God's Natural Revelation

August 26th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 19:1-6 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The heavens and earth clearly exist—visible to all who are able to see and make sense of them. To deny that they exist is tantamount to denying our own existence. Yet in order to deny our own existence we must exist in order to deny our existence. Therefore, we exist! Part of our existence is to notice other existences, like the universe. Who or what made it and why? Such a Creator must have had a purpose in creating such beauty and design. The psalmist (David) believed heartily that the Creator is God. David also believed the purpose of God’s creation is to declare His own existence (v. 1), for “the heavens are telling the glory of God.” The nature of the Hebrew verb (saphar) speaks of perpetual revelation of the “work of [God’s] hands,” for each day and each night the Creator’s handiwork “pours forth speech.” Never a day off!

Matthew Henry wrote, “From the brightness of the heavens we may collect that the Creator is light; their vastness of extent bespeaks His immensity; their height His transcendence and sovereignty, their influence upon this earth His dominion, and providence, and universal charity: and all declare His almighty power, by which they were at first made, and continue to this day.”

Now since science reveals that every effect demands a cause, then the effect of the heavens and the earth must have a cause—a mighty cause! They could not exist unless they were created, for all succession and motion must have an origin since it is absurd to assume that they could create themselves. The Bible says that Cause is the eternal God who, by definition, has no beginning since He is eternal. Since God is not an effect, He needs no cause. God is thus the Creator of all things, infinitely wise, astoundingly powerful, intrinsically good, and wholly holy.

In vv. 3-4, the heavens God created do not speak with words, yet their “line” permeates the earth. Since the term “line” can refer to a line of text (Isa. 28:10, 13), the writer may mean that as a line of written text gives information, so too does the creation speak like a book. One can gaze at the heavens and write volumes concerning what they see, hear, and experience. It is notable then that this “line” goes out to the uttermost part of the earth so that all who take notice of it are responsible for the information inherent within it, namely the glory of God (cf. Rom 10:17-18). Also, it is in this “line” of information that the Creator has made an abode, a “tent,” for the sun. This is space—also created by God—in all its vastness, for it houses not only the earth’s sun and moon, it also houses the stars and the numerous galaxies outside of our own Milky Way galaxy.

In v. 5, the sun that seems to joyfully peek over the horizon each day is likened to a bridegroom on his wedding day eager to take his wife unto himself. Like a “strong man” seeking to “run his course,” or an athlete chomping at the bit to display his talents, the sun God created is eager to radiate life to God’s creation day and night. Seemingly rising in the east and setting in the west day after day, the sun sees all; nothing is hidden from it. In saying this, the writer may have had pagan myths in mind, for the mythological sun god was thought to be a god of justice, and no one could escape his gaze from the sky. Whatever his reason for saying such, David writes in such a way to evoke a reply of gratitude to God for His revealed glory in the creation—His majestic, life-giving, awesome creation.

Surely God’s handiwork speaks to all (Rom 10:18), evoking our sacrifice of praise!