Psalm 19 The Revelation of God
Intro: Tonight we are going to begin our look at the Psalms
that were penned by David – following the time like of his life
A)We just covered 1 Sam.16 – The anointing of David as King – Man after God’s own heart - / Summoned to the Palace
B) Psalm 19 is one of the Earliest Psalms that David wrote – written during his Shepherd yrs –13-15 yrs of age
1)
The Theme of this
Psalm is the Revelation of God
C) It is interesting to me that this Psalm was
written – prior to David’s encounter w/ Goliath – possibly – David’s Prior
1)
Which speaks volumes
to David’s Perspective as he faced this giant in his life –
D)David was able to see Goliath for what he was – An uncircumcised Philistine who defied ……
1)
Because He saw God for Who He was – Saw God in His Glory /
His power / His majesty –
E) That really is the key to overcoming in the
trials that we face in life – Do we see the Lord for Who He is
1)
Desperate need in our country presently – People to see thru the clouds /
See the Lord –
B) Psalm is Divided into 2 sections – 1st The Revelation of God in the Sky – 2nd The Revelation of God in the scriptures
1) It tells us that the knowledge of God has been written for us in two volumes, and that it takes both volumes to know God.
C)In the first part of this psalm the Psalmist, David, sets
forth the book of nature:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
A)Phillips – The Stars are God’s
oldest Testaments
B) David didn’t have the advances of Technology that we have – great
telescopes & space missions – but He didn’t need it
1) Starry
night on a Judean Hillside – Wow !!!! – God you are Amazing
C)The Picture I get in my mind as I read this is David
sitting out in the country side on a Starry night – gazing at the sky – Blown
away
1)David man after God’s own heart – seen here – God you are glorious
D)Disadvantages that we have living in
the City / living w/ smog / it is so easy for us to miss being reminded of The
Glory of God in Creation
1)
Daddy if the bottom side of heaven is this
beautiful just imagine what the Top side is like
I wonder what David would
have said if He knew what we Know
A)The diameter of the Earth around the equator is
7,926.6 miles. The Circumference =24,902 miles. & It weighs: 6,000 million,
million, million tons.
B) Huge Heavy Ball – just hanging in space – in mid air/ the earth is spinning 1,000 miles an hour
on our axis.
1) And as it does, it travels
through space at 19
miles per second.
C)That may
be a bit abstract for you…So I’ll put it into MPH for you. It’s 66,600 miles
per hour. Over
1,000 times faster than you travel @ 65mph
D)While the earth, as giant as it is, at nearly 8,000 miles in diameter, Jupiter has an even bigger diameter of 88,732 miles across.
1)
That
means that you could pour the volume of planet earth into a
hollowed
out Jupiter 1,300 times. That’s Huge!
Now that’s pretty amazing, but not
quite as amazing as the Sun. While Jupiter’s diameter is over 88,000 miles in diameter, the Sun’s diameter is 866,000 miles in
diameter from one side to the other side.
A) So the sun's circumference is 2,720,106 miles. If you were to hollow out the
sun, you could place the volume of 1,306,000 earths inside the sun.
B) Now I could stop here and our minds could be blown at the vastness and
power of God.
1)
But the sun in
reality is puny! The only reason it seems big is because it’s so close to the
earth, only 93mill. Miles away.
C) One stars of called: Betelgeuse. Over 675 million miles in circumference. That is 215
million in diameter from L to R. From TOP to BOTTOM!
1)
the
Earth 24,902 miles in circumference. It’s pretty Big. Jupiter 278,760 miles in
circumference. Pretty Huge.
D)The Sun 2,720,625 miles in circumference. Nothing
compared to Betelguese?
E)But on October 7, 1997 scientists told us that
they discovered what is called “The Pistol Star”
located in the center of the Pistol Nebula in the Milky Way Galaxy. 25,000 light-years from Earth.
It releases up to
10 million times more power than the Sun, as much energy in six seconds as our
Sun does in one year. It’s diameter? Scientists say perhaps as big as 280
million miles.
The Heavens
Declare the glory of God The firmament = the
stretched-out-ness of space tells of God’s
handiwork
A)The Milky Way Galaxy that the earth finds itself
in is 15,000 light-years wide at the center and about 100,000 light-years across.
B)That means to travel the length this milky way would
take you 100,000 years traveling at 186,000 milers per second.
But as far as powerful telescopes can see, there are an
estimated (100 Billion) galaxies like our
Milky Way, containing an estimated (2 hundred billion) stars each,
spaced an average of one million light-years apart.
Spurgeon
He who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself
down an atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar.
Newton’s – test or Trick
V.2 2 Day unto
day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
A)Everyday – reminder that God is Huge – Holds the world in the span of His hand – Comfort in times like this
3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not
heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their
words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And
rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the
other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
A)UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE/ Every Language nation Missionary & the Indian Chief – Show me your God – here are my gods
B) I can’t but I will show you one of his messengers – blindfolded sun
C) Paul declared in Romans because of creation – people are w/out excuse
So First we have the Revelation of God in nature / Now we
have the Revelation of God in the scriptures
A)The first tells of His Power / the 2nd reveals His person/ His heart / His ways / why He does things –
B) The first tells us that we can know about Him / the 2nd Tells us how we can Know Him – Consider what David says about the word v.7-11
First, "the law of the Lord." That is the widest
term for all the written revelation God has given us.
A)"The
law of the Lord is perfect." It is complete, there is nothing left out. It
is comprehensive,
B)It
tells us everything we need to know &does
everything that we need it to do.
C)There is no part of your life, no problem that you
will ever face in your life, no question with which you will ever be troubled
with
1)
that the Word of God
does not speak to and illuminate and meet.
D)So it is perfect, converting or "reviving or Bringing back the soul."
1)
As the sun returns in
the heavens – days after day – the Word of God brings the sinner back to God
E)
He is Revived – He is converted / He is brought
back to God – not thru the wisdom of man’s follow – but thru the Radical word
of God
1)
Rom.1:16 – Not ashamed
of Gospel –
Second, "the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." A)Sure means "dependable, reliable." You can count upon this word to be true.
B) What an encouragement that even if you do not have a lot of knowledge, even if you are "simple" in terms of education
1) you can still be made wise by trusting Scripture because it is sure, it is reliable.
C)That is why we are exhorted: Trust in the
Lord w/ all your heart, and do not rely on your own understnding Prov 3:5
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. {Prov 14:12,
Then, "the statues or precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart." A)Do you
not rejoice in your heart to know that you are right about something?
B)When
you get into a controversy with somebody and he argues
with you but you have the solid assurance that you are right Great
1)
Denise & I Bet –
all the time – Ice Cream –back rub / When I am right – Oh Yea -
C)
Well, that is the way it is
with the Word of God.
1)The glorious thing about this Book is that
when the story is all told, when everything is said & done it will all end
up just as it is written here.
D)
Reminded – that this week – Closer to the Lord’s
return –
1) Sense of Excitement – in the mist of
tragedy
And, "the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the
eyes."
A)The
charge is sometimes made that the Bible is a dirty book because it speaks of
incest and adultery and fornication and perversions like homosexuality and
other ugly things.
B)It
also speaks of malice and bitterness and is filled with slaughter and
bloodshed. It is often
described as an immoral book,
1)
and there have been attempts
to classify it with some of the immoral and obscene literature that is so
widely abroad today.
C)But
there is one great difference. It is true that the Bible contains these things,
because it is a realistic book, which deals with life as it is.
1)
But the one great
difference is that it never shows evil as though it were good.
D)It never makes adultery look attractive. It always looks like what it really ends up to be
-- sordid and shameful.
And it never makes homosexuality appear to be inconsequential.
A)It
reveals it to be a terrible distortion of human nature, - that it is a sins
that goes against God’s Design
B)It
is a book that displays man in the worst light
– Testimony to it’s Divine revelation – No man would write so honestly about –
man
1)
So the Bible
enlightens our eyes – it helps us to see that man is not basically good –
C)
so that when things happen like the events of this past week it doesn’t catch
us by surprise because we know man is Rotten / Evil
Now as when we come to v.9-11 We have the result upon a
persons life of these two Revelations Rd. v.9-11
A)Creation – Reveals power that results in Fear – a Reverence
It is an utter dread of doing anything that would cause him grieve
B)That,
says the Psalmist, is clean, and it will keep you clean, too. It is
"enduring for ever."
1) Once you enter into the fear of the Lord
in its rightful sense you find that this produces a quality of life which keeps
you from defiling yourself.
C) That is the Result of the Revelation of God in Creation
The Result of the Revelation of God in the scriptures is it
produces w/ in us a craving to Know more – Sweeter than honey
A)That was David’s point of Reference – honey – us – Ice cream from Coldstone – Chocolate cake
B) The idea is – what do you crave after – Confessions Wed. good study
Bowl of Ice cream
C)As much as you crave & enjoy sweets, you can only eat so much of it. 1)You can not live on it. In fact, too much of it can make you sick, rot your teeth, give you zits and make you fat.
D) Opposite w/ the word – eat as much as you want – crave for more and it only makes you healthy
Have you ever noticed that healthy foods taste horrible?
Garden Burger
A)The
Word of God is the ULTIMATE health food. It is necessary for life.
B)It
is SWEET. It is ENJOYABLE. It tastes so good
that you want more. You can NEVER have too much of it.
1) It NEVER has any adverse effects upon you. It always
ENRICHES you and gives to you the ESSENTIALS for life.
Moreover by them
Your servant is warned,
And
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse
me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous
sins;
Let
them not have dominion over me.
Then
I shall be blameless,
And
I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of
my heart
Be
acceptable in Your sight,
O
LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.