It would be idle to inquire into the particular period when this delightful poem was composed, for there is nothing in its title or subject to assist us in the enquiry. The heading, “To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David,” informs us that David wrote it, and that it was committed to the Master of the service of song in the sanctuary for the use of the assembled worshippers.
In his earliest days, the Psalmist, while keeping his father’s flock, had devoted himself to the study of God’s two great books – nature and Scripture; and he had so thoroughly entered into the spirit of these two only volumes in his library that he was able, with a devout criticism, to compare and contrast them, magnifying the excellency of the Author, as seen in both. How foolish and wicked are those who, instead of accepting those two sacred tomes, and delighting to behold the same divine hand in each, spend all their wits in endeavoring to find discrepancies and contradictions. We may rest assured that the true “Vestiges of Creation” will never contradict Genesis, nor will a correct “Cosmos” be found at variance with the narrative of Moses. He is wisest who reads both the world-book and the Word-book as two volumes of the same work and feels, concerning them, “My Father wrote them both.”
This song very distinctly divides itself into three parts, very well described, by the translators, in the ordinary heading of our version. The creatures show God’s glory (1-6). The Word showeth His grace (7-11). David prayeth for grace (12-14). Thus, praise and prayer are mingled, and he who, here, sings the work of God in the world without, pleads for a work of grace in himself within.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892): his introduction to Psalm 19 in his The Treasury of David: Containing an Original Exposition of the Book of Psalms; a Collection of Illustrative Extracts from the Whole Range of Literature; a Series of Homiletical Hints Upon Almost Every Verse; and Lists of Writers Upon Each Psalm 7 volumes (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1869-1885), 1:269.
