Creation's Call, Scriptures Law

Psalm 19 ESV

To the choirmaster. 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 end 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 and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from 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, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, open our eyes to your Word that in it we may Christ, and that He, through His Spirit might deal with our hearts. Amen

Introduction

This following quote comes from CH Spurgeon: “A quiet conscience is a little heaven. A martyr was fastened to the stake, and the sheriff who was to execute him expressed his sorrow that he should persevere in his opinions, and compel him to set fire to the pile. The martyr answered, ‘Do not trouble yourself, for I am not troubling myself. Come and lay your hand upon my heart, and see if it does not beat quietly.’ His request was complied with, and he was found to be quite calm. ‘Now,’ said he, ‘lay your hand on your own heart, and see if you are not more troubled than I am; and then go your way, and, instead of pitying me, pity yourself.’” (Spurgeon)

Today, we are going to be concerned with the matter of the human heart. Not the physical organ beating in your chest, although its disposition is telling of the inner man; but more accurately that sacred seat of emotion that we rely on and bears witness to our innermost hopes, fears, and failures. This morning I am going to show how Psalm 19 is going to connect a funnel from the farthest reaches of creation, move be the heavens that we see here on earth, pass through the written word of God straight into your heart. This morning, if you listen well, you will have to deal with your heart and its own condition in light of the Word of God.

Creation’s Call - VV 1-6

We start this funnel at the outer most reaches of creation.

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

In this first verse we are invited to think about the heavens. Consider the stars you have observed with your own eyes, the beautiful photos of space beyond our solar system. The dust clouds that make up the pillars of creation that stand 4-5 light years tall. Light years! One light year is 5.88 trillion miles! Trillion! Can you fathom? And this is only a slice of what we can see in our sky that boasts anywhere between 1 billion and 2 trillion galaxies! And that’s considering that the edge of the observable universe is 46.5 billion light‑years away from us in every direction. Feel small yet? You should! Because even what we can just see with our naked eye, what the psalmist saw as maybe a shepherd boy in the fields, or possibly as king walking the roof tops (before his gaze fell from the heavens to more worldly things)...imagine David seeing the night sky and thinking… “above me, out there, God’s glory is being shown in His creation!” Does this make your own heart glad? Or fearful?

This is His handiwork! Colossians tells us that it was Christ, speaking the universe into existence, out of nothing, ex nihilo, “out of nothing!” And even now Christ continues to hold all things together by His power.

This is the speech and knowledge that are addressed in verse 2. The fact the the complexity, immensity, and beauty of the universe yells to us that there is a creator God!

It is known whether or not a king is in his palace by a specifc flag or standadrd that is flown in front of it. This is to show the people that the King is physically present or not. Spurgeon would have us know that “these stars flung across the sky are God’s own standard that declares the King is home.” He is present! He is always present over His Creation! The King of all Creation!

The word for God here is “El.” It is generic in its meaning and is the prefix for many names of God including El Shaddai (God Almighty), El Olam (Everlasting God), or El Roi (God who sees), these are a few examples.

This generic name of “El” points to the universal nature of God’s revelation to all of Creation not merely His covenant people.

Psalm 19:3 “There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” - This message is heard.

Not audibly, not as one crying in the wilderness, that comes later in redemptive history. Here, we see creation, and we here God in it! And not simply in the grandeur, but in the rules and laws of nature as well.

Psalm 19:4–5 “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end 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.”

God has created the universe with not just a particular set of laws and rules but the only set of laws and rules that can work in our existence. They govern everything that occurs, whether seen or unseen, known or unknown, understood or not understood by the human mind.

“voice” - in other tranlsation is the word “line” and this literally means a measuring line. This is not controlled chaos here.

(Elementary basketball example)

(Maverick Molecule)

This order in creation is revealed to all.

Romans 1:20–21 “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Man doesn’t acknowledge God! He stops look at the edge of the universe and says “what an amazing coincidence, accident, random collection of chance...” His mind is darkened by his sin.

But if we descend deeper down this funnel we will find our own solar system, and in the middle the amazing common grace of the sun! The “tent” is the dwelling place. Not just the sky itself, but the orbit which the earth is locked into position.

We are given the imagery of a bridegroom, a strong man running - imagery that suggests that this orbit of the sun that God set into motion, just like a bridegroom leaves his chamber in joy at the direction of his father, this contract can only be dissolved by death or divorce. It is a sure thing, set in motion by the father.

Set in motion in the act of creation and declared good and now sustained in creation for the good of all, the saint and sinner. This is what we mean when we talk about common grace.

Matthew 5:45 Jesus says that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

If the sun were to go out right now, it would take about 8 minutes for the last rays of its light to stop hitting us, the photosynthesis stops, so plants can no longer make new energy; crops would fail after using up stored reserves.

Within roughly a week, the global average surface temperature would fall below freezing (around 0 °F or −18 °C), making unprotected outdoor life lethal in most places. Within about a year, average temperatures would fall to around −100 °F (−73 °C), freezing the ocean surface and destroying nearly all surface ecosystems. Most plants would die within weeks; large trees could persist for decades on stored energy, but the food web above them would already have collapsed.

Remember it is His sun and “nothing is hidden from its heat.”

Keep falling down the funnel with me! Because now we leave the realms of general revelation and common grace and fall into God’s special revelation and the grace he extends to us through the Son, Christ Jesus.

(Maverick Molecule Link)

Scripture’s Law - VV 7-10

Draw your attention first to the name of God in verse 7, and throughout the rest of the psalm.

Psalm 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;”

We see the psalmist, and ultimately God, using the proper name for Himself. Yaweh. This is the name with which He reveals Himself to not only His good creation as in Genesis 2:4, but later to His covenant people.

Exodus 3:13–15 “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

What does this God want to reveal? The law.

Let us pause here and examine what we mean when we read this today. To be sure, the psalmist had in mind the scriptures that had been completed up until that time as the law of the Lord; the torah, some historical narrative, and some of the psalms.. We will see it described in many different ways, nuanced throughout the next section, but we must take this to mean not merely the partial or completed Old Testament Scriptures, and not merely the completed New Testament, but also the One who fulfilled all of the Laws demands which is what makes them so wonderful and amazing for us today who claim the name of Christ!

Note the structure in this section where it describes a nuanced name of God’s special revelation (law, testimony, precepts, so on...) gives a description of that facet of scripture (perfect, sure, right, so on....) and then gives a wonderful outcome of what it does in the for the recipient of it!

First we see the “law” or lit. the torah. It is perfect! To what end? To the end it revives or restores the soul. There is nothing needed outside Scripture to come to the saving grace nor to obey God faithfully. Scripture is sufficient for everything needed to live the Christian life! Then and now!

Psalm 1:2–3 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” The Blessed Man

The testimony is sure! Here we have no faulty witness, no shady charlatan in the stand giving questionable answers. God’s testimony is sure! It is, in other words, worthy of our attention and beliefs.

Proverbs - “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.”

From this legal witness comes legally constituted authority in verse 8 through the word “precepts” which are God’s authoritative instructions for righteous living. And let me pause here and address where some of your minds have gone. No, I am not saying that the Christian life is marked my a set of rules that we must follow to earn favor with God. And that is not what this psalm would have us believe. Look at the what the precepts are...the are “right.” This is to say they are straight, level, correct. There is no evil intent or wavering in them. And what do they do? They don’t save, make you clean, earn you favor...they rejoice the heart! Following the righteous instructions of God should rejoice your heart Christian! Like a child pleasing their father out of love, and having the father return that love to his child! This is the relationship we see here. Not a cold checklist of rules and rewards. But love lived out! Remember the nameless martyr and his peace? That only comes from understanding the Word and living the Word faithfully by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s read on!

“The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” This is the Lord telling us what to do! Again, we may think...what a drag! I don’t want to have to do what someone else tell me to do! But what is it? It is “pure.” It is clean. There is no dross left to be refined from it! And the outcome of such commands...we can see! We can see how God wants us to see!

We find the opposite of this in Psalm 50:16 “But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?” - These commandments are not for the wicked! They are for those who seek God for the sake of God, not for their own selfish gain.

There is a seemingly slight departure here from what we would consider “Scripture.”

Psalm 19:9 “the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.”

What do you fear instead of the Lord? Take stock of your heart even now! What does it fear? Man? Sin? War? Poverty? Being found out? Failing your family? What makes your heart beat out of your own control?

How does the “fear of the Lord” fit into this description? We fear God for who He has revealed Himself to be. We could go back and look at creation and determine his invisible attributes as we read in Romans, but it is with the special revelation of God’s holiness that we tremble a revere Him.

Joshua 24:14 ““Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”

This word “clean” is a call to exclusivity in worship! Exclusivity in the focus of the one who deserves our worship and praise and honor and glory. Put away your idols! Fear the God of creation and Yaweh of the Covenant! Why? It endures forever! Truly you will fear Him in the embrace of His love in eternity or fear Him in the eternal punishment of His wrath...again for eternity! And this is even more terrifying as we examine the second part of this verse:

“the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.” - Friends, if God’s rules are true and righteous, we must grapple with the fact that we are not! Did any of the descriptions above meet any of our own attributes as people? Are you perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, or true? We are lacking. It should make us cry out like David does in Psalm 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

But that is what should make these things so desirable to us.

Psalm 19:10 “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”

More precious than gold! Sweeter than the life sustaining sweetness of honey!

Why? Because even though we are none of these things and have no hope in and of ourselves of keeping these commands, they point us to the One who is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, or true. Christ is...

Perfect

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Sure

Hebrews 6:19 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,” - a hope in Christ, our hope

Right

1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Pure

1 John 3:3 “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Clean

John 15:3 “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”

True

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Revelation 19:11 “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

We now take these truths about Jesus and make the final push down the funnel of Psalm 19 into the heart of man.

Man’s Heart - VV 11-14

“Moreover, by them is your servant warned...” - Warned of what? What do the above reveal about us?

The scriptures, the law, the precepts...these are all a mirror that show ourselves lacking against the perfect holiness of God! Where as the creation shows our feeble, finite, frailty, the Scriptures show sin.

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

Truly there are sins, transgressions, blind spots in our lives that are only revealed from the pages of Scripture with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Hidden faults that we either do not know, do not want to know, or do not readily recognize will all come to light against the back drop of Scripture. Here the psalmist cries out for forgiveness! He sees himself in light of the perfection of God as revealed in His Word and the only response of the regenerated heart is to cry out for forgiveness from such faults.

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous (or high-handed) sins; let them not have dominion over me!”

What sin has dominion over you today? Pride? Arrogance? Fearing someone or something other than God? Love of money? Lustful thought? The sinful seduction of social media? Paul Washer - Entertained to death as this generation epitaph.

“in keeping them there is great reward” - This is the reward! Its two-fold and we have already addressed them both!

Salvation in Christ!

A life lived for God! - We cannot do this apart from the psalmist earlier cry to “keep back your servant.” It is only through the power of God that we defeat and kill sin in our lives. It is through the word of God that we take every thought captive, put it on trial against the word, and then make or determination to execute it. “Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” - Innocent here can also be translated as “acquitted.” We are acquitted not by works which we have done, but through the saving and sustaining power of Christ.

The words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are acceptable in God’s sight because we have the imputed righteousness of Christ on us. His perfect life is what he sees when we lie to our spouse, when we take that second look at the undressed attractive person we see at the gym, when use His own name in vain by besmirching through our own moral failure. Friends we are sinners. But our rock and redeemer is greater than that sin. So much so that he defeated sin and death on our behalf and now is seated at the right hand of the Father as our intercessor and advocate, our rock and our redeemer.

Is this reality yours?

Where are you right now after we have fallen down the funnel of Psalm 19 together? Past the billions of galaxies, next to the heat of the sun, through the truth of God’s Word, and now into your very heart. Are you wrestling with the truth of the Scriptures? Christian, are your hidden faults now before? Unbeliever, has your presumptuous sin of trusting in yourself been exposed? Do you even now desire to be reconciled to the one who is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true?

Is your heart at peace?

Christian -

Unbeliever -

Prayer: Father, you have shown us in your word the glories of your Creation, and greater still the glories of yourself as revealed in the Son. Wrestle with our hearts until we are given over to you, fully. Let no one leave here today with an anxious heart, but only those filled with your peace that passeth understanding. - Amen