The Shadow of a Great Rock in a Dry and Weary Law

I've been seeing more correlation between special revelation and general revelation lately. Here's one example.

Psalm 19 speaks of the glory of God revealed in the skies, and in a second section, of the perfections of God's law. Here's the first section:

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
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,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
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.
(Psalm 19:1-6 ESV)

Though we often think of the nighttime sky when we think of "the heavens" revealing the nature of God, here David focuses on the daytime sky, and particularly the sun. If you've been to Israel (or any desert, for that matter), you'll understand the attention given to the daytime sun: the clean dry air makes the night sky breathtakingly beautiful, but the daytime sun shows the כְּבֹֽוד־אֵ֑ל, the glory, heaviness, splendor, and copiousness of God. When I was there ten years ago, the dryer where we stayed broke, but it didn't matter (besides a little embarrassment at everyone seeing each other's underwear), because clothes dried faster in the sun than they did in the dryer. And this is exactly the conclusion reached by the Psalm regarding the sun in verse 6: "there is nothing hidden from its heat." 


Speaking of embarrassment, I've often felt it when looking back at pictures of the trip, all of which show me wearing this goofy safari hat, helpful as it was in the glorious desert sun:

Mt. Arbel 1200 feet above the Sea of Galilee. The wind almost blew me off into oblivion. 


Back on topic then, the second half of the Psalm:

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
(Psalm 19:7-11)

I love this Psalm, though I've often wondered how the two halves relate to each other. Recently I saw a connection between the meditation on the glory of God revealed in the skies, and the moral perfection revealed in the law. The Psalm continues:

Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
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.
(Psalm 19:12-13)

Do you see it? The conclusion of the section about the glory of God shining in the sun is "there is nothing hidden (נִ֝סְתָּ֗ר ) from its heat" and the conclusion of the teaching on the law includes the prayer "Declare me innocent from hidden (מִֽנִּסְתָּרֹ֥ות) faults" (the Hebrew word is compound for "from hiddens", if I may create an English word; the English "faults" is merely implied). Because God's perfect law demands obedience, it wakes us up and brings us to realize our failure, our errors, our hidden faults, and that the path to blamelessness (אֵיתָ֑ם eytam; cf. v. 7 תְּ֭מִימָה temiymah) is not in our ability, but in God's gracious intervention. He alone can declare us innocent, keep us back from presumptuous sins, and deliver us from their dominion.

In his conclusion to the Psalm, David prays:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
(Psalm 19:14)

While the "law" half of the Psalm brings us to the LORD as redeemer, what of the title "my rock"? The attention given to the sun as revelator of God's glory and similar to a bridegroom and champion warrior fits with Scriptural metaphors that describe God (Psalm 84:11; Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; Psalm 78:65; Zephaniah 3:17). So why not "my sun and my redeemer" in v. 14?

In Scripture a rock is a symbol of strength and perfection (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15; "rock" is used seven times in that chapter), a source of water in the desert (Isaiah 48:21; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Psalm 78:16, 20), and a place of refuge from an enemy (most of the 28 occurrences in the Psalms). Amazingly, in the closest encounter with God of all the Old Testament prophets, a rock serves Moses as the place of protection from God himself (Exodus 33:18-23). Why does Moses need protection from God? Because, as God says, "'you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live'"(Exodus 33:20). The immediate holiness and glory of God are literally more than a human can bear. Is this not exactly what the sun "says" in its shining every day? The sun is a lethal danger to our vision, our skin, and if we're over-exposed to its heat, to our overall vitality.

Might it be that just as we need protection from the sun's heat and light, so we need protection from the law of God, not because they are in and of themselves destructive, but because we are so frail that we cannot bear their brilliance? Maybe the giving of the law in the desert was more than a geographical and historical accident, but was rooted deeply in God's wisdom, to flavor the entire law with sun-baked dryness that impels our longing for shady waters. Where is the shade at the end of the legal wilderness? Isaiah foreshadows the relief when he compares a future king and his princes to

a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. (Isaiah 32:2)

Who are the king and the princes, and how do they give this shelter and shade? That will have to wait for another post, but for now, let's listen to God speaking through Isaiah once again:

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
(Isaiah 55:1-3, emphasis mine)