Andrew M spoke at St Denys about Psalm 19 and invited us to breath in the psalm (what a great way of approaching the psalm), and  let this mediation of David encourage us as we see how God has revealed himself

Introduction: Wondering & Breathing

When I was a student, way back in the last millennium, I used to help at boys Christian camps in Studland, on the Dorset coast.  After the first day’s activities and our supper there would be a short talk and, being Day 1, the talk would be about how we know there is a God, how He made himself known.  Afterwards we would go for a walk along the cliff tops, in the dark, chatting with the boys, looking out to sea and looking up at the sky.  And we seemed every year to be spoilt with a clear starry sky.  And as we paused and looked at the sky and the stars, it was just natural to find ourselves wondering - wondering at how amazing and beautiful creation is, the size of the universe and our smallness and what is behind it all? Who is behind it all?

David the psalmist grew up as a pastoralist and will have spent many, many nights out in the open.  Later after being anointed king, his life was a bit of a roller-coaster, including a period when he had to flee the royal court of king Saul and escape into the hills.  But right from his anointing by Samuel, the Holy Spirit had become a constant presence and reality.  And from this we are gifted the psalms he has written, including this one which is a mediation on God and how He reveals himself.

 In previous sermons, Paul and Sera have given us the blueprint for psalms and outlined the mega themes.  I want us to just breathe in this psalm, as it were, and let this mediation of David encourage us as we see how God has revealed himself

God Reveals Himself in Creation: 

The first six verses show how God reveals himself in creation and shows us His power and our finiteness. 

 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6

 Wonderful poetic imagery! We are surrounded by fantastic displays of God’s craftsmanship – the heavens give dramatic evidence of his existence, his power, his love and his care.  The stars are God's fingerprints.  The sun is a mere smidgen of his radiance. The moon is to remind us that he doesn't sleep at night.  The vastness of space proclaims the infinity of his wisdom.

 I belong to a book club, and someone suggested we read a book with the title: An Introduction to Modern Cosmology.  It turned out to be an undergraduate text book!  As I struggled to understand it and get my head around some of the equations, I was in awe of the science and what we know … and importantly what we still don’t know.  We may have an inkling as to how things came about, but the underlying reason for creation and all that exists cannot be answered by scientific methods … and points to a creator.

Einstein & the Lawgiver

In his book on Albert Einstein, the author Walter Isaacson told of a dinner party in Berlin where everybody assumed Einstein was an atheist and he said, “No, I have a deep feeling of faith, a deep religiosity that comes from my appreciation of the way God has made the universe;” and everybody was stunned. He said “ I am like a child walking into a library, and you see the books and you know somebody must have written them, and you see them ordered and you know somebody must have ordered them, and there’s a sense of awe that’s manifest in that. There is an order underlying everything and the more you appreciate it, the more humble you become in the fact of it…” Isaacson continued: “In some ways, Einstein’s belief in God, that God had created an orderly universe, is what formed and informed his science. Because he believed in a lawgiver, he believed that underlying everything in the universe there had to be laws of how the universe functioned.”

 “There is nothing chaotic about our beautiful designed world.  All creation has a message to tell. It says, "Listen, there is a God. There is a God!” (Brent Earles)  Creation shows us God’s power and our finiteness. 

God Reveals Himself Through His Word

The second part of the psalm, (which some believe may have been two psalms joined together, as the syntax changes in verse seven) moves from praise of God’s creation to praise of God’s word – which revives the soul and enlightens the eyes and rejoices the heart.

 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.  The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.  By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19: 7-11

 When we think of the law we often think of something that keeps us from having fun.  But here we see the opposite - the law which was given to Moses and makes up the Torah, is perfect and is to be life sustaining for all who follow it.  It revives us, makes us wise, gives joy to the heart, gives light to the eyes, warns us and rewards us.  That’s because God’s laws are guidelines and lights for our path, rather than chains on our hands and feet.  They point at danger and warn us.  They point at success and guide us.  They are the Maker’s instruction manual showing how we were designed to work, to flourish as women and men, created in the image of God.  Look again at these verses and what they say about the scriptures:

 God’s Word is Precious – they are more precious than gold, than much pure gold

• God’s Word is Pleasant - they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb
• God’s Word is Powerful - in keeping them there is great reward

Going back to the boys camps I used to help at, the talk on the first night would set out how God shows that He is around and that He is a loving God, pointing to three things – creation and nature, what the bible tells us about God and thirdly to Jesus and God’s rescue plan.

Experiencing a God Who Forgives and Restores

If the middle section of the psalm is about how God’s word shows his holiness and our sinfulness, then it may not surprise us that in v12 – 13, in the last part of the psalm, David shares how our daily experience shows God’s gracious forgiveness and our salvation.  In the light of God’s holiness David is conscious that he has both knowingly and unknowingly sinned - gone against God’s law.

 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression

 This isn’t a hope against hope that God will forgive and protect against sin.  This is the culmination of God’s revelation.  David’s experience is of a God who forgives and restores.  This is God’s character – this is what He does.  And we now know how forgiveness has been made possible: through Jesus, God’s son, taking the consequences Himself, dying for us, enabling us to be in a restored relationship with God.

 So … this psalm is both a meditation and a song of praise, wrapped in one.  God reveals himself as creator, reveals himself in His written word and reveals himself as a forgiving God.

Now I hope what I have said has not distracted you from what God has been saying today to your heart.  I have picked on God as creator of the universe and its orderliness as pointing to design and purpose.  But I have also been thinking of Jesus who told his disciples to look to the birds of the air for a reminder of how much they are valued and loved by God.  Jesus used images of nature more than anything else in his teaching.  Maybe for you learning more about God comes not from staring at the skies but by simply going outside for a while, sitting in a garden or a park, listening to birdsong, smelling the scent of flowers, noting the changes of the seasons.  All of creation, all of nature points to a loving creator God.

Hungry for God's Word

This week I have been challenged afresh by seeing how valuable and precious God’s word was to David.  “Sweeter than honey” – back then eating honey was a rare treat.  It was something to look forward to.  Do I look forward to reading the Bible?  Is it something I crave?  Do I miss it if I go for a period of time without it?

 I came across a story in a book by the American Christan writer Robert Sumner of a man who was severely injured in an explosion.  The victim's face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands.  He had just become a Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible.  Then he heard about a lady who read Braille with her lips.  Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille.  But much to his dismay, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion.  One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them.  Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue.  At the time when Robert Sumner’s book was written the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times!

 Am I hungry for God’s word … because it is precious, it’s pleasant and it’s powerful.

 And although it shows us that God is a Holy God, it points to Him being a God of grace who longs to forgive us if we turn to him, acknowledge that we sin knowingly and unknowingly, like David does in this psalm.

 There is a challenge for us all in the final verse.  Would we change the way we spend our days or the way we live our lives if we really believed that every word or thought would be examined by God first?  David asks that God approve his words and thoughts as if they were offerings brought to an altar.  Maybe we can, after a few moments quiet, use the words of v14  to be our own personal prayer … as I read them for a final time.

 Creator, loving, self-revealing God, May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen