August 18, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Psalm 29:1-32:11; Romans 3:19-4:8

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 19:1-6

1     The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

     2     Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

     3     There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

     4     Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

     5     Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

     6     Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.  NASB95

Romans 1:18-23

18     For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

     19     because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

     20     For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

     21     For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

     22     Professing to be wise, they became fools,

     23     and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  NASB95^[1]

I wonder if Paul was thinking about this Psalm when he wrote to the Romans concerning the way that God made Himself known through nature.  Paul also indicated that every single person alive on earth is accountable to God because of the way the He revealed Himself through nature.  Considering that, the last part of Psalm 19 deals with the Word of God and the way that it is so powerful in our lives. 

God provided a way to connect with man.  I must confess that I don't fully understand the concept, except to say that God expects man to do something with whatever revelation that he receives, even if it is from nature.  This is where we are turned back to the purpose that God created man for; it was for relationship.  God created us to have fellowship with Him.  He wrote the truth of His being into the very fabric of nature, so that nature screams out that God is.

Think further on that and reflect on the way that Jesus demonstrated power over the elements.  He calmed the wind with a word, instantly stopped the sea from churning during a hurricane type of storm, and when He died, the sun was darkened and earthquakes hit.  In the Old Testament, the sun was stopped in its tracks once, and the earth was backed up on its rotation once.  The water was split at least four times, the red sea, and the river Jordan; three times.  Insects are shown to be controlled through the Old Testament, even to the point of their eating one field and leaving the next when people tithe in Malachi.  Consider also the ways that Jesus spoke to the fish and had them do incredible things in the New Testament.  Consider the fig tree that Jesus spoke to, and the next day it was withered.  What about the time when God shut the sky for the prayer of a prophet, and reopened it again upon His request.  Speaking of clouds, consider the way that clouds were used in the Old and the New Testaments to testify to God and His power.  There are many examples, I hit only a few of them. The point of all of this is that God doesn't just allow nature to testify of Him, He demonstrated control over nature. Nature exists to glorify God, and He is written into the very fabric of it. 

David marveled at the way that the sun and the moon worked in perfect harmony.  He marveled at the way that the earth was surrounded by a tent, or a covering that protects us from the universe.  I wonder, how did he know that the atmosphere was restricted to the earth?  How did he know that we are protected by a line that God has drawn around the earth which holds in the air.  How did David understand that we are connected and protected by God. 

It is also interesting to consider that the sun and the moon were largely ignored until after the flood.  At that time, they were seen for the first time, and people recognized the glory that they demonstrated, then started to worship them, and invented astrology to explain the way that the gods worked through the stars.  God put the stars in place, and ordained the path of the earth around the sun, if it changed in a degree in either direction, we would have worldwide catastrophes.  If it changed just a few more degrees, our civilization would cease to exist.  God put it all in place, ordained it, and we marvel at the way it works. I am going to close with a quote from J. Vernon McGee, all comments are welcomed:

“It is interesting to note that the sun is prominent and likened to a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. When I was in Jerusalem, every morning I could see the sun come up over the side of the Mount of Olives. What a thrill it was to see the light breaking on Jerusalem—the walls of the city, the high places first. It touched David’s tomb on Mount Zion, then touched the tops of the buildings, and then moved to the temple area. It was thrilling, and it was a picture of another bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Some day He is coming in glory to this earth, but before He comes, He is going to take His church out of the world. He is the Bright and Morning Star. The Bright and Morning Star always appears before the sun rises. What a picture we have here in creation! There is nothing quite like it. This wonderful, wonderful psalm pictures creation.”^[2]

Father, as we consider Your handiwork, speak to each of our hearts regarding Your power in our lives, and Your desire to have relationship with men.

In Him,

Joe Turner.  

August 19, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Psalm 33:1-35:28; Romans 4:9-5:5

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 19:7-10

7     The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

     8     The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

     9     The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

     10     They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.  NASB95^[1]

The sun was spoken of in the previous verses as being a testimony to the world of God.  That thought is carried forward in these verses.  Think of the way that the sun shines driving away the darkness.  In that same way, God's word is perfect, restoring light to a dark soul.  It drives away any doubt, making the simple to be wise.  It demonstrates right, which causes our hearts to rejoice.  It is pure, bringing spiritual light to the eyes.  And just like the sun, God's word is clean and endures forever. 

These concepts are often taken out of context and used as a stand alone set of verses.  They were made into a beautiful song several years ago, but somehow did not carry the impact that we have when it is studied in context.  Consider the tremendous truth in verse 10, still comparing God's word to the sun, people will spend incredible amounts of money to go to places where the sun shines for vacation.  The multitudes flock to the lands which are blessed by the sun, and I only know of a few who find it fascinating to search out caves to spend their vacations in.  There is an interesting thing that happens in caves, after about two days of total darkness, and total silence, most people will go nuts.  To battle that, light is brought with them into the caves.  What is desirable in nature is the sun and its light.  It is more desirable than gold, and honey, compare that with the word of God, nothing is more desirable than the light of the word in our lives. 

John 1:4-5

4     In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

     5     The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  NASB95

John 1:9-10

9     There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

     10     He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

NASB95

John 1:14

14     And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  NASB95

1 John 1:1-9

1     What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—

     2     and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

     3     what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

     4     These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

God Is Light

     5     This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

     6     If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

     7     but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

     8     If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

     9     If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  NASB95^[2]

Consider now that Jesus was the light of the world. John spoke of this as he thought about the way that Jesus was the word, and He was the light of the world.  That light brought every man to be accountable for the darkness that they had allowed to be in their lives.  On the other hand if we choose to follow the light, then our lives will be forgiven and we will stand righteous through the forgiveness of Jesus.  The light reveals our lives, it reveals both good and bad, at that point we choose to either desire God's light in our lives and repent, or to turn from God's light and return to our own ways.  David goes further into this in the rest of the Psalm, we will cover that tomorrow.

Father, as we consider Your word bring Your light into each person involved in this study.  Teach each of us to follow closely after You, turning from our sin to Your righteousness.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

August 20, 2005

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Psalm 36:1-38:22; Romans 5:6-21

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 19:11-14

11     Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward.

     12     Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

     13     Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

     14     Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.  NASB95^[1]

Keep in mind the context of the passage, in the first part of the Psalm David talked about how that God revealed himself through the sun, and through nature,  (in other words, through light).  David then wrote about the word as being like light in a person's life.  Now David applies his thinking to his own life.

The reflection that he does on his life is in direct correlation to the way that he viewed the word of God as light in is life.  I think that there is a certain amount of repentance in these verses, but that is not the main focus here.  David's main focus is on the way that the light of God reveals all of his sin in his life.  He prays to God that the things that are hidden in his life, when brought to light will be forgiven.

One of the provisions of the Law was sacrifices made for unintentional sins.  David carries the same thought in these verses.  He prays that sins that he is committing even unintentionally will be forgiven.   To given an idea of how much David was blown away by the concept that God's word would reveal every area of his life; his prayer was that God would keep him from "presumptuous sins".  That meant sins that were committed by overstepping his bounds, or taking excessive liberty in a given situation. 

The desire of these verses is that God will forgive him for being human, and simply for making normal mistakes.  Some call this the doctrine of the total depravity of man. No matter what we do, our intentions our our heart desires sabotage our efforts by lacing in personal agenda's or selfish motives.  As men we are utterly sinful beyond all belief.  The sin sickness that was passed on to all men from Adam has grown in each of our lives to where none of us are worthy of standing before the Lord.  David reached each of our hearts desire as he cried to the Lord for deliverance from his sin, "Let them not rule over me".  We are slaves to our sin, it rules over us, but once we recognize it, we can get victory over it through God's strength.

1 John 1:5-10

5     This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

     6     If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;

     7     but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

     8     If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

     9     If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

     10     If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. NASB95^[2]

This is one praise that we have that David was not able to enjoy yet.  The penalty of our sin has been paid on the cross.  John made it clear that all of us sin, God's word testifies to that.  However, sin no longer has power over us, by moving to the light, our sin is revealed to us.  At that point we can confess our sin and gain victory over it.  The idea behind confessing is not admitting to a fault, rather it is agreeing with God that His word is true. 

Christian, do you have a sin that has you in slavery?  Victory over that sin only comes through turning it over to the Lord, confessing, or agreeing with God that it is sin, and praying for power to overcome it.  The word of God is spoken of in this entire Psalm as being like the sunshine, driving away the darkness in our lives.  John said that we dwell in the light, because Jesus is the Light, therefore He will reveal our sin to us.  This revelation comes with the most tremendous promise that has ever faced man, God forgives all of our sin.  When we confess our sin before God, He adds to that forgiveness the power to overcome.  

You can't overcome a sin that you have willingly put yourself in bondage to.  In other words, if you have determined in your heart that you are going to follow a certain sin, God will not move you out of it.  He'll allow you to be miserable, remove the joy and victory from your life, and possibly close off fellowship with you.  God's light is designed to make your sin undesirable, as long as you refuse to listen, the sin will enslave you.

Let's return to David's words again, God, our Lord is our Rock and our Redeemer.  He offers to each one of us a place of safety in the world.  If we come to Him, even though we are totally guilty of sin, we are "acquitted", or counted as righteous, just as if we never sinned, totally blameless in God's eyes.  What a powerful promise, and a tremendous platform to build our lives on.  

David gives us three steps in this Psalm to spiritual victory; first spend time in God's word so that He can shine His light into your life.  Second, be sensitive to God's revelation through His word.  Third, act on the revelation, remove the sin and return to God.

I wanted to go deeper on this passage; there are tremendous verses that go along with this concept.  I would encourage you to follow the cross references in your Bible if you are wrestling with this area of your life.  Allow God to speak to you.  All comments to the study are available.

Father, reveal our lives to us through Your word, give each of us victory in our lives, and I ask that You draw Your children to a deep understanding of Your love for them.

In Him,

Joe Turner.