Psalm 19:7 –

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.

Having spoken in verses 1-6 of the revelation of God in the world he has created, in verses 7-13 the Psalmist turns to God's revelation of himself in his Word. God's law (Torah = teaching, instruction, direction) in the following verses is equated with his "testimony," "precepts," "commandment," and "ordinances"; all these are synonyms for God's Word contained in Scripture.

God makes himself known to us in nature, but of course at best that is a partial and incomplete revelation. Nature, says Paul, displays God's "eternal power and deity" (Romans 1:20). For the revelation of God that is "perfect," i.e. full and complete, we turn to Scripture. In the words of Isaac Watts:

The heavens declare thy glory, Lord,
In every star Thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold Thy Word,
We read Thy name in fairer lines.

Prayer: We thank you, O Lord, that the world in which we live is a book in which we may read of your divine power. But we thank you especially for the Bible, the Book of Books, in which we may read clearly of your divine love revealed in many ways but above all in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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