Right now we are in the midst of the season of Epiphany. An epiphany is among other things, “an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure” according to Merriam-Websters on-line dictionary. So during Epiphany we have readings around revelation, specifically the revelation of God seen through the person of Jesus Christ, but also the revelation of the nature and the work of God, revealed in a variety of ways.
Our Psalm this morning is a psalm of revelation. How God is revealed in nature and in the laws. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork”, the psalmist writes and who of us cannot say that we have not stood in awe, wonder and absolute delight at the incredible beauty seen in our skies. But seeing God revealed in nature is more than just being in awe or delighted by the beauty and wonder of God. God’s nature is revealed in nature. The psalmist writes, “Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” The sense of nature pouring forth speech and knowledge is about nature revealing God, we see God’s triune nature of Father, Son and Holy Spirit or Creator, Word, and Spirit, in the way that all nature works and weaves together. An apple tree does not grow without soil, rain, sunshine, bees and birds and animals eating its fruit and scattering the seeds to start new trees. All these disparate elements of nature form a cohesive whole in the growth and propagation of apple trees. So God the Designer, Builder and the One Who Brings to Life is Understood to be three distinct persons yet one God.
It is even in the lifecycle that we see constantly in motion around us, the cold of winter leading to the new growth of spring, the death of one tree giving nourishment, life, to other trees and plants. The death of one animal feeding, giving life to others. Creation and recreation, turning something that seems to be an end into a new life are all signs pointing to the nature of God. We see it too in our own lives, there are times when the death of one dream leads to the opportunity for a new one. We lose a job and see only hardship in front of us, but the end of that job opens the door to a new one we may not even have considered. We are never to see death, even our own as an end but rather a new beginning. That is the promise that gives us hope which is offered by Jesus.
The Psalmist then goes on to talk about how sustaining the law of God is, the psalmist is not talking about the structure which can be found in a system of laws and rules but rather the relationship with God which is revealed in the law. God’s love for us, God’s desire to be with us and God’s desire for us to lead happy and prosperous lives are revealed in the laws. We also see God’s desire for us to have happy and prosperous relationships with each other. The laws are about how we can live together in peace and harmony because we have gained wisdom about God and about relationships from studying the laws of God and because we see the love of God written in each line.
In Psalm 19 written by David we see the basis of David’s trust in God, built through seeing God revealed in nature and at work in nature and seeing God revealed in the laws handed down to us. That trust is what allowed David to keep his sheep safe, take on a seasoned warrior named Goliath and lead the people of Israel to become a united prosperous nation. It is a reminder to us to look at the world around us and see God not just in the beauty of a sunset but in the cycle of life and death, in the intricacies of the natural world and how every element relies on and feeds and is fed but every other element, the harmony we see which we should never take for granted. It is the same balance and beauty we should see in our relationships with family, friends and strangers and it is the same beauty we get a glimpse of in our triune God. Learn the commandments of God and see in them not a legal system but rather a sign of God’s love for us and a way for us to be in harmony with each other. God reveals Godself again and again to us if we but lift our heads and look around. Amen.