Sermon

I Stand in Awe of You

July 8, 2023 Davidson Community Bible Church - Sermons

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All right, as we come together now to look into the Word of God, I invite you to open
your Bibles up to Psalm chapter 19.

Psalms 19 chapter mention
We're in the Psalms this summer, a different Psalm each day, each Sunday.
And last week we heard a little bit of a lament, and this week we are looking at a Psalm that
really speaks of awe of God.
I'm going to read the passage from Psalm 19, and then we'll go into some thoughts on it.
For the director of music, a Psalm of David, 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 reveal knowledge.
They have no speech.
They use no words.
No sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth.
Their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens, God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It's like a bridegroom coming out of His chamber.
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 deprived of its warmth.
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing 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 decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.
They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
By them, Your servant is warned.
In keeping them, there is great reward.
But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep Your servant also from willful sins.
May they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless.
Innocent of great transgression.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, Lord.
My rock and my redeemer.
So this song of David has three distinct parts to it.
Now we don't know a lot about Hebrew music in ancient times, whether they had verses and choruses like we do in our songs today.
But it seems as though there are distinct parts, much like some of the verses of How Great Thou Art.
Each one focuses on a different theme.
We see that in here.
The first part that we see is in verses 1 to 6, where David sings about how the heavens proclaim God's glory.
The second part, David seems to focus on a different thing.
Verses 7 to 11.
He sings about how the scriptures proclaim God's glory.
And then finally, the final part, verses 12 to 14, is kind of a personal prayer to God.
David speaking about his own relationship with the Lord and asking for some things.
Now we might wonder if we're just reading through this on our own.
Why does it all of a sudden just change when we get to verse 7?
We don't know the reason, but probably if we try to read this like this is, you know, a systematic theology textbook,
it's just not going to feel right.
Why is he jumping around?
But we have to remember, these are song lyrics.
We have to read them as song lyrics.
The one, I'm not going to call it main point, because it's not really a point,
but the one unifying sentiment of this whole psalm,
is I think David is just simply speaking from the heart,
saying, my glorious God, I stand in awe of you.
And these things that he lays out in each of these parts,
they're the reasons, they're the things that have sparked this awe in David's heart.
So let's see that, starting in the first part, in verse 1.
The heavens declare the glory of God.
The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
We know that David was a shepherd,
which means that he probably spent a lot of time sitting out there in the field,
in the day and through the night,
looking after those sheep,
staring up at the skies.
By night, seeing the stars.
Throughout the day, watching as the sun rose at one end of the heavens
and made its circuit all the way to the other.
And what did David see out there?
Or rather, what did he hear?
Let me paraphrase David's words here.
It's as if he's saying,
when I look up at the heavens,
I hear them speaking.
I hear them declaring how glorious God is.
I hear them shouting out loudly,
just how excellent is the work of your hands, Lord.
According to David, creation speaks.
The things that God has made speak.
And they speak about something in particular.
David says,
the things that God has made speak about his glory.
His excellence, his greatness, his grandeur, his radiance.
They speak of the kind of work that his hands are capable of.
Now, David is looking up here.
Heavens and skies are kind of the two words
that he uses to describe his field of view.
So we'll stick with that for a moment.
When I look up there, says David,
I hear the things that I see shouting loudly,
how glorious you are, God.
How awesome.
How capable you are in what you can fashion
and do with your hands.
David goes on in verse two to say this.
Day after day,
those things up there that I see,
they pour forth speech.
Night after night, they reveal knowledge.
So the message that David hears when he looks up,
it's not just a once in a while thing.
It's an ongoing message.
It's not just a couple simple phrases
that just kind of spark him about who God is.
No, the longer David looks,
the more he hears,
the more he sees about how glorious God is.
As each day passes,
there's yet more to see,
more to reflect on,
more to know.
The things up there have a lot to say
about God and his greatness,
his goodness.
Enough to reveal new things about him
day after day
and night after night.
From there, David says,
they have no speech.
They use no words.
No sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
Now there's some variance on the translation here,
but probably it has very little effect
on the overall meaning.
We see two things here
that David wants to convey.
First, and again,
depending a little bit on your translation,
David seems to acknowledge
that those things up there in the sky
that I'm looking at,
the sun, the moon, the stars,
those are things that don't speak.
They don't use words.
They don't have a voice
that you can hear
because they're inanimate objects.
They're impersonal things.
And yet, he says,
they do speak.
There is a voice that we can hear
from them saying things
about who God is.
Speechless things that speak
and a silent voice that is heard.
The second thing that he conveys here
in this, regardless of your translation,
David describes who they speak to,
the audience.
He says,
the things up there speak to all humanity,
everyone on earth.
Their silent voice is heard by everyone.
You get the sense
that it doesn't matter
what language a person speaks,
anywhere on the planet,
all over the globe,
anyone can look up and hear
what these things up there
are saying about how glorious God is,
about how capable he is.
And then at this point in the song,
David goes on to give an example of this,
a specific example.
And using that poetic phrasing in the song,
he points us to the sun.
And he describes from his vantage point
what it's like,
very poetically.
It's like God has pitched a tent
somewhere up there for the sun,
given a home or a dwelling place to the sun.
And from our field of view,
you know it just kind of rises
out of nowhere.
It emerges.
And then it makes its circuit,
its course,
from one end of the heavens
all the way to the other.
And David has two metaphors
that he brings in here.
He describes it like a champion
running its course
and like a bridegroom
emerging out of his chamber.
Now, I'll be the first to admit,
I'm not exactly sure
what David intended
by these two metaphors.
What did he have in mind?
Was it that the sun brings happiness
to all who see it
when it emerges,
like the bridegroom does
when he comes out
and everybody sees him
on the day of his wedding?
Or is it that a champion
is unstoppable?
As he runs his race,
he rejoices knowing
nothing can stop him
or slow him down.
In the same way the sun,
it just keeps that pace
all the way through.
Nothing can stop it
or slow it down.
I don't know about these metaphors,
that's my best guess at them.
You know, some things in the Psalms,
the poetic beauty is lost on us
because of that gap of time
and culture and language.
But that's okay.
David's point seems to be
that God is so awesome,
he is so glorious
because he's the one
who established this thing.
He's the one who put that sun up there,
the ball of fire,
and gave it its home
and established its course
and made it to give warmth
and light.
And if he can do that,
then what kind of a God is he?
How big?
How powerful?
How great?
How kind?
To see that every day,
without fail,
some measure of warmth
touches the earth
and everything on it.
David's inviting us
to listen with him
and to look with him
at one thing
that God has made
and established.
And this is just one example,
according to David,
of how the heavens
declare the glory of God.
Do you hear the awe
and wonder
in the heart of David?
And do you see
where he gets it from?
From looking up in the sky?
Well, there's a broader principle here,
an even larger truth.
It's not just space,
the heavens,
the stuff up there
that declares the glory of God.
In fact,
it's all creation,
all of it.
The things up there
and the things down here
that God has made as well.
All of it is shouting loudly
how excellent,
how wise,
how glorious,
how good,
how powerful God is.
And it all does so
with that same sort of silent voice
that the heavens use.
Now,
the stuff that's up there
might have some unique things
to say about the glory of God.
I grew up watching Star Trek
with my dad
and I used to love
sitting down
and doing that with him.
Now,
I know that Star Trek
is fantasy.
It's fiction.
But there's one thing
that Star Trek
gets absolutely right.
You could spend
lifetimes
and generations
traveling across the heavens,
the vast expanse of space,
and even at nine times
the speed of light,
you'll never get
to the end of it.
There'll always be
a new frontier.
There'll always be more.
Today,
scientists
still have not found
the edge of the universe.
They keep building
bigger and bigger
telescopes
and they keep seeing
more stars,
more galaxies
beyond the ones
that they've already found.
It blows their minds.
It puts awe
in their hearts.
How big is this thing?
So space
is something unique
to say about God
and his glorious nature.
Space is big.
It's
great.
So what does that say
about the one
who made it?
Even bigger.
Even greater.
But now all things
that God has made
declare the glory of God.
not just the things up there
but also the things
down here.
All of it.
They declare
his wondrous ability,
his creative power,
his ability to engineer
and design,
his wisdom
and his understanding.
All of it.
These things
are being declared
constantly
by everything
that God has made
all around us
here on earth.
Every day,
every moment
of every day
by plants
and flowers,
trees,
weather,
wind,
clouds,
rain,
all of the
intricate cycles
without which
sustainability
of life
on this
planet
would fall to pieces.
By birds
and
reptiles,
insects,
fish,
fish,
all of these things
so complex.
Each one of them
having their own
unique way
that they
grow
and develop
and
reproduce
and live together.
And each of these
living things
has its own way.
It's amazing.
Scientists
that don't believe
in God
will tell you
that we still
haven't even
found
every species
on earth.
There's still
more to discover.
All of them
declare the
glory of God.
All of them
are speaking
loudly
about his
excellence,
his power,
who he is,
what he's like,
what he can do.
We're going to just
have one quick
example here.
I'm going to put
a video clip up
about the
hummingbird
from a movie
made by
Illustra Media
on the subject
of flight.
Isn't that amazing?
That's just
one kind of bird,
which happens
to be quite
different from
the rest of them.
that clip
comes from
a video
that explores
all of the
intricacies
inside the
bodies of
birds
that make
them perfectly
suited to
flight.
And,
yeah,
it's a
fantastic film.
You know,
I think of
what we can
do as humans,
what we can
build when it
comes to
flying machines.
It took us
until just
over a hundred
years ago
to build a
flying machine
that could fly
for any real
length of time
and with any
sort of control.
probably some
of you have
seen some
of those
hilarious
movie clips.
Meanwhile,
for thousands
of years,
these little
critters have
been leaping
off branches
and cliffs
and performing
all kinds
of aerial
acrobatics,
diving out
of the sky,
catching fish,
surviving even
the harshest
developments here
on earth.
They've been
here all along
declaring God's
amazing abilities,
his glory,
his power.
But now
think for a
second,
if we can
come to
that place
of awe
about God
just by
looking at
the tongue
of a
hummingbird,
what about
every other
created thing
on earth?
All of
creation is
shouting
loudly
how glorious
God is.
It's speaking
so many things
about him.
the question
is,
have we
been listening?
Have we
been hearing
these many
things?
Or are we
mainly tuned
into the
voices of
man?
So this
is the
first point
of application.
The weather
is beautiful,
summer is
here,
get outside,
get out of
the house,
get out of
the car,
get into
nature,
put away
the screen
which is
mostly filled
with the
stuff of
man,
and look
at the
created
things.
Check out
that tree.
Feel it.
If you're
spry enough,
maybe even
give it a
little climb.
Go to
the lake.
Go
bird
watching.
look at
that bug
a little
closer.
Look up
at the
sunrise
and the
stars.
If you're
stuck inside
the house
watching over
your precious
ones like
Jen and I
are in the
evenings,
use your
screen time to
tune into
something that
will help you
appreciate and
see these
things more
clearly.
Read up on
a critter that
God has made.
Watch a
YouTube video
about the
latest
discoveries in
the human
cell.
Do like my
wife did this
past week and
get yourself
some composting
worms.
Something that
God has made
that you can
just look at
and listen
to and
hear what
God is saying
about himself.
The second
section of
this song
changes the
focus
completely.
It's still
God speaking
to us but
through something
different.
Not through
creation but
through the
law of the
Lord.
Verses
seven.
The law
of the
Lord is
perfect,
refreshing 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.
God
speaks also
through the
scriptures,
the sacred
writings,
the words
that have
come to
us through
the prophets.
And David
makes a
series of
parallel
statements here.
They're all
very similar
in the way
that they're
formed.
And he
uses five
different words
to describe
the scriptures.
The first
one kind of
lets us know
what he's
talking about.
It's the
law of
the Lord.
That is
the collection
of divine
revelation
that God
gave to
Moses
and through
Moses.
Essentially
what David's
talking about,
he's talking
about his
Bible.
But in his
day,
that was just
mostly the
first five
books of
the Bible.
Genesis,
Exodus,
Leviticus,
Numbers,
Deuteronomy.
They called
it the Torah,
which means
the law.
So this is
what David
is talking
about now.
When I
look at
that writing
that you
have given
us, that
revelation
that we
have written
down for
us, this
is what I
see.
And David's
going to
describe it.
He also
uses a few
other words
to describe
the things
that God
has said
in the
law.
Statutes,
precepts,
commands,
decrees.
We won't
go into
detail about
what each
one of
these things
means,
but it
shows that
David
recognizes
there's
variety
about the
kind of
things that
we find
written down
for us
in God's
word.
He
acknowledges
that.
And then
here's what
he has to
say about
God's
word,
about the
things that
God has
said.
those
things are
perfect,
trustworthy,
right,
radiant,
firm.
These
things are
all
positive.
They're
all
admirable
qualities.
essentially,
this is
David's
way of
saying in
the song,
when I
look at
your
scriptures,
when I
spend time
in your
scriptures,
this is
what I
see.
There
are no
errors,
flawless
words.
I can
depend on
what you
have said
here.
These
things are
absolutely
correct and
true.
They are
firm.
they
illuminate
my mind,
my eyes.
They show
me the
best way,
the right
way to
live.
And then
David piles
on top of
all that
these
participial
phrases
to describe
how his
time in
the Bible
has been.
His soul
has been
refreshed.
These
words,
they have
made me
wise.
they have
brought joy
to my
heart.
They give
light to
my eyes.
They let
me see
clearly
in the
world,
in my
life,
how things
should be,
what I
should be
doing.
And again,
with the
poetic
phrasing of
this,
we hear that
same sentiment.
It's as though
David is
saying,
I stand
in awe
of you,
God,
when I
look at
your words,
when I
listen to
the things
that you
have said.
It's
amazing.
Those
things are
so flawless,
so pure,
so right,
so true,
so enlightening.
I've been
so deeply
refreshed
and found
such joy
and wisdom
in them.
They reveal
God's glory
in a way
that's so
powerful.
David goes
on, he
says,
still talking
about God's
words,
words,
they are
more
precious
than
gold,
than
much
pure
gold.
How much
do you
think one
of those
bars is
worth?
Anybody
want to
have a
guess?
If my
dad were
here,
he'd tell
you,
he knows.
One of
those 400
ounce good
delivery,
standard
size,
international
trading
bars of
gold is
worth a
million
Canadian
dollars,
just over.
Can you
imagine that
you had
one?
And at
the same
time,
can you
imagine that
there was
no access
to the
word of
God,
the
scriptures,
the Bible,
on the
internet?
We just
couldn't have
it.
It didn't
happen.
Can you
imagine that
the only
way to
get one
of these,
they were
exceedingly
rare,
was in
print.
And you
came across
the opportunity
to get
one.
And the
guy says
to you,
I'll trade
my copy
for that
bar of
gold.
Would you
do it?
It's a
high price
to pay.
You know
what David's
saying here?
He's saying,
I'd make
that trade
for the
first five
books of
the Bible.
That's the
best deal.
I'm getting
the better
end of the
deal.
Those words,
they're your
words,
God.
More
precious
than gold,
than much
pure gold.
Would you
make that
trade?
As I was
thinking about
this, you
know, it's
so easy to
say, oh
yeah,
absolutely I
would.
But then
how often do
we just see
the book
sitting there
on the
shelf,
the table,
the nightstand,
and, meh,
I've got
better things
to do
than read
that.
This is
David's
feeling about
the word
of God.
He's in
awe of
God because
of the
things that
he reads
in his
Bible.
It's so
precious to
him.
Supremely
valuable.
It's sweet.
The sweetest
thing he
knows.
And I
have said
this before,
but I just
can't not
say it
again.
If you
don't see
the Bible
the way
David sees
it here,
who's seeing
it right
for what
it is?
You
or David?
The answer
is David's
the one
that's seeing
it right.
He speaks
by the
Spirit of
God.
David's
the one
that's seeing
it for
what it
really is.
And sometimes
we wrestle
with that.
We don't
feel that.
We don't
appreciate
fully what
it is
that we
have here.
sometimes
it's
something we
have to
embrace
by faith
regardless
of how
we feel
to say
if I
don't
feel like
it,
that
feeling's
wrong.
Pick
it up.
Another
way to
come at
this,
if you
decide not
to read
your Bible,
what are
you
depriving
yourself
of?
The
refreshment
of soul.
getting
wisdom,
joy,
the deep
down in
the heart
kind,
light for
your eyes.
A little
further down,
the warnings
that you
need from
God to
stay on
course in
life.
Possibly
even great
reward from
commands that
you haven't
even read
about or
thought about.
finally we
come to the
third part
of the
psalm.
And this
will be
quick here.
This is the
part where
David sings
about his
own
relationship
with God
and it
gets quite
personal
and intimate
here.
In verse
11,
David reflects
on how God's
words in the
scriptures have
given him
those warnings
that he
has needed.
And God's
word does
do that.
It helps us
see the
dangers along
the paths
of life.
And then
David asks
this rhetorical
question in
verse 12.
He says,
but who can
discern their
own errors?
sin?
And the
answer to this
question is
no one
can.
We all
sin.
We all
blow it.
And we do
it even
unintentionally
sometimes,
not realizing
it.
Without God's
word to help
us see
clearly, we
can be
completely blind
and ignorant
to things in
our lives,
to sins that
we've committed.
And are
we guilty?
Are we
responsible for
the wrong
things that
we do, even
if we didn't
do it
intentionally?
Absolutely.
And so
David prays to
God, forgive
my hidden
faults.
Don't count
those things
against me.
Amen.
Then in
verse 13,
David flips
to the
other side.
What about
the intentional
things?
The things I
know that I
have been
doing
deliberately.
He says,
keep your
servant also
from willful
sins, that
is deliberate
sins.
May they not
rule over
me.
I really
love this
verse.
I've got it
highlighted in
my Bible.
Even David,
the one that
God called a
man after his
own heart,
even David
felt the
pull and
the draw and
the allurement
of sin.
He felt
tempted to
do things he
knew were
wrong.
And so he
prays, God,
keep me from
doing those
things.
Guard me from
them.
Protect me
from them.
Don't let
those things
come to rule
over my
heart.
God, if
you ever
wrestle with
the temptation
to do
things that
you know
are wrong,
you're not
the only
one.
And this
is our
prayer.
God, keep
me from
doing those
kinds of
things, from
falling into
those habits,
those patterns.
Don't let
me do it.
And David
goes on from
here.
So what
have we
seen and
heard in
this song
of David
inspired by
the Holy
Spirit?
The overall
sentiment and
feeling from
David is I
stand in awe
of you,
God.
I see your
glory in
creation.
I see your
glory in
your word.
And so what
does he do?
He humbles
himself before
the Lord.
what about
you?
Have you
lost your
awe of
God?
And if
so, how
do you get
it back?
How do you
grow that
awe?
Maybe you
have it, but
how do you
grow it?
Go outside
and look
and listen
to creation.
God is
speaking
through it.
Open up
your Bible.
Read.
Meditate.
Linger over
it.
Till you
get to that
same feeling
that David
has.
Ah, I'm
being refreshed.
Mmm, now
I see.
Now I
see.
Maybe you're
here and if
you're honest,
you'd say that
you've never
had an awe
of God.
Never had a
reverence of
him like
this.
God is
calling to
you.
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
people are
without
excuse.
God's
God's
love.
God's
love.
God's
love.
God's
love.
God is
calling to
you through
these words
of David.
He is the
glorious creator.
He is the
one.
He's made
all that
wonderful stuff
around us.
And he's
given you
enough to
know something
of the kind
of God
that he
is.
His power,
his goodness,
and it's
enough to
leave us
all with
no excuse
for ignoring
him.
The good
news is he
sent his
son Jesus
into our
world to
meet us
face to
face and
call us
back to
himself because
he loves
us.
And whether
we believe
in Jesus
or not,
this humble
posture that
we see here
of David
should be
ours.
Lord, I
know I
have sinned
against you
in countless
ways, ways
I don't
even know.
Forgive me.
I don't
want to
live doing
what's wrong
anymore.
I want to
live to
please you.
And amazingly,
Jesus went
on to
die for
us so
that this
blamelessness
that David
longs for,
this forgiveness
could be
secured for
us, could
be a reality
for anyone
who will
turn to
God and
accept his
gracious
gift.
This is
the good
news of
God that
Psalm 19
prepares us
for.
So we're
going to
go to
prayer now.
Let's
pray.
Father in
heaven, we
thank you
that you
have been
speaking in
all kinds
of ways
all throughout
history and
I pray that
each one of
us would
hear you.
open our
eyes.
This week
as we go
into your
world, open
our eyes to
see it.
Help us to
pause and
linger.
Help us to
notice what
you are saying
about yourself
in all the
stuff around
us.
Help us to
value your
word like
David, to
open it up,
to read it.
We pray for
that refreshment.
Forgive us of
our sins,
Lord, the
things that
we've done
that are
wrong, that
we know we've
done wrong, and
the things that
we don't even
know.
Thank you for
sending your
son Jesus to
die for us.
We stand in
awe of you.
Amen.
I'll invite the
worship team to
come up and
we'll sing one
final song
together.