Psalm 19

This psalm is one of the classics in the Book of Psalms . The first theme is that creation is one of God's means of revealing Himself. Together with the Psalms 8, 29, 33, and 104, this Psalm is an ode to nature. In Psalm 8 the poet looks up into the night sky. Psalm 29 draws a lesson from a thunderstorm. Psalm 33 recounts the process of creation, and Psalm 104 shows how God created and sustains His creation. In contrast with Psalm 8, we find ourselves in Psalm 19 in broad daylight. We can say that in Psalm 8 the light was turned off so that we would become aware of the universe in which we live. David took measurement of the relationships of all creation in order to demonstrate the smallness and the greatness of man. In this psalm we stand in the sunlight to be a witness to the marriage of the sun and the earth. The sun is the bridegroom and the earth is the bride.

The Flemish poet Guido Gezelle wrote a beautiful short poem about the sun and its Creator. The free translation in English reads like this:

But we are running ahead; the sun does not come up until vs. 4. In the preceding verses we are told what the message is that creation conveys to us. David does not have a primitive concept of the world. His universe does not have a square and flat earth with the sun walking around it. David sings an ode to the heavens and to space. He may not have known how huge the dimensions of space are, but our ideas of infinity are not much greater than his. We may become dizzy because we can see farther, but the fact that David wrote this psalm from the place where he stood on earth, and looked up from the perspective that was given to him, does not place him in a position of disadvantage. He looks into space from this earth, but what else can man do? Our greater knowledge of its expanse only increases the depth of this psalm.

"The heavens declare the glory of God." The Hebrew word Hashamayim is, according to Strong's Definition a "dual of an unused singular shameh… meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)." Could it be that David knew there were many solar systems? He knew, evidently, that there were more starry skies than could be seen with the naked eye. He also knew where this all originated. He does not "talk rot," as some modern scientists do, about the origin of space, as if this infinity had always existed. Some act as if the fact that heavenly bodies move away from each other with awesome speed would not leave any place for God in the universe. A man who cannot see the hand of God in the universe is too stupid to bear the name of man. He, who looks intelligently into space, does not only stand in awe when he understands that inert matter separates and joins together with incredible energy, but he recognizes the hand of the living God who made this. Isaiah says so beautifully: "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. 'Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.' "¹ Only one who is spiritually blind, and deaf, and dumb does not see the glory of God in the heavens. The words: "The heavens declare the glory of God," answer the question whether God ought to have created or not created. God is glorified in what man can see of the universe.

The skies, or as the KJV translates it "the firmament," is the visible arch of the sky, according to Strong. The medieval believers expressed this concept in the vaulted roofs of their cathedrals. The word firmament can be used as a primitive expression as for a roof above the world, or for the blanket of oxygen that surrounds the globe. Since Hebrew poetry uses parallels, the heavens and the firmament can either represent the same or each other's opposite. David may have meant the far away heavens and the heaven close by. The same Hebrew word raqiya` is also used in the Genesis account of creation, where we read: "And God said, 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' "²

It is impossible for us to know how much knowledge David had of the universe, but we have to acknowledge that there is nothing incorrect in his description. Without firmament, that is without the protective layer of atmosphere that covers the earth, no life on our planet would be possible. The air we breathe, the blue of the sky, the clouds in their endless combinations of light, color, and shape, all speak a clear language and testify to God's handiwork. No thinking human being has an excuse; we cannot maintain that the universe is a haphazard and accidental combination of factors, and at the same time, proclaim ourselves to be rational human beings. We would have no reason to be proud to be human.

The testimony to God's honor by His creation leaves nothing unclear. "Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." One day tells the story to the next in an endless stream of words, and the night preaches endless sermons to the following. The problem is more the abundance of information than the lack of it. Our sensitivity can be dulled by the sheer volume of testimony. The use of the words "speech" and "knowledge" indicate that there is a transmission of intelligent, understandable data. The fact that emphasis is put on wordless communication supposes that man may have an artistic appreciation of the content. The appeal to man's intelligence and to his emotions leaves us without excuse as far as the knowledge that God exists is concerned. That is why Paul can say: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."³ That is why some primitive tribes, like the mountain tribes in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, who lived in isolation for centuries, were able to preserve the knowledge of a Creator. It is only in the last two centuries of human history that something has gone wrong in man's concept of epistemology and all that is related to this; so that some have come to the conclusion that nature has nothing to convey to us, and that the order of the universe has no meaning. I have to confess, however, that although I have always believed in God as Creator, I have only come to understand some of His glory in creation after I met Him in Jesus Christ, and received forgiveness of sin.

David chooses one example out of the multitude of proofs that the heavens declare the glory of God: "In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun." "He has pitched a tent ..." is probably an idiom, meaning the fixation of a place. God determined a certain place for the sun in its relationship to the earth. David does not describe this relationship in scientific terms; but we also speak about the rising and setting of the sun without being accused of being scientifically incorrect.

In poetical terms the sun is represented as a bridegroom who takes his bride. The soft sexual connotation of this image gives to this poem a tone of intense pleasure. The NIV renders the phrase with: "which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion." TLB paraphrases it beautifully with: "and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding." The KJV says: "Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." The latter seems to be the closer to the Hebrew. The word for pavilion in Hebrew is chuppah which is derived from chaphah, meaning "to cover; by implication, to veil, to encase, to protect." It is translated variously as "chamber, closet, or defense." The implication seems to be that the sun is like a bridegroom after his wedding night. The context of the poem, however, suggests that the rising of the sun is like the entering of the bridegroom into the bride's chamber. The rising of the sun and the radiance of its light upon the earth is compared to the embrace of a bridegroom and bride and the intimacy of a wedding. There is exuberance, joy, power, and energy in the image of the bridegroom, and the champion running the race.

When we compare these words with the description of the same phenomenon by the writer of Ecclesiastes, we see that all the joy seems to be gone. King Solomon writes: "The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises," and "All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing."⁴ In Ecclesiastes all the joy of the sunrise is gone, not because the sun had lost its splendor and majesty, but because the man who is out of fellowship with God, has also lost the gift to appreciate beauty, and to maintain the freshness of his appreciation. The sunrise has become "déjà vu." For Solomon, who had a thousand wives, the image of the bridegroom who embraces his bride had lost its delight. Those who no longer wait upon the Lord and renew their strength, also lose the freshness of all other relationships. That is why so many marriages do not last.

The relationship between the sun and the earth is set forth in three points: 1. There is freshness and joy, as between the bridegroom and the bride. 2. There is an outburst of energy, as of the champion running the race. 3. There is absolute dominion: "nothing is hidden from its heat." The earth and all that lives on it owes its life to the sun. The image of the champion also speaks of victory. The Hebrew word used is gibbowr, which is derived from gabar, meaning "to be strong," or "to prevail." Most translations render it with "a strong man." TLB translates it with "an athlete." The joy of the sun is a song of victory: he captured the bride's heart, and he earned the golden medal.

Almost unnoticeably, David has drawn us away from the impersonal greatness of nature to the level of human experience of tenderness, love, competition, victory and joy. The orbit of the sun has been presented to us in images of various human relations; this makes the next step less enormous than it seems to be at first sight. To the casual reader, the transition from nature to the law seems to be a complete change from one subject to another, which are quite unrelated to each other. David demonstrates that people who believe this suffer from an optical illusion, and he shows that the law of the Lord is a logical next step on the same path the sun is traveling. Paul uses the same kind of language as David, when he says: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."⁵ The light is not the same, but God who makes it shine is the same God. As we said before, it is much easier to recognize God in creation, once we have met Him personally in Christ. Without this personal encounter, the recognition of God as Creator lacks depth and meaning. This personal relationship to the Creator expresses itself in our understanding of the law of God, and our obedience to it.

David uses six synonyms for the law: the law, the statutes, the precepts, the commands, the fear, the ordinances. All these synonyms are expression of the character of God. When we hear the word "law," we often think of a limitation. The law is a prohibition which makes us refrain from doing what we would like to do. It is a limitation of our freedom. We are spiritually poor people if we cannot come up with more than this negative definition. In the context of this psalm, the law of the Lord embraces also the whole complex of the laws of nature, as is apparent from the description of the orbit of the sun. It is true that some laws of nature put limitations on our freedom. The law of gravity is one example. But life on earth would be impossible without such laws. Man has no input into this kind of law; we cannot break them or change them, or prefer one above the other. The laws that are behind the verses 1-6 are the laws that govern creation; but the law which is the subject of the verses 7-10 is the law that governs human behavior. Man has the choice to obey or to disobey the moral law.

The word law is in the singular and comprises all the categories of rules and regulations. David says about this law, the one that governs the course of the universe, as well as the one that shows the way for man to lead a healthy, normal moral life, and helps him to act in an ethical way: "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul." The first insight David gives us is that the law is an expression of God's character. God does Himself what He commands, and what the law forbids is also what God Himself does not do. God wants our acts to be a reflection of His being. He wants us to be holy because He is holy. The law is meant for man. David does not define law. As we have seen already, there are laws of nature to which the whole of creation is subjected, from the farthest star to the smallest atom. Man obeys those laws also. There is that part of the law, the moral law, which is limited to man alone, and which governs man's ethical behavior. This is mainly the part of the law that comes to mind when we speak about the law. It is the part that appeals to the image of God inside us. If, for instance, one human being eats another human being, he is no longer human in the full sense of the word. There are acts which are performed by humans which we call inhuman. Some acts are permitted for animals but prohibited to man.

Then there is that part of the law which we call ceremonial. Quantitatively, this is probably the larger part of the book of law. In most if its details, this law was meant for Israel alone, although in its essence the ceremonial law has a universal application. The purpose of the ceremonial law is to restore the fellowship between God and man which was broken by sin. From our perspective the ceremonial law precedes the moral law. As the Apostle John says: "the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."⁶ The moral law, however, as an expression of God's character, is eternal. This is the law that revives the soul. In saying this, David admits that our soul needs revival, which, in turn, points to an unsatisfactory condition, which is the result of sin. The soul of the man who is aware of the abnormal condition in which he lives is revived by the confrontation with the life and character of God. The law of the Lord is to man what water is to a fish: it is the element in which he can live.

What can be confusing for us, New Testament Christians, when we hear the word "law" is that we think of Paul's dissertations about the subject in, especially, his epistle to the Romans and to the Galatians. We have to remember, however, that Paul reacted to the attitude of certain people who based their security upon a superficial keeping of the law instead of accepting the sacrifice of Christ for their sins. This diminishes in no way the fact that, for those who have found righteousness in Christ, the law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul. This is what Paul emphasizes in Romans, when he says: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."⁷

We should also remember that the word "law" is often used for the whole of the written Word of God. The Jews used the phrase "the law and the prophets" for the whole Old Testament. "The law of the Lord" for us, New Testament Christians, can mean the whole Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. The study of the Word of God produces great revival of the soul. The psalmist says: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night."⁸ The Word of the Lord is the means "par excellence" to have fellowship with God.

The word "statutes," or as the KJV translates it "testimony," is the translation of the Hebrew word eduwth. Adam Clarke's Commentary says about this word: "`Eeduwt, from `ad, beyond, forward. The various types and appointments of the law refer to something beyond themselves, and point forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Some understand, the doctrinal parts of the law." The statutes are not a series of rules and regulations but, like the two Stone Tablets, a pointing to something that goes above the actual significance of the object. The Stone Tablets pointed to the glory of God, who gave them. The statutes are like a road sign, showing the direction a simple man should go in order to become wise. These signs are trustworthy. In the light of the "battle for the Bible" as it has raged in the last two centuries, the assurance David gives us here regarding the trustworthiness of the written Word, is a strong argument. A person who is dragged along by the suggestions of "Higher Criticism" is much less intelligent than he thinks. And he who "commits intellectual suicide," as the saying goes, is smarter than it seems on the surface.

Vs. 8 says further: "The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes." Other renderings are: "The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes" (KJV). The Hebrew word translated with "radiant," or "pure" is baaraah, which is a form of bar. The literal meaning of this, according to Strong's Definitions is "beloved, also pure, empty." Adam Clarke's Commentary takes the word as a verb, or as a predicate, and says: "[Is pure] From baaraah, to clear, cleanse, purify. All God's commandments lead to purity, enjoin purity, and point out that sacrificial offering by which cleansing and purification are acquired. This is ITS character." The idea seems to be that God's commands are unadulterated; they are "the real thing"; they are the truth. We rarely make a connection between commandments and truth. Commands are given to be obeyed. The New Testament speaks about obeying the truth. Peter says in his first epistle: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."⁹ By disobeying we move into the realm of the lie, and we move away from reality. That is why obedience is the key to joy. A man who understands reality in fellowship with God will also share in the joy of the Lord. There is no such thing as blind obedience in the Bible. In the early stages of our spiritual life, it may seem to us that God demands obedience "because He says so." But we will discover that, the more we obey unconditionally, the more God will show us the "why" of His commands. "The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart."

Commands and precepts are, of course, synonyms. The Hebrew word for command, mitsvah, is in the singular, as if obedience would be a matter of one thing only, instead of obeying a whole complex of commandments. The singular form accentuates the purity of the law. There are no foreign elements mixed in it. The whole content of the law and the prophets can be reduced to one simple truth, as expressed in Jesus' words: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."¹⁰ And to Mary's sister, Martha, Jesus said: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."¹¹ God simplifies our life by reducing His demands to only one thing, that is to love Him. Every aspect of our lives can be measured with this requirement. True wisdom demonstrates itself in the ability to reduce a complex problem to its simplest expression. That is why seeing the will of God will enlighten the eyes. We increase in wisdom if we can focus on the essential in every situation of our lives.

The phrase "the fear of the Lord" seems to be out of tone with the rest of this list of synonyms of the law. We can hardly say that "the fear of the Lord" is an expression of God's character. It describes more the reaction of man in a confrontation with God's character. According to Adam Clarke's Commentary, the Hebrew word Yir'at comes from yaare' "to fear, to venerate; often put for the whole of divine worship. The reverence we owe to the Supreme Being." We could read, therefore, "the worship of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever." This does not mean to say that the motives of those who worship God are always pure, but the worship as such, in the objective sense of the word, not what man experiences subjectively, is pure. We read in Revelation about the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders who render pure worship to God. We read: The living creatures "never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.' Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.' "¹² We should model our worship on this worship in heaven. In this sense, we can see that the fear of the Lord would be an expression of God's character, because it is a manifestation of His glory. We find the last of the synonyms for the law in vs. 9^b: "The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous." "Righteous" here is, of course, a parallel to "right" in vs. 8. There, however, the precepts were placed against the subjective background of our human experience; here the subject is the absolute measure of God's righteousness. Everything that is not in accordance with the character of God is unrighteous. This absolute feature is expressed in the law of the Lord. Every human being has enough sense of righteousness to be able to determine whether something is righteous or not.

What is said in vs. 10: "They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb," can be said about the whole complex of the law as an expression of God's character. The law is written in a human language, and, as such, it is not perfect. God is perfect. The written law approaches this perfection. David says about this imperfect perfection that it surpasses everything that stands for riches and wealth in this world. God's law is "more precious than gold than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb." Gold represents possession and honey enjoyment. He who knows the law of God and applies it to his life is richer than a millionaire and enjoys life to the full. The Apostle John says: "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."¹³ Some people believe that obeying God's Word prevents a person from enjoying himself in life; David demonstrates here that this philosophy is nonsense. The opposite is true: real joy of living is only found in fellowship with God, and the key to this fellowship is obedience in love, and the proof of love is obedience.

David bows before the Word of God and subjects himself to it. The touchstone of our fellowship with God is in what we do with His Word. Jesus says: "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"¹⁴ And elsewhere He says: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."¹⁵ We need the admonition and warning of the Word of God, because our tendency to sin is never far away. Only obedience to the revealed will of God will keep us on the right track. We need to have this minimal amount of self knowledge to realize that, without the Word of God, we would not make it.

The great reward of obedience is the experience of God Himself in Christ. Paul says: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority."¹⁶ God says to us what He said to Aaron: "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites."¹⁷ We are His and He is ours. This "great reward" surpasses our wildest imagination. The psalmist says: "You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words."¹⁸ And Jeremiah writes: "I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.' "¹⁹ Peter adds to this: "Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."²⁰

Vs. 12 is difficult to understand: "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults." The Hebrew Interlinear Bible says literally: "Errors who can understand? Cleanse thou me from secret." TLB paraphrases the verse well by saying: "But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults." The intent is, obviously, that man is blind to his own faults. We do not know our own hearts. We are so clever in hiding our motives, even to ourselves, that we can be caught in our own nets. Our own heart deceives us. Jeremiah says: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Because of the self deception to which we fall prey, it is imperative that we are confronted with the law of God on a daily basis. David invites the Holy Spirit to penetrate into the recesses of his heart and to clean them out.

Part of the problem is arrogance. Vs. 13 says: "Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me." The words "willful sins" are the translation of the Hebrew mizeediym, which has as root the word zed, which in turn is derived from zuwd. Strong's Definitions render it with "arrogant," or "to be insolent." The word "sins" is not in the original. The KJV translates the verse with: "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." So we could take the phrase to mean: "Keep your servant from arrogance, or from presumption." The root of the problem, as David realizes correctly, is the human will. Presumption, arrogance, or willful sins all speak of more than human weakness or giving in to temptation; there is resistance and rebellion in man's heart that has to be dealt with. David confesses that there are sins in his life that he is not willing to give up, but he asks the Lord to change his will.

We are not even the master of our own will. Rebellion against God's authority over our lives presupposes human freedom. A man who does not recognize God's rule, however, becomes the slave of his own rebellion. Jesus says this clearly in John's Gospel: "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."²¹

In the previous psalm David had said: "The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless."²² There is no contradiction between "my righteousness" there and David's confession of "hidden faults" here. The righteousness that saves our souls comes from outside us, and reaches us via the Word of God. James says this in his epistle: "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."²³ Arrogance is the result of a lack of self knowledge. David demonstrated this kind of arrogance in his sin with Bathsheba. He had reached a point in his life where he thought that he was above the law of moral conduct that governed the behavior of other people. The power of his royal position had blurred his vision and corrupted his moral awareness. We are in grave danger if we think that we are immune to certain temptations. The illusion that our status in life and our own character are enough to protect us against sin is a certain guarantee of our downfall. We will only keep the right track if we put our trust on "Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy."²⁴ David's prayer in vs. 13 is very relevant for our time and day.

We do not know if David prayed this prayer before his sin with Bathsheba or after. These may be the words of a man who had deep scars of sin in his soul.

The last verse of this psalm is almost opposite to the previous one. In vs. 13 David spoke of a moral crisis, of willful sin. Daily life usually does not consist of a string of gross misbehavior, but of small inconsistencies. The Song of Solomon says: "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." Our walk with God is determined by the small things in life. David penetrates to the core of man's problem when he says: "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Man may be able to tame his tongue up to a certain point, although this is hard enough, according to James. But in the meditations of our hearts, those thoughts that others cannot see or hear, we betray our true self.

David establishes a direct link between the meditations of his heart and the words of his mouth by using them as poetical parallels. He knows that his words will be pleasing in the Lord's sight only if his heart has been cleansed by God. Jesus restates that truth when He says: "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."²⁵ Our motives and meditations are not naturally pure. Only if our lives are filled with the Holy Spirit can we come to the point where God can be genuinely pleased by what we think and feel in the innermost parts of our hearts. The means God uses for this cleansing and filling is His Word in our hearts.

Thus the link is established between this outpouring of David's secrets and the rest of this psalm. If we occupy ourselves with God's revelation of Himself in both creation and in the law, our lives will be purified. If we know ourselves, it is hard for us to imagine that God could really be pleased with what is hidden deeply within our hearts. That is the reason that David sends up this prayer; for without help from the outside, we will not be able to gain the victory over ourselves. Being pure in heart is an answer to prayer.

² Gen. 1:6

³ Rom. 1:20

⁴ Eccl 1:5, 8

⁵ II Cor. 4:6

⁶ Rev. 13:8^b

⁷ Rom. 8:1-4

⁸ Ps. 1:1-2

⁹ I Pet. 1:22

¹⁰ Matt. 22:37-40

¹¹ Luke 10:41-42

¹² Rev. 4:8-11

¹³ I John 2:17

¹⁴ Luke 6:46

¹⁵ Matt 7:21

¹⁶ Col 2:9,10

¹⁷ Num 18:20

¹⁸ Ps. 119:57

¹⁹ Lam. 3:24

²⁰ II Pet. 1:4

²¹ John 8:34, 36

²² Ps. 18:20-25

²³ James 1:21

²⁴ Jude 1:24

²⁵ Matt. 12:34-37

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