Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / June 21, 2026 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 19: God is Speaking to You

Transcript

June 21, 2026 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 19: God is Speaking to You · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Morning.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Show of hands.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you knew that the World Cup is going on right now?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, keep your hands raised.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your hands raised.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you have been able to go to a game?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Some have.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked with some a few people who've been able to go to a game, but it's not most of us, right?
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: This past Friday, the US beat Australia, and uh 21 million people watched that game, right?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a question for you is how is it that though you and I are not in the stadium, we've been able to find out who won these World Cup games, or even that there's a World Cup going on at all?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how many years have we known that Arrowhead Stadium was going to be hosting the World Cup?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: They've had this plan for so long.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it's not just, right, the game itself that's happening, it's the TV cameras that are capturing it, social media, it's the news, the newspaper, it's podcasts, it's people who are uh wearing jerseys going out and about.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And all of this is because it is the biggest sporting event ever.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Ever.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: In 2022, the last World Cup, 5.6 billion people watched at least one minute of the World Cup.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: 5.6 billion.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh to us Americans, that's way more than the Super Bowl.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's way more than anything else that's going on.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And all of this, though, is done to reach you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is not so much about the game that you can possibly attend, though there's they're saying more games this year than um any year before.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: There are more matches, more opportunities for you to buy merchandise, but all of this is a network and an effort so that you would know more about how Algeria does in soccer or whatever team that you're interested in besides the US.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: But there's something that's even greater, that reaches even more people than 5.6 billion.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's God's desire to reach you and communicate with you through creation.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 19, King David is going to talk about the great communicator God, the God who is the creator of heavens and earth, and the one who is speaking to you.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to use that language without words, day after day and night after night, so that you might know more about him and have a closer relationship with him.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And all of this is coupled together with God's revealed word in Scripture, so that as both of them come together, we are able to recognize and see this great God who not just desires to have a relationship with us, but who speaks to us day in and day out through his word and his creation.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Bigger question for us, though, is are we listening?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Are we listening to what God is telling us?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And are we tuned in to the right frequency to understand even how we should appreciate and give glory to his name as we see creation?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: King David was tuned in to this.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: He was listening to God, and he made a statement that went far beyond just the majesty of creation.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: He said it pointed to one who is glorious and worthy of praise.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: King David was paying attention to what God was showing him.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And as he begins in Psalm 19, he says, the heavens declare the glory of God.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is a very popular verse in the Psalm, Psalm 19:1, that the heavens declare the glory of God.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, David doesn't mean necessarily the heavenly realm, like where we think of after death and angels and all that kind of thing.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what he's talking about here.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: What he means is the sun, the moon, and the stars.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: When you look up into the sky, that is the heavens.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And David says God has made the heavens, and not just that he made the heavens, but that when you look upon them, as well as the rest of creation, it gives you information about the God who has made them.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important to think about how God wants us to think about him.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: This passage echoes Genesis 1:1.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the fact that in God's divine plan, the first introduction that you receive from him, his lead foot, the way that he wants you to initially think of him, is as creator.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: He is the one who makes the world.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: He is so many different names that we can rightly ascribe to him.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: But as he introduces himself to us, gives us his handshake at the beginning of the Bible, we learn that he is the creator.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that the world that he has made was good.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that the world that he has made, had made, that is good, that it reflects something about him as the creator, and that we can begin as his creation, and a point that I'm going to hit hard later on, that you and I are the greatest among his creation, that we can receive and grow deeper in our relationship with him by what we perceive in that creation.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: He is the creator God.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And as we witness what he has made, it should draw us deeper in worship.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: David's psalm was a worship of God.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Many of the psalms are songs.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as David was filling out and his love for the Lord was overflowing into music and poetry, what he was doing also was making a bold and controversial statement against many of the religions of his day.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: David, the nations that surrounded him, they would worship the sun.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: They would worship the moon and the stars.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: They would worship the rains that came down on the field.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: They would worship the ocean, the thunder and the lightning.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: They would worship the plants that came up from the ground.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And David says, I worship the one who made those things.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't worship those things.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I worship the one who made them.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And as great as you think the sun and the moon and the stars are, and as naturally, right, we are drawn to them because of their beauty.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: David goes, Then how much more beautiful is the one who made it?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: How much more creative, how much more worthy of worship is the one who made what others worship falsely.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: So when King David wants to hear the voice of God, see the works of his hands, he first looks to the heavens.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And here in a moment he's going to switch into the plural.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to say they there, and he's going to use this language, and what he's referencing as we move forward is the work of God's hands.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: This created world.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's referring specifically to the heavens, but it's not just that.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's the sunsets, it's the trout in the stream, it's the huge sequoia trees, it's all of God's work that he has made.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: What do these works tell us?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because God is the great communicator, right?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: He is the creator.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: He wants us to know that about him.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: So what do these works tell us?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, David says, day after day they pour out speech.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Night after night they communicate knowledge.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: There is no speech, there are no words, their voice is not heard.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Are we contradicting ourselves here?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: They talk, they speak, but there's no words, there's no language being used.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I bet there has been a time before that you, like myself, have said to God, please talk to me.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Show me that you're there.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And what you were anticipating and hoping for, most of all, was for an audible word from the Lord, something you distinguished as what we think of as written words.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: You heard a voice, maybe.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's what you were wanting.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yet what God tells us in Scripture is that He speaks to us through more than just words.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: That His creation is pouring out speech, it is communicating knowledge, and that knowledge is not just of His majesty and His glory, right?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: But also of His love and affection for us.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Think of the person that loves you most dearly.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, surely, they tell you, I love you.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: But do they not also give you a hug, hold your hand tightly, kissed your knee when you scratched it as a kid?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yesterday, for Father's Day, I got some tamales from my wife, which, let me tell you, was a very loving thing that she did to me.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't necessarily accompanied with, I love you.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was, but the point was rather that the gift communicated something to me, right?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have a narrow view sometimes of how God is speaking to us.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: We say, He's the great communicator.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: God, why aren't you speaking to me?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And what Scripture says is he is.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: It is just might not be coming in the ways that you're anticipating.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: David says, at day after day, the heavens are pouring out speech and communicating this knowledge.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Importantly, it is something that everyone is able to bear witness to.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we ask as we read this, okay, well, what is it telling us?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of knowledge is being given through a lack of speech?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Paul speaks about this in his words, inspired by the Spirit.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 1, Paul says, for his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: As a result, people are without excuse.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone can see the heavens.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: By God's grace, we've all witnessed a beautiful sunset, a perfect blue sky over the flint hills, the power of a Kansas storm, right?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, as Paul picks up, he goes, these things are not just to marvel at, but rather they give us information.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: In particular, they tell us about God's power and his divinity.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: When you're talking about apologetics being the study of how to try and reason with somebody about the existence of God, his creation is one of the most powerful resources you can use.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: You have the cosmological argument, which says that everything has a cause.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's the argument from creation.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: You go back further and further and further in time, and you continually say each one of these things has a cause or an initiating event until you get to the very end and you go, Who caused that?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: You have what's called the teleological argument or the one from design, and you say, by looking at creation, it has order, purpose, and complexity that seems to astound the mind.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: The common example here is if you were to walk up upon like a Rolex watch on the ground, and you go, okay, well, somebody made that watch.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: You don't just put all the watch parts together in a bag and shake it together and like a Rolex pops out.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: A watchmaker crafted this.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And as we see, and in fact, I think this is only a greater argument as science continues to look at the depths of God's creation, and you go, man, look at what he has made, and look at how these things move together, and how it is only such a narrow possibility that they could all be happening?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: What a great creator that must be.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Or even one of my favorites, just the argument of aesthetics or beauty.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: You say, if you are a purely rational mind, if it is all about evolution and what is their survival of the fittest and what is most efficient for this world, then what explains the beauty of creation?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: What explains the wonder that we get to see?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Why does a peacock have those feathers?
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: There are plenty of other ways that it might proclaim that it's a good mate, and yet that is what we get to see.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Purely moving forward based on natural selection does not alone account for that animal.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And moreover, and over and over again, it's the field of wildflowers, it's the parts of our world that we haven't even discovered yet, that are filled with beauty and wonder, that we haven't even perceived until a submarine goes down deep enough, or a plane goes high enough, or a hiker goes far enough, that we get to witness and see something that God has had in store for all this time.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Importantly, though, as you look at these things, what David was saying in Psalm 19, what Paul is saying in Romans 1, though, is it calls us to account and it tells us something about the one who made it.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: We call this God's general revelation, that the world will be held to account because God's power and divinity are on display for all to see.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: General revelation, which is what Paul is getting at here in Romans 1, reveals the Creator.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: It proclaims to a greater audience than will watch the World Cup for one minute this year, that God exists, that something made the world, and that we are a part of that creation.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ecclesiastes says that God has placed eternity in our hearts.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the part of our lives where we go, even maybe if you came to faith in Christ as an adult, you recognized before that time there must be something more.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: There is a hole that can only be filled by God.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, that all the things that I've been trying to fill it with are not satisfying.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: There must be something more.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And what you are feeling in one sense is this pull of general revelation.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Before you cracked open the Bible, you said, There must be.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Creation points us toward God, but scripture in the gospel message tells us how God saves.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: But you look around the world and you see stories like Don Richardson told in the book Eternity in Their Hearts.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: He was an evangelist, a missionary, and he spoke of the Karin people in Myanmar who, without having ever heard the gospel message, conceived, based upon their witness of creation, that there was a creator God they named Yahwah, and this Yahwah was benevolent and had made the world, and that they were a part of that world, and yet for some reason there was a separation that had taken place.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: There were things that were happening that shouldn't be happening, and they desired to be reunited with their great creator.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so then the missionaries come in and they go, Boy, do I have a story for you?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: One about a creator God who loves his creation, who did create them, desires to have a relationship with them, was separated because of sin, and now because of this one named Jesus Christ and the cross, they can be reconciled and reunited once again.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the Koran people latched onto the gospel message.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: They said, This is what we have been waiting for.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is something we have to some degree known about, but not specifically.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: We are ready to receive it.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And now they're one of the greatest groups over in East Asia for advancing the gospel, one of the few over there where the entire people group is almost entirely Christian.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Even today the Kahran people are spreading the Word of God.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you go, how is it that they were prepared?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is by creation.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Creation had prepared them.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can read more about their story at Life Impact International.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul roots part of this argument, though, for accountability in God's magnificence that everyone is able to see.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: In Romans 10, verses 17 through 18, Paul says, So faith comes from what is heard, and this is a believing, saving, excuse me, saving faith.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And what is heard comes through the message about Christ.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: But I ask, Paul says, Did they not hear?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they did.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then what does he quote?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 19, verse 4.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Their voice has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Remembering that there is the work of God's hands.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says, everyone has borne witness to them.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, nobody is without, or nobody has an excuse.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: As Paul connects Psalm 19 to the gospel itself, we see that God has been speaking, and the ultimate message he wants humanity to hear is the message of Christ.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Make no mistake, the message of Christ and the gospel message is what saves.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's what saved the Koran people.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: But what God is communicating through his creation is intention, information, and expectation that is written in the heavens.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: What this leads us down, though, is a path where we understand that God has great expectations because of what he has revealed.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: That it is not enough to just say, man, that sunset is beautiful.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: That what is expected of us is to go, man, one made that sunset.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And the one who made that sunset is worthy of worship.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that we should have both a great desire to share the gospel message that truly results in a saving faith with all the people that creation has prepared for the gospel message.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: But also that here, where we have heard the gospel message clearly, that we are going to be held to an even greater account than we could say the Koran people.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: You might remember Jesus speaking to the town of Khorasine.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: They rejected him after he performed signs and wonders.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: They rejected him as the Messiah, as the Savior, and they told him to get out.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Woe to you! It will be worse for you on the day of judgment than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah, because you have seen and heard the truth, and you have still rejected it.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: For those of you who don't know the Bible very well, Sodom and Gomorrah is the example in the Old Testament for what happens when you reject God.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Fire and brimstone rained down from heaven upon a people who were idolatrous, sexually immoral, and most of all, hated God's people.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, It's worse for you, Corazine, than it will be for them, because you have heard this specific message.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: You have seen God in flesh, and yet you have rejected him.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so, speaking to, you know, those of you, right, who live in America, who have heard the gospel message of Jesus, and who know either yourself or others who are skeptical, you have to understand that the accountability that creation, that God's general revelation and his specific word brings is nothing to sniff at.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is a powerful expectation, but rooted in that expectation is a fair desire from the Lord for us to respond to what he has given.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: David has one more section here where he's going to talk about how he sees creation speaking to him without words.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And for David, it comes across most notably in the sun that travels over his palace every day.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: He says in verses 4C through 6, in the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: It is like a bridegroom coming from his home.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: It rejoices like an athlete running a course.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to the other end.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing is hidden from its heat.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: David sees in the heavens God's handiwork.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: David has no idea that the sun is 70% hydrogen and roughly 28% helium.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gigantic ball of plasm that holds together our solar system through its gravity.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Don't need to know those things.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: To him, the sun is like a bridegroom or an athlete.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: But most of all, the sun is reliable, steadfast, and powerful.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: And in those ways it tells David about his creator.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Day by day I wake up and I will find the sun in my east window.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And night by night I go to bed and I will see the sun in my west window.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: And tomorrow I will be able to expect the same.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: That last line, that nothing is hidden from its seat, when C.S.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Lewis wrote his commentary on the Psalms, he said, This is the most important line in this entire psalm here, because it connects the point that David is making about God's creation and the point he's about to make with regard to Scripture by saying that it is pervasive.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot escape it.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: It is something that God does that is almost overwhelming in its presence.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you might be able to go into the shade, but if you've experienced a Kansas summer, you know that that doesn't mean you escape the heat.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, David says, writes, nothing is hidden.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: This tells David about his creator.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Our first application point this morning is that you would listen for God's voice in his creation.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to hear from God, begin by paying attention to what he has already said.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: The beauty of creation is not some random background scenery.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is a daily reminder that God is powerful, present, and worthy of worship.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're out on the golf course this summer, right?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going on your family vacation, if you just witnessed the storm last night at 2 a.m.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: like I did, you get a sense of God's power and his presence.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: But here's my challenge to you, right?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of us go, man, that's beautiful.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, God.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we might recognize it as a blessing, but are we allowing it to draw us deeper into worship?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Does seeing these things make us worship God as they should?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Does seeing the sun, instead of cursing at it for making it, you know, a heat index of 103, right?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: Might we recognize that God has given it to us for life?
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Might we recognize what God was doing when he made it?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that while people around the world today still might worship that sun, we worship the one who made it.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let it draw you deeper into worship.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not just with nature that God speaks to us.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Most notably and specifically, he speaks to us through Scripture.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: David reminds us that he is a guy who loves to read his Bible.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: He lists out six things here.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one's life.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise, or the simple wise.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: The command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you, David didn't have sixty-six books of the Bible like you and I had.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: David is reading the Torah.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: The last time you read Leviticus, did you say that?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: The last time you read God giving instructions in the tabernacle, were you going, Oh Lord, your word and commands are radiant?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: The length of the curtain, God.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your ordinances are reliable.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: And yet that is what David is reading.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: During David's lifetime and after his lifetime, God is in the process of revealing his written word and having it come together in what we now call the Bible.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: But for David it was the first five books.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Isaiah hadn't come along yet.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: There was no Jesus to speak of that had walked the earth.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: He was in heaven, right?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: David heard prophecy about him.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: He knew that the Savior would come from his line, be one of his descendants, but he didn't have the information that we have.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And yet David loved Scripture.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because it told him about God.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: It told him about the one that he was worshiping, the one who had called him up when he was a little shepherd, and had anointed him as king, and helped him slay the giant Goliath, had protected him while he was wandering in the wilderness, while Saul was trying to kill him, the same God who forgave him when he sinned greatly, and the God who would ultimately cleanse him of that sin and redeem him, make a covenant with him and keep that covenant.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: David goes, When I read Scripture, I witness that God.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: From Genesis 1:1 to the end of Deuteronomy, the instruction of the Lord is perfect, he says.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: David uses six different Hebrew words here in his statements, his adjectives.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: And the first one means that God's word is complete or whole or sound.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: It renews one's life in the sense that only within Scripture do we find the answer to the problem of our soul and our brokenness?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is trustworthy, it is steadfast and certain, making the simple wise.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Have any of you ever had Google Maps take you to the wrong location?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've been taken to a field before, trying to find a restaurant.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, what does it mean to place your trust in something that will never lead you astray?
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is right, meaning it is straight, upright, and correct.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't CNN or Fox News.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's no spin or angle to what we're reading.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: With clarity, God tells us what is actually and totally worthy and good in this world.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: We find joy when we align ourselves with the Father's will.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's radiant, he said.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're remembering picking up some of that sun language, right?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is clean or it is pure in heart.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is the standard of righteousness.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: It lights up the eyes of those who read it, dispensing and pushing away the darkness of our lives.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: A life drawn out of death and into righteousness responds with praise, just like David did.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is pure, he says.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Refined.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is the word used in Hebrew for refining metal in a furnace.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's working out all the impurities of our life.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: And because it is completely pure, it will endure forever.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: There is no rust, there is no decay, there is no mold and mildew that attaches itself to God's word.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: When we understand the weight and reverence of this, we make eternal matters the priority in our lives, and it purifies us and prepares us to live in his kingdom.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth and finally, he says the ordinances, all of these words really mean the laws, but the commands of God, the ordinances of the Lord, are reliable and altogether righteous.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Faithful, reliable, and sure.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, how you feel about it, but you know, I I see the world changing as it comes to AI.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's a double-edged sword.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we use it in certain specific capacities here at the church.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Can be helpful.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: But what scares me is that I might be on social media and I'll see a video that I only find out later was made by AI.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not as good as I was a year ago at being able to tell the difference.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: A year ago, hey, I got six fingers.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm okay.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I need some disclaimer because many times what is being said and being shown, if I'm moving fast, especially, is no different to me than something that is actually captured on video.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what's going to happen, I'm not trying to fear-monger, I'm just saying, I think what is going to happen is that it's going to become harder and harder for us to be able to tell what is true from what is false.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because what is false is becoming more effective at looking true.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: And when that happens, I think there's going to be a great return, even now, but more so in the future, towards what can actually be relied upon, what isn't changing, what doesn't need to be.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I love it, you know, let's look at a picture of a biblically accurate angel or something like that.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those are fun things that AI can help you with.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to what are the commands that lead us to life, ChatGPT has nothing on the book of John.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is unchanging, giving us a place to put our hope.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, it is a reflection of his character, which is consistent, a reminder that his promises are always kept, and that we have the freedom to place complete faith in his command.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: So these words from David they come from intentional times studying the Lord's law.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: You don't get to this with a superficial love for God.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: David had personal experience in seeing the divine text shape his life, to hear God speak, both through what he witnessed and what he read.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Through Scripture, it was better than anything the earth had to offer.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: He says, they are more desirable than gold, than an abundance of pure gold, and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is abundant reward.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let me ask you, if the Bible was not free for you to access, how much would you pay to access it?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know you might go to a store and purchase a Bible, but we've got free Bibles out in the lobby.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're welcome to take them.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can go online and you can go to the library, there's any website where you can find immediate access to Scripture.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have you thought about how much that is worth?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And how little we regard it because we have such easy access to it by God's grace?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: That the truth that will set your soul free and give you an eternal destiny with our God is available and accessible to anyone who desires it.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Have you thought about how much you would pay if that was not the case?
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: If I said, I have the answer to salvation and life itself, where you might find joy and fulfillment and understand what your creator has to say about you, his creation, and about the life he has given to you.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: But it was a QVC commercial.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: And not just four payments of 1999 or two for one.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: But what if I said you had to give up your home?
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: You had to give all the money in your bank account.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: You had to live in a way that you would never imagine, but you would have God's word.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, now we're starting to get to a place where we're questioning how much do I really value this that's in my hand or in my phone?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Even think back before Mr.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: Gutenberg made his uh printing press, right?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: And access to God's word was only for the powerful and the wealthy, because they were the only ones who could afford somebody to copy it for them.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you had to go to a monastery and become a monk and devote your life to this kind of thing so that you might have the chance to copy some of these divine words for others.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you just needed to have somebody tell you.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: You didn't get to have it in your hand, you didn't get to study it for yourself, and yet you do today.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: Are you taking advantage of that?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: How many times do you need somebody to encourage you, exhort you, say, are you reading scripture?
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: It has been given to you.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is God's word for you.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, is it just the verse of the day?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Do we treasure the sweetness of God's word closely, like David did?
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: I remind you one more time, he had five books that he was looking at.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: We have 66.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have the revelation of Jesus Christ, the gospels, the instructions, all of the prophets and their words brought together by God.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: If Scripture feels distant or unimportant, the problem is not that God has stopped speaking to you.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: If Scripture feels distant or unimportant, I would hazard a guess you're not reading Scripture.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying it's not hard to understand at times, or that it can be difficult to parse out, you know, how God is relating to you through it.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: But that's part of the problem is we have developed an identity, thinking that the only purpose of Scripture is to help us.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: What is the purpose of the book of Leviticus?
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can go back a couple years.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: We went through that.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: What is the purpose, though, of the book of Leviticus?
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is to learn how to worship God.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: Learning how to worship God does not actually have that much to do with you and I getting over ourselves, finding happiness in this life, being free from anxiety, right?
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Many things that Scripture does get into, but the whole thing is, hey, Israel, how can you worship the Lord fully the way that he is commanded?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because he's glorious.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: What is the value of that book of the Bible if not to instruct us on the glory and majesty of our God?
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: What is the purpose of all of those rules and regulations?
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that God's people might draw close to him and understand his will.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: Treasure the sweetness of God's word closely.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: David says, In addition, your servant is warned by them in verse 11, and in keeping them there is abundant reward.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: David was somebody who knew the scriptures so well and understood God's word so well that he was able to say, Lord, you bring great reward through them.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: So what does this do for us?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: Draws David, drew David, back into reverential prayer and reflection, and it should do the same to us.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: How David responded to God's revelation was he said, Who perceives his unintentional sins?
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: Cleanse me from your hidden faults.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: Moreover, keep your servant from willful sins, do not let them rule me.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then I will be blameless and cleansed from blatant rebellion.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: David goes, I see the sun in the sky as it warms my bones and grows the plants in the royal garden, and I read God's word that He's revealed to me, and what it makes me do go is go, Oh Lord, I am not worthy to receive these things.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: Man, what a response from David here.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, he goes, you can see his desire is he goes, I need to be cleansed to be in your presence, God.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: For I have both unintentional and intentional sins.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: Briefly, did you know that you can sin against God and not know it?
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know that your ignorance and my ignorance is not the same thing as innocence?
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just about the stuff that you know, but in my laundry list of sins that I've committed even day by day, ways I continually, even somebody who's saved by Christ, has the Holy Spirit, rebel against God, that in my laundry list, there's a fold-out section that I don't even know how to write.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: That is all the other things that I have done that separate me momentarily because I am not walking with him, that I need to ask for forgiveness and receive forgiveness from the blood of the Lamb for these things.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: Years ago when I was uh a kid, we took a family vacation to Washington, D.C.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've ever been a kid on a vacation in Washington, D.C., you know that it is a lot of walking, right?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: And um we were at some monument, I can't remember which one, and there was a fountain nearby, and I was tired, my legs were tired, I was complaining, and I went to go lay down.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: There was like a lip on the fountain, a wide lip on the fountain.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: I went to go like lay down there.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: And within you know, two minutes, I had a very stern security guard coming over to me saying, You don't get to lay down there.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm sorry, there's no placard, there's no thing that says, if you're exhausted from walking around Washington, D.C., you may not sit or lay down on the fountain.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: And yet I was still held to account for that.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: David understands the same thing.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Lord, your word is pure.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: Reveal within me.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: Notice that.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: Reveal God these things to me so that I might walk with you more fully.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: The third of our four points is that you need to let God's word expose your life and change it.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: That it is more than just a mirror that shows us what we want to see or hope to see, as if it the Bible is just something we can manipulate to get what we want.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Scripture is there to shine the light of God, reveal the darkness in our life, not just so that we might be encouraged in this life, but so that we might be transformed.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: God did not give you his word just to comfort you.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: He did that.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: Not just to save you.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, he did that.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: But he also did it so that you and I might have the knowledge that we need to day by day, like the sun, transform more and more into the image of Christ.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Clearly, David's desire to be cleansed was an important thing for him.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want to be cleansed, if you want to have your sins, both willful and unintentional sins, to be wiped away, for it not to separate you from God any longer.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: You, like David, can trust in God.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: That you have a Savior named Jesus, who died on the cross for your sins, and that by his blood, which now covers you, anybody who trusts in him, you are made clean.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: David says, Lord, cleanse me, but it was also a request he made, knowing the promise of God.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was not truly a question in his mind.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: God, you will cleanse me.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: And anybody who believes in the gospel message as well will be cleansed on their own.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so how does David finish this psalm?
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 14.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: David didn't have all of the gospel message pieced together the way that we do, but he understood that God was good, that he was powerful, that he was divine, that he revealed in Scripture that he is the creator and that David was the created.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that as the rest of creation was proclaiming the glory of God, David's final request in verse 14 is that he might do the same.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: Verse to memorize this week, Psalm 19, 14.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: May what I say and what I think and feel, Lord, be acceptable to you.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: What is he talking about here?
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this guy had Leviticus.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: He understands that there is a notion of an acceptable sacrifice.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's what Abel offered to the Lord and what Cain hated him for and committed the first murder in regard to.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Abel had offered an acceptable sacrifice.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: And David says, May my life be an acceptable sacrifice to you, God.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: For so many ways and in so many times, though mankind is the chief amongst God's creation, the greatest among what he has made.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know when we die and go to glory, we'll judge the angels?
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: You are the greatest among God's creation.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: You are better than the sunset.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: You are better than the trout in the stream and the tree in the forest and the bug crawling on the ground.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: That was made, maybe that wasn't a good example.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: The butterfly, you don't want to be a bug, but you are greater than everything that God has made, that David is saying proclaims his divine majesty.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: You, made individually, knitted together in your mother's womb, are greater than anything he has made.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, though our capacity is great to bring God glory, how often are we living that out the way that He has?
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: He has called us to do.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: David said, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our fourth and final point today is that you would give your whole life back to God as an offering.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: The chief end of man, the shorter catechism says, is to glorify God forever.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: The chief end of man is to glorify God forever.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not to live for ourselves, not ultimately to be satisfied, not to be happy and content.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Lord willing, those things come when we pursue this.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the greatest outcome of your life is that you would bring glory to God.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you one final thing about this that is sobering.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: Whether or not you want to, your life will bring glory to God.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you choose to, trust in Christ.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can be the one who brings glory to God by sharing the gospel, loving your neighbor, you know, following after the Father's will, doing the good works that Ephesians 2.10 has prepared in an advance for you to do.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: You will be like the Son that comes and goes day after day and night after night.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you can be one who brings glory to God in this lifetime by what you choose to do through his power and his mercy.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: Or you can bring glory to God at the judgment throne, because when he righteously condemns those who have rejected him, that will also bring him glory.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it is one of the most sobering truths for his creation to understand that the sunsets and the dogs and the peacocks don't get a part of, is that though we have great capacity, we have great expectation.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: And we can shine like God intended for us to shine, like Adam and Eve before they took the apple or whatever the fruit was that was on the tree, before the fall of man, that when God made them, he said, Man, this is good.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like the rest of my creation, this is good, but I have made them in my image.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: You are made in God's image.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: Question is whether you want to give your whole life back to God as an offering, to bring him glory now, which he is worthy of.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you want to bring him glory later, which he is also worthy of.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: God desires to have a relationship with you, a personal, saving relationship, and he has brought all of creation to bear so that you and I might be reminded of his glory.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_00: God is speaking to you day by day.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to him.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for your goodness and your mercies.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you tell us we are your greatest creation.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: We can't believe that almost.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: But you tell us we are your greatest creation.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, how often, Lord, do I actually live up to that account?
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, by the power of your spirit, might you help us to walk more fully in your presence, to bring you glory, Lord, in this life by trusting in Christ, being cleansed of our sin, and making much of your name.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: God, help us to see in the creation that you have provided your divine power and your majesty, that we do not just appreciate it, Lord, but it draws us deeper into worship.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, let us be more cognizant from the sun in the sky to what is happening in the depths of the ocean.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, how you are moving in this world, telling us about you, the Creator, as you revealed yourself to us to be.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: God, help us to see these things and to walk more fully in them, appreciating you, loving you, and giving you the worship that you are due, because God, the heavens declare your glory.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name that we pray.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: See you next week.