Psalmen 19:13 Kommentar

There are two excellent books which the great God has published for the instruction and edification of the children of men; this psalm treats of them both, and recommends them both to our diligent study. I. The book of the creatures, in which we may easily read the power and godhead of the Creator (Psa 19:1-6). II. The book of the scriptures, which makes known to us the will of God concerning our duty. He shows the excellency and usefulness of that book (Psa 19:7-11) and then teaches us how to improve it (Psa 19:12-14). To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 19 To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This psalm was penned by David, and inscribed to the chief musician, as others, to be used in public service, and was designed for Gospel times, as the subject of it shows; which is first, not an account of the light of nature, and then of the law of Moses, but of the Gospel of Christ; and especially as ministered in the times of the apostles, as a citation out of it in Rom 10:18, makes clear.

Let the words of my mouth,.... Meaning either his speech in common conversation, which should not be filthy and foolish, rotten and corrupt; but such as ministers grace to the hearer: or else his address to God, both in prayer and thanksgiving; and the meditation of my heart; his inward thoughts continually revolving in his mind; or his meditation on the word of God and divine things; or mental prayer, which is not expressed, only conceived in the mind; be acceptable in thy sight; as words and thoughts are, when they are according to the word of God; and as the sacrifices of prayer, whether vocal or mental, and of praise, are through Jesus Christ our Lord. The psalmist, in order to strengthen his faith in God, that he should be heard and answered in the petitions he put up, makes use of the following epithets: O Lord, my strength, or "rock" (l), and my Redeemer; who had been the strength of his life and of his salvation, the rock on which he was built and established, and the Redeemer who had redeemed his life from destruction, and out of the hands of all his enemies, and from all his iniquities. (l) "rupes mea", Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius; "mea petra", Pagninus, Montanus, Rivetus; so Ainsworth. Next: Psalms Chapter 20

"Cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults." From the lusts which lie hidden in me, cleanse me, O Lord. "And from the" faults "of others preserve Your servant" [Psalm 19:13]. Let me not be led astray by others. For he is not a prey to the faults of others, who is cleansed from his own. Preserve therefore from the lusts of others, not the proud man, and him who would be his own master, but, Your servant. "If they get not the dominion over me, then shall I be undefiled." If neither my own secret sins, nor those of others, get the dominion over me, then shall I be undefiled. For there is no third source of sin, but one's own secret sin, by which the devil fell, and another's sin, by which man is seduced, so as by consenting to make it his own. "And I shall be cleansed from the great offense." What but pride? For there is none greater than apostasy from God, which is "the beginning of the pride of man." [Sirach 10:12] And he shall indeed be undefiled, who is free from this offense also; for this is the last to them who are returning to God, which was the first as they departed from Him.

Sometimes they take their origin from another; therefore he says, "From those of others spare your servant." But is another's sin imputed to someone? Ezek. 18: "The soul that sins, it shall die." It must be said that it is not, when it is entirely another's. But when it passes to you by imitation: Sir. 13: "He who touches pitch shall be defiled by it." Or by persuasion, or by consent: Prov. 1: "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent to them." Or by dissimulation at the due time and place, then it becomes your own and is imputed: Rom. 1: "Not only those who do such things are worthy of death, but also those who consent to those who do them." And this applies especially to prelates who knowingly overlook the crimes of their subjects. And he says, "Spare your servant," because these sins seem to come upon us from divine wrath, namely that such occasions of sin are given to us. Or, "from those of others," from proud men: Ps. 17: "The sons of strangers have lied to me."

"If they shall not." Here he sets forth the reason for the petition. And first, on David's part, he asks for immunity from evil. Second, for perfection in good: "And they shall be pleasing." He asks for immunity from evil in two ways: from future evil and from past evil. He says therefore, "If they shall not have dominion over me," or "shall not have dominated," namely sins: Ps. 100: "In the morning I put to death all the sinners of the land," that is, all sins, which are called earth because of the many properties of earth, "that I might destroy out of the city of the Lord all the workers of iniquity," that is, all iniquitous works. Or, "they shall not have dominated," namely the proud. Or "strangers," that is, sinners, or demons, who are said to dominate when they drag one to consent: Jn. 8: "Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." If therefore they shall not have dominated, "then I shall be unspotted," that is, I shall preserve myself without the stain of mortal sin, even if not of venial sin: Job 15: "What is man that he should be unspotted?" Concerning the past he says, "And I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin": Is. 1: "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow"; Job 11: "If you put away the iniquity that is in your hand, and let not injustice remain in your tabernacle, then you shall be able to lift up your face." Or "the greatest," namely pride, because it is the beginning of all sin: Sir. 10: "There is no greater sin than to apostatize from God," and this happens through pride. Hence the sin that is from pride is worse than that which is done from ignorance or from weakness; for pride is the beginning and cause of all sin, and whoever is free of it is truly unspotted.

After exhibiting the harmonious revelation of God's perfections made by His works and His word, the Psalmist prays for conformity to the Divine teaching. (Psa 19:1-14) the glory of God--is the sum of His perfections (Psa 24:7-10; Rom 1:20). firmament--another word for "heavens" (Gen 1:8). handywork--old English for "work of His hands."