Above, Below, Within
Psalms • Sermon • Submitted
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· 14 viewsGeneral Revelation, Special revelation, Gospel revelation
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Above, Below, Within
Above, Below, Within
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 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, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 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. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 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. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
psalm19.1-
It was a cool crisp September night, I was fishing off a pier on Lake Ontario… This was an extraordinary night… At approximately 3 AM I witnessed what I can only describe as a divine portrait of majestic speech and glorious declarations that scream of rapturous delight...
Picture a massive lake that seems to be an ocean before you spilling into the horizon. The only land you can see is behind you. There is no wind and the water is so placid that it is as a mirror of the stars above. The moon breaks over the distant horizon and causes your breath to drop as the shear size of this illuminated rock gives the palest light to everything around you, and yet you are still outside in the dark.
The stars seemed to be so innumerable as constellations marched across the sky. After losing track of countless shooting stars, it finally happens… Standing on the most outstretched shores of NY state, and facing Canada in the distant horizon, I get my first ever sight of the Aurora Borealis… Otherwise know as the Northern Lights. Dancing color of green and purple light up the sky and my soul shrinks within me making me aware of how utterly small I really am.
Yet one group of stars seem to be constant on the horizon, and after some time I realize that they are not moving because they are not stars, it is actually city lights from Toronto, Canada. And it hits me… While millions of people are sleeping in that city, I stand across a vast lake staring up at the heavens seeing a sight that dwarfs all of the genius humanity can muster. I am overwhelmed by beauty and a language that every person cannot mistake no matter what their native tongue is… It is God’s Glorious display declaring his nature to all of creation.
And try as I might, these words cannot seem to adequately paint the picture my mind is holding on to. And yet still, this is nothing compared the picture that scripture invites you to behold… but ultimately even that is dwarfed when you come to grips with what is inside of us and how that is transformed by the same hand that painted the sky and spoke to us in his word.
In this psalm we will hear David describe God’s glory Above, Below and within. There will be general revelation of God in creation, special revelation of God through his Word, and Gospel revelation that transforms us. Let’s dive into the text.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
C.S. Lewis called this, “the greatest poem in the psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.”
David is trying to get us to stop… and look up! The heavens are declaring and proclaiming something. They do not boast of there own beauty, and point to there own power. The heavens have one job… Point to the creator… Point to God. Declare the glory of God, the one who made them, for they are his handiwork.
Have you ever seen a breathtaking vista? A night sky that made you feel really small standing under the universe above? Have you ever looked up and instantly stopped everything you are doing and all that you are thinking about, because you can’t hardly comprehend what you are seeing?
All that has but one job, to declare to us the Glory of God and tell us that they are His handiwork!
With our eyes we see a cosmic billboard that overwhelms the soul and declares the glory of God.
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
The language that creation screams to us is a language in which there is no need for an interpreter. It is pour out speech and revealing knowledge fo the glory of God.
The words “pours out” speech mean to “bubble forth” or to “spill over”, like a mountain spring that has an infinite supply of water, continually coming out of the mountain. The speech or language that creation speaks is constant and yet it speaks not of itself. You see the psalmist David is happy to personify nature here, yet he does not deify it… Nature is not God! Nature is part of a general revelation of God.
Nature is general revelation of God
Nature is general revelation of God
when we say general revelation we mean that something God created and is seen by all is part of how God reveals himself.
Creation does not exist to proclaim creations praise… creation exists to proclaim praise of its Creator!
Creation, Nature, the physical world around us… declares that someone made it… Someone designed it and fashioned it to be a continuous universal language that can be heard and understood by all. the Language it speaks is a speech that POURS FORTH day by Day and a revealing night after night… And what is this speech and revelation about? GOD! The creator!
The universe is wondrous indeed, but only because it is the work of His hands!
“From nature we know the hands and feet of God...” John Calvin
And not just Christians… every person who has ever lived can see this great general revelation of God in his creation. The Bible declares that because God is revealed in Nature that no one is without excuse...
John Calvin
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
romans1.
All of God’s attributes, invisible as they may be, are revealed in the created order of nature around us. And in this psalm we see that God will have his Glory and power constantly attested to by his creation.
Spurgeon said, “the Sun, Moon, and Stars are God’s traveling preachers. They are journeying apostles, confirming those who regard the Lord, and circuit judges, condemning those who worship idols.”
Look at the most prominent preacher of God’s glory and how inescapable it is to not hear him...
4 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, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 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.
In ancient cultures they deified the Sun, making it a god to worship, but here we see that David is saying God has set the Sun in a tent and allows it to come out and run its circuit. The Sun is God’s servant here and it gives heat to all. In speaking of it as a general revelation preacher to the glory of God, the Sun is like a faithful evangelist continually preaching, we cannot hide from its heat.
And just as nothing can hide from the heat of the sun, No one can hide from the Creator God who placed it there for our good and his glory. What better star in all of creation to point to then the one that is the exact distance away from our planet so that we will not burn up or freeze over.
93,000,000 miles away, it takes 8 minutes for the sunlight produce on the surface of the Sun to reach our face and warm our bodies. It is the perfect distance away from us because it is 9,932 degrees on the surface of the sun and if it was closer we would all die from the heat it produces. Yet it is one of the smallest stars in the Milky Way Galaxy! Our Sun is one of some 200 Billion stars in our galaxy and it is the only one that is perfectly set the distance away from us to sustain Life. And the Bible declares that as it breaks forth on dawn day by day, like a strutting bridegroom that runs a circuit with Joy, we can’t hide from its heat… It is just declaring the glory of God day after day and night after night!
And in this general revelation of God to his creation there is way more spectacular revelation that we can have of this creator God.
Again John Calvin said, “From nature we know the hands and feet of God...” But he went on to say, “from Scripture we know the heart of God!”
Look at what David said in this psalm next!
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
psalm19.7
Here we have more than just general revelation of God in creation but now we have Special revelation of God found in his word.
Last week I had said that the True God, must of necessity, be his own revealer. That man did not invent God, rather God created man, and is outside of the mind of man, and so he must reveal himself to us. God does this by giving us his word, and here we see the importance of his special revelation to us.
The Bible is God’s special revelation to us
The Bible is God’s special revelation to us
We must come to a place where we understand that the Bible is God’s special revelation to us. That his word is not from the mind of men, or even someones perspective on who God is. Rather it is God speaking to us revealing himself to us. So if you want to hear God speak to you, read the Bible… If you want to hear him speak to you audibly, then read the Bible out loud!
The bible is not a personal revelation but a special revelation from God to us!
“If private revelations agree with Scriptures, they are needless. If they disagree, they are false.” - John Owen
God’s word is enough for us in all things… Look at these verses.
There are 6 declarations of of what God’s word is and does. Each part focuses on the identity, quality and functions of scripture as special revelation to us.
psalm19
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
Look at the first part here. “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul...”
Its identity is the Law, its quality is that it is perfect, and its function is to revive the soul!
The law is God’s instruction to us, pointing us to what is right and pointing out what is wrong according to God. The law does this perfectly, meaning there is no need to correct it, or amend it… It is without defect and lacks nothing to speak to all of our circumstances. When we look to the law, it will revive our souls and refresh us according to God’s thoughts.
The Law lays out a course for man to follow with the same joy that the sun run its circuit with. God’s word transforms the lives of those subject to that Word!
Next: “the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple”
Scripture is God’s own witness to who he is and what he will provide for us in Jesus. That is its identity here, as God’s testimony of himself. This testimony is Sure in quality, it is true and verifiable, you can count on it. But its function is incredible, as Sam Storms put it, “The Bible takes the undiscerning, naive, and gullible person and makes them wise. He who is immersed in the Word is equipped to choose wisely where no explicit direction is found.”
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
What are his precepts? Precepts are rules but more than just rules, they are the ideas behind the rules.. And yet God’s rules are never wrong, they always provide truth and accuracy. With God’s precepts, we need no worry about public opinion polls or human advice. We can know that we are on the right side of things when we submit to God’s precepts. And this gives us true joy in which our hearts rejoice. God’s remedy for the saddened brokenhearted is to think on his rules that will put you in right standing with him. So if you need an infusion of Joy, begin to memorize scripture making yourself familiar with the precepts of the Lord, and they will cause your heart to rejoice!
The fourth thing we learn about special revelation from scripture is, “the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Meaning that what God commands us to do is not tainted advice like what the world gives us. the identity here is the commandments, everything God declared that we are to do in obedience, those things are pure. Their quality is not something that is diluted or tainted. but its function brings light to what has been darkened by sin… I love what John Piper said here...
“God has ordained that the eye opening work of the Spirit always be combined with the mind informing work of his Word… The work of the Spirit and the work of the Word always go together in God’s way of true spiritual self-revelation. The spirit’s work is to show the glory and beauty and value of what the mind sees in the Word.”
9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
psalm19
David tells us that the Fear of the Lord is produces from scripture. And that its quality is clean, meaning its essence and impact on our hearts. To fear the Lord is part of what it means to know the Lord. If we are reading his word we should be coming to a place where we realize that God is Holy and we are not, that he has standards and we pitifully fail to measure up to them. That he is all powerful and all knowing… this is what scripture teaches us, and that should produce a fear of God. And even when we come to understand that this fearful God forgives unworthy sinners, we should not now treat him as a weak God who isn’t still holy and powerful enough to crush this whole world if he chooses. His Love for us should not discount our fear of him as he reveals himself to us by his Word.
And its function in us… The fear of the Lord in power and purpose will never end. It will endure forever. So any teaching about how the God of the OT is to be feared, but the God of the NT is just about Love, is not in line with what scripture teaches. Because the fear of the Lord is clean and enduring forever!
and Finally, “the rules of the lord are true, and righteous altogether”
What God says in his word is never false or slightly off the mark. There is no doubt for us when following God’s word when it speaks of rules in this life, especially when it comes to righteousness. The certainty of God’s word is our foundation.
But in all this the revelation is better than the speech that pours forth from created heavens above and landscapes below. The special revelation from scripture is perfect and sure and right and pure and clean and true! And this special revelation of who God is from scripture revives our souls, makes us wise, causes us to rejoice, enlightens our eyes, endured forever, because it is altogether righteous!
Yet it does not end there!
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
psalm19.10-11
This world will chase anything for the promise of Gold. We base all kinds of life decisions around our bottom line, our worlds system is built on Gold, and the Word of God is more to be desired than Gold!
And for those who haven’t understood it yet, it is sweeter than honey. Yet if your diet has been so tainted processed sugars and fake sweeteners you may not enjoy honey. But this sweet honey that drips from the honeycomb is true and pure and it satisfies, while all those chemicals that are fake sweetness will cause death and disease.
God’s word is the real diet we need
God’s word is the real diet we need
We need to stop believing in the worlds false sweetness and fake wisdom and begin to look at the Word of God that reveals himself to us. It will make us wise and strong, like a diet that purges our bodies of chemicals that try to replace natures real sweetener.
God’s special revelation should be more valuable than the finest Gold and the sweetest honey we could ever find.
So David has shown the general revelation from above, and the special revelation given here below the heavens… And now for those who receive this revelation of God it moves within us and can only be realized by true Gospel revelations.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 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.
psalm19.11
David is reflecting on himself in relation to God’s revelation. Notice that he now must examine himself within, and appeal to God by his understanding of him through Word. May we all hear the warning and sense the rewarding that God’s Word gives us as it did David.
You see God’s Word Warns and reward.
God’s Word warns and rewards!
God’s Word warns and rewards!
When see the general revelation it causes us to be in awe of God’s glory and we feel very small. When we hear God’s word declare who he is to us he become so big and all encompassing to us, that we now internalize the value of this information and it be come Transformation.
God’s word warns us of falsehoods and lies and rewards with righteousness as it points us to him.
But David is now looking deep within, who can discern his errors? Only God can truly point out our hidden faults and hold us back from presumptuous sins. How does he do this? His word warns us of sinful living and attitudes of our heart that show how much we hide within that needs changed. And we soon find that following the truth of his word rewards us as we hear him tells us Good news about the only way of dealing with the sinfulness that his word warns us of.
I want you to notice his use of the word Servant. David is the servant of the Lord and he is attempting fulfill God’s word, he is asking for God to restrain him from sin. David sees what is within himself compared to what he has had revealed about God to him, and now he needs help.
God’s people have tried some many times to do this and struggle and strive for perfection as God is perfect and yet fall short every time. the truth is that David was God’s servant for God’s people, and he failed many times. Our truth is that we need a better David that won’t fail God’s people in helping them understand and partake in the righteousness of God
David’s sin was warned by the Law and commandments of God that they would kill him and separate him from God. And yet God was gracious to his servant and is gracious to us in revealing himself to us.
The special revelation they had was only a shadow of the revelation we now have is Jesus. The revelation of how God deals with sin and how we must respond to God because of this.
We are warned of the dangers of sin and yet God turned his own warning into a reward for those who put their trust in him.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Our reward is becoming the righteousness of God if we believe in the judgement of sin he took for us.
We have a better servant than David, one who became the very thing we once were, one how delivered us safely to to the God his word reveals to us, and one who is our rock and redeemer...
As David had a special revelation of God from his word and pondered it within himself and asked for help and heart change, we with him now see this through Jesus Christ and can be changed within as we receive this special revelation.
And so David declares that we can assuredness of...
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The only thing that is acceptable to a Holy God is the perfect righteousness that Christ gave to those who would believe in him. And so what David mouth declared and his heart believed was hopeful for God’s acceptance, but we have a more sure word to trust and heart meditation to believe.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Listen, today you may have had a moment where you remembered the beauty of creation and the thought of, “how did all this get here?”
Maybe you were reminded of the many times you have heard the Bible taught and how it pointed to who God really is in a special revelation of himself to you, and yet it was still not something that has taken hold of your heart.
Today will you allow the revelation of God from above, here below, to now come within and change you so that you confess your utter need for a savior, and that savior is Jesus Christ? Will call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved?
And if you are already saved will you remember that every wonderful billboard in creation screams of God’s glory, and his word is more than all that beauty in revealing himself to you. Will you look within today and ask the Lord to make your word and heart meditations be acceptable, because he is your Rock and redeemer? let’s pray!
3 questions I want you to consider in your community groups this week.
Question 1 -What is creation saying to you?
Question 1 -What is creation saying to you?
When you look up at the heavens what are they saying to you> We can see from scripture what they are supposed to say, They declare the glory of God. But specifically how? God is big and I am small… There is a lot of space up there, and all of it is saying something about who God is and how powerful he is.
Question 2 - What is scripture saying to you?
Question 2 - What is scripture saying to you?
Do you allow God’s Word to reveal who he is to you? Do you like to say, “To me God is… fill in the blank...” We are either worshipping the God of the Bible or the God of our imaginations.
What specifically have you learned from scripture about the nature of God? How do you know he is loving? How do you know he is Holy? How do you know he is Just? How do you know that he hears you and cares for you? Where in scripture do you find these things? do you know? if not, why?
Question 3 - What are you saying about God?
Question 3 - What are you saying about God?
What are the words of your mouth and meditation of your heart saying about who God is? Do you speak like you actually believe what the Bible says is true? Is he your rock and redeemer?