Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Have you ever had someone, maybe your mother, tell you to watch your words? When you think of that term or phrase, it is kind of funny because usually you hear words; you don’t watch them. Yet there is a sense in which you can see what someone is saying and you can watch your own words, that is, you can give them regard.
In Psalm 19 we have three words to watch. First, you have the words of nature. The psalm begins by saying, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” It goes on to say that this is a universal language; it is not so much the spoken word as it is a language that is known universally. For example, the sun rises and sets and everyone the world over feels the effects of that sun. It is eloquent without having any one language. The words of nature are words we are to watch because it reveals something very important. It reveals the glory of God.
When you look at the world, the world is not God, but the world reveals God by its splendor. You think, “My, what a God Who would have spoken this into existence!” Everyone believes something by faith. Either they believe there is a God or that there is some force or time that is so incredible that they themselves have not seen it. I don’t know what you can call such force other than God, but everyone has faith in something far greater than anything that they have seen on any particular day. I wasn’t here the day of Creation, but I see the results of Creation. So, the heavens declare the glory of God. There is a language that is universal, the words of nature which reveal the glory of God.
Second, you have the words of God Himself. Beginning in verse 7 the Bible says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” The psalm goes on to talk about the statutes of the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, the fear of the Lord, and the judgment of the Lord. Such judgments warn us. They keep us from secret faults we don’t even know we have and from presumptuous sins, sins that we commit without regard to the consequence of whether it is right or wrong.
So, the words of God reveal the nature of God. God’s Word is complete, perfect, and it is reliable. It does what no one else’s words can do. It converts the soul, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes. So, the words of God are certainly words to watch.
Then verse 14 talks about the words of my mouth, “Let the words of my mouth, and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” So God sees my words. God sees the thoughts and mediations that result in my words. What do my words reveal? They reveal my heart, first of all, and they reveal God’s sight, what God knows. God knows my thoughts before they make themselves known to others by my words. The words of my heart reveal me and I’m known by God before I open my mouth.
So there are three words to watch today, the words of nature that reveal the glory of God, the words of God that reveal the nature of God, and the words of my mouth which reveal both my heart and what God knows.