Psalm 19 - Knee Deep

I heard a Christian speaker not long ago admonishing his audience to confess their "secret sins" to God before God saw fit to expose them to everyone.  God wants to be as gentle with us as He can....but, there comes a time when He has had enough and will, for our good and the good of those around us, let it rip.  There seem to be two kinds of sins - ones we know about and ones of which we are unaware.  Both need to be revealed and confessed so that we can be joyful, healthy people.  After all, it is our "abundant" life that Christ came to offer us.

Sitting in every church pew are people with terrible pain.  People with secret lives.  Those who don't even understand their own sinfulness and how it affects their families and friends.  How does God address this?

The judgments of the Lord are true.  They are completely right.   They are worth more than gold, even the purest gold.  They are sweeter than honey, even the finest honey.   By them Your servant is warned.  Keeping them brings great reward. People cannot see their own mistakes.  Forgive me my secret sins.  Keep me from the sins of pride.  Don't let them rule over me.  Then I can be pure and innocent of the greatest of sins. 

LET THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART BE ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, MY ROCK AND MY REDEEMER.  (vs. 9-14)

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, which is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, will cut into our lives, warn us of danger and show us our sins.  Especially egregious are the sins of pride, for pride makes us do crazy things and is the root of pretty much every kind of sin we can imagine. No wonder sin separates us from God, because we are looking to ourselves to rule our lives...makes it necessary to look away from Him.

The Bible convicts me every time.  During one period of repentance in my life, the Lord kept showing me how like various animals I had become.....stupid like a pigeon and easily tricked or like a wild donkey all by itself (Hosea). 

Again in the Psalm 32:  "I will make you wise and show you where to go.  I will guide and watch over you.  So don't be like a horse or donkey that doesn't understand.  They must be led with bits and reins or they will not come near you." 

Again....Psalm 73:  When  my heart was sad and I was angry, I was senseless and stupid. I acted like an animal toward You.

Now these may seem severe in the execution, but they were accurate in the message...that is, of course, why I remember them so well.  Someone had to tell me the truth about myself, about my stupid actions and rebelliousness.  God put me in a place where I could hear Him then He let me have it!  I and I got it!  I agreed with Him....which is the first major step in repentance.  I stomped out in my own direction, not heeding His warnings, and found myself knee deep in doo-doo.  Feet stuck in miry clay trying to climb up the walls of a deep pit.  How did I get there?  By being stupid like a pigeon and easily fooled.  That's how.

How did I get out?  His Word.  Cutting into my marrow.  Telling me not only that I was less than smart, but also that when our hearts make us feel guilty, we can still have peace with God.  God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.  (I John)  He knows how I got there.  He knew my pain.  So, yes, He  may be saying something like..."If you had only listened to Me you would not be in this pit, Kay."  But while He is speaking, He is crawling into it with me to pull me out and clean me up. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to Him and work a work in me that warns me and cleanses me so that my very great reward, living for eternity in the presence of my Christ, will be mine forever.

Psalm 19 - Soul Fatness

David goes from things that speak of God without words to the words of God Himself.

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one's life.  The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.  The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad.  The command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.  The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.  The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.  They are more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey, which comes from the honeycomb.  In addition, Your servant is warned by them.  There is great reward in keeping them.  (vs. 7-11)

Once we grasp that God, our Creator, is real based upon the overwhelming evidence of an ordered and vast universe, listening to His words makes a lot of sense.  What doesn't fit the paradigm is doing our own thing.  That is almost ridiculous when you compare your own knowledge of life and what it is about with that of the mind that not only thought up the universe, but also thought you into being.  Can you really imagine standing in the presence of God and telling Him what you are going to do with your life?  Can you imagine schooling Him on how things ought to work?  Like a two-year-old telling her mother what to do....although I have seen that in Target on more than one occasion.   

"In the beginning was the Word (logos) and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.  Life was in Him.  And that life was the light of men." John 1.

Jesus is the spoken (logos) Word of God come to life in a man.  Language made flesh so that we could see God's words as clearly as we the creation His words spoke into being.  We saw Christ's radiance, wisdom, precepts and His testimony.  John and the other disciples said they "handled" the Word.  Touched Him.  And His commands are radiant.  Can't get over that phrase in this psalm.  He gives us an "Aha" moment.  Love one another as I have loved you.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart.  Follow me.  These, some of His commands.  "...and the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Father will send in My name will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you." 

 Commands are just orders if there is not love to motivate and power to activate them.  God provided for even that when He decided to dwell within believers so that we are empowered to do what we are commanded.  We then become the embodiment of His Word.  We are the fragrance of Christ to a lost world.  We are a letter written to everyone, not on tablets or with ink but by the Spirit of the Living God...His Word written on tablets that are hearts of flesh. (2Corinthians 3)

In this way, there are two witnesses to the power of God for the unbeliever to observe.  The silent created universe and the evidence of His Word re-creating me and you.  Both are there for all to see and wonder at.  We should be mining the depths of His words as vigorously as we would mine for gold, for they are sweeter than honey, making our lives rich, our souls fat and our eyes shine with the joy of new wine.

Psalm 19 - Speech Without Words

David has been speaking of the wonder of the heavens - how beautiful they are, how vast and orderly and immutable.  Their glory speaks of creation without using words.  Language is unnecessary and inadequate to express such a display of God's handiwork.  It goes without saying that there is a creator God, because creation says it all around the world every minute of every day. 

I sat last Saturday at the bedside of my dying father-in-law. Across the bed from me for some of that time was a beautiful dark-haired hospice nurse.  She was holding Dad's other hand as tears filled her eyes.

"You've probably seen some amazing things, haven't you?" I asked.

"Yes.  Yes, I have," she replied.  "I do not know how anyone can be present in the last moments of someone's life and not know there is a God."

She went on to tell me of times when God not only seemed to arrange the final events of the lives of the dying but also of the perfect timing for their loved ones to be there at the moment of death.  Of a God Who has shown up so obviously at the moment of crossing over that she cannot doubt heaven.  She needs no sermon.  No need of words to explain the workings of a God Who shows Himself to be.

The One Who orders the stars orders our lives, also.  What a comfort to know that that kind of power is at work for us.  The message of the universe to us is that God Himself is glorious.  The sun tells us in a language all its own that God is a master designer.

In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.  It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber.  It rejoices like an athlete running a course.  It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to the other end.  Nothing is hidden from its heat.  (vs. 4-6)

The most visible and powerful image of God's creation is the sun.  Majestic.  A ball of intense light and heat.  The inhabited world cannot escape the fact that there is a God.  The sun beams the truth everywhere every day.  It comes up in the morning as if it were a groom newly risen from his bridal chamber and runs across the earth like a mighty athlete!  Who thought of that brilliance that lights our way and warms our day?  Who carved out its immutable path?  Order speaks of planning.  Things go from order to chaos - not the other way round.  Creation points to Creator, and nothing more extravagantly than the heavens.

What can be known about God is evident because God has shown it to them.  For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature has been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood by what He has made.  As a result, people are without excuse. (Romans 1)

Why would we not want to know such a brilliant mind?  How could we fail to love One Who would deign to walk among His creation, taking on their form in order to redeem them. 

May those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its strength.  Judges 5:31

Psalm 19 - My Haiku

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.  Day after day they pour out speech.  Night after night they communicate knowledge.   There is no speech.  There are no words.  Their voice is not heard.

Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. (vs. 1-4)


Look at the heavens.

Moon reflection. Sun beaming.

Know God without words.

Psalm 18 - What More Can I Say?

Lord, You give light to my lamp.  My God brightens the darkness around me.  With Your help I can attack an army.  With God's help I can leap over a wall. (vs. 28-29)

Ever stumble around in the dark?  I have.  It is very awkward, to say the least.  To discover the worst, it is dangerous.  You cannot see where you are going, of course, so you do not know the way.  That, in a literal and spiritual sense, is the reason we need God to "light our lamps."  To "brighten the darkness." How does He do that?  By the Spirit and the Word.  He is a "lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  Not a floodlight illuminating the rest of our lives in streaming video before us.  A foot lamp.  Take a step. More light. Take another step.  A little more light.  Showing us the way, step by step.  It  takes faith, but not so much as navigating in the darkness does.  Then your faith is only in your own knowledge of what you think lies ahead.

You might find yourself attacking an army without troops if you navigate the way yourself.  I have tried that. Got really bloodied in the process.  Then there are the battles I call out to Him for and it is amazing how the enemy is routed by a sword I am not wielding.  My God fights for me...remember?  Because He delights in me.

The ways of the Lord are without fault.  The Lord's words are pure.  He is a shield to those who trust Him.  Who is God?  Only the Lord.   Who is the Rock?  Only our God.  God is my protection.  He makes my way free of fault.  He makes me like a deer that does not stumble.  He helps me to stand on steep mountains.  He trains my hands for battle so my arms can bend a bronze bow. 

You protect me with your saving shield.  You support me with Your right hand.  You have stooped to make me great.  You give me a better way to live, so I live as You want me to.  (vs. 30-35)

I like the contrast in these verses.  First David looks at God as the Commander of  the army.  The One Who trains him for war.  The One not only Who trains us, but the One for Whom we fight!  Our God!  Our Rock!  Our Redeemer!  He is the One Who makes us free from our many faults.  Came and took our place so that our punishment was on Him.  So He is the One Who makes us worthy of the battle in the first place.  That pretty much makes Him ....well, everything.

Next David speaks directly to our God.  Because He has stooped to gently teach us, as a father does with a young child, we understand there is a better way to live than by our own strength.  We are supported by His hand and protected by His shield.  Why wouldn't that make us feel every day like we could leap over a wall!!  Makes me want to dance right now!

The Lord lives!!!  My Rock be praised!! Praise the God Who saves me!!! (vs. 46)

Psalm 18 - You Are Delightful!

Ever wonder why the Lord reaches down and rescues us from ourselves?  Or from our enemy?  Or from some natural disaster?  Here is the answer:

He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.  They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out to a spacious place.  He rescued me because He delighted in me.  (vs. 17-19)

You know how a bridegroom looks at his bride when she walks down the aisle.  She is the only things he sees.  Standing there nervous with his groomsmen when the music plays and the bridesmaids finally station themselves at the altar, the groom sees her in white for the first time walking toward him on the arm of her father....and we all cry because it is just so beautiful.  That look of delight is what the Hebrew word means here.  Chaphets. To have pleasure in.  To desire.  He rescues us because He desires to be with us, like a groom with his bride.  He rescues us because He is one with us and we with Him.  He knows us in an intimate and protective union.  He rescues us because He is in love with us.

Nations will see your righteousness and all kings, your glory.   You will be called by a new name that the Lord's mouth will announce.  You will be a glorious crown in the Lord's hand and a royal diadem in the palm of Your Lord.  You will no longer be called Deserted, and your land will not be called Desolate.  Instead, you will be called My Delight Is In Her, and your land Married.  For the Lord delights in you, and your land will be married.  For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you.  And as a groom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you. (Isaiah 62: 2-5)

The picture is obvious, then, of a God who sees one His very soul loves in trouble and crying out for rescue.  He cannot help but stand up, reach down,and, in fire-breathing anger, take care of business.  You are His beloved and He is yours.  What touches you touches the apple of His eye.  We are one with Him, as Jesus said, so He is feeling with us in our pain or troubles.

I am watching my beloved father-in-law drawing his last breaths today.  At 97, he has grown weak from so many days on this earth.  His Father is calling His beloved home.  Soon Dad will conquer the one last enemy of his life - death.  He will be rescued from this battle. Beside Dad in his bed is his Savior, laboring with him to breathe, walking with him through the valley shadow of death to bring this sweet man into a fulness of life he has never known.  For even if the rescue for us is death, it is sweet victory because our Lord awaits us there to consummate our love, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.