God Speaks

I. Two kinds of divine revelation

A. Psalm 19 has two parts: parts so distinct from one another that at first it’s hard to figure out how they go together.

1. The first half (1-6) is about the heavens declaring the glory of God.

2. The second half (7-13) is about the law of God and what a blessing it is to us.

B. But then you notice that both halves of the psalm are about God speaking: first through the heavens and then through the Scriptures.

C. And the fact is, God does speak to us in two ways:

1. General revelation: God displays His glory in the creation for everyone to see.

a. Revealing His being, His existence, His nature, His glory, His power

2. Special revelation: God communicates His word through prophets & Scriptures for some to hear.

a. Revealing His will, His assessment of man, His grace, His redemptive character & activity, etc.

D. In Psalm 19 we see that God is the God of Creation and of covenant. He creates the universe, displaying His glory. And then He enters into covenant with a people, revealing His grace.

II. Verse 3-4

A. The proper translation of v.3-4 is somewhat uncertain. It either means:

1. The declaration of the heavens goes out without any words or language and you don’t hear it, and yet the message goes out through all the earth.

2. Or: The declaration of the heavens goes out to the place of every language, it goes out to the ends of the earth.

III. But let’s focus for a moment on Psalm 19:1-2. God’s glory is revealed in the heavens. What is packed into the word “heavens”?

A. Sun

1. Brightness

2. Warmth

3. Sunrise/sunset —Some of which last for weeks down in Antarctica & up around the Arctic Circle!

B. Blue sky

C. Clouds

1. Storms

D. Moon: crescent, full, orange on horizon

E. Stars

1. The number of them: over 15,000,000,000,000,000 (15 quadrillion) stars

2. Constellations

3. Different kinds of stars: red giant, red super giant, red dwarf, white dwarf, neutron star, supernovas, binary (twin stars), etc.

4. Galaxies: 170 billion of them, averaging 100 billion stars each, of many different shapes, sizes

a. Years ago we went to the Goddard Space Flight Center and were looking at an exhibit of photos taken by the Hubble telescope: gas clouds, nebulae, and all sorts of exotic space phenomenon. Then we came to a photo which looked a lot like an ordinary night sky. Just as I was wondering why they included this ordinary-looking photo with all these other spectacular ones, the tour guide said, “This is the most remarkable photo the Hubble has ever taken. In order to get this photo, they aimed the telescope at one of the darkest places in the sky, turned the magnification all the way up (covering a piece of the sky as small as a grain of sand held at arms length), and left the shutter open for 10 days. This picture is the result. From this photo we discovered 2000 galaxies never known about before.”

F. Planets: different colors/sizes/compositions, with streaks and spots, some with rings, moons, orbits

G. Shooting stars, which are actually meteoroids (space rocks) which come shooting through our atmosphere and burn up

H. Meteors (like the February explosion in Russia: at an altitude of 16–19 miles in a momentary flash as bright as the sun and generating a shockwave that injured more than 1,000 people)

I. Rainbows

J. Tornados and waterspouts

K. Aurora borealis (northern lights) and the southern equivalent

L. Eclipses: lunar and solar

M. Comets, asteroids

N. We could talk about birds, bats, planes, satellites, kites, rain, hail, snow...

O. And then there’s the vastness of space: Over 20 billion light years from one end of the known universe to the other?

1. Distance: closest star (apart from the sun) is Alpha Centauri (also called Proxima Centauri), 4.2 light years from earth. At the speed of the space shuttle in orbit — about 20,000 miles per hour — it would take 150,000 years to get there, or 6000 generations of mankind.

P. And other things in space, like gas clouds, black holes, dark matter and dark energy?

Q. Not only is He smart enough to invent all this stuff, but He created it all by His simple word: "Let there be light," "Let there be a sun and a moon and stars and planets and galaxies." Wow!

R. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

S. The heavens are declaring God’s glory! That’s why Psalm 148 addresses the heavens: “Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! 3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! 4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created. 6 And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. 7 Praise the LORD...hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.”

T. The hymn The Spacious Firmament by Joseph Addison puts it this way: “What though in solemn silence all move round the dark terrestrial ball? What though no real voice nor sound amidst their radiant orbs be found? In reason's ear they all rejoice, and utter forth a glorious voice; forever singing as they shine, "The hand that made us is divine."

U. Look up at heavens and behold the glory and power of the Creator!

1. The whole universe was needed to reflect His glory, and yet even the whole universe cannot contain Him, heaven cannot contain Him, the highest heaven cannot contain. (1Kings 8:27)

IV. The law of the Lord

A. 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

1. These verses tell us of the nature of man and the guilt of man.

a. Man is unwise on his own, and needs the Lord to instruct him.

b. Man is in peril and needs to be warned to change his path.

c. By nature man is blind and needs to have his eyes opened.

d. In Psalm 19:12-13 it even talks about man’s blindness re: his own heart.

e. There’s something wrong with man’s soul. It needs reviving, and that happens through the word of God.

f. The word of the Lord shows man the secret of forgiveness and blamelessness.

g. The Scriptures show man the way to great reward.

2. “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul, the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

V. Conclusion

A. Do we realize what a blessing it is that God speaks to us? This is one of our greatest blessings.

1. He reveals Himself in the Scriptures.

a. Thus, the advantage of being a Jew is, first of all, the possession of the oracles (the speech) of God (Rom. 3:1-2, see also Rom. 9:4, Heb. 6:5).

b. This is why God tells us to go to all the world and proclaim His word.

2. He reveals Himself in creation.

a. We need to develop a correct interpretation of what we see.

b. Christ even wants to transform the way you think about stars and storms and rainbows and birds.

B. But mankind won't listen!

a. We "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" - Romans 1:19-20.

b. We come up with alternative explanations for the things we see around us, explanations which will not require us to face a God we cannot stand to face.

C. The question each of us has to ask is: Am I listening? God is speaking, am I really listening?

1. Have we grown deaf to God's voice? Are we paying attention?

2. Part of our Christian responsibility and part of the secret to our welfare is to listen to God speak through the creation, and through His word.

3. Has the world around us become so familiar to us that we fail to notice it any longer?

4. In His word our loving Father is speaking to us out of His goodness. He is showing us things to strengthen us and help us and lift us and inspire us.

a. He is for us, and He knows what to tell us. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re ready to hear.

b. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Col.3:16

5. How can we prize our own thoughts more than we prize the word of God? How can we be more impressed by our own thoughts than we are by God’s?

D. There is no more fitting conclusion that the one we find in v.14. After all this reflection on the glory of God revealed in the heavens and the transforming, life-giving power of the word of God, the Psalmist prays: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”