"The heavens declare the glory of God": The limits of general revelation

To the sensitive, the heavenly praise of God's glory may be an overwhelming experience, whereas to the insensitive, sky is simply sky and stars only stars; they point to nothing beyond. In this hymn of praise, it is not the primary purpose of the psalmist to draw upon nature as a vehicle of revelation, or as a source of the knowledge of God apart from the revelation in law (Torah); indeed, there is more than a suggestion that the reflection of God's praise in the universe is perceptible only to those already sensitive to God's revelation and purpose.24

Undoubtedly, this is why the psalmist turns to the law of YHWH, the primary means of special revelation in the OT era.

The following section begins with "The Law of the Lord is perfect." In the second paragraph, the divine name occurs six times, and a seventh is found in the closing prayer. The absence of the divine name in the opening section as compared with its ubiquity in 19:7-11 is poignant. The use of YHWH is frequently associated with God as covenant maker. There is often a distinction made in the OT between God, the creator of the cosmos (as in Genesis 1), and YHWH, who is more intimately involved with his creation (contrast Gen 2:4ff). In Exod 3:14, the only time there is an attempt to elucidate the meaning of YHWH, as C. J. H. Wright notes, "Yahweh's character and acts as Israel's redeeming, covenant God, not His role as Creator, are indicated."25 The use of El or Elohim, and not YHWH in 19:2, reflects the qualitative difference the psalmist sees between general and special revelation. As Derek Kidner observes,

In this section (7-14) the revealed name of God, Yahweh (the Lord), is heard seven times; earlier, true to the theme of general revelation, only the least specific term for God (EI) was used, and only once.26

YHWH's Torah is "perfect," t^sup e^mima, a word associated with sacrificial animals and indicating the quality of being free from defect.27 In the following verses, other aspects of divine revelation are given and its benefits to the individual who is opened to it. These include: the statutes of the LORD (v. 7); the precepts and commands of the LORD (v. 8); the fear of LORD (v. 9); and the ordinances of the LORD (v. 10). The terminology of this section, especially "making wise the simple," "enlightening the eyes," and "fear," consciously connect God's revelation in the Torah to wisdom? The conclusion is obvious-the true source of wisdom is found in God's special revelation in Scripture. This of course is in contrast to Adam and Eve, who thought that they could be enlightened (i.e., eyes opened) and gain knowledge by eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil. David Clines has convincingly shown that the second part of Psalm 19 uses the very terms and expressions found in the Fall narrative of Genesis 3 "to assert the superiority of the law to the tree of knowledge as a means of obtaining wisdom."29

The same positive affirmations made regarding Scripture in Ps 19:7-10 are also applied to YHWH himself. Leslie Allen has shown that "What is postulated of Yahweh in Ps. 18 is in three cases applied to his Torah in Ps. 19, in chiastic order.' In Ps 18:26-30 YHWH is said to be "pure," "light," and "perfect." Regarding the Law (19:7-9), these attributes are found in reverse order. The juxtaposition of these two psalms is no accident, and the chiastic order is no coincidence. Rather, the correspondence shows that the very character of YHWH is found in the written revelation. The same, however, is not extended to "the work of his hands."