Psalm 19

… Psalm number 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. And the covenant shorts his handiwork, day after day after speech, and night after night of short knowledge. There is no speech, no language, where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out to 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 womb, and rejoices as a strong man to run away from it. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his service unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the sinner. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, gay than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret thoughts. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my deliverance. We are still in the first book of Psalms. And this psalm is in connection with testimony. I suppose this has become necessary after the fall. A testimony to God. And so we get the principle of faith introduced after the fall. In the garden that was not necessary. But since the fall, and God being displaced by Satan himself, in the minds and the hearts of the creature, a very solemn consideration, then it is necessary that there should be a testimony to God. A testimony of creation. Romans 1 tells us of that, that's what they have. And so the verses that we have in the beginning, it's remarkable how sudden the change is from all that is referred to in the creation to every model consideration that is now necessary with regard to God and the creature and our position in relation to God. And so the creation is used, as we may say, as hieroglyphics, using the very creation itself. In what can we take an account of by the very senses, the eyes, the ears? And the very fact that we create for this creation as God's creatures, there is the evidence in the creation that everything is of God. Romans 1 tells us that the creature was altogether without excuse in regard to that testimony. And yet, that very testimony is disregarded and confusion respecting it. Nevertheless, there God shows his favor, and this is the better side of things, that God is the first one to move. When the creature departs, he is the one with outrage. And he is the one most effective, the consequence of course, falls on the creature, the detriment to it. But God could never be indifferent to the departure of the creature and we can bless God for that. The Lord Jesus reminds in John 5, he says, My power worketh in the two. Immediately, God began to work. To what end? For the recovery of his creature. And so, if we get the message of day unto day here, whether it be the actual day, as can be admitted, or even the dispensations of God, it is God who begins from his own side, at his own expense, and it must be his own wisdom and his resource for it to be carried through. That work has to do with the complete recovery of the creature. And the recovery of the creature is not really effective until God has regained that place that he was deprived of by the new serpent, by Satan himself. So the whole history, the whole history unfolded to us in the whole of the Bible begins with the garden of Eden. And this best level of problem, which only God himself can solve, he himself has the solution to the problem. Man was trying to grapple with it. This was the whole history of the two trees in the garden. He assumed, of course, that he could grapple with it, and this was the suggestion of the serpent. Two trees. One he could have, the tree of life was there available. But one denied him. And that one denied him was, in a sense, it was superfluous to his immediate necessity for everything that would be pronounceable by God. But the new serpent came in there to suggest, and they helped the suggestion. And they relied more on the word of the serpent than what God had said. Even though the evidence was there, everything was good. So in taking up the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, virtually, it was suggested that man was equal to grapple with such a problem as the solution of the whole problem of good and evil. The solution. We live in a time with 6,000 years behind us of this. To see the groping and the grappling and the frustration, even though there is advance in science and advance in knowledge and to manipulate the ability to manipulate and introduce all manner of conveniences, yet the biggest problem, the moral question of good and evil is still left unsolved and still a problem to the highest intellect. Virtually, the garden, it was the very fact that they were deprived of it when God says of that tree, you shall not eat. It was a kindly thought on the part of God and a consideration that it was something just as good be for a heavy load, for a child to lift, any thoughtful parent would never expect a child to lift a heavy load beyond its ability. And so that tree, the tree of the knowledge of evil, is beyond your ability or your capacity or even your consideration. Leave that alone. That was kindly thought on the part of God. A great consideration. In suchness, from that very moment, we were deprived of access to the tree of life. And so we have, from that very moment, the human side, where man has attempted to grapple with that problem and never, never has he been able to solve it. It is as great a pain as anyone can observe. But it's just there where God shows and intimates this great resource. And if we allude to a scripture in Corinthians, it is just there where Paul refers to it in this way. He says, Christ is the wisdom of God. Christ, Christ, the wisdom and the power of God, that is, the very one whom God will attend to that problem and solve it. Which will mean glory to God. Yes, glory to God. And the blessing, which is to be considered in the scriptures we are reading, in him are the blessings, beginning with the company of Christ and nearest to himself. Israel and the nations and the whole universe brought into reconciliation. That which is to be reconciled will be brought into reconciliation on the righteous basis of redemption. And so the intimation of that was in the very cross of the Lord Jesus. When the serpent there was threatened, as we could say it was, the seed of the woman. That was a threat really rather than a promise. It had him build the Lamb of God character that had taken away the sin of the world and the complete over us, all the throes of Satan and the whole realm of Eden and the establishing of all that God will recover and put and bring and recover to himself his revelation of himself. So he said the seed of the woman shall bruise my head even though it was also said that he would bruise bruise his head. So it may sound, we can think to see that the creation brought before us in this way it is really God's faithfulness in the same realm which the handiwork of God alone on tells us his eternal power and divinity is clearly to be apprehended unless unless we are blind as we naturally are by the way I see it. And so to to just briefly pass over the reference to the creation where it is apparent to all and the universal testimony to God's revelation on the on this earth's surface the same action of the sun and everyone depends upon that sun just as the just as we depend upon God for every everything. The in reference to the testimony verse 3 tells us that or verse 2 tells us that day after day of the speech so clearly there is a communication in this it's a reference to speech something to be conveyed God draws our attention to to the testimony to himself in the in the term from day after day of the speech and night after night throughout the college within this darkness there God is using the light. So those in John's gospel following the the approach of the Lord they said what work shall we do that might work the works of God? That occurs in the 6th chapter of John. The fact is that being in the darkness no man can work in the dark. No man can work in the dark. And the answer the Lord Jesus gave there was that what you need is light. When a person speaks about works he is groping in the dark and cannot see the work. And that's what it is without that testimony. And the Lord Jesus agreed to say this is a work that you believe on human respect. And that is true. In the darkness indeed it the darkness in which they were the first thing they needed was the light to see where they were and that we should discern that God did fulfill this promise in the in what would come down from heaven to be available for the whole world. And so the night is the is where only God can meet the night by bringing in the light. The Lord Jesus says as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world. And that is what is needed. And this is the testimony that God is light. And Christ is the is that very light that we need. In the in its universal application the in this testimony of creation there is no audible voice. That's what we may understand by verse 3. There is no audible voice in this testimony as there is with the prophets and the prophetic word. But nevertheless there is a testimony in the inaudible voice in the words of the prophets. They have no speech. Yet their voice is heard. That is the voice of the testimony is heard even though there is no audible voice. And then if we prefer to listen typically as the the way God communicates in creation as an image the very sun itself is the king of the whole man. The very creation that it is would be useless without that sun. As someone has said wealth would have wealth would mean nothing without the sun. But not a blade of nothing. There couldn't be a corn of wheat were there not the sun. Therefore the the place the sun has in relation to this creation it has its place now and here we may refer to this that in the hieroglyphics in the juridication that God intends to make is that which is absolutely necessary for the life of the whole creation in the S-U-N whereas God operates through the S-O-N that is the sun. And from this we turn to the moral side of things in the verse 7 it's very remarkable it's a sudden change from the creation in testimony and now to the moral references from verse 7 to the end. For immediately it says the law of the Lord is perfect. The law of the Lord is perfect. There are principles that God has brought in that apart from those principles it would be there would be no way out of the dilemma. And when you read the epistles like the epistles of the Romans the apostle brings in abiding principles which are essential to be observed and attention paid to those principles are referred to in Romans 6. These words are full of meaning he speaks of a principle the principle of sin but then there's another principle I refer to rather Romans 7 there are three ways in which a principle is spoken of there and one is to the detriment however cautious of terms and doesn't offer any way out but when another principle is brought in a principle which in its application brings in the greatest liberty to the Christian and that is found in Romans 7. And so the principle that God has brought in is brought in another land and nothing could be understood in the whole of this Bible were it not for the introduction of that man. And now we have a testimony now to the testimony of Christ. It goes from the testimony of creation now to the testimony of a person and that one who has come on God's behalf and to bring everything into the focus into focus so that we may have the truth in that very person who says himself I am the way the truth and the life the truth about anything anything you may consider is only rightly to be understood in the considerations of Christ God himself God himself he sets the true God before us and in that way he captures the hearts and regains the confidence as he has done in our hearts he has regained confidence in our hearts in that way he has displaced all the the domination of Satan whereas if it were to God was displaced by Satan's lie the Son has come to undo the works of Satan putting the true God before us attacking our hearts attacking our hearts for himself and has been subtracted in that Satan has no more dominion over us this is the simple gospel of God how there is deliverance from Satan deliverance from sin and deliverance from the law in the very the principle of life which is in another man God has brought in another man a new source of life God was beaten to death and glorified God in the house of death and that man the one man brings in the great lift from that one principle and so we have the the perfection of such a law and the testimony of that law which is constant it's sure it's remained constant throughout the distant centuries and may be violent or sinful taking up people like ourselves in the law the Gentiles in the law and making wise wise into salvation wise respecting all the vital things of God having a place having a place for Christ in our hearts and in our lives and the very answer to that in that our very lives an intelligent response which is the true display of wisdom in this world there's no folly like a life lived without God whatever the affluence and the success in life for a person to live a life without Christ what folly there is in that that's what the Lord says in Luke 12 such a law is designated as a fool by the lips of the Lord Jesus but what wisdom there is in the where there is in the acceptance of that great principle the principle of life in Christ and the life that is dedicated to God according to Romans 12 Romans 12 presenting our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is intelligence it shows wisdom it shows we've taken God's way it shows we've taken account of the intervention of that one man and the principle of that one man life in that one man in which we live to God and respond to God this is the wisdom and so these moral things can be traced as in the New Testament teaching in the way that there is response to God and God is looking for this moral change in the saints and what a wonderful thing it is when there is the fear of God the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom we are told just the beginning of it and a very wise thing it is when the heart turns to God that is wisdom the fear of the Lord is the beginning but the pursuance of that the life is lived in wisdom and then there is the purification of this and the enlightening for the statutes of the Lord are right they are right they are perfect, they are right they are right the true standard, they are right and it rejoices the heart and every direction the commandment of the Lord is pure and the eyes are open enlightening the eyes to see correctly to see distinctly it is to see righteousness fulfilled in that God has put Christ where he is in the very exaltation crowned with a pure gold this is the right handle to discern righteousness this is where righteousness is the very crucifixion of Christ was one thing, a very big thing in the past of this world but then he couldn't remain there thou art not to suffer my soul my my body to see corruption nor leave my soul in hell thou art not my body to see corruption but righteousness comes in and Christ is the exalted one and yet the eyes are enlightened to see Hebrews 2 we see Jesus our eyes are properly adjusted enlightened our eyes are enlightened and so this is a recognition of God's testimony in Christ and then the the judgments of the Lord are true and righteousness all together what beautiful expressions these are arrested expressions that are justice and everything in every way able to answer the God accordingly now verse 10 is that we desire these are the things we desire going for these things these things which have a moral worth moral standards, moral ethics the standards of the world are one thing and they don't count so much to God now the affluence and prosperity in this world doesn't matter to God but what does matter to God is that I bow in the presence of God I quote the 66th to this memorandum we think the great things in this world really demand God's attention the great ships, the big roads the extensions the improvements these don't matter to God at all, this is not a continuation of the millennium it's man's world man's greatness, man's glory, whatever but I can tell you what will arrest heaven's attention not to Isaiah 66 but to this man when I look to this man, more man to this man when I look with a broken contrite spirit and tremble my world and draw all the attention of heaven and the poorest amongst us the fewest amongst us can really command the attention of heaven and we're not bowers before the presence of God if every person should know himself his true self that will really bring him down before God where pride is hidden it is the revelation of God's love that despite what we are God has designed some blessing for us and bows our hearts in his presence it will bring us down so these are the things this is the answer we have to give more than we desire are they than gold what a pursuit there is for gold the dominating principle in man's world more than we desire more than we desire are they than gold more than much fine gold I suppose this is the very cream of all that there is in this world that which is to be desired in this world is gold and the power of gold will enhance one before men in this world they'll have many friends in this world and then it says I believe that refers to the best in nature this would turn me to a word of the Lord in the 15th of John then again in John's epistle where in two instances it says that your joy may be full well I don't think I don't think that any person who has made a success of themselves in this world and amassed all the gold has had has been brought to where their joy was full and I don't think that whatever may have taken place in nature that they can say there their joy has been full it's not to be found in this world and it's not even to be found in the best of nature and so there's something said in a cryptic way in this verse which we are to pursue and desire it's more to be desired than gold here than much fine gold and sweeter to the taste than honey and honeycomb I think the honey and the honeycomb here would refer to the best in nature and God has been very bountiful in regard to the realm of nature Israel were called to nature and they were blessed according to nature that we have heard a little of that in the 26th of Deuteronomy it's the result of those blessings the land and the cattle and the family that was the character of the blessings to Israel in abundance the very things that could appeal to the natural man in abundance but then in Christianity and as a matter of fact the death has come in and death has become the threat factor that can separate us from the very best of nature it's a great matter people are very concerned having got acquisitions their fear then is from lots of those acquisitions which can be by death itself and so death is a threat factor that can separate us from the nearest relative and from the mass fortunes but here is something that is of a desire that is bigger than gold fine gold and even better than the rest of nature but it's something that is beyond death and it's in company and in communion with the risen Christ and where there is communion with God concerning his son it's here I do believe where the scripture I refer to in John 15 and in John's epistle that you all join me before the risen Christ has in the presence of the Father and we are called to that and to share his pleasure in this time so there is the servant is warned and there is the keeping of them there is great reward for both the warning and the keeping of them is very timely in a world like this I think we've heard in our meetings that this world is the root of the world and without the scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the one we have kept in our salvation we couldn't get through this world successfully for it's a puzzle game and we should get it wrong at every turn and so we need every warning of scripture and let us take heed to the simple warnings of scripture and let us take heed to all that's available for our preservation the verse 12 might make one reference to this who can understand his errors cleanse thou me from secret faults what a blessed thing it is that in Christianity everything is taken into account as being delivered from the Adam's case and being in Christ before God and having Christ Christ who has been in the death and he who lives to God we live in him by which we live to God and in the power of the Spirit we are in a deliverance from those things that dominate us the secret faults and the answer to all those is in the Lord Jesus Christ and the application of it is in the power of the Spirit of God so there is great deliverance in verse 12 and I think that would be in keeping with Romans 7 which brings us into where there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and keep not thy servant from presumptuous sins well we're not to be in the dark it was in the light of the Lord which shall not be shall not be by those presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the guilt of transgression we have to remember that in this first book of Psalms there are those Psalms which refer to Christ himself personally and there are Psalms which have the remnant of Israel in view where the Spirit of Christ is in the remnant and the remnant express themselves in these terms and they will anticipate and come into a great deliverance in a coming day but they cannot be accepted by us in the way that they apply and then the last verse the last verse let the words of my mouth this returns to James a very important word in James about the words of our mouth and also the words of Lord Jesus in Matthew 15 and Matthew 7 out of the mouth from the heart from the heart out of the heart proceeding out of the mouth it's not what comes from out and goes into the mouth we make a great point of that it has consideration in all the things of the clean and the unclean as there was in the life of the Jews it's not that the Lord makes that very clear in Mark 7 and Matthew 15 that it's from the heart it's in the mouth it proceeds in the mouth and so in the consciousness of that and when James warns us that the ability of man in the realm of creation being in everything plants, crocodiles, birds, beasts and everything displays his ability to tame but then says but the tongue can no man tame it's the index of the will and that's a very solemn thing with all of us the very circumstances in our individual lives will bring to light this that even as Christians we have a will and I do believe the great thing that God will ever do with you and me is that we are brought to surrender our will and Lord Jesus it was a complete surrender a complete surrender but with us we will find that our will are many a time unseen to the antagonist of this whole philosophy and yet God knows and a wonderful sign for God and it's here and there all the Christians bear a mark of God's disrespect I leave a short in that they are seen to have renounced their own wills and greatly subdued before God not answering back not careful to stand up to themselves let people say what they will let them do what they will lessons to learn in the presence of God renounce one's will and God will see the rest it's a great thing and so the tongue is the index of the will, the redesign of Jesus and here the Psalmist anticipates that not only the thought of the heart as the Lord indicates in Mark 7 Matthew 15 but then the tongue is the utterance of what is in the heart and so the Psalmist has some conscious sense of that and so have we and being near to the Lord let the words of my mouth let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart where we in our hearts and surely are in our readings we are directed to one glorious person you know when Scripture speaks about being pure pure we are purified we are purified by Him and to look at the Lord Jesus as the way to be purified to look on a perfect object as God's pattern for you and for me to be occupied with what is pure to be occupied with God himself revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ where sin has been put away this is the way for that transference to have its effect in the hearts of His saints this is real Christianity this is Christianity which is for every Christian the last verse of chapter 3 of 2 Corinthians which dear George spoke about this afternoon we all it's not it's not for certain people but it's the privilege of every believer to have our eyes turned to that blessed person there and so as Christ was here and they hadn't looked upon Jesus yet this is the wonderful thing of Christianity Jesus was here and they hadn't looked upon Him and Jesus is not here now but Jesus is there but His people are here and a wonderful thing is people take the place of Jesus in testimony here in this world and what does it mean? that Jesus that the Lord and God saw him here what is said of the Lord is said of the saints in 2 Corinthians chapter 3 elect and beloved precious holy saints and in the life of the risen man and by the power of the spirit the saints are in that life full of an answer to God and whilst there is sin in us there is oppression in us God has given us deliverance and the power of the spirit and the power of the spirit like the sword that David slew with a knife David slew the giants he slew them with a stone but he put up his head with a sword and there was a time later when David went to a fire and whilst he got the bread he said what else have you he said I have only got the sword by which put up the head of the man he said give me that there is nothing like that and there is no weapon in the arsenal of God that is so mighty as what it is for a Christian to be in the life of the risen Christ by the spirit in the way that it can be applied to everything that comes to God here in this world and that is in particular in your heart and mind and so the Psalmist utterance is in the Mass and bear in mind we began with creation all the greatness of creation and it comes down to a very practical application from creation and from all these moral considerations down to our own hearts in the way that we can answer to God let the words of my mouth it is mine and not yours let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart that is a very purifying effect when we rocify what is pure that is the glory of Christ Christ in the Lord being acceptable Christ Christ O Lord my strength and my hope …