For the music director; a psalm of David.
19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; 2
the sky displays his handiwork. 3
50:4 He summons the heavens above,
as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people. 4
69:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
along with the seas and everything that swims in them!
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 5
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 6
89:5 O Lord, the heavens 7 praise your amazing deeds,
as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly. 8
89:11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.
You made the world and all it contains. 9
1 sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.
2 sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.
3 tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.
4 tn Or perhaps “to testify against his people.”
sn The personified heavens and earth (see v. 1 as well) are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people (see Isa 1:2). Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).
5 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
6 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
7 tn As the following context makes clear, the personified “heavens” here stand by metonymy for the angelic beings that surround God’s heavenly throne.
8 tn Heb “in the assembly of the holy ones.” The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3), but here it refers to God’s heavenly assembly and the angels that surround his throne (see vv. 6-7).
9 tn Heb “the world and its fullness, you established them.”