Three Voices

The “three voices” laid out for us in Psalm 19 are: 1) The Voice of General Revelation, 2) The Voice of Special Revelation, and 3) The Voice of Prayer. Below is a brief description of each of these three “voices:”

General Revelation: God’s creation is not a veil hiding the Creator’s power and majesty. Rather, as verse 1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The natural order is proof that there is a mighty and majestic Creator. Paul says the same thing in Romans 1:19-21, and also affirms that the goodness of the Creator is evident from His kindly providences (Acts 14:17; Rom. 2:4). General revelation is so called because it comes to everyone, just by their being alive in God’s world. God has revealed Himself this way from the start of human history.

Special revelation: God has added to general revelation the further revelation of Himself as the Savior of sinners. This salvation, of course, reached its ultimate expression in Jesus Christ. As verse 7 and 8 tell us, “The law of the Lord is perfect…the testimony of the Lord is sure … the precepts of the Lord are right…and the commandments of the Lord is pure. God’s special revelation, found in His Word, adds greatly to our understanding of Him, and His love for us.

Prayer: David ends Psalm 19 with to petitions: 1) that the Lord would keep him “from presumptuous sins (v. 13), and 2) that the Lord would “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (v. 14). David recognizes that in spite of both God’s general and special revelation, he sins both consciously and unconsciously, in ignorance of what God requires. David prays against both faults in order that he would be “blameless and innocent of great transgression” (v. 13b).