As I read Psalm 19 I was struck by David’s eloquent and profound presentation of theological truth. It reminded me of Romans 1. It’s good to compare scriptures that deal with the same topic. Let me suggest you read Psalm 19 and Romans 1 back to back in a few translations.
David begins by declaring the power of natural revelation in Psalm 19:1-4. Natural revelation is something everyone is exposed to. Man cannot say, “I didn’t know anything about God.” Nature reveals truth about a supreme being.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 1:19-20: “What may be known about God is plain…because God has made it plain…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 men are without excuse.”
Natural revelation speaks a universal language – “there is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:3-4). This is God’s daily declaration of His eternal power and divine nature. That’s why Paul declared, “Men are without excuse!”
Paul presents this point logically. David makes it poetically, using his imagination: “In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other, nothing is hidden from its heat” (Psalm 19:4-6).
