Psalm chapter 19 starting at verse number 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day utter speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where the voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. And them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting, returning the soul, if you would, returning the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Statutes 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 judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb if Solomon had just listened to that maybe a little bit more more overheat by them he is is thy servant warned and in great or in keeping of them either is great reward who can understand his heirs cleanse thou me from secret faults keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in my sight oh lord my strength and my redeemer it was blessing to the weather reading of his wonderful word this psalm is exciting continuing on just a bit just a little bit of a little bit that's like a porcupine a little bit of a review first of all there's god's revelation in the sky and verse one there's this unmistakable witness declare means to number or to take an account of or to reason And so heavens, and that word heaven, we find it first in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That's where we find that word heaven, first of all. Handy work simply means work, needle work at one point in time. Even said of Job in Job chapter one, verse 10, regarding Job's life. showeth that means to to be conspicuous so the heavens declare the glory of god and the firmament conspicuously showeth his handiwork and so that what a wonderful verse this is what a what an awesome god that we have It's interesting regarding the awesomeness of God. There was a Dr. Louis Thomas who in a book called Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony and found in the Reader's Digest in April of 84, he says, he tells of the amazing beetle which depends upon the mimosa tree for breeding. So the female beetle, as he describes it, goes and cuts a slit, crawls on top of a branch, goes out on a branch, and then she cuts a slit in the branch and deposits her larva in there. He says there's three consecutive thoughts she has. The first one is to deposit her eggs. Secondly, she crawls back on the branch. a little bit and then she starts digging a little trench takes her about eight hours to dig a trench around the branch and then the branch falls off onto the ground and then she's able to uh have to multiply her young if you would the branch dies and falls off allowing the her young to survive So as the doctor would say, lucky evolution would have it that way, there's this mimosa tree is there for her to use. Interestingly enough, unpruned, the mimosa tree lives about 25, 30 years, but with pruning can live up to 100 years with pruning. So it just so happened that a little beetle has three consecutive thoughts. I've got to lay my eggs, I lay my eggs, got to go back a foot, cut it off, read around there, continue, let it fall off, and that's how I'm going to populate with more beetles. And so this Dr. Lewis, he says, Lewis Thomas, says those three things are linked together and how they emerge in an evolutionary mind. He's just quite unsure. His quote regarding all this, he says, it is good for us to have these things around as this insect and It's partner tree for they keep reminding us how little we know about nature. And I would say they keep astounding us because of the amazing wonderfulness of our God that he would plan to have the mimosa tree and they reject all the trees. It's gotta be this particular mimosa tree and they are pruned and they last a long time. It's just God is awesome God. So let's not succumb to the evolutionary mindset. So you go from the little beetle who populates itself by burying its larva in a slit in a branch, goes back, cuts the branch off, the branch falls, to the stars. And so we have the biggest star in the known universe is 1,700 times larger than our sun. In other words, the radius is. So 5 billion of our suns could fit in this one star, 5 billion. And how big is that? Well, we could put 1.3 million of the Earth's in our sun. and five billion sons in this store. And yet God watches over that, and yet God watches over the beetle who helps to prune the mimosa tree. So the unmistakable witness, too, is the untiring witness. Day unto day utter speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. I like what Spurgeon said. Though all preachers on earth should grow silent and every human mouth cease from publishing the glory of God, the heavens above will never cease to declare and proclaim His majesty and glory. They are forever preaching, for like an unbroken chain, their message is delivered day to day, night to night." And it's present perfect, I believe there, so it's continually. So every time we look at the heavens, they're always declaring the glory of God, and the firmament is always showing us the idea of His handiwork. So that's the untiring witness. Third is the understandable witness in 3, chapter 19, verse 3. there is no speech or language where the voice is not heard their line their measuring line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world in them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun there was isaac newton had had developed and set up a a replica of the solar system with the sun in the middle. Now, we would take for granted the sun would be in the middle. However, as you well know, if you study science at all, for the longest time, they believed everything revolved around the Earth. But now, and Isaac Newton said, no, it's around the sun. So he had made an exquisite model. And so one day, one of the co-teachers at the university walked into his room and said, my, what an exquisite thing this is. Who made it? And Newton responded, why, nobody. And the guy said, who was an unbeliever, the guy said, you must think I'm a fool. Of course, somebody made it. And he's a genius. Laying his book aside, Newton arose and Isaac Newton laid his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, this thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system. whose laws you and I know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker, yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker, he says. Now tell me, by what sort of reasoning do you reach such incongruous conclusions?" If so, if you have this as design, obviously somebody made that model solar system, but then why can't we believe that somebody also made this? I would just read a sad statistic yesterday, according to Wikipedia, now we don't always trust Wikipedia, but here's the percentage. Nearly, regarding evolution, nearly all, 97% of the scientific community accepts evolution as the dominant scientific theory of biological diversity. 87% accepting that evolution then recurs through such things as natural processes and natural selection. In the beginning God created, and that should be enough for us, but it's not. Man is willingly ignorant, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, There's a film about a couple who went to New Guinea, and they were telling the Papua New Guineans, telling the natives there about God, about creation. And it came to the point where they said, well, you know, many back in our own country believe that we descended from apes. And the New Guineans who had been listening started laughing and mocking at those who would believe. They said, how stupid is that? Anyone should be able to look at the awesomeness and complexity of our creation and conclude that there is a creator. Someone, why is it we can, somebody made the pew, the table, all these different things, the mic, this, but why is it when it comes to creation, oh, that just happened? And so, you wonder why America, let's take for just a moment. Let's say you had designed this, right here, let's say you had designed this little wonderful invention of a pop top for cleaners. And then all of a sudden, everybody started, 97% of the people in America said, oh no, this pop top just sort of happened one day, or I made it, or Mr. Stevens actually made it, or Stephanie Wright actually made it, You know what, I'm just taking my pop-top back and going home. Can you imagine now God, who made us, and now we as a country, if perhaps 97% is true, we have rejected the very God who made us. You wonder why God's hands are just maybe a little bit off and let you go your own way? How would you feel? Mr. Stevens made, it's his, he's got a patent, oh no. I believe that just sort of happened through some other means. And we believe that more than the truth. And so, it's sort of a huge slap in the face, if you would, to say it respectively or disrespectively to God. But our minds have been tainted, they've been warped, they've been closed, Satan's so clever. Verse five, which is as a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber, continuing our understandable witness, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race. So God has assigned a place for the sun to occupy and its course to run, the whole sky, sort of like its field to run in. But now what if the sun wobbled? do we have the fear that wake up tomorrow morning and the sun has wobbled coming out of the gate and our earth is completely destroyed and and we're just don't have any the normal seasons that aren't going to happen anymore do we have a fear of that and is there a precedent for you saying no is there a precedent that says you know we don't have to worry about that yes there is hold your finger there and look back at genesis 8 22 There is a precedent for this, Genesis 8, 22. They come off the ark, no worships God, while the earth remaineth seed, time, and harvest, and cold, and heat, and summer, and winter, and day, and night shall not cease. So, I don't have to worry, we can go to, when's the last time you thank God the sun stays in the same course? When's the last time we thanked God that he's holding our, upholding all things by the word of his power, that you don't so, like sadly the submarine did it last week, that sort of imploded on. If God doesn't hold you together, you implode. And so God's upholding not only us, but the world. Spurgeon says, a bridegroom comes forth sumptuously appareled, his face beaming with a joy which he imparts to all around. Such, but with a mighty emphasis, is the rising S.U.N. sun. As a champion girt for running, cheerfully addresses himself to the race, so does the sun speed onward with matchless regularity and unwearying swiftness in his appointed orbit. It is but mere play to him. There are no signs of effort, flagging, or exhaustion, all of which we take for granted every day." I've been at it on here pretty much. What about if he got out of line? The world does not even grasp that we are here, and the same speed, and the same gravity, and the same air is continuous. God did that for us. Try to plop yourself out in any other plant in our solar system and see if you can plop on there and live normally. You can't. This is God's centerpiece, if you would, of the, I believe, entire universe. A little poet said this. Thou son of this great world, both eye and soul, acknowledge him thy greater, sound his praise, both when thou climest and when high noon hast gained and when thou fallest. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. And so the Son rejoices as a strong man to run a race, as a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber. Verse 6, his going forth is from the end of heaven and his circuit, or circuit of time or space, until the ends or extremity of it. And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. It was a backwards country, a missionary was trying to impress a chief with the nature of the God of the Bible. And the chief pointed to his homemade, handmade God, said, these are my gods, now you show me your God and I might believe in him. The missionary explained very patiently, well, you know, I just can't show you our God is invisible. By the way, is there biblical support that our God is invisible or can't be seen? Yes. Jot down 1 Peter 6, verse 16. Is there a precedent when we say that God is invisible? Yes. Revealed in the Son? Yes. But the Son is now in heaven with His Father, the Father, who only hath immortality, 6, 16 of 1 Timothy, dwelling in light which no man can approach unto whom no man has seen nor can see. So there is a precedent that our God, the Father, is invisible. Now the Son would be invisible, except that what? He tabernacled among us and took the form of a servant and became in the likeness of man and now forever will have a body like ours. which is amazing thought by itself. So back to our story. The chief was unimpressed. He said, I can see my gods. Show me yours. The missionaries, I cannot show you my god, but I can show you one of his messengers. Let me blindfold you here in the hut, and I will lead you to one of the messengers or great minister of my god. The chief said, OK. So in the hut, he put the blindfold around the chief, and he took him outside the hut. It was midday, blazing sun, and he pulled the blindfold out, and the chief looks up at the sun for just a moment, and then he staggers back, and the missionary says, see that this is but one of the servants of my God. That is why you cannot see him. Can you imagine trying to, even outshining the brightness of the sun, seeing God? And our eyes now would be burnt to a crisp in just a moment, wouldn't they? Trying to see into the sun? We're 93 million miles from the sun. And yet it is so powerful that to look at it for a short time can certainly make you go blind long enough. So our God is a great God, and the Son, S-U-N, is one of the ministers to show us how great our God is. And there's a beautiful parallel between heaven of grace and the heaven of nature. God's way of grace is sublime and broad and full of His glory in all its displays. It is to be admired and studied with diligence. Both its lights and its shades are instructive. It has proclaimed in a measure to every people and in every time shall be more completely published even to the ends of the earth." But God's grace is amazing. God's creation is amazing. What a wonderful parallel between God's creation declaring His God, the glory of God, and the grace of God. That was all under the first main point. We've got two main points. The second one is God's revelation of himself in the scriptures. The first was God's revelation of himself in the sky. The second is God's revelation of himself in the scriptures. So the heavens are declaring with apodictic certainty. Now that simply means that it's incontrovertible, which means it's true beyond any question. So when I say it's, I can say with apodictic certainty, my wife would not drink anything out of this bottle. I can say it, I know it. I've offered it to her many times. She always says, no matter if she's dying of thirst, I am not drinking out of that bottle. So I can say with apodictic certainty, she'll say no. I can say with apodictic certainty that God is the creator of all. There's no question. He has authority over it all. You say, but what about if man rebels? Man is foolish. Or what about if an angel of God rebels? Foolishness. We've seen that happen. The highest angel of all rebelled against God, and he now is the greatest demon of all, if you would. Authority belongs to our God. No human or angelic usurper will be successful. The late Bill Clem was a major league umpire, and he had the ability to stare the coaches of the baseball teams back into the dugout. He was very authoritative. He was in control when he was behind the plate. On one occasion, it was the ninth inning, and there was a critical game, and the batter hit the ball to left field. And the guy on third base starts heading to home, the left fielder grabs it and throws it home. There's huge collision at home plate, and the batter, or the runner's down on the ground, the catcher's down on the ground, and the umpire's down on the ground. And one side, he's out. He's safe. And of course, the crowd is out and safe. And all these things are going on. Finally, Mr. Clem picks himself up and he shakes his fist at the stands and says, he ain't nothing till I've called it. He has the authority. He ain't nothing till I've called it. Listen, God has the authority to declare how things are to go because he's the maker of it all. David thrills to the revelation of God himself in the sky, but there's even a greater revelation. We might call this general revelation, God in the sky, but now we would meet the more special revelation, how the word of God has come to us. So first of all then, verses seven to 10, God's word is precious. It is interesting, if you look back in Genesis 1, verse 16, even though these stars are so many, perhaps as the grains on the seashores of the world, that many stars in the universe, which just, I can't even fathom that, even though the sun and moon are so great, God spends one part of one verse. 16 of Genesis 1, made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. And he doesn't stop and say, hey, let me just start by telling you. There's a star out there that one day your telescopes are going to see. It's going to be 5 billion of your suns can fit in that star, and 1.3 million of your earth can fit in that sun. He doesn't say that. He made the stars also, and God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light. He does a show of this wonderful creation of which I think, personally, we very well may be colonizing. I'm not saying we're maybe not exactly like that, but sort of going to the stars across the universe. We have eternity. Perhaps there's other places that we're going to. I don't know. But I think he would make them for a purpose. God never does something purposeless. So very possibly, and Henry Morris, I got the idea from Henry Morris, some far, greatly, much, much higher level of intelligence. And he thinks maybe, very possibly, we'll be in the stars for, you know, working in the stars for eternity and then gathering, I believe, once every seven days we'll gather to worship God and go up to Jerusalem and the whole, Creation, mankind especially, will be worshiping God for a day during, I think the seven days are going to be something we have for eternity. Seven day weeks. We get that from the Psalms. But God's Word is precious. However, beyond, but we can plot that. The astronomers can tell when a comet comes through or how big our Earth is, et cetera. We can plot that, but there's something far greater than that, and that is the nature of God. Heaven tells about his awesomeness. We look at the stars, we look at our own Earth, we look at the little beetle, we look at all the different flies, all the different things God has made, and how many, the infinite, and we just saw a little deer this morning, and how, I'm watching the little animal videos, and how that, just the way God has made animals to work so perfectly. And yet, what about God? How about his omniscience? He's a God of infinite order, yes, but not only what He has wrought, but now what He has written. You might call it special revelation again. One reason that the Word is greater than revelation and creation is that it tells us so much more about God. It reveals Him as the covenant God of love, reflected in the structure of the psalm. Back over to our psalm, chapter 19, verse 1. Psalm 19, verse 1. We find there the heavens declare the glory of El, God. So that's like the most generic name for God in describing this part of the creation order. The law of the Lord. Now this is the covenant keeping. The law of the Lord is perfect. El is even more common than Elohim. And so we find the law of the Lord is perfect. His love, His faithfulness, I like what Spurgeon said, he is wisest who reads both the world book and the word book as two volumes of the same work and feels concerning them that my father wrote them both. He did, he wrote them both, the revelation of God to mankind and also the revelation, the general relation of creation. So God's precious word in verse seven, it challenges us God's Word speaks to life's greatest need. It speaks more authority and with greater insight than the social scientist or the behavioral psychologist, the materialistic philosopher, or the world's religious system. For it speaks with the voice of God. And that's what we need to hear. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. And so sometimes where I'm working, it depends on how much I want, I will say to the aging director, I'll say, well, now, Nicole, I'll say, now, you need to call her because she'll need to hear it from you, or she needs someone with more authority than me. And then if we really, let's get the director to call, or get the director to sign, or he has to sign. So there is these God speaks with, the law of the Lord is perfect. That word there, the law is Torah, however you want to pronounce it. The law means law, direction, or instruction. Perfect means to complete, whole, or entire, or sound. So the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting. That word means returning, and I like that idea. Conversion, people need to be converted, but converting is returning back to the law of God. The law of the Lord is perfect, returning back to the law of God. there's no redundancies and no omissions in the word of God and in the plan of grace, then why then do men try to paint this lily and gild this refined gold? The gospel is perfect in all its parts, perfect as a whole. It is a crime to add to it, treason to alter it, and a felony to take from it. And that's what it is. Why are we thinking we can somehow change it, subvert it, reinterpret it over to our own liking, etc.? The word converting literally means bringing back, returning to turn back. As the sun returns to the heavens, so God's word returns the sinner to God. He's brought back, converted. Wisdom replaces folly. The great function of God's word is conversion, is to enlighten the mind, darkened by the world's philosophies. And look at 2 Corinthians chapter 12, please. 2 Corinthians 12, I think it actually is 4, 3, 4, 3. 2 Corinthians 4, 3. But if our gospel, reading from 2 Corinthians 4, 3, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your servant for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power of maybe of God and not of us. blinded the minds of them which believe not and you have those and if you've been following anything the news this week there's been four or five conservative rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and they're going to be those who are going to wail and cry because the saving of a human life, but we want our own, I think the individual autonomy has become almost the sacred cow of many today. This is still a child in the womb, oh no, oh no, we don't want to talk about that, we want to talk about what I can, instead of, I don't understand, do you see people who respond in such a way, how do they ever get to that point of thinking? Satan's blinded, our minds have been blinded. They've not seen the light of the gospel. That's why it's a sword. See, this is a scaffold. Scaffold? Scaffold? Scaffold? Not a scaffold, but a scalpel. Thank you, a scalpel. I'm not trying to scalp anybody either, but a scalpel. And so when you read this, the Holy Spirit takes this and brings that conviction. This is what the only thing I believe, you know, this is the only thing for America that's going to help America right here. It's God's Word. Returning to ontology. Ontology simply means the way things are. I'm returning to there is but male and female, and there is but this, and there is but that. And what the Bible says, but they've been so blinded, the truth of God's word is not even on the table, if you would, in many regards. You find the Bible opposes all man's theories with the authoritative, thus saith the Lord. It cuts right through our own ideology. The Holy Spirit can take that. That's why it's so important when you and I witness to people. The Bible says this. The Bible says that. The unconverted man rambles down the kinds of religious, philosophical, ideological blind alleys. He has his own notion about sin and self and salvation. But God's Word is a power to challenge all of that. It brings and convicts and brings them back to the point of departure from the divine truth. So, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. So, He brings that soul back. When they read the Word of God, hear the Word of God preached authoritatively in love, the Holy Spirit takes that and the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, returning them back to a biblical thinking. The practical effect of the Word of God then is to turn the man to himself, to his God, to holiness, and to turn or convert. It's not just outwardly alone. It's moved and renewed. Our soul is converting the soul. The great means, and when I said the conversion of sinners is the Word of God, and the more closely we keep to it in our ministry, the more likely we are to be successful. This is to be the principal piece, the principal part of our message. And I was thinking just this week, as I started preparing messages, it needs a lot more Bible. What you're preparing, Tim, needs a lot more Bible. Because that's what we need to hear. Talking about this morning, in the morning service, righteousness exalts the nation, but sin has reproached any people. I wanted to stick on just that one verse, which I primarily did, but there's a lot of other verses, even in Proverbs alone, about righteous or righteousness exalts someone, and the path to success, or the path to following God, et cetera. And those ways are the ways that God blesses. So it challenges us, and finally, in verse eight, we'll stop at verse eight, it cheers us. Psalm 19, verse 8, back over to Psalm 19, verse 8. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. So the word right there, the Lord, the statutes of the Lord are right, means to make straight, smooth, upright, opposed to the crookedness in mind or conduct, showing what the man should be without and within. So the statutes of the Lord are right. That's how a man becomes an honorable man. He follows the statutes of the Lord. And then there can be people who are moral. Some of the Mormon people are very, very moral. But to be right with God, you can't be apart from God and then be truly right with God. You have to start with salvation. It does. God's word cheers, it rejoices the heart. Can you imagine facing eternity without God's word as your basis? What would we have to look? My goodness, if it wasn't for this, I would be fearful of death. My brother and I were just talking about yesterday about my dad, some thoughts about, and my dad, his favorite color was brown. When's the last time you heard of a person whose favorite color was brown? Well, he did so much digging in the ground and planted and hoed so much, and he liked overcast days. I forgot about that. My dad liked overcast days because he hoed in the garden so much that hot sun was just, et cetera, et cetera. Looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to seeing my parents again. The Word of God. Now, I want to get past that first initial meeting. Now, I got a couple of things, Tim. Once I get past that, correction for the things I did wrong, then we can have a great time. Of course, in heaven, I believe, we'll be doing things perfectly. Anyway, they'll probably just be so happy. Did you ever have your parents so happy you were safe or alive that they forgot to punish you? or they neglected to punish you because they were at me at once or twice in my young days. I was so happy. I was just got home safely or whatever. And I remember I went to the Kentucky ball game and we got home at 2.30 in the morning, which my normal curfew is about 10, maybe 11 on Friday, maybe, maybe 11 at late. And I got home 2.30 and I had no cell phone to call. I had not called her and she was waiting in the living room. Oh, and she was waiting, and she'd been praying for me, I think, like the whole time. And so, I didn't get punished for that. I felt terrible, I still feel terrible today, but I didn't get punished for that, because there's, aren't you glad that God is a God of forgiveness, and we're looking forward to being with Him? Martin Luther tells regarding his conversion, when he saw this, the just shall live by faith, he said these words, before these words broke upon my mind, I hated God. And I was angry with him because not content with frightening us sinners by the law and by the miseries of life, he still further increased our torture by the gospel. But when by the Spirit of God I understood those things, the just shall live by faith, Then I felt born again, like a new man. I entered in by the open doors into the very paradise of God. In truth, this text was to me the true gate of paradise. One hymn writer said, heaven above was deeper blue, earth around was brighter green. Something lived in every hue Christless eyes had never seen. That was Martin Luther. So when he learned that he doesn't have to live in a monastery, doesn't have to do all these things of penance, does not have to walk up all the steps on his knees in Rome to earn his salvation, but to just shall live by faith. Now that was good news. Good news for us. And may we rejoice not only in the God of the world, but also the God of the Word. They're the same God. The heavens declare the glory of our God. Let's pray. Lord, we just thank you for this beautiful psalm. We thank you for your concern for us. That little beetle, you designed that beetle to do that wonderful pruning of the mimosa tree. You designed that star, which I've never seen. I don't think you can see it with the naked eye, but I'm sure the telescopes can see it. This star is so huge beyond our imagination. You watch over them all. You're upholding all things by the word of your power, perhaps out in the expanse of the universe. There are stars even tremendously bigger than that. I don't know. But Lord, you do. And yet you're concerned about me, concerned about each one here. May we honor you with our lives this week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.