Episode Details

Psalm 19: The Sun, the Bridegroom, the Runner

There is no psalm quite like this one, and the reason is that its poet cannot seem to sit still. He begins with the silent speech of the heavens — "there is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard" — a paradox only a poet in love could have written. Then he fixes his gaze on the sun, and the sun is suddenly a bridegroom leaping out of his chamber, a runner exulting in a great race, and we are no longer watching astronomy at all but a wedding and a footrace rolled into one. And then, just when you think the psalm will stay out there among the constellations, it turns inward and becomes the most lyrical passage in Scripture on the loveliness of God's law. The statutes that once felt like a cage become honey. The commandments that seemed a burden become more desirable than fine gold. And the psalm ends with the prayer every maker of words has prayed since: "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight." The man who started by listening to the sky ends by hoping his own small voice might join the chorus he heard there.

00:00 The Heavens Declare the Glory
00:15 Day Unto Day Uttereth Speech
00:30 The Sun as Bridegroom and Runner
00:45 Nothing Hid From the Heat Thereof
01:00 The Law of the Lord Is Perfect
01:15 Sweeter Than Honey in the Comb
01:30 Cleanse Me From Secret Faults
01:45 Keep Back Presumptuous Sins
02:00 The Words of My Mouth, the Meditation of My Heart