Now as many of you know, in our Sunday evening services this summer, we are spending time in the Psalms. Particularly we are looking at the first book of the Psalter and a number of the psalms from 1 to 41. Up until this point, we’ve looked at Psalm 27, we’ve looked at 10, 30, and this evening I want to invite you to take up a copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. It’s a magnificent psalm that speaks so clearly about the glory of God and what ought to be our natural response to the revelation of God both in the works and in His Word, and that is, worship. It’s adoration. And so Psalm 19, if you are following in your pew Bibles, you’ll find it on page 456.
Let me just quickly remind you that the Psalms are poetry, and each psalm deliberately paints a literary picture of some facet of Christian doctrine and piety with the expressed purpose – it’s aim is always, always, always to capture our heads and our hearts, and then to move us in our imaginations and our affections so that it results in a mobilization of worship unto the Lord, and on top of that, not just worship but we will commit ourselves to the service of the kingdom. That’s what it’s really all about. And that’s what we see in Psalm 19 that’s before us here. Some have actually called this one psalm one of the great examples of human poetry. C.S. Lewis for instance, many of you will know him as one of the remarkable Christian authors of The Screwtape Letters and The Chronicles of Narnia, That Hideous Strength, The Great Divorce, and so much more. But primarily he was a professor of English literature at Oxford University. And he called Psalm 19 – and I quote – “The greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.” That’s quite a stunning description.
And so as we give our attention to the reading of this passage of God’s Word, listen to the way in which the psalmist fixes our gaze upon the Lord of glory through the revelation of both His works and His Word. Both God’s works and God’s Word. And before we read God’s Word, let’s just bow our heads as we ask for Him to help us. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we give You thanks and praise for drawing us as Your children together. Father, we thank You for the opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus Christ, to lift it high. We worship You, we love You, and we pray now Lord that You would send forth Your Holy Spirit, descend in power, prepare our hearts and speak to us, we pray, for Christ’s sake and glory. Amen.
Psalm 19. This is the Word of God:
“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.”
Amen. Amen.
It’s a magnificent psalm of David when you take time to read it, and reread it, and reread it. Written about 3,000 years ago, it serves to remind us of what a great theologian, in many respects, King David was. But he wasn’t just a theologian, was he? He was a man who treasured and who loved both the Lord and God’s Word. Now we’re not privy to the specific details or the struggles that led to David’s penning of this particular psalm, but one can imagine that the first section, the first six verses that we have in Psalm 19, actually is inspired by David’s youth. You remember those days where he is wandering around in the fields in Bethlehem tending his father’s flock. And as he is wandering around, you can imagine how the noonday heat is beating down on him and he needs to take a rest. So he sits down in the fields, and perhaps he even lies down in the fields. And it forces him, causes him to look up at the wonder of the skies and the handiwork of God that is so evidently on display as a display of this Lord of glory.
And yet, at the time of writing, the psalm alludes to the fact that David was serving as the king of Israel. I want you to look at verses 11 and 13 of the passage. See that little phrase, “your servant”? That phrase, “your servant,” is a term that is used throughout the Psalter to describe David as Israel’s God-appointed king. So here you have the king of Israel penning this particular psalm in the midst of his kingship, reflecting back on the glory of God in the created order, praising God essentially for the word that he has been given, the self-revelation of God, and here you have the king saying, “My desire is to serve You, to know You, and to be obedient to You.” It’s the king submitting to the King of kings. That’s great humility. That’s a man who has had his heart captured by the living Lord. That’s where the psalm leads us because the only reason that a man can get to that point and then exclaim, verse 14, in light of all that he has written where he says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Here is a man who has a contrite spirit and a broken heart. He knows who his Lord is. He knows who he answers to.
And that’s where this psalm leads us. It leads us to worship. And even though we live in this sin-impacted world, this sin-stained world, the promise of God’s Word is that as we return to God’s Word, day in, day out, over and over and over again, the promise is that it will be a lamp to our feet and it will lead us to adore the One who is seated on the throne, just as we’ve been singing.
And so as we look at this psalm, I want you to notice how it separates very clearly into two sections. Verses 1 through 6 reflect on the wonder of God’s praise in creation. It’s God’s general revelation that is on display. And in verses 1 through 4, he gives us a general principle. He says that, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” And then in verses 4 through 6, he gives us the example of the sun as to how that part of the created order gives glory to God and how we can see it so clearly. And then the second section is verses 7 through 14. Seven through 17 reflects on the wonder of Scripture in the individual’s life and experience. It’s God’s special revelation to us. Verses 7 through 11 gives us some general statements about the Word of God, and then in verses 12 through 14, he shows how these statements apply, the impact that it has, the effect that it has upon the reader and the believer. So taken together, taken together this psalm teaches us of God’s self-revelation in what has been called “God’s two books” – the book of natural theology and the book of supernatural theology, if you want. And together, they give us a very clear and most profound understanding of who this triune God truly is.
God reveals Himself in the Glory of Creation
And so firstly, I want us to consider – there’s two points for this evening and it breaks up, the first point is verse 1 through 6, the second point is verse 7 through 14. And so firstly, notice how in verses 1 through 6 God reveals Himself in the glory of creation. He reveals Himself in the glory of creation. I want you to notice how David, he begins with an objective statement. He says that, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” And what he’s trying to impress upon the reader, he’s telling us that in the universe, the whole of the created order, God is speaking to humanity and He is speaking with great force. He is not whispering, and He is certainly not alluding to the fact that, “I’m the God of glory,” but He is saying that, “The canvas that you look at, it proclaims My glory lucidly. It’s beautiful. Take time to observe.”
Now that word, “glory” – of course Wiley picked up on this this morning. That was not planned; it’s just interesting how God has had it at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. But the Hebrew word is “kavod.” And of course it could be translated as “weight” or “weightiness.” And part of the way that David is using it here is he is trying to help us understand that a person’s worth, a person’s splendor, their glory was determined by the weight of their possessions. That’s how it was understood in that day. In other words, the literal weight of gold and silver that they had at their own disposal gave them more of a splendor so to speak. And I think that’s the image that David is trying to paint for us. Here you have the glory of God that is essentially the visible display of the sum total of the divine attributes, both in creation and in His Word. It all screams, “Worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lord God Almighty!” And so the psalmist directs us to the heavens and he directs us to the skies – to the stars by night and the sun by day, all that we see with our eyes, all that we can see through the telescopes, all that we are yet to discover.
Just as a quick aside, one of the things that I love to do in our Grade 6 worldview class here at the Day School, when we come to creation and as we consider the created order, I love for them just to kind of get their heads around the fact that if you are standing anywhere on planet Earth, you can move out in one direction 46.1 billion light years and you will reach the end of the known universe. And within that expanse, there is an excess of 2 trillion galaxies. And in our own one galaxy, the Milky Way, there are 400 billion stars. So there are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is one of 2 trillion plus galaxies in the expanse of 46.1 billion light years as part of the radius across the universe. And no two stars and no two of those galaxies are precisely the same. You want to know something of the glory of God? The psalmist is saying, “Just look up. Just look up.”
Of course that’s what Paul was picking up on in Romans 1. He says in verse 20 of Romans 1, he says, “For His invisible attributes” – that’s God’s invisible attributes – “have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world.” There is no one that has any excuse with regard to knowing the existence of God. Everything in creation bears His impression. There is not one part of the created order that does not state, that has not been stamped, “Created by God.” “Created by God.” Every man, woman, boy and girl instinctively knows that God exists; their conscience alerts them to the reality and to the excellencies of who God is. It’s not a debate. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies above proclaimHis handiwork.” Just look up, will you? Essentially what the psalmist is saying is, “How can you miss it? How can you miss it?”
General Revelation is Perpetual
And just in case you did manage to miss it, David uses three points in order to illuminate the nature and the extent of God’s general revelation that is all around us. Look at verses 2 and 3 of the passage. He says in verse 2 that, he states that, general revelation is essentially perpetual; it’s ongoing, it’s continuous. Look at verse 2. He says, “Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” You get the picture? Here you have the day, passing on the baton to the night to continue the display of God’s glory, and the night passes it back to the day and the day to the night – week in, week out, month in, month out, year in, year out, decades, centuries, millennia in, millennia out. There is never a moment in human history when the heavens ceased testifying to us about this glorious Creator. It’s perpetual.
General Revelation is Plentiful
But the second point that he makes with regards to general revelation is that it is plentiful. Look at verse 2 again. The heavens and the skies “pour out.” Another translation is “pours forth speech.” It’s the idea of creation bubbling up and bubbling over. It cannot contain itself. It wants the glory of God to be known by all. Dale Ralph Davis, an Old Testament commentator, has stated that, “Creation constantly proclaims the glory of God. It’s bursting to tell us of their Maker, and hence the heavens and the skies” – and I love this phrase – “the heavens and the skies pump out their testimony of Him.” In other words, you miss it once, you can’t miss it two or three thousand, million, whatever the case may be.
General Revelation is Universal
So this general revelation is perpetual and it’s plentiful, but thirdly, in verse 3, general revelation is universal. It’s universal. It’s known everywhere – across all languages, across all societies, across all cultures it is known because the heavens reveal this knowledge, what does it say – “without words.” It’s wordless. In other words, you cannot say to God before the judgment seat one day, “I did not understand the language You were communicating in.” Language is not a reason. Cultural norms, societal norms are not a reason. It won’t allow you to miss it. “There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” It’s a voiceless proclamation. Look at verse 4, because this silent speech, it goes out through all the earth and it goes to the end of the world. It’s universal in scope. You can’t miss it and you can’t hide from it. It’s everywhere.
And then notice how he then picks up on one little part of the created order. He picks on the sun to use that as an illustration of how the glory of God is on display in creation. And he says that the sun is essentially the universal witness to God. When the sun rises each morning, it emerges because God has ordained for it to emerge and to make its way across the skies that day. It’s like a bridegroom, clothed in radiant splendor, a bridegroom on the morning of his wedding. He is dressed in the most beautiful and his most expensive attire. And as he emerges from his chamber to make his course across the fields and across the towns to the home of his bride, everyone who sees him recognizes the splendor of his dress and what that means. It points to a greater event. Or the sun is like an athlete. You see that in verse 5? Like an Olympic runner who has been training for months and months. And as he sets out of the starting blocks, he has the aim to win. And as he sets out, he gets that pace, you know, that sweet spot. I’m not an athlete, so I wouldn’t know what that is like! But you get that sweet spot, and all of a sudden as your pace goes from left to right leg, there’s a joy because you’ve found the rhythm that will lead you to the finish. And so the sun appears in the east and it slowly heads across the sky with swift determination, dressed in splendor, marking its course, until it gets to the end. And notice that little statement at the end of verse 6. Its heat impacts every person. In other words, no one escapes it.
And so irrespective of where you live here on planet Earth, at some point each day the splendor and the heat of the sun on its course across the skies confronts you. The whole of creation bears the testimony of God. Everyone knows that God exists and that He puts this in place. Now the obvious question that arises then is – and that’s where Paul picks up once again in Romans 1 – is, well if everyone knows, why are there so many people who deny God’s existence? How can they do that when it’s just so plain and obvious? Why would they do that? And Paul tells us in Romans 1 that instead of acknowledging and instead of submitting to God, rebellious sinners instinctively want to defend or persuade or justify themselves in a manner that is contrary to the light of nature. And so what happens is, with regards to creation, we write it off as evolution or we write it off as “mother nature.”
To bring it a little bit closer to home to our own cultural moment, the light of nature with regards to male and female just seems so clear, and yet those who want to persist in pursuing a sinful lifestyle find themselves denying that which is clear and evident in the light of nature. And here’s a sad thing. If they will not bow down before His majesty and recognize Him as the Creator God, He hands them over to their foolish thinking. He hands them over to their foolish thinking. Brothers and sisters, this evening I want to ask, I want to encourage you as you leave this place, this sanctuary, as you gaze at the display of God’s creation, the splendor that is all around us, especially in the midst of summer, let the truth of these six verses sink in and stir your heart once again to praise and to worship and to adoration. He is the One who is worthy that our voices may proclaim and exclaim His goodness.
The Covenant Lord who reveals His Personal Will in His Word
That brings me to the second part, because you can’t just have general revelation; that only tells you so much about this Lord of glory and His majesty, His splendor, and His power. But it is verses 7 through 14 that tell us about the covenant Lord who reveals His personal will through the Word. It’s the covenant Lord who reveals His personal will in His Word. And so once you have looked up at the heavens and you have been confronted with the glory of God in creation, you must look down. You must look down to the Scriptures because it’s in the Scriptures that you are brought face to face with this God who reveals His essence and reveals His moral attributes, who has revealed His purpose and His plan and He has revealed His perfect will; what it means to be a believer and to live that out. And it is given to us in His Word.
Now before we get into these particular verses, there is one minor, but I think very significant detail that is worth pondering and just reflecting upon. In verses 1 through 6, the Hebrew word translated as “God” in verse 1 is the word, “El.” And it’s meant to be a description of the power and the majesty of God. In other words, that God is saying, “I exist, I created this, bow before Me.” But in verses 7 through 14, David uses the word, “Yahweh.” That’s the covenant name for God. In other words, what he is saying is, he’s saying that He’s not just the God of heaven and earth but He is your God as you come to Christ. He is the God who binds Himself to His people, promising to save them in His Son, Jesus Christ. And he doesn’t just mention it once, not twice; he mentions it seven times. It’s almost as if he is reinforcing the fact, “Yes you can see God in the created order, but if you want to know who really God is, look at His Law, look at His precepts,” and over and over again he is reinforcing, “This is where you will find a revelation of who God truly is and His purpose and His will.”
Scripture Must Be Obeyed
Friends, look at verses 7 through 10 because I want you to notice the one characteristic of Scripture, the one characteristic, and it comes across in the six nouns that are used by David. Notice that he says in verse 7, that he describes Scripture as the law or the instruction that we receive from the Lord. Verse 7 again, it is God’s testimony and His statutes which He has decreed, those things that He has put in place that cannot be altered. He has given us insight into them. Verse 8, it is the precepts and the authoritative commands by which Yahweh addresses us. Verse 9, it’s the fear of the Lord that confronts and humbles us before God’s infinite holiness. Verse 10, it’s the rules or the ordinances of the Lord that order our lives. The one characteristic that has actually been over and over again stated here in these six nouns is that Scripture itself, being a revelation from God, it must be obeyed; it must be obeyed.
Now the question that obviously emerges is, “Why David? Why must we obey this book?” Well look at the way he describes those nouns and how he describes the word and the adjectives. He says it is perfect. In other words, it is flawless. It is trustworthy. It’s right. It’s radiant. It’s pure. It’s true. I don’t know about you, don’t you find that to be so life-giving and encouraging, especially as we live in this world of compromise and insincerity that is all around? That here is something that never changes from one generation to the next. And it’s not just a revelation of God but it actually gives us insight as to what He calls us to and how we are to order our lives and live.
The Benefits of Scripture
You see, as you read the Word and believe it, do you see the litany of promised benefits, the effects that it has to the reader and the believer? Look at the verbs. Look at the verbs in those few verses. What does the Law do? It revives the soul. It makes us wise. It causes the heart to rejoice. It enlightens our eyes. It endures forever. Did you notice how he uses words to indicate that the Word of God transforms every part of your being? First of all, it changes you from darkness to light. It revives the soul. Then it renews the mind. It brings joy to the heart. All of a sudden we realize that the things of this world are going to pass away. It gives us new eyes so that we actually are living with a new perspective because our home is in heaven and these things will fade away, and therefore it has eternal significance. It endures forever. It’s marvelous the way he is using this to describe that which God has given to us in His Word.
And friends, if that’s true – and let me just say it is true – that being true, then my sole ambition, your sole ambition is to get this book into your hands and to get it into your heart. If that’s the impact that God’s Word has, this evening you are confronted with that truth as to whether you will do just that. So let me ask you, do you hunger for God’s Word? Friends, is it more precious than gold? Is it sweeter than honey? And if it’s not, that’s a prayer that you can pray back to the Lord. “Lord, make it sweeter than honey. Make it more precious than gold. Give me a hunger, give me a thirst that this is the treasure for which I have been created to live for and ultimately that it points to You.” You know, in a world of turmoil and angst – and Wiley again alluded to this this morning – but in a world of turmoil and angst, amidst much uncertainty all around us, we are bombarded from every front at the moment, it is God’s Word that anchors us to the rock of our salvation. It’s God’s Word that restores our soul as the living waters flow over us and cleanse us and renew us. And it’s God’s Word that brings us peace because it is continuously pointing us to – who? The Prince of Peace.
The Blessings of Scripture Come at a Cost
So let me close with this, because we must understand that as we move from the glory of God revealed in creation, as we move from there to the glory of God that is revealed in Scripture, we need to realize that the blessings of the Scriptures come to us at a cost. They come to us at a cost. And that’s why David ends the psalm in the way that he does in verses in verses 11 through 14. Here, David, in a way that almost seems odd and out of kilter with the rest of the psalm, he turns his attention from the heavens and he turns his attention from the Scriptures and he turns to focus on himself in verses 11 through 14. What’s going on here? Verse 12, “Declare me innocent.” Verse 12, “Let them not have dominion over me.” Verse 13, “Then I shall be blameless.” One preacher put it this way. He said, “The great difference between the book of nature and the book of Scripture is that we get to read the book of nature, but it is the book of Scripture that begins to read us.” That’s what’s happening here in verses 11 through 14. As David reads and studies the Scriptures, as we read and study the Scriptures, they warn us, they help us to discern errors, but ultimately they search and they uncover and they expose our willful rebellion and even our secret sins. They show us for who we are before His infinite holiness. Some have actually likened God’s Word to a knife that is cutting through an onion. As one layer of sin is exposed and removed, so it actually reveals and exposes the next layer that needs to be dealt with before the throne of God’s grace. It’s part of our sanctification, isn’t it?
And so friends, to be delivered from the guilt and the bondage of sin, God must apply the scalpel of His Word. And having repented when it’s been exposed, He promises to wash us clean in the blood of the substitute. There is a lyric in one of the hymns that we sing, “Sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” That’s exactly what happens. It’s the written Word that ultimately points us to the incarnate Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to strip away our rebellion and our self-deceit and our self-reliance, to take the curse that was actually ours He took upon Himself so that we would be the recipients of every spiritual blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the clearest revelation to whom all other revelations point. We must fix our eyes upon Him. He is the Lamb and He is the Savior that you and I need and that ultimately, when we are at that point, it leads us to verse 14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Here is a final word. As you leave here tonight, can I encourage you to look up and to take time, take time to ingest all that you see. Slow down and appreciate the beauty and the grandeur and the splendor and the majesty, the glory of God that is on display all around us. We miss it in a fast-paced culture and world. But don’t just stop there. As believers, when you read God’s Word, can I encourage you to slow down? I’ve said this a couple of times in the Sunday School classes, so if you’ve been in the Sunday School classes, forgive me. Don’t just simply tick off M’Cheyne’s Bible reading so that you can say, “I’ve done my reading for the day.” Slow down. Appreciate how every jot and tittle is designed to reveal our Triune God’s perfect, His personal, and His eternal will in Jesus Christ. Let His Word soak over you and re-orientate your gaze that you may fix it upon the Lamb who was slain, Jesus Christ.
Amen. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we praise You and we exalt You. You are the God of heaven and earth, and yet Father, for those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, You are our personal, covenant Lord. Father, we thank You for the work of grace that You have done in us. Continue with that work of grace until we see You, in all Your splendor, on the throne above. And we pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.