HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TO US?

General Revelation in Creation and Human Accountability

Well, good morning. If you would, please turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Psalm chapter 19. I'm excited this morning because I want us to talk about the question, how does God speak to us today?

This is a very important question. How do we discern the voice of God in a world with so many voices trying to pull at us and inform us from every direction? I had many people tell me, Jeremiah, the voice of God appeared to me and told me that you need to do X.

I've had those conversations before and I'm very skeptical. I never want to put God in a box. I know in the Old Testament, God spoke to Moses through the burning bush. He spoke to Elijah in a still small voice, but how do I know the voice of God and what he wants from me?

Okay, this is a question that I want us to ponder deeply this morning because these kinds of questions are so important because what if I hear a voice that I think is from God, but it's actually demonic?

How do I discern the voice of God apart from my own thoughts and my own sinful lust that is prone to lead me.

Astray?

So today I want us to talk about how God has chosen to reveal and to communicate with us clearly so that we may be fully equipped to war in the midst of spiritual warfare, that we may flourish in the faith, and we may have sweet fellowship with our Savior.

Amen. Amen? There we go. All right, let's consider the opening 11 verses of Psalm chapter 19. This Psalm is primarily broken up into two parts. We see that God has generally revealed himself in creation, but oh, he has specifically revealed to us his saving message in the written Word of God.

King David says in verse 1, 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 other words whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the Son which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strongman runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit is from 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.

King David says, More to be desired are they the Scriptures than gold, even much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey in the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your word, O Lord, is your servant warned.

In keeping them there is great reward. Let's pray this morning. Heavenly Father, we thank you for another Lord's Day where we get to commune together with the saints around your truth. Lord, this morning please help us to remove all distractions from our mind and that we might revere your name on high, Jesus.

Lord, I pray that as we look at the truths of your word here in Psalm 19, that we might kiss the Son in faith, that we would submit to you in all things and realize that how we truly have deep relationship with you.

We hear your voice through your written word. Lord, we pray all these things in your name, Jesus. Amen. If you want to look back with me at verse 1. King David says, The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Now we look at the heavens and the sky. These are two words that really capture all of creation. All of creation testifies that God is the Creator and he is to be praised. All of creation testify to his majesty.

So I don't know if you've ever thought about what is the glory of God. It's God's a splendor, his majesty, the beauty that proceeds from his perfect and eternal character. Think about in contrast man's glory.

Man's glory is the things that we can do and we can accomplish and that's very tiny in comparison to God, right? There's an infinite difference between the two. Man is limited. Man is often deceived by many things and everything that we can accomplish will fade away.

The glory of God spoke this world into existence and he has left his thumbprint on everything. Everything ultimately points back to God and he alone is to be praised. And so God is perfect and eternal.

He makes no mistakes. Everything in this created world has redeeming purpose. And so there is the voice of God that permeates through the entire creation. Everybody hears this general voice of God. You know what I mean when I say that?

Everything ultimately points back to the Creator. And like I said, God has purpose in all things. The prophet Isaiah says, remember the former things of old for I am God. There is no other. I am God and there is none like me.

Declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times, things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose. And so when we think about the glory of God, he alone is to be praised and worshipped.

And that is King David's heart here. He's saying the heavens declare the glory of God. Verse 2, he says, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor other words whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. There is no person on this planet that will have an excuse one day and say, ah, I wasn't really sure if God existed. All of creation screams that God is creator and you will be held accountable to him with your life.

John Calvin commented this on this passage that we just read. He says different nations differ from each other as to language, but the heavens have a common language to teach all men without distinction.

All of creation points back to the Creator. Now man has one of two responses to looking at creation in relating back to the Creator. Number one, man can respond positively by looking at creation and acknowledging God, like King David, who praises his name on high and gives him all honor and praise.

Or man can suppress the truth in unrighteousness and respond to this general knowledge of the Creator negatively. And here's the reality. God's Word tells us that after Adam sinned against God, all of his offspring now rebel against the Creator of the universe and do not seek to honor him or give him praise.

In light of the fall of Adam, mankind only responds to the knowledge of God revealed in creation in a negative way. Okay, so I have a slide. I want us to look at Romans chapter 1, because you will hear people say, I'm just not really convinced that God exists.

Oh, you know, the Creator exists. You know, you'll be held accountable to him, but you love your sin more. And that's why we're gonna be building up to this. We need the special revelation of God, his Word, the saving message of the gospel.

Romans chapter 1, Paul says this, starting in verse 18, about all of mankind. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made.

So all of mankind will be without excuse. For although mankind knew God, watch how they respond. They did not honor him as God or give him thanks. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

What does mankind do? Claiming to be wise, they became fools. And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up to the lust of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.

And they worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Have you ever heard someone say, I just don't know how some people can go throughout life and not believe that there's a God.

I've heard that all the time. And I want to say, they believe in God. They love their sin more than giving him honor and praise. There's not one person in this world that truly doesn't believe in God.

Now, maybe they have diluted their thinking to the point where they've adopted a different worldview so they can live life the way that they want to. Okay. There are many people that have seared their conscience with a hot iron.

Scripture tells us that. It's almost like they're trying to burn off their conscience so they'll no longer feel guilty by living in their sin. The most basic common sense that man has is that we actually exist in God's created world.

And there is zero percent chance that everything you see around you today came from nothing. Okay, when you suppress God and you deny him, you have to latch on to this idea of, I don't know where everything came from.

Maybe it just spawned from nothing. You know what comes from nothing? Nothing. Okay. But this is an absurdity that man has to rest in, look to, in order to drown out the truth of God. It is absolutely foolish to make sense of the world that we live in and how we got here without God being the starting point in foundation for everything.

Suppressing the truth about the knowledge of God's existence leads to foolishness. Now you may say that sounds kind of harsh. And it's true though, right? Back in Romans 1 21. Listen again. For although mankind knew God, understand that he exists, that he's the creator.

They did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became feudal in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened, claiming to be wise, they became fools. That's what scripture says.

This is not just a new testament reality. In the old testament, Psalm 14 1 says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Foolish how?

Well,.

We live in a world where people can identify as anything. We live in a world where people can identify as an animal. And we look at that and we think how ridiculous. The school systems will even put a litter box in the bathroom for somebody that doesn't want to identify as a human anymore.

And that should, that I know we look at that and we think what in the world, but this is the level of depravity that our culture has come to. Why? Because they suppress the truth in their love for sin.

And so we rightly say that is crazy talk. That is foolish. But when you remove God from the foundation and his word, then that's what you're left with. And so we love our neighbor. We share the truths of the gospel with them, but we point them back to God being the standard.

If you remove him from the standard and his word and him being truth, will logic and reason go out the window and ultimately anything goes, and if anything goes, then everything will lead to destruction.

That's the world that we live in. Destruction will take place here and now. These people that identify as animals and just live their life on a whim, they will self-destruct by their own sin. When morality does not come from God, what does history tell us?

Nation will war against nation resulting in calamity, vanity, destruction, and once again resulting in foolishness. And so this destruction will also be eternal. Creation gives man sufficient evidence of God's existence as creator, but all of mankind will be without excuse on that judgment day.

But this knowledge of creation is enough to condemn mankind. It's not enough knowledge to save a person. Are we tracking so far? God has spoken to us, revealed himself by creation. We know intuitively things that are designed, things that are built.

There's a builder. There's a designer. We see all this creation. There's a creator, but that knowledge is not sufficient enough to save us. That knowledge is sufficient enough to hold us accountable on the day of judgment.

Special Revelation in Scripture and the Gospel of Salvation

So if you would look back with me at Psalm chapter 19, I want us to go ahead and skip down to verse 7. This is where we see a shift in the context. The first half talking about general revelation of God, how he has revealed himself, and now we get to special revelation, God's written word.

And this is where we can have a saving relationship with him. Starting verse 7, King David says 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 all together.

Now King David here, he gives us a list of six attributes, six titles, all referring back to the written word of God. And we notice that the phrase repeated six times is of the Lord. That is because the law of the Lord, the law of the Lord, his commandments, the source of his word comes from God.

Therefore his word has power. Look back with me at verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. Now that first phrase, the law of the Lord, law there is Torah in the Hebrew. This refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

This is referred to as the law of Moses. So God's law is referring to his instructions, to his covenant people, and they are perfect. Why are they perfect? Because it comes from the God who is perfect in all of his ways.

His law is blameless and complete, lacking nothing. The New Testament says the law of the Lord is holy, righteous, and good. And so this law had a unique role in the old covenant, but the principle is it is the very word of God.

It is able to equip the saint. That's the principle that the Apostle Paul held on to and told Timothy. All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, correction, and training, and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Okay, so in the Old Testament, we see thus saith the Lord, right? And when a prophet declared God's word, the people listened, and they understood this is the very word of God. And the Apostle Paul is saying Scripture is breathed out by God.

If you were to put your hand up to your mouth and breathe, you could feel your breath. Something is there. And so when we take in the very words of God, we feel him speaking directly to our heart, giving us truth.

That is how God speaks to us today through his living, breathed out Scripture. It is perfect, reviving the soul. Now, there are many different translations here that talk about that word reviving or converts the soul.

And another translation says the instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one's life. And so I want you to hang on to this promise from God, because his word has the ability to completely transform your life.

One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 1 16, where Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, the message of salvation. It is the very power of God for everyone who believes. And so this comes from, not by staring at a tree, right?

That tells us, yes, there is a creator, but we look at God's word and his gospel and it is able to convert the heart to have salvation and forgiveness of sin. And so I want us to talk about that for a minute.

More about special revelation, and it's Scripture that has the power of God to save. Now, many of y 'all know my good friend Garrett Dunham. We were college roommates back in the glory days. And something that I remember us talking about, Garrett, you'll have to remind me if you remember these conversations, we would talk about what are the essentials of the gospel revealed in Scripture.

Do you remember that? The essentials. What are the things that are necessary when you are evangelizing someone and sharing with them how to have your sins forgiven and have a relationship with God? Okay.

And so many of our conversations would lead us back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where Paul gives us the essentials of the gospel. And so we have a slide for 1 Corinthians 15, and I want us to consider the opening four verses briefly.

Paul says, I would remind you brothers of the gospel. I preach to you what you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved. If you hold fast to the word I preach to you unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

And so as we are considering God's special revelation, the Scripture, what is so important for someone to have a relationship with God is that it is their sin that separates them from God. God is holy.

God is just to punish law breakers. Okay, our sin is transgression against God's law. That means you are not good. God alone is good, right? We rebel against God from birth and we need a savior. And so what is so important is to understand that we all need our sins forgiven.

Paul says back in verse 3, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins. And so the saving message of the gospel is that you must believe not in vain, but with the heart of faith, trusting in the finished work of Christ that his death on the cross paid the punishment for your sins.

That is necessary. In verse 4, he adds that Jesus was buried, that he was raised the third day. And so when you're trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all of your sins are completely forgiven, removed as far as the east is from the west.

And the apostle Paul preached this gospel that is by faith alone in Christ alone that you can be declared right before God. Amen? This comes from God's word, the scripture. The apostle Paul also said earlier in first Corinthians chapter 1, for Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

That means the gospel is not faith plus our works of obedience, but it's faith alone in Christ alone. That is the essential part of sharing the gospel with someone, telling them that they can have their sins forgiven the very moment they place their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection.

Of Jesus Christ.

And so in verses 3 and 4, maybe you noticed two phrases that were repeated in accordance with the scriptures. God has revealed the saving message of the gospel in both the old and new testament. The old testament prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ, and the new testament testifies that Christ fulfills those prophecies perfectly, and he equips the saint for every good work.

So what I'm wanting us to see is that God clearly speaks to us through his living and breathing word. He not only gives us the gospel through his word, which saves us from our sin, but the word of God continues to sanctify us, the church, until our Lord returns one day.

Turn back with me to Psalm chapter 19. Let's pick back up at verse 7 that says,. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. So when we look at that word testimony, we resonate with this.

When someone asks us about our testimony, we share with them the deep things that have happened in our life, how God has saved us. We're sharing with them how we've had our sins forgiven. We share people our testimony.

And so scripture is the testimony of the Lord. How do we know something personal and deep about God? Well, he has revealed that to us through his word. It is the Lord's testimony. It is sure. It is faithful.

It is trustworthy above all else, because God is unchanging, and God gives us truth. And what is the result? It makes wise the simple. Because the reality is, all of mankind, we are like sheep that have gone astray.

We are simple-minded people. We have a small perspective. God sees the entirety of everything. And so for us to be wise, we need to take in God's truth. That's where we get wisdom. And so we listen to God speak to us through his word, and we also gain wisdom by asking God to give it to us.

James chapter 1 verse 5 says, If any of you, me, Jeremiah, you, if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. Something that I really want to stress this morning.

What will 100 change your life and cause you to flourish in your walk with the Lord and give you wisdom is when you meditate on scripture in prayer. Okay. Now, this is how you have a relationship with God.

You speak to God in prayer. You ask for wisdom. You tell him about the things that are going on in your life, and you pray for wisdom. You pray for strength. You pray for comfort. And how does God speak back to us?

Through his living and breathed out scripture. But I want to also say this. That's one-on-one. We also apply those principles in fellowship with the saints. That's what we are doing on this Lord's day.

We are all gleaning wisdom, not from Jeremiah, right? Not from Garrett. Not from Justin, but from God's word. Now, we sing those truths. We pray those truths, and we unite together around those truths together.

So let me say that again. For your life to have transformation, to walk in wisdom with the Lord, is to meditate on scripture through prayer and fellowship with the saints. Sound good so far? Amen. Okay, I got some amens out there.

All right, look with me at verse 8. As we are continuing to look at the list, these attributes that David gives to the word of God. Next, he says, the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

Now, we don't usually use the word precept. It's synonymous with the word law and commandment. But it's God's precepts, his teachings by his word that we know what is right and wrong. Yes, we know it's right and wrong intuitively, because we're made in the image of God.

But God's word gives us clarity on how we ought to live to the glory of God, and how we ought to love our neighbor. And so, since we know the truth that comes from God, this allows us to expose that which is false and a lie from the devil.

And so, King David tells us that knowing God's truth and allowing it to dominate our lives produces a joyful heart. Now, the world will suck away your joy. Isn't that right, Pastor Keith? Right, he got to preach on the advent of joy here recently.

But the world will suck your joy. The world's definition of joy is always pursuing after things you don't have. Everything that the world has to offer is short, fleeting, and offers no salvation from the wrath of God on the day of judgment.

Oh, but a heart that is trusting in the promises of God's word, a heart that is trusting in Jesus as Savior, has peace, everlasting peace, and a joy that cannot be altered or swayed. Why? Because we know the God of the universe, and we have our sin forgiven.

Continuing in verse 8, King David says,. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. And so, we must understand that God's word is not a suggestion. It's a commandment. Right? Because God is the just judge over all the earth.

He will do right when he speaks. That is the standard of truth. John MacArthur has a quote here I really like for this verse. MacArthur says,. The Bible is not a book of suggestions. It is not a book of good thoughts and nice ideas.

This is commandment, and God is the sovereign king of the universe and has total authority over everyone's life. Okay, so when we approach the word of God, we do not approach this like we approach other books with ink on a page.

This is the words of life. It is able to convert the soul. And God's word is pure, meaning that it has no fault or impurities in it. God does not need our help in deciding what is right or wrong. We are the ones that need his help.

Can I get an amen on that one? Proverbs chapter 30 says,. Every word of God is pure or true. He is the shield for those that put their trust in him. Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

That's good. That's putting us in our proper place before God. God's word is infallible and inerrant, meaning that it cannot fail to give us the truth. In fact, when we look at God's word, it's like a lamp unto our feet.

It lights up our path. It is able to illuminate our eyes. It gives us direction. It tells us how we ought to live. So verse 9, King David says,. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Now, I do think it's proper to say that this is a list of six attributes, six titles, pointing back to the word of God.

But this phrase, the fear of the Lord, is not referring directly to the scriptures, but is expressing the reality of what the scripture produces in the life of the saint. Okay, so the fear of the Lord produces a deep respect in our hearts to worship and honor him.

The effect of scripture is clean. It causes us to be holy and that worship that it produces in our heart begins here and now, right? But it's also.

Everlasting.

The worship that scripture produces in our heart will continue on into eternity. In fact, there will be no curse of sin any longer and we will be able to worship God in an even better way. And so lastly on our list here, verse 9 says, The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

Now, the word for rules might be better understood as judgments. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. God is creator, but God is also judge. Okay, this is why people suppress the truth of God with their love of sin because you will be held accountable to him one day.

He is the just judge over all the earth and you can bet that when he says you will give an account for your life, for your sin, he means it. But the flip side is when he promises a savior and to put your faith alone in him, you can also rest in that as well.

And God is not just judge anymore when you're resting in Christ, but he becomes father. Okay, isn't that beautiful, right? I'm hoping that when we we look back at these attributes of the word of God, it causes your heart to rejoice like King David.

He was captivated by how all of creation testifies to the glory of God and he delights in the life-transforming power of scripture. Now, I want you to look now at verses 10 and 11. I want you to see how King David responds and values the revealed word of God in his life.

He says, More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned. In keeping them there is great reward.

How does David feel about the word of God? He loves it, right? He can't get enough of it. And in fact, the word of God revealed to David was primarily law. Think about that. 613 commandments of do this, don't do that.

And we see that, man, I can't fulfill the law. And that is true. And how did David respond to it? He loved it, right? He said it's more desirable than gold that perishes ultimately, right? Because gold is a sign of someone that has significant wealth.

But in the end, gold is like everything else in this world. It will eventually fade away. But not the word of God, right? The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.

King David also said that the word of God is sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Scripture has eternal value. And so it is delightful when we take it in. King David wrote many psalms.

And so he talks about God's law in this way. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. That word meditates, that means to take it in, to bring it back up in your mind, to think on it deeply, to ponder it, and to love it.

How often do we do this? According to David, day and night. We are dominated by the word of God in our heart and as we live our day to day. Psalm 34 by King David says, oh taste and see that the Lord is good.

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 119, he says, how sweet are your words, oh Lord, to my taste. Sweeter than honey to my mouth. And so David had 613 commandments. Oh, but they were sweeter than honey.

David delighted in God's law and his perspective was that it is the scripture that would keep his, the servant, King David, it would keep him, it would give him great reward and warn him from impending danger.

David understood that God, God's word warns his people by guiding them away from false teaching. It guides him into pastures, right, into holy living that brings honor and glory to God. And he understood that when he hid God's word in his heart, it would give him immediate joy.

It would give him immediate blessing. It would show him how to live in obedience and God honors that. God protects his children. Psalm 119, King David again says, how can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart, King David says, I seek you. Let me not wonder from your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.

God's word brings immediate blessing, but it also brings eternal blessing. Because God's word gives us the promise of redemption through the Savior. And so the Bible calls King David a man after God's own heart.

David was not a perfect man, but he trusted in the one who was perfect. And he's a great example for Christians today because he loved the Lord and he meditated on his law day and night. And once again, the law was primarily commandments and it contained a glimpse of God's gracious promises.

Dear Saint, we have the New Testament where the promised Messiah is revealed in Jesus Christ. And here's the point that I'm driving at. How much more of an appreciation and love should we have for God's word since we have the full picture of God's glory revealed to us?

David had law, right? But we have the New Testament. We have the Gospels. We have the entirety of God's word. The Old Testament gave law. The New Testament clarifies that the law was meant to show men their need for a Savior and was never intended to be a means of salvation.

We should be able to relate to King David when he says the word of God is to be more desirable than gold and much sweeter than honey. So in closing, I want to ask you this question. Is God's word precious to you?

Do you hide it in your heart? Do you meditate on it day and night? Do you think about it often? Because this is how God clearly speaks to us today, through his breathed out word. I Peter 2, verse 2 says, Like newborn infants, long for or desire the pure milk of the word, the spiritual milk, because by it you may grow up into salvation.

And so when I'm asking these tough questions, it's so important because someone who is born again, a child of God, will desire to be spiritually fed. Think about when a baby is born physically. They don't know a single thing except to cry out to be fed by the milk of their mother.

The same is true for the spiritual baby Christian. They will have a burning desire for the pure spiritual milk of the word of God. And you may say, Jeremiah, I fail at this daily. Join the club, right?

But what I want to encourage you with is pray that God would honor that desire, that he would give you the desire of your heart, that you would seek him out in relationship through his word, in prayer, in fellowship with the saint.

Amen?

Look to Jesus. He is the author and the perfecter of your faith. And when he begins a good work, he is faithful to bring it to completion. With that being said, let's transition to the Lord's supper. And so since we talked about how God's special revelation, his scripture, gives life change.