Psalm 19: The General, Specific Knowledge of God
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Today. So you can go to page 259 in your blue Bibles. The text will also be on the screen. Sometimes with people, you get a very general picture of who they are, but it takes time to get to know them specifically. You listen to their stories, get to hear more about them, and then the picture of who they are gets more colored in. That was true for me with my grandfather.
My grandfather passed when I was 10, and as a child, I had a very general picture of who he was. I knew he was kind of this Titan-esque type figure in our family. I knew that he was a good man, a respected businessman, but as a child, there's only so much you can know about the depths of your grandfather. He passed away, and then in the years that followed, I got stories passed down to me. I got to learn more about him. I got to hear from my grandmother while she was still alive, stories about who he was.
I got to hear from my mom, from different people who knew him, from people that worked for him. I mean, even he's been gone for almost 20 plus years, and about a month ago, I went to a place to get my hair cut that I don't normally go to, and I sat in the chair, and this woman in her 70s started cutting my hair, and we started chatting it up, and sure enough, she cut my grandfather's hair all those years ago and gave me more stories of who he was. And it helps complete the picture for me of who my grandfather was. It happens with people, because you can know them generally, but you get to know more about them.
You hear their stories. You get to know them more specifically, and the same is with our God, as what we're going to see in Psalm 19 this morning. The Psalm is going to start with this general picture of God as revealed in creation. Creation gives us a general picture of God, and that is known as the doctrine of general Revelation. And then the next section, we're going to see that the word of God gives us a more specific picture, that the stories that have been passed down to us in the scriptures help give us a different picture that helps fill in who God is, and that's known as the doctrine of special Revelation that we're going to see.
And then the Psalm is going to close out with what our response should be to this God. So let me pray for us, and then we'll jump into the text. Father, I thank you that we get to worship you, that we get to sing praises to you, and we get to sit under the authority of your word. God, I pray this morning that you would help us be present, that you'd help us listen, that you'd help us respond in faith and repentance and in praise. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, so we're going to be starting off in verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. So the psalmist starts by saying, look up, see the heavens, see how it proclaims the glory of God. Now, glory is a hard word for us to conceptualize. It's a hard word for us to really understand. Like, I can tell you that it means his splendor, his majesty, the honor and deference that is due to him, but that's still abstract and hard to picture.
But what we see here is that creation helps us picture glory, that God's creation helps us understand it further, that when you look at the heavens, you can see that. When you look at a sunrise or a sunset, you can visualize the glory of God. Like, when I was in college, I did a study abroad program called Semester at Sea, and got to travel around the world on a ship, and a lot of days on the ship, I'd sit out and look at the sunset that would drop into the ocean, and then I woke up for one sunrise, because all I could muster in college is to get up for one sunrise. I had one sunrise and a bunch of sunsets.
But man, when you see the sunrise and the sunset over the open ocean, it's beautiful. It's unbelievable. There's something transcendent, like surpassing about a sunrise and a sunset that everyone feels when you see it. That's why the author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, when he is describing a sunrise, he says, how small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings and the presence of great elemental forces of nature. Now, he's not a Christian. He was a philosophical rationalist.
But he even says, in the face of a sunrise, how small and petty are our ambitions and our strivings. And he says, in the face of great elemental forces of nature, but someone who doesn't believe in God says, I feel small in the presence of something so big. And he's tapping into something that we just understand. There's a reason that we don't look at the sky and immediately think, oh, what a beautiful array of colors as the light is bending along the horizon. Like, we don't go technical. Even the most hardened atheists would look up at the sky and have to suppress this impressive feeling of transcendence.
When you look at a sunrise and sunset, that is glory. That's what that feeling is. It's we're tapping into the glory because creation declares the glory of God. The sunrise and sunset, the heavens shows his handiwork, reveals who the artist is. So when I'm with my kids and we're driving and we see a sunset, I say, kids, guys, look, look at what God has painted for us this evening.
How beautiful is that? How wonderful is that? To help us see and feel like this is the work of God on display. And it isn't just the day that reveals his glory. It's the night. In verse two, it says day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.
The creation isn't just speaking. It's isn't just declaring. It's speaking. It's pouring forth knowledge. And night to night, it's giving us more knowledge of who God is. A few months back, I think I mentioned this in a sermon a while back, that I was reading my Garden and Gun magazine, which is what I do these days.
But I was reading it. And I learned that you could look at the, that you could see the Milky Way with the naked eye in certain parts of the world that don't have light pollution. I was like, you can actually see this thing? I was like, that, goals, I'm in. Like, I want to do that. Like, you can, you can look at, in certain parts of the world, just look up at the sky and see that.
I mean, how unbelievable is that? That's a, that's a, just a camera, you guys. Took that picture. The next one that you can stare up at the heavens in a way that the psalmist probably would have. This psalmist, they don't have light pollution back then. They're not dealing with what we got right now.
Hey, look at that in the sky when it's clear in certain parts of the year and see how powerful that picture is and feels so small. When you see something so beautiful, when you encounter this type of glory, you feel smaller and smaller, like you're part of something that is much bigger. Scientists will say that, they say that the, it's debated, but the universe is somewhere around 93 billion light years in diameter. Okay, so a light year is 6 trillion miles. So 93 billion times 6 trillion equals a lot of math.
And, and that's, and they said that's the observable universe. Some theorize that it's, it's even bigger than that. Like there's a new telescope that's out. This is kind of a new thing that's went online this week. The James Webb telescope took a picture that the Hubble telescope couldn't take as clear as this. That's an actual galaxy.
That's, that's a, that's a picture of God's grand creation. Like God made this. He, he, he is bigger than this. When you catch a glimpse of that and his greatness and his vastness, you're tapping into his glory, you're witnessing the glory of his creation. The, the fact that our God thought this into existence, made this out of nothing. It's incredible.
And that glory echoes across the world in verse three. It says, 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 ends of the earth, to the end of the earth. One commentator said it this way, that creation resounds with a speech that human beings can neither hear nor understand. We just, we can't wrap our minds around how big this is. The psalmist continues, and then 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.
But the imagery being here, that it got to set a wedding tent. The sun comes out like a bridegroom who after consummating his marriage is joyfully bursting forth every morn. And in verse six, it says, its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them. And there's nothing hidden from its heat. In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, which I'm sure is what many of you dabble in in your spare time. But this is a dead, dead language, a dead religion, people group from, you know, 3,000 years ago.
But in their mythology, they have, they would worship a sun God, and they would use very similar language like this. It would burst forth from the wedding chambers every morning. And commentators theorize that maybe the language being so similar here is a bit of a shot that God is bigger than that. Not an object that we worship as it comes forth every morning, that he stretched the tent out for it. He created all of it and stands over all creation. So this first section of the Psalm poetically paints the picture known as general Revelation, a doctrine of general Revelation.
That when you look at the heavens, you gain knowledge of his power, of his wisdom, of his beauty, of his majesty, just by witnessing creation. That's why in verse 2 it says, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. That creation gives us a general picture of who God is. That's what Paul is getting at in Romans 1. In Romans 1 verses 19-20 he says, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made so that they are without excuse.
What he's trying to help us see is, is that when you look at creation, when you witness this, that you're getting a general glimpse of the invisible attributes of God, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, is evident in creation. It is why even the most hardened atheists can look at a sunrise and feel something and feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves. Feel like that what they're seeing and what they're witnessing is transcendent, which shouldn't even exist for their understanding and their worldview. It is because creation points to its creator. That's why he goes on to say, they're without excuse.
That when you experience creation, you have a general understanding and a knowledge of who God is. No matter how hard we try to explain the beauty of that, of a sunrise and a sunset, as some subjective experience, no, this points to our God. Now, let me say one last thing on this. For the Christian that is witnessing this, this helps us picture glory better. This helps us understand glory better. C.S.
Lewis in The Four Loves said, But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. Meaning that looking at nature helped him understand glory better. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the fear of God could ever, could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags. Which is really thick C.S. Lewis philosophical language.
But what he's saying there is, is I wouldn't have understood glory, I wouldn't have understood the fear of God had I not looked at some of the scariest aspects of creation. The ominous ravines, the unapproachable crags. What he's saying is, is that creation, that nature helps us understand this. That the sunrise and the sunset helps us see the divine beauty of God. That when you witness a very powerful storm and a fearfulness. I remember years ago I was camping on Lake Murray and we were on a tiny little island and a storm blew through.
And it blew our campsite into the water and we'd get pounded by wind and rain and thunder and lightning all around. And I felt so small and helpless. And that was just a small, tiny taste of the power of God. And that helps us picture, helps us feel, helps us understand what the fear of God and the glory of God is. So as Christians, listen, this means you should get outside a little bit.
Alright? Seriously, get off the phone. Put down the game controller. Get out of the meta. Whatever it is. Whatever your speed is.
And go experience God's creation. Like see it and witness it. So that we can have a better feeling, understanding for glory. So he walks through that. Gives us this general picture of God. And then he gets to the next section which is going to be a more specific picture.
Starting in verse 7. 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 all together.
So, while creation gives us this general picture, the scriptures are going to color that in. It's going to give God definition. It's going to help us see the hows and the whys in understanding who our God is. Which I appreciate. That helps. The scriptures helps us really enjoy God better.
Like years ago, growing up, there was a big song when I was a kid called Closing Time. Right? Love that song. Right? And as a kid, really enjoying it. Good song.
But later, years later, the songwriter, the lead singer said, Listen, I wrote that song about becoming a father. It's not about closing time at a bar. It's about becoming a father where the next chapter of your life is about to start. And it's going to be very different. That's why he ends the song saying, Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. And I was like, man, when you understand the depth and the commentary behind that, that's powerful.
It helps us appreciate it better. That's what the scriptures help us do. It helps us see and savor God in new and better ways. And in this poetic section we just walked through, there are six synonyms for the scriptures. It says the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandment, the fear, and rules. So we're going to work through each of these.
He says in verse 7, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. So the law there is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Torah. So that would be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That was, at the time, that was their scriptures. Later on, more Old Testament scriptures are starting to be added.
But for them, in this time period, they're looking at the law, which is their scriptures. And the psalmist says the law of the Lord is perfect. It is perfect. It is blameless. And we look, as Christians, at the scriptures, the very Bibles that are in this room. We say it's perfect.
When we say that, there is skepticism that creeps in. Some people will say, yeah, how do you know it's perfect? You don't even have the original manuscripts. And the reality is, is that the longer I study this, the longer I study the scriptures, the more unbelievably compelling this case is. How trustworthy and perfect and true they are. That's why we use words like inerrancy and infallible.
Because even though we don't have the original manuscripts, there are more manuscripts, more copies of the scriptures than any ancient text. And it's not even remotely close. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of those manuscripts all around the world. And now digitized on the internet. And when you overlap each of them, okay, over 99% of it lines up perfectly. I mean, think about 2,000 years or 1,500 years of a copying tradition.
And that lines up perfectly. And the less than 1% where this word is used here and this word is used here. There's an unbelievable tradition of scholars who are way, way, way smarter than me. That have studied the original languages their whole life. And they come up with really helpful explanations for why there's some differences there. It's unbelievably trustworthy and true.
And then other skeptics will come in and say, well, what about the contradictions in the Bible? And I just say, well, where? Show me. Point them out. And a lot of times, look at Google. Find them.
But you can work through each of those. Work through each of the things. You get the commentaries out and some closer study and basic logic. You can work through a lot of them. I remember in college, I studied religion at a school that did not believe the scriptures were true at all. And they knew I was, I did.
And one of my professors, she came at me real hard one time. She's like, oh, you believe the Bible's in error, right? All right, well, tell me the story of Noah. Did they load up two by two or was it seven? And as a new Christian, I was like, oh, no. I'll get back to you.
And I said, no. But a little closer study realizes, oh, wait, no. They did load up two by two and they added seven of clean animals. Why? Because those were for sacrifices they were going to offer later when they got off the boat. God didn't want to have these species go extinct.
Just basic stuff like that. That's a closer study of the text. Over and over and over again, the longer I studied the scriptures, the more I realized the law of the Lord is perfect. It is perfect. It revives the soul. Like someone wandering in the desert with cracked lips, thirsty.
And they stumble upon an oasis and they drink of the water. So the scriptures revive the broken soul. The law of the Lord is perfect. He goes on to say, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The testimony of the Lord is sure. It's trustworthy.
It's a trustworthy thing. It is secure. It means you can bank your life on it. We as Christians believe that. We believe that our life, our authority is God in the scriptures. It's God's word that shapes us.
It's our foundation for how we live our life. And some people would say, well, why would you choose something so old, so ancient, so archaic? Why can't you get with the times? Why can't you have a more updated understanding? And when that happens, a good thing to do is, okay, well, what is your foundation for belief? What is your foundation for how you live your life, for how you understand the bigger things in life?
And if you can ask some questions like, why, well, where do you get that from? Well, why? And press in a little further. There's typically two main places where the skeptic will land. It will land that they are their own authority, which is what I believe. Well, they are their own authority, or they place their authority in a handful, just a few different, mostly dead, older white guys, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud.
But it's like, no, I believe that our foundation is more secure than that. I believe wholeheartedly that the scriptures that have guided the people of God for thousands of years still holds immense value. Like, last summer, we spent a summer in the Proverbs. And we looked at the Proverbs, which are, they're not promises. They're proverbial advice, guidelines for how to live your life so that you can stay out of poverty, so that, like, a passionate lover doesn't try to kill you. You know, basic advice for life.
We looked at that, and it's like, no, this is wisdom that is worth building your life upon. And if you do that, it generally goes well for you. There are a lot of young guys who just lost all of their life savings on NFTs. And if you want to know, if you don't know what NFTs are, it's okay. You never need to know what NFTs are. Just, it's basically a Ponzi scheme for people under the age of 40 that like really bad digital art.
Okay? Gambling on that kind of stuff. But they lost everything on that. And it's like if you just paid attention to the wisdom of the scriptures, which Proverbs 13, 11 says, wisdom or wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Man, if you built your life upon that, it generally will go better for you. That's worked well for the people of God for the last 3,000 years.
So when I was researching NFTs, I was like, oh, this feels kind of schemey. This feels a little bit better. If you build your life upon it, it is trustworthy and true. Verse 8, it says, The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The precepts, these are the rules. They are right.
That if you live your life in line with the will of God, you'll get more than happiness as the American dream defines it. You'll tap into some eternal joy that rejoices the heart. He goes on to say, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The commandments of the scriptures, the teachings, where God commands us to do a thing, that's actually pure and good for us. And it opens our eyes to what is ultimately good. One of my friends from study abroad, her husband, he got an acting role on a TV show that just got released.
And I've been watching, we're Facebook friends, I've been watching him post about it all the last year. He's like, I'm going to be on a show with Chris Pratt. I was like, sweet. So I turned it on, I watched the, it just dropped on Amazon, the terminal list. I watched the first couple episodes. I saw him in the first episode.
I was like, man, this is awesome. And then I was like, oh, this, this is just going to be a super violent show where he just brutally murders everyone who wronged him. I got to look at it ahead of time. I knew there wasn't like sex or nudity and stuff that wouldn't be good for my soul, but I didn't fully realize it was just going to be completely vengeance. He's going to brutally murder everyone. I was like, no, I'm good.
I don't need this. Because if you have a framework for your life that says, if you basically, if you, the prism for how you live your life was basically two basic commands. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and love other people, your neighbor, enemies, etc. If you love God and love other people, and that was how you made decisions, you'd realize there's certain things like, no, this doesn't actually help me love God. Does this actually inspire anything that is good for my soul? I'll pass.
It's because the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Now, we don't normally see fear as a synonym for Scripture, but here it fits and it's like, oh, this is what he's getting at. The fear of the Lord is clean. And what this is tapping into is that the Scriptures help us fear God. Now, over the last 20-ish years in the American church, there's been like an attempt to say, well, fear of God, when the command says fear God, that actually what it's getting at is it's just saying worship Him.
Just revere Him. Reverence and awe and worship. And it's like, no, not quite. Yes, it does imply that. Fear is worship and awe and reverence. But it also means what it literally says, fear.
There's a command here to fear God. It is good for us to fear the Lord. Yes, He is gracious and good and kind and merciful. And all of those attributes. And also, He is the scariest object in the universe. He should be feared above all things.
We should absolutely see that. Because it is clean and endures forever. The roles of the Lord are true and righteous all together. That's highlighting more of the same things that we just walked through. That's how He paints the Scriptures. With these pictures.
They help us understand God. They help us build our life on something bigger. And then in verse 10, He summarizes. 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. He says they're more desirable than gold. Gold was the most valuable and the most valuable objects of their time. Honey, honey. They didn't have sugar.
Cane, like us. That was the sweetest thing of their time. So He says, the Scriptures are more valuable than the most valuable object you could lay hold of. It's sweeter than the most sweetest thing you can taste. That's what George was tapping into last week when he said delight in the law of the Lord. There is, listen, there is immense value.
There's immense value in experiencing our Creator and His Word. By enjoying our God. By reading the message of the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation. By these Scriptures we are warned and we are rewarded. The Scriptures color in this picture wonderfully. We get this general, big picture of who God is.
We look at creation. And then it gets further colored in. And we get to see more of who our God is. And why He made us. And why He would redeem us. And how He redeems us.
As we look at the Scriptures more and more. And if we do that. If you look at creation. And see how big our God is. And then look at the stories that are passed down. It will help you understand our God better.
In the same way that a 10 year old can't understand their grandfather. I have a general picture. It takes stories being passed down. And we have the Scriptures that are passed down to us. That help us picture who this God is. Just look at the Gospels, y'all.
Look at the stories of Jesus. Over and over again. There's so many stories about our God in the flesh. That are just wonderful. Like I think about Jesus when He heals the leper. In Matthew 8.
When this man that has leprosy comes to Him. And it wasn't just that he had a disease. That he had to be healed. That he was seen by his culture as disgusting. And dirty. And had to live outside the people of God.
He couldn't be in community with other people. That he comes to Jesus. And Jesus puts His hand on him. And says be clean. And He heals him. And changes that man's life.
And that story happens over and over and over again. Even in a more spiritual reality now. For those of us who feel dirty. And broken. In a need of redemption. He cleanses us through His righteousness.
And His blood. When I think about Jesus on the cross. And He is dying. And He says, Father forgive them. They know not what they do. I look at that and say, how could you say that?
Jesus, they're murdering you. You're talking about people who are murdering you. And you're concerned about their forgiveness. How beautiful is that? How glorious is that? I think about even smaller stories.
Where Jesus, even after His resurrection. He's at the end of the Gospel of John. He has this moment with Peter and James and John. Where he's about to teach Peter about the need for shepherding. But they're on the boat.
And they're fishing. And they see Jesus on the shore. This is before He ascends into heaven. They see Him on the shore. And they come ashore. And it's just a simple picture of Jesus making breakfast for them.
He's cooking fish for them. Which is not my kind of breakfast. But if Jesus was doing it, I'm in. And He, just a simple, He's the God of the universe. He could have done it anyway. But He's simply, humbly making them food.
I mean, guys, there is story after story after story after story after story. That helps us see how good our God is. How much He loves us. How much He cares for us. How glorious He is. And how better it is to live with Him into eternity.
And when you finally understand that. When you see the general picture of God in creation. And are overwhelmed by His glory. And you mind the scriptures to see who our God is. Your only response should be how this psalmist finishes. 12 through 14.
Here's how He responds. Who can discern His errors? That's rhetorical. Nobody. Who can discern His errors? Who can call out God?
He says, declare me innocent from head and faults. He says, God, declare me innocent of a sin that I cannot see. And then He goes on to say, Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. So He says, keep me from the hidden sins that I cannot see.
And keep me from the willful sins. I don't want any of it. The stuff that I can't see. The willful ones that I do. God, keep me from all of my rebellion. Don't let that have dominion over me.
He says, then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. And then He goes on to finish this off with this unbelievably poetic and powerful request. He says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. He says, God, let everything. Let everything.
My thoughts. The meditations of my heart. Let the words that come out of my mouth. Let everything. Let all of it be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The God who created the universe and created me and has every fiber of my being. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. What a powerful prayer. And as Christians, we read this Psalm. This side of the cross and empty tomb. We know how to do this.
And it's as simple as Romans 10, 9. Because 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. That is how we are blameless before the Lord. When you encounter how big God is and how glorious God is. And you realize how much we've sinned against Him.
How unacceptable on our own we are before Him. When you realize how our sin earns death and hell. When you realize that part of the gospel. And then you encounter how much He loves us because of His great love. The only reasonable response to the gospel is this. It is throwing our lot in with this God.
And saying, I believe in you, my rock, my redeemer. Y'all, we as Americans are so unbelievably blessed to have access to God. Where we can look up at the heavens and see the glory of God. And have a Bible on our phone. We have unbelievable access to our God. And if you're figuring this out.
If you're feeling out Christianity. You're not sure about this yet. I invite you. Look up at the stars. See the unbelievable design. Of this universe.
I mean, look at the earth. And how it's perfectly positioned from the sun. At the right distance. With the right tilt. All the way down to how the cells in our body are designed. And how the, like our eye and the complexities.
Look at all of it. And see. This points to our Creator. And then I invite you. From that position. Come to the Scriptures.
And see who He is. And if you are a Christian. Witness creation. And worship Him. Search the Scriptures. And delight in Him.
Don't miss that. Life is busy. Okay. It is boom, boom, boom, boom. Death. That's it.
It moves very, very quickly. And we as Americans are very, very busy. And fill our days with all kinds of things. Don't miss this. That when you're driving into work. And you're concerned.
And worried about the things you've got to do at work. And you see the sunrise coming up over. Don't miss that. Look at that sunrise. And be reminded of how big. And how glorious.
And how majestic. And how amazing our God is. And respond like this psalmist. When he says, Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. See the sunrise.
And go, God, you're so big. And you're so glorious. God, thank you for redeeming me. Thank you for loving me with a fierce, unbelievable love that I don't deserve. That when you look out in your yard. And you see the birds.
Mining the grass for food. Every morn. Remember. That God provides for His creation. Look at the Scripture. Remember what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew 6. That's a picture of how God provides. That He provides. He takes care of His creation. That when you are in a storm. And your house is shaking.
Or an earthquake. Because that's a thing here nowadays. When you feel that. And you feel scared. Let that roll up into what the psalmist says. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me. Let that fear roll up into God. You're so big. You're so powerful. Don't let the hidden faults. Or my willful sin against you.
Don't let that roll over me. Let that roll up into worship. And praise. And obedience. That comes from a position of deep love for God. Tonight.
As the moon rises. I think it's a full moon. Maybe. As it rises up over. The horizon. You see it against the backdrop of the stars.
And you see how big and vast. This universe is. And you think about that. The God who made all of that. Who stands over all of it. Knows every part of who you are.
Knows your past. Your present. Your future. And holds it all in his hands. Respond like the psalmist. Let the words of my mouth.
And the meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord. My rock. And my redeemer. Let creation.
And the beautiful. Word of God. Help us. Worship. Our glorious. God.
Psalm 1: Delight in His Word
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is George Garcia and as Spencer said I am one of the community group leaders here at Mill City Church Casey we are going to be in Psalm 1 today that will be on page 254 of the blue Bibles if you do not own a Bible or do not have one currently please take that one today not only is today's sermon from the Word of God it is about the Word of God so today would be. A wonderful day for you to take home a Bible and since it is about the Bible we're going to be talking about reading the Bible now reading the Bible is something that I struggled to do a lot growing up and even to this day whether it was because I was lazy or I just simply forgot or because even when I was reading the Bible I did not know what I was doing growing up I didn't. Really grow with a lot of direction and a lot of explanation as to why reading the Bible is so important all I was told that it was just something that a Christian should do when I actually began implementing Bible reading as I grew as I grew and as I mature it's just I just added it to the list of something to do I just added it to my routine which I was fine with reality is for me I'm someone who. Can do the exact same thing every single day I can wake up I can shower read my Bible go to work come home play guitar if I have some time catch up with my wife eat dinner and go to sleep I could do that every single day for the rest of my life and I would have no problem with that now to some of you that sounds like a prison routine to me your prison is my dream regardless even if you grew up Bible.
Reading all the time or you've tried to implement Bible reading your life or even if you've never even opened up the Word of God Psalm 1 serves as a reminder and an explanation as to why we should not only just read the Bible but we delight in the Bible so we're going to read Psalm 1 it's only six verses then I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to tackle each verse one at a time Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night verse 3 he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and all that he does he prospers the wicked are not so but are like. Chaff that the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish let me pray Lord we are humbled and undeserving of this opportunity to open up your Word and I ask as we read through Psalm 1 may it serve to remind us and explain to us why we get to. Meditate and delight in your finished work Lord I ask that if there's any area any anywhere in our hearts that are distracting us from this morning I ask that you take that away and we focus and we pay attention and pay their respect to your Word that we are supposed to I pray this in your name amen verse 1 blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of the.
Sinner nor sits in the seat of scoffers now we're not starting off with the positives clearly we go from walking in the counsel of the wicked to then standing to then taking a seat among the scoffers this is a natural flow of sin sin is a very progressive thing and since we are naturally inclined to be comforted by sin this is sin this is the process of sin in our life an example of this. Is actually myself in the workplace I work in my free time not in my free time the summer is my free time I work at a school I am a PE teacher which is awesome but as if there's any teachers in the room you know that during the school year teaching can be draining and because it's so draining and sometimes it feels unrewarding it leaves room for gossip and for slandering so usually when I'm walking. The halls before or after school because we don't ever get an opportunity to talk to each other during school I'll listen I'll hear some gossip in the classroom or just wherever the break room is and I'll stand there I'll be walking then I'll stand I'll listen to it and I'll think to myself it's not worth it I shouldn't do it but that person's pretty terrible let me just see what they have to. Say let's just let me just let me just walk in we'll see and then before I know it I've taken a seat among the scoffers and I am either condoning what is being said or I'm contributing to it and it just happens just like that and so the reality is what verse one is getting at is what how sin progresses in our lives we also see this in social media where you can see someone asking for.
Help or advice and with the situation they're going through and all you you read through the comments you read through whatever is being responded to them and it's just terrible it's strictly worldly advice there's nothing it's rooted on but the problem is we go from mindlessly scrolling then all of a sudden we're also contributing that same type of advice we see this in movies and videos and shows we watch. We get so hooked they're very clever with how they bring us in and before we know it or being more influenced by the show we watch than by the word of God we see this with political commentary a show that I used to watch or listen to was the Ben Shapiro show I know Spencer has mentioned that a couple of times it's a political commentary show it's a conservative political commentary show which essentially. It's just an excuse to lash out on anything that isn't conservative and you know what I love it I love it because in my sinful nature for some reason is drawn to that is drawn not necessarily to the political idea but to the idea of someone lashing out on someone else and so I've had to stop watching it and listening to it because I get hooked. And I get influenced by it all of a sudden I'm I'm thinking these things that uh the show talks about we also see this with lust and the over sexualization of pretty much everything you can just be watching a movie with friends or your spouse and then some triggering or provocative scene comes up and now you can't get that out of your head and before you know it you're indulging.
And acting upon those thoughts and feelings now when you take a seat somewhere you normally take a seat when you're comfortable right you don't take a seat somewhere and stay there for a long time if you're not comfortable and so we see that in verse one that the last step is to take a seat among the scoffers because that's when you get comfortable and so we need to take a look a closer look at what. Gives us comfort where are areas in which we have taken a seat among the scoffers or even what we're playing with fire what catches our attention what makes you stop in that hallway and what makes you finally eventually join the psalmist goes on to give a direct count to this in verse two verse two but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. Now there's a very it's a big u-turn here we go from what the blessed man does not do to what he does do and what he does is he delights in the law of the Lord the hebrew meaning of delight being pleasure so what he is doing is he's taking pleasure in the law of the Lord now side note but also very important to the rest of this is that when the psalmist wrote this they were referencing the. Ten commandments when they said law of the Lord they were referencing the ten commandments which was the written word of God in the new testament we see the writers and the authors reference Psalms Proverbs as well as the ten commandments for the same exact reason it's the word of God so we fast forward to today and we have this right here so when we read that in Psalm when he meditates.
In the law of the Lord we are referring to the written word of God he is meditating on the written word of God now with knowing that we can go back to verse two the psalmist goes from listing what not to do to an all-encompassing encompassing word in delight the word delight is used several times in the Psalms all pointing to ultimate joy and satisfaction it's not just don't do this or don't do that. It's take pleasure in and delight in the law of the Lord this is why this is a the way verse one and verse two kind of go together is verse two is a complete uh opposite reaction it is it is a it is a counter to walking in the counsel of the wicked standing in the way of sinners and sitting in the seat of scoffers and it uh what that means is what the psalmist is trying to get at is that delighting. In the law of the Lord is the fundamental alternative to walking and sitting and standing in sin I'll say that again delighting in the law of the Lord is the fundamental alternative to walking and sitting and standing in sin now why is that the case well because the word of God is a story from front to back that all points to Jesus alistair beg who is a pastor in cleveland ohio put it like this. We find christ in all the scriptures in the old testament he has predicted and the gospels he has revealed in Acts he has preached in the epistles he has explained and a Revelation he has expected in Genesis God tells us that the serpent he will he tells the serpent he will bruise his head with the offspring of that woman and that eventual offspring being Jesus Jesus arrives in the new testament and we.
See miracles and his teachings all throughout Matthew Mark Luke and John such as bringing lazarus back to life turning water into wine and revealing that he knew the woman at the well these are just all of the countless examples of Jesus's miracles and his work that in Acts we see people like paul and barnabas preach the finished work of christ to the nations and then some areas and people need. Correcting or refining so they need Jesus explained to them they need that finished work explained to them so that's why we have the letters to the people in corinth and galatia and colossus and then in Revelation the bible ends on the expected return of Jesus and it's not just like oh he's coming back now it's if you take a look at revelations it is a triumphant return he will come back and collect his. People so all throughout the bible from front to back it's all about Jesus it's all about the wonderful story of Jesus coming to the earth and reconciling his people we get to delight in that story that's why it's the fundamental alternative now we can focus on the word delight a little bit it's used here purposefully delighting in something is an external and an internal reaction to something take for. Example you have a friend and by God's grace I do have a friend in our group by joe benton who uh he has a smoker so just picture that you have a friend who has a smoker and they text you like five in the morning because that's usually when these things happen and they say hey I'm gonna smoke a brisket today come on down later tonight first of all wonderful friend and second of all I'm there.
And once you get there you know you wait all day they pull that brisket out and I've just been smoking for several hours and it's being pulled ever so easily because it's been there for like 10 11 hours and it's on your plate mac and cheese and baked beans are there but they're not important right now you take that first bite and you just take in that moment I know some of you are already thinking. Of it and I know lunch is later but there you take in that moment and in that moment I am delighting in what's in front of me I'm delighting in the food in the brisket I am delighted it's not only internal it's external right I'm saying but I'm also like oh this is this is amazing but the crazy thing is ever since I found ever since I got that text ever since I was told that. My whole day got better I've been delighting the entire day my day was that much more enjoyable because I was looking forward to what was to come and then when I partook in it forget about it that's when the song that's what the psalmist is trying to get at here delighting in the law of the Lord day and night to the light in the law of the Lord day and night is. To constantly be influenced and affected by the word of God so much so that you are so eager to return to it after you're done reading it and you're eager to return to it because all you're thinking about or at least what some of the things you're thinking about are the word of God it's keeping you in check it's helping you respond to your co-workers it's helping you be loving and patient to people that.
Don't deserve it and the only way you can do that is by delighting in the law of the Lord we move on to verse three he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and all that he does he prospers now we're going now we're seeing what the blessed man is what what the word blessed is the streams of water that plant the tree is the. Word of God the tree mentioned has a firm foundation it has one that is everlasting and solid and that's where we need to be right where we are where we're naturally inclined to be is we like to walk and listen to the counsel of the wicked we like to stand in the way of sinners and we like to sit down because it's comfortable because it's easy it doesn't take that much effort. What we want to be is like the tree that's planted by streams of water that lasts forever even in seasons of difficulty even in seasons of suffering Jeremiah goes on to say it like this from Jeremiah 17 verses 7 through 8 blessed is the man who trusts whose trusts blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose trust is the Lord verse 8 he is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream. And does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit what a wonderful picture that is of a tree that is planted by streams of ever flowing water and that is what is true for the christian who is delighting in the law of the Lord that seasons of suffering seasons of anxiousness don't feel that anxious they don't.
They don't you can bear it because you have the word of God you have the truth and the delight in that story that can bring you comfort peace and joy that actually lasts now if you look at me you can clearly tell that I've planted plenty of trees in my time regardless what I do know about planting a tree specifically trees that bear fruit or specifically fruit trees is that they bear fruit. And it bears fruit for the benefit of the planter and for those around it if you ever had a friend who gardens normally whenever their vegetables or fruits come in they come in a surplus and in almost and almost always because they come in a surplus they share it with those around them that's what it's like to be planted by streams of water the Lord delivers in a surplus. You prosper and you get to share that fruit with others you get to show love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control to those around you and it does not wither so you get to bear that fruit into eternity about been leading group for about four years now four and a half years and not that the first two years were bad by any means but something changed about two years ago. And you can chalk it up to people you know maybe we had some new people come in and they were great but something radically changed in our group and what that was was by God's grace we began to fall more in love with his word as a group and it came at a great time because then we multiplied we were a group that was in love with the word that was being taught the word that was talking constantly about the word.
And then we multiplied and now we have another group that meets in congress in the casey area and I know that they are being infatuated and in love with the word week in and week out and that changes that's what actually changes people it convicts it convicts us is the word of God and so and none of that has to do with the group leaders by the way it all has to do with his word. It's all because we decided that we we pressed on we kept reading his word that eventually it will it will change someone moving on to verse four the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind it drives away now this is a very contrasting image in that the chaff is being driven away by the wind we talked a little bit about this when we went uh when we were in Ruth but an example I can. Think of to kind of better picture it in your head is and and the reason I chose this example because I am a coffee snob but when you roast coffee beans uh it's a very tedious process you got to put it on the the roaster but on and off on and off it takes forever but after you actually do the roasting and the beans look like what we would all uh picture uh coffee beans to look like you have to put it into. A colander which I recently learned what I when I got married I learned what a colander was and you put it in the colander and you kind of shake it back and forth because you're trying to get rid of the skin of the bean or the chaff because it's no good you don't want that on your coffee bean the chaff brings no benefit to anyone and they have no foundation therefore it makes complete sense.
That the wind would drive it away charles spurgeon who was a preacher in the 1800s describes the chaff as intrinsically worthless dead unserviceable without substance and easily carried away it is very clear that the wicked have no foundation unlike the blessed one is planted by streams of ever-flowing water and the other one has nothing to stand on. It is driven away by the wind Psalm 1 is very very clear on this that's why I'm thankful for verses like 5 and 6 verse 5 therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish the one that walks in the counsel of the wicked the one that stands in the way of sinners and the one. That takes a seat with the scoffers will not stand with the congregation of the righteous it will be very clear to the Lord who is who we see this in Matthew John the baptist is making a reference to what Jesus will do Matthew 3 12 his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Jesus will return for what is his the rest will not make it which is why I'm thankful and completely humbled by a verse like verse 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous now this is more than just knows about okay so when you when you read that uh it's like a spouse knowing you or like a best friend who knows you they know a lot about you you know that they know.
Your tendencies they know maybe they know some of your thoughts because maybe you you know you talk to them you confide in them but there is only one person one being who knows everything about you all the good and all the ugly and when you think about it it's kind of terrifying imagine if your best friend knew every single thing about you and you think they know a lot about you but imagine if they. Knew everything about you it would be quite terrifying but the one that knows you completely is God the righteous can have peace because a loving God in heaven knows their way and will protect and he will preserve them if there's anybody I would want to know me like that it would be him and one of the main reasons I can think of is because a lot of times people will use. Knowledge of you to hurt you right when people find things about you one of the reasons we get a little scared to confess sin scared to talk in group is because we're scared that people knowing this about me what are they going to think of me what are they going to say about me what are they going to talk to other people about when it comes to me a lot of times that is a very very terrifying thought. But we can have peace knowing that there is an omnipotent loving gracious God who knows us and he will not use that knowledge against you that is the that is the grace aspect of the Lord now you may be asking or telling yourself what if I'm not good at this what if I'm not good at reading the bible what if I've tried and I've tried and it came to nothing what if I just can't.
Here's my encouragement to you last summer I was part of the summer internship here and just to give you a little insight on the summer internship there's a lot of meetings a lot of classes you go it's it's it's pretty rigorous honestly and one of the biggest things about the internship is showing up on time and I love punctuality um I do so when I discovered that punctuality was a major. Component of this internship I was really excited to show off my arriving on time skills but second week in I forgot that I had a meeting with isaac so not only was I late I was non-existent for the meeting third week I was very late or arriving just on time to the things between monday and thursday my pride was being tested the final straw for me was on sunday as it was on a on a sunday. And I forgot that we were supposed to show up at 8 a.m here we're supposed to show up at the church at 8 a.m and at the time chat was my track leader I was on the pastoral and like teacher development track and chat was my track leader and I remember that I I had to I was like I have to apologize this is like the fifth time and I remember the walk of me going to apologize to him and even as I was apologizing. Him the shame that I felt of my failure was honestly unbearable I had my head down I was I was talking to him and I was like this because of all the shame that I felt and after I apologized I kind of just stood there and chat looked at me and he said hey chin up I thought okay but then he said you're fully known you're fully forgiven and you're fully loved by a.
Savior who would gladly do it again feel that remember that and continue your your day like you believe that notice he didn't just say hey chin up show up on time next time hey chin up maybe what you can do is this this this this and this to show up on time now he reminded me of the gospel the work is finished and even in our shortcomings such as reading the bible we get to be forgiven. And out of that out of that forgiveness and grace we are empowered to be more like him and part of that is delighting in his word so then how do we set ourselves up for success in reading the bible I have a couple of practical ways that can work first and foremost pray pray pray for the desire to read his word the reason praying is the first thing I could think of is because praying sets. Us up for success and because it is the acknowledgement and the remembering of why we are able to delight in his word if we skip this step if we don't pray if we don't ask the Lord to make us more like him and to desire his word then we're just doing good works that we're just we're just it's just something else to do and we'll be missing the entire point of delighting in his word second recognize it's a battle. If you struggle to meditate or even just read through the bible like any goal you start with pure discipline now uh I started uh working out for the first time in my life about two years ago and when we started this was me and two other guys we we were we were on it like three or four times a week that was crazy but then the second I let go of that discipline the second one of us.
Was like it went from four three to four times a week to two to three times a week to once or twice a week to maybe once every two months so my point in that is that stay disciplined to reading the word read it in the morning great time to read the word of God now I know some of you are saying I'm not a morning person my question to you is what time do you go to sleep the night before. Now my point don't get me wrong my point is not that reading in the morning is the way but my point in that question is what are you doing to set yourself up for an opportunity to read the word of God third set a specific goal so if I'm up here and I tell you that I want to learn a new language and add it to my arsenal of languages and I just say hey I just want to learn a new language. It's really easy if I just keep it at that broad vague goal it's really easy for me not to be held accountable to it and you really don't know what to ask me really all you can ask me is hey how's that new language going and I can just say it's all right it could be better but if I told you I want to learn 45 new words write three new sentences and be able to have. A one-minute conversation with someone in that new language and the new language being portuguese let's say then you would know exactly what to ask me when you come up to me hey how's portuguese going hey how many words have you learned what's your favorite word what's the sentence you wrote it'd be a lot more difficult for me to kind of make something up there so set a specific goal fourth ask people.
In your community group to hold you accountable more specifically we all have that one person ask that one person that you know will hold you accountable sometimes we selectively choose who to hold us accountable because we know maybe they're not going to ask us also I learned this term recently it's called the bystander effect. Don't just tell your entire group I struggle with reading with the bible gather in two or three people because the temptation if you tell 10 to 12 people is that they'll probably be like oh I'm sure he'll ask him about his bible reading I'm sure they'll ask right and the problem is if everyone does that no one's going to ask you about your bible reading to get about two or three people and that. Just decreases the chances of oh I'm sure I'll ask him lastly don't forget why we get to do this we get to do this because of Jesus's finished work on the cross that is what empowers us and changes us to be more like him and follow him there is no one like him the band is going to come up we're going to sing a song that is based on Psalm one and I want this to be our prayer and our. Encouragement for this week there's a line in the song that I really love and it's in the chorus so we're going to hear it and we're going to sing it over and over again form us more and more into a people who love your word I love that because it implies and it's it's humbling because it's us admitting that we need the Lord to be able to love his word on our own.
We will we will easily and so fast we will so quickly we will take a seat among the scoffers but we love his word we love him we love people because he loved us first because he finished the work on the cross that is why I love this line because it is just it is that we are admitting that we need him first also I love the word form because you're not it's not going to be something you. You all of a sudden fall in love with tonight and then you're reading the bible every day starting tomorrow when you form something it has stages it takes time it takes steps so don't lose heart don't be discouraged because you lost you didn't read it one day but in those days of our shortcomings remind yourself of the finished work on the cross remind we need to remember that we are forgiven. We are fully known and that knowledge will not be used against us that knowledge is actually what is what brings us to him and because of that we get to delight in the whole we get to delight in that the whole time we delight in the story of salvation and the truth of grace and the truth of reconciliation we get to delight in that and that will give us joy peace and comfort that is everlasting let's pray. God I pray that as we are singing this last song as we are just thinking of what Psalm one has to say about your word Lord I ask that you through your grace and your forgiveness and in our shortcomings Lord may we not use your grace to paralyze us but may we use your grace to motivate us to push us to empower us to delight in your law.
Oh remind us as we are reading and as we delight in your word or as we fight to delight in your word Lord remind us that even if we even if we don't understand even if it takes time Lord you're not going anywhere you will sustain us you will preserve us you will maintain us the whole way we are so appreciative of that we are so humbled by that Lord we pray all of this in your name amen.