Psalm 19

Psalms — Steve Gregg

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Psalm 19

PsalmsSteve Gregg

In this exposition on Psalm 19 verses 7-14, Steve Gregg explores the concept of the Word of God and its significance in interpreting the world around us. Through various biblical references and insights into ancient astronomy, Gregg highlights the crucial role that scripture plays in understanding both our own shortcomings and the glory of God. He ultimately emphasizes the transformative power of meditating on the Word and aligning oneself with the Creator.

Transcript

Now I'd like for us to turn to Psalm 19. Even though this is only our second class in the Psalms and we haven't covered yet the first 18 chapters, we're skipping to this Psalm from Psalm 1 because both of them talk about the Word of God. There will be another Psalm or two also of this type that we'll study before we go on further.

Since the first Psalm dealt with this matter, we might consider this as one of the more important themes, or at least one of the foundational things that has to be laid down at the beginning. There's an appreciation for the Word of God. In Psalm 19, we have a psalm that is a discussion of the two major ways in which God reveals himself to people.

One is through nature and one is through the Scriptures. And there's more said about the Scriptures than about nature, but both are given some discussion in Psalm 19. The first six verses talk about how God has disclosed himself in nature.

And then verses 7-14, or especially through 11, but the rest of the psalm, in other words, is about the Word of God. Now, we can see that God has made himself known to all men through nature. In Romans chapter 1, Paul said that.

Romans 1.18 and following is a section where Paul said that the unbelievers, the Gentiles, who have never heard the gospel, are nonetheless without excuse. If they are atheists, they have chosen to be atheists because God has given them opportunity to know him. And the way that God has given them to know him, according to Paul, is through the creation.

So, the invisible attributes of God can be clearly seen, being made manifest in the things that he has created. And so, that's what the psalmist tells us. In fact, it is likely that Paul had this psalm in mind and was building upon it as his basis when he made those statements in Romans.

We know for a fact that he actually quoted from this psalm at another point in the book of Romans. In Romans chapter 10, he quoted from it, so that this psalm was familiar to Paul and that it does mention, of course, that people can see the glory of God when they look at the heavens and the things he has made. This does not mean that from creation we can know everything about God.

We can only know some things about God from the creation, but we can know enough that if we had no other revelation from God but the creation, we would know enough to know that there was a great God and greatly wise to whom we must ultimately answer and whom we must seek diligently to find. And, if we do begin to seek him, then he has provided another way for us to know him more perfectly. In nature, there is only a general knowledge of his existence that can be gathered, and maybe a few of his attributes, but the more specific and perfect way in which he has revealed himself is through his word.

And, in verse 7, we have a transition where the first six verses talk about God being manifest in his creation. 7 then changes from the natural to the spiritual. God has a witness to his existence in nature.

He also has a spiritual witness concerning himself in his written word, the scriptures. And, the scriptures are spoken of in different terms for the sake of poetic variety. The term, the law of the Lord, is the first term we find in verse 7. Later, in the same verse, we are referenced to the testimony of the Lord.

In verse 8, the statutes of the Lord, which means the rules and laws. The commandment of the Lord is also referred to in chapter 8. In chapter 9, we read of the judgments, I mean verse 9, the judgments of the Lord, which doesn't mean his sending judgment, but it means the decrees from his throne. The decrees of the judge.

His judgments, or his decisions. His court decisions, which are recorded in the scripture, in other words. And, it says concerning them, in verse 10, that there are more to be desired than gold.

That is, these things, the scriptures, are more desirable than gold. Because a person may have gold and never know God. A person who knows God through the scriptures and has no gold is in a better position than the man who has gold and doesn't know God.

Well, we'll read this psalm, and we'll start with the first six verses, of course, discussing those, because they are the first part. In a sense, the heavens and the creation are the word of God, in one sense. They are not, of course, written plainly, but they are a revelation.

They are a self-disclosure of his thought and his mind. How vague. And, he has the nature, and he also has the scriptures to bear testimony to his existence.

The first six verses go, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, for their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom, coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Now, the ultimate revelation of God is neither nature nor the scriptures, of course, but Jesus Christ himself, the word made flesh. We can read the word and learn much about God, but we can learn much more by knowing Jesus, who is the word personified. And, of course, Hebrews chapter 1 tells us that all the ways that God spoke in times past are inferior to the way that he has now spoken to us through his son.

So, Jesus is really the ultimate revelation of God, and it's interesting that the psalmist here points out that Jesus, or the Messiah, is sort of prefigured, or is sort of, at least hinted at, in nature. The reference to the strong man rejoicing to run a race, or bridegroom coming out of his chamber, clearly are references, if we understand the New Testament language, to Christ himself. And the fact that he says the sun in the heavens is like that only confirms what many other scriptures suggest when they suggest that the sun is sort of a picture or a type of Christ.

Just as the sun in our solar system is the source of light and life for this planet, so the scripture says in John chapter 1, speaking of Jesus, in him was life, and that life was the light of men. Jesus, in his lifetime, said, as long as I am with you, I am the light of the world. But he said, the night cometh when no man can work, we must work while it is day, indicating that his presence was like a daylight time.

The reference to his coming in Malachi, Malachi chapter 4 says, unto them that fear my name shall the sun, S-U-N, of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. Speaking of the coming of Christ, spoke of the sun, as spelled like the sun in the solar system, the sun of righteousness arising. When John the Baptist was born, his father Zechariah prophesied that the day spring or the day break from on high had visited the Jews, namely in the coming of the Messiah.

So, the sun in the solar system is sometimes seen as a sort of a symbol of Christ, because in many ways it resembles him. He brings light and life to all. He is the center around which all other things revolve.

Of course, we know that the sun is not the center of the universe, but as far as our world is concerned, the world and all the planets of our solar system revolve around the sun. And therefore, the gravitational pull of the sun and all is that which keeps us all in our proper place. So, all things find their relationship, as far as our solar system is concerned, with respect to being properly related to the sun and revolving around him.

And this is true, of course, of our lives with Christ. So, we're going to see that the testimony that the heavens declare has something to do with Jesus, actually. And that seems to be hinted at by David in his psalm.

He first says, the heavens declare the glory of God. And when he says heavens, he doesn't mean the ethereal heavens or the spiritual realm where God's throne is, where the angels are, and where the spirits of the departed are. He's not talking about that heaven, because the term heavens in scripture is used three ways.

Sometimes it means that ethereal realm, where the spiritual beings are, the spiritual realm. That's one use of the term heaven in the scripture. Another use of the term heaven is the atmosphere of the earth.

In Genesis chapter 1, it says that God made the birds that flew around in the heavens. Well, of course, meaning the atmosphere in the air. But then there's another use, and that's what we find here, which has to do with the universe, the heavens.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That is, the universe and the earth in it. Here, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

The firmament, where we read in the book of Genesis chapter 1, was where God put the stars. Again, a reference to the universe. Though the term firmament also had a secondary meaning to our atmosphere.

In this case, it's talking about the starry heavens. These are the things that bear witness to the glory of God. Now, they show forth his handiwork.

This verse by itself would tell us that simply by looking at the heavens, we would know that God had designed them. There is order, there is complexity, there is beauty, there is vastness. We could see that the creator of these things must be very large, very great, very strong, very wise, very orderly.

We could see purpose in the universe. Design always signifies that there is purpose. You don't intricately design something unless you have a purpose for it.

Therefore, just by looking at the universe, at the solar system, the more we learn about it, the more we could deduce just from that, that there is an orderly, all-wise, all-powerful, purposeful God. Those are certain aspects of his glory that are seen in the universe. But then it goes on to get more specific.

It says, every day, or day unto day, utters speech, and every night utters knowledge. That means, of course, that the daytime, and during the daytime, it's as though the heavens are speaking to man. Day after day, they're uttering speech, they're speaking something to man.

Every night, especially when the stars are seen, knowledge is being given to man. Night unto night, giveth knowledge, or showeth knowledge. So, he's saying, essentially, that there is knowledge of God, and a message that's being spoken from the heavens to man, day by day, and night by night.

And he says, there's not any language where that message isn't being heard. It says in verse 3, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Because it's not a spoken word in any language, it's a picture message.

And, of course, pictures can be understood by all languages, and by all cultures. And it says, their line is going out through all the earth. Now, their refers to them.

What's them? The stars. He's talking about the stars here, and it's very evident as the thing goes on. He's talking about the stars and the constellations of the heavens.

Now, he's saying about the stars that they are, every day and every night, they're uttering speech and showing knowledge to the people of the earth. That is a knowledge about God. Now, how specific that knowledge is, we are not certain at this point in the psalm.

We haven't come far enough to know exactly how specific he's been. Is he saying merely that every time someone looks at the stars, then the belief that there is a God is reinforced? I mean, the more I see it, the more it confirms to me there must be a God. If he's saying only that, we would see that's true.

But is he being more specific? Is he saying there's a specific message that these stars are giving, that every day, as people contemplate it, they can receive more and more knowledge of God, and get deeper and deeper into the knowledge of certain things? I believe he is. And he says about the message in the stars, he says that there's no language under earth, and no part of earth that has not seen this picture and has not heard this message. Now, let me tell you why I believe he's talking about a specific message.

If you'll turn to Romans chapter 10, we find that Paul quotes this verse. Romans 10, beginning with verse 16. Romans 10, 16 through 18.

It says, But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Then he says, Yes, verily.

And this next line is a quote from Psalm 19. Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. It's basically, it's not a quote from the Hebrew, but from the Greek Septuagint, but it's from Psalm 19.

Their words were heard to all the world. Now, who's them? In Psalm 19, it's the stars that are uttering speech and giving knowledge day by day to all languages and to all places under heaven. But what's he saying here? He's saying, essentially, in verse 16, Not all have obeyed the gospel.

And then he quotes from Isaiah to prove that not everyone has obeyed the gospel. Then in verse 17 he says, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That is, you can't have faith in the gospel until you've heard it.

And you can't hear it until God speaks it. Unless God speaks a word, you can't hear Him. And unless you hear Him, you can't believe Him.

Then he says, Now what about those who apparently haven't heard? Have they really not heard? He says, Yes, they have heard. Now, he's talking, essentially, about people who have not heard the gospel preached by a human messenger. But he says, Have they not heard? If he was talking about people who have heard through a human messenger, he could say, Yes, they've heard, because we've preached to them.

But he doesn't try to support the statement that they have heard by saying that we've preached them. He supports it by saying that there's no language under heaven that has not heard the message that the stars are declaring in the heavens. Okay? Now, Paul, then, is suggesting that there's a very specific message that all people under the heavens have had opportunity to hear.

Whether they've actually heard it or not is another question, but they could have deduced it from the stars. What is that message? I believe it's the gospel message. I believe the stars actually preach the gospel, and that's why he goes on to talk about how the sun plays a role in this message.

The sun running like a bridegroom and like a strongman ready to run a race. But let me show you a few other scriptures to sort of pull the picture together, all right? Turn to Genesis chapter 1, where the creation of the stars is first mentioned. Genesis 1, and verse 14.

And God said, Specifically mentions what they were a little further down in verse 16. It says, He made a great light to rule the day, which was the sun. A lesser light, which was the moon, to rule the night.

And they said he also made the stars. So, he made these lights, the sun, the moon, and the stars, in order to give light to the earth, to be signs and to mark off seasons and days and years. But what does it mean to be signs? In what way are the stars a sign? We were reading Job just yesterday.

And in Job, God said, Remember that statement? The word Maseroth is a reference to the 12 signs. In fact, that's what your marginals say in your Bible, if you have a marginal reference at all. It's found in chapter 38 of Job.

Job 38, 32. It says, The 12 signs in his season. The Maseroth.

Or canst thou guide our tourists with his sun? Now, what's he saying there? There are 12 signs that God put in the heavens. When he made the stars, he made them for signs. Job, in Job 38, 32, it says that there are 12 of these signs that he put in the heavens.

In Psalm 19, it tells us that they are uttering knowledge. These 12 signs carry information. And Paul tells us in Romans 10, by his quote that we read in Romans 10, 18, that the information they carry is the gospel.

So, putting these scriptures together, or at least he implies it's the gospel, we come to a tentative conclusion that possibly the 12 signs, which are commonly called the Zodiac, would contain a gospel message. God made them for signs. He said there were 12 of them.

He said that they utter speech and show forth knowledge. And Paul indicates that the fact that they do so means that all have heard. That all people on earth have heard and every language group has heard.

But in what way could it be said that these signs preach the gospel? It's an interesting thing that when God took Abraham out under the heavens, in Genesis chapter 15, he said, look up at the stars and tell the stars if you're able to number them. So shall your seed be. Remember that statement? The word tell, where it says tell the stars, and where it says number them, those are the same Hebrew word in both places.

You can get a stronger concordance if you prefer to confirm this. But the same Hebrew word is in both places. Tell the stars and number them.

The word actually could be translated decipher them. And it's conceivable, though not necessary for us to believe this, but it's very conceivable and it's a valid translation that God could have been saying to Abraham, if you can decipher the stars, in other words, if you can break the codes, if you can understand their message, if you can decipher them, it says so shall your seed be. Paul tells us in Galatians 3.16 that seed is not the Jews, but that seed is Christ.

Now I know that in another place, God did tell Abraham that his children would be as numerous as the stars and as numerous as the sand of the seashore. And it's possible that he's saying that in this place also, in Genesis chapter 15 verse 5. It's possible he's saying your children, your offspring will be as numerous as the stars. But it's equally possible that in this place, he's saying if you can decipher the stars, that's what your seed shall be like, Christ.

In other words. And it's interesting in reference to this, that Galatians tells us that God preached the gospel to Abraham. Though we have no reference in Genesis specifically to God preaching the gospel to Abraham, yet Galatians tells us that.

Galatians 3.8 says, In the scripture foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of the faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Interestingly, it says that Abraham had the gospel preached to him in terms of the promise that God made concerning him and his seed.

Now, whether that refers to the time when he saw the stars or not, we don't know. And I wouldn't be too forceful with that particular conclusion. But putting all these things together, it's interesting that there are two times in the scripture, and I can't give you references off the top of my head, one's in Psalms and one's in Isaiah, that mention that God calls all the stars by their name.

I might be able to find one of those two places quickly. I might not be able to. Isaiah 40 might be a place, but I may not be right on that.

But there are two places, one's in Isaiah and one's in the Psalms, which specifically mention that God calls all the stars by their name. Yeah, Isaiah 40, 26 is one of those places. It says, The Psalm, by the way, is Psalm 147, and verse 4, I guess.

Psalm 147, and verse 4. It says, So, twice in the scripture we're told that God calls the stars all by their name. That means they have names. Now, one thing that is fascinating to me, and has always been fascinating in the study of astrology, which is a satanic, by the way, astrology as we know it today is a satanic counterfeit of the true understanding of the stars.

But, it is an interesting point, that every culture, under the heavens, as near as we know, has had some kind of an awareness that there are twelve houses, or twelve groups of constellations of the zodiac. And even in Job it's mentioned that there are twelve. That this knowledge seems to exist amongst tribes on different continents, who have had no contact with each other, have this information, that there are twelve signs, or twelve houses of the zodiac.

And, again, it's confirmed in scripture as well. More fascinating than this, is that they not only know there are twelve, but almost every culture recognizes them as the same thing. Namely, one of the houses is recognized to be that of a crab, which we commonly know through modern satanic astrology as Cancer.

And Scorpio, a scorpion is another one. And twins, or another, usually called Gemini in our culture. And a virgin is one of them.

And a lion, another one, and so forth. And water bearers. Now, if you look at the star charts that are given by astrologers, you can see that the constellations do not look anything like those things.

It's not as though it's a dot-to-dot picture, where if you connected the stars, you'd see a lion, or you'd see a crab, or something like that. Instead, you have maybe three or four stars, which are not in any clear arrangement. And yet, on the star charts, the astrologers have drawn a picture, sometimes including, and sometimes not even including the stars on the thing.

So, even though these constellations don't look like those things, the fascinating thing is that tribes in South America, tribes in New Guinea, tribes in Australia, tribes in Africa, tribes in Asia, have always looked up there, and they've seen a crab in that one constellation. They've seen a scorpion in another one, a virgin in another one. And it's just an amazing thing.

They might have their own words and their own languages for those things, but they recognize in those things the same thing. Which speaks of the fact that, although these cultures are diverse from each other and separate from each other, they must come from some common place, some common origin. And that would be confirmed by scripture.

They all come from Noah. All the tribes on the earth came from Noah and his family. And it would be quite logical to assume that the knowledge of what these constellations were was with Noah, and was passed down from Adam, no doubt.

God had named these things. They had official names that God had given them. He set them there for signs.

They carried information. He gave them their specific identity and title and their names. And Noah must have picked this up being passed down through the human race from Adam, to whom I assume God would have told it.

And all the cultures that now exist have retained this knowledge. Though they have different languages, they still recognize the twelve specific signs as what they are. And this would reflect, of course, their common heritage from Noah.

Now, what does that mean? That means that those signs present a common stock of knowledge that all cultures have. You know, in preaching the gospel to all nations, there are language barriers that are hard to overcome. And to really give specific teaching about the gospel and about the word of God, of course, there needs to be a breaking of those language barriers.

And that takes a long time, sometimes, to learn a new language and to preach the gospel and translate the scriptures. But in the meantime, we're told that there is something that transcends all language barriers that every culture has access to, and that is the message that God has put in the stars. And he's lined it out in signs.

There's twelve stages to this message. And if you know anything about astronomy, now that's different than astrology, but astronomy is just the science of studying the heavens. In astronomy, it's true that the movement of the sun through the solar system, I mean, through the universe, and of our solar system with it, because when the sun moves, we move with it, it goes at different times in the course of a year.

It is closer and more in relation to one or another of these things. At twelve different places during the year, it moves in this cycle. And it is in, you know, they would say, under the house of Scorpio or something at one point in the year.

And that's why we have someone say, well, I'm a Scorpio, or I'm a Cancer, or I'm a Gemini or something. It means that you were born at that time of year when the sun and all of our planets were near or in conjunction with that particular constellation and their movement. Understand all that so far? Okay, well, the point is then, God, I believe, has built into the universe a message which is restated every year.

Every year, it is retold. From the creation of the world until the present time, every single year, God has told this story again for those who are able to decipher it. Now, I believe that ancient cultures knew better than we do how to decipher it.

I believe that a lot of the power to decipher the message has been lost just through the age of rationalism and the disregarding for such things. And also by the fact that astrology, which is Satan's counterfeit, has been produced. And Christians and godly people have pretty much shunned the whole study of the twelve houses altogether because of their association with Satan's astrology.

Now, see, Satan's astrology has this message. If you're born under the house of Gemini, then the stars of that constellation have some effect on your character, on your life, on your destiny. In other words, Satan's counterfeit of astrology is basically giving certain powers to the stars, almost like they're gods.

Almost like they have some control over your life. And the Bible doesn't teach that they do. In fact, it teaches they don't.

God is, there's only one God and he controls your life. And that's why Satan's counterfeit is so despicable because it gives power to the stars that really belongs to God. The Bible does not teach that the stars have any power.

Just that they're a big painting in the sky that God drew. He put a big sign up for people to see. And we shouldn't let the fact that Satan has a counterfeit cause us to overlook certain things the Bible teaches about the genuine.

Job knew about the twelve signs and he no doubt knew what they meant. And many cultures have known them. How to decipher them? I can't tell you exactly because I don't know exactly all the points.

But it's an interesting thing that since there is a circle of these things, of these constellations, and a circle has no beginning or end, one would have to decide where does it begin? If this tells a story, where's the beginning and where's the end of it? And there's an interesting relic, there's an interesting thing in our modern society that throws back to ancient civilization, which probably reflects the ancient knowledge of the answer to that question. And that is the sphinx. The sphinx in Egypt has the face of a woman and the body of a lion.

And inside of the sphinx and the pyramids in Egypt have been found drawn charts of the heavens that the ancient Egyptians drew. And they have it in their pictures, depicted they have a sphinx with the face of a woman facing Virgo, which is the virgin. And the tail of the lion faces Leo, the lion.

And the impression one gets is that the story starts with the virgin and ends with the lion. It goes all the way around the full circle and ends with the lion. And if that is true, then we have some interesting hints about the message of the stars.

Because all the cultures have recognized that Virgo is a virgin. Even though there's nothing about the stars that look like a virgin, it's just something that's been passed down. But the starting point of the story has to do with a virgin.

There is a star in Virgo that has the name in Hebrew that means a seed. And there's another star in that constellation that has a name that means a branch. The Hebrew words for those.

And of course both the seed and the branch are references to Christ. And those are some of the stars that are found in the constellation of Virgo. In the star chart, all the ancient star charts have, as far as Leo, which is the lion, the picture they have is a picture of a lion leaping on a serpent.

There's a long serpent on the star chart drawn that goes through several places, several parts of the whole heavens. And its head is right under the paws of Leo on the star chart. Leo the lion is pouncing on the head of the serpent.

And that's how the story ends. In between, basically since we know the gospel, we can pretty much put two and two together and figure out what that story is. Starting with the virgin and ending with the lion pouncing on the serpent's head.

Especially since Jesus in the Bible is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. It's interesting that when Jacob was blessing his twelve sons at his death, much of the imagery he used in his symbolic prophecies were taken from the signs of the Zodiac. We're talking about Judah as being a young lion and there's reference to the scorpion and there's reference to others.

Twins and so forth that are mentioned. And it seems like Jacob was aware of these twelve signs and he thought it was interesting he had twelve sons in some of the images from the twelve signs he even used in making his prophecies about his twelve sons. But the point is, though we might not be able to trace all the steps of the story from the virgin to the lion through the star charts, there are certain things that are seen.

One is, there's a recurring theme of conflict. If you've ever had a chance to view the star charts, I have a book, I have a couple of books on this subject, I've seen a couple of books on this subject. There is a recurring subject of conflict between good and evil.

A lot of the constellations are of like a centaur shooting at a dragon or something like that. Or a monster of some kind. In one case there's a strong man.

One of the constellations is that of a strong man. The Greeks thought it was Hercules. And his foot is crushing down the head of Scorpio, the scorpion.

And this kind of conflict is portrayed throughout the star charts. And I take it to be a reference all the way through to the victory of Christ over Satan. Jesus said, I give you power over scorpions and serpents and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.

So I believe that there's, the message is a message of the wicked one being defeated by the feet of the virgin, by the virgin's child. The virgin's child. And there's also references to dual nature.

I don't have time to go into all this. I have two tapes in our tape library on the biblical astrology. I go through all the signs and try to pull out whatever scriptural concepts I can.

Although it's not all that, it doesn't follow all that easily. But there is also the dual nature of Christ being in it. The fact that he's God and man.

One way that this seems to be portrayed is in the presence of centaurs. A centaur was a mythical animal. It had the body of a horse and the torso and head of a man.

And which would represent the beast or the human physical nature of Christ as a horse. And the man would represent the divine image. Because man is in the image of God.

But that Jesus had both natures and so forth. There's other indications. I don't have time to go into them all.

And they are not conclusive at all. But one interesting story that I heard or read. I read this actually.

Was that there was a man who was speaking at a conference of evangelicals at the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. Which is where J. Vernon McGee used to be the pastor. One of the most conservative Bible scholars around.

And this was a prophecy conference. And there was a certain man who was speaking there on this very subject. The things I've been talking about just now.

The signs for Zodiac and the message of the gospel. And he gave his message. And afterwards there was a lady that came up to him and she says, You know, I know that what you're saying is true.

Because I was for many years a missionary in Japan. And she says, I went to a certain tribe in the back lands of Japan where no missionary had ever gone. And she said, I found this tribe there that I evangelized.

And when I began to tell them the gospel. She said, there was an old woman in this tribe who stood up and started saying, That's it. That's it.

That's it. And she said, What are you talking about? This old woman. And the old woman says, She says, I have seen.

I've heard this message before. I've seen it in the stars. And I've told my people many times.

This whole story that you're telling us. That we knew about this Savior that you're talking about. But we just never knew his name until now.

And so, based on the scriptures that we've mentioned. And some of these other points I've made. My conviction is.

And it certainly isn't something that all Christians have to believe or follow or get interested in. My conviction is that when David said, The heavens declare the glory of God. And the stars, day after day, are showing forth knowledge and uttering speech.

And no language is without this message. That he's not just talking through his teeth. That he's saying something very specific.

And when Paul says, Have they not heard? He says, Yea, they have heard. And he quotes from Psalm 19. That there is a very genuine, a very real sense in which.

If you can decipher the stars, so shall thy seed be. So shall Christ be. A picture of Christ painted in the heavens.

When God made the signs at the very beginning. He made the stars. He made them for signs and for seasons.

And of course, this is saying something very different than what astrologers say about the twelve houses. But this is saying that they are all just witnesses to Christ. They all are a big message that God put in the sky for everyone to see.

And once a year the message goes by again. So that all can say there without excuse. Okay, now talking about this.

In verse 4 it says, Their line has gone out throughout all the earth. And their words to the end of the world. In them, that is in these constellations, in the stars.

He has set a tabernacle for the sun. Now this he understood. That the sun was surrounded by these constellations.

And in the course of the movement of the sun during the year, it moved within the sphere of these constellations. It moved around within them. And he says they sort of provide a house for the sun to live in.

A tabernacle, a tent for it to dwell in. But it says about the sun, which is as a bridegroom. Coming out of his chamber.

And as a strong man. Rejoicing to run a race. Now, Jesus is obviously the bridegroom.

And it's like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. That is coming out into the public. It's like he's coming out and showing himself.

In the stars. The sun is like the Lord coming out and showing himself. As the sun is, as I mentioned, in many ways a picture, a symbol of Christ.

And in these constellations, God has built a tabernacle for the worship of him. A tabernacle unto the sun. And so, he is like one who is ready to run a race.

That refers to, of course, the course of the sun across the sky. As the earth turns and it appears that the sun comes up in the east and moves to the west. He runs across the sky like a runner in a race.

And he says in the morning it's like he's rejoicing, ready to run this race. And he goes across the sky and he gives light and life to everyone. But not only does he give life and light to everyone, but he exposes everyone, as verse 6 says.

He's going forth, is from the end of heaven, meaning from the east, and his circuit unto the ends of it. Meaning, the circle that is made of the arch of the sun going over the sky is from one end of heaven to the other. From the east to the west.

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Now, the sun is a very positive thing. It gives life and light to us, but also it gives heat.

And there is nothing that is hid from that light and from that heat. Jesus said, when he came to the earth, he said to Nicodemus, This is the condemnation of the world, that light came. And men did not love the light, they loved the darkness.

They fled from the light, so that their deeds might not be exposed. And Jesus is like a light, like the sun. He exposes everything.

He is the light of the world. And we, his people, are now the light of the world too. We are the lesser light, ruling the night.

We represent the moon. Actually, I don't have time to get into this so much, but the moon is an interesting symbol of the church. Because the moon is a piece of rock.

It doesn't have any light of its own. The only way that it can bear light at all is to reflect the light of the sun. And the only reason it can reflect the light of the sun is because it is in the heavens, seated in the heavenly places, where it can see the sun even after the earth can't.

We are standing on the earth and sundown happens for us. We can't see the sun anymore, but the moon is suspended sufficiently high above the earth, it can still see the sun and reflect the light back to us, to the inhabitants of the earth. So the moon is a witness of the sun's light to the earth during the night season.

That's another story, but what David is saying here is that all these things in the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, all of this bear witness of a certain knowledge of God. And it's not maybe as specific or as easy to read or as easy to understand as the scriptures are, but it is nonetheless a very clear witness about Christ. And the glory of God.

Jesus is the glory of the incorruptible God, the Bible says. The heavens declare Jesus, really, that's what they do. And so, in these words, the psalmist has, in six verses, told us that the heavens are one way that God has declared His Messiah, His Savior, His glory to us.

And then we get the other way that God has done that, and that is maybe in a way less mistakeable, more unmistakable, I might say. He says in verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect. Now, the law, remember, is just another way of saying the scriptures.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure or steadfast. It can't be shaken, it's permanent, it can't be changed.

Making wise the simple. Now, he's saying basically these things about the word of God. One thing the word of God does, he says, is it converts the soul.

Converting the soul, of course, means to change the inner man. Your inner man is changed when you meditate on the word of God. It makes wise the simple.

A simple-minded man is a fool, according to Proverbs. And therefore, it gives wisdom. The word of God gives wisdom to people who, by nature, are not wise.

By nature, you might be a fool, but if you expose yourself to the light of the word of God, then you will be made wise. You see, the shift here, from verse 6 to verse 7, is the shift from the all-illuminating light of the sun to the all-illuminating scriptures. And as those that are exposed to the sun's light derive certain benefits and effects, so those who are exposed to the light of the scripture derive certain benefits.

Their soul is converted, they are changed. Their inner man is changed. They are made wiser than they were before.

Verse 8 says, the statutes, or the laws, the word of God, are right, rejoicing the heart. A person can actually delight in the law of the Lord, as we saw in Psalm 1. And the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Just as the sun gives light to our natural eyes, the scriptures give light, the commandments of the Lord give light to our spiritual eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Again, basically saying that a person who fears God will be living a clean life in accordance with his word.

And that fear of God is something that is not a temporary thing, but something that has eternal benefit. And the judgments of the Lord, meaning the scriptures, again, the things he's written out, his decrees, they are true and righteous altogether. Now, about all these things, that is, about the scriptures, verse 10 says, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Now, consider what he's saying here. Gold represents, of course, human wealth, prosperity, affluence.

Honey represents those things that please our bodies, that which is pleasant to our lusts, to our tastes. And, therefore, it represents the lusts of the flesh, whereas money, according to the New Testament, would represent lusty eyes. There are two things, largely, that motivate most men.

There are three, really. John, in 1 John 2, told us that there are three things. One thing that motivates men is the lust of the eyes.

Another is the lust of the flesh, and another is the pride of life. People do things, usually, because they want money, or they want to satisfy their lusts, their physical lusts, or they want to elevate themselves and satisfy their pride. Greed, lust, and pride are the three things that John tells us motivate worldly men.

Now, here, two of those three things are mentioned. The love of gold and the love of honey, or the love of things that satisfy the appetites, the flesh. And, he says that, as far as the Word of God is concerned, it's more to be desired than either of those.

For those who are valuing money, or gold, more than they value the Word of God, they are cheating themselves, because the Word is more to be desired than gold is. Those who think honey is sweet ought to learn to appreciate the Word, because it's sweeter. That is, it is, the things that motivate most men are lesser things than what Christians have to motivate them, and to please them.

God gives us His Word, and we are the richer and the more satisfied than those who seek the lesser things of physical and, physical appetites being fulfilled, and their greed being satisfied. It says, moreover, verse 11, by them, that is, by these, by the Word of God, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. So, it says, the Scriptures give us warning, and if we keep them, there's a reward in it.

There are many rewards. Some of them are listed already in the previous verse. Then it says, and who can understand his errors, cleanse me from my secret fault.

I must say, I don't know what is meant by who can understand his errors. It would seem, it almost looks like you're saying who can understand God's errors, but probably what it really means is who can understand his own errors. What man really is aware of all his own errors, his own fault? That's why we need the Scriptures.

In other words, the Word of God shows us where we are in error, because in our own natural mind, we would not have the same appraisal of our actions. We would justify all that we do. We have that tendency anyway.

Even when we're trying to be humble, we still don't see clearly all the things that are wrong about us. But the Scripture shines light on our lives and shows us our errors. And so, it says, Lord, who can understand his errors? That is, I can't understand all my errors.

I can't name them all. I can't, you know, I don't fully understand my own character. Therefore, he prays, cleanse thou me from secret fault.

Okay, I've got certain errors that I overlooked in my own life. Therefore, I need God to cleanse me of them. Well, how does one cleanse themselves? In Psalm 119, we have the answer to that.

How do we get cleansed from these secret faults? It says in Psalm 119, in verse 9, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119, verse 9. How's a man going to cleanse his way? By taking heed to the Word of God. That fits, of course, the whole context of this statement in Psalm 19.

Cleanse me from secret faults. I don't understand what all my errors are. Well, how do I do it? I need to read the Word of God.

I need to let the Word of God shine its light on my life. And make it statements about my actions and its judgments. Then he says, in verse 15, Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins, or apparently ignorant sins.

Sins that are done without necessarily malicious intent. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression.

Whatever the great transgression is. It's possible that the great transgression was considered to be just departing from God. But he's saying, cleanse me from secret faults and keep me from sins that I might inadvertently do, not knowing that they're sins.

How does that then, of course? By saying the Word. You read the Word and you become aware of what sin is. The more you know the Word, the less often you'll be sinning ignorantly.

Because you'll know what sin is by reading the Word. Then he says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. A prayer that you've probably heard before prayed.

And basically, what is being said here is that, this fullness wants to have a pure heart and doesn't want any secret sins. Therefore, just as the earth is exposed to the light of the sun, he's going to expose his heart and his life to the light of the Word of God. So that it might cleanse him from secret sins and keep him from sinning ignorantly and presumptuously.

And that's basically the whole story of the psalm. We're going to quit right there. I think it's a good point.