Tonight I'd like to preach on
two great books. Two great books. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. This psalm brings forth
the riches of God's works and the riches of His creation and
the riches of His word. Both come from His hand. He created
this world by the word of His power, according to His will. And he gave us the word according
to his almighty power, God the Holy Spirit being the author
of the scriptures. So two great books, creation,
the handiwork of the Lord's hands, and his holy word of which he
alone is the author. Let's read Psalm 19 verses one
to 14. The heavens declare the glory
of the Lord, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto
day utters speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
There's no speech nor language, for their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words
in the end of the world. To the end of the world. In them
hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run
a race. His going forth is from the end
of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there
is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the Lord
is perfect, converting the soul The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statues of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the
honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant
warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can
understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from
presumptuous sins. Let not them have dominion over
me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from
the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my Redeemer." Oh, he's our strength, isn't
he, Brother Brian? He's our Redeemer, and his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, David wrote this psalm,
was committed to the master of the service of song and the sanctuary
for the use of assembled worship. In David's earlier days, he tended
the flock of his father, and he devoted himself to the study
of God's two great books. Remember, shepherds back then,
they slept under the stars. They saw the sun rise and they
saw the sun set. They saw the beauty of the firmament
in the day and the beauty of the firmament at night. And I
imagine out where there's no lights on a clear night, it must
have filled him with awe to look up and see all the stars. Oh my. In this psalm, David brings forth
the study of two great books, God's great books, nature, creation,
and scripture. And both magnify the excellency
of our great God and King. Both do. The world book, the
book of creation or nature, which is all around us, it can never save. But it screams that there's a
creator. It proclaims. It proclaims that
God created this. For his glory, doesn't it? We
look at the creation now, having been born again, and it's totally
different for us than it was before we were saved. Because
now we know the author. David knew the author. David
knew the one who created it all. And God is the author of both
books, of creation and of the word. It is he who hung the stars
in their place. by the Word of His power. They
stay there. They consist. All things consist
by the Word of God's power. Look at verses 1 to 6. It talks
about the world book or creation. The heavens declare the glory
of God. That's what they do. They declare
God's glory and affirm it, show it, His handiwork. Every day
we have set before us, saved and unsaved, we have set before
us the handiwork of the Lord. You know what's really neat now
with YouTube and all that? You can look up places we can
never visit. And you can watch videos that
people have taken with drones or with just on trips. And we
can see things, and we marvel at these things. The Great Falls
over, I think it's in South Africa, or over in the African continent.
There's a Great Fall over there. It's like Niagara Falls, but
huge, beautiful. I'd never get a chance to see
that, but I've seen it on the internet. And it left me with
awe. Now, I imagine if I saw it in
person, it'd leave me even with more awe. Right? But we can, we can, beloved,
we can look at things, whether we see them on the internet.
Insects. Pull up some videos of insects.
Look how, look how finely they're crafted, how they're so different.
Fish in the sea. Some that live in utter darkness,
and then they shine the light on them, and they're translucent.
And you look at that and go, oh my, how glorious is our God. Why are they there? Now, why
are they there where no one will see them? Look at this. The heavens declare the glory
of God. That's why they're there. What
about a little flower in the Amazon that blooms up? No one
sees it. It blooms up. It dies. Why is it there? For the glory
of God, beloved. For the glory of our great God.
It manifests its glory, even if no one ever sees it. My, oh,
my. Look at this. Day unto day uttereth
speech. The creation brings glory to
God. Look at this. The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is a God. My oh my, it proclaims that.
Now look at this. Now look at this. There's no
speech nor language where their voice is not heard. You can travel
anywhere on this earth. Anywhere. No speech nor language
where their voice is not being heard. There is a God. Right? Everywhere you go, people look
at the sun and they look at the moon. No matter what language
they speak. Isn't that amazing? This is being
brought forth way, way back. You know why? Who's the author?
God's the author. So there's nowhere you can go
on this earth where their speech is not uttered. My, oh my. Oh my, look at this. Their line
has gone out through all the earth. And their words to the
end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle
for the sun. Look at that, he set a tabernacle
for the son. God did that, beloved, our God,
our Redeemer did that. Which is, now he's gonna give
us a picture, which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and
rejoices as a strong man to run a race. You remember when we came out
of the chamber and we were gonna go up, stand there, wait for
our wives to come? We couldn't wait, could we, brother?
And then we saw our wives. Oh, my. Take your breath away.
I'll never forget when I saw Vicki come down that aisle. I'll
never forget it. My, oh, my. You know, you talk
about have dove's eyes. They say doves have dove's eyes.
They have tunnel vision for their mates. That's what happens. You see your wife come down the
aisle or your wife-to-be come down the aisle. Oh, my. Look at this. His end, or his
going forth, is from the end of the heaven and the circuit
from the ends of it. There's nothing hid from the
heat thereof. The sun shines everywhere. Now, sometimes in
Alaska, it only comes up for two, three hours. And then other
times, it's called the land of the midnight sun. Right? Oh, my. But look at that, there's
nowhere, there's nothing hid from its heat thereof. And then
look at the word book in Holy Scriptures. Look at verses seven
and eight. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God, right? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they preach without being sent? Look at that. And I was talking to Brian before
service, you know, we preachers are just mouthpieces. We preach
and leave all the results in God's hands. He does the saving. He does the drawing. It's wonderful.
He draws sinners to Christ by his almighty power. And he's
done that for we who believe. And we're in awe. Oh, I could
see that convert in the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. Now simple there, I like what
Henry Mann says, doesn't mean dumb people. It means common
people. Not many wise, right? Not many
noble. But God saves the foolish of
the world, the simple people. The common people is what it
means. My oh my. I always get upset when somebody
says, well that person's, they're simple minded or whatever. Why
are you even saying that? Why do people even say that stuff?
You know what, they're just making themselves better than them and
they're no better? We're all just a bunch of dirty, rotten
sinners, aren't we? Well, I'm proud to say God made
this simple man. I'm proud in Christ, not in anything
I've done, but praise be to God. He made this simple man wise,
wise to him. Not wise in a whole lot of other
things, but wise to the knowledge of him, praise his mighty name,
right? Oh my, the statutes of the Lord
are right. The word of God is right. Even
if the world says no, it's not, it's right. Right? People say, well abortion's
not murder. The Bible says abortion's murder.
Yes it is. Right? My, oh my. Rejoice in the heart. The commandment
of the Lord is pure. Enlighten in the eyes. And note,
we see that the words of this wondrous book are desired by
the believer. More than gold, look at verse
10. More to be desired are they than gold. You can stack all
the gold in the world and it has no value compared to the
faith God's given us. That gold and silver are gonna
perish, isn't it? But beloved, we have eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's redeemed us by his
precious blood. And silver and gold can't purchase
that, can it? But it's more valuable than all
the gold and all the wealth in this world. That's why I always
say, the believer, the believer in Christ is richer than the
richest man in this earth. We have way more than the Amazon
guy and Gates and all those. We are far richer, beloved. We
have eternal life given to us by Christ. We have all spiritual
blessings in Christ. Our souls have been purchased
by His precious, precious blood. And Scripture says He's able
to save to the uttermost those who come to the Father by Him.
My! That's wonderful news for sinners,
isn't it? It's wonderful. My, oh my! The word is desired
more than gold for the believer. There was a time when it wasn't,
was it, Brian? There was a time for us, we didn't
desire the word of God. And now, oh man, we want to hear
it preached. We want to hear it proclaimed,
right? We want to read it. My, oh my. And look what it says, look what
it says. Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Oh my, it's
sweet to the believer. It was once bitter to us, right? In our natural state, the word
of God is bitter to us. I don't like what that says.
They call me a sinner. And then the Lord saves us and
we say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Praise you for your mercy. Praise
you for your grace. Oh my. Now David devoted himself
to the study of these two books. And a man or woman is blessed
who studies these two books. My, just walk outside at night
sometime in a dark night and look upstairs and see that star
canopy when it's clear and just be in awe, beloved. Our savior
created all that. And he holds all those things
together by the word of his power. How much more will he take us
to heaven? by his almighty power. He says,
I'll never leave you. The one who spoke all that into
existence says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you, my little
sheep. Oh my! No wonder he said, let
not your heart be troubled. Oh my! My, oh my. Let's go to Romans
chapter one. Romans chapter one. Now man in
his presumption and pride We're foolish in our natural state.
We're full of pride and we're full of presumption in our natural
state. And we spend time trying to find
discrepancies or errors. Contradictions is the big thing.
Well, the Bible has contradictions. Show me where. Show me where and I'll show you
scripture. Oh, my. If I had a knuckle for
every time someone told me there was a contradiction in the Bible,
and I sat with them and showed them the scripture that corresponds
to that, I'd be a millionaire. My, oh, my. So instead of accepting these
two great books and desiring to know the author, unsaved people say, no, I don't
have nothing to do with that. And the believer says, My father
wrote both these books. He wrote them both. He spoke creation into existence
by his almighty power, and he authored this wonderful book
that tells us about our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ,
so that we would be comforted. And remember, this book was written
on the New Testament 2,000 years ago. The Old Testament thousands
and thousands of years ago, and what comfort it brings us today.
See, you know what's amazing about the Bible? It crosses cultural
lines. It crosses civilizations. It knows no boundary. Men have tried to stamp it out.
Nero, Tried to stamp out Christianity, and it just grew even more. What
happens when you stamp a fire? When you got a fire burn, you
put your foot in there, go bang, what happens? A bunch of sparks
just fly out, right? Now you got not one fire, you
got all these little embers going everywhere. Whenever the world
tries to stamp out Christianity, always, it just spreads like
wildfire. My oh my. Look at this in Romans
chapter 1. This declares some precious truth
and speaks of the world book. Romans chapter 1 verse 18 to
21. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
You see, man's without excuse. Man's without excuse, beloved,
because that When they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful, and became vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart was darkened. See, instead of worshiping God,
man made things with their hands. Idols. Man, Isaiah talks about
a man going out in the woods and chopping down a tree, and
taking some of the wood and using it on the fire, taking some of
the wood and crafting things for his home, and taking another
piece of wood and taking it to an idol maker and saying, make
me a god. It's the same wood. And even if they ornate it with
gold and silver and put a face on it, it's still a block of
wood, isn't it? But man will bow down to that
and worship that. but they won't worship the true
and living God. You see, we were there. It's only by God's grace
that we bow our knee to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords,
right? The grace of God has done that, working in us. The Holy Spirit regenerating
us, we're born again. We're blood-washed saints. And
now we worship and adore our King. We take our rightful place
in the dust, don't we? Oh my. But remember where we came from.
We were vain in our imagination and our hearts were darkened
by sin. That's the pit God took us out of. My oh my. My oh my. Think about the Old
Testament when they were moving around in the desert they were
moving around the desert they had to put the the temple part
was covered in badger skins you know why so that if an enemy
came to the camp they couldn't tell where the gold was because
it was in it was in the temple was in the sanctuary right but
they couldn't tell think of this when Christ came into this world
he just looked like a normal man but inside was gold The deity
of Christ. See, that sanctuary in the wilderness
just looked like every other tent, didn't it? But inside was
gold. Oh my! Our Savior is God incarnate
in the flesh. Now think of this, too. Number
one, creation is the outer court. We look and admire and adore
our God. Psalm 8 declares this. When I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, and the moon
and the stars which thou has ordained, what is man that thou
art mindful of him? What are we that God's mindful
of us? And the Son of man that thou
visitest him? What are we? Well, we're God's elect, aren't
we? Isn't that amazing? We've been the objects of his
love from eternity. I still can't get over that.
I'll be honest with you. I think we're gonna be in awe
even when we're in heaven about that. My oh my. And think of this. The word of
God is the inner court where we worship and praise him. Turn
if you would to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. So the psalm we're
looking at right now can be divided into two different parts. Number one, creation shows the
glory of God, verses one to six. In verses seven to 11, which
is the word of God, the second book, which reveals God's grace.
And then God gives us grace and mercy to understand them. In
our natural state, we don't understand the word of God, but he's given
us grace to understand it, hasn't he? Look at this in Psalm 119,
verses nine to 16. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed according to thy
word. With my whole heart have I sought thee, O let me not wander
from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord,
teach me thy statutes. Teach me, Lord. Teach me, please,
Father, more and more about you and about Christ. With my lips
have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced
in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. I will
meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I
will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. So
let's again consider the first book. The heavens declare the
glory of God. Let's read verses one to six
again, and we'll look at them each. Back to Psalm 19, Psalm
19. In verse one it says, the heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.
So the heavens declare, the very heavens declare the glory of
God. The sun, the stars, the moon,
the planets, the clouds. They all declare his majesty.
They all declare his power. And they're constantly declaring
this, day and night. They do not cease. They're constantly
declaring this. Where his handiwork is, his glory
is manifested. And His handiwork is always on
display, isn't it, for us? We wake up in the morning, you
go out and sit in your porch if you want, or even look out
the window, look at the sky, look at the trees, look at the
animals. His glory is on display, beloved. You know, I never look
at animals the same since the Lord saved me. He feeds them.
I watch those little fellows, those squirrels, they run around
gathering nuts and gathering all this stuff. You know, the
Lord gives them so much more because they forget where they
packed them, right? But they're back year after year,
aren't they? Scripture says, not even a sparrow.
I love sparrows. One of my favorite birds is a
little tiny guy. Not even one of them falls to the ground without
him knowing. Oh, how great is our God. And he says, how much
more, talking to his people, how much more value are you than
they? Oh my, it's wonderful. Just makes your heart sing. So
the heavens do not cease to proclaim the glory of God. His wisdom,
His power, His majesty. His power is on display because
He just spoke it all into existence. His wisdom. He hung every star. Oh my. His majesty. Nothing consists without Him.
When you look at the night sky or the sun, think of that. That
thing's hanging there. It's hanging there because of
our God's power. My oh my, look at number two, verse two. Day
and today utter a speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
When one day leaves off, another one starts, doesn't it? Every
day, sun rises according to, do you know that? According to
the will and purpose of God. When he purposes and wills an
eclipse, an eclipse happens. When he purposes and wills for
Halley's Comet to go by the Earth, Halley's Comet goes by the Earth.
People say, well, it's this rotation that all, it's God's will and
purpose. If he didn't will that thing
to make another round, it'd disappear, it'd blow up. Or something, I
don't know. But he put him in there. And
you know what? Doesn't that manifest his glory?
You see that tail? You see them northern lights.
Oh my, look at our great God. Look at his glory on display.
Look at the great lakes. I never get tired of looking
at those. They're like inland ocean. Magnifies the glory of
God, doesn't it? Largest freshwater reserves in
the whole world, right here. around the Great Lakes. My, oh,
my. So when one day leaves off, another
takes over. One old preacher said, it takes
up the sermon again, proclaiming the glory of God. Oh, my. The day speaks of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the light of the world. The rising sun declares
the sun of righteousness arises with healing in his wings. The
night speaks of his rest and declares the truth of what our
master proclaimed. I must work the works of him
that sent me. Well, this day, the night cometh when no man
can work. My. And that he's speaking of
an eternal day there. He's speaking of eternal day. Oh, my. My, oh, my. The passing of day and night
speaks of the shortness and briefness of our life, too. A day is only
24 hours long, and then it's gone, next day. We're only here, our life's like
a vapor, then we're gone. My, oh, my. And again, there's
multiple languages on this earth, but look at verse 3. It declares
that there's no speech or language where this voice is not proclaimed,
the voice of creation, that we see glorifies God. My, oh my, look at this. There
is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. It declares the glory of God,
declares His handiwork. Think of this, Jean-Claude, he
goes to Africa and Haiti. The heavens declare God's handiwork
there. Brother Lance Heller is down
in Papua New Guinea. Right? The heavens declare the Lord's
glory there. Sister Dee's grandson, David,
he's down in Ecuador. The heavens declare the glory
of God there. This verse is bringing forth
that there's nowhere you can go on this earth. Nowhere where
the voice of creation is not heard. Glory be to God. Spurgeon had a way of spiritualizing
things. I don't know if I've ever told
you this. If I have, just bear with me. It's a wonderful way
to look at things. He said the waves, you go to
the ocean, and the waves go like this, right? They crash against
the sand, and he says that's the waves clapping in adoration
to the Lord. You ever see the trees going
like this in the wind? Spurgeon said, that's the trees
waving in adoration to the Lord. You ever see a bird go down,
drink, and then go? He said, that's a bird drinking
and giving thanks to God. Oh, he had an amazing way of
looking at creation. My, oh, my. We see here, too,
it says, the heavens declare the glory of God. That's a fact. That's not up for debate, is
it? That's a fact. Oh my. Brother Jacob, when he
was over in the Middle East, when he was over in the Middle
East, the heavens declare the handiwork of the Lord there.
Now he's in Colorado. The heavens declare the handiwork.
Brother Marcus, he's over in New York. The heavens declare
the handiwork of the Lord. Brother Norm, he's out west.
The heavens declare the handiwork of the Lord. There's no way you
can go that it doesn't declare His glory. Here in Elmont, day
and night, the heavens declare the handiwork of our King. Oh my, the teaching of God's
creation is not to the ear, but to the eye. It declares the wondrous
works of our great God. We can see it. And as I say, when the Lord saves
us, oh, now we know the one who created it all. You hear people say Mother Nature?
That's an affront to God. God's the one who created everything.
God's the one. He's in control of all things.
Oh my, look at this in verses four and five. Oh my, the wondrous
works of our great God throughout the whole world. Their line has
gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of
the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which
is a bridegroom coming out of the chamber, and rejoices as
a strong man to run a race. The sun, like a mighty king,
goes on, on his way. And who's he attended by? The
moon and stars. My, oh, my. See, the moon is
just a reflection of the sun, right? My, oh, my. And the rays of the sun penetrate
everywhere. Nothing escapes it. Look at verse
6. His going forth is from the end
of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of the earth, and there
is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Nothing. My, oh, my. Jesus Christ, the
Son, dwells in the midst of revelation. He tabernacled among men. In
all his righteousness, he was God incarnate in the flesh, and
all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily. He who made
the stars, he who spoke them into existence, he who holds
them all together, became a man. Why? To die for sinners. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. And praise God, he did it. By
the shedding of his precious blood, and he cried those triumphant
words, it is finished. The work of salvation's accomplished.
As I always say, I preach a work that's finished. I don't preach
anything man has to do, because Christ done it all. He did it
all. We just come to him by faith,
and even that faith is given to us. So we say, salvations of the
Lord, praise his mighty name, don't we? My, oh my. And the Lord Jesus Christ rejoices
as a strong man that wins the battle over his enemies. The
Lord Jesus Christ has victory. You know, he has victory over
our sin. He's sinless. He bled and died
a sinless man. God incarnate in the flesh. But
he bled and died for our sins, didn't he? Brother Brian, he got victory
over our sins. Sister Linda, he got victory. It's wonderful. He's also got
victory over Satan. Satan's just on a leech. People
in religious world, they give so much power to Satan. 90% of
the time, it's our own fault. It's the flesh. None of that
Flip Wilson guy, wasn't there a guy, Flip Wilson used to say
the devil made me do it or something way back. I remember watching
him when I was a kid. I never understood what that meant. But
he should have said, oh, my flesh made me do it. That's our problem, isn't it?
We have three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. And
I'll tell you what, the flesh is the worst one for us. Oh my. Christ has already had victory
over Satan. He crushed his head at the cross.
And then death. Death has no more sting for us,
praise be to God. There's a time when we feared
death. Now it's just an entranceway into glory for us, isn't it?
Oh my. And who did he do it for? His
people. Sinners. Sinners. Scripture says of this, of Christ,
he shall not fail nor be discouraged till he has set judgment in the
earth, and the owls wait for his law. Isaiah 42, 4. He shall not fail. It is finished. He didn't fail, did he? You see,
religion, they peddle a Christ, not the Christ of the Bible,
they peddle a Christ who supposedly died for everyone, but can't
save them all. Which means he's a failure then,
right? But the scripture says he shall not fail. And he said
to those Pharisees, he said, I lay down my life for my sheep.
And then he looked at some of them and said, you are not my
sheep. John chapter 10. Oh my. And then he says in Matthew 7,
22, many shall say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we not done all these
things? And further down, he says, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Those are religious folks. My,
oh, my. I'll tell you why. If God's shown
you mercy and grace in Christ all because of what he's done,
give him all the glory and honor and praise. My, there was a time
I thought I saved myself by praying a prayer. I did. I went around telling, well,
I chose Jesus. I used to tell people that all
the time. I made a decision. How can someone who's dead choose
Jesus? How can someone who's dead in
sin make a decision? God must make us willing in the
day of his power. And before he does that, we're
born again of the Holy Spirit of God. And I'll tell you why.
Then we say, to God be the glory. He saved my soul. I was unwilling and he made me
willing in the day of his power. I was a proud, self-righteous,
pharisaical religionist. You can ask Vicki. She'll tell
you. Should tell you how I was. I'm ashamed of it. My, you can't do this, you can't
do that. How can a Christian be, how can someone be a Christian
and do that? Meanwhile, I'm just as worse
of a sinner than they are. Oh, praise God for his mercy.
Praise God for his grace. Praise God that he saves sinners.
I was talking to Josh today. We had headed down somewhere,
and we were talking, and he said, you know, he said, I met a lot
of religious folks, and he says, and he doesn't even profess to
be a believer. He says, you know, a lot of them
are just, they're like the Pharisees. And I said, yeah, you're right.
I said, scripture talks about a publican and a sinner. And
that publican looks over to that, or the Pharisee looks over to
that publican and says, thank you God, I'm not like that. I'm
not like that. Publican. I do this and I do that and I
do all these things. Trump, he's blowing his own horn,
isn't he? And there's a picture of God's
people, this publican, and he says, and like Sister, like you
told me, Sister Diane, you know, Lord, prick your heart, and you
see you're the greatest sinner in the world, and then he gives
you the balm of Gilead right there, which is Christ. And he
says, oh, he can't even lift his head up, beloved. He can't
even lift his head up. He says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord said, that man,
the publican, went home justified. His faith was in Christ. He wasn't
trusting in himself. You see, one of the worst things is, and
I was there, a religious person that's trusting in their own
self-righteousness. Having a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof. The power is God does the saving
in Christ. My oh my. It's all Him. Let's consider now the second
point. The Word of God reveals His grace
in verses 7 to 11. Psalm 19, verses 7 to 11. Let's
look at verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure. Look at that. Sure. Sure. Making wise the simple. Look at that. The law of the
Lord is perfect. The scriptures, all of it, is perfect. It's perfect,
beloved. And we see here that it's also
the means that the Holy Spirit uses to convert the soul. And
that all comes by his power. Somewhere between my voice and
yours, if you're a believer, he'll give you a blessing, right? And if one's an unbeliever,
but a lost sheep, and it's his time of love, it's time for him
or her to be converted, God will give them life. And they will
have one object for their faith, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because they're born again, and they're given faith to believe
on the one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth,
and the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by Him. Turn if you would to 1st Peter.
We'll look at this quick. 1st Peter chapter 1. 1st Peter chapter
1. This is bought forth there. So
the life-giving word is preached and proclaimed and by the power of the Holy
Spirit of God it converts the soul. They're born again of the Holy
Spirit of God and given faith to believe. And scripture says
this in James before we look at Peter there. It says, of his
own will begot he us. The only reason we're born again
is because it's God's will. The only reason we're given faith
to believe is because it's God's will. Think of that. We were
rebels shaking our fists. That's why we say sinner friend.
I don't care how black your sin is. I don't care what you've
done. Turn to Christ. He's the only hope, isn't he?
He's the only hope for sinners. And it says, of his own will
begot he us with the word of truth, with the scriptures, the
preaching. That's why preaching the gospel
is so important, beloved. So important that we should be
a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Look at this in 1
Peter 1, verses 23 to 25. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, which is by our own will and by our own doing, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth away, the flower thereof falleth away, but the
word of God endureth forever. And this is the word by which
the gospel is preached unto you." Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. My oh my. Now let's look at verse
8. It says, The statutes of the
Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The statutes of the Lord
are his counsels and decrees. Of his love and mercy, his grace,
they're all founded in his righteousness. in his perfection. And God will
be just, won't he? But he's also the justifier of
his people. He's a justifier, he's righteous,
and he's merciful to his people in Christ. But only through Christ. Only through Christ. You know,
at the cross, mercy and truth are said, mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Psalm 85, 10. My, the righteous
decrees of God, they rejoice the heart, don't we? Don't they? When we read about how Christ
chose us in eternity, based upon absolutely nothing of us or nothing
about us, but by his mercy and his grace. And we read where
Christ came to this world and gave his life for us, shedding
his precious blood. But before he gave his life,
he lived the perfect life that we never could, and he did it
as our substitute. And then he says, it's finished.
It's perfect. Salvation's complete. He rose
again the third day. And right now he's seated at
the right hand of the Father. Interceding for us. It's wonderful. Oh my. And a believer, we have many
reasons to rejoice. My. How we're taught by God the
things of Christ. How these truths are revealed
to us that we never knew? And look at verse 8, it continues,
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes,
giving us understanding, beloved. The Holy Spirit takes the Word
of God and gives us an understanding of it, enlightens our minds,
enlightens our, opens our eyes. It's revealed to the believer
in Christ. And what are our eyes open to?
The glory of God in Christ Jesus our Savior. The fact that He saves sinners
all according to His power, His will, and His purpose. And His grace is given to every
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then look at verse nine.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgment
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. We see the fear of
the Lord is clean, enduring forever. This is reverent fear. This isn't
slavish fear. This is a fear of awe, reverence. Do we not reverence our great
God? Oh, we praise Him. We praise Him for the fact that
He sent mercy on us. And the Word of God teaches us
a reverent fear of God. And it leaves the believer in
Christ in absolute awe of what God has done for us in Christ. And what does that do? Well,
that leads us to worship, doesn't it? That leads us to praise Him
for the great things He's done for us. That leads us to love our great
God. We never had that love for him
before. Again, that's a gift from God too. That's a fruit
of the spirit, isn't it? He gets all the glory, beloved.
He gets it all. And think of this, the ceremonial
law is done forever. We've been redeemed out from
under the law, beloved. Oh my, Christ fulfilled it to
the absolute It's filled to perfection by
Christ in our room and place. And that is accounted to us.
His righteousness is imputed to us. It's glorious. And then our text continues in
verse 9, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
God's decrees, His covenant, His wrath, His justice, His condemnation
of sinners is all founded on truth and righteousness. And the only reason we're saved
is because God has justified us in Christ. It's wonderful. Look at verse 10 and 11. More
to be desired are they than gold, yea, much more than fine gold,
sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them
is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great
reward. By hearing the word of God, man
is warned. And by obeying the word of God,
a man is greatly rewarded. Who's our reward, Brother Brian?
Amen. Christ and Christ alone. Oh, and then the last points I'd
like us to consider, they're found in verses 12 to 14. The
prayer of a man or woman who can read both these books. The
book of creation and the book of the word of God. Look at this. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
See, the word of God reveals to us our sin. It reveals to
us that we're sinners, and even our secret sins that no one else
knows about, God knows about them. And think of this, if you're
a believer, they're all cleansed by the precious blood of Christ. Oh, my. Cleanse me from sins. I don't even know. I don't even
know when I do them, Lord. Please cleanse me. It says this.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins,
in light of thy countenance. Psalm 90, verse 8. And then look
at Psalm 19, verse 3. 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. So David's
asking the Lord not to leave him. Please, Lord, don't leave
me to myself. That's what he's saying. Don't
leave me to myself. We're a mess if we're left to
ourselves, beloved. You know what happens when we're
left to ourselves? We headlong right into sin. My. And, you know, the Lord restrains
us, doesn't he? He protects us. He restrains
us. How much more would we get into
if the Lord didn't restrain us, even as believers? Oh, my. Presumptuous sins in there means
arrogant, presumptuous, and proud. Again, pharisaical ways are like,
well, I'm better than they are. That's presumptuous sin. That
that Pharisee who said I'm I thank you God that I'm not like that
that publican over there He was committing presumptuous since
he was being arrogant. He was he is being proud my oh
my See we need to pray Oh Lord, please let me let me not get
high-minded Keep me low Lord. Keep me low. I As Scott Richardson
said, let us make our headquarters in the dust, at the feet of the
King, at the feet of our great God. And we pray all the time, Lord,
Lord, let not my sins have dominion over me. Give us grace and strength to
look to Christ. Look at this, it says, then shall
I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
The great transgression here is apostasy. Walking away from
the gospel, walking away from Christ. Look at verse 14. Let the words
of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in
thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Now those are
the words of every believer. O Lord, guard my tongue. Keep
me in thy ways. Keep me looking to Christ, Father.
Holy Spirit, teach me more of Christ. Help me to look away
from this world and look to our great King, our great Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, God's word speaks
of peace and pardon. Let us rest in the one who is
our peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us rest in the one whom we
have a pardon in, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let our meditations of
my heart be sincere and submissive, Lord, to your will. My God and
my King. See, we didn't think that way
before the Lord saved us. But now we say, Lord, you reign
over me. Guide me and lead me. Ordain
my steps to where you want me to be. Let me rest in you, Lord Jesus.
You alone who is my strength and my Redeemer, my King, my
Savior. So may we who are the redeemed
leave here tonight rejoicing. Rejoice in. Number one, that
we're acceptable to God in Christ. We're acceptable to the great,
holy, righteous God. We're acceptable to him in the
Lord Jesus Christ because of his precious blood that's redeemed
our eternal souls. I'll tell you what, that's amazing
grace, isn't it? That's wondrous. Praise God for
having mercy on we sinners. And may God, the Holy Spirit,
use this message to draw many sinners to Him. Oh my. We say amen and amen.