December 13th Advent Devotional

December 13

Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens are telling the glory of God,

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech,

and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

their voice is not heard;

yet their voice goes out through all the earth

and their words to the end of the world.

-Psalm 19:1-4

Riddle me this: What is so fragile that merely speaking its name will break it? 

Of course, the answer is: silence.

The psalmist offers another riddle: “The heavens are telling the glory of God,” proclaims Psalm 19:1. Verse 2 elaborates: “Day to day” and “night to night” it “pours forth speech” and “declares knowledge.” 

But then verses 3 and 4 pose this riddle: What has no speech, words, or audible voice…and yet its voice goes out and its words are heard through all the earth? Yes, the answer, as stated in verse 1, is the heavens—creation—God’s magnificent handiwork.

Everything from the ground we tread and the air we breathe, to the lives we live and the loves we cherish, all the way to the endless stars that beckon us to dream…all creation exclaims God’s great glory! …but not with words.

Imagine for a moment that the heavens themselves could use words. What might they say? What words might they pour forth or declare? And what circumstance could possibly persuade the silence of the heavens to be broken?

Though this may sound like another riddle, it has actually happened. Luke describes the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That night, the veil between heaven and earth was rent. Angels appeared to shepherds, and the Glory of the Lord shone all around, and a multitude of heavenly hosts burst forth into song! “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” “Glory to God in the highest!”

What a symphony it must have been! Oh, that they could have known just how special it was. Oh, that we could have heard it! "Oh, that [God] would tear open the heavens and come down!" (Isa 64:1) The Messiah! The Mighty King over all the earth had come! …but as a tiny babe. Riddle me that!

Bryan Anderson