C.S. Lewis Called this the Perfect Psalm - Psalm 19

April 28, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 19

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5  which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Looking at the skies, it’s as if they are filled with writing that is telling us about the glory of the Lord. All day and all night, you can read ‘GLORY’ written there, even though nothing is actually ‘written’ there. But, no matter where you go, you can still see the message.

In particular, the sun is glorious. It’s like he is a strong man waking up after his wedding day, and he delights to run his race and show his strength as he makes his way from East to West every day. Imagine a man coming out of his tent, stretching his shoulders and rejoicing at the new day.

And the heat of the sun is felt EVERYWHERE, searing every inch that is exposed to it, searching every crevice with its heat. Imagine the noonday heat of the sun in the desert, where there is no place to hide from its burning.

You know, that’s what the teaching of the Lord is like! It is pure and clean and bright. It makes things clear and shows them beautiful.

The law of the Lord is golden like sunlight and golden and sweet like honey.

The law’s light burns into me and shows me the things I had tried to hide.

Lord, please burn up anything dark and rotting in me, and make me clean!

--Psalm 19, AFV

(the Andrew Forrest version)

What I Texted My Friend This Morning [Psalm 19]

May 01, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I texted an explanation of this beautiful psalm in my own words to a friend this morning, which I decided to share with you below.

Leave me a comment or send me a message and let me know if my explanation makes sense!

Psalm 19

Looking at the skies, it’s as if they are filled with writing that is telling us about the glory of the Lord. All day and all night, you can read “GLORY” written there, even though nothing is actually “written” there. But, no matter where you go, you can still see the message.

You know, that’s what the teachings of the Lord are like! It is pure and clean and bright. It makes things clear and shows them beautiful.

The law of the Lord is golden like sunlight and golden and sweet like honey.

The law’s light burns into me and shows me the things I had tried to hide.

Lord, please burn up anything dark and rotting in me, and make me clean!

Were There Other Hypothetical Abrahams?

February 03, 2020 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

[Scroll down to the end for some bonus content about “That Hideous Strength” from Friday’s post, including a complete answer to my trivia question.]

Were there other men whom the Lord called and commanded to leave their homes and families who refused to go? Were there others with whom the Lord wanted to make a covenant, if only they would obey? Were there other hypothetical Abrahams? If so, then certainly part of Abraham’s greatness—just like the Virgin Mary’s, millennia later—was his unique willingness to say, “Yes.”

You have no idea what hinges on your obedience today. Abraham said “Yes,” and history changed forever.

P.S. As we will see, the stories of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are primarily concerned with their education about family; family is what God will use to pass on the covenant, so it’s important that Abraham and the others learn how to make family work. (It doesn’t come naturally!) So, in this strange story about Sarah and Pharaoh, Abraham is learning that a “wife” is not the same thing as a “sister”.

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 12:1-20

Bonus Content: “That Hideous Strength

On Friday, I wrote about Babel and entitled my post “That Hideous Strength.” I asked you to identify the source of that title.

No one actually got the answer right (or at least not completely). Yes, it is the title of the 3rd novel in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, but none of you actually explained why Lewis gave his novel that title or why I used it in the title of my post. So, let me tell you:

I re-read the Space Trilogy last year and was struck by the epigraph on the title page of That Hideous Strength. Here’s what it says:

“The shadow of that hyddeous strength
Sax myle and more it is of length”
Sir David Lindsay: from Ane Dialogue [describing the Tower of Babel]

Sir David Lindsay was a poet of the late Renaissance, who wrote Ane Dialogue in 1555 (which explains the strange spelling). Lewis, remember, was an expert on English Renaissance literature; when he wrote his novel about the dangers of technological powers joined with spiritual evil, he used the striking phrase “that hyddeous strength” as his title. I think the description of Babel is terrifying: an evil tower so high that it’s very shadow is six miles long.

So, there ya go.