We sing, I love to tell the story,
but I like this better. I love to hear the story. And
instead of saying, it will be my theme in glory, to hear Him
enthroned in glory. That's a good hymn anyway. Boy,
I like that better. That was a blessing. Turn to Psalm 19,
please. You know, these songs we sing
ought to reflect the glory of God and the truth of the gospel.
Every time. A song that doesn't do that ought
not be sung. Psalm 19. Now, if you knew that
God wrote a book, wouldn't you want to read it? If you knew
the living God The creator of the universe wrote a book. Wouldn't
you want to read it? Well, he has. As a matter of
fact, he's written two books. The book of creation and the
book we call the scriptures. God's two books. Now, in these first six verses
of Psalm 19, David speaks of the first book God wrote, the
book of creation. Or you could call it the book
of nature, but I prefer the book of creation. David says, the
heavens declare the glory of God. And the firmament showeth
his handiwork. During the French Revolution,
one of the goals was to get rid of all religion. That was their
purpose. And one of the revolutionists
told the poor French peasant, we're going to tear down all
the houses of worship to rid you of any memory of God. And the peasant replied, you
can do that, but you can't tear down the stars, the heavens. declare the glory of God. The firmament, the great expanse,
showeth forth his handiwork. Creation cries, God is. God is. Look in verse two. Day unto day uttereth speech. And night unto night showeth
knowledge. There is no speech nor language
where the voice is not heard. In North America, in South America,
Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Arctic, anywhere you go in
this world, God's creation says, God is. There's no place where
this voice is not heard. Verse four. 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. which is as a bridegroom coming
out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to run away,
race. His goings forth is from the
end of heaven and his circuits under the ends of it, and there's
nothing hid from the heat thereof. The sun says, God is. And we've enjoyed the warmth
of the sun today. The creation tells us that God
is. And this creation renders all
men without excuse. There is enough light in creation
to tell us God is and He's to be worshipped. Turn with me to Romans 1 for
a moment. There is enough in the book of
nature that should cause a man to seek the Lord, but that's
not the effect it's had. Romans chapter 1. Verse 20, 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." Creation tells us that. His eternal power and
Godhead. So that they are without excuse. Will God punish an innocent heathen
who's never had the opportunity of hearing the gospel? You find
me an innocent heathen. There's no such thing. All men
are without excuse. Creation says God is, and he's
to be worshiped and he's to be sought. Let's go on reading in
verse 21 of Romans chapter one, because that when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like the
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things. Wherefore, God also gave them
up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor
their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God
into a lie. and worshiped and served the
creature more than the creator, who's blessed forever. Amen. Now, while this book of creation
is a good book, it renders all men without excuse. No one has
ever been saved by the light of this book. This book of nature,
this book of creation, doesn't tell us if God will forgive sin.
It doesn't tell us of God's justice and of God's holiness. It lets
us know nothing of God's grace or God's mercy. It's a good book. It tells us that God is, but
it doesn't give a saving revelation of God. We can surmise some things
about him from this book, but we can't know him. Now in verses
six through nine of Psalm 19, David talks about God's other
book. or verse seven through nine. Now let's read verses seven
through nine together. He uses six words to describe
the scriptures. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes 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 all together. Now, this is what the word of
God is to those who hear believingly. First, he speaks of the law of
the Lord. That's the word Tori, you've
probably heard that. The law of the Lord. My marginal
reasoning says the doctrine of the Lord. It's everything he
says. His word is perfect. It's without error. It's without
blemish. It's the perfect Word of God. Everything God says is without
error. His Word is complete, without
blemish. It's the doctrine of who God
is. It's the doctrine of who we are. It's the doctrine of
how He saves sinners. It's perfect. It's without error. And it has such power that it
converts the soul. It invades the soul. The Word
of God gets in a man. and turns him. Turns him toward
the living God. That's what God's Word does.
A man can't turn himself. I can't turn anybody. I can't
turn myself. But when God, by His Word, by His Spirit, puts
His Word in a man's heart, it converts him. It turns him. I'm living proof of that. The
Word of God has converted me. Converts me all the time. You
know, I need to be converted continually. And the Word of
God converts me. It turns me. I sure need to be
turned. all the time. Turn thou me and
I'll be turned. It converts the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. Now, the Bible claims inspiration. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. 2nd Timothy 3.16. Now if that's
so, and it is, the Word of God is authoritative. It possesses
authority, undiluted, inerrant Word of God. And God cannot be
known personally apart from this book. You can know things about
him, but you can't know him apart from his testimony regarding
himself. That's what the Word of God is.
The Bible is God's Word, therefore our only rule of faith and practice. We don't need anything else.
We don't need big creeds and big long bylaws and all that.
No, we don't need them. The Bible is our only rule of
faith and practice. The Bible gives the precepts
of God. Therefore, it's our only rule
of duty and responsibility. You know, we're looking at marriage
in Bible study. And how do you know what to say
about marriage? Because of what God's Word says. We bow to what
God says in all things. It's our only rule of precept. The Bible is about the promises
of God. Therefore, it's our only rule
of hope. If I have a hope, I better be able to turn to the scriptures
and tell you why I have that hope. A hope that's not founded on
the Word of God is not a good hope. I have to be able to turn
to the Word, some promise of God that gives me some hope.
This is the Bible. It's the testimony of the Lord.
And the scripture says it's sure making wise the simple. Now we don't have to strain as
to what this testimony of the Lord is. Turn with me to second
Timothy chapter one for a moment. The testimony of the Lord is
absolutely sure making wise the simple. Second Timothy chapter one. Verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. Here it is, this testimony of
the Lord that's sure. Here it is. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Now here's God's testimony. He saved us. And He called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath
brought life and immortality to delight through the gospel,
whereunto I'm appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things.
Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day." That is the testimony of the Lord. And it sure, it makes wise the
simple. You know, the simple is the easily
seduced, the spiritually stupid. The Scripture makes wise the
simple. You know, if you're a believer,
you're a wise man. Somebody who trusts Christ and
sees Him as everything in salvation, They're wise, made wise by the
Holy Spirit, but that's true wisdom. Somebody that doesn't
believe the gospel's a fool, a very foolish man, but oh, thank
God for the testimony of the Lord that makes wise the simple. I know the gospel. I know the
testimony of the Lord makes wise the simple. Go back to our text
in Psalm 19. He says in verse eight, The statutes
of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Now, if you're a believer,
the statutes of the Lord will rejoice your heart. Now, here's
a big question. What statutes mean? What's a statute? Well,
a statute is an appointment. It's a decree. It's a fiat. You see, everything God says
is a decree. I mean, if He says it, it's a
decree. Now, the statutes of the Lord,
the decrees of the Lord, what He has purposed, what He wills,
what He decrees, it's right. It's right. And it rejoices the
heart. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2. Hold
your finger there in Psalm 19. We're going to be coming back,
but I want you to see an example of the statutes of the Lord.
1 Peter 2. Verse 7, unto you therefore which
believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made,
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed." What's that mean? Exactly what
it says. How else you can get around that?
I don't understand it all, but I believe it all. And I trust
my God that whatever he does is right. Whatever He does is
right. And if He appointed these people
to this, it's right that He did it because whatever He does is
right. You see, we bow to whatever He does as right because He's
the Lord. Now, there is His appointment.
Now, I can't explain that. I just see it in the Scripture
and I say, well, there it is. Let's go on reading verse 9.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him
who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You're
a chosen generation. This is the difference. This
is what a believer is. He's been appointed to salvation. As many
as were ordained to eternal life believe. That rejoices my heart.
When I read Romans 9 and 11, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of Him that calleth." Do you know that rejoices my heart?
Because it tells me that my evil works are not going to keep me
from being saved. It tells me that my good works
have nothing to do with salvation. The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand, not of works. Does it
rejoice your heart? It rejoices my heart to know
that salvation is not of works, that it's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The statutes of the Lord are right because He did them and
they rejoice the heart. I love a God who's in control.
I love the God of election and predestination, the God who determines
everything. The statutes of the Lord are
right and they rejoice the heart. Back to Psalm 19 The commandment of the Lord is
pure verse 8 Everything God says is a commandment the commandment
of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes The commandment of the Lord everything
he says is a commandment but Take the Ten Commandments. I
love the Ten Commandments, don't you? They enlighten the eyes
that tell me who God is. They're a reflection of His holy
character. I'm not afraid of the Ten Commandments because
I've kept them in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why, let me say
this, and let me say this right. I don't try to keep the law.
I've kept it. Now, does that mean, well, we
don't need to worry about keeping the law? Well, no, not in the
sense of I've kept the law. I'm perfect in Christ. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
Now, that doesn't mean we're going to go out and look for
a reason to break the law because we kept it. Not at all. Believers
aren't going to respond that way to the gospel. But the commandments
of the Lord, they're pure. They enlighten the eyes. But
I think he's talking mainly about the command of the gospel. Turn
to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Here's His commandment. Verse 23. And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ. and love one another as He gave
us commandment." Now that enlightens the eyes. Here's His commandment
to believe on the name of His Son. The name of His Son, His
name is my entrance into heaven. I'm relying upon His name. That enlightens the eyes as to
how God saves sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
look, here's His commandment that we love one another. That
gives me some light as to what happens to somebody when God
saves them. They start loving people. They love God and they
love others when God does a work of grace for them. You see, the
commandments of the Lord are pure. They enlighten the eyes.
There's so much light in the commandments of the Lord. Okay,
back to Psalm 19. He says in verse 9, the fear
of the Lord is clean enduring forever. You know one thing that
this word produces is the fear of God. The respect, the reverence,
the awe of God. He's God and I'm afraid of Him. I'm afraid in this sense. I'm
afraid of sin because I'm afraid of Him. And I'm afraid to look
anywhere but Christ alone is everything in my salvation. I'm
afraid to look anywhere else. That's what this word produces.
And that is clean. It endures forever. It endures
forever because it's what happens to somebody when God saves them.
They're given this nature that fears God. And it's going to
be forever. The fear of the Lord would summarize
what every word from God teaches. And then he says in verse 9,
And the judgments of the Lord are true. and righteous all together."
Now, this book is about the judgments of the Lord. And they're all
true and they're righteous all together. Now, you think of the
judgments of the Lord. You think of His condemnation
of Adam. True. and righteous altogether. Adam had everything his heart
could desire. He had it made. And his act was
an act of great wickedness. And him condemning us in Adam,
that's true and righteous altogether and there's hope in that. You
know the fact that He condemned us in Adam and He did by one
man's disobedience that many were made sinners by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation. The fact
that He condemned me and you for Adam's sin gives us some
hope of salvation because if you just stand on your own, how
have you done? There's no hope for you. But if You can be condemned
because of somebody else's sin. You can be saved because of somebody
else's righteousness. It's good news, isn't it? I mean,
there's gospel in that. His judgments are righteous altogether. You think of His judgment on
the cross. When our Lord was nailed to a
cross, do you know everything that happened to Him was a righteous
judgment of God. He deserved damnation. He deserved the wrath of God
because my sin became his so that he actually became guilty
of it. And when God poured his wrath
upon him, he had it coming. Amen. Praise God. What he did
was right. His judgments are true and righteous
altogether. But because of that judgment,
Now, He can save me in a way that's true and righteous altogether. You see, just as truly as He
was made sin, I'm made the very righteousness of God in Him.
I have His righteousness covering me, and when God saves me, it's
because I deserve to be saved. I've got the very righteousness
of God. You see, all of His judgments in the Scripture, they're true,
and they're righteous altogether. Verse 10. considering His law, His testimony, His statutes,
His commandments, His fear, His judgments, His word. Verse 10, more to be desired
are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also
than honey, and the honeycomb. Now the Word of God is infinitely
above anything this world has. You believe that? It's much more. What would you rather have, the
scriptures or a million dollars? That's a no-brainer. I'd rather
have the Word of God. This is the one perfect revelation
of God. And it's more to be desired than
gold, than fine gold. Yea, it's sweeter than honey." The gospel is sweet. It tells
how God saves people like me. Thank God for the gospel of His
free grace. It's sweeter than honey in the
honeycomb. Verse 11, Moreover, by them,
by God's word, is thy servant warned. Aren't you thankful for
the warnings of the Scripture? What direction would you go without
the warnings of the Scripture? I mean, we'd go in every wrong
direction, but thank God for the Word of God. We have a compass.
We have the Word of God, and it warns us not to go anywhere
but to Christ, to look to Christ, to abide in Christ, to look nowhere
else. Aren't you thankful for that
warning? And then he says in verse 11, And in keeping of them,
the words of God, guarding them, believing them, receiving them,
there is great reward. You think of the reward of the
righteous. God said, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great
reward. If you believe the gospel, you
have the Lord Jesus Christ. You have the peace of knowing
that he's your peace before God. You have the joy of knowing that
everything God requires of you, you have. You're complete in
the Lord Jesus Christ and you need nothing else. You have the
joy of this promise. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are the call according
to his purpose. Oh, what great reward there is
in keeping his word. Now in considering the word of
God, I think David makes kind of an interesting turn here.
He's been concerning, he's been considering the word of God,
how great it is, how glorious it is. He said in another place,
thy commandment is exceeding broad. And in considering the
greatness of the word of God, look what he says about himself,
who can understand his errors. Here's what happens when we know
the Word of God. We say, I don't even have a clue as to how sinful
and stupid and erroneous I am. Now that is a response to the
Word of God. I don't even have, who can understand
their errors, their faults, their mistakes. You and I don't even
have a clue. We don't have a clue. The only
one who knows how bad we are is God Himself. And I'm glad.
I don't want to know. It's a blessing to have that
information withheld. Who can understand His errors? And then David says, cleanse
thou me from secret faults. Sins I labor to keep in secret
that nobody sees. but God, sins that I'm not even
aware of. Boy, there's a lot of those.
I'd say I have a whole lot more sins I'm not aware of than sins
that I am aware of. But cleanse thou me. And that
means make me blameless, make me pure, wash away my secret
sins, the sins that rip me and that grieve me and that, oh,
wash them away. Now you come to the light of
the word of God and you see, you don't even understand your
errors. And your cry is, cleanse thou me from secret faults. Verse 13. Keep back thy servant also from
presumptuous sins. Keep me back. Restrain me. Prevent
me from committing presumptuous sins. Arrogant, insolent sins. Lord, don't let me commit them.
If you don't keep me from them, I will commit them. And so I'm
asking you, Lord, keep me from it. Don't let me even be tempted.
Don't let me be put in a position where I can commit these sins.
Put a hedge around me. Don't let me be tempted. Keep
back thy servant from presumptuous sins. Don't let them. Look what he says next in verse
13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them
not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright and shall
be innocent from the great transgression. Don't let them have dominion
over me. Now, here's a blessed scripture. Thank God for this
scripture. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. And here's why. Because you're
not under law, but you're under grace. Now that's a promise from
God. Lord, keep your promise. Don't
let sin have dominion over me. Lord, keep me back from presumptuous
sins. Now, if you have any sense at
all spiritually, if I have any sense at all spiritually, we
know that we'll be as bad as the devil himself if God doesn't
restrain us and keep us. So we pray, Lord, keep back thy
servant. from presumptuous sins, sins
of arrogance, sins of insolence. Oh, keep me from that. And then
shall I be innocent from the great transgression. And I think
he's talking about the unpardonable sin there. The sin against the
Holy Spirit. Keep me back. And then I'll be
innocent from this great transgression. Oh Lord, preserve me from that. And then he says in verse 14, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord. Now, how can the words of my
mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in his sight? There's only one way to answer
that question. Ephesians 1, 6 says, He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved. So Lord, let the words of my
mouth and the meditation, the thoughts, the feelings of my
heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord. I love the way he calls
him this, my strength. and my Redeemer. Now this I know. I do not possess spiritual strength. He must be my strength. And any strength I have is Him. You know that don't you? Oh Lord
my strength and oh Lord my Redeemer. The One who's redeemed me from
my sins. Now this is what someone understands
when they have some understanding, when they're given some understanding
of the Holy Word of God. They learn something about the
Lord being their strength and their Redeemer. That's His work
in you and that's His work for you. You know it's His work and
His work alone. Let's close with Psalm 130. Psalm
130. And this is about how the Lord
is the Redeemer of Israel. Oh, out of the depths have I
cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord. My soul doth wait. And in his
word, do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy,
and with Him is plenteous redemption. Oh, the redeeming blood of Christ. The redeeming blood of Christ
washes away the sins of everybody He died for, so that they have
no sin. With the Lord there is plenteous
redemption. Oh, the vast ocean of his redemption,
the power of his redeeming blood. Verse 8, and he shall redeem
Israel from all his iniquities. The Lord my strength, the Lord
my redeemer. Now that's our response to the
Word of God. Let's pray.