God Reveals Himself, So Pursue Him

[0:00] so if you would turn with me to psalm 19 yeah you can go ahead and sit down i was i was gonna see how many of you would stand through the things it's kind of funny you really don't have to tell too many people sit down right i mean we just kind of that's okay hey that chair looks pretty comfortable so if you're here this morning you didn't bring a bible there are bibles in the chair um in front of you so you could snag one of those if you want to follow along um if you brought one turn with me to psalm 19 we're going to open the word of word of god and uh i did not look up the page number so if you are using that bible you're going to have to thumb through it psalms is kind of in the middle of the old testament there so um what's that 399 so if you're using 399 thanks for the help there um so psalm 19 for the choir director a psalm of david the heavens are telling of the glory of god and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge there is no speech nor are there words and their voice is not heard their line has gone throughout all the earth and their utterances to the end of the world in them he has placed a tent for the sun which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber it rejoices as a strong man to run his course its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the other end of them and there is nothing hidden from its heat the law of the lord is perfect restoring the soul the testimony of the lord is sure making wise the simple the precepts of the lord are right rejoicing the heart and 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 they are righteous altogether they are more desirable than gold yes than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb moreover by them your servant is warned in keeping them there is great reward who can discern his errors acquit me of hidden faults also keep back your servant for from presumptuous sins let them not rule over me then i will be blameless and i shall be acquitted of great transgression let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight oh lord my rock and my redeemer so um the title of the message this morning is god has revealed himself so pursue him and probably another way that we could say that i don't know if i'm supposed to be pushing but oh which button am i supposed to be pushing the what there we go all right that way if you guys want to see it um another way to put that is that seeing and declaring the work of god in the world and i would add in his word causes us to plead for a work of grace within ourselves so that's what we want to see as we work through the text of psalm 19 um if you would real quick um imagine with me for a second now it doesn't tell us when david wrote the psalm we don't know if he was this was after his kingship or if it was before maybe as a boy when he was out shepherding the flocks

[4:02] but as a young man i i kind of like this i picture maybe even if he was a king it's probably something he drew with him from being a young man out in the fields those days um a young boy watching his father's sheep he would probably have not much to do i mean obviously sitting there watching the sheep grazing kind of looking around making sure that there's nothing coming into the flock no dangers but he just constantly day in and day out he's observing nature during daytime he doesn't get to come in at night he's he's out there in the middle of the night leading those flocks and so he's observing creation daytime he's observing at night and the other thing as a young jewish boy that david would be doing as he's as he's growing he's learning the law of god and so david has got probably endless hours for to let his mind wander between these two phenomenons so to speak the glory and of and creation of god and the law of god and so at whatever point in his life we don't know but david begins to write a psalm about these two mirror images so to speak um his view of creation became to him a glimpse of god's glory and his study of the law became a window into the character of god it afforded him the ability to see the parallels between them and so this psalm kind of has um it has three portions to it three points that we will be getting into um that will help us unpack and and and look at the glory of god in creation we will look at the work of god and the glory of god and the revelation of god and his word and then the response that our lives have in regards to that and so that's going to be the three points that we have um and we'll go through them but i'm going to give them to you here that god reveals himself through his work that will be his general revelation that is his glory displayed that's going to be in verses one through six just giving you a quick rundown the second is going to be um god revealing himself in his word this is going to be specific revelation okay it'll be special revelation it is his grace in his word verses seven through eleven and then finally the the the third point is the application of his word which is repentance and pursuit of god and that's in verses 12 through 14 so i don't have the powerpoint i don't have the points up there so i will rephrase them as we get to those throughout the text so um so with that point one god reveals himself through his work the heavens are telling the glory of god um and probably it would be helpful if we wrestled for a moment with this concept of glory what is the glory of god um and you know we talk about all these things and one of the difficult things about glory if you look through the word if you look through scripture is trying to understand exactly what glory is because it's there's no defining oh this is what it is it's just like well it's something about god and we don't fully comprehend god but we know that he is glorious we know that his glory is there and so um if we were trying to trying to trying to explain what is it that the heavens are telling us about god specifically in his glory his glory maybe if i could put it this way is the manifest beauty of his holiness so god is holy right he is he is unlike us he is set apart he is other than that's what the hebrew that

[8:07] that's what the word holy means is to be other than there's nobody else like him in all the world and so what is his glory his glory is the the expression it is the part that we see of his holiness it is the part that we get to see in this world you know when when moses asks god can i see your glory god shows him his goodness says he caused his goodness to pass before him so we have so it's it's really tough to what exactly is his glory but it's it's the part of god that we see and it's it's it's the part that is revealing to us his holiness i guess is what i'm i'm getting at um and so the heavens themselves are declaring this glory it's declaring god's holiness holiness and then it's but it's not just declaring the glory of god their expanse is declaring the work of his hands um and so we get not just the glory but we get the character because the work of a hands when you think of somebody who works and how they they go about things and what they're doing it begins to reveal something about their character if you ever had somebody come and do some work for you and it wasn't really good you know that that finished final product shows that they have a lack of they they just can't show attention to detail they they have no initiative they have no follow-through and so the work of god's hands we begin to see his character we know that he is faithful we know that he does a complete work you know in genesis when he says that he's spoken and he saw that it was good so we see his goodness um we see his complete he doesn't he doesn't finish or stop in the middle of what he's doing um paul writes in our own lives for i know this that um he who has started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in you so god doesn't he doesn't stop and in creation we see this there's nothing that's left half done god would not call something good that was left undone so we see that he is complete we see that he's caring um i mean we could go on and on we know that he's consistent he is unchanging in his creation so we know that whether god is god's working whether it's in creation or in lives is always consistent with who he is so david begins to look at this he's seeing this out in creation he's saying your glory is revealed and then the work of your hands is displayed so what you have done but not only what you have done but how you have done it in the manner of who you are and so creation itself is just declaring who god is day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge what david is saying is that there is there is there's this if this is not passive this is not hidden this is not hinted at this is boisterous this is gushing forth it is it is flowing it's incessant it's spilling over it never stops the earth telling us about the glory of god about the work of his hands day to day forth pours forth speech and we also know that david as a shepherd boy is probably laying out under the stars because we know that night into night reveals knowledge um

[12:09] and this isn't this isn't a silent it's kind of interesting because david begins to say but there's actually no words it's right there it's like there's no speech nor are there words their voice is not heard so it's there's nothing audible it's just something that can be seen the voice it's kind of weird but you know you think the voice is seen we know about god we can see it and we can know about him without hearing but the message is being proclaimed and so and then we begin to look at this david david tells us that the line that their line has gone through all the earth and their utterances to the end of the world so there's there's no nowhere nowhere that this message hasn't been proclaimed nowhere that this revelation of god is not being made throughout this world if we were to turn over to romans chapter 1 in verse 19 and in 20 that um the writer there writes down this um because that which is known about god is evident within them for god made it evident to them he's talking about sinners wickedness but then he goes on for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that we are without excuse so through the things of this world not only in is his glory and the work of his hands who he is what he's done is being displayed david uses the illustration of the sun to kind of paint the picture specifically he kind of pulls something out of creation something specific something tangible something that we can kind of rest our vision on to see what he's talking about in this expanse of god's glory in using the sun as an illustration he says in them he has placed a tent for the sun the heavens that is which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber it rejoices as a strong man to run his course its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the other end of them and there is nothing hidden from its heat so in this we have the sun and he gives two illustrations its glory as a bridegroom who comes forth from his chamber and I wrestled with this in the text because I'm thinking to myself you know on the wedding day we don't talk about the groom we talk about the bride everybody wants to see what the bride looks like we stand we turn but in scripture throughout scripture the glory of the marriage rests in the groom because that is who Christ is the bridegroom of the church and so the glory rests in him and so it's kind of interesting here that David is drawing out a reflection of the glory of the sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber having readied himself to receive his bride so there's a there's this so that's the glory of the sun rising and he uses the bridegroom to illustrate this and then he talks about a strong man who is ready to run its course this is somebody who has prepared this is somebody who is knows he can finish the race this is somebody who is rejoicing because he is ready to go ready to conquer

[16:11] ready to challenge it's kind of this this picture of a strong man to run his course and he says it's rising as from one end of the heavens and its circuit is to the other and so in this what we get is there's not a part of the earth that doesn't is not covered by the expanse of this again this is mirroring the reflection of the message of the heavens to us to the world that it is full it's complete it's expansive as the sun rises in the morning on one side and sets completely on the other so is the message of God underneath that same canopy that same circuit and then we know that it's not just in general but it's specific because he goes on to say and there is nothing that is hidden from its heat it's penetrating it's over all and it's in all it's through all and we know that when we look around that the sun the rays of the sun it is all part of what is needed to create life in this world the soil absorbs it we absorb it

[17:21] I mean it's I'm not I'm not about to go into the scientific side of that this morning but we know that it reaches everything and everything needs its rays but this message of the glory of God this message of the work of his hands is expansive and it's complete penetrating to everything you know I think one of the things that we fall so prey to in observing creation and observing glory is that we stand in awe of the creation when we're observing something that's awesome and you know I'm still a mountain boy at heart living in the desert and when I look at that lone ranch out in the middle of nestled in the valley at the base of the mountains the snow cap peaks and you know and I begin to just say wow that's pretty amazing but David is not moved by creation

[18:29] I think this is important to understand he is moved by the glory of God creation itself is only telling of something else and if we do not hear the message of the glory of God if we do not hear the message of the works of his hands then we have stripped God of the glory that he deserves if we rest in what our eyes see alone and what we desire in this world because what we see in this world is only designed to take us to Christ so creation in and of itself must not move us it must be the glory of God and this God of creation is worth pursuing number two God reveals himself in his word and so so David's out there he's sitting there he's kind of thinking about what's going on in creation things begin to fit in his mind as God is not only doing this in creation but he does it in man he moves from seeing the glory of God in creation and reveals it to be a parallel of what God does and indeed surpasses in his word and in our lives his grace in his word shows forth the same kind of glory the son is central in creation and that's s-u-n and the son s-o-n is central in his word there are several phrases here that help us understand the work of God the work of grace in our lives

[20:22] David begins by saying the law of the Lord is perfect it restores the soul the law the this literally is it's talking about the law of God but it's specifically in that the Hebrew word is Torah which is the first five books of the Bible wherein we have Leviticus we have Deuteronomy the law the giving of the law that's what is but he says you know so we have it in part but we also have it in the aspect of the law of God and it is instruction what is law it's instruction it's direction it's standard it's a perfect standard it is God's standards it is what is good it is who God is when you talk about the law and especially in our transgressing the law we talk about the gospel and Travis brought it up that God is holy and man is sinful you know and understanding the fallen nature of man when it comes to the law the law is the standard and it's it's actually an archery term when it's part of a picture a concept of archery the other is sin those two are kind of weaving together one is is a standard a striving for it's perfection it's to set it up the target so to speak to sin is to miss the mark and so we understand that there is this standard this that God sets up and we know from what David is writing that this is perfect it's complete it's whole it's without blemish it is something to be trusted but the interesting thing about the law is that we often think of the law this is what's right this is what's good we either do it or we don't and pay the penalty and the consequences right we're rewarded if we do if we abide by it we are penalized if we we fall by it but what David brings out is that the law is perfect and it restores the soul he doesn't really view it necessarily as this great condemning standard of God he sees it as something that's working in us and through us restoring us which is to turn back turn away it can be to the point of beginning or to that which is of original intent so he begins to restore if you were to take an old vehicle and restore it

[22:56] Dave you're probably very familiar with this taking those old vehicles and to restore them there are some people that just make them and there are others that try to put them back to the original as it was when it was created and they see that as glorious that's kind of that the law is doing that in us our hearts that have strayed from God our hearts that have wondered our hearts that have left him for something other the law of God begins to restore that that part of us not just the outward conforming but the soul that which is inside us that which is eternal that which continues on it restores the eternal side of us the law does this you know Paul is the one that writes that the law was a school master that brought us to Christ so it brings us back it returns us don't you love it when you write something down in your notes and then you don't remember what that means

[23:58] I had a scripture reference here he goes on to write to write that the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple I love the progression that he begins to draw out what's going on in the heart of man well it takes somebody who has a cold dark heart and restores it and then he begins to make it wise that which is simple that which is new that picture of a baby that you know that and then that wisdom as they grow in wisdom and statures makes it wise this word testimony is a witness it's a basically like a recorder somebody who writes something down or is able to repeat it you know we use the testimony of witnesses in the court of law what happened what was seen what was heard they're able to tell that and if the testimony is good then we have a case if the testimony is bad there's no case and what David says is that this testimony is sure you can you can rest on it you can it's you can it is something to be trusted it is firm it's supporting you can count on it and it makes wise those who are simple those who are foolish or easily seduced by the things of this world those of us who have an open door policy anything

[25:34] I'm willing to just listen he's saying it begins to bring wisdom and it begins to help us understand the difference between the voice of God and the voice of this world by bearing testimony and witness in our life that firm support this is what's true this is what's right that is not of me and it begins to make wise the simple in verse eight the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart and I know I'm about halfway through here but if you'll notice law testimony precepts commandments they all kind of sound the same and that's why I'm kind of breaking them down a little bit because I want us to see that there's something specific about the word that David is drawing out in how it works in our life but the precepts that which is appointed means to mandate and then it also means to reckon which means that I get to mandate it and then I get to check back in with you to make sure you're doing what I've appointed what I've mandated

[26:43] I can visit both good and bad upon you based on the outcome of that it's oversight so the precepts of the Lord are right they're straight they're even they're pleasant they're satisfying they rejoice the heart there's something about this appointment that God makes this oversight this mandating that he does that you know we get this picture that come unto me who are weary and heaven laden and I will give you rest for your souls for my burden is easy and my yoke is light and you know we get this thing it's like oh we come to Christ and we don't do anything it's like no you can actually come and shackle up with me and it's easy you're still gonna work you're still gonna move well it's still this saying is he's appointed something over us he's mandated something over us he has he has demanded that we we do something that we follow through and he's saying but in the way that it is done because it is good because it is right it is pleasing to do it not so that we must do it out of duty but out of delight so it is the precepts of the Lord that cause delight in us they rejoice they brighten up they bring joy to our lives they're satisfying second part of verse eight the commandments of the Lord are pure enlightening the eyes so the commandments the which is a command it is a charge it means to give orders a little bit more direct so to speak than precepts but these commands are pure they're untainted they are beloved they are empty of any evil they are empty of any wrong wickedness they are it means no dross means to clarify most of you would get that in the term of diamonds to clarify if you have a good clarity there are no defects the better the clarity the less amount of defects that are in that so it means to clarify it means to brighten this word pure one thing that also means at the root of it is to be singleness of focus so the command of the Lord helps us to draw in our attention upon who

[29:20] God is it puts the blinders on so to speak keeps us from looking around out here it draws in it's pure and it enlightens the eyes illuminating it enables us your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path it enlightens the eyes draws us in goes on in verse nine fear the fear of the Lord is clean and it's enduring forever and this you know in the Hebrew the word fear means fear it means fear in the Greek too and it means terror it means afraid it does mean respect and reverence and that fear of the Lord is clean it's pure it's unadulterated it's holy in other words this is not a fear that that causes us to shrink back

[30:27] I mean yes it does and we should be he's a holy God he's a righteous God he he has the ability to cast us off forever and yet for those who are in Christ this fear of God is clean it's unadulterated it's holy it's and it endures forever it's to stand firm forever fear of the Lord and the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together the judgments the verdicts of pronouncing the sentence to govern to litigate God sitting as judge they're true they're certain they're firm they're stable all of these words are trustworthy I love that word his judgments are trustworthy we can take it to the bank and they're trustworthy because he's good and all of these things all of them together are righteous all together causing one to be right before God when in union with him or with them nothing compares to them they are more desirable than gold fine gold that which has the most value when we think of gold you know a lot of us it's what we can buy it's our material possessions it's things of value in this world they are more these of Christ this work of grace in our life is of worth more than the gold of this world more than gold but not just gold of fine gold the most precious of gold that which is proved to be 100% pure gold and we have something of greater value it is the heavens to declare this to us it is the law of God that is revealing it and working that in us and not only are they worth having above the things of this world but they are sweeter than honey even the drippings of the honeycomb now

[32:51] I'm going to get hung for this but chocolate's not at the top of the list but I hear that word thrown around here a lot yeah I see the jaws dropping boom boom boom boom boom so you can kind of think insert the word chocolate here it is sweeter than chocolate it is better than chocolate okay how's that work for you guys I mean something that in this life just the cravings just the taste of it the delight of it and he's saying this is better than honey but not just honey how many of you have had honeycomb the drippings of the actual honeycomb itself you can't buy that in a bottle folks you just can't what he's saying is that that is good but the word of God is so much better more than that desire it because it is good they give warning he says more of them by your servant is warned so they're worth having they're better tasting and they're a warning to us they this word warning here you know it's kind of like that verse from Isaiah 30 21

[34:08] I heard that voice behind me saying here's the way walk in it they give warning not that way this way stay on the path lighting and illuminating for us and in keeping them there is reward this word keeping is at the root of it is an idea to build up a hedge so so you know what a hedge is right you know you put a hedge along to either keep something out or keep something in in the old days they would buy vineyards they would plant vineyards and they would build plant a hedge around it that's what kept things out of the vineyard so this idea and in keeping them by keeping the word of God by keeping the law of God we build up a hedge around our lives that keeps us on the right path on the right way this God of the word that restores gives wisdom he brings joy he illuminates he is steadfast in good he this

[35:24] God is worth pursuing this God who restores us makes us wise rejoices our heart enlightens our eyes this God is worth pursuing so God does a work in us do you see how we're not just seeing this in the word he's saying this is what's happening in our life this is what's moving we are moving from here to there we are progressing along this path as God works in our lives through his grace love number three the application of his word so so what do we do when we see God displayed in creation we begin to see him at work in our lives what do we do well David well David puts it this way starting in verse 12 who can discern his errors this is a question all of a sudden

[36:28] David begins to start talking about sin in his life this is kind of the natural progression of being of a high view of God right we've been talking about that in the first hour the attributes of God having a high view of God we begin to see God see his glory see his goodness the work of his hands what does it do reveal sin in our life it it just drives us there you don't conjure that it just drives us there and so he winds up he's saying who can discern his errors it's kind of rhetorical because we know that in our hearts it's desperately wicked Jeremiah 17 9 the heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it but God does God knows it who can discern his errors equip me of hidden faults these are secret sins these are sins that I may not know about or maybe they are also sins that I don't want others to know about that which is kind of behind the scenes he's saying work in this but then also keep me from presumptuous sins this is just outright in your face

[37:38] I'm gonna take the liberty here and I'm gonna do this and so he's saying work in me in both of these areas and he prefaces it with who can know the heart who can know the heart the motivations of this but you know and so as you who know the motives of my heart work in me both in the hidden behind the scenes that which I know about or which others don't know about and that which is out front for the world to see work in my life in these areas and if you do this God if you do this then I will be blameless then

[38:43] I will be blameless and I shall be acquitted of great transgression the removing of transgression in our life is through the work of the word the grace of God in our life sometimes we come to Christ and we have this opinion that as long as I go to church talk to other Christians that my life is okay with Christ and what David is fleshing out in Psalm 19 is that it is the word of God that does this and this is a warning need to be in the word because it is the word of God that is working these things out in our life it is the word of God that is beginning to change this and so through your word cleanse me of these sins keep me from these sins do not let them rule over me have master over me and then I will be blameless and I shall be acquitted of great being in the word exposes our sin but it also confirms our salvation you get that being in the word reveals our sin but it also confirms our salvation we cannot be restored unless

[40:06] God's doing it we cannot be made wise unless Christ is in us it is the spirit that is moving in that we don't we are not regenerated in and of ourselves and so if this progression if this delighting in the word of God if this is happening in us these things begin to unfold in us it is confirming that Christ is at work in us and moving and changing us and transforming us into the image of his son and when we stop and we look at the grace of God in our lives doesn't it make us long for more we begin to taste that sweetness don't we remind ourselves of that sweetness of who Christ is his grace in our lives and we begin to long for it more do more in me cleanse me more change my life more make me more wise cause my heart to delight more in you it begins to work that in us and we long for it more the appetite the word creates more of an appetite for the word and for

[41:23] Christ speaking to the choir here to myself if I am struggling with desiring the word of God what do I need to do get into the word because then I will see the goodness of grace the glory of God the work of his hand and I because seeing the glory of God in the world seeing his grace in my life causes me to want to pursue him to chase after him if we've tasted and seen of something that is good we long for it more that's where we want to be if you know where the good honeycomb is are you eating down the street no you're you're headed for the tree around the corner you know where it's good right and so that's that's that concept is that we begin to satisfy our souls with these things

[42:31] I think we can't stress that phrase enough the satisfaction of the soul satisfaction of the heart I delight in this it rejoices my heart this causes David to make one final declaration having seen God's glory in the world seen his grace in his life causes David to pursue him making this declaration let the words of my mouth everything that I say and the meditations of my heart which is the source of those words be pleasing and acceptable in your sight do you see the pursuit here David says

[43:32] I want I want I want my heart and my lips the part of me you can't see my heart the lips the part of me you can see so when I'm talking about you can I'm talking about the world so that which is internal that which is external not just what's in our heart but what's coming out of our mouths our actions our behaviors I want all of this to be pleasing and acceptable in your sight he says oh lord my rock and my redeemer that word rock is a refuge a safe place it means to be bound tightly that's like a picture of a newborn baby one of the things that they love to do is be bound I mean you ever wrap them in a swaddler or something like that it's kind of funny you're like my arms are starting to ache I just want to get free you know but that baby the minute you wrap them up they just drop off and to rest because it's a safe place why are you looking at me like that

[44:39] Andy but that's my rock my safe place my refuge that place where I know that I'm safe and my redeemer I know that I'm safe in you because you have paid the penalty for my sins you have bought me back redeemed to buy back this is a picture of the kinsman redeemer that which is closest to you that has the right to redeem or to buy back so in Israel in the Hebrew culture what they would have is these kinsman redeemers and so when a woman was widowed and had no husband the kinsman redeemer would come in as we see in the beautiful picture of Ruth and Boaz would come in and they would purchase and they would buy back this land so that they could continue to carry on the name of this man who had died and could continue to take care of that lineage and so that we have this so that there was life it was for the purpose of life for living and so out of death would come life through redemption and that's

[46:00] David's declaration Lord may everything in my life my lips my words my heart be pleasing to you because you are one my safe place and two you are the one who has bought me back that is the gospel is it not holy God righteous in all of his ways and yet we have man who's rebellious who is sinful wants nothing to do not to obey him or anything and yet God says I still yearn for them I love them so much I will give them Christ who dies who pays the price for our sin who bears the wrath of God that which was required he satisfies it through his death his burial his resurrection the price of our sin paid in full by Jesus Christ to be redeemed from the law of sin and death so that we can have life so that we can be brought back so that we can be made wise so that our heart might be being joyful that is what and it all started with David observing the creation of God so the glory in the world around us leads us to see the grace of God at work in our lives and causes us to pursue him pray with me real quick father thank you for your word help us to hear it help us to receive it not because it comes from man but because it comes from God so give us eyes to see your glory in this world your grace in our lives and give us a hunger and a pursuit for you take just a minute to think about the word here think about what we've heard what God has been saying ponder it and consider how our lives your life my life might need to respond to change to apply it to can please mourn we have done please

[48:37] V I have been a and I have my na I have done need Matching to nature I have I have