Psalm 19:1-6
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
In this psalm we see that the heavens, the skies, the days and the nights, the sun and the heavenly bodies are in fact God’s messengers — his envoys and his spokesmen. They do not speak with words; they have no voice. And yet, in spite of this, they carry a word, a message, a proclamation. They are silent, but this does not keep them from being God’s messengers. But what kind of messengers are they?
- What is their message?
- What is their purpose?
- What is their character?
These are the questions to which we will try to find the answers in God’s Word.
THE MESSAGE OF GOD’S SILENT MESSENGERS
What is the message of God’s silent messengers? What do they tell us about God? What do they want to share with us? First, they tell us that God exists (vv. 1-4). Is there a creation without a Creator? Is there a law without a lawgiver? No. Nature itself speaks to us of its Maker, of the Lawgiver of all the laws to which everything in this world is subject. The heavens and the skies speak of God’s glory and of his great creative works — “the work of his hands.” We do not believe that the earth — the mountains and the seas, the plants and the trees, the animals and the birds, and we ourselves — are the product of some accident. According to the Holy Scriptures, God is the author of the whole universe. In Genesis 1:1 we read:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Second, God is glorious, great and mighty (v. 1). In Romans 1:18-20 the apostle Paul, probably thinking of this very psalm, says:
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)
Do you see? Because of the message of God’s silent messengers, people are without excuse. They cannot say that they did not know there is a God, because the message of the skies and the heavenly bodies has reached everyone across the whole earth. And this message of theirs is not only that God exists, but that he is glorious, almighty, great and mighty.
The third message of God’s silent messengers is that God is love. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, the fact that he loves all people on earth equally is seen in this — that he gives his sun both “to the good and to the evil” (Matthew 5:43-45). God gives the sky and the heavens to everyone.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)
The difference between our love and God’s love is that our love is usually reciprocal — we love those who love us, and those who do not return our love we do not love. But God’s love is not like that. It is generative. His love is like a spring that never runs dry. It flows for all who wish to drink from it, no matter who or what they are. Our love is conditional, but God’s love is unconditional. Ours is imperfect, but God’s is perfect. If we want to be like God, we must have his love.
In Acts 14:15-17 we are told that God gives all people good things — rain, fruitfulness, food and joy — even to idolaters. Why? Because he is love, and his love is perfect. And the sun and the rain sing the praises of this love.
15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” (Acts 14:15-17)
THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S SILENT MESSENGERS
God’s messengers tell us about their Creator and about his character. But why do they tell us all this? What is their purpose? What do they want to move us to do?
First, their purpose is to kindle in us the desire to seek God. When we begin to see God’s glory, power, love, goodness and beauty in his creation, an irresistible longing is born in our hearts to know him as intimately as possible. In Acts 17:24-29, in his address before the Areopagus in Athens, the apostle Paul tells us what God’s purpose for humanity is.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:24-27)
Do you see? God created us with a purpose — that we should seek him (“though he is not far from any one of us”!).
The first purpose of God’s silent messengers is to move us to seek God; their second purpose is to kindle in us the desire to worship God (Romans 1:21-25).
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:21-25)
Do you see? The reason God’s silent messengers bring us the message of God’s “eternal power and divine nature” is so that, once we have come to know God, we may “glorify” him, “give thanks” to him, “worship” him, and “serve” him! Sadly, when a person hears the message of God’s creation, instead of worshiping God, he begins to set up idols for himself. As the apostle Paul says in this passage, idolatry is the worship and service of “created things,” of the creation, rather than of “the Creator.” God’s Word warns us of this danger. In Deuteronomy 5:8-9 we read:
8 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (Deuteronomy 5:8-9)
God hates idols and images. He cannot be painted or carved, because he is infinite. In Deuteronomy 4:15-20 we read a similar warning against idols and images.
15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are. (Deuteronomy 4:15-20)
We must not worship God’s silent messengers, but the One who made them and who sent them to us with a message of his glory, his omnipotence and his majesty.
Idolatry is the result of the fall and of the rebellious nature of man. The root of idolatry is selfishness. A person wants his own “self” always to be at the top, and if he does not worship himself, then he creates idols — likenesses of himself — to worship. An example of this is King Nebuchadnezzar, who set up a golden image and made everyone bow down to it. But the purpose of God’s silent messengers is not to provoke worship of themselves, but to lead us to worship their Creator.
Even though people today do not, on the whole, believe in the ancient gods, we still have our idols — idols that gaze at us from the covers of magazines, from the television screen, and so on. Even though human knowledge has increased many times over since antiquity, the human heart, our fallen nature, remains the same. Today too we simply exchange our old idols for new ones. The easiest way to test what our idol is, is to ask ourselves these questions: What do we give the most time to in our life? What gives our life meaning? What is in first place in our life? What is the thing or the person without whom we could not live? Whom do we wish to imitate? It is no accident that in 1 John 5:21 the apostle John reminds us:
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
THE CHARACTER OF GOD’S SILENT MESSENGERS
We have seen what the message is that God’s silent messengers bring us — the message that God exists, that he is almighty, and that he is love. We have also understood what they aim at with their ever-relevant message — to move us to seek God, to worship him, and to serve him. But what can we learn from the messengers themselves? What is their character? What qualities do they possess? And what virtues must we develop in ourselves in order to be like them? In Psalm 19:4-6 we read:
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. (Psalm 19:4-6)
LOVE
First, love — “agape” love — love toward all — unconditional, self-giving, perfect love, a love that gives without expecting anything in return — a special love, a divine love. We read in Matthew 5:43-48 — the sun rises both on the good and on the evil; the rain falls both on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Such must our attitude be too, if we want to resemble our Lord. To love not only our friends, but also our enemies; to pray not only for those who bless us and help us, but also for those who persecute us. Let nothing be “deprived of the warmth” of our love!
IMPARTIALITY
The second virtue we can learn from God’s silent messengers is impartiality. The sun cannot be bribed. Of course, we would like it to shine and warm our garden more than others’, but try to bribe the sun! In James 2:1-9 the apostle protests against the favoritism and corruption that abound even among us, in the church.
1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (James 2:1-9)
PRECISION
The third virtue we can learn from God’s silent messengers is precision. The sun “rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other.” God is a God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33). And we see this perfect order of his in his creation. All the heavenly bodies move along precisely appointed trajectories. They never stray from their course. They are never late. On the contrary, they themselves serve to mark out time (Genesis 1:14). Perhaps you have heard it said of someone: “He is as precise as a clock.” It is precisely this kind of precision we are speaking of here. The earth always makes one full rotation on its axis in exactly 24 hours, and one full orbit around the sun in exactly 365.25 days.
This extraordinary precision that we see in God’s silent messengers moves us to ask ourselves how precise we are:
- with regard to our meetings with God — our prayers, our reading of the Word, our going to church;
- with regard to our meetings with people;
- with regard to our working hours.
FAITHFULNESS
The fourth virtue we can learn from God’s silent messengers is faithfulness. Every day the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The North Star always points north. Seafarers determine their location most precisely by the constellations. They can always rely on the heavenly bodies. God’s silent messengers are faithful, but God wants us Christians also to be faithful and responsible — people who can be relied upon.
UNOFFENDABLENESS
The fifth virtue we can learn from the sun is being “unoffendable.” Sometimes people become angry with the sun and take offense at it. They hide under umbrellas and awnings from its rays, they lower the blinds on their windows, they draw their curtains and no longer want to see it. But the sun is not affected; it does not stop giving us its light and its warmth. I would say that if we want to be used by God, we must be like the sun — not easily offended or hurt. In Ecclesiastes 7:20-22 we read:
20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. 21 Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you— 22 for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. (Ecclesiastes 7:20-22)
JOY
And the last virtue we can learn from the sun is joy.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. (Psalm 19:5)
Have you noticed that the sun always rises cheerfully? In Psalm 30:4-5 it says:
4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. 5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:4-5)
Let us also live and work with a smile on our faces. Let us live with hope and faith, knowing that above the clouds the sun goes on shining with a smile — and above our troubles God goes on reigning and ruling the universe forever!
GOD’S SILENT MESSENGERS — AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE OUGHT TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS
Hear the message of God’s silent messengers! Respond to their call to worship the Creator! Take on their qualities! Learn from them worship and service!
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)
If nature praises God, how much more ought we to praise him, we who are the crown of his creation!
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. (Psalm 19:2)
The days and the nights never cease to reveal the knowledge they have of the Creator.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. (Psalm 19:3)
God’s silent messengers teach us how to praise God not only with our words, but even more with our character and our deeds. This means two things. First, to do the good works for which we have been born again and in which “God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). As the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5:16:
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
And second, in 1 Peter 3:15 the apostle Peter says:
15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15)
And finally, God’s silent messengers teach us how to carry the good news to every person on the face of the earth.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:4)
First, they never stop. Even though they know their song of praise to God very well, they never stop repeating it. They go on “declaring” God’s glory, they go on revealing their knowledge, they go on carrying their message every day. And just as their message — the message of the heavens, the skies, the days and the nights — has gone out into all the earth and reached “the ends of the world,” so we too must carry the good news to the ends of the earth. In Matthew 24:14 the Lord Jesus said:
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)
Just as the sun never ceases to run its course until it has circled the whole earth and enveloped it with its light and warmth, so we too must give ourselves no rest until we have enveloped all people in the world with the saving news of Jesus Christ. In his Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) the Lord Jesus urges us to make disciples of “all nations.” In Mark 16:15 he commands us to “go into all the world” and preach the good news “to all creation.” In Acts 1:8 he encourages us to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth.” Like the sun, we too must let no one hide from God’s love, which has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us (Romans 5:5). For although they are an example to us in many things, God’s silent messengers have one limited message. They reveal God’s invisible power and divine nature, but they cannot tell people the good news of the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This responsibility and privilege God has assigned to us. Therefore let us, like the heavens and the skies, like the day and the night, not fall silent, but declare to people the fullness of God’s love, revealed to us in the gospel. This is a responsibility into which even the angels long to look (1 Peter 1:12).