Can God Be Known?
Psalm 19
Associate Pastor Jeff Williams
08-10-03
The Loch Ness Monster and the Search for God
When I was a child, the mysteries of this world fascinated me. I would peer through my junior telescope at the craters on the moon, read endlessly about volcanoes, and collect fossils from the dried creek bed not far from my house. Whenever there was a television special about dinosaurs or “Bigfoot” or the search for Noah’s Ark, you could have found me sitting on the floor soaking in every word and image. I had even decided someday to travel to Scotland on a hunt for my favorite sea monster – “Nessie.” Since the sixth century, people have reported seeing a strange creature in Loch Ness. Starting in the 1930s, photographic images have shown what appears to an animal similar to the ancient Plesiosaur. Although most of those pictures turned out to be frauds, many still believed that science would prove that “Nessie” lived in the Loch.
The Loch is one of the deepest in the world and the water is dark and murky making underwater observation very difficult. A series of sonar scans in the 1970s were inconclusive and it was not until last week that the most comprehensive study of the loch ever undertaken was completed. A team from the British Broadcasting Corporation used six hundred separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to sweep the entire loch. Their conclusion was startling to the true Nessie believers – the Loch Ness Monster is a myth. There simply is no scientific evidence to support the claim that a large creature roams the Loch. The believers will continue to watch the surface of the lake and hope that Nessie herself will prove all the research wrong.
This morning we are going to plum the depths of a deep and murky subject – can God be known? This question has echoed down the halls of time and has sparked heated debate among scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Many of us have asked this question in the quietness of our souls. Just like peering into the grey waters of Loch Ness wondering if there is actually a creature staring back at us, many of us cry out into the expanse of space and asked the burning question, “God, are You there? Can I know you?” Many scientists have told us that God is a myth, just like the Loch Ness monster, and that there is simply no scientific evidence to support the claim of a Divine Designer guiding and directing our lives. What are we to think? And if God can be known how would that affect our lives? These questions bring us to our text for this morning. Please turn with me to Psalm 19.
Background of Psalm 19
Psalm 19 has been called one of the noblest examples of Hebrew poetry in existence. C.S. Lewis called Psalm 19 “the greatest poem in the Bible.” This psalm was written by David while he was in the wilderness running from King Saul. It was written originally to be sung as a praise song. The Hebrew is graphic and stunning and shows David’s deep love for God and His creation. David answers the question, “Can God be known?” with a resounding YES! But, as we saw with Moses, God can only be known on His terms and by His rules.
Only God can reveal God
Last week, we studied the story of a presumptuous prophet named Moses who asked to see God’s glory. God made Himself known to Moses but on His terms. This brings us to a very important point for this morning’s discussion: God can only be known as He makes Himself known. Most religions of the world are about man reaching up to try to find God. Christianity is a religion in which God reached down to us. God revealed Himself to man. The word “reveal” means “unveiling, disclosing something previously hidden.” God chose to unveil His glory and splendor to humans. But does this mean we can ever fully understand God? As one of my seminary professors used to say, “The more you know about God the more you realize you don’t know about God.” How can a finite mind understand an infinite God? Job put it this way:
"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave-what can you know?” (Job 11:7-8)
Isaiah wrote:
“Who has understood the mind of the LORD?” (Isaiah 40:13)
The Apostle Paul wrote that, other than His revelation to us, God is not only unknowable but unapproachable:
“God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (I Timothy 6:15-16)
I am thankful that God chose to reveal Himself in such a way that we can not only apprehend Him but also have a relationship with Him.
In Psalm 19, David speaks of three types of revelations. In verses 1-6, God makes Himself known through what theologians call “natural revelation.” Verses 7-14 God unveils Himself through “special revelation.” And in the last verse, we have a Messianic hint of God’s ultimate revelation – the Incarnation.
Let Heaven and Nature Sing!
David, who grew up in the pastureland of Palestine, was accustomed to having the most magnificence view of God’s celestial handiwork. There were no city lights, no pollution, or buildings to block his view. He would lean back, prop his head up on a rock, and watch the stars, moon, constellations, and planets do their nightly dance. One of those evenings, he took out his lyre and began to sing a song of praise to the Creator of the Universe. Luckily, we have that song recorded in the Bible as Psalm 19. He began:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)
Some observations:
(1) Proclamation of creation. David began with the heavens and the skies proclaiming, declaring, and publishing the glory of God and the works of His hands. This implies a very conspicuous, noticeable revelation. Erwin Lutzer writes: “In creation, God went public.” It is as if David sees the heavens as a preacher standing behind a pulpit announcing the glory, or weightiness, of God. The Hebrew word for God in these verses is the basic title for God – the Creator God. From the telescope to the microscope nature shouts the virtues of a magnificent God.
(2) There is no pause in their song. Day after day, night after night the heavens pour fourth speech. The Hebrew word for pour forth is “bubbling up” and pictures a natural spring that continually gives a fresh water supply. There is neither pause nor break in their concert of beauty, vastness, and steadfast order.
(3) A Pervasive Declaration. Although the creation is not endowed with the gift of speech, the heavens make a universal appeal to all the earth – “The hand that made us is Divine.” In a choir of colors, patterns, light, contrast, shape, and proportion creation sings its praise to God. The same moon that we see in our sky is the same one that people in Taiwan, Tahiti, and Tanzania see. The same stars that look down us at night were the same stars that David watched as he wrote this Psalm. John Calvin wrote: “…there is not a spot in the universe wherein one can not discern at least some sparks of his glory.” From Moscow to Memphis, from Rome to the rainforest, from Albania to Antarctica – everywhere there is evidence of God.
(4) Star Power. In a departure from the poetry of his day, David sees the sun as a show of God’s power and strength. Most poetry of the Ancient East deified the sun and encouraged its worship. But to David, the sun is the greatest member of the heavenly choir. David pictures the sun as a newly married groom coming out of the wedding pavilion with great joy and radiance or a runner rounded the bases of a celestial baseball diamond. The sun, the great circuit riding preacher of the sky, proclaims God’s power, presence, and provision.
Natural revelation revels to us God’s creative power and greatness. Whether in the beauty of a sunset, or a beach, or mountain ranges, or a flower, or the laugh of a child, or a snow flake, the creation is shouting that there is something more. The sights and sound of nature awaken in us the notions of glory, beauty, and transcendence. These “Acts of God” as they are called by are insurance companies, can provoke awe and even fear.
Last Sunday, we took off to Bloomington to swim. We were between Pontiac and Chenoa we when noticed it. To the east, toward Flanagan, a very thin tornado snaked its way out of a cloud and headed for the ground. We stopped the car for a moment and watched in silence. We quickly decided this was not a day for swimming and headed back home to the basement!
* Nature gives us a proper perspective of ourselves. I can still remember reaching the very top of a ridge in North Carolina and collapsing on to a mossy outcrop of rock. When I caught my breath and my eyes focused, I was stunned. Growing up under the glare of city lights, I was not prepared for what I saw on that mountain that night. It seemed as if every square inch of the sky was full of stars. The Milky Way arched its way across the sky and a provided me a glimpse into the universe’s heart. I said nothing because there was nothing to say. I was speechless. I felt so small in comparison to the great expanse above me. The silence was deafening as the celestial choir echoed in my soul. David had felt the same way:
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4)
* Natural revelation leaves us without excuse. Because God has revealed Himself through nature, humans are responsible for responding to this revelation with praise and thankfulness. When looking at a waterfall, or sitting on a beach watching the endless rise and fall of the crashing waves, or listening to a baby cry for its mother, God is whispering to us all. The Apostle Paul says that we are without excuse if we deny God’s greatness:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)
Natural revelation is so clear, so obvious, and understandable that we have no excuse if we deny Him. But deny Him we continue to do. The notion of “suppressing the truth” is alive and well in our culture. The scientific antagonism toward God is nothing new. With the theory of evolution being taught as fact in some of our public high schools, young people are learning to deny the obvious – that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
The story is told that Napoleon overheard some of his men arguing about whether God actually created the world. He stopped their debate and with a grand sweep of his hands asked them what they planned to do with the evidence of the sky full of stars that were shining down on their ship.
More and more, the scientific establishment is coming to the conclusion of the ancient writer that wrote: “The fool says in his heart there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1) Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, former head of the NASA/Goddard space institute, has said, “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story of the big bang ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”
* Natural Revelation is limited in scope and function. The creative order proclaims God as creator and magnifies His greatness and power. This type of revelation speaks to man as a creature. The problem is that instead of answering our questions it propels us to deeper questions still like: “What is behind all this? Why am I here? Why is there suffering? What does the future hold? What is the meaning of life?” John Piper states: “I believe nature is the prep-school for our affections, readying them to delight in God.” Solomon agreed that we want to know more than what this created world can tell us.
“He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
If we just had natural revelation, we would be aware that there is a God who is a powerful, strong creator.
But, as John Calvin wrote, this might very well led to us worshipping creation instead of the Creator. Because of the effect of sin, we are not able to rightly interpret nature’s display of God’s strength and history is cluttered with people groups who worship the sun, the stars, or the mountains.
Another problem is the consistency of natural revelation. Day after day and night after night this revelation provides a backdrop for our lives. When I was in high school, I had a friend who lived by the airport. When I would go to dinner at their house it was unsettling. Every ten minutes a jumbo jet would roar just fifty or so feet above their roof. I would jump as the windows rattled and the furniture seemed to sway. This family would not even flinch. They had lived there so long that they no longer heard the airplanes. As impossible as that seems, they simply stopped hearing the sound. The same can be said for humans who are surrounded by the most amazing miracles of nature and seem to be deaf to their lavish language of love for their Creator.
Two men were standing at the Grand Canyon. One man exclaimed, “this is the hand of God. I am amazed!” The other man said, “I’m amazed too. That’s the first time I ever spit a mile.”
Natural revelation is not sufficient to bring us to God. Can God be known? Yes, through His created world but even more so, though His Word. Francis Bacon said there are two volumes to life: “The book of nature and the book of Scripture.” To begin to understand God, you must read both. Understanding gives way to worship when we realize the greatness and grace of our God.
Psalm 148:1-6
Famous One
Shout to the Lord
God of Wonders
The Bible Tells Me So
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. (Psalm 19:7-9)
David abruptly switches gears and turns his attention to God’s Word. He uses six synonyms for God’s Word –law, statutes, precepts, commands, fear, and ordinances. David was speaking of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, but his description is equally true for the whole cannon of Scripture. David praises the qualities of the Law then its results. Let’s unpack these one by one:
• The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. While we think of the law in a negative way, this word simply means “instruction or teaching.” The instructions of the Lord, the total body of practical doctrine, are entirely sufficient to base our lives on. Ancient Israel revered God’s Torah as an expression of His love for them. The law is perfect which means “whole, intact, or free from blemish.” God’s Word is comprehensive; it speaks to every issue of our lives. It is interesting that David uses Yahweh, the personal name for God. Natural revelation can not tell us God’s name. Nor can nature “convert the soul” as the old King James Version translates it. God’s Word has the ability to put us back on track when we have lost our way.
• The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Another translation is: “The testimony of the Lord is sure.” God’s Word is not a variable document that changes according to circumstances. It is dependable or reliable. The word statutes implies repetition – making something clear again and again. Wisdom is the ability to live skillfully. Or as Dr. Frank Pollard put it “sanctified common sense.” Even if one does not have a lot of knowledge, they can still be wise if they depend on the Word of God to guide them. The entire book of Proverbs is dedicated to the subject of wisdom.
• The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The word precept means something like our word “roadmap.” The Word of God sets us on the right path and there is great joy in being on the right road. When I was a teenager, I constantly got lost. One of the tell-tell signs that I was lost was seeing the Lakeland exit sign. Knowing that Lakeland was a small town on the way to Nashville always reminded me to turn away and head the other way to get home. To this day, my father will ask me if I have seen the Lakeland exit recently.
• The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. These commands are divinely given imperatives – rules for living. Radiant can be translated “shining” or “pure.” These are the “Thou shall nots…” of Scripture. These commands shed light to the path in front of us. It makes the path straight forward and easy to follow. David liken the Word to a lamp in Psalm 119:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
Unfortunately, we now have thirty-five million laws on the books to enforce the Ten Commandments.
• The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. Many times we misunderstand the word fear in relation to God. Martin Luther distinguished between two types of fear. The first is the fear a prisoner has for the executioner. The second is the fear a child has for her father. God does not want us to cower in terror of Him. We are commanded to have an honest, healthy respect for God as Father. It is pure or “undefiled.” It is free of all the abominations of pagan religions.
• The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. God’s Word is the standard for righteousness. It is perfect, trustworthy, and precious. They are invaluable:
“They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;” (Psalm 19:10)
David states that the Law of the Lord is infinitely more valuable to him than all
the gold he has acquired as king. He goes on to say that the instructions of the
are also inviting:
“…they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.” (Psalm
19:10b)
David writes nearly the same thing in Psalm 119:
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”
(Psalm 119:105)
I have read that honey out of the comb has a sweetness, richness, and flavor far beyond what it has after being exposed to air. David considers God Word’s a delicacy that satisfied his deepest hunger. Charles Spurgeon wrote: “The delightful study of the Psalms has yielded me boundless profit and ever-growing pleasure.” The Word of God is better than fresh oatmeal-butterscotch cookies!
They also have an inspirational effect:
“By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward”
(Psalm 19:11)
Scripture serves to warn us and to motivate us. Breaking God’s commands bring
severe consequences. Keeping God’s commands led to blessing. It is really that
simple.
Moses wrote:
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
Recently, I approached a green light as it was turning yellow. I did what all of you
would do – I punched the gas! My son, who was in the back seat, reminded me in
a very stern voice that yellow means caution. How often we forget that in our
spiritual lives.
The Law is precious to David and he prays that he might not sin against it:
“Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:12-13)
The clearer Scripture becomes to us, the more aware we become of our sinfulness before a holy and righteous God. Contrary to popular belief, we are not evolving toward perpetual goodness. I am not OK, and you guys are really not OK! David offers up two prayers.
• A Prayer for pardon: “Forgive my hidden faults.” We all have blind spots that we can not see. We all have sin that God needs to bring to light. Sometimes we are not aware of the sinfulness of an action until someone points it out to us. How does this happen:
- A person may truly not know the action is sinful and when shown from the Scriptures why it is wrong will seek to change it. (see Philippians 2:16)
- Sometimes an action or habit is so firmly ingrained in a person’s personality that they see little hope in changing
- Sometimes we can be baffled by words or emotions that seem to come out of nowhere. (Especially when we hit our thumb with a hammer!)
The Apostle Paul struggled with this baffling form of sin.
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15)
David prays for cleansing, for acquittal, and for God to render him guiltless.
• A Prayer for Power. “Keep your servant also from willful sin; my they not rule over me. David pictures a continuum in which hidden faults are on one side and willful sins are on the other. These are the times in our lives when we sin on purpose. We know what God says but we do our own thing. This is the presumptuous, self-sufficiency that God hates. We presume to know better than God or presume sin is not that big a deal. Interestingly, David does not ask for forgiveness but the power not to commit these sins in the first place. He recognizes these sins have the potential to trap him and “rule over him.” 2 Peter 2:19 says that “…a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.”
• A Prayer for Purity: “Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgressions” The end result of David’s prayers is innocence before God. He desires:
- Purity in Speech. “May the words of my mouth…” With our mouth we can praise God or profane His name. As my mother-in-law always tells me, “Words are Spirit, use them wisely.”
- Purity in thought: “…and the meditations of my heart be pleasing unto You.” (Psalm 19:14). It has been said that we are a sum of our thoughts. What we think about will inevitably show its self in our words and actions. That’s why Paul encouraged us: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)
In the end, David’s deep desire is to have a consistent lifestyle of worship before a great and powerful God.
Special Revelation, specifically the Bible, gives us a blueprint for mastering life. All I know about how to be a good husband, father, co-worker, and minister come from this book. While nature speaks to us as creatures, the Bible speaks to us as sinners. The theologian Louis Berkhof states the main purpose of special revelation is “to change man’s entire spiritual condition by redeeming from the power of sin and leading him back to a life in communion with God.”
This leads us to the third way God has revealed Himself. Look at the very last words of the song: “My Rock and my redeemer.” “My rock” is a description of the Creator God. “My Redeemer” can only be known by the special revelation of Scripture. It is in the pages of God’s Word that learn of the ultimate unveiling or revealing:
The Incarnation: God Came Near
We are about encounter a mystery far greater than the Loch Ness Monster. Instead of starting with a deep theology lesson, let me tell you a parable.
Suppose you and I were walking along a path and noticed a huge ant hill. As we approached the hill, it becomes apparent that a child had ridden his bike right through the middle of the mound. We get down on our knees and notice that the ants are in chaos. They are running back and forth and many seem lost. Our heart goes out to the ants so we try to fix their mound. The only problem is that our hands are too big. The ants hide in terror as we try to tell them that we are here to help. Our speech is heard only as peals of thunder and they tremble helplessly before us. What are we to do? What if we could become an ant? What if we could take on ant hood? In that way, the ants would be able to relate to us, understand our directions, and follow us as we lead them back home.
Do you get the picture? From the beginning of time, God knew that one day, in order to set things right again, He would become a human being. (see Genesis 3:15). That is the mystery of the Incarnation. In very simply terms, think of it as “God with skin on” or as the students put it, “God in a bod.” Listen to how Paul put it:
“…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
Jesus said that if you have seen Him you have seen the Father because: “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30)
Jesus was fully-God and fully-man. How could I explain it any better than Max Lucado:
“It all happened in a moment…God became a man. While the creatures of earth walked unaware, Divinity arrived...The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been Spirit became pierceable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo…God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb…God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen…God had come near…It all happened in a moment, a most remarkable moment…the Word became flesh.” [From “God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ” by Max Lucado]
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
To see Jesus was to see God because Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3)
Can God be known? Yes! Yes! Yes! But only through His ultimate revelation – Jesus Christ.
God became a human in order to redeem us. The word “redeem” means to “buy back.”
Zachariah, John the Baptist’s father, proclaimed:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. (Luke 1:68)
Paul wrote:
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
In C. S. Lewis’s classic children’s book, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” young Edmond is swayed to the side of the white witch. In the showdown between the witch and Aslan (a lion that represents Jesus), she reminds him that the only way to redeem Edmond is to offer a life for a life. Aslan agrees and willingly takes Edmond’s place at the stone table where he died in his place.
This is a beautiful picture of what God for us. God became a man and lived a sinless life among us to teach us how to live well. Instead of us receiving the due penalty for our sins (see Romans 6:23) , He took our punishment upon Himself. He died, in our place, for our sins. Why would he do this? Because He loves you.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
We were slaves to sin, satan, and ourselves, but God, in Christ, redeemed us by paying the ultimate price – He sacrificed His life for ours.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Action Steps
1. If you have not placed your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, do it this morning. Scripture says “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:8-9)
2. As you leave this church, stop and look at a cloud. Did you ever realize that a cloud can weigh thousands of pounds but floats effortlessly though the air?
3. Thank God for sunsets, for flowers, for beaches, and mountains, and goats, and aardvarks, and penguins, and mosquitoes, and your brain, and rain, and snowflakes, and ask His forgiveness for taking these miracles for granted.
4. Lay on a blanket in your back yard tonight and try to count the stars. (When you finish I’ll give you a prize)
5. Read Psalm 19 every day for a month. Memorize verse 14. Let’s make every effort to live a life of consistent praise to our incredible God – our Rock and our Redeemer.
We are going to end this morning by watching a video. During this video, thank God for His revealing Himself to us through natural revelation, special revelation, and most of all, the Incarnation.
Closing Prayer:
“May the words of our mouths and the mediations of our hearts be pleasing unto You, our Rock and our Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
