Watching the Sunrise

This morning, as I watched the sun rise in all its great glory, I thought about the daily gift of the sunrise and the sunset.  I have heard that people drive from all parts of the country to park their RVs on the coast, just to watch the sunsets in Southern Mississippi.  One couple told me that not even Florida can boast of the kind of sunsets the Gulf Coast offers.  Even our 5:00 news every evening reports on the sunset, showing it as a regular part of the newscast.

It took C.S. Lewis' Reflections on the Psalms to make the connection for me between the rising of the sun and the "law of the Lord," as expressed in Psalm 19, which Lewis calls "the greatest psalm in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world."  Unfortunately, that connection is rarely seen, for the use of this Psalm in our church services usually includes only the first 4 verses:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day, they pour forth speech;

night after night, they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the earth.

 

Even if we did read the entire Psalm, however, it would be difficult to see the connection between the first half of the poem and the second, which begins, "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul."  As in much modern poetry, the words themselves provide no logical connection between the first and second movements.  In Lewis' analysis, unlike the modern poet who wants us to find the connection for ourselves, the ancient poet felt such an identity between the sections that he moved effortlessly and without reflection from one to the other.

 

First he thinks of the pageantry of the sky and how it shows the splendor of the Creator.  He thinks of the sun, the glory of its rising, and its unimaginable journey from east to west.  Finally, he thinks of its heat, searching out every cranny, from which nothing can hide.  It pierces everywhere with its purity and strength.

 

Then, suddenly, in v. 7, he is talking about 'the law of the Lord," so like the all-piercing, all-detecting sun in its course across the heavens.  The Law is as pure as sunshine; it gives light to the soul; it is clean and everlasting; it is 'sweet." 

 

When the Jewish scriptures speak of the "law of the Lord," they mean much more than what we imagine to be "law."  They are referring to the instruction that comes from God, the guidance for purity and right living, the revelation of God's nature and of His heart.  The Law includes, but does not stop with the commandments; it is what we might think of as "the law of the household" in which we live.  It includes both spoken and unspoken "law," such as kindness, respect, courtesy, helpfulness, etc.  In short, what is expected of all the residents of that house -- the rules of the game, so to speak.

 

Lewis says of Psalm 19 that "No one can improve on this and nothing can more fully admit us to the old Jewish feeling about the Law: luminous, severe, disinfectant, exultant.....As he has felt the sun, searching him out in every nook of shade where he attempted to hide from it, so he feels the Law searching out all the hiding places of his soul."

 

I need to quote at length the conclusion of Lewis' reflection on the Law:

 

Insofar as this idea of the Law's beauty, sweetness, or preciousness, arose from the contrast of the surrounding Paganisms, we may soon find occasion to recover it. [Note: Lewis wrote this well before the rise of Al-Quaida and ISIS, but his words now seem to be prophetic.]

Christians increasingly live on a spiritual island; new and rival ways of life surround it in all directions, and their tides come further up the beach every time.  None of these new ways is yet so filthy or cruel as some Semitic Paganism.  But many of them ignore all individual rights and are already cruel enough.  Some give morality a wholly new meaning which we cannot accept; some deny its possibility.  Perhaps we shall learn, sharply enough, to value the clean air and "sweet reasonableness" of the Christian ethics which in a more Christian age we might have taken for granted.  But of course, if we do, we shall then be exposed to the danger of priggery.  We might come to "thank God that we are not as other men."  This introduces the greatest difficulty which the Psalms have raised in my mind.

 

Having read Lewis' analysis of Psalm 19, it is now very easy to see the connection of the second movement to the first:

 

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statues of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure

and altogether righteous....

By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward....

 

As for me, watching the sunrise this morning reminded me of the line from Lamentations that says, "...His mercies never fail/ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, O God./  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,/ to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."