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Nature is the volume in which the Godhead of the Creator is plainly discoverable. Scripture is the volume in which all may read the Divine will concerning men.

I. NATURE'S TESTIMONY TO THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. Nature is here pictured as comprising the "heavens" and the "firmament," together with alternating days and nights — these sublime works witnessing for God. David attempts to teach no lesson in astronomy. He imagines an observant and thoughtful man opening his eyes upward, and affirms that what this man beholds proves the presence and power of God. These heavens are forever telling or revealing the presence, power, majesty, supremacy of the Infinite. What he means to say is, that the realm of nature, beautiful in outline, vast in proportions, grand in order and methods of movement, illustrates glorious qualities of being and of character, and that in this creation the good of man and of all sentient beings has been so manifestly sought and secured that God therein is plainly revealed as ever present in power and in proclamation of Himself. Here, then, is not astronomy, but revelation. A scene in which he affirms that the humblest observer may be convinced of God's existence and glory. These things could not have originated in what has been called a "casual hit of atoms," they must have had a Creator, and the Creator can be no other than an infinite and eternal God.

II. THE REVELATION OF GOD IN SCRIPTURE. Looking first at the stellar world, and viewing the splendour of a solar day, David confesses his vision of God is incomplete, and so he affirms the Infinite to come nearer to man than in the stars, and making Himself better known in "the law," "the testimony," "the statutes," "the Commandments," and in the providences which play around him. The term "law" may refer to the "preceptive portions of Scripture"; "testimonies" may mean doctrines; "statutes," ordinances and forms of worship; "commandments" are directions to duty; "fear" indicates anxiety to please God; and "judgments" are God's record or declaration of the results of unforgiven sin. But all these terms may be gathered up as referring to the body of Scripture, revelations which have been made either by voice, or vision, or inspiration in any form. The writer's purpose was to indicate the excellent properties and purposes of Scripture, including precept, promise, and perfect rules of life. Calling this revelation the "statutes of God," the idea evidently is of something binding on universal man. Calling it "the fear of the Lord" seems to refer to that filial affection which reigns in a human heart, making man ashamed of sin, and becoming for him a cleansing power. "Judgments of the Lord" is a comprehensive phrase, summing up the substance and object of Scripture.

III. THE LAW, TESTIMONY, STATUTES, COMMANDMENTS, FEAR, AND JUDGMENTS OF THE LORD TESTED. Put them to the test of personal experience. This shall prove whether or no the claim of the Psalmist has warrant in the lives of men. There never was a man who received the law of God into his heart and obeyed it who did not become a "new man," enriched thereby beyond all measurement or estimate.

(Justin E. Twitchell.)

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KJV: {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

WEB: The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.