Psalm 19

[Green Lantern]

Psalm 19:1-6 (New International Version)For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 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, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19 is divided up into 3 different sections:Verses 1-6 about how God shows His glory through natureVerses 7-11 talk about God's laws & who they relate to BelieversVerses 12-14 is man's acknowledgement of God's greatness & desire to follow Him.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. We see here in verses 1-3, nature showing God's glory-declaring it not with words, but with it's sheer & unfathomable vastness. Have you ever just looked up at the clouds on a nice summer day, & watched them as they go by? Or seen a tropical sunset? Or maybe seen a storm front building in the distance? Very few men have actually seen Heaven, so virtually all the references in Scripture where the word "heaven's" are used, is describing the sky, & what we see in it. And it is not just during the daytime that we see God's glory displayed, but at night as well. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? Or seen a meteor shower? Have you ever looked at the stars, & marveled at the vastness of the universe? Or have you ever seen pictures that were take by the Hubble Space telescope? It is incomprehensible to me how ANYONE can say that there is no God, after seeing these pictures?!!! The sheer majesty of the universe, so often makes me think about those verses in Psalm 8:3-4, where David states, ("along with the rest of us"), what is man, that thou art mindful of him?? Why indeed, SHOULD God care about such insignificant little beings as ourselves?Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. I love this verse, because it states the truth that there is NO PLACE, where God's glory is not displayed! It doesn't matter whether we live in a communist country, or a free country-there IS no place where the heavens do not declare God's glory, & NO GOVERNMENT can change that! Now THAT IS something to praise God about!In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, This verse I find to be very interesting, in that the heavens are considered to be like a tent. We see this same thought echoed in Psalm 104:2 as well. In a very real sense, there IS a "tent" that encloses the earth-It is known as the Van Allen radiation Belt & the ozone layer. That God cares so much for this little planet, that He would provide a "tent" of protection around the earth, to protect it's people, truley shows His matchless love for us-that He would protect us from the harshness of outer space!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. When I look at these verses, I can't help but draw an anology between the SUN, & the SON of God, Christ Jesus. In NT times, Jesus is often associated with being the "bridegroom", with His church, (all of those who know Him as Lord & Savior) as His bride. We see examples of this in such verses as: Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19, Luke 5:34-35. Jesus is indeed the bridegroom, coming out of His pavillion, in glory, for His bride-look at Revelation 19:11-16. I don't think that it would be too far out of line, to also think of the sun listed in these verses as being represenitive of Jesus here as well. He WAS our champion-the champion over death. Look at such verses as Acts 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:15, Phillipians 2:8, Hebrews 2:14, & probably one of the greatest verses in all of Scripture- Revelation 1:18. I can, ("at least symbolically"), see Him raising His arms in victory over death, as He rose from the grave!Finally, WE see a different picture of Christ-one of a conquerer & purifier. Just as nothing can escapre the heat of the sun, ("& I'm sure that we have all felt this"), so too, will nothing escape the fire of God, especially as we see in Revelation 1:14, Revelation 2:18, Revelation 19:12. We have also seen the purifying & awesome nature of God's fire in Exodus 13:22, & 1 Kings 18:38. As the fire burns & purifies, so too will the SON of God purify the earth. Let us pray."Lord Jesus, how magnificant do the heaven's declare Your Glory! How You can show us Your power & Majesty, is beyond our comprehension! We praise You for all the glories that nature shows us! We praise You & You alone, that even a God of such power, still has time to hear the prayer of a lowly sinner! WE praise You for simply being You-the God of the universe, who still cared enough for us, to send Your Son, Christ Jesus, to die fo each one of us! We praise Your Name, that You have put us on this wonderful little planet, & made it the shining gem of the universe! We stand in awe, of Your majesty! WE thank & praise You, In the Name of our Lord & Savior, Christ Jesus! "Bill!

 

[Green Lantern]

Psalm 19:7-11 (New International Version)7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.Now we look at the laws of God, & how important they are to Believers.The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.[/b]What is the law, according to Scripture? The most basic, & first law written by God was, of course the 10 Commandments, as we find in Exodus 20:1-17. I think that when this psalm says that the law revives the soul is very correct. Since it is the Holy Spirit in everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior, He constantly reminds us of the basics that God expects of His children. And when we look at these commandments, they are really not that hard to follow. This, (I believe), is what happened when Adam & Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil-(Genesis 2:17). It is very possible that because they ate from that tree, that this was the birth of what we call the"conscience". The conscience, is the basic knowledge of what is good & what is evil. It is the nurturing af a child's conscience by their parents, that makes these most basic laws of God, a part of a person's life, & what God uses to eventually bring them back to Him.The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Now we see the word "statute". The Encarta Dictionary defines the word as "a permanant & established rule or law" Certainly, the 10 Commandments fall into this definition, but for us Believers, it goes far beyond that. God's statutes are impossible to follow, if we don't know the One who wrote them! This can only come from a personal realationship with God. Once we come into that relationship, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, & begin to learn God's laws & satutes in a whole new way. Certainly Zechariah saw this truth in Luke 1:77. We also see that we Believers have that power in Phillipians 4:13. We are given the knowledge of the statute of justification in Acts 13:39. We are given the knowledge of the statute of atonement in Romans 3:25. We are given the knowledge of the statute of salvation from God's wrath in Romans 5:9, & on & on. These cannot be known unless we know the One who who set these statutes-Christ Jesus. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. Next, we come to the word "precept". Encarta defines precept as "a rule, instruction, or principle that guides someones actions, especially one that guides a persons moral behavior" Again, we can't obey God's precepts, WITHOUT the ability & guidance of the Holy Spirit, as we see, when Scripture points out, ("very bluntly, but truthfully"), in Romans 3:10. But THROUGH the Holy Spirit's power, morality comes naturally, because we pocess that same nature of God, as we see in 2 Corinthians 5:17. All through the NT, we see how both by & through the power of the Holy Spirit, we CAN obey God's precepts-look at the verses that talk about everything that we say &/or do is through or by Christ's power,-Romans 3:22, Romans 8:10, 1 Corinthians 1:24, 1 Corinthians 2:16, 1 Corinthians 12:27, & so on. And these precepts ARE indeed a joy to the heart, because when we are walking with the Lord, we walk both in His joy, & experience his joy-(Galatians 5:22). The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Now we come to the word "commands". This is pretty much self-explanitory-they are what God tells us to do, His directions in our lives. When we obey God's commands, we come closer to understanding Him. We see the word light used here. It is very appropriate to us, as Believers, as Jesus Himself said that, He is the Light of the World-John 8:12. We ourselves, becomes light to the world, as we see in Matthew 5:14, & we DO show the light of God to the rest of the world. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever Now we see, what would seem to be a word that seems to be a rather strange word, when taliking about a God who is supposed to love us-fear. When we were still sinners, we dId have a "fear" of God. Perhaps we developed this from early religious training-that God is someone to be scared of. Well, this is definatly NOT the God of Scripture! God is a loving God, who wants EVERYONE to be restored to His fellowship-John 3:16, Ezekiel 38:11, Acts 3:19, Acts 8:22, Acts 17:30, ect. In Scripture, fear is wht is used to describe a reverence for who God is-that He is NOT someone to be taken casually, & certainly this is true, considering that we ARE talking about the One who created the entire UNIVERSE! I love where the word "pure" is used here. It describes of of the most basic characteristics of God-that he is absolutly, 100 %, pure! Remember that verse that says-"Be holy, for I am Holy. Well, we could equally insert that word pure as well! Purity is a part of being holy. It is maintaining a wholly surrendered life to God, & never wavering FROM God's directions.The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous And finally, we come to the word "ordinance". Encarta describes the word ordinance as "something regularly done because it is formally prescribed...such as Holy Communion." We see here, that the following of God's precepts, laws, statutes, commands & ordinances are something to be done regularly-NOT just when we feel like it. And certainly, the most basic ordinance is found in I Thessalonians 5:11. It is through prayer, that we as Believers find the strength to follow God's laws, statutes, ordinances & commands. God's ordinances ARE righteous, because GOD is righteous!They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Finally, in these last verses, we see what the result of following the Lord results in, & more importantly, what they are TRULEY worth. This section ends with a promise-the promise of a great reward. What is that reward-eternal life with our Lord & Savior, Christ Jesus-1 John 5:13. Let us pray"Lord Jesus, we stand in awe of who You are & what Yoiur Word has said to us here! We freely acknowledge that we cannot obey You, unless we are wholly surrenered TO You! We give You & You alone, our hearts, our souls, everything that we are, that we may be able to follow Your leading in all things! We surrender ourselves to Your Love, Lord Jesus, the same love that You showed us when You died for our sins! Give give OUR live back to You! Use us Lord jesus! Guide us! Show us Your ways, that we would never, EVER, stray from You! We ask this in Your Name & Your name alone, Lord Jesus! Bill

 

[Green Lantern]

Psalm 19:12-14 (New International Version)For the director of music. A psalm of David. 12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.Finishing up with Psalm 19!Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults The word "discern" has always struck me as a very powerful word. It speaks of more than just the ability to tell whether of not someone is telling the truth-but to be able to see a very person's soul, & know what they are truley thinking. Certainly, Jesus was the best at this, as we see in both Matthew 22:18 & Luke 9:47. Jesus could see the very hearts of the people he was talking to, & therefore, could counter anything that they might say against Him. I would guess that some of us have probably known someone with the gift of discernmant, & it is AWESOME to see it used! We KNOW that this is definatly from God, as we see in 1 Corinthians 2:16. David acknowledges this, & asks for forgivness from the only person he KNOWS can forgive him-God Himself. We Believers as well, know this same truth in 1 Corinthians 2:16. We KNOW where to turn.Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.The first part of this verse, is a truth that, (I think), we all wish WASN'T true! That being, (more often that we care to admit), we DO sin, BY WILLFUL CHOICE. I see David here, fully realizing that, as a mere mortal, he DOES have the ability to willfully go against God's will! (And certainly this was true in regard to his sin with Bathsheeba!) He could have asked God to help him, but HE & HE alone made the choice to commit adultery. He realizes that willful sins have great power in a person's life, as well as great consequences, than the sins that are NOT willful, because we CAN choose to go against God's will-a God who has chosen to love us UNCONDITIONALLY! The second half of this verse DOES offer hope for those willful sins-that we DO have the ability to be blameless bfore God. Certainly we know this to be true, as we see in the OT in 2 Chronicles 7:14, & in the NT in 1 John 1:9. That even though we DO willfully sin, that there IS a way to be restored to God again! May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Here is an extremly familiar verse to many Believers. It can almost be used as a doxology, (& probably HAS been used as one, as well ). It is asking that whatever we do & think WOULD be pleasing in God's sight. That our whole being-mind, body & spirit, desires to be right with God. And this psalm ends with a wonderful assurance-that God is both our Rock, (symbolizing God's permanance), & Redeemer, that we can acknowledge that God & God ALONE is the only one who CAN redeem us!Let us pray."Lord, Jesus, how we praise You & You alone for displaying ALL Your glories to us-both in nature, in Your laws, & in our hearts. WE cannot begin to understand why You & You alone have chosen to do this, but we know that You have. Lord Jesus-help us to stay away from ALL sin, & especially willful sin. WE freely confess to You & You alone that we many times ARE willful sinners, & that we DO hate it when we choose to go against Your will for our lives! WE plead with You, Lord Jesus-give us the strength to overcome willful sin, for we do not pocess that strength in ourselves! We are weak, Heavenly Father! We come to You & You alone on our faces, crying out-"Abba, Father, We need You!" WE come to You & You alone, as the way that Your Son, Christ Jesus, taught us to come-as little children-totally helpless to do anything by ourselves! WE Need You, Heavenly Father! WE need You, Lord Jesus! We need You, Holy Spirit! Grant us the strength that only YOu can provide, that we WOULD always be blameless before You! WE as this in the Name of our Lord & Savior, Christ Jesus! "Bill