Father, thank you for this beautiful day. Thank you, Lord, for calling us together. Thank you, Lord, that you have opened up our eyes so that we can see you. Lord, help us today to see you even more in Jesus name. Amen.
So let me ask you, have you ever been starstruck? Have you ever seen someone famous?
I went to Bible school. Judy and I went to Bible school in Dallas. And unlike Braden's school, where they didn't allow you to work, Braden had the luxury of being able to focus on his studies all day long. The school I went to, most of the students worked in the afternoon and evening. We had classes in the morning, and we worked in the afternoon. And I ended up working at a bank. But my first job was at a car wash in the Greenville area of Dallas. And the name of the car wash was the Greenville Car Wash. And it was one of those car washes that's a full service car wash. People drive up and you greet them. They get out of their car. They go into the little coffee shop and wait while you clean their car, work it through the machine. My job was to greet people. It was a great job because most people, when they come to a car wash, they're happy when they get there. Now, if we don't do a good job, they may not be happy at the end, but normally at the beginning, they're happy. So it was a great job. I greeted people and they walked into the shop and I vacuumed out their car, and I sent their car along the. You know, along the Rail there to the wash. So I got to see everybody that came to our car wash, a very popular car wash. A lot of older folks, a lot of older young ladies or older ladies that were retired, maybe widowed. And they had very nice cars and they brought their cars in. So I just saw a variety of people, a lot of college students. One day, this beautiful white Lincoln Continental Mark 4 drives up. This is in 1974. Door opens up and this leg stretches out. It was the longest leg I'd ever seen. About this big around. He had gym shorts on and a T shirt, flip flops and sunglasses. He steps out and he's like 6 or 7 inches taller than I am. Shoulders like this biggest man I've ever seen. Super nice guy. So I greeted him, he greeted me. He went in, sent the car through. About a half an hour later, one of the workers comes over to me and says, what did you think of Too Tall Ed Too Tall Jones, Defensive end, all Pro, Dallas Cowboys, 6, 9, 270 pounds, all muscle. The average weight of a defensive lineman in 1974 was 255lbs. Too Tall Jones was a specimen and he was nice. And I got to see him. I didn't get to meet him. I didn't know who he was. When I saw him, I just knew he was something else. But that's part of, you know, I saw Ed2 Tall Jones and he was nice to me. I appreciated that.
Five years later, Judy and I were in California at Universal Studios. We were taking the tour through Universal Studios. About 150 people in the tour, and they told us we're filming today, so you might see a star possible. So everyone's buzzing, you know. So we're walking through the studio and they're showing us the various sets. This is where this was filmed. That's where that was filmed. Judy is the type of person, when we go to, like, museums, she stops at every display and she reads and she looks and she reads. I just stop the ones that might catch my interest. So normally I get way ahead of her because she's back there reading. Well, the same thing happened during this tour. And I was kind of at the front end of all these people, about 150 people. And I was wheeling a stroller. Kelly was in it, my daughter. She was four years old. She's 50 this year. That's hard to believe. Kelly probably doesn't remember the story. But anyway, I'm wheeling her, you know, and I'm going, we're going this way. And Judy's way back There someplace. And here comes the black limo coming this way. And so people are saying, so I'm wheeling, wheeling. I look down and right there, two feet away from me, is Robert Wagner, the best looking man I've ever seen and Judy's favorite actor. And all of a sudden he's gone, you know. And so I said, I've got to tell Judy. I've got to find her. So I turn the stroller around, trying to make my way through all these people, and I see the car and I'm looking for Judy. So finally I see her and I'm thinking, oh, I hope she saw him. And so when I see her, she's like this. And so I finally got to her and she goes, I saw Robert Wagner. That's what you call being starstruck, you know.
So maybe you've got to see someone famous. Maybe you've even gotten to meet someone. Maybe you've gotten to know someone famous, which would even be more special. Well, our message today, we're going to be in Psalm 19 and we're going to talk about the most amazing thing that the God of this universe has allowed us to see him. But not only to see him, but to see our need for Him. And not only that, but to be able to get to know him.
Psalm 19. Let's look at it together. The first type of revelation we're going to look at is what is called general revelation. The Lord reveals himself to every living human being that's ever lived. And he does it through nature. He does it through this vast universe that we can enjoy. He does it through nature itself and the variety of creation. And he does it through the amazing creation of the human being. There is no other creation on earth like us. So the universe, all of nature, and the nature of man, all of those speak to us about God himself, about the fact that we have an almighty Creator. And David here in Psalm 19 talks about that first evidence of God, the universe, the stars, and all around us. So let's read the first six verses together. We're not going to read the whole chapter at one time. We're just going to move through it section by section. Psalm 19:1 6. We can know him as Almighty Creator. The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim his handiwork. Day after day pours forth speech, Night after night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there spoken words from the stars. Their voice is not heard with human ears, yet their voice in quiet evidence has gone out through the earth. Verse 4. Their words to the end of the world in them, in the moon and the sun and the stars in them and in the heavens. He has made a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. The sun's rising is from the one end of the heavens and its circuit is to the end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
6 · Provides detailed astronomical data about the vastness of the universe—from the solar system to galaxies—to evoke awe at the scale of God's creation
So in the skies, God has revealed himself. Now, this is a different type of starstruck. This is much different than me seeing Ed 2 Tall Jones or Judy finally seeing Robert Wagner. This is a different type of awe. As we examine the heavens, let's think about our solar system. Most commercial airplanes fly at 28 to 32,000ft, about 4 1/2 to 6 miles above the Earth. The International Space Station orbits the Earth at about 250 miles. On average, our moon is 239,000 miles away from Earth. The sun is 92 million miles away from Earth. And if you could travel in a jet plane, you couldn't because it would melt. But if you could travel in a jet plane at 585 miles an hour, nonstop round the clock, it would take you 18 years to get from the earth to the sun. 92 million miles. So our sun is the center of our solar system. The diameter of our solar system from one end to the other, 12 trillion miles. Two light years. A light year is not a measure of time, it's a measure of distance. So the distance light travels in a year. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Around 6 trillion miles a year is how fast light travels. Our solar system is two light years in diameter, 12 trillion miles. Our solar system is in the Milky Way galaxy, which is 100 to 180 light years in diameter. And it contains between 100 and 400 billion stars. There's an age old question that men have asked. How many galaxies are there in the universe? The Hubble telescope has done two studies. One called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field Study. The next one called the Extreme Deep Field Study. These studies have revealed that There are potentially 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Since those studies, other studies have shown that there might be as many as 2 trillion galaxies, each of them with billions of stars. I mean, we can't even grasp what these numbers mean. I mean, when we're flying in a plane at 30,000ft, we can see these little tiny cars and trucks going along the freeways. That's only five miles up
7 · Encourages personal observation of the night sky and quotes Psalm 8 to show that contemplating the heavens should lead to wonder at God's care for humanity
Men have been contemplating the sky ever since. Man has been, you know, man didn't have TVs and movies and iPhones and computers and things to do at night like we do. They would go out and look at the stars. They would observe the stars. Year after year, year after year, they noticed that the stars stayed in place. It's fascinating just to Google, look up on Wikipedia, the solar system, and read the history of things and when men discovered certain things. It's fascinating. I would encourage you to do that if you've never gone out, away from the city, into the dark and just look up at the skies. We have a very famous observatory here in Texas, down in the Davis mountains, called the McDonald Observatory. And they do sky shows, star shows, where you can look through telescopes and see the stars very clearly. I would encourage you to do that. It's a great trip for the family MacDonald Observatory. This type of majesty in the heavens is what caused David to Write in Psalm 8, Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name. In all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens. When I look at the heavens and the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man, that you care for him, yet you have made him man us. You have made him a little lower than the angels, the heavenly beings, and you've crowned him with glory and honor.
8 · Asserts that general revelation through creation is universal and leaves all humanity accountable before God—no one can claim ignorance of God's existence
So this is the first type of revelation. It's available to every person who's ever lived. Every person. Now, not every person has heard about Jesus, but every person has looked at the majesty of the skies. David says the heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens are so profound that it holds every man accountable for their belief in God. Not one single one of us can stand before the Lord in that day and say, well, no one ever told me about you. So I didn't believe. The Bible says that the heavens declare that God exists, that we know there's a God by looking at the heavens. We know there's a God by looking at nature, the vast variety and beauty of nature. Last night, Judy showed me a picture of a butterfly that was in our backyard. She said, look at this. So she zoomed in on it and she said, look at how the dots on his wings are perfectly in line. It was just amazing. We look at nature and we say, there's a creator behind this. The heavens speak to the fact that there is a God. Abraham Lincoln said this. I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist. But I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.
9 · Establishes that general revelation is insufficient for salvation and introduces special revelation, quoting Romans 1:18-21 to show that all humanity suppresses the truth about God revealed in creation
But as awe inspiring as creation is, the stars nature, the human person, it's not sufficient to save a soul. It's not sufficient to have your sins forgiven and cleansed. It's not sufficient to bring you into a relationship with God. So there's another kind of revelation that's added to general revelation and it's called special revelation. And this is why it's needed. Romans 1:18. This is one of those. We're going to look at a couple of very sobering scriptures. This is one of them. Romans 18 for the wrath of God. The anger of God because of sinfulness is revealed from from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Verse 19. 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 seen, clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. We as human beings are without excuse. We cannot say there is no God. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to Him. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.
10 · Defines special revelation as God's ordained disclosure through His Word and Spirit, which reveals His attributes, holiness, and plan of salvation in Jesus
So because of that, there's a second type of revelation, a second type of way that God reveals Himself to us and we call that special revelation. This is an interesting statement that I read. Unlike general revelation that is available to all men, special revelation only goes where God ordains it to go only where he sends it. So kind of put that in the back of your mind, think about that. Special revelation only goes where God ordains it and sends is revealed in men's hearts by the Holy Spirit through His Word, which reflects God's qualities, His attributes, his holiness and his plan for salvation. Special revelation comes to our hearts to reveal this God of the Bible, this almighty creator. And most importantly, special revelation reveals His Son, Jesus.
11 · Identifies the two channels of special revelation: God's Word and God's Son, quoting Jesus' claim to fully reveal the Father
Two ways. That special revelation comes to us from His Word, from the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. It's an incredible statement. Jesus was claiming to be God himself. He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So the Father reveals himself through His Word and through the Son.
12 · Reads and expounds Psalm 19:7-9, cataloging the attributes of God's Word (perfect, pure, right, true) and emphasizing that the gospel is accessible to the simplest person
So let's look at this next section in Psalm 19. God reveals Himself through His Word. Psalm 19:7 11 through this we know him not only as almighty Creator, but as righteous Judge. Listen to these words that are used to describe the Word of God. The law of the Lord is perfect. It's flawless. It revives and restores the soul. Through that the Lord refreshes us, he renews us. The testimony of the Lord is pure. It's reliable and trustworthy. Making wise the simple Aren't you glad? I'm glad that a simple person like me can understand the Gospel. Aren't you glad that the Gospel is not complicated? The power of the gospel is in its simplicity. Every person on the face of this earth, regardless of their education, regardless of their background, regardless of where they live, the simplest person can understand the gospel, that they are sinners and that God has sent a perfect Savior in His Son. Look at this verse again. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple. It can save every single person. The precepts of the Lord are right and rejoice. 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 and righteous altogether.
13 · Continues exposition of Psalm 19:10-11, highlighting that God's Word is more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey, and that keeping it brings great reward
These are all different descriptions of God's Word. Talking about the power of God's Word, the purity of God's word, the power of God's Word to reveal more of him to our hearts. And how should we respond? Verse 10 more to be desired Are they than gold, even much fine gold, how sweet are they sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb, moreover, or in addition by them by the word of God, by his words is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward.
14 · Connects Psalm 19:11 with Philippians 4:8, drawing on Pastor Tony Walsh's insight that the virtues we're commanded to think about are reflections of Christ Himself
I thought about that song that we've sang for years. Give me one pure and holy passion Give me one magnificent obsession to know and follow hard after you. The great reward of discovering God through His Word is that we can know him and then answer his call to follow Him. Jesus is still calling men and women today to follow Him. In keeping of them there is great reward. This passage is very similar to Philippians Chapter four. A few weeks ago, our friend and pastor Tony Walsh, who used to be our senior pastor here a number of years ago, spoke and he spoke out of Philippians 8. Listen to this passage and think about the similarity in what we see here in Philippians 4. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of Praise. Think. Think about these things. Think about these things. And I've used this scripture many times to try to help myself to keep my mind focused on godly things. The battle as Christians and in life is what we think about. Where does your mind go when you get discouraged, when there's no hope? Aren't you thankful that the Lord broke into our praise and worship this morning and gave us a word of hope and encouragement? We get discouraged. We get fearful. God's Word says, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think about those things. I've used that for myself and in counsel many times. But Tony brought us to even a deeper understanding of it, showing us that these attributes that we're supposed to do in our thinking, they're actually reflections of who Jesus is, reflections of God himself.
15 · Asserts that Scripture's descriptions of purity and righteousness convict us by revealing the vast distance between God's holiness and our sinfulness
So when we read scriptures like this in Psalm 19, when we talk about the Word being pure and true and righteous, these convict us. These speak of a righteous, sinless, holy God, and it reminds us that that's not us. Someone said God is God and we're not. We are humans. He is other. He is different. He is so far above us. He is God. He is holy, and we are not.
16 · Asserts that even Scripture itself cannot save unless it leads us to Christ, citing Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees who studied Scripture but missed its Christological purpose
So these scriptures are meant to reveal more of the Lord to us. But you know what? Even that can't save us. You might remember the exchange Jesus had in John 5. I don't have a slide for this one, Lenny. In John 5, Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees who were great students of the Old Testament, and he criticized them. And he said, you search the Scriptures thinking that in them you have eternal life. But he said, no, they speak of me. So they were experts in the Scripture, but they missed seeing Jesus.
17 · Corrects potential misunderstanding: Scripture is not the object of worship—it reveals the God we worship
So as important as the Word is, we don't worship the Word. We worship the God that the Word reveals to us. Does that make sense? Yeah.
18 · Expounds on humanity's spiritual deadness and active rebellion against God before salvation, then reads Ephesians 2:4-5 to show that God made us alive by grace
Look at Ephesians 2. Before we read Ephesians 2, let me just say this. As we read God's Word, it shows us that our sinful condition before we come to the Lord, we have no desire for God. We're not running to him begging to be saved. We're running as fast as we can away from God. Think about your own life. Before the Lord called you to Himself and opened up your eyes to see Jesus, you weren't running to him. You might have been running to him right before you gave your heart to Him. But for most of your unsaved Life. You were running away. The Bible says we were enemies of God. We weren't desiring God. We weren't even able to desire God because the Bible says we were dead in our sins. Dead dead. Not nearly dead, mostly dead. Dead dead spiritually. We were running away from God. Look at Ephesians 2. But God being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.
19 · Synthesizes the progression: general revelation shows God as Creator, Scripture reveals His attributes, but Scripture's ultimate purpose is to reveal Christ and His redemptive plan
So God reveals Himself as almighty Creator in the universe, in the created things. He gives us his word that we can understand him more, we can understand his attributes. But the most important thing His Word gives us is that it reveals to us the Son, his redemptive plan.
20 · Introduces the climax of Psalm 19:12-14, tracing David's movement from cosmic proclamation to personal confession and plea for cleansing and redemption
Psalm 19:12 14 the final passage of Scripture that we're going to look at today. And the most important part of this psalm. Three verses. So David goes from declaring, declaring that the heavens declare, talking about the sun and the moon and how majestic they are. He declares, the word of God is pure and helpful and necessary in our lives. The testimonies of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. But then in these last three verses, he starts to plead with the Lord. He starts to deal with his heart. Psalm 19:12 who can discern his errors? Not the Lord's errors. Who can discern his own errors? Declare me innocent, David says, from hidden faults. Or in the King James, cleanse me from Secret faults. Verse 13 Keep back your servant. Also from presumptuous sins. Let them not all he's talking. Let them he's talking about the hidden sins. He's talking about presumptuous sins. David says, let them not have dominion over me. What an honest prayer. And then he says, then when they don't have dominion over me, then I shall be blameless and and innocent of great transgression. And then the final verse. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock, my strength, my Redeemer.
21 · Expounds Psalm 19:12 to show that no one can fully know the depth of their own sin—hidden sins exist both consciously and unconsciously
Let's take a look at what David was saying in these three verses. Let's go back to verse 12. He says, who can desert one's own errors? What he's telling us here is that none of us understand the depth of what goes on in our hearts. Now, as Christians, the Lord helps us to do that. There's a verse in the Bible that says the heart is deceptively evil and wicked. Who can know it? There are hidden things in our hearts that we may be aware of. Or maybe we're not aware of. There's certainly some things that each one of us areas of sin that we hide from other people. There's also things just hidden in our hearts that haven't surfaced yet. David's acknowledging this. Who can discern one's own errors? With the Lord's help, we can make some progress.
22 · Distinguishes between hidden sins and presumptuous sins, explaining that presumptuous sins are willful, ongoing sins we refuse to fight, and that even after salvation we must battle sin
And then he says in verse 12, declare me innocent from hidden faults. Cleanse me from from secret faults, sins we hide and sins we're not even aware of. Such is the depth of our need for a perfect Savior to help us with these things. Verse 13, Keep back your servant. Also from presumptuous sins. So they're hidden sins. But then there are presumptuous sins. What are those? These are sins where we sin willfully before we come to Jesus. This is where we live. We are just constantly sinning before we come to the Lord our life. The Bible says we're dead in our trespasses and sins. We are dead spiritually. We could care less about pleasing God. We're enjoying our sin after we come to the Lord, he forgives us of those sins. He gives us his Holy Spirit. He. He gives us a new heart, takes away that stony heart Ezekiel 36 talks about, gives us a soft heart for him. But we still have to battle sin.
23 · Applies the teaching on presumptuous sins with concrete examples and direct exhortation not to resign oneself to habitual sin
So let me just encourage you, if you've been a Christian, if you are a Christian, or if you're not a Christian, don't treat sin lightly. Don't let your sins become presumptuous sins where you just say, well, I'm never going to get over that. I'm just a bitter person, and I'm always going to be bitter. I've been hurt in life. I'm a victim. I'm resentful. In fact, I enjoy it. I'm a jealous person. I'm an envious person. I'm a lustful person, and I can't overcome it, so I'm just going to keep on doing it. Those are presumptuous sins, sins that we're aware of that we do not fight. Things that will destroy us.
24 · Expounds Genesis 6:5-8 to show the severity of human sin and God's righteous anger against it, but also His grace toward Noah—a picture of the unmerited favor we need
Turn to, well, just look at this. You can turn to it if you got it, but we've got a slide. I think. Genesis 6, this is during the days of Noah. God created Adam and Eve perfectly without sin. They fell, and then man went downhill from there. And in Genesis 6, this is just a few chapters after God created Adam and Eve thousands of years later. But in the Bible, just a few chapters, Genesis 6, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was Great in the earth. And look at this and that. Every intention of the thoughts of his heart were evil continually. Every intention of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. We look back and we say, man, those are terrible people. Just look in the mirror, folks. Someone says something unkind to you and something rises up inside of you and it's not forgiveness. Someone cuts you off. I mean, what is road rage? You see it all the time. Why are we so angry? Our hearts are continually evil. Even as Christians, we have to battle the sin that still resides. This is how bad sin can get in a man or woman's heart. God looks down and sees that the intention of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. Lord, give us grace to deal with the sin in our lives. And the Lord listen to this. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land. Man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heaven, for I am sorry that I made them listen. We don't want the Lord looking down on us because we're playing with sin. We don't want him to have any thought like that about us. Thankfully, because of his Son, his blood, the Lord's blood covers our sin. But this reveals the heart of God against sin. I regret that I have made them. Verse 8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. But Noah found grace. God's unmerited, undeserved favorite. Aren't you glad that Noah found grace? Have you found God's grace? Have you found his favor? The Bible says we're saved by grace. There's nothing that we've done. We're saved by the unmerited favor of God. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
25 · Returns to Psalm 19:13, highlighting David's plea that sin not have dominion over him and his remarkable claim to blamelessness despite his grave sins
And then back to Psalm 19, verse 13. David says, Let them all of these sins not have dominion over me. He's pleading to the Lord. Then he says this an incredible statement for David to make. David, who sinned an adulterous relationship with a woman and then had her husband killed so that he could marry her. David says this, then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
26 · Cross-references Psalm 32:1-2 to show that David understood God's forgiveness covers sin completely—a profound Old Testament picture of justification
David had a window into the forgiving power of God. He said, lord, let these sins not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Psalm 32, first two verses. David says, blessed is the one, the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. David knew there was a place in God where God's forgiveness would cover his sin, that his sin wouldn't be held against him. He said, blessed is that man.
27 · Asserts that we cannot appreciate salvation without understanding (1) the depth of our sin, (2) the wrath of God from which we are saved, and (3) the preciousness of Christ's blood
Listen, I don't want my sin held against me by the righteous Judge, by the Almighty Creator. I need a redeemer. I need a Savior. I need someone who can wash and cleanse my filthy heart. I need someone to set me free from the power of sin. We will never fully appreciate how great a salvation we have until we understand at least these three things. The depth of our sin, the nature and fate from which we have been saved. We've been saved from the wrath of God. It's going to be poured out on all sin. A holy God cannot tolerate sinful men and women unless there's a redeemer. So we need to understand the depth of our sin, the nature and fate from which we have been saved. And we need to understand the precious, costly price that was paid to purchase our redemption. The precious blood of Jesus. One man has said that the blood of Jesus is the most valuable substance in the universe.
28 · Cites Spurgeon to emphasize the omnipotent power of Christ's blood to cleanse any sin, no matter how hidden or severe
Spurgeon, the great English preacher, said the blood of Jesus is omnipotent. It's all powerful in the sense that there is no sin you or I have ever committed that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse. Doesn't matter what sin you've committed. It's not outside the blood of Jesus. Jesus shed his blood so that our sins, no matter how bad, no matter how hidden, no matter how secret, nothing's hidden from the Lord. He knows it all. Right? He knows it all. The blood of Jesus is omnipotent. There is no sin you have ever committed that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse.
29 · Reads 1 Peter 1:17-19 to ground the theological claim about the preciousness of Christ's blood in Scripture
The Word of God says this in 1st Peter 1:17. And if you call on him as Father, the one who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, if that's you, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Knowing this, that you were ransomed. You were purchased from your feudal ways, inherited from your forefathers. How were you ransomed? Not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but you were ransomed with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb, without blemish or sweat.
30 · Recaps the structural movement of Psalm 19 from cosmic revelation to scriptural revelation to the human heart, showing the psalm's inward-focusing trajectory
So let's review. Where has this psalm taken us? It's taken us from the vast universe that we can't even comprehend with our little minds. And it hasn't all been discovered yet. We find that out almost every year. There's more out there than even I described. But that's where this psalm starts. The heavens declare the glory of God. And then David brings us to the power of God's Word. And now in these last few verses, he brings us inside the human heart. Inside my heart, inside your heart. He examines his own heart, from the vastness of the universe to the inside of a person's heart. He knows what you're thinking. He knows at night what you're doing. He knows everything.
31 · Identifies Psalm 19:14 as the psalm's climax and ultimate purpose: to reveal our need for God's Redeemer
And we come to verse 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation, those deep things in our heart. He says, let even those be acceptable to you, Lord, in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Now we get to the ultimate revelation. The ultimate purpose of this psalm is to bring us to God's Redeemer, to His rock. This is what this psalm is all about. It's the revelation of God to us, that he came to save us.
32 · Applies the concept of 'rock' with a series of probing questions confronting the listener about where they place ultimate trust
Let me ask you this. Who is your rock in your life? Who is your rock? Who do you depend on? Who do you lean on? Who is always faithful? Who will always be there for you? Is it your spouse? Your parents? Your best friend? What are you trusting? Is, Is it your bank account? Is it your education? Is it your heritage? Is it your career? Is it yourself? Are you going through life trusting in yourself?
33 · Direct evangelistic pivot introducing Jesus as the true Rock and Redeemer
Let me introduce you to the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus.
34 · Quotes James A
Look at this quote from James A. Johnston. Since Jesus was acceptable in God's sight, we can be saved. Jesus life, his death on the cross was acceptable to the Almighty Creator, to the righteous Judge. Since Jesus was acceptable in God's sight, we can be saved. That's good news. That's the gospel. Since he was innocent, he could die for sinners like you and me. God vindicated Jesus and declared that he is innocent by raising him from the dead.
35 · Defines repentance and calls the congregation to turn from sin to Christ, to be forgiven and to follow Him
We need to turn to him. We need to repent of our sins and turn to Jesus. Repent means to turn. And when you're walking in one direction and you repent, you turn away from that direction and walk in another direction. So repentance doesn't mean just that you're sorry. It means that you're turning from one thing and turning to something else. We need to turn to him, turn away from our sin, repent from our sin and turn to Jesus. We need to turn to him and be forgiven. We need to follow him. Jesus left us an example so we could follow in his steps. The sky and the Scriptures teach God's servants to Obey him. The skies and the Scriptures point us to Christ, the one man, the one man who truly obeyed God.
36 · Quotes Acts 17:30-31 to establish that God commands universal repentance because He has appointed Christ as Judge and vindicated Him through resurrection
In Acts 17, Paul was preaching the Gospel to the men in Athens. And he says this. The times of ignorance, God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent. He's commanding me to repent. He's commanding you, and you, and you. And he's commanding all men to repent. To repent. To repent from our sin and turn to him because why? Why is he commanding us to repent? Because he, the Almighty God, the righteous Judge, has fixed a day which he will judge the world in righteousness. And how will he do it? By a man whom he has appointed. And of this he has given assurance to all by raising that man from the dead.
37 · Calls the listener to see Jesus with the urgency of salvation, contrasting the insignificance of celebrity encounters with the life-changing sight of Christ
So as we close this morning, let me ask you, have you met this appointed man, the Lord Jesus? Do you see him? Do you see Him? I'll always be thankful for seeing Ed2Tall Jones and Robert Wagner. They pale in significance to the moment the Lord opened my eyes to my own sin, the depth of my sin, and opened my eyes to the fact that I needed salvation, I needed forgiveness from those sins. And he opened my eyes even further to show me that it's Jesus that He has sent to die for my sins. The Bible says there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved but the name of Jesus.
38 · Pivots to address believers, reading John 1:11-12 to describe the new identity given to those who receive Christ
Those of you who have given your heart to the Lord, you remember that moment when your eyes were open and you saw the Lord. He revealed Himself. He revealed his salvation to you in the person of His Son. If that's you, if you've given your heart to the Lord, I want you to look at these next three Scriptures and just rejoice. Because these next three Scriptures point to our condition after we've given our hearts to the Lord, after we've received Him. The Apostle John writes in John 1. He, the Lord came to his own people, but his own people rejected him. They did not receive him. Such a terrible, sadly sad scripture. But John goes on. But to as many as did receive him, the Lord. To them he gave the power to become the children of God, sons and daughters of. Of God, to as many as believed on his name.
39 · Reads Titus 3:3-7 to describe the Holy Spirit's regenerating work in salvation—turning slaves of sin into heirs of eternal life
So for those of you who have received Jesus, look at these scriptures. Titus 3. And this. This is similar to what we've been talking about, or what we did talk about last week in our class on the Holy Spirit. On Wednesday night, we're having a class that goes through June and July. You're welcome to come Even if you haven't signed up. This last Wednesday we talked about the Holy Spirit's work in saving us, in regenerating us and making us alive, causing us to be born again. Look at this. Titus 3. For we ourselves were once foolish and disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us. Do you see Him? Can you see Him? Our Savior has appeared. Do you see Him? He saved us not because of works of righteousness, but done by us, but according to his own mercy. How? By the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal Life.
40 · Reads 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 to show that when we turn to the Lord, the veil is removed and we behold His glory with unveiled faces, being transformed into His image
Look at 2 Corinthians 3:16. But when one turns from the Lord. When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. We can't see him if the veil's there. But when the veil is removed, we turn to the Lord. He's talking about the Jewish people. He's talking about that verse. Jesus came to his own people, but because of a veil, spiritual veil. They didn't see Jesus was their Messiah and they crucified him. But Paul says, when the veil is removed, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. There is freedom from your sin, dear friend. There is freedom from the sin that you're trapped in. And we will all with unveiled faces, the veil being ripped off. All of us with unveiled faces, beholding, seeing the glory of the Lord. We're being transformed into the same image from one degree to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
41 · Applies the doctrine of progressive sanctification with concrete instruction: don't wait to clean yourself up before coming to Christ—He does the cleaning after we come
Listen. After the Lord saves us, he starts cleaning us up. He wants us to look like Jesus. He wants our lives to look like Jesus. Jesus said, love your enemies. He wants us to love our enemies. Jesus. Jesus didn't return evil for evil. He wants us not to do that. He wants us to bless those who are persecuting us. He wants us to pray for them. He wants us to forgive when we're hurt by others. He wants us to forgive one another. He changes us here from glory to glory. Don't try to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. That doesn't work. If you're waiting to get better before you come to Jesus, you're going to get worse. We don't get better on our own. We need a Savior. But once we come to Jesus, then by His Holy Spirit, he starts to sanctify us. Is the word in the Bible to clean us, to help us deal with the sin in our hearts. He forgives our sin, but he also gives us His Holy Spirit to overcome the sin. So don't try to clean yourself up. Don't believe the lie. Well, I'll give my heart to Jesus when I get a little bit better. You're not going to get better. You're going to get worse. That's just the truth.
42 · Reads 2 Corinthians 4:6, drawing a parallel between God's creative command 'let there be light' and His shining the light of His glory into our hearts in the face of Jesus
Look at 2nd Corinthians 4. Final scripture for God said, let light shine out of darkness. That's a reference back to creation, where the world was dark and the Lord poured His light into it with a word, let light shine out of darkness. This same God has shown in our hearts. He shed his light into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Where is the face of Jesus? God's given us His Son. He put light in the world through the sun, the moon and the stars. It's almost like a throwaway line. And the stars, trillions of them. But he's shown the light of His Son into our hearts, the light of his glory in the face of Jesus.
43 · Final evangelistic appeal to those who have not yet believed, inviting them to behold Christ as the Spirit removes the veil
Maybe you haven't received Jesus. Maybe you're here today and you've never received the Lord Jesus into your heart. You've never believed in him as your Savior. You've never had your sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus. If that's you today, I invite you to behold the Savior, to behold our wonderful Savior. Maybe during this message the Lord has been ripping that veil from your dark heart. And maybe for the first time you've seen the Son s o n the Son of God. And he's shining his light into your heart, giving you faith to believe in Him. Today
44 · Closing prayer thanking God for His love, quoting John 3:16, and asking for deeper sight, love, and obedience
let's pray together. Father I thank you, Lord, that it's just incredible that you love us. Jesus, you said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, would not receive the wrath of God, but would receive eternal life. Lord, it's beyond our understanding that you would love us enemies of yours. But Lord, the Bible says you loved us, that while we were yet in sin, you sent your son to die for the ungodly Lord. Lord, help us to see you more clearly, to love you more dearly, to follow you more nearly day by day.