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This morning, we're going to look at Psalm 19. If you'd like to turn there, I'll read the psalm. Psalm 19, there are 14 verses. Here now, the reading of God's word, starting in verse one. To the choir master, a psalm of David. 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 ends 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. 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, the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from my 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. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask for wisdom as we study this section of scripture. And we ask for blessing on this hour of worship. In Jesus' name, amen. Recently one of my children asked, Dad, how do we know God is real? Now, we're all familiar with this question. Perhaps some of us have asked that question. Typically, though, you might expect that type of a question from an atheist, maybe an agnostic, maybe somebody who doesn't believe in God. You might be preparing for an argument of some sort with this person. Maybe you're entering into a debate And the question comes up, how do I even know that God exists? Perhaps though we have the same question with our family members or our friends or our neighbors or co-workers or anybody even in the church. Perhaps sometimes there are people who can ask the question, is everything that I've been taught right? Is everything that I've learned in church true? Does God exist? And if so, where can he be found? Now before you think that I'm going to preach a sermon on how to prove that God exists, I'll interject that God's existence cannot be proven the way I think that men would like to have proof. That's not how God is proven in his existence. There are not a series of experiments you can run or arguments you can make that will then lead people to the conclusion that God exists. And it's often actually futile to venture down that road. However, I am going to make the assertion that I believe Christians need to be reminded of God's existence. Non-Christians need to know of God's existence, but so do Christians, so does the church. There are times when we know he exists, but he feels very far off. aren't there? There are times where we may doubt his love or his care for us. Maybe there are promises that we easily forget. There are providences that come in our life and we wonder where God is and we wonder whether he is there or whether he knows or whether he is able. If so, where is he? And why does he seem so far off? And what does it matter if he exists if he's not going to help me or doesn't care about me? Whether he exists or not doesn't matter if he's disinterested in you, isn't it? And it's effectively the same thing. It's not the same thing as being atheist or saying there is no God, but practically it can be the same effect. Whether there's a God or not, if he's disinterested and powerless to help and work in my life, then what Do I care? Now maybe, maybe some of us may not go to those extremes, but maybe some of us do, and maybe we're somewhere in the middle. Either way, I'd like you to consider this psalm as a roadmap. This psalm, David is pointing out the way to God, and he's doing it in three sections. If you wonder, where is God in my life today? Where can He be found? Maybe I am struggling. Maybe I don't believe. Maybe I don't care. Well, this psalm is designed to teach you. And so let's listen, because he does this in three ways. And for those of you listening or taking notes, we have three points this morning. The first is that God reveals himself in the skies. The second is that God reveals himself in scripture. And third, God reveals himself in the soul. Let's look at verse 1. Verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. That's an interesting way to speak about creation, that the heavens declare and the skies proclaim. Those are peculiar words typically for creation, declare and proclaim, because first of all, creation doesn't have an audible voice, does it? creation can't speak verbally. They also carry with them a connotation and a sense of authority. These are very authoritative words. To declare and proclaim something, right? A king may make a declaration or a proclamation and it goes out into all the land. We, in our own country, we have a declaration of independence. There's no equivocation. Right? There's no hemming and hawing. There's no fumbling with words. We are independent. This is a declaration and it's authoritative and it's final and a great war, a great war was fought over this very statement, wasn't it? So how in the world does creation, how do we give creation those same words of a declaration and a proclamation? How do the skies teach us that way? Well, our scripture reading in Romans gives us a little bit of an indication of what creation is really saying. Now, for those who may not be familiar, in Romans 10, Paul's dealing with who needs to be saved and how they're saved, and you know that chain, that's a fairly familiar passage in many ways. If they have not heard, who's going to go preach to them, and no one preaches, who's going to send the preachers, right? And how are people going to be saved? And then he says, but the Gentiles and the Jews are struggling because the God had chosen the Jews. But Paul's now saying, no, the Gentiles, too. The Gentiles, too, are here and they need to hear the gospel. And he says, but they have heard. And that's where he picks it up in verse 18. But I ask, have they not heard? He says, indeed, they have, for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the end of the world. Well, he's quoting verse four. Look at verse four in Psalm 19. Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. He is saying that these people, the Gentiles, have heard sermons. He's quoting verse four. Someone may say, well, they didn't have any preachers. So how are they going to hear? And Paul says they did hear. But Calvin says, Calvin calls it a sermon to the eyes. not a sermon to the ears. Somebody might say, well, how much can creation really communicate? Since there are no words, how much really comes across? And there are some limitations to a nonverbal sermon, aren't there? There are some limitations to nonverbal communication. But I'd like to call to your mind a very familiar sitcom. Rowan Atkinson's sitcom, Mr. Bean. Some of you are smiling already because you know Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean rarely, if ever, spoke. The entire sitcom, for years and seasons, has entertained people, clearly communicating exactly what they designed to communicate with very few words, if any. Maybe some of you children, maybe you do something Maybe it's a little bit mischievous. And you get one look from your mother, and she didn't say a word, but you knew exactly what she was saying, didn't you? I got those looks quite often. And maybe I give them sometimes too. But you see that it's very clear. You can understand everything that needs to be understood in that moment without one word being spoken. David is saying the same thing. The skies and everything you see above, the sunrise and the sunset and the sunrise and the sunset day to day and night to night. There is no speech where they don't hear that doesn't go out anywhere in the whole world. Everybody hears it. In the same way, creation declares what? That God's glorious. Look around you. Look at all of creation. You see, all you need to do is consider one single tree outside your own front door. One single tree. And each leaf on that tree has a whole system of veins behind it to carry nutrients. And each leaf has a job to do. The leaves provide shades for the roots. And the leaves actually deflect water outward because roots grow sideways. And so if the roots need water, the tree will deflect the rain down. All in one tree. And we haven't even talked about the bark, or pollen, or anything else. And you consider this one tree, this one leaf, let alone an entire forest in the third smallest state in the United States. Or maybe an entire nation of forests. Or maybe all the forests in all the world, if you consider that. Think about the Amazon River. It's been estimated that enough fresh water flows out of the river each day, in one day, to power New York City for 10 years. One river, on one continent, in one part of the world, in one day, there's enough water to power New York City for 10 years. Consider a single cell in your body. For those of you who might remember your schooling Biology class, there's a nucleus, there's ribosomes, mitochondria, cytoskeletons, centrials. Now you all know I can Google. But each cell is its own universe. Each cell has its own system of understanding. Each cell is specifically designed with specific pieces that do specific parts of specific things. And each person in this room in one body has trillions and trillions of cells. Trillions and trillions of cells that make up your body. So they don't only preach that God is glorious. And we've looked at just pieces, but consider creations, consider the skies, consider everything God has made. It teaches and proclaims his glory, but it teaches us about God himself. God's glory is perpetual. Notice verse two, day to day pours out speech, night to night, on and on, over and over. Just when you think you get to the end of the night, Here comes the morning. And just when you think you're the end of the day, here comes the night. And just when you think you get to the end of the night, here comes the morning. And on and on and on it goes. And there's a perpetual nature. Not only is it perpetual, it's vast. It's everywhere. Doesn't he say that? There is no speech. There are no words. The voice goes out through all the earth. And so too God's glory goes throughout all the earth and it's clearly proclaimed and declared. There's no equivocation, there's no opaque or mixed meanings. He also uses the sun. He looks up and he says, in them he has set a tent for the sun and the sun rises in the heavens and nothing is hidden from its heat. Verse six, nothing is hidden from its heat and the communication goes out everywhere. Well, what does that mean for your life? Okay. So that makes sense. I get that. Well, if God's creation operates that way, how much more would the creator operate that way? Tell me which part of your life has God left outside of his control? Which part of your Christian life, which part of your body, which part of your circumstances have fallen outside of his view? Which bird falls to the ground that does so behind closed doors? Which providences in your life, big and small, are hidden from the sun? You see, it's not just the mountains and the treetops that get the sun. That's not what the scriptures teach us. The scriptures teach us that there is nothing hidden from the sun. So even down to the small little insects and the little blades of grass. And so, too, in your life, it's not just the monumentous events. It's not just, okay, God's in control of where I go to school, and God's in control of who my parents will be, and God's in control of who I'll marry. It's down to the types of food we eat, places we go, to the things we think, to the little red lights that get us so upset, to the police officers that pull us over to protect us from something perhaps, or to give out justice, whatever it is that happens, big, small, little, nothing is outside of the control and view of the Father. And that's what he's communicating to you. If you only looked at creation and saw that's this sun, you can't escape it. Our whole world lives in sunblock because it goes everywhere and the power is intense. The heat is felt no matter where you go. He uses this illustration that the strength of the sun is like a strong man running a race. I don't know if you've ever really considered a strong man running a race, but when you watch the marathoners, the professional marathoners, the last mile can sometimes be their fastest. And it's almost as if they're not even breathing hard. They're just swift, aren't they? And they're running and running and running and running and they don't stop and you see this sense of this strength that comes from within and they don't feel the effects of mile 24 and 25 and 26 until the end. Or bridegroom leaving his chamber, the happiest day of his life. The bride is the more beautiful of the day, but the bridegroom is strong. The bridegroom is ready, he said, this is it, this is my day, and here's the sun, rising in all its majesty and glory. And each part of the creation that it touches teaches you and tells you about God's glory. Now, creation speech, though, is limited. Creation speech is incomplete. It can be confusing. One commentator says this, the created order both tells and does not tell. It speaks to our intuitions that there is a glorious God who created such marvels, but its message is limited and confusing. For the beauty of the hills tells one truth and the storm and the volcano tell another. What am I supposed to learn about creation, about God through creation? If I do look at the hills, I can see a glorious, but if I look at the volcano, now what am I supposed to know about God? There's a limitation, isn't there? And that brings us to the second point that God in his mercy did not leave us to listen to only creation. He says that his word is perfect. Verse seven, the law of the Lord is perfect and so God reveals himself in scripture and the design If you remember your Proverbs as wisdom, she calls aloud in the streets. And the design is to get the attention of all of the people. And the creation calls aloud in the streets and says, there is a God. And the response is, well, where can he be found? How do I find this glorious God? Perhaps some of you may see a painting or a picture that you really like. And especially if there's an artist or photographer who's alive today, you might want to go meet that person. I want to meet the artist, the painter. This is what creation is designed to do. I want to meet the creator. Who made this? And where can he be found? Well, that's our second point, that God reveals himself in scripture. Creation serves to leave men without an excuse to God's existence. But it does not teach us about God the way the scriptures do. So in the scriptures we have full understanding of who God is and our relationship to him. But consider how many words David uses in this passage. He uses the law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and rules. Now we don't have time to look at each one of those words, and it's probably worth studying. It was worth reading through and studying, and there's more time to be spent on it. But the idea here is all of Scripture. All of Scripture. He starts with the law and testimony and precepts and commandments. He's not just talking about the Ten Commandments. He's not just talking about the law, although that is included. He's talking about all of Scripture. And It's interesting some of the words he uses because the law of the Lord is perfect. The law of the Lord is complete, lacking nothing, right? The word Lord there is Yahweh. The word Lord is Yahweh. Now Yahweh was a covenantal name for God. Anyone who read the word Yahweh would know this was a God who promised to have a people. and promised to be a God to those people, and promised to write the law of God on that people's heart, and who promised to redeem a people out of their sin. So the Ten Commandments, which is the law, the moral law, that crushes men. But the covenant of grace redeems men. It's the remedy to the problem. You are condemned under the law. But as Yahweh, I have promised to redeem you out from under the law. And so David's starting the second section, and this psalm can be broken out into these three sections, verses one through six, and seven through 11, and then 12 to 14. Here he's teaching you what the scriptures are, but the scriptures are not what save you. You're saved through the promises of a Redeemer in Christ And that's God's covenant promise to his people. So he's already bringing up the gospel. Creation leads you to the gospel. This is David's thinking. This is David's logic. If you look and see what the heavens declare about God's glory, and you want to know more about that God, you come to the gospel, you come to the word, and that will teach you about man, and it will teach you about God's promise to his people. But notice what he says that the law of God or the word of God or the scriptures do to man. It revives the soul, makes wise the simple. Consider again Proverbs, wisdom calling out into the street. And remember in Proverbs 3, wisdom is more precious than gold. than even fine gold. And where is David in verse 10? More to be desired than gold, even much fine gold. He's equating the scriptures with wisdom. Do you want to know why you're here? And do you want to know the meaning of life? Do you want to know the answers that burn in people's minds? Come to the scriptures and find out. Because that's where the answers are. It makes wise simple people. Simple people are made wise. Today we live in a society where we want to educate people out of ignorance. There's an element of education that will help, but you don't solve the problem of sin by educating people, do you? What else does it do? It rejoices the heart. It makes the heart glad. In verse 8, it enlightens the eyes, part of making simple people wise. Their eyes are opened, not closed. It endures forever, and they're righteous altogether, meaning nothing will destroy them, and they're complete. They lack nothing. So all of the scriptures, creation points you to God, and then the scriptures come and they revive your soul, and they make you wise, and they make your heart happy, and they give you light. And on top of all of that, the word of God, the rule of God, the law of God, the testimony of God, is for your enjoyment. It's sweet as honey. That's what honey's for. It's for your enjoyment. There are a lot of really good foods for you that are not so enjoyable. But honey is sweet and energizes and revives the soul. You remember the sermon recently where Jonathan dipped just the end of his staff in some honey and his eyes were brightened and he had strength because they hadn't eaten all day. And Some of you children might say, well, wait a minute. I live in my house, and I know my rules, and it is not like honey. How are rules good for me like honey or for my pleasure? Well, when you get older, you'll recognize what true happiness is, and you might turn around and thank mom and dad for a lot of the rules that they put in place that were for your safety. And you'll recognize that happy children are actually children who live in structure and instruction of the Lord. And it's the sin inside of you that rejects the laws and the sin inside of you that rejects the rules. And it's the pride that makes you think you know better how to raise yourself. And this is true not just of children, this is true of employees, to their employers. I know better than my boss. My boss is such a taskmaster. But that's not what the scriptures are. The scriptures are not. Burdensome. The scriptures enlighten the eyes, they rejoice the heart, and they are for your enjoyment. And their value has much weight. When you see gold or silver in the Bible, it's speaking of weight. It's a heaviness to it. Because that's where the value, there's substance here. You want to know the meaning of life, here it is. You want to know the answers to all of your problems, here they are. This isn't just a conversation of two people talking small talk, where ultimately it doesn't matter. It's gonna rain, it's not gonna rain. It's a little hot, it's a little cold. I can't wait for school to end, I can't wait for school to start, right? Those are up here. This is substance, this is real life, he's saying. And what does he say in verse 11? The greater meaning of all this, he sums it up, he says, moreover, more than the gold and more than the honey and more than the rejoicing of the heart and more than the making wise, what does it do for me? By your scriptures, your servant is warned. And in keeping your scriptures, there is great reward. He's calling you to the end. I am warned. Well, what am I warned about? What am I warned about? Well, you're warned of the trouble that will ultimately come. And I'd like to read this passage in the negative. Without the word of God, your soul is not revived. It's languishing. You are tired and run down. You will remain in ignorance and simplicity the rest of your life. Your heart is filled with sorrow. There is no joy and peace. Your eyes remain in darkness. You are incomplete and wicked, and worst of all, you will come to an end. The Word of God endures forever, but you will come to an end. You will be destroyed in darkness and sorrow and be cast into hell without the love and mercy of God forever. That's the warning. This is the warning he's issuing. He's saying, this is the God who made you and the God who made all things around you. And here are the scriptures that teach you and they're designed to give you great delight and great wisdom. And they're worth far more than gold and silver. And it's sweeter than honey. But above all of that, you are hereby warned. And this morning, if you're here, you are warned. You are warned. Are you listening today? That without God, without Christ, you will die. Now, God is revealed in the skies. He's revealed in the scripture. And lastly, he's revealed in the soul. And this is where verse 12 picks up. He says in response, this is actually a prayer. these last few verses. And it's interesting to me that that's how the soul would respond to the Word of God. If the Word of God grips your soul, you will respond in prayer. Now what will your prayer be? Well, who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from my hidden faults. Perhaps you can view this section like an echo. The skies in the scriptures call out and the soul responds, but it responds in a way that says, Lord, my sin, I can't even discern it. My own sin, I'm not talking about discerning other people's sins. I can't even discern my own sin. Declare me innocent from my hidden faults. Hidden from whom? Well, we've already determined that nothing's hidden from God. They're hidden from you. David is acknowledging, I have sin I don't even know about. And your law teaches me that. Your scriptures teach me that I'm a sinner. And I'm a thorough sinner. And so when I meet the Lord in the scriptures, my only response is, declare me innocent, please, from the hidden faults. But then he goes on to the things that are even worse. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Stuff I know is wrong, and I do it anyway. It's one thing to have hidden sin and say, okay, Lord, I didn't know it was there. It's another thing to know exactly what's there and to know what's wrong or to know what's right, and to do what's wrong and not do what's right, and you did it on purpose. You see, remember, Eve was deceived, wasn't she? She was deceived by the serpent. Adam was not deceived. And Adam ate the fruit anyway, knowing full well what he was doing. Consider what the scriptures do creation teach you about the Lord creation teaches you about the Lord and teaches you and proclaims his glory and in that you get a sense of your sin you do you should feel small in creation and you are not glorious although you were wondrously made we look at how tiny we are how insignificant we are and how easily we can all die and we pass away but it doesn't teach us everything and then the scriptures come in and when your eyes are opened your sin is exposed, and you respond in prayer. And David shows you that the scriptures bring you to a place of helplessness. That's the response. This is the response. This is how you should feel this morning. If you've not bowed the knee to Christ, if you have not repented of your sin, reading and understanding and listening to this scripture of where God can be found, and when you meet him in the scriptures, You can't escape without saying, Lord, my sin is so vast I can't discern it. Please declare me innocent from my hidden faults and protect me from presumptuous sins. And even though you are saved today, David's acknowledging that even though I'm a Christian, even though I have put my trust in your Savior to come, even though that's true, I can't do it on my own. Because if I am left to myself, sin will have dominion over me. Keep back your servant, hold me back, because otherwise I will be drawn to it like a moth to flame. David's opening up everything about his soul, saying not only is my sin vast, not only is it so much that I can't understand it, and not only do I have hidden sins, even the sins I know are wrong, I will go to without your grace. because I'm totally and utterly depraved. But then he gets to verse 13, and he gets to 13b. He says, after I meet with God, and after I pray for this repentance, and after I ask God's help and forgiveness, then, in 13b, then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Then and only then. Calvin says this about verse 14, which is the end of the psalm. He says the substance of this verse is this. I beseech thee, O God, not only to keep me from breaking forth into external acts of transgression, but also to frame my tongue and my heart to the obedience of thy law. David is saying that the proper prayer, the proper response to the scriptures, and ultimately the proper response to the creation around you and the way you've been made is to acknowledge your sin and to repent of your sin. And this covenant language, which would have been understood of a savior to come, which brings Christ into the picture. But not only keep me from sinning, but help me to obey, because now I am made to love. I'm made to love the Lord. And what does he say at the end? He says, let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart. So not just my external acts and my works, but now my whole being and my whole heart is changed. Oh Lord, oh Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer. This is a declaration in and of itself. of the assurance David had that God had answered his prayer. Because he asked God to deliver him, and asked God to hold him back, and asked God to keep him from sin, and then he says, you are my rock and my redeemer, you've done these things for me. This is the assurance that the scriptures give. So this is my question for you this morning. Do you know the Lord? Have you heard the creation around you? Have you come to the word to learn about the Lord? And if you have and have not yet responded with, Lord, my sin is so vast, please save me from it. Then come and do that today. Repent today. And we'll close with the first line of a hymn, come my soul, thy soup prepared. Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray, therefore, will not say thee nay. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing on the Word of God that teaches us about our own sin and about your glory and your righteousness and our need for a Savior. We're thankful that David was able to see your glory in creation and able to understand with great wisdom the benefits and the instruction that comes from reading the Word of God and his prayer and proclamation at the end that he was redeemed. We ask that this would be true of each one of our souls and that each person in this room, each person listening to this sermon, each child, each adult, male and female, old and young, we ask that each of them would meet you in the Word and in the scriptures this morning. and that they would hear the warnings that are clearly laid out in scripture, and that they would come without haste. In Jesus' name, amen.
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