Divine Design
(Psalm 19)
Well, what a privilege it is this morning to be able to share a message with God’s people from God’s word. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anything I would rather do than stand up here before you and break open the word of God Almighty. You know why folks? Because God has something He wants you to know about Himself this morning. He has a lot to say because everyone here is very special to Him. And after He says it, the very thing your heart bleeds for and cries for, you can find here this morning if you listen to what His word and His Spirit says to your heart. He’s given us this incredible book that we open up and read from but it’s not just any old book, it’s what God has revealed to us about Himself.
Let me tell you something about this book. You want to know what this book is all about? Here it is in a nutshell:
This book deals with basically one problem – Sin!
It has basically one villain – Satan!
It has basically one hero – Jesus Christ the Savior!
It has basically one purpose – To shine, to instruct, to teach you and me all we need to know about life so we can give God the glory He deserves. Folks, that’s it! That’s what it’s all about. This is what God has revealed to us about Himself.
Does it tell us everything? NO! Does it tell us everything we need to know? YES! Why doesn’t it tell us everything? Because Deut. 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
God shows us what we need to know about Him from His word, so as we read His word this morning keep that in mind.
Turn if you will this morning to Psalm 19. I’ve entitled this morning’s message, “Divine Design.” We’re going to look at one of the ways we can know there is a God from scripture. You say, “Well, of course there’s a God, Bro. Marty, I believe it. Why would you preach about this subject this morning.” I’ll tell you why, because not everybody believes what you and I believe. Folks, I’ve only been in the ministry a little over two years but I’ve been a Christian for 25 years and one of this things I’m seeing more and more of are the effects of what’s known in theological circles as “postmodernism.” (Explain)
I want to get back to the basics this morning and take a good look at what the word of God has to say about the One who created this world and us. (Read Psalm 19/Pray)
I love this psalm because it helps us see how God exists, how He works, and what He works through. Now, we’ve just read God’s word and remember this is what He’s revealed. That’s what revelation is – an unveiling or a revealing of that which was previously unknown. So that’s what I want us to look at this morning – What God has revealed! The first thing I want us to see is:
I. The Revelation of God in His Creation – verses 1-6
Folks, when you’re outside and look all around you, what do you see? Here’s what you see - You see creation! And in that creation you see the perfect order of things. By that I mean when you look at a tree it’s not growing upside-down, it’s rightside up. You don’t see cows underwater and you don’t see fish swimming on dry land. You don’t see the sun at night and the moon during the day. It’s not hot in the winter and cold in the summer. You know why? Because it wasn’t designed that way! Everything your eyes can see was put together by special design.
Look at the human body – how it works, how all the vessels weave through the muscle and bones, the skeletal system, the neuromuscular system, the digestive system, the circulatory system. Do you think all of that just decided one day to all operate together and life happened? Of course not! It all has special design! It wasn’t a big bang that started it all. And isn’t it logical that if all of these things we see have a special design, there has to be a designer? Folks, that designer is God!
Look at verse 1 (Read).
I like the way the apostle Paul put it in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”. What Paul is saying there is, “You can’t honestly say there’s not a God, all you have to do is look all around you, He created all of this.” Verse 1 says, “The heavens declare.” In the Hebrew text there, that’s a strong word. It gives the picture of continuous action. The heavens are continuously telling of the glory of God. When it says heavens here it refers to everything upward.
Folks, when we look up in the sky we don’t see God, we see His glory. The heavens tell us, “the hand that did this is divine!” It’s the work of Almighty God!
It mentions day and night in these verses. “Day unto day utters speech.” Day tells of splendor and power. The sun shines bright on everything. It lights up the world so we can see everything. We see the beauty of God’s creation. It says, “And night unto night reveals knowledge.” You know, if it wasn’t for the night, we wouldn’t know anything about space just from looking up in the sky. You can’t see the stars during the day. But at night they’re everywhere throughout the sky. And if you look up into the sky at night and look at the stars you can’t help but be amazed at the beauty God’s created at night.
Verse 3 says, “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” Folks, what we see other people see too, all over the world. And the wonders of this world cry out silently, “God created this.” The rest of verses 4-6 talk about the sun. It gives reference there to the bridegroom coming out of his chamber and the strong man running the race. That’s talking about radiance and strength. When the sun comes out in the morning it wakes up and lights up everything outside. The birds sing, the flowers open up and the beauty of the earth that you can’t see at night comes to life when the sun comes out.
And here’s another thing, when the sun comes out in the morning it stays there until the night, doing what it’s suppose to do, giving light, giving warmth, giving nourishment to the plant life around us and a whole lot of other things. The sun that God created shows His glory and everybody feels the effects of it. Folks, even a blind person, though they may not be able to see the sun but they can feel the effects and the warmth of it. Nothing is hidden from its heat. God’s power has no limits.
God has revealed Himself to us in His creation. This is what’s known as “Natural Revelation.”
The mountains, the oceans, the massive deserts, the winds, the clouds in the sky, the great forests of trees, the beautiful waterfalls, the stars, the planets, the entire universe show that a divine hand created them. Folks, you didn’t evolve from an ameoba to a frog to a monkey to a man. God created you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made and made in the image of God. I got a question for the evolutionists. If we evolved from monkeys and apes how come we still have monkeys and apes? Just wondering!!!!!!
First of all there’s the Revelation of God in His creation. But secondly there’s,
II.The Revelation of God in His Commandments – verses 7-11.
Well, here we are back to the word again. God shows us who He is by His creation, that’s natural revelation. But He also shows us who He is by His word, that’s special revelation. This is where God goes into detail about Himself. It’s from His word that we learn that God is eternal. Psalm 90 verse 2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”
It’s from God’s word that we learn that God is infinite (He’s unlimited). Psalm 139 is a good example of this. In Psalm 139 it shows that God is unlimited in His knowledge. He knows everything! He’s unlimited in His power. He can do whatever He wills to do! And He’s unlimited in His presence. He’s able to be everywhere at the same time. Folks, only God can do those things. That’s what makes Him God.
But it’s also from God’s word that we see that He is holy. When Moses came upon the burning bush, what did God tell him? (Take off your sandals, because the ground you’re standing on is holy ground). It was holy because God was there. Isaiah chapter 6 tells us that the angels known as Seraphim cried out to one another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.” The word shows us that God is eternal, it shows us that He’s infinite, It shows us He’s holy. But you know the most important thing the word shows us? How to have a personal relationship with God.
The Bible says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The Greek rendering of that is, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by that which preaches Christ.” That puts it pretty plain, doesn’t it? II. Tim. 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration (God – breathed) and it’s profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness.” Very simply put, the Bible shows us what’s right, it shows us what’s not right, it shows us how to get right and it shows us how to stay right. And on top of all that Heb. 6:18 says, “It’s impossible for God to lie.” So what God says you can take to the bank friend! The word shows you what you need to know about salvation and it’s clear.
It doesn’t leave you wandering around in the dark wondering where you’re going. As a matter of fact, Psalm 119:105 tells us that His “word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” It shows us the way! Verses 7-9 show us 7 other things about God’s word that He’s given us. Look at verse 7. First of all it tells us that the law of the Lord, that’s God’s word. We know it means God’s word because David said in Psalm 1 about the Godly man that, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
The first thing verse 7 tells us is that,
1. God’s Word is Perfect.
It’s perfect because God is perfect. How can you improve it? How can you make it better? You can’t! You can’t improve perfection. Have you ever noticed when somebody asked Jesus a question, He always gave them the right answer? You never heard Him say, Well, let me think about that for a minute” or “let me do some research on that and I’ll get back to you.” Everything He said was the exact, right, perfect thing to say to whoever needed to hear it. The second is this,
2. God’s Word is Sure.
Don’t bank on God’s word changing because it doesn’t and by the way, aren’t you glad? I mean, God doesn’t go by the newest trends in psychology. He doesn’t go by some ruling that some judge handed down. He doesn’t tell you what He wants you to do through your horoscope in the paper. He doesn’t have you dial up the psychic hotline to see what in your future. He gives us something that has a solid foundation, something that’s stood the tests of time. He’s given us something that the devil’s tried to stamp out for centuries but can’t do. He’s given us His sure word and it makes simple people wise in His wisdom. Here’s the 3rd thing in verse 8,
3. God’s Word is Right.
You know, we call the word of God the “canon” of scripture.” The word canon means “measuring rod” or “standard.” The reason we call it that is because this (the Bible) is right and we measure everything else up against this (the Bible). The Bible sets the standard. If it doesn’t measure up to the Bible it’s wrong! Now, a lot of people would say, ”you’re too narrow-minded if you believe that” or “Man, you’re a nut!” Well, folks, if I’m a nut at least I’m screwed on the right bolt, Amen? Next we see that,
4. The Word of God is Pure.
Folks, just like water from a mountain steam, God’s word is the real thing. There are no additives to make it look good, it doesn’t come with a fancy label, nothing to make it sweeter, nothing to preserve it. It’s pure! As a matter of fact, Proverbs 30 verse 5-6 says this, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” You don’t add to God’s word because it’s the real thing! Verse 8 also says it enlightens the eyes. That means because of its purity it helps us to see things in a clear light. It helps us see what we need to see. Next we see in verse 9 that,
5. The Fear of the Lord is clean.
Proverbs 9 verse 10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Well, how do you get the knowledge of the Holy One? You get it from God’s word. God’s word is clean. When you hear the true word of God preached and taught you don’t have to worry about taking in something impure, dirty or harmful. Ephesians 5:26 says, speaking of Christ giving Himself for the church, “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” And friends, it’s forever. Isaiah 40 verse 8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” We also see in verse 9 that,
6. God’s Judgments are True.
In this day and age it seems we have a hard time defining truth. God lays out in His word what truth is. Pilate asked Jesus what truth was and truth was standing right in front of him and he didn’t know it. Finally, we see that God’s judgments are not only true,
7. God’s Judgments are Righteous.
Friend, when God says something or sets the standard, there’s no higher court you can go to. What God says is right. (Comment on “God said it, I believe it”). Verses 10 and 11 tell us that the things we’ve just mentioned are to be desired more than gold. His words are sweet and if we heed the warnings and obey God’s word that there’s great reward.
We’ve seen the revelation of God in His creation, we’ve seen the revelation of God in His commandments. Now I want us to see,
III.The Revelation of God Concerning Cleansing – verses 12-14
Now, in these verses it talks about errors and secret faults and sins we deliberately commit. This is the plea of a heart that desires cleansing. David is saying, “ Lord cleanse me from the sins that may have committed that I didn’t realize was sin but I’m guilty of them.” Then he asks for deliverance from the sins he knows he’s committed. Do you see what he’s doing here?
He’s covering all the bases. He doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned when it comes to getting right with God. He says, “I don’t want sin to have dominion over me.” The apostle Paul says something similar in Romans chapter 6 when he said, “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Then in chapter 6 verse 14 he says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Folks, let me get down to the nitty gritty here. Verse 13 gives reference to “great transgression” or your version may say “the great transgression.” What people do is this – they categorize sin. They have big sins in one column and little sins in another. But I’ll tell you something, God doesn’t see it that way. God doesn’t look at sin as big or little. He looks at sin as sin! And when you talk to people one of the hardest things to do is convince them that they’re sinners.
David knew what it was like to confess sin to God. Psalm 51 deals with David’s confession and repentance of sin from his adultery with Bathsheba. David knew that he had sinned against God and he asked God to create in him a clean heart. God did that for David. He forgave him and He’ll do that for anybody that comes to Him desiring a right relationship with Him. David ends this Psalm with a prayer that should be the desire of every Christian, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
God has revealed Himself to us through His creation. He has revealed Himself to us through His commandments and He has revealed what He wants us to know about having our lives cleansed.
You know, skeptics say, “If God will show Himself to me I’ll believe.” But what they can’t see is that He’s already done that and He still does it every day. When we look at God’s creation and when we hear His word that should be enough because they both come from Him. He doesn’t have to do anything to prove Himself. Look at how millions of lives have been changed by the grace of God. That’s the ultimate testimony. I Timothy 1:17 says, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
(Every head bowed and every eye closed please)
Let me ask you a question this morning, “Do you know God?” Do you have a real relationship with Him through His Son Jesus? If you do that’s wonderful. If you don’t I’ve got good news for you. You can this morning. You can give your heart and life to Jesus Christ this morning and have a brand new start.
(Share 4 steps to trusting Christ/ lead in sinner’s prayer)
Share a word about tonight/ announcements
