The Undeniable Existence Of God In The Natural Order

Please turn in your Bibles to Psalm 19 as we begin our time together.! And we're going to spend the next three weeks in this Psalm of David.

We're going to look at its relevancy in our culture today. It is an excellent psalm. It is a beautiful psalm. It is a psalm full of conviction and truth and declaration as to the existence of God.

Just a few things to share with you about our culture today that you may or may not be aware of. Since 2007, the fastest growing religious group in America.

Anybody? Islam? Anybody? Other than Islam? Christianity? Anybody else?

Atheism? Alright, that's about as close as it's going to get. Alright, so it would be the nuns. Right? The religiously unaffiliated atheists would fall in that category but would be one of a few different groups.

So good job, Scott. Very good. If I had asked you internationally, Islam would have definitely been the answer on that one. But for America, it has been this group, the nuns, so to speak.

The religiously unaffiliated. This is a group that in 2007 comprised 16% of U.S. adults. And through 2024, it has risen to 29% of U.S. adults.

So that is quite a group. 13 percentage points on the whole. But an increase of 81% relative to their 2007 share.

So that is quite a group. Quite an amount of people almost doubling their number in that time. It has shown some signs of leveling off.

It's kind of hitting a plateau. But that is still a big number. That's still a big group and a large increase in that section.

Unlike Islam, who as I mentioned is the largest and fastest growing religious group internationally.

Islam, that's growing primarily because of higher birth rates, younger population, and militant efforts. The religiously unaffiliated, they grow primarily by people who leave their childhood religion.

And in America, that is largely Christianity. And so it leads to the question, why are so many people leaving the Christian faith?

There are many answers, many experts out there who give their stats, who give their reasons and such. And I think there's some to all of it.

A few answers that are out there. First is declining religious upbringing in practice. So there's less regular church attendance.

There's less family prayer and Bible reading. There's weaker intergenerational transmission of faith. So you don't have the older and the younger generations talking about faith.

They're not having discussions. They're not having conversations geared around the word of God. And so it's not as important. It is not an important part of the lives of this younger group growing up.

Another aspect to it, and like I said, I think it's all of these combined. It's not any one. It's all of these that have influences. The secularization of society.

Religion is no longer a central part of public life. People are finding their meaning through their education, through their career choices, in entertainment, through social causes and such.

They're moving away from meaning found in scripture, meaning found in religion, to meaning found within themselves and their efforts. There are intellectual objections, if I can put them that way.

Questions that go unanswered in the church or unaddressed. Maybe Christians as a whole are afraid to answer them or to address them or don't know how to do it.

So why does a good God allow suffering? Is science incompatible with Christianity? Can miracles really happen? Can scripture be trusted?

Why is Christianity the only way? Questions that are objections that are brought up legitimately in the mind of an individual that Christians as a whole may not feel adequately prepared to answer.

The answers are there. There are answers to these questions. We just need to be equipped to address them. There are moral and ethical disagreements related to sexual ethics, marriage, gender identities, human sexuality, the exclusivity of Christ and such.

Negative experiences in church. You've got church conflict, hypocrisy, spiritual abuse, leadership failures, sexual abuse, scandals, judgmental attitudes.

Nobody, right, is judgmental of another individual. Certainly not in the walls of the church. But unfortunately that is not true.

And that does take place far more than we'd like to admit. Even, I would dare say, within the walls of this church that exists. The cultural emphasis of individualism.

The my truth movement. What is true for me may not be true for you, but you've got your truth and I've got my truth and we're all set. Personal autonomy and self-expression.

And I would say, overall, a distrust of authority. I think it was just fitting that Mr. Randall, he was up in the early hours as he still acclimates to the Eastern Standard Time of things, sent me a video clip of an individual named Jeff Foxworthy, if you know of him.

Comedian, conservative, and I would say Christian, my understanding, as he professes Christ. And from what I've seen, is very outspoken about that.

And in that, he had mentioned that at a few shows, I don't know how recent this was, but at a few shows, he'd asked people, you know, how many of you trust the government?

And he said nobody would raise their hand. And there are two other categories he mentioned. Like, do you trust this group? Do you trust the media? Now, how many of you trust social media?

And how many of you trust, I think it was the news? So, those three things, he said nobody would raise their hand. There's a big distrust of authority and reporting, right?

In journalism, in our society. So, you know, this also leads to a distrust of authority within the church.

A distrust of pastors and elders. A distrust of the Word of God. Not putting yourself under the authority of the Word of God. So, all these reasons, these several things that I shared with you here are contributors to this rise of people in the nuns category.

Those who are religiously unaffiliated. They're walking away from the faith. They're putting Christianity behind them. They're putting the church behind them. And they all have various reasons and such.

And, you know, ultimately, as I've read through these and as I've analyzed them myself and have given thought to this for many months, really, I really feel the bottom line reasoning is that the church as a whole has focused so much on entertainment and being culturally relevant that it has failed at the only job that it was given by the Lord in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples of all nations.

We have, at the expense of teaching and preaching the truth of the Word of God, watered down the message of the gospel. We have given into the push for entertainment and what's going to draw people in.

What's going to bring them into the doors? Now, how can we bring people into the seats, right? Into the pews, into the chairs and such. And there's been a lot of entertainment-driven approaches.

And there are many clips in YouTube that I could take you to, one after another, that if you were to watch it, you would not know that it was church.

That it was actually the gathering of the saints for the purpose of edifying one another. Because what it's about is entertainment.

And you may or may not believe me if I told you that I know of a church or clip online of a church that held a rodeo on their Sunday morning service.

Those things, among many others. It really is sad.

But it shows the state of the church as a whole in America. Now, that's not saying there are not exceptions. There certainly are. And we praise God for that.

That there are churches. That there are pastors and elders who preach the word, teach the word unapologetically to equip the saints. To be able to answer the questions that people have, the objections.

What about, you know, why is, if God is good, why is there suffering in the world? Man, what a great question. And we have an answer for it. It's not the focus of today's sermon, but I'm telling you that there is an answer to that question.

And then the question is, does that answer satisfy the individual? And that, well, that may be part of the issue as well.

So as I've thought about this and preparing to share, I read through Psalm 19 recently. And I was astonished at David's herald of the undeniable existence of God.

And even in some areas where people of the world are taking exception, or they have these questions, or they're wrestling with things that they're not sure about. And Psalm 19 makes them very sure.

And so over the next three weeks, we are going to deal with this, with Psalm 19. And we're going to be looking at the undeniable existence of God. And today we're going to look specifically at the undeniable existence of God in the natural order.

But for the sake of the entirety of the context, let's read Psalm 19 together. Psalm 19 verse 1 says, Verse 7, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts 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 rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold.

And sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless and innocent 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.

Father, I thank you for your word today. I pray that we would be focused and attentive to what your servant David has shared.

Lord, how it is indeed relevant for us today as we seek to engage a culture who is increasingly less affiliated with religion and more put off, it seems in many ways, by your truth and your church.

Give us understanding, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 6 today.

The undeniable existence of God in the natural order. The psalm begins that the heavens declare the glory of God.

The heavens declare it. We're not told when David penned this psalm, but it's reasonably suggested by some that it was perhaps during his days as a shepherd.

Imagine with me, young David is out in the field. He's keeping watch over his flock by night. And he's drawn to observe the stars. Now, keep in mind, there's no light pollution in that day as we have to deal with today.

And I praise God that where we were in the campground, there was very little light pollution. So we were able to do this very thing, to look up and enjoy the stars, right?

And so David looks up. I mean, he's looking around, right? He's keeping watch over the sheep, got to protect them. And he looks up and he is starting to observe and he sees a few stars at first.

Maybe you've had this experience. You see a few stars in the sky. Then as he keeps gazing, more and more come into view. And then more and more.

And it's vast. And it's an unbelievable sight. As you look up in the sky, and I hope you've had this experience. If you haven't, find a spot that there is no light around on a clear night and look up.

It is amazing. As you look, you see, it will start with a few of the brighter ones, right? And then as you're gazing, more and more will pop into view. And it just eventually comes to the point where there's pinholes everywhere in the darkness.

It is an amazing thing to do. And all those stars in the heavens. And he moves his head from one direction to another.

And there are stars everywhere. And this is the handiwork of God. This is declaring the glory of God.

I had this thought earlier in the week. As one of those nights, I was able to look up and enjoy the stars. And it was beautiful. And I got thinking, as many as I could see, there was still a very limited amount in my view.

There's so much more than we could actually see. Oh, the glory of God on display. And it's the handiwork of God. In Genesis 1, verses 14 through 19.

If you want to turn there real quick. It's not hard to get there. Just flip to the front of the Bible. A few pages in, past the preface and the features and all that stuff. Genesis 1, verses 14 through 19.

This great chapter on the creative activity of God. It says in verse 14, And God said, God made the two great lights.

The greater light to rule the day. That's the sun. And the lesser light to rule the night. That's the moon who gets its light from the sun.

And the stars. God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. To rule over the day and over the night. And to separate the light from the darkness.

And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning the fourth day. It is amazing to know that God created all this beauty.

Everything we get to enjoy. You look up in the night sky. You see all the stars. And you see the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. And there's Orion in his belt. And I don't know all the constellations.

I wasn't one of those astronomer type people. But they're out there, right? And you know them probably better than I do. And you can look up and you can observe them and see them. And it's quite an amazing thing. God put that up there.

God created that. It's all beautiful and it's amazing. And what's awesome is that in verse 16 in Genesis 1, you've got the greater light, the sun.

You've got the lesser light and the stars. And he made the stars all. Really? An afterthought, God? Was that it? Like, oh, we need something a little more.

Whoop! There it is. Oh, man. And consider our experience with the stars, right? In our solar system, we've got one. We've got the sun, right?

In our galaxy, there's estimated, and you can't count them, right? But they're estimating between 100 and 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, which our little planet is bobbing in or floating in.

I don't know what it does in our space. There it is. Hangs there, right? Is what the scripture says. The universe, I mean, you couldn't get it in the galaxy.

You definitely can't get it in the universe. But by some smart people's estimations, there's possibly 200 billion trillion stars. The term also is one septillion.

To give you an idea, you could write down a one and put 24 zeros behind it, and that's how many we're talking about. It's not the national debt yet, but it's big.

It's there. That's a lot of stars that it says, and he made the stars also. These are numbers that are beyond our comprehension, and they point to the amazing power of our Creator.

And I love Psalm 147, verse 4. It says that God, he determines the number of the stars, and he gives to all of them their names.

What? The struggle to come up with names for seven kids. Now, I don't think God pulled off like the George Foreman, George 1, George 2, George 3.

I don't think he's doing that with the stars. He named them all. Gave them all their names. He's determined their number. He's given them their names. Oh, the power of our Creator, the magnificence, His glory, His intelligence.

It is so amazing. And they're there for a purpose, according to Genesis 1. And for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years, and there to be light on the earth.

It's all there for a purpose. Our calendar is because God has created the stars. He has given us the greater light and the lesser light.

Everything, as far as time goes, is given to us by God. There have been fools in history who have tried to change the length of a week and the length of a day and all this.

People who think they are something powerful and great, and all they did was just screw things up. Made things even worse for their people. But God made it perfect for us.

Going back to Psalm 19. Not only are we talking about the heavens declare the glory of God.

Verse 2. It says, Day to day pours out speech. Night to night. I'm sorry, 1B. The sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech.

Night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor there are words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth and the words to the end of the world. It's such an important factor.

These verses seem so insignificant, but yet they are so very important for us. This is, in theological terms, this is referred to as general revelation.

General revelation. When we talk about revelation in theology, we're talking about the way God has revealed Himself to mankind. And when you talk about general revelation, this is God's generally revealing Himself to all of mankind.

It's for everybody to experience and to know and to see. If I were to sum up general revelation in three statements, because it would probably take me three weeks to get through it with you, it's intended for all people.

It can be understood by all people. And it is sent out to all people. That is general revelation summarized. It's intended for all. It can be understood by all.

And it's sent out to all. And He gives the example in Psalm 19, verses 4 through 6, of the Son as an example of this general revelation.

He says, In them He has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. And its rising is from one end of the heavens, its circuit to the end of them, and there's nothing hidden from its heat.

It's not about the sun that we observe. We see it rise, and we see it go across the sky, and we see it set. And then, guess what? The next day, we get to experience it all over again. There it is.

And there it is again. And there it is again. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. There is no living organism on this planet does not experience the heat of the sun.

And the sun is an amazing thing to study in itself. It's huge. It's estimated that 1.3 million Earths can fit inside of it. That's a lot.

Now, we think about how big it is. I mean, I did a lot of walking this week, and I wore new shoes. It was a very bad decision.

But anyway, I did a lot of walking this week, and I felt like, man, there's no way it can get any bigger or any further. And that was just a small speck in a great big state on a big planet.

And we're talking about this big planet, 1.3 million in the sun. That's how big the sun is. And not only is it big, it's hot. It's hot. I mean, we feel it, right?

There are days, today is not too bad, but there are days when it's like, whoa, boy, how much closer are we? The surface temperature of the sun is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

We talk about, you know, when it's 95, it's hot. We're sweating. And we're like, you know, popsicles and air conditioning and all that. 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit surface temperature. Core temperature, it's internal temperature, 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.

I don't know how they figured that out. I don't know who volunteered to check that with a thermometer. That's hot. And as I've said, it's what we use to determine our day and our year, and it provides light energy to provide food.

You know, it provides light for us to see. It's the perfect amount of heat for us to survive. There is no organism on this planet that does not experience the heat of the sun.

And that is general revelation for all mankind to know that there is a creator who is glorious and who is powerful and who is magnificent and who is amazing. There's a lot to take just from general revelation.

There's a lot that shows. Please turn with me to Romans 1 real quick. Romans 1. We're going to be in this section to finish out this little bit of study this morning in Psalm 19.

Romans 1. And we'll pick up verse 18. Because Psalm 19, 1 through 6 talks about general revelation and how it's sent out to everybody for everybody to understand.

They experience it. They can understand it. And it's for them. But in Romans 1, we see that general revelation is the justifiable reason for God's judgment against mankind.

It's the justifiable reason for judgment. Romans 1 verse 18 through 22. I could go through the end of the chapter. I usually do. But for the sake of time, we'll just do these verses.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

verse 19. For what can be known about God is plain to them.

It's obvious. There was a statement that was made. I mean, many preachers have made it and I didn't know how I felt about it for the longest time.

But the more I study it, the more I understand it, the better I understand it, the more I believe it. The more I believe it, the more I'm willing to share it and say it in boldness.

And it is that everybody knows God. Everybody. The intellectual objection that's frequently raised is how can God justly punish those who've never heard the word of God and how can he punish those who don't know him or believe that he exists?

The reality is, based on Romans 1 and from what we've seen in Psalm 19, God has clearly manifested himself to all people in all languages in every part of the world through his general revelation.

His invisible attributes are plainly revealed, in creation. We see that here in Romans 1. Acts 14, verses 15 through 17. Apostle Paul says, Men, why are you doing these things?

We also are men of like nature with you and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things, these idols that they had, to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Through all generations of time God has done good to all people by providing them what they need to survive. His invisible attributes are plainly revealed through his creation.

If you were to go on further in Acts 17, we see God's character can be plainly seen through what he has made. The God who made the world and everything in it being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods in the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

Yet he's actually not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed his offspring.

The recognition among the pagan people who have denied and suppressed the truth of the one true almighty God and have made up their own gods and their own images and their own ways with their own explanations recognize and they do it based on what they observe in creation.

You've got the Hindus have over 3 million gods in their religion and they're gods for everything and every circumstance and you've got to try to appease this God for this purpose and this God for that purpose and so on.

If you don't give the right sacrifice to this God they're going to be angry and kill your crops and if you don't give the right sacrifice to this God then they're going to dry up all your water and they recognize that there is a hand of a deity out there that is over it all.

They break up that one into millions. But they understand that there is a power greater than themselves that is responsible for all that they experience and all that they see and all that they know.

And here in Acts 17 the Apostle Paul quotes their own writers where they say in him we live and move and have our being for we are indeed his offspring.

They recognize that they don't even have existence apart from this deity. Through creation God's power is on display. In Jeremiah 32 27 Behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh.

Is anything too hard for me? Go back and read in Job. You can read the first 37 chapters of Job and see what wisdom they have.

Spoiler alert not much. Then you see chapters 38 and following where God enters the equation and enters the conversation and he starts pointing forth what wisdom he has.

And he asks Job instruct me if you're so wise. You know how did this happen? At the very beginning of creation is what he's pointing to and he's pointing to his creative activity to show Job that God himself is the wise discerning powerful almighty one.

And we have nothing to bring to the table in conversation and debate with him. Is there anything too hard for him? No. No there's not.

In fact we're told that all things are possible with God. So creation this all points to God's divine nature.

All men all men have not merely a possible knowledge of God through external revelation but an actual personal internal knowledge of God as well.

And that's in Romans 2 14 and 15. for when Gentiles do not have the law by nature do what the law requires they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.

We have general revelation in the form of God's creative activity his creation but we also have the conscience of man that materialism and Darwinian evolution and such have no answers for how does this come about?

How does man have a conscience? How does man have a conscience that is consistent across all people in all time?

There is no natural explanation but a supernatural power who wrote it on the heart of man. So general natural revelation renders all men without excuse at the judgment seat of God.

You can't plead ignorance. Deep down you know God. You see evidence of his existence all around you. And you've deliberately suppressed this knowledge of God.

People do not know God because they do not want to know him. Since the days that David penned the words of Psalm 19 the heavens are still declaring the glory of God today.

Every sunrise every star-filled evening every changing season every breath that we take testifies that there is a creator who has put it into place and he has not left himself without a witness.

His power, his wisdom, his divine nature is displayed throughout all of creation and his law has been written on our heart. The evidence is not lacking.

Everyone knows there is a God. And the issue is not that people cannot know God but that sinful hearts suppress the truth because they do not want to submit to him.

people who are honest with me through the years have fessed up to that very truth. I don't believe because I don't want to do or be under laws or rules and all this stuff.

They do not want to submit to the authority of their creator. That's why Psalm 19 leaves us with both comfort and conviction.

there's comfort in that the universe is not here accidentally. You are not here by chance. You are not a mistake. You're the handiwork of a sovereign good creator.

And there's conviction because the God who made all things is also the judge that we must stand before and give an account. So the beauty of creation can point us to God's existence but cannot save us from our sin.

General revelation is enough to leave us without excuse but it's not enough to reconcile us to God and that's why we need special revelation. That's why we need the gospel of Jesus Christ to be revealed to us, to be shared with us.

That's why the call of Romans 10 is so evident. How can they believe in whom they have not heard and how do they hear unless someone preaches the word of God to them and who's going to preach the word unless they're sent.

And that's why we need to take the word. We need to take the gospel message into the world. Not because there are people out there who don't know God but it's because they do know God and they're suppressing that truth and unrighteousness and they need to be made aware of the judgment to come.

They need to be made aware that there is a great mighty creator who loves them, who has sent his son to die for their sin, to reconcile them to himself, that he paid the penalty for their sin.

That same God who speaks through creation is calling them to himself, calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ through his word.

God. We have the responsibility folks to take that message. We know it. We know it's true. There are many people out there who don't.

We need to bring it to them. So my prayer for you is that you will be convicted by what is shared with us in Psalm 19, 1-6, that there is a creator God.

It is undeniable his existence because of the natural order. And it's because of the natural order that we can confidently go to people and share about who he is.

Father, I thank you for your word today and I thank you, Lord, for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you for calling us to repentance and faith in him.

I thank you for his sacrifice on the cross, that we might be redeemed, that we might be reconciled to you. And Lord, I pray that we would take what we know of your existence, Lord, and we walk confidently in this world and call people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Lord, I pray that as we go from here, we meditate and think on these things. As we enjoy your creation, Lord, we would truly give thanks and be grateful for what we have, but recognize what people need as well.

In Jesus' name, amen.