SUNDAY SERMON - The Sermon Of The Skies (Part 1) - Psalm 19
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Summary
In this episode, Fr. shares a sermon he delivered at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in St. Patrick's St. Paul the Martyr, St. Thomas Aquinas, on the first Sunday of every month, "Day of the Lord's Day". God bless!
Transcript
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Hey guys, real quick before we get started, I have a small request.
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If you've been blessed by our content and you like this show,
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would you take just a brief moment and leave us a five-star review?
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This is quite possibly the most effective thing that you can do
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to ensure that this content gets out to as many people as possible.
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The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.
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Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
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There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
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Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
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In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom, leaving his chamber,
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and like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
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Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them.
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All right, please be seated and join me as I pray for us once more.
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Father, we pray that through the preaching of your word
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that your people would indeed arrive at a right knowledge of who you are,
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what you've done, and what it is that you require from us.
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Father, we pray that in your word we would see who you are,
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And Father, we pray that we'd also see what it is that you've done for us.
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What you've done as the universal creator of all things.
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But Father, we pray that for those of us who have been given by grace eyes to see and ears to hear.
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That we would see beyond merely your work in creation.
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But we would see your work in redemption and salvation.
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That we would see your love for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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And Father, we also pray that we would see, we would receive a revelation of what it is that we're required to do.
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What it is that you command of us in light of who you are, in light of what you've done, and in light of what you promised to do.
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So Father, our prayer today is that you would equip us by the power of your spirit and by your grace with spiritual eyes to see,
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spiritual ears to hear new hearts that are softened and malleable and receptive to your truth so that
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we might indeed receive the truth of your word today and that we might receive it with gladness
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and with joy this revelation of a right knowledge of who you are what you've done and what you
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require that it would not serve as merely an end in itself but as a necessary means propelling your
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people into greater love, adoration, worship, and obedience like never before. We pray all these
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things ultimately that you might be glorified in all the earth, but we also pray these things for
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the good of those people that you're saving across the globe, in our city, and perhaps if you would
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be so kind even in this room, especially with our children. We pray all these things with confidence
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As a brief introduction, just to set a little bit of theological groundwork,
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I just wanted to define two terms that I've used a few times as we've gathered together on the Lord's Day.
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But I wanted to provide in your sermon notes and then also verbally a little bit more of a specific and detailed description
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natural revelation and supernatural revelation, also known as general revelation and special
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revelation. In the case of natural revelation or general revelation, I've written the following.
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Natural revelation is the display of some attributes, some, not all, that's key, some
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attributes of God through creation, by what God has made, his physical creation. Now, there's
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something that we should be aware of. We need to be cautious because natural revelation is inferred
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from fallible human observations. You and I, we are fallible creatures, fallen creatures, and finite
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creatures, and we are the ones perceiving God's attributes through natural revelation. But also
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there's another concern with natural revelation, and that is the natural world, the creation itself.
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So it's not only that you and I are a part of God's natural creation, that we are creatures, and we
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are finite and fallen and therefore our perceptions are fallible our perceptions can be flawed but
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it's also that what we're looking at what it is that we're actually perceiving not only the one
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who is perceiving but the object we're perceiving is also subject to the curse when we think of
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creation it's important for us to keep in mind that this world is under the curse of sin and so
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this world reveals according to scripture we'll get there in a moment this world reveals the glory
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of God, some of the attributes of God, and this world reveals those things accurately. And we
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receive or perceive those things accurately. And the we that I'm using in this context is not just
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believers, not just those who are God's people, born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ,
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but I'm using an even broader we to describe all human beings. Romans 1, and I'll get there in just
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a moment, but Romans 1 is clear that all people, both believers and unbelievers alike, have not
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only seen a revelation of God's attributes, who God is in creation, in natural or general
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revelation, but they've also understood it. It's one thing for God to manifest something,
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reveal something, but it's another. In Romans chapter 1, God goes further and actually says,
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he doesn't just say, I have displayed a portion of who I am to all people, but he says, and all
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people have seen it. They all know. They've all understood. They've all perceived. And that's
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precisely why all people, believers and unbelievers alike, are without excuse, is what Romans chapter
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one says. So we have natural revelation. That is what God has revealed about himself through his
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physical creation, by his general revelation, by what he has made. However, we need to be cautious
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through natural revelation or general revelation
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We are creatures and we are both finite and fallen.
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this physical creation is also fallen by man's rebellion,
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Not only has man fallen underneath the curse of sin,
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But the whole creation has become subject to the curse.
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So to give you an example, if you're looking at the world, you're going to be confronted on a regular basis with something such as death.
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And it might be convenient for someone to take away from that natural revelation the fact that things die.
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You look at the world and you're confronted regularly with the concept, the reality of death.
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And it might be easy, if we're not careful, to all of a sudden impute that understanding of death to God in a wrongful way.
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That we might be tempted to say, God is the author of death.
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You see, death did not come into the world in creation.
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We're a part of that creation and we are finite and fallen.
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that we're observing is also finite and fallen.
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By man's rebellion, creation, not only humankind, but all creation has been subject to sin.
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Even the ground, the earth itself, was cursed because of Adam's sin.
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Man was always required and always called and created to work.
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But the curse introduced that the ground, the earth, would actually work against man.
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That his work would be frustrating and exasperating and at times futile.
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So, we need to be careful as we seek to perceive the character of God in general or natural revelation.
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Romans chapter 1 verse 18 through 20 says this,
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For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood.
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They've not just been displayed, but they've been perceived.
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The display has been received and perceived and understood by all people, believers and unbelievers alike, through natural revelation, by what God has made.
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And because of this, this is precisely why all men are without an excuse.
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Even that lost people tribe somewhere in the deep, dark jungles of South America, this hypothetical group of people who have never received even a page of scripture.
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They've never had a single preacher come to them.
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They've never had any ounce of special revelation.
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Natural revelation, simply by what God has physically made, is still sufficient, but sufficient for what?
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It's not sufficient to save, but it is sufficient to strip man of any and all excuse.
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So natural revelation, the way God reveals himself through his physical creation to all people, both believers and unbelievers alike, it is sufficient.
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It's credible enough to all people for the purpose of stripping them of any and all excuses.
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For the purpose of indicting them, for the purpose of condemnation, for the purpose of making them clearly guilty without having any kind of excuse.
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And what would be, just to list one example of an excuse, what would be the number one excuse that the unbeliever would try to cite in the presence of God for not submitting to him, not believing the gospel, not loving him?
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It's the classic argument of innocence on the basis of ignorance.
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It reveals not all the attributes of God, but some of the attributes of God.
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The eternal power of God, the divine nature of God.
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he lists these two in specific and he says that this partial revelation of the character of God
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has been clearly displayed and clearly perceived by all people and it is sufficient not to save
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but to strip you of excuses and to condemn now supernatural revelation or special revelation
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by contrast is the method that God has chosen to reveal himself by miraculous means special
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revelation includes appearances of God. That would be theophanies. This isn't God who is spirit,
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right? That's John chapter four, the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
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She asks him a question about worship, right? Which is really her attempt to change the subject
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because he's just convicted her of sin, right? He says, hey, go and bring your husband. I don't
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want to just sit here and talk to a woman alone. Let's go ahead and get the head of your house and
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Let's have a conversation with both of you about God, about spiritual matters, things that are eternal, the things that are of ultimate significance.
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And he says, you're right to say that you don't have a husband.
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The fact is, you've had five husbands, and the man you're currently with is not your husband.
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And then she immediately responds by saying, I perceive you're a prophet.
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You know, let's talk about the theological, you know, elements of worship.
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You know, your people, the Jews, they say that we should worship in Jerusalem, at the temple.
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My people say that we should worship at the mountain.
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Jesus says, I tell you the truth, paraphrasing Christ at this moment,
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The primary issue is who you worship, the one true God, and how you worship, in spirit and in truth.
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And why does Jesus say that you must worship in spirit and in truth?
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He says you should worship in spirit and in truth because God is spirit.
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So all these physical elements of worship, like the physical location, the place, a temple or a mountain,
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that you're emphasizing is a misplaced emphasis.
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Why? Because the God that you're worshiping, to focus on the physical is a wrong emphasis
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because the God that you're worshiping is not physical.
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and therefore, true worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
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So special revelation is God revealing himself by miraculous means,
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and one of the examples of this would be a physical appearance of God,
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Now, a theophany is a physical appearance of God,
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But I went through the John chapter 4 explanation just to be clear.
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A physical appearance of God does not mean that God himself has a physical body.
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So all throughout the Old Testament, we have multiple examples of theophanies.
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And if we want to break it down to the three persons of the Trinity,
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in the Old Testament, this is before even the Son has taken on flesh.
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both the Westminster and the 1689 London Baptist Confession
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not just two, not just the Father and the Spirit,
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Forever and eternity, using these in two different ways,
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But eternity means there will be no end and there is no beginning.
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There is a precise moment in real human history,
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preordained before the foundations of the world and the council of eternity,
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a moment, a time, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
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the second member of the eternal Trinity, would take on flesh.
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Until that moment, until 2,000 years ago, give or take, when Christ was incarnate.
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Jesus, just as the Father and just as the Spirit,
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was a most pure spirit without body, parts, and passions.
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So in the Old Testament, theophanies, physical appearances of God,
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are not God meaning for us to interpret as God having a physical form or a physical body.
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It's a physical appearance that God is taking on, but it's not his actual essence.
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So for instance, the first one that we would have is in Genesis chapter 1 and 2,
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that in the cool of the day, God walked with Adam and Eve.
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Most of the biblical scholars and theologians that I would trust would say
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that this was actually a physical appearance of Jesus.
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He had not yet taken on literal physical flesh,
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but whether this be you picture it or imagine it
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as a hologram or whatever you might need to do,
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The bush is not actually being consumed by the fire.
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The bush is on fire, but it's not being burned.
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Now, we're not meant to interpret that, that the bush is God.
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That when we get to heaven, we're going to see, seated on a throne,
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surrounded by four living creatures and 24 elders,
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No, that's not who God is in a literal, physical sense.
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Another theophany would be multiple times throughout the Old Testament,
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but from time to time we hear the phrase, the angel of the Lord.
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Like in the case of Joshua, the angel of the Lord.
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Even the case of Nahum, the prophet who was beating his donkey.
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you know, his donkey stops in the middle of the road
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And eventually God supernaturally gives the donkey
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I mean, this kind of speaks to the level of arrogance.
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He's very frustrated and stressed at this point
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because you would think that the natural reaction would be,
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But his reaction is actually to answer the donkey's question, right?
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What kind of frame of mind do you have to be in to not be taken so far aback, so shocked,
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His first inclination is not shock and bewilderment and wonder, but frustration and begins to
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Because at that moment, I would say that you really, Balaam has stooped to the level of
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You have an argument, a debate between two jackasses, if you will.
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you know, Balaam and the donkey, using that term and, you know, and the physical animal description.
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So anyways, he's arguing with the donkey, well, I'm beating you because you won't obey me. And if I
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had a sword, he says, I would actually kill you. Pretty dramatic, pretty heated, pretty frustrated
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in that moment. But then the angel of the Lord appears, not just an angel, an angel, but the
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angel of the Lord and says, I've given the donkey eyes to see. And really what the angel of the
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Lord is saying in that moment is this, the angel of the Lord is saying, the donkey, right? Because
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prophets, one of the words in the Old Testament for a prophet was seer, S-E-E-R, one who sees.
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And so what the angel of the Lord is saying in that moment is the donkey is more perceptive than
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you. The donkey is functioning in a greater and superior prophetic role than you who are supposed
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to be the prophet. The donkey is seeing and you are oblivious, dull, blind. And if it were not
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for the donkey's ability to see in this moment, if the donkey had gone one step further, if the
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donkey hadn't responded and had submitted to your commands and your physical beatings, I would have
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killed you. And the angel of the Lord goes a step further and says, but I would have let the donkey
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live because it wouldn't have been her fault so i would have let the donkey live but i would have
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killed you and now all of a sudden finally he has a posture that's humble but again this is an
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example of the angel of the lord joshua same thing i've already mentioned joshua but remember he's
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he falls down with fear and trembling and his first question is are you for us or against us
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The angel of the Lord, most biblical scholars and theologians would say this is an example of God himself.
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It's not just an angel, but the angel of the Lord is actually Jesus.
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But this is Old Testament before Jesus has taken on flesh.
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And yet, it's still a physical appearance of Jesus.
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that looks enough like a man to where people can see it,
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physical appearances of God who is without a physical body.
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even in the Old Testament, on multiple occasions.
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also dreams, also visions, also prophecies, and then especially the Bible.
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Now, I went, I labored the point of theophanies, and I wanted to mention dreams and visions and prophecies
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because we often think that special revelation is relegated exclusively to the written Word of God,
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But the reality is until these books of the Bible were inscripturated by the prophets and the apostles,
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And we know that in the apostolic age, in the beginning of the New Testament, that there were many, many prophets.
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We know that in the case of Philip, he had four daughters who prophesied.
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There were many prophecies that were given that we actually don't even have record of.
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And so God was speaking to his people, not just by what he has made in natural or general revelation,
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not just by the sunrise and the sunset, not just by the stars and the moon and the sky,
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But God was speaking specifically, particularly in his special revelation to his church, to his people all throughout the Old Testament, by the law and the prophets, but even in the New Testament through apostles and the special revelation he provided for them, but also through prophets like Agabus.
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And many of these examples of special revelation we don't actually have inscripturated.
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Well, one of the reasons that he did that is because we didn't have the Bible.
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It hadn't yet been translated into every tribe and tongue and language.
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You and I, sometimes we look back on the early church.
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We look back on that apostolic age and we feel a sense of carnal, fleshly envy.
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Oh, what it would have been like to be discipled personally by the Apostle Paul.
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But the reason why we envy the early church, the people of that age,
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is often because they received so much specific, particular, intimate, personal revelation from God.
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We have, I don't know, it depends on the size of your font and what particular translation,
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but we have 1,500 to 3,000 pages of revelation, give or take, from God.
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special revelation. The Corinthian church would have done anything to have that many prophecies.
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They certainly received many, but not that much. And the prophecies that they received still had
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to be tested, right? One should prophesy while the rest weigh what is being said. They still
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had the danger, the threat, the potential of false prophets rising up in their midst and misleading
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them. Whereas for you and I, when we read the word of God, we want to read it carefully. We want to
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read it with discernment, but the discernment that we utilize in our private study and public
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preaching of the word of God is a discernment to get at the meaning. It's not a discernment to find
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out whether or not the word of God is true or false. So we're able to read 3,000, 1,500 to 3,000
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pages of special revelation without any fear, without any concern, any worry that it might be
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false or that it might be intended to mislead. What a privilege, what grace. We have been given
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many words from God. So special revelation, it comes in the form of appearances of God,
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theophanies. It comes in the form of dreams and visions, the law given at Mount Sinai and other
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laws given through Moses in Deuteronomy and Leviticus and Numbers, but then also through
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the prophets, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. But for you and I, we have
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the Bible inscripturated. We have the law and the prophets summed up for us in binding that we're
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able to preach from and hear from and study week in and week out. This is such an incredible
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privilege. But did you know, brothers and sisters, there is one more example of special revelation
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that's actually even greater than the Bible. And that is Jesus Christ. Jesus, in his incarnation,
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is an example, the premier example of special revelation. Because special revelation, all it is,
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the message personified, the word of God in flesh
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The word there in the Greek is he tabernacled among us.
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in Old Testament Israel, present with the people of God,
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Jesus is the personified presence of God, more clearly displayed than the tabernacle, more clearly displayed than the temple or any of these other things.
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Jesus is an example, the premier example, even greater than the Bible, of special revelation.
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Hebrews 1, chapter 1, verse 1 through 3 says this,
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long ago, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, right? God provided special
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revelation through other means like the prophets. And he did this in various ways, right? That's
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what I've already labored. Dreams, visions, there are various ways that God provided special
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revelation in the times of old through the prophets. But in these last days, God has provided
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special revelation for us by his son. Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact
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representation of his being. If you want to hear from God, if you want to know what God is saying,
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if you want to see what God is like, look to the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is no more
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accurate portrayal of the nature, the character, and the word of God than Christ. Where do we see
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Christ, though, for you and I, who were not eyewitnesses 2,000 years ago, well, we see Christ
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in the written word. We see Jesus in the Bible, and we see him most clearly when the Spirit of God
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illuminates the word to us. So the Spirit is working in conjunction with the word to help us
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ultimately see Christ, which shows us the Father. That is special revelation. Now, with that
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framework, I wanted to labor all that natural or general revelation, which is what we primarily
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are getting a picture of, a description of in our text today, Psalm 19 verses 1 through 6,
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but I also wanted us to understand supernatural or special revelation. Now that the framework,
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the ground has been laid, I'll be able to move efficiently or rather quickly through these six
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verses. So Psalm chapter 19 verse 1 says this, the heavens are telling the glory of God and the
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firmament declares his handiwork. Here David references the physical skies and all that they
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contain. What you can see when you look to the skies, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets,
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the clouds. This is what David is speaking of. So when he says the heavens, he's not speaking of
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the spiritual heavens. He's using the word heavens as it's often used in the Old Testament to describe
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the skies. The heavens and the sea would be the sky, the physical sky and the sea. And so what
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he says is this, the heavens are telling, they're proclaiming, they're speaking. The sky is saying
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something about God. And the firmament is speaking. Again, that's speaking to the
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atmosphere, speaking to the sky. It's also speaking. So in both cases, the heavens and
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the firmament, David is referencing the physical earthly creation, but particularly the sky.
00:30:20.820
And he's saying the sky, the physical sky, when we look at it, it's shouting something to us
00:30:26.900
about God. So that's verse one. David, in a nutshell, in short, he says, the skies are speaking
00:30:34.820
about God. Verse two, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.
00:30:42.420
So David began in verse one by saying the sky speaks. In verse two, David is saying that the
00:30:48.680
sky, not only does it speak, the sky won't shut up. In other words, God is constantly speaking
00:31:21.540
the sky is constantly speaking a lot verse two now verse three says this there is no speech
00:31:30.960
nor are there words whose voice is not heard now notice the apparent at first glance at a surface
00:31:38.680
look notice the apparent contradiction before between verse two and verse three see in verse
00:31:44.040
two David says that the sky never stops talking but in verse three David says that the sky never
00:31:49.260
utters a word. Now we know that God's word does not contradict itself. So we know that verse three
00:31:55.580
is not meant to contradict or eradicate or erase verse two. Therefore, we must logically conclude
00:32:02.360
that both of these verses are somehow simultaneously true. So how do we resolve the
00:32:10.120
apparent tension or contradiction between these two verses? I believe the natural conclusion for
00:32:15.160
us is this the constant speaking of the skies so we can't say oh the skies are constantly speaking
00:32:20.680
verse 2 oh actually they're not really speaking verse 3 no the skies are constantly speaking
00:32:25.260
verse 2 is true but they're constantly speaking somehow without literal words verse 3 so the
00:32:32.320
skies they speak something about God verse 1 the skies are always speaking and they're speaking a
00:32:38.400
lot about God. Verse 2, and the skies are doing this, speaking constantly a lot about God somehow
00:32:45.700
without words. Verse 3. Now we're ready for verse 4. Verse 4 in our text says this, their voice goes
00:32:52.760
out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In verse 1, we saw that the skies
00:32:59.220
are speaking. In verse 2, we saw that God is speaking through the skies all the time. And in
00:33:04.380
verse 3 we learn that this constant speaking is accomplished somehow without the medium of words
00:33:10.160
but now in verse 4 we discover that God is not merely speaking all the time but he is also
00:33:16.800
speaking in all places so the point thus far has been this without the need for words literal human
00:33:24.840
words God is still speaking through the skies at all times to all people in all places look at
00:33:32.760
Verse four again, their voice goes out through all the earth
00:33:45.680
But verse four is all the speech pouring out all the time.
00:34:09.460
and they're doing this without the need for literal words.
00:34:16.140
Now, the main point of our text is verse 5 and verse 6,
00:34:26.280
In them, he, that is God, in the skies, God has set a tent.
00:34:30.440
for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom, leaving his chamber. And like a strong man,
00:34:36.820
it runs its course with joy. Its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the end
00:34:43.520
of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. So in the first four verses of Psalm 19,
00:34:49.960
we discover that without the need for words, God is speaking through the skies at all times,
00:34:55.860
to all people in all places and because God never speaks in vain we must conclude that God is
00:35:02.460
speaking something important something significant for us to hear however the question that still
00:35:09.040
remains at this point in our text is this what is God speaking well according to verse one that's
00:35:15.620
where we actually find the answers all the way back in verse one but we only find the answer
00:35:24.600
Verse one says that God is speaking through the skies
00:35:30.080
And he's speaking this word everywhere all of the time.
00:35:33.320
God is shouting, as it were, through the skies,
00:35:50.180
of God. Now contrary to the opinions of atheists, creation, notice in verse 1 of our text, this is
00:35:57.040
so plain, creation, the skies, the heavens, the sun and moon and stars, they do not sing their own
00:36:05.480
praises. Creation speaks to the glory of another. Creation speaks to the glory of the God who made
00:36:14.880
Unlike the atheist, contrary to the atheist opinion, creation is singing.
00:36:20.840
They would say, yes, in a metaphorical sense, creation sings.
00:36:31.420
You know, like the creation is shouting all the time about how amazing it is.
00:36:37.400
Well, the Bible would agree with half of that statement and then disagree with the other.
00:36:46.820
But it's not speaking about how glorious it is.
00:36:49.760
It's speaking about how glorious the one who made it is.
00:37:11.680
God is saying something to everyone at every time in every place by what he has made in particular
00:37:20.340
in our text today through the skies and and if we were to sum it up in a word according to verse
00:37:25.560
one of our text that one word would be glory so God is speaking over and over and over again to
00:37:31.260
everyone throughout all the earth through what he has made one word about himself glory but what we
00:37:38.240
know with a whole biblical theology is that this one word that God continues to speak to everyone
00:37:45.060
through his general revelation, his natural revelation, this is one word, but it can have
00:37:51.540
two very distinct meanings. The one word that God is shouting by what he has made again and again
00:37:59.060
about himself is glory, glory, glory. I am the glorious one. But what it means for God to be
00:38:07.420
glorious can be one of two things. The old adage is this, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
00:38:14.120
And depending on the one who perceives the glory of God, the glory of God, if we were to sum it up
00:38:18.740
into two words, it can be either judgment or joy. Judgment or joy. And this is precisely why the
00:38:27.260
last two verses in our text today, verses five and six, are so important. Because verse five and six
00:38:43.560
David, because he's born again by grace through faith in Christ,
00:38:58.060
when he sees the sun, the moon, and the stars without number,
00:39:03.820
But the glory of God to him is not judgment, it's not fear, it's joy.
00:39:11.480
Now how do we know that the glory of God revealed through natural revelation
00:39:17.440
It's all the way back to the foundation we laid with Romans chapter 1,
00:39:23.680
For what can be known about God is plain to them,
00:39:26.580
because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes,
00:39:30.000
namely, specifically, his eternal power and divine nature
00:39:34.820
have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world
00:39:44.020
God revealing himself by what he has made to all people?
00:39:54.560
What is the end, the outcome, the result of God revealing himself by natural revelation to the unregenerate man?
00:40:04.300
The result, the purpose, we might even say, is guilt.
00:40:12.780
So that God is further justified in his judgment.
00:40:19.960
so that no man would be able to ever accuse God of having failed.
00:40:26.060
That no man would ever be able to raise his fist to God and say,
00:40:32.040
It's not that I didn't believe, it's that you were a bad provider.
00:40:43.300
Man constantly, constantly places himself in the seat of the judge
00:40:47.980
or in the seats of the jurors and says, God is on trial and God is the one, he's the defense,
00:40:55.780
God's the one on trial and God is the one who is obligated to provide a compelling case for his
00:41:01.660
existence, for his glory, for his character, for his goodness, for his holiness, for his justice.
00:41:08.120
God's on trial here. And rather than innocent until proven guilty, we go even further than that.
00:41:13.460
we put God on trial and we say he's guilty until he proves himself innocent. That's not what Romans
00:41:20.200
1 verse 19 through 20 teaches. Romans 1 verse 19 through 20 teaches the reality of the situation
00:41:26.700
that God is the judge and that man is on trial and that God has indeed provided all that is necessary
00:41:34.360
to condemn man righteously. He is without an excuse. He has been provided with plenty, sufficient
00:41:43.160
evidence. God has clearly displayed something, and man has clearly understood and perceived that
00:41:50.680
something. The problem is this. The problem is that what God has displayed and what man, all men,
00:41:57.080
believers and unbelievers alike, have perceived in God's natural revelation, it's sufficient for
00:42:02.200
condemnation, for judgment, but not salvation. And how do we know that? Well, we know that by going
00:42:08.600
forward in the book of Romans, namely chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, starting with verse 14, it says,
00:42:15.300
how will they believe? How can we be saved? By belief, right? Not by works, but by faith. So if
00:42:22.260
we want to be saved, we want to be pardoned of our sin, forgiven of all our iniquity, we must believe.
00:42:28.820
But Romans 10 says, how will they believe unless they hear? And how will they hear unless someone
00:42:34.020
preaches. Someone has to preach. And how will they preach? Unless they're sent, for it is
00:42:40.220
written, blessed are the feet of those who bring good news. See, natural revelation, the skies that
00:42:46.060
David speaks of in our six verses today, the skies are sufficient to testify to some attributes of
00:42:53.060
God. If nothing else, his divine nature, his eternal power. And this is sufficient to condemn
00:43:00.920
there to strip him of any legitimate excuse where he might want to claim ignorance as a basis for
00:43:07.740
innocence but the skies are not sufficient to produce faith for that you need a preacher
00:43:17.300
someone must preach to them and preach what well the skies are preaching according to David they
00:43:22.600
already have a preacher I mean we could use that word preaching and I think it would be faithful
00:43:26.700
exegesis to say David in a sense is saying that the skies are the sky itself is a preacher and
00:43:32.960
it's constantly preaching it's a preacher like me it's long-winded but um right the skies there's
00:43:39.860
wind and there's long and you know if you explain the joke it kind of ruins it but I couldn't help
00:43:44.240
myself so the skies are long-winded they're constantly preaching and they're preaching to
00:43:48.040
everyone right I mean Billy Graham eat your heart out George Whitefield eat your heart out you've
00:43:53.660
preached to tens of thousands. The skies, they're right now preaching to 7.8 billion people.
00:43:59.860
And not just a 30-minute sermon or a 60-minute sermon, but they've been preaching for millennia.
00:44:05.020
So the skies are a preacher. But Romans 10, what it's implying is this. It's implying that the
00:44:11.320
sermon, if you will, the sky is a preacher. And it's a great preacher. But that particular sermon
00:44:16.620
that the sky preaches over and over and over again is not the sermon that will ever get anyone saved.
00:44:24.320
Because the sermon that saves is not the sermon of the eternal power and divine nature of God.
00:44:31.300
The sermon that saves is the sermon of the gospel.
00:44:35.100
It's the sermon of the mercy of God for sinners in the person and work of Jesus Christ, his son.
00:44:44.400
It's the sermon of Christ who fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law.
00:44:49.440
It's the sermon of Jesus who, according to the scriptures, was judged and tried unfairly.
00:44:55.700
And he was found guilty and he was crucified at the hands of Pontius Pilate.
00:44:59.920
And he was laid in the tomb in the belly of the earth for three days.
00:45:05.720
And he ascended to the right hand of the Father.
00:45:08.180
And he's interceding now for his people at every moment.
00:45:19.440
to everyone. The skies preach and they preach well, but just like the traveling, the traveling
00:45:25.060
preacher who's really only got two or three good sermons and he preaches over and over and over
00:45:29.060
again, that's just like the skies. And unfortunately, none of those sermons are salvific, salvific
00:45:34.360
sermons. None of the, the skies repertoire and his preaching and his preaching book are actually
00:45:41.020
redemptive sermons. See, the sermons that the skies preach are sermons of the glory of God,
00:45:46.740
but but it's the glory of god that's only sufficient ultimately to condemn
00:45:52.220
but here's the beauty for those who have heard not merely the sky's sermons but for those who
00:46:00.220
have heard a sermon of god's special revelation a sermon of the gospel like romans 10 somebody has
00:46:05.860
been sent and somebody has preached good news and god by his grace through the power of the spirit
00:46:11.180
has given them eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to believe for that person who's been born
00:46:16.980
again who's a new creature in Christ Jesus that person not only have they heard the sermon the
00:46:22.960
gospel sermon of the preacher and been saved but now they can hear the sermons of the sky and also
00:46:29.500
see the glory of God no longer as judgment no longer is merely sufficient to condemn but they
00:46:35.900
can look and listen to the sermons of the skies and see the glory of God as joy, as beauty.
00:46:43.840
Not because the skies preach in a way that's sufficient for salvation, but for the one who
00:46:48.900
has heard preaching that is sufficient for salvation through special revelation, through
00:46:53.140
the gospel, through the scripture, for those people, now they look to everything. It's like
00:46:59.600
the matrix. It's like once you've been unplugged, once you've been woken up, everybody else is just
00:47:04.780
seeing ones and zeros, but you look to creation, you look to the scripture, not just special
00:47:10.460
revelation, but you look to the scripture, of course, right? You hear the faithful preaching,
00:47:15.380
and of course you see the beauty of God. But for you, you see the beauty of God everywhere. You
00:47:19.740
can't help but see the joy and pleasure and beauty of God. You see the grass, and you think God's
00:47:26.220
good. You drink wine, you think God's good. You look to the sunset, God is good. You hear a child
00:47:32.240
laughing, God's good. You hear a child screaming, God's good. It's all speaking to the glory of God
00:47:38.800
and for the Christian, the glory of God is our joy. So in a nutshell, Psalm 19 verses 1 through 6 is
00:47:48.960
this. The physical creation, in particular the skies, are constantly speaking all the time to
00:47:56.380
everyone in every place without the need for literal words about god what are they speaking
00:48:02.180
about god one word glory what is the meaning of this one word glory glory is in the eye of the
00:48:09.380
beholder for those who have been born again the glory of god is joy for those who have not the
00:48:14.640
glory of god is judgment judgment and joy both emanating from the glory of god which is clearly
00:48:21.860
perceived in creation itself. Now, what does it mean? Getting more specific now, digging a little
00:48:30.480
bit deeper into glory as joy. We've talked about glory as judgment, Romans 1. But our primary text
00:48:38.680
today is not Romans 1. Our primary text is Psalm 19. So Psalm 19 verses 5 and 6, we don't see
00:48:44.780
glory as judgment. We see glory as joy. And honestly, I could think of no better way
00:48:52.760
to explain this reality, the glory of God displayed through the skies through natural
00:48:58.580
revelation as joy for his people than to completely verbatim quote the words of John
00:49:06.140
Piper. John Piper says it like this in his descriptive John Piper way. The glory of God
00:49:12.420
is a happy thing. Is this not the point of verses five and six? David looks up into the sky on a
00:49:19.020
beautiful clear blue early morning from Mount Zion and hears speech ushering forth, pouring forth
00:49:25.900
about the glory of God. And then he fixes his heart's attention on one theme in that symphony
00:49:31.720
of glory and watches the sun rise out of the east over the Jordan Valley. And the spirit of God comes
00:49:38.080
upon David to help him communicate what the glory of God is really like and he says in verse 5 and
00:49:45.200
verse 6 it comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strong man runs his course
00:49:52.080
with joy its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuits to the end of them and there is
00:49:57.600
nothing hid from its heat see the point here is not merely that the bridegroom is decked out
00:50:03.020
in the finest clothes and surrounded by his noble groomsmen.
00:50:15.620
This is the beginning of a whole new kind of joy.
00:50:23.780
in lavish red and gold and lavender in the eastern sky.
00:50:29.900
like the happiness of a bridegroom on his wedding day.
00:50:33.440
This is even more explicit in the other analogy or image
00:50:44.400
it's not only like a bridegroom leaving his chambers,
00:50:55.700
Now, how can we not think of Eric Little at this moment?
00:51:27.800
It's like every muscle and every tendon and every ligament and every organ and all of your mind and your emotions working just the way they were created to work on the day of triumph.
00:51:39.000
The glory of God is the happiest reality in all of the world.
00:51:44.360
In conclusion, all of mankind has seen this glory.
00:52:13.040
to receive God's message in special revelation.
00:52:26.880
Father, we thank you for the privilege that it is
00:52:31.620
and the privilege that it is to hear your word preached.
00:52:38.480
merely with a revelation of yourself in creation,
00:52:44.300
but that you have given to us, your people, your children,
00:53:16.160
by your son he is the radiance of the glory of God he's the exact imprint and representation
00:53:25.020
of your character and nature and this Jesus can be seen clearly on every page of scripture
00:53:32.780
and as we see him more and more in your special revelation of your word we see him likewise even
00:53:41.480
more and more clearly when we look at natural revelation, what you have made. We thank you for
00:53:48.600
this gift, this privilege. And Lord, we pray that we would be a people who love your glory,
00:53:56.820
who are enamored with your glory, because we see your glory not merely as judgment for sinners,
00:54:12.480
But real quick, before you go, do us a small favor,
00:54:22.000
that you can help us get this biblically faithful content