Psalm 19:1-11

“God’s Glory”

Let’s Psalm 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Have you ever seen someone’s child, even you very own child, and hear someone say, “you can’t deny that child, he looks just like you.”

The evidence of the child’s parents is in the appearance of the man and woman people that created it.

The same is true of God. The evidence of God is in His creation.

We read that in Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

As a kid I have great memories of running the marshes and creeks of Beaufort County in my little johnboat. To this very day the marsh captivates me as I watch the sunset over that lush green spartina grass with creeks running through them that were created with the finger of God.

Being a State Park Ranger that spent his entire career going up and down the coast of South Carolina I’ve had hundreds if not thousands of opportunities to witness a sunrise over the ocean.

When you sit beside the ocean, look at the vastness of it, and listen to the waves crashing the shoreline you can’t help but to feel small in comparison and see the power of it.

Anyone that is a friend of mine on Facebook knows that I take a lot of sunrise photos. I never get tired of seeing the beauty of it and no two sunrises are just alike.

I have also stood on the beach and witness a moonless night that fills the sky with an endless array of stars in the heavens. It’s a space so big you can never see the ends of it. Just when scientist think they have found the ends of it something never seen becomes exposed.

That’s what verse one means when we read “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

Every day when a new sunrise appears, God’s creations speaks to us to declare His Glory to the world. When the rainbow appears after a powerful storm it reminds that God is still on His thrown.

The world refers to creation as “mother nature” which is a lie. Creation is the evidence of “Father God.”

You can’t look at everything around us and not know that there is a Creator.

That Creator has a name and it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read Colossians 1:16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

Just as the power of the sun never stops working, rising at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other, depriving nothing of its warmth, neither does the power of the Holy Spirit that God sends to speak to our hearts.

Let’s Psalm 19:7-11

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. 11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Just as creation screams the glory and power of God at us, so the Word of God whispers to us the glory and power of God through His Son Jesus Christ.

I read this: Here David abruptly shifted from praising the God who reveals Himself in creation to praising the same God for revealing Himself in His word. The connection between the previous verses (creation), and God’s Word here is that as the sun is the centerpiece of creation, so must God’s Word be the centerpiece of believers’ lives

I went on to read this: The word of God is perfect. It gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness. While it does not give us all knowledge, all the knowledge it gives is true and perfect. Understood in its literary context, God’s word is never wrong in science or history or the understanding of either divine or human nature.

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Just as the sun is faithful to rise every day, God’s Word is faithful. Trustworthy and true.

Everything written by God will be delivered to those who believe in Him and His Son.

John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Just as some people will see a sunrise but never see its beauty, unbelievers will hear the Word of God but the truth of it will never be revealed to them through the Holy Spirit.

Verse nine tells us the word of God is intended to teach mankind to fear the Lord.

What does is\t mean to fear the Lord? I read the best explanation I ever heard in this…. “Obedience to God with an attitude of humility and reverence.”

It was explained this way: Obedience to God, coupled with humility and reverence, involves submitting to God's will with a humble heart and a deep respect for His authority. It's a way of acknowledging God's greatness and one's own dependence on Him.

Read Isaiah 66:2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

Read verse ten…..They are more precious than gold than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

The writer is not comparing the Word of God to the best of some (gold/honey) but comparing it to the best of the best of everything that we can imagine, see, hear, or taste.

I read this: For King David, God’s word was not only to be held in greater esteem than material wealth, but also greater than experiences of the senses. Honey is sweet and pleasant to eat, but God’s word is sweeter still.

We read in Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

In verse eleven we are warned about denying God’s Word and we are promised that by keeping faith in God’s Word there is great reward.

I share this: In the Bible, the concepts of reward and curse are interwoven throughout, representing the consequences of obedience and disobedience to God's will. All through the Bible we find that keeping God's law brings great rewards, or blessings. However, we are warned over and over, that not keeping God's laws brings a curse from God.

Curses for disobedience: The curse signifies divine judgment and the suffering that results from sin and disobedience. It is an eternal separation from God.

Spiritual blessings for believers in Christ: Salvation, adoption into God's family, and eternal life.

Through eternal life we will be blessed and see…”God’s Glory”