Psalm 19 | Three Ways God Has Revealed Himself | Pastor Daniel Batarseh | Maranatha Conference 2025

I trust that you have a copy of God's word in your hand. If you weren't here last night and if you were hopefully you remember that we are endeavoring to look through the book of Psalms together, and that God's spirit will help us see things that perhaps we've never seen before, but more than just acquiring new thoughts and deeper insights, that we would be profoundly moved by the glories within these passages. And when you come to the Psalms, you'll realize quickly that it reflects the many themes in the Christian's praise. And one of the most dominant things that we find concerning the theme of joy and adoration and glory is the marvelous reality that God has revealed himself to man. That is something that arrives quite early in the Psalms.

It is impossible to conclude as you read these spirit inspired prayers and hymns that the true and living God is a distant, veiled, and uninterested deity who created the universe, pushed himself away, and has no desire to engage with his creation. On the contrary, many of these Psalms rejoice in the reality that God has made himself known in undeniable fashion. And we see this very early on as I said earlier, especially what we find in Psalm 19. And I ask you to turn there in your bibles with me. It was CS Lewis who famously said that Psalm 19 is the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.

And while the greatest Psalm is up for debate, you can't deny that Psalm 19 is a masterpiece. Not just because of its literary structure, not just because of its artistry, but primarily because of its compelling message of how God has made himself known to man. In fact, Psalm 19 reveals that the Lord has done this in three fundamental ways. It opens up by showing us that God declares his existence, his reality in creation with a special focus on the skies. In other words, Psalm 19 wants to tell you look up.

God is speaking to you, but creation though it testifies to the power and might of God does not fully explain his character. And that's why David will transition to the scriptures. How God has not just made all things, he also has provided us his word. And it is a biography of his character and it also in Psalm 19 shows us the supernatural impact of its message. And one of the things that the word of God does is it explains and confirms how we all fall short of the glory of God and have been severed from a relationship with him due to our sin.

And that's why in the third and final part of Psalm 19, which really serves as the high point of God's self revelation, we learn that God is a saving God. That he has not only created all things but he wants to redeem us and restore us and have a meaningful true real relationship with him. This is a three fold manifestation of God. There's a title for this message. It's three ways God has revealed himself.

And if you want a summary of these thoughts, here it is. Number one, general revelation, creation. Number two, special revelation, the scriptures. Thirdly, saving revelation, Christ. Another way of putting it is that God has made himself known.

He has unmasked himself to humanity through creation, inspiration, and salvation. And I think the best way to start the service is to read Psalm 19 together. Can we do that beginning in verse one? To the choir master, the psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor their words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. And then he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 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 law of the lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 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. Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant from all presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh lord, my rock and my redeemer.

This is god's word. And lord, it is our prayer that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts would be acceptable in your sight. Oh, help us now know the scriptures. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If I was teaching through the book of Psalms at our church, I would take Psalm 19 and use three Friday nights just for this text. But we're not gonna do that this conference. We're going to look at it in its entirety. And the first thing I want us to consider is how God has made himself known in creation. It was Glenn Scribner who said, Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.

Materialists believe in the virgin birth of the universe. Choose your miracle. To deny the divine origin of creation is not to reject the miraculous. It's simply to place your faith in a different kind of miracle. Anybody who is honest, who has a shred of integrity cannot dismiss the transcendent authorship of the world around us.

There is a supernatural source that stands behind it and this is something that we see right here in the beginning of Psalm 19. David says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. And now you might think that a statement like that makes the point. Why elaborate? But he does with greater insight and intensity.

What is he saying here? Well, the first thing that he's saying here is that creation does not stop speaking. In other words, day and night, night and day, all around us, god is speaking. It's uninterrupted. And we see here that every time there is a grouping of clouds, every time there is a gorgeous sunset, every time there is a clear sky, an and illuminating full moon, every time you may catch the glimpse of a shooting star, God is talking.

And notice how the psalmist says that day to day pours out speech, pours out you know what the word actually is? Gushing. Implying what? That God has a lot to say. And that creation is saying a lot.

How much? So much so that he's only focusing on the skies. Just the skies pour out speech. Never never mind the oceans. Never mind mountain peaks and and wide landscapes.

Never mind vegetation. Never mind the human anatomy. If you just look up, there is overwhelming testimony of the glory of God, and that's precisely what we're supposed to do. But what is the celestial sphere telling us? What is it silently speaking about?

Well we see it right here. It is revealing knowledge. Knowledge. You know, as Christians, we often equate creation with God's omnipotence. His power brought all this about and that's right.

But the scriptures also say that by his wisdom, he established the earth. By his understanding, he stretched out the heavens. In other words, when you look at creation, the impression that you're supposed to have is there is an infinitely vast mind behind all of this. And that's again for the honest person. But creation is not just doing that.

Additionally, David explains how creation holds all men accountable. What does he say here in verse three and four? Look at verse four specifically. Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. Someone once said that creation is a wordless book that everyone can understand.

It's not bound to a language. Everyone can read it. It needs no translation. What this means is that no one can say with integrity. No one can charge God for hiding himself.

Creation is clear enough to show that there is a God. And Paul borrows this thought, does he not? In Romans one, you know this very well. That his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived. And he says there in Romans one twenty, so that no one may have excuse.

There is no excuse. Everyone stands accountable to the reality of God. Nature is God's inaudible introduction of who he is. And no matter what language you speak, no matter where you are, God has already made himself known. Creation is God's hello.

Now, this is why discrediting natural revelation is a grave mistake. In fact, it's diabolical at its core. To give credit to the world around us to something apart from God is satanic. And I'll tell you why it is so evil, because it denies one of the clearest and most fundamental presentations of who God is. In other words, if you convince people that God did not create them, you make it much more difficult.

You increase their resistance to believe that a savior died for them. Tell them that God didn't make them. It'll be much more difficult to persuade them that a savior died for them. I heard someone once say that we teach children that they came from animals and get angry when they act like it. How true.

Wherever you stand on this issue, this passage rings so clear. God is continually speaking to mankind and he's introduced himself day and night, night and day. The problem is most people aren't In fact, Romans one says they suppress the truth. Okay. Fine.

Mock Christians all you want. Yeah, we believe in the miraculous. You believe in a very fascinating miracle yourself, the virgin birth of the cosmos. I choose to believe that a mind made all these things, That a God is the author. And this is something for us to consider further because creation is not just speaking.

Yes. It's an introduction to the majesty of God, but it's also a gift to humanity. Look back in your bibles here, verse four and verse five. The end of verse four, the language that David employs. He says here, in them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

Why is he using poetic language? Why is he using metaphors to describe the movements of the solar system? I I think it's quite obvious to describe the sheer beauty of it. This is what he's doing. He he wants to paint the portrait for us that the systems at work, yes, they're beneficial.

Yes, they speak about wisdom, but they also impress our hearts and move us. What is it about standing at the edge of a mountain looking at a wide landscape of forests or hearing the the ocean waves crashing on the shore or tasting different delicacies and seeing the bright colors of fruits and that? Why does that move us? Why does that cause us to awe? Why why do why do we want to take a picture of it and send it to others?

What is that in us? It's God. He's an artist, and we've been wired to perceive these things and as a gift, as an extension of God's grace, it does something inside of us with the intention of creating worship. This this goes all the way back to the beginning by the way. Let me read this passage from Genesis two verse seven.

This is profound. Genesis two verse nine rather, it says here, and out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree this is the part that moves me, that is pleasant to the sight. Have you ever noticed that? That is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is pleasant to the sight.

So one of God's original purposes in making the trees is that you would look at it and you would be moved by it. We have a giant maple tree in our backyard, and though during the fall it's a little difficult to clean up the leaves because there's a ton of them, I'm always excited for the fall because those hues of colors and the yellows and the oranges and the red, And what is it about that that can make me stand in my kitchen and stare out my window for a few minutes? It's here. God has done something in creation as a gift to us so that you would find pleasure, genuine joy in what you're beholding. That's what David is doing here.

He's giving poetic language to the movement of the sun, but David also reminds us that creation is a gift because it's highly functional. Look here at the end of verse six where he says about the sun, there is nothing hidden from its heat. So it's more than just an emotional experience. When God made all things, there is nourishment, there is fuel, there is help. Right?

Genesis two nine, it's good for food. And here he talks about the heat impacting the world. And this is something for us to consider also because we have to then understand who gets the credit for all of it. The things that we often overlook. The things that we take for granted.

There's another Psalm that I, for season of my life, have woven into my prayers before giving thanks to the Lord for the food before us. It's in Psalm one zero four verse fourteen and fifteen. Maybe you can borrow the psalmist language too when you want to say grace with your family at the table. Specifically verse 15, but let's read verse 14 of Psalm one zero four. The Psalmist says, you cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth.

Pause. Look at the first four words of verse 14. You cause the grass, and I have two more words, to to grow. There is glory in a blade of grass. Have you noticed that?

When your grass, when your lawn goes from half an inch to an inch, maybe an inch and a half because you skipped that week of cutting the grass. I don't know the precise measurement of grass or anything. You know what the psalmist is saying? There's glory behind that grass. You cause it to grow.

I know we walk on it and we tend it and we try to take care of it. I just, I want to be like this. I want to be able to look at grass and say there's glory behind that. But he goes on to say in verse 15, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. What's the psalmist doing?

He's looking at the grass. He's looking at the oil. He's looking at his bread. He's looking at the wine, and he's saying this is all of God. This is him.

This is a gift to us. Don't be a Christian who regularly stuffs his face and doesn't pause to thank God for the fuel that he has placed before you. Creation, everywhere you look, the skies to the grass, he's talking. But the sun is not the only source of light and heat that God has given to man. He also provides the illuminating and life giving word.

That's why he transitions suddenly from verse six down to verse seven, describing the word. Creation tells you there is a God. The Bible tells you who he is. In fact, I want you to notice just how strategic the spirit is in David's writing. Go back to verse one and notice how David refers to God.

Verse one, the heavens declared the glory of God. God, Elohim, the generic term for deity. But then you come here to verse seven and notice what happens. The law of not God, of who? The Lord, Yahweh.

He employs the personal covenant name of God. So he goes from general revelation. Right? There is a God and then once he gets to the scriptures, he applies the personal name of God, the Lord. Revealing what?

That God is not just interested in showing you that he exists, he wants you to know him. He wants to draw your heart and to experience him. He's not satisfied with just making his existence real and clear. No. He wants you to know him in an experiential way, and he has made that pursuit possible because everything you need to know about God is in this book.

It's here. And instead of me now taking the time to make a case for the divine authorship of the bible, how it was compiled, how in God's providence, he has throughout the centuries, transported and and shared the word of God and sent it across the globe. I just want to do what the psalmist does here and look at the six statements of what the word of God is and what it accomplishes. David gives us six titles for God's word and corresponding to it, attributes of the DNA of the scriptures. We we read it earlier, did we not?

Look again. It's perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true. So what he's doing here is he's emphasizing its sufficiency and its reliability. He gives these different names for for the bible. The law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, and then he says something about its completion.

But when he discusses and explains its functionality, what it's able to accomplish, it's manifold. Oh, I'm telling you, we can spend a week for each of these verses here, but let's just get an overview. Look here at the first thing in verse seven. The Bible, the scriptures, the sacred writings is capable of what? Reviving the soul.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Implying what? That by nature, the deepest part of who you are is dead. Your spirit, if it's not connected to God, is dead. I know you interact with people, you feel certain things, you engage with life, but if you're not in Christ, then I'm sure you can say that there is this unshakable hollowness to who you are.

Maybe it's unexplainable that although you may tease your soul, you may taste some things here and there and supply some level of thrill, it fizzles out very quickly. And the less you distract yourself with the things of life, with your sin, with your ambitions, and the quieter you get, the more of a shell, an empty shell you feel like. And for those who are in Christ, you know very well that once you have experienced God by the means of his truth being known to you, something came alive in you. Something came alive. Jesus calls it being born again.

I can tell you when I was born again, it was in the new year of twenty twelve. A lot of snow in Toronto, Canada around that time. Everything looked different. The snow looked different. The air felt different.

More importantly, sin was different. All these appetites, the taste buds of my soul awakened. Things that I never knew were real became more real than anything else. Things that I thought were boring and lifeless now are my delight and my treasure. What is that?

It's it's the reviving of the soul. And not only does the law of the Lord provide initial resuscitation, but it sustains life. It keeps you alive. It enables you to coast through this life with a sense of fullness and joy. As long as you study and savor it, you will know the sense of life.

You know, I'm reminded, I was sharing this with somebody not too long ago about Jesus when he gave that bible study on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. Don't you wish that that bible study was recorded? How Jesus went from Genesis all the way through the the Old Testament and showed who he was, where he was, how he was tucked in here, how he's a substance of this shadow over there. And those two who were walking on that road listening to him attentively finally invite him to his house, they sit there, and Christ opens their eyes, they see him, they realize he's alive, he disappears in that very moment, and they look at each other and they said, did not our hearts burn within us? Now hold on.

Right before they say that, they had just experienced the manifest presence of the resurrected Christ. So assuming that that experience was obvious to them, they they knew that, you would think that they will follow it up with this. Did not our hearts burn within us when Christ manifested himself? Is that what they said? No.

When he opened to us the scriptures. So even when you want a miracle. Right? It's right before you. You want God to touch your soul?

It's right here. Take it from those two disciples who experienced Christ appearing in their kitchen. The main thing that they couldn't shake off was the Bible study on the way there. Why? Because the law of law is perfect, reviving the soul.

There's a lot of lament these days about preachers not preaching the bible. Right? I'll tell you one reason why I think preachers don't preach it. They don't really believe that it's sufficient. They don't really trust that if you just unleash the word, it will do its work and it will touch people's hearts.

And you can't get a preacher to preach the bible with that kind of enthusiasm, passion, and conviction unless he's experienced it himself. I'm getting carried away now. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Now we move on to the second thought. The bible makes the wise simple.

The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise this simple. Don't limit this to what we find in the new testament about how the scriptures make us wise unto salvation. In other words, the bible shows you how to be saved, as wonderful as that is. No no no. God as a loving father has given principles for a meaningful, secure, and fruitful life.

So when you come to this text, this glorious divine library, it's designed to guide you in every element of your existence. It can actually supply you with the sharpening ability in your discernment. You can actually become more discerning because of the bible. It can inform you in your financial ambitions. It can actually improve your social skills.

Anything that you can think of, the scriptures is ready to coach you and inform you, rebuke you, chisel you, carve out things out of your personality and your mindset that shouldn't be there. It can make simple people very wise, as long as they approach it with humility and eagerness. And I want to give you an example of how beneficial the Bible is. I was I I just sat back and thought, what are some things that people kind of overlook in narratives and and and different parts of of the scriptures? And and the thing that came to mind was, thinking about just how many families in the Bible are dysfunctional.

Have you ever realized that? Most families in the bible have a lot of problems, and God still uses them. One of the most crazy families are that of Isaac and Rebecca. The parents of Jacob and Esau. Do you know one of the main reasons why their home was so unstable?

Let me read it to you from Genesis twenty five twenty eight. You don't have to turn there. Listen to this. Genesis twenty five twenty eight, Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, game meaning his hunting, but Rebecca loved Jacob. What do you what do you get from that?

Favoritism. Dad loved one boy more than the other, mom loved another boy more than the other, and that's a contribution to the chaos in their home. You had a division in the household. So even as I'm reading Genesis, I'm supposed to learn what? As a parent, hey, don't show favorites with your kids.

As a pastor with spiritual children in the church, elders don't show favoritism. In fact, you realize that Jacob ended up making the same mistake, did he not? He was mommy's favorite and then once he had his boys, who did he show favoritism towards? Exactly. Did that cause problems by the way?

A lot. Also, I also learned that not this silly idea of generational curses, the blood of Christ breaks every curse, but there are generational patterns. And so you can adopt the the very thing that you dreaded your whole life as a child from your father or your mother, you can replicate if you're not careful because that's all you've ever seen, that's all you've ever known. So the things that wounded you and and bruised you and stunted your development, you can transfer to your kids if you're not careful. Do you see how wise the bible is?

Do you see how even in a verse like that you can you can actually be consoled and taught how to be a parent, makes the simple wise. And we see here that there's more to offer. Come to the third point here in verse eight, the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. Don't you love that? It's very possible that in a room this size, there may be a few who are more persuaded that the scriptures are a life robbing, joy killing worldview.

And if that is you, you couldn't be more wrong because the scripture says here that the precepts of the Lord rejoice the heart. God is for our joy. God is for your joy and to believe otherwise is a testament to one's ignorance of the bible. You can't go through this book and not at least admit that God is very ambitious for your joy. Not not just his glory, as we sang the other night, his glory is my good.

And that's what he says here. And and he sings it elsewhere, does he not? Psalm four verse seven, you have put more joy in my heart than they when their grain and wine abound. More joy. Now let's not criticize the culture here.

How many Christians are really convinced that God actually wants to heighten your joy and excel it to the degree that it outshines any kind of thrill or earthly pleasure? You have put more joy in my heart than any kind of feast, any kind of gathering, any kind of family ties. And one of the means of that exceeding joy being known is by investing the precepts of the Lord, of growing in your understanding. When you when you come into contact with these promises, these insights, even the mysteries, it will ignite an ecstasy in that soul that was revived. It will bring you to a place where you will marvel unlike anything else.

There is something reserved here. There is an endless fountain that springs forth streams of joy that will keep you satisfied forever. If if that's not your experience I mean, I'm I'm I'm hopeful that many people are here because of the word. You want the word because you know that it rejoices the heart. And if your experience of the bible or preaching or teaching or anything that relates to the scripture is not in alignment with that, something's wrong and God can fix it.

I mean, we can just end here, but there's still a few more to consider. Look at the fourth point he makes, the second part of verse eight, the commitment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. What does that mean? This book will drastically align your estimation and your outlook with God's perspective. In other words, the scriptures will help you see the world as God sees it.

It will help you understand as it sobers you in your view of sin for what it truly is. It will help you understand righteousness for what we so often misunderstand. It will inspire you to reject what God hates and to embrace what he loves. More importantly, it will unblur your vision of the character and the nature of the author of life. For anybody to say that they love God and know God, but have a shallow relationship with the word don't understand how this works.

Because it is through the word that your eyes are enlightened. This is probably the most perplexing point concerning the scriptures. Look at verse nine. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. So you see the pattern.

Right? He he's giving these synonymous titles for the word of God and its sufficiency, its reliability, and what it's able to accomplish. And then it's like there's something out of place here. You're you're talking about the fear of the Lord? What does that have to do with anything?

Seems like he's just injecting something random. Right? No. No, actually. And it hadn't happened to me until years ago where I realized the wisdom of this.

What is actually happening here by the spirit of God? Why is he mentioning the fear of the Lord in a text about the bible? Because the scriptures are the means for your awe of God to be realized and developed. In other words, if you want to increase in your understanding of the splendor and the majesty of God, which is what the fear of the Lord is. It's awe.

It's reverence. You can't do it apart from the scriptures. And I wonder if the widespread lack of reverence in today's evangelicalism is greatly in part of a low exposure to the scriptures. How you treat the word of God, how you expound the scriptures will either help people grow in their fear of God, or actually cause them to become dangerously comfortable with him. And I think the reason why there are so many who are casual with Christ is because they haven't really been exposed to the word.

The fear of the Lord is clean. You wanna fear God more? You need the Bible. You need to put your nose in these texts and ask God, show me who you are, and he will do it. The fear of the Lord is clean.

Finally, by way of summary, he says, the rules of the Lord are true and righteous all together. And what's David's response after his description, after his commentary of the scriptures here? Look at verse 10. 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.

Million dollar check or a Bible if I had to choose between the two? Give me the Bible 100 out of 100 times. There is nothing that can compare to the wealth of the word. The riches of this revelation. And you you can only say what he says here if you can first agree with what an experience with what he had just described before.

And my prayer is that everyone can agree here that the worth of God's word surpasses any amount of luxury, any amount of wealth, and the satisfaction it provides blows up anything that you can know with the finest delicacies, with the sweetest of experiences. Okay. Listen. Either the Bible is exaggerating or missing something in our experience. The Bible doesn't lie.

David reveals to us here that God has made himself known in the scriptures. And this is this is this is to be expected. Right? His reaction. More to be desired are they than gold.

We see that throughout the scriptures. Sweeter also than honey. We're we sing that. We know that. Here's where the transition is interesting.

He goes from rejoicing over the word to what? Confessing his sins. Right? Verse 12. Who can discern his errors?

Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. What's happening here? Well, David after explaining and describing the word of God, shows us one of the effects of the word, and it humbles you.

In other words, if you're really engaging with the word the way you're supposed to, it's gonna cause a cry to erupt from your soul. And one of those cries is, clean me. Has anybody here ever read through Psalm 119? I want to propose a challenge to you. Psalm 119 is the largest chapter in the whole Bible, and it's all about the word of God.

Find time to read it all in one sitting. There's much to chew on, but there's something about zooming out and looking at looking at it in one breath, and looking at it in one shot. It's it's exhilarating. The the amount of glory and beauty that the psalmist gives to the scriptures. The desperation, the hunger.

It's it's an obsession, and it's moving. One thing after the other. He talks about, again, the wealth of the world, the treasure of the world, what it's able to do. Have you ever considered how Psalm one nineteen ends? It seems like what we read earlier, it seems out of place.

Turn there for a moment. It's Psalm one nineteen verse a 176. Not a lot of verses in the Bible are in the hundreds. But look at Psalm one nineteen verse one seventy six. This is how Psalm one nineteen ends.

And again, if you want the Bible to talk to you, you have to ask it questions. Let's read it. He says, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant for I do not forget your commandments. What does that have to do with anything?

He goes from gushing over the the beauties and and the majesty of the word. And then he talks about what? I run away often like a sheep. But no. What he's doing here is exactly what we find in Psalm 19.

That after expounding and rejoicing and praising the word of God, he expresses his fallenness. He expresses his tendency still to deviate and to lose track of him, and to go off course. In other words, what you find in these passages is what the Bible should be doing to you the more you know it. Keep you humble. Have you met people who know a lot of Bible, but they're proud?

I'll tell you this. They're not reading the Bible. Right? Because David shows us, the more I know, the more I know myself. The more you increase in your knowledge of God's word, the more you will decrease in his presence.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant. But David, who's really asking for like a full washing. I want to be washed from my hidden faults, even the things I don't even know about. Scrub me clean.

Get rid of every ounce of infirmity, iniquity, perversion, lust, envy, jealousy, selfish ambition. Just wash it all off me. Here's where you have to be careful. He's not making this desperate cry out of hopelessness. He's not begging with no hope in sight.

In fact, he does so with the understanding that God has made himself known in a specific way. Look back at Psalm 19 and verse 14. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. This is the first time redeemer appears in the book of Psalms. And it doesn't appear much in the old testament.

And where does it show up? In the very chapter where God has revealed himself to us in three ways. So we move from creation to inspiration and now salvation. How does God make himself known to you? Through your conscience.

And then when you humble yourself and come to the truth of God's word, there's something called conviction that's realized. Where does that come from? Come on. Ask yourself these questions. Think a little bit.

Stop scrolling for for like ten minutes and actually internalize something and and think and ask some deep questions. Why am I moved at the smell of apple pie in the oven? Why does that do something to me? Oh, because I'm hungry. Sure.

But if you think a little deeper, it's like, why does food taste good? Why can't it all be bland? Why do there have to be colors in the skies? Why can't it just be gray? Why are there shapes?

Why do clouds when they're formed a certain way make me go, wow. Why? Go further. Why is it that when I click on that website, I feel a wave of shame and guilt? You're an animal.

You have instincts. Go at it. No. You're not an animal. You're created in the image of God.

Why is it that after I argue with my wife and say things that I shouldn't have said, if I haven't seared my conscience already, why is it that when I get in my car and leave angry, I realize you're a fool. That's your bride. That's the one you made a covenant with. Where does that come from? God makes himself known to you with that internal alarm system.

But beyond that, he does so to guide you to salvation. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. He he is known in creation, inspiration, and salvation. And these are not independent from one another. They're actually the progression of how God is to be known.

This is actually modeled in a very unlikely place. I wanna I wanna invite you to go to the book of Matthew and look at what happens with the Magi, the wise men who came from the East to find Jesus. Look at Matthew chapter two. I'll wait for you. We'll begin in verse one.

In Matthew two verse one. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. How did these wise men start their quest? There was a star.

There's a lot of debate about what that was, what this means, how that worked. But one thing is undeniable, their journey began with creation. You see where we're going with this? Once they come to Jerusalem, look at verse three. When Herod the King heard this, he was troubled in all Jerusalem with him, and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people.

He inquired of them where Christ was to be born. They told them, in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet. And you, oh Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So King Herod is troubled by this parade of these wise men from the East. They're asking for the king of the Jews.

And so he inquires of the scribes, the teachers of the law, and he goes, hey. Hey. You guys are anticipating Messiah. You guys are anticipating a son of David. Can you find out where he's to be born?

And they go, yeah, actually. And they go through their scrolls, and they realize Micah says that he's gonna be born in Bethlehem. So then King Herod goes to the the wise men. He goes, hey, I actually wanna worship with you. So, why don't you guys head over there and let me know what you find and and I'll make my way to worship.

So they went from the star, and now they are directed further on the basis of what? Scripture. It is written. And after they received the inspiration of God's word, they arrived in Bethlehem. And who did they find?

Jesus. Creation, inspiration, salvation. What does that mean? For the honest inquire, if they look at the world and say this, I'm not I'm not just meat stuffed in a bag of skin. I'm created.

But who is this God? And you realize that this book is unlike any other book. And sure, maybe you're a skeptic by nature, so you do a little bit of dive into the historicity of the Bible and the prophecies of the Bible unmatched in comparison to any religious or philosophical text. And as you investigate and as you look, you like David realized, I'm in trouble. Whoever this God is, he is blazing with holiness.

He is infinitely glorious. I'm not. In fact, I'm a rebel. And I fall so short of his glory. But then, you also realize that this is a God of hope, of love, of redemption.

My redeemer, David says. Who is this redeemer? The same God who created the world entered into it to make a payment for humanity's sin. Here's the point. All of creation, all of divine revelation points to Jesus Christ.

He is the maker of all things and the redeemer of every soul. This is the ultimate climax of God's revelation of himself. Everything is sign is signing and pointing to this experience of David. My rock and my redeemer. And I want you to know something.

He didn't say, oh Lord, the rock and the redeemer. My. Personal. Real. For me.

Is he your redeemer? Is he someone that you've experienced push away all the shame and all the guilt because you have plunged yourself in his redeeming blood? That's where it all comes down to. My. He's mine.

I am his. He is mine. Here's my question in closing. Does the new testament ever quote from Psalm 19? It does.

Romans. In a in a way that you might not think. Go to chapter 10. What's happening in Romans 10? Well, some of these Roman believers were wondering why Israel rejected their Messiah.

And one of their possible one of the possible reasons is because, maybe they haven't sufficiently heard the gospel. Maybe it wasn't clear enough to them. Maybe it wasn't exposed in abundance to the degree that would help them actually come to terms with who Jesus is, and Paul makes an argument borrowing from Psalm 19. It's fascinating. Look at verse 18.

But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed, they have. He's talking about the Jews. Indeed, they have. For their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.

Do you remember when Peter said in his epistle, that some of the things that Paul teaches are hard to understand? You remember that? This is one of them. Why is it hard to understand? Because in Paul's defense of God's faithfulness to reveal the gospel to the Jewish people, he goes to Psalm 19, and you would think that he would quote from the part about the scriptures.

Right? He doesn't. He quotes the part about creation. Do you see that? Their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.

What is he talking about here? He's talking about the skies. He's talking about the stars. He's talking about the sun. So he quotes about the part of creation to make his point that the Jews sufficiently heard the gospel.

There's a disconnect here. In other words, Paul, maybe you made a mistake actually. In fact, he's actually making a brilliant point. I think what Paul is trying to say here is that, look, in the same way that God has made himself known through creation, In a general sense, yes. He's not satisfied with that.

In Jesus Christ, his finished work and his church, he now endeavors to make his son known universally. In other words, the Lord is not just gonna sit back and give the world an understanding of who he is by way of creation. He's going beyond it. And now through the great commission, he has launched the church to the four corners of the earth to make the savior known to the nations. Revealing what?

His absolute desire and eagerness to show Christ to the world. So the argument that Paul really is making here is that, yes, creation stands as an introduction. But God now, as he goes from creation, inspiration to salvation, hasn't just kept Jesus there in Israel. Through his church now, he explodes and launches that truth throughout the whole world, which makes the world even more accountable. As the gospel continues to go forth and bibles are being printed in different languages, and and Jesus is being preached, more and more people now have a greater account to make.

Because they don't just look at the grass anymore and the sun, they've heard the name Jesus. And that is especially true for The United States Of America. We are inundated. We are drowning in Christian radio programs, in churches on every street corner, in Christians at your workplace, your family members. What Paul is saying is true in our day, and it will continue to be true leading up to the culmination of the age.

God is reaching out to the four corners of the earth with Christ, his name. Which is a wonderful thing, but also terrifying for the one who even after seeing creation, understanding inspiration, and now knowing about salvation, you still reject it? That's dangerous. Last night, I was laying in bed trying to sleep. Trying to sleep because, I was telling somebody I actually told this to a few people.

The feeling of the night before preaching a sermon is like Christmas Eve. I just I can't wait. And I'm there just laying in bed thinking about these points. And my mind for some reason went to Paul in Athens when he preached to all those philosophers, Epicureans, these stoics, these wise guys who spent their time listening to new things, new ideas, new philosophies. Philosophy is a strange thing, by the way.

I remember taking an intro to philosophy in college. And one of the ways that the teacher, introduced the class was, listen, philosophy is not about finding truth. That's presumptuous. We just discuss possibilities and theories. I thought, why am I here?

Give me my money back. So the whole thing about philosophy is just regurgitating thoughts and brainstorming out loud of what could be and what could not be. And Paul says something amazing to these Athenians. Eventually, he couldn't help himself. You read there in acts 17 that he looked around, and he saw all the idolatry and it moved him.

It grieved him. And so he couldn't he couldn't help himself but to speak up. And so he began to speak about Christ and the resurrection. And some of these guys heard and they says, hey, we actually wanna hear more what what you have to say. So they set up a meeting and he he's there on a platform.

And listen to these words in acts 17 verse 23. Paul says, for I passed along in acts seventeen twenty three, and observe the objects of your worship. I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. You know what's happening here? These pagans who had a plethora of gods and goddesses and statues and and all these memorials and altars, they wanted to try to cover all their bases.

And so they set up this monument to an unknown God, like, in case we missed one. That's what's happening here. Hey. In case there's one God out there in the stratosphere on a planet or some realm that we don't know of, here here's an altar to you. And look at the genius of Paul.

He goes, hey, I noticed all your different little things, and I saw this inscription on one of your altars to the unknown God. And look how he finishes here. Acts seventeen twenty three. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. I couldn't sleep before this point, and then after that last night, I was just Who has the audacity to go to a group of people who are trying to figure God out and say, what's a mystery to you, I can make known to you.

Oh, you're agnostic. You don't know who this power is. Is there one of them? Is there multiple of them? Paul says, I'll make it known to you.

You say, on what basis? He's an apostle? No. He's a Christian. You have that same authority.

You have the revelation of God's word. You have more than just the testimony of creation. You have inspiration, and you have salvation. And so, rise up with boldness to a confused age and say, what you don't understand, let me make known to you. Know the word.

Know Christ. This world desperately needs it. God has made himself known in three ways. Do you know him? I want you to consider this.

You you may have been maybe even infuriated with what you've been hearing here. That's fine. But at least do this. Consider what you heard and really meditate on it. Meditate on creation.

Meditate on the claims of this book. And lastly, what are you gonna do with Jesus? What are you gonna do with his claims, his work? Isn't it amazing how everybody wants to have Jesus? What do I mean by that?

Every religious system wants to try to claim Christ. The Muslims venerate him as a prophet. The Mormons want to claim that he's a God. The Jehovah's Witnesses, he's an exalted creature. The the most exalted creature.

Why does everybody want to claim Christ? Why not Muhammad? Why not Buddha? Why is nobody fighting over Joseph Smith? That little observation on its own, should it not compel you to step back and say, what is it about Jesus Christ?

Why have more books been written about him than any other historical figure? Why is it that Jesus Christ, out of all the moral teachers, and all the philosophers, and all the great minds, why is it Christ made a dent in time itself? Think. And I pray that by the end of this day, you will come to the redemptive conclusion. He is Lord, and he wants to save me.

Lord, we ask that we would never be unashamed of the truth that we are in. And we pray Lord, that we would continue to grow in our knowledge of you. For those who know you made this, grant them the fortification in their faith that they are indeed in the truth. Your scriptures are righteous altogether. Lord, for the the one who may be on on the fence for whatever reason, we pray that you would use this conference to persuade them not to a church, not to a minister, but to Christ.

Maybe perhaps even for the one who hates the truth in this book. Who suppresses it with all their might. Oh, may you use the revelation that David had, my rock and my redeemer to melt their rocky heart and their rebellious ways to see even where they are today. Oh Lord, you long to save them. We give you thanks for Psalm 19.

In Jesus name, Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord.