God Speaks

Call to Worship: Psalm 16:11 // Prayer

Adoration: Lord God, we praise you as our merciful Father! We were not your children by nature, but you made us your children through your mercy. As you raised your Son from the grave, so you have also made known to us the path of life, and given us your Spirit to follow him in it; as your Son returned to the eternal fulness of Joy he has had in your presence since before all time, so also you have given us access to this joy unspeakable and full of glory—which will one day be completely ours!

Confession: And so, with this assurance of your love, we approach you also to confess our sins. As you know far better than us, our hearts still bear the stains of the old nature—still have so much pride in them, so much selfishness in them, so much unbelief in them. And so we have failed, in many ways this week, to walk the path of life in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus. Father, forgive us, for in these things we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet we have confidence in your forgiveness, for your Son has suffered once for sins, your righteous Son for us unrighteous sinners, and so he has redeemed us and brought us to you!

Supp: And walking in joy in this forgiveness, we praise you! And we especially lift up to you the mothers and fathers in our midst: we ask that you would give them wisdom and passion for communicating this gospel of forgiveness to their children; and we ask that your Spirit would work in the hearts of every child connected to this congregation, that you would mercifully open their eyes to your saving glory, that they might come to faith while young, that we might have the privilege of watching them grow in faith and grace to the praise of your glory // and we lift up to you our brothers and sisters in Bethany Bible Church: we ask that you would encourage and build up the hearts of these saints in your gospel, with all joy and holiness and endurance in faith, and with boldness to spread your gospel // and we bring before you the church in the Nation of Israel and in the other regions of Palestine: we ask that these brothers and sisters of ours might be strengthened supernaturally to be a light of your gospel in the midst of the darkness of that place // and in our own country, we bring before you the horror of abortion: for those mothers and fathers who have done this, but who have turned to you for mercy, we ask a full assurance of your grace in their hearts; for those who have done this and have not repented, we ask for your Spirit to graciously convict them and bring them to turn to you, that they might find mercy and forgiveness; and we ask that, in your mercy, you would protect the lives of unborn children in our country by causing this practice to be put to an end // and now, resting these requests before your mighty throne, we ask that you would aid us by your Spirit to grow in wisdom and grace as we hear from your Word...

Announcements

Memorize Psalm 19 this summer!

Harry’s Memorial Service is this Saturday: his family has asked us (his spiritual family) to provide dessert—please coordinate w/ Carolyn

Riot & Dance: Water movie night June 27—a movie which is a wonderful example of hearing God speak in the beauty of his creation; food provided… please RSVP & feel free to share with friends

Benediction

Psalm 19:14 ESV

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

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Sermon

Introduction

What’s the point of beauty? And what’s the point of truth? And why do truth and beauty matter for us?

Well, there’s a certain kind of experience that I hope you’ve had at least once in your life.

It’s the feeling you get when you’re out in the wilderness—far away from any city lights—and you look up. Or you’re out at sea at night, and it’s so dark that you can’t even see the waves, and you look up. And you see the beauty of the night sky in all its splendor—all the stars and galaxies shining in that fathomless deep darkness.

Or maybe, during the day, you’ve hiked up a mountain to viewpoint where you can see the whole sweep of the valley below for miles. And you just want to stand there, taking it all in.

Or maybe, for the first time, you’ve noticed the beauty of a moss-covered tree or a clump of purple foxgloves. Or maybe it’s the glory of a horse or a deer or some other animal.

Whatever it is, you see it, and the beauty of it stops you. Your heart demands an extra moment to soak it in.

But then, there’s another experience I hope you’ve had also—it’s what happens when God’s Truth comes in and takes hold of your heart:

Maybe you were walking off into a prideful attitude, and some passage of Scripture exposed it in a way that brought you to your knees seeking God’s mercy and help. It’s a painful experience, yet so very good, because the whole time you know that God’s going to bring you safely through it, and revive your soul to a much better place than before.

Or maybe you felt buried beneath the weight of the world—some horrible hardship, and you felt like you were drowning—and then some promise of God’s grace, some reminder of his glory in the scriptures, broke through your gloom and enlightened your eyes.

Now, at first glance, those are two different kinds of experiences: the delight you experience when you encounter the beauty of the natural world, and the joy that God’s truth brings to your heart. But really, they are not so different. At the most basic level, they are the same: it is your soul encountering the words of God—the speech of God.

Theologians like to say it this way: God wrote two books: The Book of Nature, and the Book of Scripture. And both books speak, if we have ears to hear. They communicate to us God’s own truth and God’s own beauty. And that’s what our Psalm this morning is about.

But again, why do these things matter for us? Why do we need to hear these two books speak? Why do we need this truth and this beauty? Well, one reason is because our hearts and our world are laced with ugliness and deception, and so we need God to speak. And as our psalm for this morning will show us:

We need the beauty of Nature to speak, that our hearts might brought to see the glory of nature’s Creator: God.

And we then need the truth of Scripture to speak, that our might turn upward to seek God’s mercy and help.

And so, to sum all that up, here’s what we’re going to see in Psalm 19: Listening to Nature and Scripture compels us to seek forgiveness, holiness, and true worship.

Nature Testifies to God’s Glory

Well, this all begins with an amazing statement in verse 1:

Psalm 19:1 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

So what is that? Is it just some flowery poetry that doesn’t really mean much?

No. It’s actually a very profound truth. But to get it, you’ve got recognize what’s going on:

The heavens—meaning, the sky—are personified. They’re spoken of as if they are people, capable of declaring something to you. And the reason David described them that way was because he wanted you to see that they do communicate something very clearly and loudly: the glory of God.

But how does that work? Well, the cliffnotes version is this: all things are from God. All life and all beauty is continually given by the infinite God to all his creation. And that means that any glory or beauty that you encounter out in Nature is derived from the beauty of God himself. Any beauty you see in the world is some kind of shadow of his infinite glory.

So then, when you look up at the sky—day or night—the staggering beauty and majesty that you see there is declaring to you that there is a God of infinite beauty and majesty. “The Heavens declare the glory of God.”

We live in a clinical culture. A culture which so often says that things are just things, and have no meaning. But Psalm 19, verse 1, comes thundering in and breaks that apart, and in some sense tells us what we already know: those distant stars and galaxies are far more than mere collections of gas molecules hanging in space. They are from the hand of God, who spoke them into existence as an overflow of his love and for the display of his glory. And so it says:

Psalm 19:2 ESV

Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

God’s book of nature has many wonderful things to show you, if you have ears to hear and eyes to see.

And no one is ultimately isolated from this:

Psalm 19:3–4 ESV

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 end of the world.

God’s book of nature has always been declaring his glory to all people everywhere.

And then the Psalm gives a specific example of how this works. It says:

Psalm 19:4–6 ESV

In them [in the heavens] 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 image there—of the sunrise as a bridegroom emerging from his chamber—is an image of noble glory. And the image of a strong man—meaning a warrior or a hero—running his path with joy, adss a sense of power and vitality and potency.

But you look at all of that—the glory of the Sun in the sky—and again, it’s speaking of something greater than itself. It’s pointing to the one who gives it its glory. It’s pointing to the God of infinite glory, who has absolute and utterly complete life and joy within himself, and whose power and potency are infinite.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Do you read the Book of Nature in this way? Do you see it and hear it and smell it and touch it as a glorious hymn to the praise of God? Kids, do realize that’s what you’re seeing when you go on a hike? The beautiful little wildflowers by the side of the path are worth paying attention to because they are a marvelous window into the beauty of God himself—the one who made you! Parents: teach your kids to see Nature in this way! John Calvin said:

The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary II. Study in Contrast: The Reformers, Calvin and Luther

there is nothing so obscure or despised, even in the most confined corners of the earth, wherein there is not some mark of God’s might and wisdom to be seen.

It’s everything from the vibration patterns of a bumble bee’s wings to the crystalline structure of a metal alloy you’re welding on to the tastes and textures of the fruit in the u-pick fields next door to the design of the dandelion growing in a crack of your driveway.

God’s creation everywhere speaks about his glory, for those with eyes to see. Nature testifies to God’s glory.

God’s Word (Emphasis on Law) Instructs in True Righteousness

But John Calvin is also famous for explaining this: that ‘The better we know God, the better we know ourselves.’ And that very much applies here.

Once you begin to see God as the Eternal One who made all things, you begin to see yourself as his creature—which is what you are. You begin to wonder, ‘Who is he? Why did he make me? How can I know him? What does it mean to be his creature?’

And by the way, this can be very useful while sharing the gospel. Maybe you’re talking to someone who isn’t even sure if God exists. Point to the beauty of Creation. Ask where they think all this beauty and complexity and design came from: Where is the glory of the natural world from? It’s not a result of mindless processes! In every other situation, you always assume that beauty and design have a source. It is no different in the Book of Nature! The glory of the natural world comes from and reflects the glory of God himself.

But that’s not just for evangelism. We, brothers and sisters, can look at the Book of Nature and read it and see his glory in it and be reminded that he is God, and we are his creatures. And that makes us want to know him more, which makes us desire his second book: the Book of Scripture.

And so David switches, in verse 7, from the Book of Nature to the Book of Scripture—the Bible:

Psalm 19:7–8 ESV

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;

Now, this is a typical kind of Hebrew poetry. One single idea is taken, and held up like a jewel, and rotated four different ways to show its different facets. And the single idea here is the redeeming effect of Scripture on those who listen to it.

And notice the four different words used here to describe Scripture:

The first one, in verse 7, is the word “Law,” which refers to the first five books of the Bible. It was a common way of referring to those books. And those books contain both rules that were for God’s Old Covenant people to obey, and also promises for God’s people to trust, that God would one day redeem them. Both rules to follow and promises of redemption.

The next word, also in verse 7, is testimonies, which also has the wider sense of both God’s rules for us and the testimony of what he’s done to save us.

The two words in verse 8—precepts and commandments—are words that focus more specifically on God’s rules for his people.

And so this section is really talking about all of Scripture—both rules and promises of redemption—but with a special focus on rules. And it’s saying that Scripture has a redeeming effect.

And what exactly is that redeeming effect? Well, here’s what we get from verses 7, 8, and 9—several different angles on the same basic thing:

First, because Scripture is perfect, it revives the soul.

What does that mean? It means that Scripture turns our hearts back to God.

God’s laws, when we read them, shine the light of righteousness onto our actions and words and thoughts. And the result is that our sinful thoughts and words and actions are exposed to us for what they are. And it can be a painful experience—but it leads us to turn back to God and seek his mercy.

In other words, Scripture leads us to repent—to see our souls revived.

Second, because Scripture is sure—because it is rock-solid trustworthy—it makes the simple wise. In other words, you come along and you don’t really know the true nature of things and so you’re ignorant of the wise way to live in God’s world, but Scripture changes you. It shows you the path of wisdom.

Third, because Scripture is right, it brings joy. It is wonderfully satisfying to the soul to see the rightness of God’s laws and to embrace them. It’s a joyful thing, especially compared to the misery that sin brings into your life.

Fourth, because Scripture is pure, it brings light to the eyes. In other words, Scripture’s purity makes it like a light that shows our eyes the truth about ourselves and the truth about God.

And the result of all these things is to reveal God’s goodness and power and glory to us in a way that goes beyond what the first book—the Book of Nature—can do. For those with ears to hear, Scripture brings us closer in, showing us the fearful and beautiful reality of God’s glory. And so, verse 9 says,

Psalm 19:9 ESV

the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

So then, the redeeming effect of Scripture is this:

It shows us the unspeakable glory of God—and specifically, the rules in Scripture show us God’s righteousness—

And the effect of this is to put a reverent fear of God into our hearts. And this is a fear, as you find it described in the Bible, which fears to offend God, which desires to see more of his glory, and which submits itself reverently to him, as Thomas Aquinas so helpfully explained it.

And it is so good. It’s really just another angle on something the Bible talks about in a lot of different ways—the soul’s rest in God. It’s the human heart, lifted up from all the cares and anxieties and deceptions of the world around us to God, and to a God-saturated, God-desiring view of things. The Fear of the Lord, the heart’s true resting place. This is the greatest treasure.

But I do want to stop here for a moment and make sure you understand how this works:

You encounter God’s law. It shows you what true righteousness really is.

And that does two things: it shows you all the ways that you yourself fall short of being good, and at the same time it shows you the pure and wonderful goodness of God. And so it expands your knowledge of God and your knowledge of yourself beyond what the heavens can do by declaring God’s glory.

And in a moment, we’ll see how this works itself out in the human heart.

But notice, this also is useful for evangelism.

Say you’re talking to someone who believes God exists, but doesn’t see his own sin. Bring the pure & perfect Law of God into the conversation. Has he ever had a lustful thought? According to Jesus’ teachings, that’s heart-level adultery. Has he ever gotten angry with someone? According to Jesus, that’s heart-level murder.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a cleaned up exterior: the Law of God cuts through to the messed-up reality of your heart. All the prideful thoughts. All the selfish motivations. All the hidden moments in your brain that no one else has ever seen.

And what this does is it exposes the truth: we all are sinners. We’ve all broken God’s good law much more than we realize. And when you hear that truth from Scripture, it starts to shift your heart. You start to sense your need for God’s mercy.

And by the way, that also isn’t just for folks that haven’t believed yet. It’s for believers too. We also need to have the layers peeled back from our hearts, week in and week out, to repent and grow in Christ.

And so, David says, the law of God is

Psalm 19:10 ESV

More to be desired... than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

Are you rich? That’s fine. But I hope you’d trade it all in just for the chance to read the Book of Scripture, and to encounter God there.

Are you going to eat a nice lunch after this church today? Wonderful. But I hope you can see that the Word of God is dripping with depth of flavor that even South Store Cafe can’t compete with.

It shows us God’s righteousness, it helps us turn from sin, it gives us the treasure of wisdom, it helps us find blessing in keeping God’s law, it gives joy to the heart and light to the eye, and it build up in our hearts the fear of the Lord.

Listening to Scripture compels us toward God.

Our Response: Seeking Forgiveness, Holiness, and a Worshipful Heart

OK. So these are the two books: the Book of Nature, that proclaims God’s glory, and the Book of Scripture, that proclaims God’s righteousness. But when you receive the words of these two books, it has a very particular effect on your soul.

You begin to see God as glorious and righteous, and then you look at yourself and you see yourself as a mere creature, and as someone who is not righteous at all. You see more and more of the impurity in your own heart, and as your sight of that grows, you seek more and more God’s merciful help.

And here in verses 12-14, David seeks that help from God in three ways:

First, he seeks forgiveness for his sin. He says:

Psalm 19:12 ESV

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

What’s his point there? As he’s listened to God’s law, it has diagnosed his heart on levels he never expected. He’s come to realize that there are depths of his heart that he can’t even grasp, sinful inclinations toward pride or idolatrous thought-habits or whatever that he hasn’t even seen yet: “hidden faults” he calls them.

“Who can discern his errors?” he says. And the implication is, “no one.” None of us here in this room have learned all the errors of our hearts—but they are errors and sins all the same. There can be only one recourse: to cry out to God for mercy.

“Declare me innocent!” says David, in spite of the fact that he has sinned. He’s asking God to do what only God can do: remove the guilt of our sin.

And in one sense, that’s what happens when you become a Christian: you see yourself as a sinner and realize that you need God’s forgiveness; you appeal to him to declare you innocent; and then the death of Jesus in your place—the fact that Jesus took onto himself the guilt that belonged to you—that is applied to you, and you are forgiven and redeemed. God then becomes your Rock and your Redeemer, and you enter into fellowship with him.

But in another sense, it’s an ongoing thing in the Christian life: you come face-to-face with a hidden fault in your heart, you realize that you’ve sinned against God, and you come to him for forgiveness. And he is faithful to forgive, for it has all already been forgiven in Christ.

But second, David seeks God’s help for righteous living. He says:

Psalm 19:13 ESV

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.

So this is a different category of sin—presumptuous sin. This is not a sinful attitude you discover deep in your heart, but a sin you find yourself choosing to do. It’s something you do and you know it’s wrong while you’re doing it.

And the danger of such sins is not only in the act itself, but in the damage they can do to your heart. They shape you in such a way that next time, you’re more and more likely to go and do the same thing. And over time, your heart becomes calloused, and the sin gains control over you. And it’s a dangerous situation.

David sees that and rightly fears it. And so he cries out to God for help: ‘keep me back from such sin!’ Rather than be destroyed by sin, he wants to live a blameless life—which doesn’t really mean a perfect life, but just a life where you regularly turn away from sin because you want to please God.

But he realizes his own weakness, which is why he cries out desperately to God for help. God, who made himself our Rock and our Redeemer by giving us his Son to save us, will certainly also do this. When we cry to him, he will help us, and will teach over time how to live a life worthy of the gospel.

And this applies to anything. Do you struggle with habits of bitterness? With pornography? With anger? With stealing? With an addiction to social media? Step two is often seeking help from a pastor or another mature believer. But step one is crying out to the Lord for help.

And he is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

And third, David seeks a worshipful heart. Think about all this. If God is as glorious as the heavens declare he is; and if he is as righteous as his law shows that he is; and if he really overflows with so much mercy that he would save sinners like us, then isn’t he worthy of worship? Shouldn’t we long to please him with our whole lives? That’s the feeling that David has here. He delights in all that God is. And so he says:

Psalm 19:14 ESV

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

Do you see that? David wants his whole life, down to the meditations of his heart, to be acceptable—or you could say, pleasing—in the view of God.

In that way, God’s Book of Nature and God’s Book of Scripture drive us to seek forgiveness, holy lives, and worshipful hearts. God’s two books drive us to seek redemption from him.

Conclusion

And so it comes back to the experience of God’s two books. When you see beauty and power on display in the natural world, take the time to stop and experience it and delight in the glory of God in it. And when you approach Scripture, come to it with a desire to see God’s goodness, and so to experience the revival of your soul.

When you’ve caught a glimpse of God’s glory and righteousness in this way, it will give you not only a deeper knowledge of God, but also a deeper knowledge of yourself as his creature, and as a sinner in need of his redemption. And this will compel you to seek God’s mercy and help—Listening to Nature and to Scripture makes us seek forgiveness, holiness, and worship.