The Clarity of God's Word

Introduction

As we celebrate Fathers today, I am reminded of the clarity that my father would given me. When it came to chores, my instructions and the amount of time in which to have them completed were quite clear. The consequences were also quite clear if I did not follow the instructions and do so in a timely manner.

When it comes to God’s Word, there are many that get confused. I have heard many folks say that the Bible is not very clear. While there are some areas that are indeed harder to understand than others, I find for the most part, that there is clarity in God’s Word. Several passages point us in this direction. The theme, from Genesis to Revelation, is about God’s dominion and His design and desire for us. We might ask, “How can we know with clarity about God’s dominion as well as His design and desire for us?” Again, there are several places throughout Scripture where we can see the clarity in God’s Word. Psalm 95 is one such example of this being portrayed in one chapter.

Psalm 95:1–11 NIV84

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”

I want to invite you this morning to look how clarity is portrayed in God’s Word, but particularly in this passage. Before we go any further, let us be clear about what clarity means.

Clarity means “clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding.”

Clarity in Commission (vs. 1-3, 6)

In Psalm 95:1-3 and in verse 6, we see clarity in commission. The more I get into to God’s Word and the more God’s Word gets into me, the more I understand that I am commissioned to worship God. You and I were created for worship. I am not talking about attending a weekly service, but I am talking about taking time day in and day out to worship the One that created us. Verse 1 tells us to come and sing for joy. The invitation is to come, to be present and to physically, mentally and spiritually put yourself in the position that would cause you to sing. Do you sing for dinner, do you sing to impress others? No, you sing for JOY. I do not care what you are going through, but it always gets better when you sing. Even if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, joyful singing is an opportunity to worship! It is part of our commission and God’s Word is very clear about this!

Over 80 verses in Old Testament tell us to sing for joy!

Psalm 5:11 NIV84

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 33:1 NIV84

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

I encourage you to research on your own and find more. The clarity in our commission tells us to sing for joy as part of our worship and everyday life. It also tells us to shout aloud.

“Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our Salvation.” When was the last time you heard someone shout in the act of worship? If that were to happen in here everyone would look. I was helping perform my sister’s wedding many years ago in a Catholic Church in Charlotte. The priest came out as said “May the Grace of Our Lord be with You.” All of my brother-in-law’s family answered right back, “and also with you.” That is a very customary greeting in a time of worship in the Catholic church. However, from my perspective, it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. As soon as the people responded, every one of my protestant family members whipped their heads around to see who that was and what they were saying! i could not keep a straight face for the rest of the ceremony. I am afraid that is what would happen if we started shouting aloud in our act of worship. Unfortunately, that is why so many of do not allow that to happen in our lives. We are fearful of the church lady raising her bushy eyebrow. Sometimes I want to do things just to make people react. However, the attitude of hearts ought to be from the overflow of joy we have within!

Isaiah 44:23 NIV84

Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

Had the Lord done a marvelous thing in your life? If so, shout out glory right now! There’s nobody here but us! Shout it out again!

Dear friends some of us are too sophisticated to shout aloud. Some of us are too dignified to sing for joy or to shout aloud, “I will just leave that for someone else. I am just not comfortable.” The clarity in our commission tells us to sing for joy and shout aloud because we are to be sold out in worship.

What does your worship look like? Throughout God’s word, when the people of God worshiped God Almighty, they did so in ways which they were all in.

Psalm 95:6 NIV84

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

Are you too good to bow in worship? Are you to lofty to kneel before the Lord our Maker?

Philippians 2:9–10 NIV84

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Jesus is worthy of our worship! Did you know that we become like what we worship? There is clarity in God’s Word in our commission. There is also clarity in God’s Word in Creation.

Clarity in Creation (vs. 4-5)

I do not understand how someone can walk this earth and not be in awe of its Creator. Every sunrise and sunset, every cry of a newborn baby, every star in the sky, every majestic mountain peak all remind me of the One that made it happen!

Psalm 95:4 NIV84

In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

God Almighty literally has the whole world in His hands. He is the Creator of all beyond. The first 2 verses of the Bible sets it into motion for us!

Genesis 1:1–2 NIV84

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Then in the rest of the chapter there are at least 8 different times that God spoke something into existence. He is the Creator of all beyond. He is also the Creator of all below. Someone might ask, “Well does that mean that God created evil?” I do not believe that created evil. Evil exists because of mankind’s ability to make a choice. When we think we can choose better than God, we are creating evil and allowing it to exist. God created for the purpose of glory and for Him.

Colossians 1:16 NIV84

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

Psalm 95:5 NIV84

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

This reminds me that God is the Creator of all billows. I do not know about you and if you have ever been out to sea with the sea billows were rough. I have been on the coast of our state in the rough waters going out from Oregon Inlet. Those seas are some of the roughest in the world on a calm day. It will scare lots! The assurance i have had when I have been out there is that God is over those sea billows.

Mark 4:35–39 NIV84

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

There are lots of billows in life too, aren’t there? Times where life causes us to be tossed back and forth. The clarity of God’s Word reminds us that God is creator over all the billows on the sea and in life. He has the power to say “Quiet! Be still!” Because of the clarity in creation, we can have clarity, again from God’s Word, in comfort.

Clarity in Comfort (vs. 7)

Psalm 95:7 NIV84

for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice,

There is great security in knowing the shepherd. To know that we as believers are the people of His pasture and the flock under His care is quite amazing to me. The Lord is MY shepherd. I want to die before Gordon Noble. Often at funerals, Pastor Gordon does a paraphrase of Psalm 23 that I want done at my funeral. “The Lord is Mitch’s shepherd.” I have great security in knowing my shepherd.

I also receiver great shelter. The clarity of God’s Word assures me that He is my rock and my refuge.

Psalm 57:1 NIV84

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Psalm 91:9–10 NIV84

If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge— then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

The clarity of God’s word gives me great comfort in my times of trials and troubles. I have great satisfaction in the fact that our Lord is with us! Oh the promise of God’s Word!

Psalm 94:19 NIV84

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Clarity in Crisis

It is pretty evident that if the Bible gives us that many verses of comfort, we will face crises over and over. The clarity of God’s Word tells us that there is clarity even in crises. These last verses of Psalm 95 show us that in a crisis, we can have clean direction.

Psalm 119:105 NIV84

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV84

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

The Word of God gives us clarity in crises by giving us clear direction so therefore we can make clear decisions.

We can choose God’s way pretty easily because God has chosen us!

Ephesians 1:4–5 NIV84

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

Clarity in Christ (Psalm 96:2; 98:2)

We do not see the name of Jesus in any of this passage we have looked at in Psalm 95. However, the clarity of God’s word always points us to the clarity found in Christ!

Psalm 96:2 NIV84

Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Psalm 98:2 NIV84

The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

We know from other parts of the Bible that salvation comes only through Jesus.

Acts 4:12 NIV84

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

All we have to do and to ask Jesus to give us clarity about His word, and guess what happens? We get it!