More Precious Than Gold

| Watch the video | Download the Video

I wonder how often you have heard comments such as “If only God would prove to me that he exists” or “I could believe in God, if only he’d reveal himself to me”. Maybe someone you know has said something similar to you quite recently. Maybe you yourself have expressed a similar sentiment in the past, or are even saying it right now as you struggle to make sense of God and Christianity. Well our text before us tonight is a wonderful piece of scripture that goes some way to answering such thoughts. So please do turn to Psalm 19 with me.

The Psalms are a great collection of inspired Hebrew prayers and hymns covering a variety of different situations and issues. Many, such as this one, were written by King David, the greatest human King of Israel. But what they all have in common is that they express truth about God in ways designed to move our emotions. The poetic language addresses our minds through our hearts.

But the value of the Psalms isn’t just in the expression of the emotions. It is also in the shaping of our emotions. Think of them, if you will, as God-given responses to a range of different circumstances. And Psalm 19 in particular is great for helping us give expression to our praise of God for the way he has revealed himself to us - both generally & specifically – as well as providing a model response to that revelation.

So I have four headings firstly we celebrate GOD’S GENERAL REVELATION in Creation; secondly, his PERSONAL REVELATION in Scripture; thirdly his SUPREME REVELATION in Jesus Christ and finally we’ll look at the APPROPRIATE RESPONSE of Humble Repentance.

GOD’S GENERAL REVELATION: in CREATION (v.1-6)

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. (Ps. 19v1-2)

In other words God’s very creation reveals something about him. Specifically it would seem that the heavens are on David’s mind here. We are literally covered, aren’t we, by amazing displays of God’s creative power and influence. Both day & night the sun, moon and stars in the heavens testify to the existence of a creator.

I have been very fortunate that my previous job has taken me closer to the heavens than most peoples jobs allow. Flying on a Nimrod I have witnessed the sun rise & set in many different locations around the world. Night time sorties would often mean returning to base as dawn broke. It’s quite a sight to be above the clouds watching the amazing spectacle of the sunrise, “coming forth from its pavilion like a champion rejoicing to run its course.” (as v.5 says) On more than one occasion as we took in the beauty of the colours dancing across the sky I would try and provocatively break the silence on our crew intercom: “And some people insist such beauty happens by chance!” Of course it was really less of a statement and more of a question – designed to make my colleagues think beyond what they were simply seeing.

And that is kind of what David is doing in this Psalm. He is saying that despite the lack of actual words there is a message going out here to absolutely everyone!

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. (v3-4)

Look at the design, look at the ordered nature of things, look at the detail, look at the beauty – and then look beyond. It’s absurd to think that the sun rises and sets by chance. Who makes such things and who controls them? Sadly though, people seem to refuse to ask such obvious questions. So are they really that obvious?

I decided to try a little experiment on my eldest son this week. He had the opportunity a few months ago to visit the Olympic Stadium with his school and was one of the first to actually run down the 100m track. So I said to him: “Imagine you pitch up in the Olympic Park in front of the impressive stadium not knowing anything about the Olympics, sport or London. What would you think about the stadium?” Without hesitating he replied “I’d want to know why it was there and who put it there.” Without thinking he admitted that the nature of what was before his very eyes (the scale, the design, the layout, the size) would force him to ask certain foundational questions: Who? Why?

So we see that verses 1-6 ‘ask the question’ of everyone who has ever lived: Who made this and why? The Apostle Paul actually goes further and in his letter to the Romans says that we are without excuse for ignoring God or this question that creation asks. Romans 1v18 says:

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 1v18-20)

To return to the person who expresses the opinion: “If only God would prove to me that he exists” God’s word says to him – the proof is all around you, I’ve put it there for you, day by day, night by night, my creation means that you are without excuse. In fact, Paul says, such people are not only without excuse – ‘the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against them.’ You see creation reveals only enough of God to make me inexcusably guilty for not turning to him in worship for creating it! So we need more revelation. The created order cannot vocalise or communicate the personal revelation from God that we so desperately need. That’s where God’s Word comes in which brings us to my second point.

GOD’S PERSONAL REVELATION: in SCRIPTURE (v.7-11)

Isn’t it fantastic that the author of creation has chosen to make himself known to us? Not just in a distant way, like in the way that I am getting to know all about Mo Farah, Jess Ennis and the Brownlee Bros from what I’ve been watching on TV this week – but in a personal way: bound up in an intimate, meaningful and precious relationship as the very one who created me, sustains me and guides me by his word.

Psalm 19 emphasises the nature of this personal revelation in a way that isn’t immediately obvious to the 21st century reader. And that emphasis is found in the choice of words that David uses for God: In v.1-6 you’ll observe David refers to the ‘creator’ God – a distant yet powerful deity. But from v.7 David refers to Yahweh (translated as Lord in small capitals in our Bibles). This is hugely significant because this is the name by which God choose to make himself known to his people. If you recall he explains this to Moses by means of a burning bush in Exodus 3. It is therefore a name that reveals the depth of God’s commitment to his people - through His promise to be with them, to provide for them and ultimately to redeem them.

Creation just tells us something about God. It’s only through God’s self-revelation through his word, that we can know the LORD, Yahweh, personally. When we study his word we get to know just how much he is committed to the people he has created and how much he longs to be known by them.

I wonder how many of us think of God as a distant, uninterested deity. How many of us actually know him as our personal rescuer and LORD?

I think David did! He knew the importance of Yahweh’s self-revelation through Scripture and he sought to express what it meant to him and so we get this emotive description that builds to a crescendo in v.10.

Don’t let words such as ‘law’ or ‘commands’ put you off here. We need, initially at least, to read this Psalm as the Israelites would have done. In the Old Testament the word ‘law’ is a comprehensive term meaning ‘all that God wants us to know about himself.’ David wasn’t just referring to the 10 commandments here, but all of Yahweh’s self-revelation that had been written down – up until the time when David wrote this Psalm. So the words law, statutes, precepts, commands, ordinances are just titles for God’s word. And as such it is perfectly valid for us to apply the 9 qualities and 5 benefits in v.7-11 to the complete canon of God’s word that we have in our Bibles today:

Do you see these qualities in v.7-11? Yahweh’s self-revelation through the Bible is perfect & trustworthy (v7) right & radiant (v8) pure, enduring, sure & righteous (v9) and the climax of v.10 – it is oh so precious! Why? Well David articulates 5 benefits:

v. 7 - God’s word brings refreshment, reviving souls and enabling simple folk to live wisely.v. 8 - It gives us joy in our hearts and provides illumination so we can see the way to go, and lastlyv. 11 - It warns us to be faithful so as to enjoy a great reward.

So because of all these qualities & benefits the word of God, Yahweh’s specific personal revelation, is precious. More precious than gold, sweeter than honey. This is great poetic language; it conveys the ‘intensity of’, the ‘longing for’ & ‘satisfaction through’ Scripture. The challenging question is: do our emotions correspond to those of David?
Do you value & cherish God’s word the way David did?
Does anything need to change in how much you read it, remember it or live it out?

To return once more to our friend who wants proof that God exists – has he ever read any of God’s word? Can we help him out and introduce Yahweh to him through its pages? If we don’t, how will he ever be saved?

The warning in v.11 marks the third transition in this Psalm. David moves from proclaiming the glories of God’s creation, to his word, and then to an internal reflection in response. But before we get there it would be helpful for us to take a slight detour and consider my third heading:

GOD’S SUPREME REVELATION: through JESUS CHRIST

You see not only is God’s general revelation (creation) celebrated here, not only is his specific personal revelation (his word) celebrated here, but David’s Psalm also points to God’s supreme and ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ.

By God’s grace and mercy we live at a point in history where we can look back at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and appreciate the earth-shattering significance of those events. And so as we look back at Psalm 19 through the lens of the cross if you like, we can celebrate God’s supreme revelation of Jesus in it.

Consider Hebrews 1, our New Testament reading earlier:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (Hebrews 1v1-2)

Looking back we know, that Jesus was involved in the very creation that David is celebrating in Psalm 19.

Or consider John 1v1 where Jesus is described as the word that has existed since the beginning. When we apply that perspective and look back at Psalm 19 we see Jesus shining forth from verse 7-11 too. Indeed Jesus said himself that he had not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it. If Jesus is the fulfilment of the law then surely it is appropriate to think of him as the ultimate revelation of God in these verses:
Jesus is perfect, reviving our souls
Jesus is trustworthy, making the simple wise.
Jesus is right, bringing joy to our hearts
Jesus is radiant, giving light to our eyes
Jesus is pure, enduring forever
Jesus is sure and altogether righteous.
Jesus is more precious than gold, and sweeter than honey.
By him we are warned and in following and obeying him there is great reward.

Jesus is the glorious, ultimate, supreme revelation of God! He surpasses creation and the law, because creation was made through him and the law is fulfilled in him!

And the amazing thing is that Jesus is not only the ultimate revelation of God – he is the eternal redeemer.

In v.14 David appeals to Yahweh as his rock and redeemer. In his mind David must be considering God’s rescuing him, redeeming him from all sorts of danger.
It’s Jesus!
As a nation singing this Psalm Israel couldn’t help but bring to mind God’s faithful rescuing, time and again, not least in the great exodus from Egypt.
It’s Jesus!
And for 21st Century Christians when we read of a redeemer who can’t help but think of our rescuer, hanging on a cross in our place.
It’s Jesus – he is the eternal redeemer of humanity.

Ephesians 1v7 says:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1v7)

You see the logic of Psalm 19v13 is that our natural state is one for which we are to be blamed. You and I are guilty of great transgressions against the living God as we reject his Lordship and seek to replace him with our own selfish desires. David knew that his only hope for forgiveness was to be found in the Lord. He knew the value of cherishing scripture and benefitted from its warnings.

Which leads us nicely to my concluding point...what is the appropriate response to this great revelation of God, generally through creation, personally through scripture and supremely through Christ? Well I pray that for us, like David, it will be one of humble repentance as we come under the influence of the divine word. And so my fourth and final heading:

AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE: HUMBLE REPENTANCE (v12-14)

The Psalm gets the priority right: it has God and his majestic glory front and centre. And yet God wonderfully condescends to reveal himself to us through his word and David can’t help but to reflect on his own moral failures, both known and unknown, in response. v.12-14:

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 19v 12-13)

We can see the flow of David’s thought throughout the Psalm here. Just as the sun in v6 searches every nook and cranny with its heat as it follows its circuit across the skies, so we in response should allow God’s divine word to search every nook and cranny of our souls. We seek forgiveness, both from sins committed willingly but also from those that forgotten, rationalised or committed in ignorance. And we pray for freedom from sins power over us – “may they not rule over us”. And then asking for God’s help we repent, we change direction. And we pray like David:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe pleasing in your sight,O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19v14)

So what about you? How will you respond to this great Psalm tonight?

Will you celebrate God’s creation? – will you take every opportunity to thank him for the beauty and order and the truth it reveals to all mankind about his existence?

Will you commit to know Him deeper through His word? – recognising that God’s word will refresh you, give you wisdom, an inner joy and light you way forward?

Will you cherish Jesus? - Your rescuer – the eternal redeemer – more than anyone or anything else?