Psalm 19 (Part 1)

Introduction:

I woke up this morning, looked out the window and groaned . . . another abysmal day.The night before had ended with a quick begrudging bedside prayer with Julie and Audrey . . . “Lord, thank you for the rain that nourishes the ground . . .” and so on. Got into the church office while it was still relatively dark outside, turned the light on in my office, plugged in my computer and peered out the window at the parking lot, "bleck" gray and gross outside.After answering a few emails I quickly turned to my favorite activity . . . studying the Bible. It doesn’t matter how nasty things are in the outside world . . . there’s a whole new world, in fact there’s actually the promise of a better world, in the Scriptures.Now . . . let me ask you a question: when you were a child . . . if you had an attitude problem what would your parents do to you to help teach you that you needed to change it? Anyone else get a little smack on the backside or side of the head.Well . . . Psalm 19 tonight . . . For those of you who, like me, woke up and thought . . . Ugh . . . a little smack on the side of the head from a loving Parent is coming.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 19:1-6

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

² Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

³ There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world. 

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

⁵ Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

⁶ Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end; 

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Transition:

The focus of these six verses is on what we see when we look up—the heavens, the skies, the firmament . . . and how we are to respond to them.I think, our common response, can best be summed up in a quote by Clyde Kilby, a literature teacher at Wheaton, said:The fall of man can hardly be more forcefully felt than simply in noting what we all do with a fresh snowfall or the first buds of spring. On Monday they fill us with delight and meaning and on Tuesday we ignore them. No amount of shouting to us that this is all wrong changes the fact for very long . . . Only some aesthetic power which is akin to God's own creativity has the capability for renewal, for giving us the power to see.He thinks the reason we pay so little attention to God's Creation is that we are fallen, sinful creatures. Based just on this morning I would be prone to agree . . . not only because I failed to see anything beautiful in God’s creation this morning . . . but also, after reflection, I cannot imagine that the angels in heaven get tired of God's beauty or that God himself grows weary of the beauty of his Son. And perhaps the reason we naturally respond this way to nature (which is an unnatural response when you really think about it) fallen man is plagued with the proverb: "Familiarity breeds contempt."

vs.1-3

vs.1 - what is it about children that reveals so much of our broken, tainted human perspective?  Audrey’s really starting to notice the moon and the stars.  A few nights back we were walking over to the church because I had forgotten something and she wanted to come and help me retrieve it . . . and as we stepped out into the open parking lot I heard a delighted gasp followed by, “Banana moon!” I stopped and indulged her curiosity for a few moments . . . and then it was off to church so that I could get my book about the wonder and majesty of God.Did you know that in creation, even fallen creation, we glimpse heaven.  All of creation is consistently praising God, singing His glory, singing His majesty . . . all of it.  And, perhaps, what’s even more profound is that creation does this, not with fancy speeches or well written books . . . but simply through it’s existence and obedience.vs.2-3 - Notice the paradox between verses 2 and 3. Verse 2: "Day to day pours forth speech . . . " Verse 3: "There is no speech . . . " It's the same Hebrew word for "speech" in both places.In other words, God means for there to be communication from his mind and heart to our mind and heart, but the medium of communication—the thing that carries the reality from his heart to my heart—is not written words; it's not spoken words.Instead it's light and color and contrast and shape and proportion and design and motion and magnitude, etc. God is singing to us, communicating to us everyday through wordless billboards . . . trees, plants, weather, animals . . . their simplicity, their complexity, their beauty . . . their very existence.John Piper, pastor and Reformed theologian, suggests that it might be helpful to compare this wordless communication to what happens when we see a painting. Two things come home to our minds immediately when someone shows us a painting.

• The first is that we sense immediately that this is a painting. It is not alive. It is not a real flower or a real person or a real landscape. It's a portrait. It's a painting. It is the work of a human hand. We don't have to think about it, or reason it out. There is a kind of speech, as the psalm says, but there are no words. We just see it and know it: someone made this.

• The second thing we sense immediately is some assessment of the painting: it is beautiful or ugly or lewd or frightening or just blah. We might think about this later and change our mind. But there is an immediate communication to our hearts without words or extended reasonings: this is glorious or not.

So far, through this Psalm, we’ve seen: 

• 1^st that the focus here is on the skies 

• 2^nd that the skies pour forth speech every day, every night, everywhere in the world. 

• 3^rd that this communication is without words. It is more immediate; it comes home to the mind and heart with direct force and certainty, and . . . 

• 4^th we have seen that the message of the skies is the glory of God. God is beautiful in his perfections, God is awesome in his power, God is beyond comprehension in his wisdom and knowledge.

vs.5-6

We’ll close with vs.5-6Verses 5 and 6 are simply poetic expressions of the joy that comes from witnessing and reflecting on God's creation. They are not teaching; they are exulting. They don't so much inform as they delight . . . and the best thing to do with such poetry is to enjoy it, to worship in it, to reflect on it, and to attempt to copy it’s pattern as well as our weak powers will allow us.