The Revelation of God Declares His Glory.
Psalm 19
Yahweh, Holy is your name. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory! His perfections
are constantly on display. Creation and His Word are
declaring the very same thing that the seraphs were that
Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 6. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory!
This morning we are concluding our Summer in the Psalms
series, and I believe God has done it again. He ordained just
the right passage for us to wrap up the series. The past 2
weeks we have addressed Moses’ bold request. Perhaps the
boldest request in all of scripture, “Show me your glory.”
Tim walked us through not only the importance of having a
quiet time, but he gave us a glimpse on how to have one. My
prayer is that your quiet time was transformed, and that this
morning would be an overflow of your week. This morning
we continue with the theme of God’s glory as we examine
his handiwork of creation and how it is making a grand
announcement daily about God and his glory, this is called
General revelation. Than we move into Special revelation
and will discover how the word of God transforms us from
the inside out. Isn’t it fitting church that after spending two
weeks on having a quiet time, God would show us how
perfect and flawless his word is and how it has the power to
transform and affect our soul, our heart, our mind and our
eyes.
You will notice the 3 sections in bold in your outline of
Psalm 19, the 3rd and final section is the response to
colliding with Creation and his Word which are relentlessly
revealing his glory, and when we collide with his glory our
sin is exposed. So we must have a time for self-examination,
a time for repentance, an appeal for the mediations of our
heart and the words of our mouth to be pleasing to God, our
Rock and Redeemer. This will be fitting too as we prepare
for communion. Before we begin this morning would you
stand with me in prayer?
Prayer….(Before you are seated would you great someone
that is new to you)
1) Creation reveals His Glory. Vv 1-6
Psalm 19 is one of David’s hymns of praise. C. S. Lewis
called Psalm 19 the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of
the greatest lyrics in the world. Emmanuel Kant says this
regarding Psalm 19, “Two things fill the mind with ever new
and increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the
more serious reflection concentrates upon them: the starry
heaven above me and the moral law within me.” Some have
thought that Psalm 19 would have been better to be divided
into two separate psalms because of the quick transition
from His handiwork in verse 6 to his Word in verse 7, from
General Revelation to Special Revelation. But Creation and
his Word are not in competition with one another, they
compliment one another, they illuminate one another. They
are both simultaneously making a declaration of the Glory of
God. What is general and special revelation? It is the two
ways in which God has decided to reveal himself to
humanity. General revelation addresses the general truths of
God that can be seen in Creation, and Special revelation
address the specific truths of God in his Word that are not
derived from creation. We have a lot to cover today so we
are going to jump right in. Psalm 19:1-4a, “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 world.”
Psalm 19 tells us of God’s wordless revelation throughout
the universe. The heavens, the skies and all creation beneath
are making a loud declaration about God’s glory. The other
Psalmists agree, Psalm 89:5, “The heavens praise your
wonders, O LORD…” Psalm 50:6, “And the heavens
proclaim his righteousness…” Psalm 97:6, “The heavens
proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his
glory.” When Moses said “Show me your glory” God could
have responded by saying, “I have been, look around.”
Although we know that’s not how he responded, but the
point being, from the beginning when God spoke creation
into existence, He clearly was displaying his existence, his
wisdom and his power. When you observe the vast
magnificent heavens above, or the brushstrokes of a sunset
in the skies from the greatest artist who ever existed, or the
craftsmanship of the earth we stand, something should stir
inside of you and say, “Surely this wasn’t by chance, there
must have been an architect, there must have been a
designer, a Creator.” And this is what the heavens do; they
give witness to the power and existence of God, so that men
are without excuse. When Paul wrote Romans 1:20 he made
this point, “For since the creation of the world God’s
invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature –
have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse.” It’s likely that
when Paul wrote this to the Romans he had Psalm 19 in
mind. James Boice explains Paul’s heart, “Paul is saying
that the revelation of God’s existence and power is so great
that it should lead every human being on the face of the
earth to seek out God.” There is a declaration happing in
creation, there is a proclamation throughout the skies. I am
convinced that Carroll County MD has some of the most
amazing sunsets ever. I love when facebook lights up with
testimonies of his greatness when you post the sunset pics. It
captivates us. Sometimes it even takes our breath away. It’s
a different painting every time, but the message is the same!
God is Holy, Holy, Holy, and the whole earth is full of his
glory. One commentator put it well, “The majestic creation
is evidence of an even more majestic Creator.” Next time
you enjoy a sunset, recite Psalm 19:1! And join in the
declaration of his glory! And teach your children to do the
same.
a) His revelation is continuous. Vs 2
Psalm 19:2, “Day after Day….and night after night.” The
declaration and proclamation of the glory of God is not
intermittent. (Not like annoying windshield wipers, it’s like
the second you get it right it stops raining.) It’s not hit or
miss. It’s not yearly, monthly or weekly, its moment by
moment, every second of every day. The verbs Declare and
Proclaim are participles, which mean it’s ongoing, declaring
and proclaiming. There has not been a moment since the
beginning of creation that the heavens have not announced
God’s existence, his power, his wisdom, his divine nature, or
his handiwork. His revelation is continuous. It never stops,
never runs out, never diminishes. The Skies declare the
glory of God every single second of the day, every day of
the week, every week of the year, year after year after year,
and they have done this since the creation of the world. Day
after day and night after night they pour forth speech and
display knowledge. His revelation is continuous.
eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen! His
revelation is universal.
b) His revelation is abundant. Vs 2
Psalm 19:2, “Day after day they pour forth speech;” His
revelation is abundant in that it pours forth. This is very
vivid imagery here created by the Hebrew text. It’s strong
language that is intended to portray a gushing spring. It
could even have been translated, “bubbling forth”. You are
to have this idea of an overflowing spring that just keeps
bubbling over, producing an abundant about of water that
just keeps pouring and pouring and pouring out. Day after
Day, night after night, creation is literally bubbling forth the
glory of God. It’s bubbling over, pouring forth. It’s making
a mess, everything is saturated by it! Like and endless spring
that never runs dry. His revelation is abundant.
c) Nothing is hidden from its heat. Vs 4b-6
The dominant feature of verses 4b-6 is now the sun. David
marveled over the sun. He knew little of the sun, but he
praised God for it and knew that it declared his glory. We
know the sun is 865,000 miles wide, it’s about 110 times the
diameter of the earth. It makes up 99.86% of the mass of our
solar system. It is a ball of gases, mainly hydrogen, burning
constantly in a nu-cle-ar reaction. It’s the perfect distance
from the earth, only taking about 8 minutes for light to get
here. My father in law reminded me of the Goldie locks
zone, the earth is not to close to the sun and not to far away.
Water is able to remain liquid, if it were to close it would
water evaporate off the face of the earth, if earth were to far
from the sun it would freeze. In God’s sovereignty he placed
the Sun and earth at a perfect distance. Psalm 19:4a-6, “In
the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a
bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion
rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its
heat.” The tent for the sun simply refers to the darkness that
it retreats to every night. Isaiah 40:22 says, “He stretches out
the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent
to live in.” David likens the sun to a bridegroom and a
champion. When he speaks of the rising of the sun each
morning it’s like a groom who excitedly leaves his house for
his wedding ceremony. We have some couples getting
married this fall, Steve and Kristy, Todd and Holley, Jordan
and Tracy. The morning of these guys wedding, they are not
going to be able to get out that door quick enough to head to
the wedding ceremony. I don’t think Steve is going to leave
c) His revelation is universal. Vs 3-4
Psalm 19:3-4a, “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 world.” God has revealed his
glory everywhere. There isn’t anywhere you can go that
God’s glory has not already been. It’s good to revisit Psalm
97:6 “The heavens proclaim his righteousness and all the
peoples see his glory.” All the peoples, everywhere!
Creation doesn’t speak audibly, but its message goes out
into all the earth. There are no translators needed. I actually
like how the 2011 NIV translates it, but for the record, I
stick to the 1984 version. But it says, “They have no speech,
they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their
voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of
the world.” The heavens are a wordless testimony to all
nations about the glory of God! His invisible qualities,
the rehearsal, I think he’s so excited he’s just going to stay
there until the next day. Not only is the sun like a
bridegroom, but like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It runs the course God has determined. Of course we know
that it’s the earth that rotates around the sun, the sun is
stationary, at the center of our solar system. Next time you
feel the heat of the sun (like yesterday) rather than complain
remember it is the great witness in the sky of the glory of
God. And closing up the General revelation section we have
a crucial line that links the passages together. “Nothing is
hidden from its heat.” This is true not only of the sun that
God created, but the word that he spoke.
2) Scripture Reveals His Glory. Vs 7-11.
General revelation is how God reveals himself through
creation and Special revelation is how God specifically
reveals his divine character and attributes, and plan for
salvation through his word. The testimony of scripture, like
the heavens, declares his glory. It is making constant
statements about the glory of God, 24/7, day after day, and
night after night! WW says, “The heavens declare the glory
of God but the scriptures tell us what God did so that we can
share in that glory.” The word is how we obtain life, and
life to the full. Deut 8:3, “Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.”
The author of Hebrews tells us the word of God is living and
active, sharper than a double edged sword, it can penetrate
our hearts. It transforms our hearts. How can it do this? Paul
tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness.” It’s his word, to us, and it reveals his
glory. After having marveled over the heavens David now
quickly turns to the word of God and marvels over it, calling
it; perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, sure, and he
spotlights how it transforms us. The goal of verses 7-11 is
not to abstract each noun, verb and adjective, but to look at
this section as a whole. To recognize what it is together
revealing about God and his glory. Patrick Korn is probably
going to ring my neck for doing it, but we are going to touch
briefly on each one. But we need to keep in mind, we have
to have a comprehensive understanding as we study this next
section, we must look at it as a whole.
a) His perfect Word revives us.
Psalm 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the
soul.” The law, is referring to the comprehensive revealed
will of God, the instruction of God. The law of the LORD
literally Yahweh, the covenant keeping God, is flawless,
without error, perfect, it is perfect in every single way.
Psalm 18:30 supports this, “As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless…” And This flawless
word gives life, it revives us, it restores us, 1 Peter 1:23,
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but
of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of
God.” The word plays such a crucial role in our new birth.
He restores our soul. If we are broken, empty, wounded,
withered and dry, God’s word pumps life back into us. He
revives, restores and refreshes our soul. Nothing else in all
of creation is able to do what the word of God can do. Turn
to his flawless word and he will revive you. His perfect
word can revive every single area of our lives.
b) His trustworthy word makes us wise.
Psalm 19:7b, “The statues of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.” His word has everything to do
with our mind. Statues, more literally put is “Testimony”
and this is truth attested by God himself. What he says is
trustworthy, we can trust what he says. We are to yield our
lives to him humbly and with his word he will make us wise.
His word is the source of wisdom. His word revives our
soul, and makes us wise.
c) His right Word gives us joy.
Vs 8, “The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the
heart..” David is referring to the Word of God, we must keep
that in mind, specifically now, precepts, which could be
addressed as the precision and authority with which God
addresses us. His precepts are right, not in the sense of the
opposite of wrong, but more meaning straight, not crooked.
And as a result we experience joy in our hearts. His word
revives our soul, makes us wise, so it affects our mind, and
now fills our heart with joy. The word of God is like a joy
dispenser. Freely and abundantly giving joy to the heart.
When we read the word, when we study the word, when we
have our quiet time it’s affect on us rejoices the heart.
Doesn’t it make sense that true joy can’t be attained apart
from his word? When we collide with scripture we come out
with joy.
d) His radiant Word gives light to our eyes.
Vs 8b, “The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving
light to the eyes.” There is no area of my life that God’s
word can’t transform. Here David addresses his word as
commands, meaning, that which God has appointed. These
commands are radiant. His word is what lights my path.
Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light
for my path.” When we can’t see, or don’t know what
direction to go, or feel as though we are lost in the darkness
of life, we turn to his word which illuminates the path. His
word shows us where we are and where we need to go. It
gives light to the eyes.
e) His pure Word is eternal.
Vs 9, “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.”
Fear may seem confusing and out of place here but it is
actually used as a synonym for law. The fear of the LORD
should remind us to show reverence and respect for him.
The law of the Lord is pure, it does not decay. James Boice
says, “Only that which is corrupt decays.” This is not true of
God’s word because it is pure. And because it is pure, it
endures forever, it is eternal. Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers
and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures
forever." It lasts forever. It’s not going to be disregarded,
thrown away, or even rewritten. It endures forever. It
doesn’t change, it won’t decay, it is eternal. Jesus says
himself in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass
away, but my words will never pass away.” His pure word is
eternal. And so we can trust it, because it is right and
perfect.
f) His sure words are righteous.
9b, “The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether
righteous.” The ordinances of the Lord or judgments of the
Lord deal with his judicial decisions. He is the Judge, the
perfect, righteous judge. All of his decisions are sure, which
means that they are firm. His ordinances are confirmed, or
verified. They do not waiver, they are not inconsistent, They
are not declared lightly, nor are they to be taken lightly. This
is almost a summery statement for verses 7-9, “They are
altogether righteous.” Remember the goal was to keep
these lumped together, to see them as a whole. His law,
statutes, precepts, commands, fear and ordinances are
altogether righteous. Perfect, lacking nothing. And he
doesn’t keep it from us, he gives it to us, he graciously and
freely gives us his word, and through his word we can see
his glory revealed. Because the Word of God, just like
creation is making constant statements about the glory of
God!
g) His Word is priceless.
Vs 10, “They are more precious than gold, than much pure
gold;” Gold was an ancient commodity of the Ancient near
east. It had value and still does today. The value of Gold is
undeniable for an Olympian. Many will spend their lives
training rigorously to attain a gold metal. But what is so
special about gold? Gold is rare, it does not corrupt, To
extract one ounce of gold you have to dig and move about
ten tons of dirt or rock. It is rare. Gold was not foreign to
King David. In the preparations for the temple of the Lord
David has gathered a hundred thousand talents of gold,
that’s about 120 million ounces of gold. Today 1 oz of gold
is worth $1400, which would make that $168,000,000,000
(Billion) worth of gold. David had no shortage of gold, yet
he knew that what was even more valuable than all the
money in the world was the word of God. His word is
priceless, more precious than pure gold.
h) His word is satisfying.
Vs10b, “they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the
comb.” In the 12th century a new tradition arose in Jewish
tradition. On the holiday Shavout, a child would be brought
to a rabbi to hear the Torah for the first time. A child would
sit in the rabbi’s lap, holding a slate from which the Rabbi
taught, which contained portions of the Torah. They child
would repeat the words/letters the rabbi would teach. At the
end, the Rabbi would pour a bit of honey on the slate and the
child would like it off to remember that God’s word was
sweeter than honey. What a visual. David knew that not only
was it more valuable than gold, but sweeter than honey.
Spurgeon says “some of the sweetest hours of our lives may
be our time in the word of God”. The word of God brings us
delight. Augustine said, “Oh, how I love they law, Lord, let
the holy scriptures be my chaste delight.” Jeremiah testified
the very same thing in Jeremiah 15:16, “When your words
came, I ate them; they were my joy and my delight..” The
word of God satisfied Jeremiah, it satisfied David,
Augustine and Spurgeon. Does the word bring the same
satisfaction and delight to us? His word is sweeter than
honey, honey straight from the comb. To many of us have a
bitter taste in our mouth about the word, I think it’s because
we have never approached it rightly. Tim took 2 weeks to
whip us into shape when it came to our quite time, my
prayer is that you are experiencing some of the sweetest
times as a result of his word.
These final 2 sub points of point 2 I am literally going to
give you to fill in.
i) His word warns us. Vs 11
j) His Word rewards us. Vs 11
What I will say about “rewards” is that this morning we
have another resource in the back that you can grab and add
to what we handed out last week regarding your time in the
word, this is about God’s word and the rewards we reap
from it. Why would we even reap rewards at all? To turn
right around and offer him even more praise and glory!
3) God’s revelation exposes our sin.
Immediately once David has collided with the Glory of God
through creation and the Glory of God through his inspired
word he examines himself. He is in the presence of the Holy
God and realizes he wants every part of him exposed,
cleansed and forgiven. He looks in the mirror and sees the
reality of his condition. This is what happened to Isaiah
when he saw the Lord seated on the Throne. He heard the
seraphs singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is filled with his glory. And when the
doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple filled with
smoke he was undone. He immediately addressed his sinful
condition. He immediately knew he needed to be purified.
So he cries out, “Woe to me!” “I am ruined!” “I am a man of
unclean lips.” God’s revelation exposes our sin. David says
in Psalm 19:12, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my
hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may
they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of
great transgression.” For this point we highlight, “Who can
discern his errors” and the beginning of 13, “Keep your
servant also from willful sins, may they not rule over me.”
David is applying all that he has learned to himself. He
desires forgiveness from the sins of omission and
commission, meaning the sins he isn’t aware of and the sins
he is well aware of. He recognizes that God knows all of his
sins; he is exposed before God like Isaiah, and David
responds correctly. He doesn’t run, he doesn’t hide, he
addresses his condition. He prays to God for forgiveness.
This is the response God wants us to have when we collide
with his glory. He doesn’t want us to run or hide, but to seek
him for forgiveness. David does this and says, “Forgive my
hidden faults.”
4) God’s revelation reveals the remedy for our sin.
Psalm 19:12-13, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my
hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may
they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of
great transgression.” David knows the remedy for his sin, we
spent a great deal of time talking about this when we study
Psalm 51, and there is a remedy for our iniquity. David
knew only God could cleanse the crimson stain of sin to
white as snow. Only God could declare him innocent of
transgression. Jesus offers the same remedy to us today. We
are all born with a sinful condition, from the moment of
conception, the verdict is out, we are guilty, every last one
of us. And there isn’t anything we can do ourselves to deal
with our sin. Because sins can’t be cleaned up and wiped
away by good deeds. It doesn’t matter who we are or what
we have done, God’s word tells us how we can be freely
forgiven of our sins. He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that
brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed. Oh how sweet the gospel is. Christ Jesus is the
remedy for our sin. He took our place on the cross. While
we were still sinners Christ died for us. He became our
substitute. He loved us so much he didn’t want us to die in
our sins and remain separated from him for all of eternity in
hell. Although our sins become exposed when we collide
with creation and scripture and the glory of God, we know
the remedy because the very word that exposed them is the
very word that tells us how to be delivered from them! Oh
how gracious and merciful and full of loving-kindness is our
God. That he would not only display his glory in the
heavens, and through his word, but come down to earth to
live the sinless life, willingly die and rise again defeating
death so that we could be forgiven and set free from our sin.
So we could be made new in Christ. So that our hearts
would be set on him, and we would see how sweet and good
and priceless is his word.
Every day God is revealing his glory. Everyday he is saying,
“Come and follow me.” Is there anything holding you back
today? IS there anything at all holding you back from
trusting in Christ alone! I pray today is your day, the day
you put your faith in Jesus! The verdict on your life will
change. You will be declared Not Guilty.
5) God’s revelation transforms our heart.
When our lives intersect with the gospel there is
transformation. The gospel brings life! David, after having
sung a hymn of praise about the heavens, and the Law of the
Lord declaring and proclaiming the glory of God, he turned
inward, saw his sin, and recognized his own need for
forgiveness. And as a result he has a plea, and appeal if you
will, to God. Psalm 19:14, “May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” He desires for all that
he sets his heart on, says and does would be acceptable to
God. What a prayer! What a request! David knew that the
law that exposed his sin is the very law that could transform
his being from the inside out. In light of the glory of God in
Creation, and the glory of God in his word, David desires to
be acceptable to God, for his heart to be right and his words
to be sweet. He knew the only way to have this
transformation would be to drink deep of the word of God,
for his mediations to be in scripture and scripture alone.
David knew the discipline of hiding God’s word in his heart.
We must develop a habit of studying and chewing on the
word of God. For his word revives us, makes us wise, gives
us joy, light to our eyes, it is eternal, righteous, priceless,
satisfying, warns and rewards us…. Now before we move
into communion we finish up with our final point.
6) God’s revelation reveals that he is our Rock and our
Redeemer.
He is our Rock and our Redeemer. This is the most fitting
place for us to end before we head into a time of
communion. I love how Psalm 18 spells this out. Psalm
18:1-2, “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is
my rock, my fortress and my deliver; my God is my rock, in
whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.” David stood firm on the Lord. He
knew he was his protector and deliverer, and his salvation.
Maybe today you have seen his glory in creation, his glory
in the word, maybe sin was exposed in your life, know that
you can come to the cross just as you are. The gospel
doesn’t tell us to fix everything first, Jesus says come.
Communion is when we remember what he went through to
make the payment for our sin. His blood was shed for the
forgiveness of sins. Christ Jesus gave us communion so that
we could commune with him. WE remember his body that
was crushed as we eat the cracker and as we drink the juice
we remember the blood that was shed. You don’t have to be
a member at utown, but scripture is clear you must be a
believer. If you aren’t sure we would love to talk to you bout
it. We will have stations up front and in the back. Please
come up and take the elements and Dan will lead us in
taking communion together has a church body once we all
are ready. Please take some time now to ready your hearts to
take communion.
Let’s pray. (Creation/Word/exposed sin/Forgiveness)