Psalm19

Q: What does the Bible say about the glory of God in creation?

The Bible reveals that the heavens declare the glory of God, showcasing His handiwork through nature. Psalm 19 tells us that 'the heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament shows His handiwork.' This passage emphasizes how both the Book of Nature and the Book of God work together to reveal God's glory. Creation serves as a continuous testament to His power and divine nature, declaring His existence and attributes to all humanity. According to Romans 1:20, God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen through what has been made, leaving everyone without excuse regarding His existence and sovereignty.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of Scripture is true?

The doctrine of Scripture is true as it is inspired by God and perfect in conveying His will to humanity. David asserts in Psalm 19 that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. This perfection is attributed to the divine origin of Scripture, meaning that it is devoid of error and fault. The doctrine of Christ, interwoven through Scripture, provides a complete guide to understanding God and salvation. The unity of the biblical narrative reflects its divine inspiration, making it an essential foundation for faith. Proverbs 8:8-9 affirms that all God’s words are perfectly righteous, ensuring that we can trust Scripture as the ultimate authority in matters of faith and conduct.

Q: Why is the fear of the Lord important for Christians?

The fear of the Lord is vital for Christians as it is the beginning of wisdom and leads to a transformed life. Psalm 19 highlights that 'the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.' This reverence is not merely about fright but encompasses awe and respect towards God's holiness and majesty. It acts as a catalyst for transformation, encouraging believers to turn away from sin and pursue righteousness. Additionally, fear of the Lord brings wisdom as stated in Proverbs 9:10, ensuring that true understanding begins with a proper recognition of God’s nature. This fear is foundational for obedience and a genuine relationship with God, leading to spiritual growth and a detachment from worldly ways.

Q: What does God say about sin and repentance?

God calls for His people to recognize and repent from their sins, emphasizing His desire for cleansing and restoration. In Psalm 19, David expresses a desire for God to cleanse him from secret faults and keep him from presumptuous sins. This reflects God's requirement for His people to acknowledge their sins and turn back to Him in repentance. The acknowledgment of sin is crucial for receiving God's forgiveness, as found in 1 John 1:9, where it promises that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us. God's grace allows for restoration, and His Word serves as the guide to discern right from wrong, urging Christians to seek a life of holiness and obedience.

Q: Why is obedience to God's Word emphasized in Scripture?

Obedience to God's Word is essential as it aligns believers with His will and ensures spiritual blessings. Psalm 19 emphasizes the significant role of adhering to God's commandments, stating that in keeping them, there is great reward. This obedience aligns with God's will, enabling believers to experience His blessings and guidance. Jesus echoed this sentiment when He stated in John 14:15 that loving Him means keeping His commandments. The Word of God is described as a lamp unto our feet, providing direction in life and protecting us from stumbling into sin. Obedience is not only a response to God’s love but also an essential part of walking in discipleship and faith.

If you love me, I know what the
world will be. I will defend and will support thee. Oh, let
me never walk alone. OK. Good hymns, hymns of worship. Pray our hearts, receive the
engrafted word. Psalm 19 now. Psalm 19. You'll see the inscription there
right under the number. Psalm 19 says to the chief musician. A psalm of David. In other words,
David wrote this psalm and gave it to the man who was in charge
of music in the tabernacle to sing. In the tabernacle. All right, verse one. And then
David is the psalmist. He's called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. And he He says here in verse
1, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth
his handiwork. David had two books at his disposal,
two books that he studied, and the only two volumes that he
had in his possession were the Book of Nature and the other
is the Word of God. And David was a student of these
two books. And really, they're the only
two books we need. The only two books. And they work together
to reveal God. And the first verse says, The
heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his
handiwork. It says the heavens, plural. Not the heaven, but the heavens. Because there are basically three
heavens. is the immediate firmament above
us. We see the clouds in and there's
this distant sky with stars in that. At last, universal heavens
and then there's the Paul said the third happens. Remember when
Paul said I knew a man who went to the third? That's God's habitation. See, the heavens can't contain
him, but heaven does. That's God's eternal or spiritual
home, the heavens. He says the heavens all declare
the glory of God. We've seen two of them, and they
do indeed declare the glory of God. The multitude of stars which
no man can number declare that God is. They declare the glorious
God or the glory of God, that God is. Paul said in Romans 1
that his eternal power and Godhead is clearly seen in the things
that are made. Clearly seen. And on a clear
night you can clearly see them. His eternal power and Godhead. Everyone is without excuse. We'll
see that in this book. And it says, Affirmament showeth
his handiwork. Or his hand work. Paul said David said something
similar in psalm eight back in psalm eight verse three. He said when I consider the heavens
the work of the fingers and the moon and the stars which thou
hast ordained. So the firmament the heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament shows that this
is God's handiwork. I read an interesting quote by
an ancient pagan philosopher, Aristotle. You've all heard of
him, I suppose. He said that if man lived and
was raised underground without any sight of the heavens at all, spent his lifetime underground,
and all he had to study at his disposal were the arts and the
sciences of man. And then you brought him out
to see the heavens for the first time. He said, he said, man would
have to ascribe it all to the God that we try to describe. He would have to. He'd see all
of that. After seeing man's works, he'd
say, something greater than me has made this. Something greater
than man. The firmament shows that God
made this with his own hands. Verse two, day unto day uttereth
this speech, night unto night showeth knowledge. Day unto day. These are God's preachers. Day
and night they preach. Day and night. They don't stop. God's preachers, God's silent
preachers. They don't say a word, but they
say volumes, silent volumes, day and night. These are they
which never hold their peace. From one day to the next, they
silently say, God is. Day after day, when that sun
comes up, God is. When that sun goes down, stars
come up. God is day in the day they they
pass the story along and it's been that way from the beginning
they pass the story along so that everyone. Here's this sermon
day and night one day to the next one night to the next night
knowledge of the holy. In the heavens verse three there's
no speech nor language where their voice is not heard that
is day and night. No tribe, no kindred, no people
that does not hear this silent language. Behold thy God and
his wondrous works. No one anywhere who has not heard
this sermon from day and night, from day to night. Verse four,
their line or their rule or direction is gone out through all the earth. and their words to the end of
the world. And in them hath he set a tabernacle
for the sun. Now that's interesting. Turn over to Romans chapter 10,
and we're going to see what this means, what this really means. Paul says this very thing, except
uses a few different words here. He says, "...their line is gone
out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of
the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun." S-U-N. In other words, the whole universe
has one line, and these preachers have one line. One line that
stretches in one direction and points in one direction. Paul
says in Romans 10 verse 12, now there's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, the same Lord over all is rich unto all
that call upon him. Verse 16, but they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord who hath
believed our report, so then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Have they not heard? Yes, barely. Now here it is. Their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world. But I say, did not Israel know?
First Moses said, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that
are no people, by a foolish nation. Verse twenty-one, But to Israel
he said, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto
a disobedient and gain sane people. So the whole universe is the
tabernacle or the dwelling place of a greater son than that one
that we see. The S.O.N. is the center of the
universe and there's no language nor speech where his gospel has
not been heard. That's what Paul said and we
know it so. But this gospel has gone throughout
all the world. This line, this scarlet thread,
this scarlet thread has gone throughout all the world, the
words to the end of the world. And in this world, he set a tabernacle
for his son who came down here. Verse 5, he came down here as
a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. and rejoiceth as a strong
man to run away. Now the earth, the earth is like
the bride of the sun. The earth adds nothing to the
sun. The earth gives nothing to the
sun, but receives everything from the sun. Right? The earth receives all its sustenance,
all its protection, all of its provisions from the sun. The
earth is like the bride of the sun. Well, the church is the
bride of Christ who receives all her nourishment from Him
and rejoices in Him. The earth rejoices, even the
flowers and the grass and everything rejoices when the sun comes up.
The birds start singing. When the sun's down, the birds
start singing. Don't they? Everything's silent. And then those creatures of prey
come out, and death and destruction. When the sun comes up, life.
Flowers perk up, birds start singing. They rejoice in this
strong man to run away. Well, when Christ arose from
the grave, when Christ arose from the grave, the church rejoiced
in that strong man. When Christ came to this earth,
the church rejoiced. in that strong man who came to
run this human race for the son of righteousness who arose with
healing in his way who was made flesh and wealth among who lived
as a man for me who died that they might live and who is now
set in the heavens the sun is set in the heavens and we bask
in his life for six and it says continues this The sun, his going
forth, is from the end of the heaven and his circuit under
the ends of it. There's nothing hid from the
heat thereof. The sun, the S-U-N, is everywhere
at once. You remember me telling you that
my daughter one time said something about the sun is down or the
clouds are covering the sun, it's not out. We all say that,
don't we? When the clouds fill the sky,
we say, the sun's not out. Oh, yes it is. It's always out. It's always shining. Just because we can't see its
glory or feel its heat doesn't mean it's not shining. The trouble
is we are hidden. We're the ones hidden. There's
something blocking our view. The sun always shines. The sun's
always up. We're the ones down. Right? See, when the earth turns away,
it's down, away from the sun. We're down, the sun's up. It's
always up. The sun is everywhere it wants. But even the dark places, you
know, even when we're turned away from the sun, there's still
the reflection of it in the moon. There's no part of the earth
that in some way is not affected, or sea, in the sun. So we're
without. And Christ is the omnipresent. S-O-N. omnipresent, meaning he
is everywhere at once. He is the omnipresent S-O-N of
God. And it says here, it says his
goings forth and his circuit. I like that in reference to Christ.
What about his going forth and his circuit? There's certainly no part of
this book where Christ is not seen, is there? No part of this
book where the Word does not walk. And we see, like Adam, that the
voice of God came walking in the cool of the garden, where
we see and hear the voice of God walking through the garden
of verse, his Word. And we've been seeing bodily visitations of the Lord
Jesus Christ in our study in Genesis, And he appears and this
is reason I contend that these were visitations of Christ. It's
significant because he he makes appearances at these most important
times. You see he's the head of the
covenant he's creator he's the head of his people he has a hands
on approach to the management of his covenant his word his
world and his people. Did you follow what I just said?
A good boss, a man who owns a company, will not be a man who sits up
in an office all day and never goes down in the factory to see
what's going on, right? He won't sit up there all day,
he'll get out of his office and go down and see for himself.
And take a hands up, well our God, Christ the Lord, his goings
forth have been from of old. His circuit, he made the circuit
from Old Testament to New. He appeared. He appeared at the
most important time. We saw that, didn't we? When
Adam, when the first man fell, who came with the glad tidings
and slew the animal. The voice of God came walking.
When the father of the faithful, when the covenant was given,
that covenant of faith whereby we are imputed and made righteous. Abraham, when he received that
covenant, who made an appearance? The Lord Jesus Christ. So, he
has hands on, he's everywhere, he's going forth, his circuit.
Now, verses, this psalm is basically divided into three parts. The
first six verses, David speaks of the glory of God in his creation. And then the next few verses
seven through eleven, he speaks of the glory of God's word. He
speaks of God's works, and then he speaks of God's word, and
then he utters a prayer at the end, in the last few verses,
a prayer. So praise and prayer go together
in this song. All right, now he's going to
talk about the word of God. And we've already been talking
about it. But here's the word so much the written word and
the incarnate. You can't separate verse seven.
David says the law of the Lord. Well, that is the doctrine of
the Lord is perfect. The doctrine that we saw Sunday
morning, how that. Paul's told us to finally, brethren,
it's all finally said, said and done finally rejoice in This
doctrine, the Lord is Lord, that God is Lord, that Christ is Lord,
that's the doctrine of the Lord. And it will perfect you. It will
establish, it will perfect you, right? Perfect you, establish
strength in the center of you, if you know that he's Lord and
you're in his hand. And that's chiefly the doctrine
of the Lord, and the doctrine of the Lord The doctrine of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine of Christ is perfect. The gospel
is perfect. Complete in all its parts, and
you're complete in Him. It's whole. Every precept and
every line fit together to make the whole picture of Christ. Just like threads in a tapestry.
If you turn that tapestry around, look at the backside and try
to analyze each thread, you won't see anything. But if you turn
it over and look at the whole picture, all of those threads
come together to make one picture. And so does the Word of God.
It's so intricately woven, all come together to tell one story.
It's all perfect. The doctrine of the Lord or the
doctrine of Christ, the gospel is perfect. That's the reason
it's the most heinous sin against God and blasphemous sin against
God to add to or take away from this word. Anybody that would
add to or take away from this is guilty of the highest blasphemy. All right, read on. The law of
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The doctrine of Christ,
the gospel of Christ converts the soul. It saves, in other
words. The word convert, converse, converse
means the opposite, right? Convert, to turn over. You convert
something, you turn it over. To convert, the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you, is what God uses to turn a man
or a woman who is going wayward going their own way and all we
like sheep have gone our astray we've gone our own way we've
turned every man to our own way which is. One hundred and eighty
degrees from God right we've all we like sheep have gone astray
well the gospel come and stops us and converts us and turns
us around. To see Christ and to head in
paths of righteousness to head Christ in Christ's the way we
go our way which we think is right at the end of death and
destruction in the gospel of and converts us and turns us
in the way which is life everlasting. We don't says the testimony of
the Lord. The testimony of the Lord. Is
sure. Making wise the simple. Testimony of the gospel of Christ
It's sure it's certain. It's certain. It's sure it's
just as sure as you're sure to testimony of Christ the testimony
of Jesus is a spirit of prophecy and the testimony of the Lord
Jesus Christ is sure it's a certain it's a sure thing. I like sure
things. I like certainties. I like the
certainties of Scripture. We've looked at different passages
that talk about a certain man, a certain woman. He went into
a certain place and he most certainly will save. It's sure, it's certain,
the testimony of the Lord, the gospel of Christ is a sure thing. It's a sure thing. You may know,
once you've heard the gospel, once the gospel comes and he
reveals the gospel to you, reveals Christ to you, you may know whom
you have believed and be firmly persuaded without being able
to be moved. Of your. Interest in your. Your destination you may be like
John said you may know that you have eternal life what was the
testimony of Christ. And it makes why is this simple.
It makes the worldly wise foolish. Christ said I thank the Father
that thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent.
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? He makes
the wise prudent. He makes the simple wise. He
reveals them unto babes. He takes nothings and makes them
somethings. He takes somethings and makes
them nothing. He makes wise the simple. Common people hear him
gladly, and they grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. The Lord saved at the set point.
I called on the Lord, David said, and he heard me. Verse 8. The statutes of the Lord. We're
just reading the word here, going verse by verse, and it's up to
the Holy Spirit to give you a blessing. I'm not embellishing this in
any way. We're going now through it. The statutes of the Lord
are right. All the precepts and commands
and decrees of God are right. They are right. Everything God
says is right. And they're right, because God
said it. Over in Proverbs 8, if you want to turn very quickly,
Proverbs 8. I quote this all the time. And you need to underline this
in your Bible. Proverbs 8, which, and I want so badly to preach
on this proverb someday. There's a four or five 4 or 5 divisions in this Proverbs
8 that all speak of Christ. But this verse 8 and 9, remember
he said back there that the statutes of the Lord are right. Well Proverbs
8 verse 8, and this is all speaking of Christ who is wisdom. All
the words of my mouth are in righteousness. Christ said, I
came to fulfill the law. It behooves him to fulfill all
righteousness, and all the words of his mouth are in righteousness.
There is nothing froward or perverse or covered or wreathed in them. They asked him, if you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. Verse 9, "...they
are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge."
This gospel, the gospel, our gospel, the only gospel, is the
only thing right. Everything else is wrong. Right? Right. It's right. It's all plain how, who God is,
and who Christ is, and what man he is, how God must save and
how Christ, because of who he is, how he must save. It's all plain to him that understands
it, isn't it? And you, you wonder how people
can't see it, don't you? Well, they don't understand. But you see, it's all plain and
it's right. It's right. Everybody else says
it's wrong. Well, you say it's right. Why? Because you found
knowledge. He found knowledge. He's given
you knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, back to the
text. So his statutes are right. Right. And the word, it all speaks
of Christ who is our righteousness. And it says in verse eight, statutes
of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Rejoicing the heart. David thank God for the wine
that made glad the heart of man. Now a little glass of Chablis
is not going to make my heart glad. It might make me get a
good night's sleep. But I tell you the wine of the
gospel will. The wine of Christ's blood will
make this old broken hearted sinner glad. Listen to Spurgeon's
elephant words. He said no cordial of comforts. There is no cordial of comfort
like that which is poured from the bottle of Scripture. Now we'll receive that eloquence
no cordial of comfort like that which is poured from the bottle
of Scripture. It is a copious humor doesn't
ring. The wine of God's Word it'll
make you drunk with his spirit. And I like this saying today
that it'll make you Drunk with a. With Christ is what it makes
me all right read on says the commandment of the Lord is pure.
God's word. Is undiluted it is pure it is
only. It is like Christ the word incarnate
word it is without seeing without flaw without spot without blemish
men and women have tried to find something wrongs with God's word
they have tried to find something which contradicts. Things that
don't fit it tried and tried to disprove God's word find something
wrong with some error and see about it but they can't do it. It's an error it's inspired the
word of God you can't trip him up in his Just like those who
tried to catch Christ in his word, they couldn't do it. They
went away. No man asked him any more questions.
And if man would approach this book and fearfully and studiously,
he'd go away with no more questions. It would silence him. It would
silence him. The commandment of the Lord is
pure. And it's pure also. It's pure grace. No mixture of
works in it. The gospel of Christ is pure
grace. It says enlightening the eyes. You see that? It will enlighten
the eyes. A look at the natural sun, S-U-N,
will blind your eyes, won't it? A revelation of Christ in the
gospel will open them, will give you sight. A look at the natural
sun will blind you. A look at Christ will give you
sight, enlighten your eyes. Verse nine, the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is clean. It's clean. Not only is it the
beginning of wisdom, not only is it where God first starts
working upon a human being, creating the fear of God in them. That's
the indictment against an unbelieving world. There's no fear of God
before their eyes. And that is the chief characteristic
of all God's true people. All thy saints fear him. The
fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom, it's
clean. It's clean. I wish we could devote a sermon
to every one of these verses, particularly this one line. The
fear of the Lord is clean. The fear of God, the fear of
God and knowledge of Christ cleanses out the love of sin. Before you knew the Lord. Holy
God. You had a. Abiding love of sin. Right an ongoing relationship
with an intimate acquaintance with sin. Once you came to know
the true and living God the fearful God. Cast out the love of sin,
and now you detest it. You despise it. Everything is
contrary to God that you fear. Listen to this. Bunyan, John
Bunyan, in his book, The Holy War. I advise you to read that
book sometimes. Well, well worth the time spent
in reading it. God bless that book. Bunyan's
story is a An allegory about the town of Mansoul. Wherein
Diabolus, who's the devil, makes an assault upon the town. And
he comes to the eye gate, like Eve, lust of the eye, comes to
the ear gate. She listened to his voice. Comes
to the eye gate and the ear gate and they let him in. And he conquers
the town and sets up rain in the castle in the middle of town.
Town of Mansoul. And he puts all of his little
pinhead servants out in the town and disperses them and tells
them to silence Mr. Conscience and silence this man
and the other. And put in jail and prison all
these people that would keep the people from doing obeisance
to Diabolus. Listen to what Bunyan said. There
was a character in Bunyan's Holy War called Mr. Godly Fear who lived in the town of Mansoul.
And he would never bow the knee to Diabolus. Never. He was Mr. Godly Fear.
And by the way, Immanuel came to that town. And you know, they wouldn't let him in the
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him in. The fear of the Lord, when it
sets up rain in the heart, God's fear is in the heart, then that
person wants everything cleaned out, right? Depart from me, ye
workers of iniquity. Depart from me. O Lord, conform
me to the image of Immanuel. Read on. It says the fear of
the Lord is clean, enduring forever. This is something he sets up
that endures forever. You know, we're going to fear
the Lord in heaven when we go there. You'll never want to stop
fearing the Lord. His perfect love will cast out
that slavish fear, yet this is fear in a sense of absolute awe
and respect. It's the best illustration I
can give. Fire. You love it. It's warming. It gives light, heat. It's refreshing. It's good. But you're not going to jump
in it, are you? You fear it in that sense, but you love it.
You're not afraid of it, but you respect it, right? And God, that fear will stay
with us enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord. The
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. And
my margin says the judgments of the Lord are truth and righteousness. That sounds familiar, doesn't
it? Truth and righteousness. All
the word of God make up the truth and speak of his righteousness. Verse 10 and 11. The word of
God, the judgments of God are more to be desired than gold.
Why is that? Well, you can get some gold,
and it might make you rich, but lose it, and then what are you?
Poor. Well, if Christ comes in, you're
made rich, aren't you? You can't ever lose it. You're
eternally enriched, spiritually enriched. Yeah, you didn't much
find gold. You talk about solid gold. They
say, this watch is not my watch, but they say that's made out
of solid gold, iron gold, solid gold, not gold plated, gold through
and through. Well, this is solid truth, and
it's Christ through and through, isn't it? Christ through and
through. He says it's finer than honey,
sweeter than honey, sweeter than honey to the taste. Yeah, sweeter than the honeycomb. Sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. It sweetens our sorrows and the
honeycomb of His consolation. Chew on it a while. Honeycomb. I never did much care for honeycomb. It always stuck to my teeth. Chew on it, chew on it, chew
on it. Don't feel like you're getting anywhere. Well, that's
good with God's Word, though. Something you can keep on chewing
on. Keep on never wearing it out. Right? Never go, wear it
out. Just swallow it whole. The honeycomb
of his consolation. Read on. It says, Moreover, by
them, by thy judgments, by thy precepts, by thy commandments,
by thy statutes, by thy doctrine, by thy gospel, thy servant is
warned. Thy servant is warned. The word is a light unto our
path. a lamp under our feet, the Word
of God. The Word of God is like a lighthouse,
and we would all be shipwrecked were it not for this lighthouse,
wouldn't we? We would all be shipwrecked were
it not for this lighthouse of God's Word to warn us of danger. Danger, don't come here. Danger,
don't go there. And a lighthouse to point us
to the fair haven. Danger, don't come here. Their
safe passage there. Christ want us to cry. It's a
warning to God's people and verse eleven in keeping of them. There's great reward. Obedience to God's word. Is its
own reward. Next. Verse twelve. And David
begins to do some. Inward in in in what's the word
I'm looking for. Reflecting or inflecting is that
the word what's the word I'm looking for at any rate he begins
to look. As in at himself in light of God's omnipotence God's
omnipresence God's all seeing word And he says verse twelve
who can understand his error. Who can. There was a. In Rome years ago. The Roman
Catholic Church issued a decree. An order to all of its adherence
all of the believers in that religion. that they were to confess
all of their sins without without exception. They were to confess
once a year. Every one of their sins. If they
did not confess all of their sins, there would be no forgiveness. Who can know? All his sin. That's what David said. Our sins
are like the tip of an iceberg. What we see of them are like
the tip of an iceberg. They're like stumps in the ground. You think you've got them cleaned
up. This is very familiar to me right now. I've
been on my tractor lately. I've been trying to clean some
ground up. Steve, try to clean some ground up. You think you've
got it all clean. And the other day I was on my tractor, and
I thought, well, I got it good. I was making one last pass, and
boy, I hit something, and it stopped me dead. The biggest
stump of all stumped me. I mean, killed the tractor dead.
That's how big a stump was under the ground. I couldn't see it.
It might have been a twig sticking up, and I thought, there's nothing
there. It was a big one. And that's our sins. Who can understand his sins,
right? God does. God does. What David says, David says,
Lord cleanse me from secret faults. Cleanse me from sins that I don't
know about. Sins that you know about, sins
that I don't know about, cleanse me from them. Cleanse me from
these secret faults. Read on verse thirteen, keep
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion
over me. Then shall I be upright and I
shall be innocent from the great transgression. That means I believe
he's talking about apostasy here. That great transgression of unbelief,
he says, keep me back from presumptuous sins. Let him not have dominion
over me. And presumption means sin with
a high hand, deliberate, open, rebellious sin. Now, I want you
to turn to a verse of Scripture, all right? Numbers, chapter 15. Numbers, chapter 15. You'll see
this word presumptions here. Our Lord deals with presumptuous
sins. Numbers, chapter 15. David must have been alluding
to that. David had one book, like I said, one written book,
and it was the book of Moses, the books of Moses. Job, the
book of Job, may have been there. I don't know. He had the law. Five books. He had to have been
referring to this. Numbers 15. Now, if you want
good reading tonight or someday this week, read this chapter,
because it talks about sins of ignorance and sins different
sins that the Lord made an atonement for. There was a sacrifice for
those sins. No matter what it was, no matter
how serious they were, there was a sacrifice. There was a
blood offering. There was a peace offering. There
was an atonement to cover those sins. Not presumptuous sins. Look at verse thirty. He says,
God says, "...the soul that doeth aught presumptuously." Whether
he be born in the land or stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord,
and that soul shall be cut off from among his people, because
he hath despised the word of the Lord, hath broken his commandment,
and that soul shall be utterly cut off. His iniquity shall be
upon him, not on the sacrifice on him." Now that's serious isn't
it? Presumptuous sin? We need to know what they are,
don't we? David says, keep me from it,
lest I sin that great transgression and in which there's no forgiveness.
That has to allude to that sin against the Holy Spirit somehow.
John spoke of presumptuous sin. Well, what is that? Well, you
know, we can fall. We can fall in sin. We will. We do. We all do. We will. A man can fall. He can get so low. And he doesn't
know how low he is. But the Word of God comes, finally,
and awakens him. And he says, I'm so foolish.
Oh, and turns him and converts him, and it turns him and awakens
him. And he repents, and the Lord
brings him back into favor and restores his soul. Like David.
David took a great fall, didn't he? Well, the Lord restored his
soul. The commandment came restored
is so, the gospel restored is so. But presumptuous sins. Scripture says there's none so
blind as those who will not see. As none get so low as those who
refuse to rise, refuse to repent, refuse to come out of that. If
you want to read something, Numbers chapter 15, you read that in
the very next chapter, It deals with the sons of Korah, the sons of Korah, who were presumptuous sinners.
And it deals with a story of the sons of Korah who had their
censers, which were typical prayer censers with that incense in
it, all those typical prayer, and they're offering up offers
to the Lord. They were typical of religionists,
people with a false profession of religion. You know what they
did? They went against God's servant. They went against God's order.
They went against God's way of worship. They professed themselves
to be something when they were nothing. They professed him who was something
to be nothing when he was something. They presumed themselves to be
what they were not. And they were guilty of that
great transgression. You know what happened to them.
Apostasy. Presumptuous sins. Sins with
a high hand. Lord, keep me from any sins with
a high hand. Any sins with an open hand. Actual,
willful, desirous sinning. Keep me back from that, Lord.
Why should I presume upon the mercy of God? We can count on
the mercy of God and the grace of God to forgive us our sin.
But if we cling to them and go after them, don't presume. Don't
presume. I need that, don't you? Keep
me back from those. Let them not have dominion over
me. Bosom sin. Look at this wonderful prayer
here. The end of his prayer, Lord,
let the words of my mouth. And the meditation of my heart. Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh. Can't help it. But you must have heart. If you don't have any word. Words
of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Let me not speak
any words if there is no heart, but let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. How will they be acceptable? In the Lord my strength and my
Redeemer. O Lord my strength, O Lord my
Redeemer, my acceptance. You are accepted in the beloved.
You're heard, not for your much speaking. Because Christ prays
for you. But Lord, keep me back now. Cleanse
me from secret sin. Cleanse me from secret fault.
Keep me back from presumptuous sin. Let them not have dominion
over me, lest I sin at great transgression. O Lord, let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, and let our worship
tonight be acceptable unto thee, O Lord, my strength. You are all my strength and my
redeemer. Okay, stand, and I'll dismiss
this in prayer. Heavenly Father, your word is
clean. It's like a hammer that breaks
a hard, plenty rocked pieces of rocky hearts. We need these
old hearts broken time and again because they get stony. They
get hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and by the deceitfulness
of riches in this world. They become hardened and unmoved.
insensitive to your word. Lord, take this word and break
these old hearts over and over and over. Don't ever let them
be hearts of stone. Lord, your word is like a fire
that burns within. If in the hands of your Holy
Spirit you cause it to, Lord, your word is like a sword that
pierces. We do need piercing. We need
our consciences smitten and stricken, and we need our hearts pierced,
pierced. And dear Lord, we need that same
word which breaks, which pierces, which smites. We need that same
word to heal. The balm of Gilead is thy word. We need it to go in like that
oil in the hands of the our Good Samaritan, Christ, to go in as
a healing balm and heal the broken heart, and to be a salve, to
be sore, smitten and afflicted in sore centers that we are.
Lord, take this Word tonight that is so all-seeing, so all-encompassing,
and so all-inclusive. And there's much more there than
we have. We haven't waded ankle deep in the ocean of truth here
tonight. We do rejoice in your words,
one that's found great spoil. We found a few nuggets tonight.
Solid gold. Gold. And we found a little honey
and a little honeycomb to chew on. Lord, take not thy word from
us, but cause it to be planted in our hearts. Hide it. Hide
it, Lord, in our hearts. We might bring it up sometime
when we need it. And we might not sin against
thee. In Christ's name we met together. Amen. You're dismissed.

Psalm19

What does the Bible say about the glory of God in creation?

How do we know the doctrine of Scripture is true?

Why is the fear of the Lord important for Christians?

What does God say about sin and repentance?

Why is obedience to God's Word emphasized in Scripture?

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Psalm19

What does the Bible say about the glory of God in creation?

How do we know the doctrine of Scripture is true?

Why is the fear of the Lord important for Christians?

What does God say about sin and repentance?

Why is obedience to God's Word emphasized in Scripture?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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