God Revealed Himself To You, Now Turn From Sin And Trust Him (Psalm 19)
In a philosophy class in our day and time a person will be taught that everyone sees different parts of God, and that everyone is right in their own way. They illustrate this idea by saying that we are all like people in a dark room with an elephant. We can’t see anything and all we can do is touch the elephant. We are told that we are all touching different parts of the elephant and that none of us have a complete picture of the elephant, but we are all correct as far as we can see it.
There is something in this description that I want to believe. There are people that I care about who believe differently than I do and that sometimes causes me a good bit of worry and pain.
But here is where the discussion ends for me, and it should be for you as well.
God has revealed Himself to us. And this changes the discussion completely.
If mankind had been left to wander about and figure out who God is all on their own, the elephant illustration would have some merit. But that is not what God has done. God did not leave us without a testimony of Himself. God has revealed to us who He is and what He has done. And because God has revealed Himself to us, it is not for us to wander around and try to figure out what God is like. It is for us to believe the testimony that God has delivered concerning Himself.
In saying this, I am not saying that a person should not do some investigation into the matter for their self. I believe that the Scriptures were written in a way that enables us to search historical events and investigate it for ourselves. But when all is said and done, God had revealed Himself to us and we are to respond to this testimony by turning from ruling our own lives and trusting in Him.
God revealed Himself to you, now turn from sin and trust Him.
God Revealed Himself To Everyone Through Nature (Psalm 19:1-6)
This psalm, at least for me, comes to my mind when I look at the stars. The declaration that the heavens declare God’s glory is so beautiful and wonderful to me (Psalm 19:1). David is saying that nature is preaching a message. And that message is about the glory of God. As Charles Spurgeon stated in “The Treasure of David” over this very text,
“It is not merely glory that the heavens declare, but “the glory of God”, for they deliver to us such unanswerable arguments for a conscious, intelligent, planning, controlling, and presiding Creator, that no unprejudiced person can remain unconvinced by them.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
And this preaching that nature does should have an effect on us. It should move us to see the glory of the Creator who would make such a marvelous creation. In his commentary over this passage Calvin said,
“As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.”1 (John Calvin)
Creation preaches a message to us. And it is not a message that is vague or hard to understand. It preaches to us a message about the greatness of the Creator. It speaks of God’s glory and gives to us a sense of awe and wonder at the splendor of God.
And this is not a one-off kind of a sermon. Nature’s sermon is never ending. It is constant (Psalm 19:2). And the message is delivered so loudly and clearly that everyone hears the message (Psalm 19:3-6). It is like the heat from the sun and is felt by everything (Psalm 19:4-6).
All the world hears the message of God’s glory, therefore all the world is without excuse before God on the Day of Judgment. Read Paul said about this very thing in Romans 1:18-32.
God will judge all unrighteousness because people suppressed the truth about God. God has shown people “His eternal power and divine nature”…”so they are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20 ESV). And because of this decision they devolved into all sorts of wicked behavior that is described in the text. But it began with their suppression of truth.
God daily testifies to us concerning Himself in nature. His speech is constant, and it goes everywhere. The cool wind on your face makes much of God. The stars that shine in the sky testify to the glory of God. And things like the Grand Canyon speak of God’s grandeur.
So, what about the person in some tribe in a remote region of the world?
We see both from here and Romans 1 that they have enough light from nature to know something of God. A person is not condemned because of their unbelief. They are condemned because they have sinned against God. And the light of nature should have been enough to cause them to see that God is there and that they should live lives of honor and worship to Him. But they suppress this truth and do not do so.
This also means that the atheist is not a person who just passively does not believe. Their unbelief is the result of their own suppression of truth. It may be in ways that they are not aware, but the suppression is there.
God Revealed Himself To Us Through His Word (Psalm 19:7-11)
In theological terminology, God’s revelation of Himself to us in nature is called “Natural Revelation”. God’s revelation of Himself to us in His Word is called “Special Revelation”. Natural Revelation is the topic of Palm 19:1-6. Special Revelation is the topic of Psalm 19:7-11.
“The Law of the Lord” is another phrase that is used to just mean Scripture. God has revealed Himself to us in a more full way through Scripture. Nature discusses God’s glory, but we can’t understand a lot of things about God simply by looking at a tree. But Scripture is the full testimony of who God is, who we are, what He has done for us, and how we are to respond to Him.
At this point we are told in a few different ways that the Scriptures are perfect and beneficial to the believer. This is a way that people emphasized things in the Hebrew poetry. That is what we find happening here. Psalm 19:7 and Psalm 19:8 are parallel statements that emphasize the perfection of Scripture and its benefit to the believer. Then Psalm 19:9 makes a similar statement, but it does so in reverse.
When you break apart the statements this becomes obvious. The Scriptures are “perfect” (V. 7), “right” (V. 8). The Scriptures are “reviving the soul” (V. 7), “rejoicing the heart” (V. 8). The Scriptures are “sure” (V. 7), “pure” (V. 8). And the Scriptures make “wise the simple” (V. 7), and are “enlightening the eyes” (V. 8).
And notice that both of these parallel statements began with Scripture and moved to the goodness that it brings to the life of the believer. Psalm 19:9 does that in reverse, beginning with the result of Scripture and moving to Scripture itself. Faith, or “the fear of the Lord” comes from God’s Word. It is “pure” and “endures forever”. And then he writes that the Scripture is “true”, and “righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9 ESV).
When something is repeated and stated this often, the author has a strong desire for you to get it implanted into your head. Here it is that God has revealed Himself to us in a special and full way in His Word. And it is very beneficial for the believer.
Though nature reveals God to us, it does not reveal as much to us as God’s Word does. God has given us His Word, His Special Revelation. And in it He has told us His standard, His Law. He has told us how He expects us to live. And He has told us of His wonderful salvation in Christ that we are commanded to believe.
And because God has given us this more full revelation of Himself and His activities in His world, it is from His Word that we understand what we are to believe, find the truths we are to cling to, and we are to stake our lives upon what He has said.
God’s Word is perfect and good. And we will find tremendous blessings over our lives as we order our lives around what God’s Word has said. His Word is pure and true. And it is in His Word that we are to live.
This has tremendous application for our lives. God has revealed Himself to us and has given us something that is special and wonderful for our lives in His Word. It is of utmost importance that we hear God’s Word preached, have it taught to us, read it ourselves, and teach it to our children. The benefits to this are tremendous.
But having God’s Revelation doesn’t lead us to a place of self-reliance. It leads us to see something dark about ourselves.
God’s Revelation Of Himself Leads Us To Understand We Are Sinners Who Need A Savior (Psalm 19:12-14)
This section begins with a prayer for forgiveness. And at first glance that is such an interesting turn of events. But as we consider what God’s Word does to us, it makes complete sense.
God’s revelation of Himself leads us to see and to understand that we are sinners who need a Savior. We see God’s holiness and righteousness in the Scriptures. We also see God’s standard and our failure to keep it. We see the truth of our own sinfulness in light of God’s standard, and it leaves us undone. And the prayer here is asking for forgiveness.
The Scriptures do the same thing to us today. When we examine our lives according to the Scripture we see our own sinfulness and rebellion against God. And it leaves us understanding that we need a Savior. And God provided that Savior in Jesus Christ.
God created the world and everything in it. And it was all good until the first man, Adam, disobeyed God and brought all of Creation into decay. And made all of his progeny sinners. Now people sin because they are sinners. We are born rebels against God and have earned for ourselves God’s justice and wrath. But He did not leave us in that situation. God did provide for us a Savior. God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life on our behalf and died on the cross for our sins. Three days later He rose from the grave and accomplished our justification. And all those who repent and believe in Him will be saved from the punishment that we deserve in a place called Hell.
The Scriptures help us to see that we deserve Hell. But they also reveal to us the glorious salvation that is for those who believe. And in Christ we have the justification that David here prays for.
David’s prayer doesn’t end with a plea for forgiveness. He continues to ask for help keeping the Law (Psalm 19:14). And the experience of every believer should lead us to the same place. If we are going to be people who follow God’s ways then we will need divine help. And so, we pray to the Lord and ask for Him to aid us in following His ways. We cannot do this on our own.
God’s revelation of Himself does something to us that we don’t immediately expect. When we read God’s Word we find that we are in sin and rebellion against God. We see His standard and we see how far we fall short of God’s standard. And we also see our inability to keep God’s command.
Conclusion
God has revealed Himself to everyone through the light of nature. And nature itself is preaching to us a sermon day and night of God’s glory. But that is not the only way God has spoken. He has spoken to us in His Word. And in His Word we see our own sinfulness and need for a Savior, Jesus Christ who accomplished our salvation for us.
Let us be people who hold fast to God’s revelation and trust Him. God revealed Himself to you, now turn from sin and trust Him.
R. Dwain Minor
1. John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, from his comments on Psalm 19:1
2. Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Book I, from his comments on Psalm 19:1