Listen to the skies and the Scriptures

Sermon Transcript

INTRODUCTION

What you listen to can shape and determine the way you feel, the way that you think, and the way that you act. What you listen to. Take music for example. About once a week, when I run, I listen to music. I’ve realized that the power of music is shocking. I can be completely dragging on a run, ready to walk, and then Hard Livin’ by Chris Stapleton comes on and I’m putting the hammer down like I’m twenty-five again. Maybe you’re not into working out, but have you noticed how the right kind of music can help you study, make you sad, calm you down, or cultivate your creativity? Music is powerful. Some of you moms have gone as far as putting headphones on your belly so that your baby can hear Mozart in the womb and, hopefully, come out smart. Some studies even suggest that jazz or classical music helps plants grow, while heavy metal stresses their system. What you listen to can shape and determine the way you feel, the way that you think, and the way that you act. You could say, you are what you listen to. What are you listening to? Psalm 19 is all about what you listen to. Psalm 19 begins this way, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). The skies are speaking. They’re singing and declaring the glory of God. What are you listening to? The skies aren’t the only thing that is speaking. Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple…” The skies are singing, but even more clearly and beautifully, the Scriptures are singing. You are what you listen to. That brings us to the big idea of Psalm 19: Listen to the skies and the Scriptures. You are what you listen to. Listen to the skies and the Scriptures. To get to the heart of the big idea of our psalm and to learn its relevance for our lives, we are going to take it in three parts: 1. The skies (vv. 1-6) 2. The Scriptures (vv. 7-11) 3. The listening (vv. 12-14).

THE SKIES

What you listen to matters, and the skies are speaking. What are they proclaiming? Psalm 19:1 – “The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The skies – the creation – are God’s wordless revelation. They are declaring that the God who made them is worthy of all honor and power and glory and adoration and love and appreciation and awe. Listen to the skies. In fact, the skies never stop singing God’s glory. Psalm 19:2 – Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. One of the most wonderful places our family went during our sabbatical in July was Yellowstone National Park. 60% of the world’s geysers and hot springs are in Yellowstone. These geysers and springs beautifully bubble up, constantly, over and over. That’s why they call it Old Faithful. That’s the idea in Psalm 19:2. The creation bubbles up like a spring and never stops pouring out the song of their Creator’s glory. Listen to the skies. And the skies sing so loudly that literally everyone has heard creation’s song. Psalm 19:3-4a – There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heart. Their voices goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Everyone, in every place, and from every culture has heard the song of the skies. I love the way that Joseph Addison’s hymn poetically captures the message of these verses:

What though nor real voice nor sound – Amid their radiant orbs be found; In reason’s ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, For ever singing as they shine, The hand that made us is divine.

There is, perhaps, nothing in the visible skies that declares God’s glory louder than the sun. Psalm 19:4b-6 – In them he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The psalmist says that the rising of the sun is like the rising of a groom from his home dressed to the nines for his wedding day. The rising of the sun is like my man Chirag rising from his home and riding to his wedding on a horse. Awesome! Then the psalmist says that the sun is like a strong man who is in such good shape that he actually enjoys running – he just glides. The sun is amazing. The sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our solar system. One million earths could fit inside the sun. The temp inside the sun can reach 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. And the sun doesn’t hold a stick to the One who made it. The sun declares the glory of God.

The skies are declaring the glory of God. Listen to the skies! Listen. How do we do that? Answer: Learn to run the sunbeam back to the sun. Run the sunbeam back to the sun. In other words, become Christianly observant so you can hear how the creation declares the Creator’s glory. You see, as followers of Jesus Christ, we never merely hear a bird sing or a great piece of music, we never merely taste a steak, we never merely feel the intensity of a winter day or the touch of someone we love, we never merely smell something that brings back a fond memory, we never merely see the beauty of the ocean or mountains, we never merely experience the exhilaration of an adventure or the pleasure of a hobby. No! We listen to them and try to hear how they specifically declare the glory of God. Listening to the skies has the double benefit of freeing us from complaining and to worship the Creator. For example, instead of complaining about the weather, the Christian can listen to how the cold declares God’s intensity, purity, or ferocity. The humidity declares God’s nearness. The idea of running the sunbeam back to the sun is one I first learned from C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Gratitude exclaims, very properly, ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun. If I could always be what I aim at being, no pleasure would be too ordinary or too usual for such reception…” Listen to the skies by running the sunbeam back to the sun in gratitude and adoration.

But that’s not the only way to listen to the skies. According to Psalm 19, the skies don’t only declare God’s glory, they also warn humanity. The skies warn humanity. Let me explain. Psalm 19:4 says, “Their voices goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” The Apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:18 to make the point that through creation, God has revealed his eternal power and divine nature to everyone, everywhere, whether they’ve heard of Jesus Christ or not. Therefore, we are without excuse for not worshiping the one true God, because he’s revealed himself in creation. Now, general revelation isn’t enough to save you. No one looks at a glorious sunset and concludes that Jesus died for their sins. General revelation isn’t enough to save you, but it is enough to condemn you as having no excuse. Listen to the skies, they are warning you. As Psalm 19:6 says of the sun, “…and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” The creation is not all glory and sunsets. It’s declaring the glory of God and revealing that all of us have failed to give God the glory he is due and we are without excuse. To truly listen to the skies, we need to listen to…

THE SCRIPTURES

The Scriptures can do for your soul what no sunrise can. Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.” Some scholars believe that the image of reviving has culinary overtones. The Scriptures do for your soul what a hot cup of coffee does for your body first thing in the morning. Listening to the Scriptures means drinking God’s word and being revived. How can we listen to the Scriptures? Five ways: Read it. Set aside time to simply read God’s word, all of its parts. Study it. In my personal time with God right now, I’m taking a close look at what the Proverbs say about anger and words. Probably the best way to learn how to study the Bible for all that it’s worth is by signing up for the Bible For Life class that is offered by the Citylight Institute. Bible for Life begins 9/10 and runs for six weeks. It’s open to anyone who attends a Citygroup and you can come to as many of the classes as you’d like. Meditate on it. My son Soren and I were discussing this the other day. Reading without meditating leads to reading without relationship. Meditating is when we talk to God about what we’re reading: rejoice, repent, request. Memorize it. Some studies say that we remember only about 20% of what we read, but we remember 100% of what we memorize. When we memorize, then we can meditate all day. Hear it. Probably the most important thing we can do with God’s word is hear it in the context of Christian community; sitting under its preaching and learning it together in Citygroup.

Now, I need to stop because Psalm 19 wasn’t written to tell us that we should listen to the Scriptures or how to listen to the Scriptures. No, Psalm 19 was written to inspire our hearts by helping us see why it’s our joy to listen to the Scriptures. Why listen to the Scriptures? Psalm 19:7a – “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.” The word “law” is the comprehensive term for God’s will. Unlike the skies, the Scriptures are a completely comprehensive, sufficient, and accurate revelation of God’s will for humanity. And we listen to it because it revives our weary souls. If you’re weary, you can go to the Bible, and expect to be revived. It’s the one sure source. That’s why we listen to the Scriptures. There is more. Psalm 19:7b – “…the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” The Scriptures are God’s sure testimony, his tested truth. We listen to them because they make simple people wise. The simple person isn’t a wicked fool. As the ESV study Bible says, simple people are immature and easily misled. The wise are skilled in navigating the complexities of life for God’s glory. We love to listen to the Scriptures because they make us increasingly wise people. Psalm 19:8 – “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart.; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes…” The precepts and commandments indicate the precision and authority with which God addresses us in the Scriptures. The Lord’s precepts and commandments are dependable. We love to listen to them because they lead us to enjoy the pleasures and joys that are at God’s right hand forevermore. We listen to the Scriptures because they make sad people sad celebrants to the glory of God. At this point, David cannot even contain himself and he breaks out in praise for the way that the Scriptures revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, endure forever, and are righteous altogether. Psalm 19:9-11 – “…the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. In the ancient world, gold opened doors to what people really wanted. What do you want? A house, a truck (maybe this is just me – I love trucks), respect, honor? David wants the Scriptures more because they’re more desirable than gold and more delicious than the most exquisite steak or tastiest tofu (for you vegans). Friends, few things will shape your thinking, feeling, and acting like what you listen to. Listen to the skies, but more importantly listen to the Scriptures. Now, what does it really mean to listen to the Scriptures? That’s where our Psalm concludes…

THE LISTENING

We’ve looked at why we listen to the Scriptures, but David concludes the Psalm by helping us learn how to listen to the Scriptures. Listening to the Scriptures begins with humility. Psalm 19:12a – Who can discern his errors? The implied answer is “no one.” Friends, we’re so sinful that we can’t even discern all the ways that we fail to do and be what God requires. The Scriptures humble us by showing us the greatness of our sin and our great need for forgiveness. Psalm 19:12b – Declare me innocent from hidden faults. We listen to the Scriptures by humbly admitting that the truth that they reveal: we are sinners deserving of judgment who desperately need a Savior. But that’s the wonderful news of the gospel. Jesus Christ is the Savior we need. He is the fulfillment of all Scripture. He is the snake crusher promised in the Garden. He’s the offspring of Abraham who alone can bring God’s blessing to the world. He’s the prophet greater than Moses who didn’t just preach God’s word, but was the word in the flesh. He’s the passover lamb and the final sacrifice to take away the sins of his people. He’s the king greater than David who didn’t just fight for his people, but died for us and rose again to save us. The Scriptures declare us guilty and turn our eyes to Christ who alone can declare us innocent because is the only innocent one. If you listen to the Scriptures they speak of Christ and he is more to be desired than gold and drippings of the honey comb. Listen to the Scriptures by humbly receiving the only one who can declare you innocent for every time you fail to listen. And then, motivated by his grace, listen to the Scriptures by asking Him for help to live for his glory according to what they say. Psalm 19:13 – “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.” The ESV Study Bible defines presumptuous sin as those committed in arrogant disregard of divine commands. These are high handed acts of rebellion against God. Listening to the Scriptures is humbly asking for God’s grace and then asking God to, by his grace, keep you from great sins that wreak havoc on your life and the lives of those around you. But listening obediently also goes on the offense. Psalm 19:14 – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORDmy rock and my redeemer.” Listening to the Scriptures looks like asking the Lord who is your solid rock and the only one who redeems you by his grace, to conform the words of your mouth and even the meditations of your heart to his revealed will in the Scriptures. Listen to the Scriptures by embracing the grace of the Savior and living for his glory. You are becoming what you listen to. Listen to the skies and the Scriptures – they’re pointing you to the Savior.