Cœli enarrant

The Psalm appointed for this Sunday us Psalm 19,  Cœli enarrant

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, *
and the firmament shows his handiwork.

2 One day tells its tale to another, *
and one night imparts knowledge to another.

3 Although they have no words or language, *
and their voices are not heard,

4 Their sound has gone out into all lands, *
and their message to the ends of the world.

5 In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; *
it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

6 It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
and runs about to the end of it again; *
nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect
and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the Lord is sure
and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8 The statutes of the Lord are just
and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the Lord is clear
and gives light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean
and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.

11 By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can tell how often he offends? *
cleanse me from my secret faults.

13 Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not get dominion over me; *
then shall I be whole and sound,
and innocent of a great offense.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *
O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

I heard verse 14 quoted before the sermon as long as I can remember. I used it myself when I have been called upon to deliver the homily. It wasn't until I studied the Psalter that I made the connection.

The Psalm begins by explaining how the amazing celestial dance of the Sun and the Earth is evidence of the glory of God, of how it rises, sets, and races around to do it all over again. We were reminded of this last week as many of us watched a lunar eclipse, or "blood moon" run its course across the heavens. The Psalm then shifts focus to the Law, God's statutes, and how the psalmist desires the Lord's judgments and righteousness.

We think that we have conquered space and that we understand the heavens. This week I learned that we haven't even figured out the correct time of sunrise or sunset with precision. An article at "Sky and Telescope" (S+T for short) details one researcher's findings,

"... overall, predicted times varied in accuracy by location and season, with sunrise times over land generally being early in the summer months and late in the winter. Summer showed the largest discrepancies, probably due to the pronounced refractive effect that the large temperature difference in the atmosphere has during those months. Mirage effects due to cold air topped by warm over water horizons also exacerbated lags in sunset times throughout the year, sometimes by up to 5 minutes. Accounting for the observer’s altitude above the horizon did notably improve predictions for water horizons, however. 

Furthermore, the more complex refraction models that incorporated meteorological conditions didn’t do a better job: Their inherent, limited assumptions about the behavior of the weather layer in Earth’s atmosphere, called the troposphere, led to them congregating around the 34ʹ value. Regardless of model, she concluded, sunrise and sunset times can’t be reliably predicted to better than 2 minutes.

Two minutes might sound inconsequential, but Wilson noted that, if GPS fails, sailors will use celestial navigation. 'Most sailors will tell you that they can get their position with celestial navigation to within 1 nautical mile,' she said. But if part of that calculation involves sunset, '1 minute of time turns into 15 nautical miles of error.'” 

I thank God for the wonders of His creation and the am reminded of that every time I gaze at the stars.