had to be a designer." And just who could that be except Almighty God?

(3)    The heavens declare God's glory by their utility in demonstrating the uniqueness of the earth as the residence of mankind, a truth of the most amazing dimensions. A few years ago, Dr. A. Crescy Morrison wrote a little book called, "Man does not stand alone,"Fleming H. Revell Company. in which he cited dozens of very unusual conditions on earth (many of them absolutely unique) that were absolute requirements before human life could possibly exist on our planet, stressing the obvious conclusion that human life existed by Design, not by chance. The existence of water itself was one of the things cited. If our earth was once part of the sun, how did it happen that the water did not all evaporate? Why is there no water anywhere else in the universe?

(4)    The very beauty of the heavens is in itself a testimony of the glory of God. As even Solomon expressed it, "What a glory it is for the eyes to behold the sun."

(5)    Such things as the speed of light and the incredible distances involved in such expressions as "light years" are totally beyond the power of finite minds fully to comprehend them, leading to a definite conclusion that the heavens themselves are some kind of an infinity, a fact that fairly shouts at mankind the corresponding truth that God is infinite.

(6)    Notwithstanding many almost incomprehensible things which men have learned about the universe, one thing is absolutely clear and certain, namely that the entire sidereal Creation, moving at incomprehensible speed through incredibly vast distances, is operating under the most precise, invariable laws. Men have been able to decipher and catalogue many of these laws, such as that of gravity, the mutual attractiveness of bodies in space, the speed of light, etc.; and there cannot be the slightest doubt that Law prevails throughout the universe and to the remotest part of it. It is impossible to accept such a truth apart from the conclusion that there must also be "The Lawgiver!"

THE WORD BOOK

With Psalms 19:7, there is an abrupt change in subject matter to the Law of God; and, of course, critics have seen no connection between the two subjects and have postulated two separate psalms that somehow got melded into one. But there is no necessity whatever to accept such theories.

As Rawlinson expressed it: It is the law and order that pervade the material universe which constitute its main glory; and the analogy between God's physical laws and his moral laws is fully evident.G. Rawlinson in The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 129.

It was most natural, therefore, for the psalmist to include a reference to both laws in the same psalm. Furthermore, he gave a demonstration in this brief psalm of the reason behind two names for God, "[~'Elohiym]," meaning "the Creator," was used in the first division; and "Jehovah," generally used where God's revelation to mankind and/or his dealings with the Covenant people are in view. This name dominates the second section.

Also, it is an undeniable truth that sometimes various names for God are used merely as synonyms, as in the case where Jacob used five names for God in a single paragraph (Genesis 49:25-26).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber - That is, when he rises in the morning. He rises from the darkness of the night, and comes forth as the bridegroom comes out of the chamber where he has slept. The allusion is to the bright, and joyful, and cheerful aspect of the rising sun. The image of the bridegroom is employed because we associate with a bridegroom the idea of hilarity, cheerfulness, joy. The essential image is that the sun seems to rise from a night of repose, as man does in the morning, and that after such a night of repose he goes forth with cheerfulness and alacrity to the employments of the day. The figure is an obvious but a very beautiful one, though there is a transition from the image employed in the previous verse, where the sun is represented as dwelling in a tent or tabernacle fitted up for it in the heavens. In the next member of the sentence the figure is again changed, by his being represented as a man prepared to run a race.

And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race - As a man who is vigorous and powerful, when he enters on a race. He is girded for it; he summons all his strength; he seems to exult in the idea of putting his strength to the test, and starting off on his career. Compare the note at 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. The same comparison which is employed here occurs in the Zendavesta, ii. 106. DeWette. The idea is that the sun seems to have a long journey before him, and puts forth all his vigour, exulting in the opportunity of manifesting that vigour, and confident of triumphing in the race.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 19:1-14

Chapter 19 is one of the beautiful favorite psalms where David does speak about how God does reveal Himself to man in nature.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard ( Psalms 19:1-3 ).

God is speaking to you every day, every night, through the world, the universe that He has created. The heavens are declaring you the glory, the awesomeness, the magnitude of God, as the earth is showing to you His infinite wisdom. The life forms around the earth.

Now this last week I had a very interesting experience. We have a fellow in our church who is the president of a polygraph firm, and so he has been doing some experiments with his polygraph machines. By hooking the connections up to a plant leaf and then watching the responses on the polygraph as the electrodes are hooked up to a plant. And he had been doing these experiments and he wanted me to come over and observe some of the things that he had discovered. And I found them very interesting.

As we are thinking about the earth showing His handiwork and day unto day they're uttering speech. And the question is, just how much understanding or knowledge is there in a plant? And so, as he hooked up the electrodes to the plant, and the needles started just moving up and down as it was measuring the responses within the leaf, he said, "Now move the needle upwards. Move in an upward position on the graph." And as he commanded it to do so, the needle started moving upward. And he said, "Now show us the downward movement." And the needle moved down on the graph. And then he said, "Now show us some violent motion," and the needle began to swing all the way across. Then he said to me, "Now you choose a number in your mind." And so he said, "Is the number one?" And of course I didn't answer. But he was just measuring the graph. "Is the number two? Is the number three?" And the needle was just going up and down, and when he got to my number seven, the needle goes way up and then came back down again and leveled off, and then, "Eight? Nine? Ten?" And I looked at the thing and I thought, "I can't believe it." What kind of communication, you know.

Now I am certain that there are many things of God's creation that we don't understand. That there are vast facets within nature that we have only begun to scratch the surface. That God has coded in many things, wisdom that is phenomenal, things that are just amazing. And I think that there is much to be learned and much to be discovered. God says that day unto day they are uttering their speech. That it's a universal language. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. You say, "Well, what do you make of it?" I don't know what to make of it; it was weird. But it was interesting. And it just sort of opens up your mind to the fact that God's creation is far vaster than what we ever dreamed. What kind of intelligence is just in a cell itself?

There was a gal who pinched the leaf, one of the leaves on the plant, not the one that the electrode was attached to, and the needle began to move violently. She went out of the room to get something and the needle settled down. When she came back in the room, the needle started moving violently again. The way this was all discovered is a fellow had attached the electrodes to a plant and he was just watching the movement of the needle, sort of fascinated with it. And he decided to water the plant, and as he picked up the water to water the plant, the needle started going crazy. So instead of watering it, he stopped and he put the water back down, and the needle settled back down again and so he picked it up as though he was going to water, deciding he wasn't going to do it, but just see what the needle would do, and this time it didn't do anything. And he made several gestures like he was going to water it, but not intending to do it, and the needle did nothing. And this guy started getting bugged. And so he finally decided, "Okay, I really will water it this time. I'll go ahead and really water it." And the needle started jumping again and he watered the thing. Now I don't know the explanations of it. I have no explanation for it. But it's interesting. "All nature," we sing, "All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres." Who knows? The wisdom of God who has created life forms, the infinite variety of life forms. What kind of understanding has He put into some of these life forms? I don't know. It is fascinating.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows His handiwork, and day unto day they utter their speech." They are talking to us. "Night unto night their voice goeth forth. There is not a speech nor a language where there voice is not heard." God speaks to man universally through nature. But though nature speaks to you of the existence of God, the testimony or the witness of nature then falls short because it cannot tell you of the love of God and the redemptive plan of God for your life. For that we needed the special revelation, and God has thus given us the special revelation that we might know His love and His plan for our lives. But the fact that God exists, we all know just by the fact of life around us and life forms around us.

Now David in this psalm, of course, speaks of the law of the Lord, and the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, the judgments of the Lord. All of these are a part of God's revelation to us in His Word.

The law of the LORD perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD ( Psalms 19:7-9 )

God has revealed Himself in nature, but He has revealed Himself more specifically in His Word. And thus, His law, His testimony, His commandments, His statutes, His judgments.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb ( Psalms 19:10 ).

Oh, how sweet the Word of God becomes to us as we get into it and as we begin to draw from its sweetness.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward ( Psalms 19:11 ).

And so he closes the psalm with a prayer,

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me: then shall I be upright, I shall be innocent from the great transgression. O God, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer ( Psalms 19:13-14 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Revelation from nature 19:1-6

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 19

David observed in this wisdom hymn that under the influence of the sun, the heavens make God’s handiwork in creation known to humanity. Likewise, people learn of God’s plan to bless humankind under the influence of God’s Law. In view of this dual revelation, in nature and in Scripture, David prayed that God would cleanse his life so he would be acceptable to God.

In the polytheistic ancient Near East, this psalm was a strong polemic against the pagan sun gods whom their worshippers credited with executing justice. The psalmist claimed that Israel’s God was the Creator of the heavens, including the sun, and He established justice on the earth.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

God has placed the sun in the heavens. He, not it, is supreme. The figures of the bridegroom and the runner picture the glory and power of this centerpiece of God’s creation. Since it is so glorious, its Creator must be even more glorious. The pagans used the same figures of speech to describe the sun, which they worshipped as sovereign. [Note: Ross, pp. 807-8.]

The name of God used in Psalms 19:1-6 is El, a title that describes the power of God. El is "the strong one." In Psalms 19:7-9; Psalms 19:14 the psalmist wrote that El is Yahweh, the name of God that stresses His covenant relationship to Israel. Thus he claimed that the Creator is Israel’s God, not some pagan nature deity.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,.... His nuptial chamber, on which Elias writes y,

"we call the garment (or canopy) spread over the head of the bridegroom and bride, supported by four pillars, in the time of their espousals, חפה.''

who looks lovely and beautiful in his nuptial robes, cheerful and pleasant in his countenance, creating pleasure and delight in all his friends that see him and hear his voice: and this simile is expressive of the brightness and glory of the sun when it rises; and of the joy and pleasure which it produces in the minds of men when they behold it: all which sets forth the loveliness and beauty of Christ, as he is held forth in the ministration of the Gospel, and the joy unspeakable and full of glory which his presence yields, after a short departure from his people; see Isaiah 61:10;

[and] rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race; in which he shows his readiness, velocity, and strength; and this denotes the swiftness of the sun in running its course, and its indefatigableness in its constant motion; though it has been employed therein for so many thousands of years, yet every morning rises with the same cheerfulness, pursues its course, and is never weary: all which may point at the readiness of Gospel ministers, their swiftness to run to and fro, and their strength to fulfil the course of their ministry, in which Christ, the sun of righteousness, is held forth in so glorious a manner.

y Elias, in his Tishbi, p. 119. The same word is used Isa. iv. 5. and translated "a defence".

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

      1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork.   2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.   3 There is no speech nor language, where 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 a race.   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.

      From the things that are seen every day by all the world the psalmist, in these verses, leads us to the consideration of the invisible things of God, whose being appears incontestably evident and whose glory shines transcendently bright in the visible heavens, the structure and beauty of them, and the order and influence of the heavenly bodies. This instance of the divine power serves not only to show the folly of atheists, who see there is a heaven and yet say, "There is no God," who see the effect and yet say, "There is no cause," but to show the folly of idolaters also, and the vanity of their imagination, who, though the heavens declare the glory of God, yet gave that glory to the lights of heaven which those very lights directed them to give to God only, the Father of lights. Now observe here,

      1. What that is which the creatures notify to us. They are in many ways useful and serviceable to us, but in nothing so much as in this, that they declare the glory of God, by showing his handy-works, Psalms 19:1; Psalms 19:1. They plainly speak themselves to be God's handy-works; for they could not exist from eternity; all succession and motion must have had a beginning; they could not make themselves, that is a contradiction; they could not be produced by a casual hit of atoms, that is an absurdity, fit rather to be bantered than reasoned with: therefore they must have a Creator, who can be no other than an eternal mind, infinitely wise, powerful, and good. Thus it appears they are God's works, the works of his fingers (Psalms 8:3), and therefore they declare his glory. From the excellency of the work we may easily infer the infinite perfection of its great author. From the brightness of the heavens we may collect that the Creator is light; their vastness of extent bespeaks his immensity;, their height his transcendency and sovereignty, their influence upon this earth his dominion, and providence, and universal beneficence: and all declare his almighty power, by which they were at first made, and continue to this day according to the ordinances that were then settled.

      II. What are some of those things which notify this? 1. The heavens and the firmament--the vast expanse of air and ether, and the spheres of the planets and fixed stars. Man has this advantage above the beasts, in the structure of his body, that whereas they are made to look downwards, as their spirits must go, he is made erect, to look upwards, because upwards his spirit must shortly go and his thoughts should now rise. 2. The constant and regular succession of day and night (Psalms 19:2; Psalms 19:2): Day unto day, and night unto night, speak the glory of that God who first divided between the light and the darkness, and has, from the beginning to this day, preserved that established order without variation, according to God's covenant with Noah (Genesis 8:22), that, while the earth remains, day and night shall not cease, to which covenant of providence the covenant of grace is compared for its stability, Jeremiah 33:20; Jeremiah 31:35. The counterchanging of day and night, in so exact a method, is a great instance of the power of God, and calls us to observe that, as in the kingdom of nature, so in that of providence, he forms the light and creates the darkness (Isaiah 45:7), and sets the one over-against the other. It is likewise an instance of his goodness to man; for he makes the out-goings of the morning and evening to rejoice,Psalms 65:8. He not only glorifies himself, but gratifies us, by this constant revolution; for as the light of the morning befriends the business of the day, so the shadows of the evening befriend the repose of the night; every day and every night speak the goodness of God, and, when they have finished their testimony, leave it to the next day, to the next night, to stay the same. 3. The light and influence of the sun do, in a special manner, declare the glory of God; for of all the heavenly bodies that is the most conspicuous in itself and most useful to this lower world, which would be all dungeon, and all desert, without it. It is not an improbable conjecture that David penned this psalm when he had the rising sun in view, and from the brightness of it took occasion to declare the glory of God. Concerning the sun observe here, (1.) The place appointed him. In the heavens God has set a tabernacle for the sun. The heavenly bodies are called hosts of heaven, and therefore are fitly said to dwell in tents, as soldiers in their encampments. The sun is said to have a tabernacle set him, no only because he is in continual motion and never has a fixed residence, but because the mansion he has will, at the end of time, be taken down like a tent, when the heavens shall be rolled together like a scroll and the sun shall be turned to darkness. (2.) The course assigned him. That glorious creature was not made to be idle, but his going forth (at least as it appears to our eye) is from one point of the heavens, and his circuit thence to the opposite point, and thence (to complete his diurnal revolution) to the same point again; and this with such steadiness and constancy that we can certainly foretel the hour and the minute at which the sun will rise at such a place, any day to come. (3.) The brightness wherein he appears. He is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, richly dressed and adorned, as fine as hands can make him, looking pleasantly himself and making all about him pleasant; for the friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly to hear the bridegroom's voice,John 3:29. (4.) The cheerfulness wherewith he makes this tour. Though it seems a vast round which he has to walk, and he has not a moment's rest, yet in obedience to the law of this creation, and for the service of man, he not only does it, but does it with a great deal of pleasure and rejoices as a strong man to run a race. With such satisfaction did Christ, the Sun of righteousness, finish the work that was given him to do. (5.) His universal influence on this earth: There is nothing hidden from the heart thereof, no, not metals in the bowels of the earth, which the sun has an influence upon.

      III. To whom this declaration is made of the glory of God. It is made to all parts of the world (Psalms 19:3; Psalms 19:4): There is no speech nor language (no nation, for the nations were divided after their tongues,Genesis 10:31; Genesis 10:32) where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone through all the earth (the equinoctial line, suppose) and with it their words to the end of the world, proclaiming the eternal power of God of nature, Psalms 19:4; Psalms 19:4. The apostle uses this as a reason why the Jews should not be angry with him and others for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, because God had already made himself known to the Gentile world by the works of creation, and left not himself without witness among them (Romans 10:18), so that they were without excuse if they were idolaters, Romans 1:20; Romans 1:21. And those were without blame, who, by preaching the gospel to them, endeavoured to turn them from their idolatry. If God used these means to prevent their apostasy, and they proved ineffectual, the apostles did well to use other means to recover them from it. They have no speech or language (so some read it) and yet their voice is heard. All people may hear these natural immortal preachers speak to them in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.

      In singing Psalms 19:1-6 we must give God the glory of all the comfort and benefit we have by the lights of the heaven, still looking above and beyond them to the Sun of righteousness.