Praising the Lord in Creation — Chuck Smith

Oh, let the sun Welcome to The Word For Today, a broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse venture through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of The Word For Today, we'll be continuing our look at praising the Lord in creation. As we turn in our Bibles to Psalm 8, beginning with verse one. And now, with today's message,.

The Excellence of Yahweh’s Name in Creation

Here's Pastor Chuck Smith. He is our master, our Lord. How excellent is thy name in all the earth. What name? The name of Yahweh. In Proverbs we read, the name of Yahweh is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and are safe.

The name of the Lord. How excellent is that name. Who has set thy glory above the heavens. For out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies that you might still the enemy and the avenger.

Praise Perfected by Children

When Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the children were crying unto him, Hosanna, Hosanna. The Pharisees said, Lord, you better quiet them. That's blasphemy. And Jesus said, have you not read in the scriptures that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings or the nursing child, thou hast perfected praise?

How beautiful is the child. His expressions of praise and worship unto the Lord. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise. Thou hast ordained the strength. And then the psalmist said, when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, and that always impresses me.

The moon, the stars, which you have ordained. Then what is man? I mean, here we are down on this little planet we call the earth. And here we are spinning around this little ball of fire we call the sun.

And when you look at the earth and your relationship to the earth, and I think when I look at that vast universe and realize that we are such an infinitesimally small part of it on this planet created by God with the capacity, that marvelous capacity to appreciate the God who created the universe.

But what am I? Who am I? That the God who created and orders and governs that vast universe, who am I? That he should ever be mindful of me. That's the amazing thing, that God thinks about me. But not just a passing thought.

David said, if I should number thy thoughts concerning me, they are more than the sands of the sea. But then he goes one step further. The Lord said, I know my thoughts towards thee that they are good and not evil.

And so go down and sit in the sand and realize that as many grains of sand that you can see there on the beach, that's how much God thinks about you. Oh man, it makes me feel secure. That God is thinking so many good thoughts about me.

How fortunate I am. And so the psalmist here, what is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you should visit him? Now this is the second of those psalms that is a prophecy of the Messiah.

The Messiah’s Visit to Humanity

The next one that we come to will be Psalm 16. But when did God visit man? What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you should visit him? God visited man when Jesus Christ came and walked upon the earth.

When Micah prophesied the birthplace of Jesus, he said, and thou Bethlehem, though thou be little among the provinces of Judah, yet out of these shall come he who is to rule my people Israel, whose going forth has been from old, from everlasting.

Or the eternal God is gonna be born in Bethlehem. He's ever existed. He's existed from everlasting. And yet he's to be born in Bethlehem. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. And all things were made by him. And without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh. And he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

But what is man that God should visit him? Who am I that God should visit me? Who am I that God should listen to my prayer? Who am I that God should love me? Who am I that God should desire that I should spend my eternity in the glory of his presence as he bestows upon me the riches of his grace?

What is man that thou art mindful of him? And then speaking of Jesus, and this is prophetic because in Hebrews we have the commentary on this and in the commentary on this passage it makes this applicable to Jesus.

Christ Humbled for the Suffering of Death

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and we are told that the reason why he was made a little lower than the angels, that he might die for the suffering of death as an angel or as God, it could not be.

So he made him a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. And you have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. Going back to Psalm 2, ask of me and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

Thou hast put all things under his feet. Now the Bible says that though God has put all things under his feet, we do not yet see all things. But we see Jesus made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.

So he is now at the right hand as he awaits for the fulfillment of the promise until God makes all of his enemies his footstool. And thus this messianic psalm referring to Jesus and is quoted as such in the book of Hebrews.

All sheep, oxen, yea, the beasts of the field, fowl of the air, fish of the sea, whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas. There are actually paths in the seas, the ocean currents, interestingly enough.

Oh Lord, having declared all of this, he goes back to the beginning. Just the awesomeness, oh Yahweh our Adonai, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. This next psalm is to the chief musician upon Muthleben.

The word Muthleben literally means the death of a son. It is thought that this is a reference perhaps to Goliath, you know, the son of his mother. And many of the scholars believe that this is connected in some way with the death of Goliath.

Wholehearted Praise After Victory

David is rejoicing over what God has wrought. I will praise thee, oh Lord, with my whole heart. Half-hearted praise doesn't really make it. My mother tells of when I was a little boy and I had the flu or one of those childhood measles or something, and evidently I'd ask for prayer and she said, Lord, just touch Charles and unheal him.

And when she was through, I said, Mama, pray again. And this time, pray like you really mean it. With your whole heart, you know. I don't want a half-hearted prayer when I'm sick. I will praise thee, oh Lord, with my whole heart.

I will show forth all thy marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise unto thy name, oh most high. Opens with this glorious burst of praise and all to the Lord, rejoicing. Now when my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

It's always a rejoicing time when God has given you victory over the enemies. When God has wrought his work in your life. Oh Lord, I'm gonna praise you with my whole heart, you know. Rejoice in thee, sing to thy name, oh most high.

For when my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For you have maintained my right and my cause and you sat in the throne judging right. You have rebuked the heathen. You have destroyed the wicked and you have put out their name forever and ever.

God’s Righteous Judgment

Of course, this is ultimate judgment of God as God in justice and in his judgment will rebuke the heathen, destroy the wicked and put their name out forever and ever. Oh thou enemy, now he turns and addresses those enemies of God.

You that are enemies of God, destructions are come to a perpetual end. You have destroyed cities and their memorial is perished with them. The cities you may have destroyed but the Lord shall endure forever.

The eternal nature of God and he has prepared his throne for judgment. You can read about the throne of judgment in the New Testament, Revelation chapter 20. And he shall judge the world in righteousness.

Now, this is a fact upon which I rest. There are a lot of things that I don't know, things that God has not told us. Questions are oftentimes asked concerning people who have never heard of Jesus Christ, never heard the gospel message.

People who have died without ever hearing. Question asked about children who have died never knowing. Having not accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior, is there any salvation for them? I don't know.

I don't know what will be God's judgment in their cases. But this I do know. He shall judge the world in righteousness and whatever God does will be righteous, it will be absolutely fair. And when I hear the judgment of God in these cases, I'll say, all right, that's so perfect.

He will judge in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. Today we are very prone to get a perverted sense of justice because we read some of the decisions that are coming from the courts and you think, that's not fair.

God as Refuge for the Oppressed

That's not right. There ain't no justice. Well, there will be. These judges will find out. For he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. Now, this I love. The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed.

You ever feel oppressed? He is a refuge in times of trouble. How many times I have fled to the Lord, who is my refuge, my strength, and ever-present help in the time of need. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Jesus said, seek and ye shall find. The Lord will not forsake the person that is seeking him. And if you are truly seeking God, he'll not forsake you. You will find him. And so he encourages, sing praises to the Lord, which dwells in Zion.

Declare among the people his doing, his glorious works, his power, his love. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them, he forgets not the cry of the humble. Have mercy upon me, O Lord.

Consider my trouble, which I suffer of them that ate me. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. And so his plea now for God's mercy and God's consideration. That I might show forth all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion.

He wanted to just there in the gates of the city of David, declare the praises of God, for I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they have made. I said that was in chapter 10.

Here it is in chapter nine. I was wrong. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which is hid is their own foot taken. Now quite often, they would dig these pits and then cover them over with branches and dirt and all to trap the animals.

And sometimes they would make them to trap people. And they would disguise and you'd step on them and boom, right down in. And sometimes you'd forget where you dug the pit. And there would be times when people would fall into their own pit that they had dug to trap others.

And so he talks about the heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which is hid for their own foot is taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. But the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

And this hegeon is just sort of think about that. Or meditation is what the word is literally. So it's just, hey, how about that? Or think about that one. The wicked shall be turned into hell. And all of the nations that forget God.

Would you say that our nation is on the verge of forgetting God? Kids cannot sing Christmas carols in school. They've gone through all of the school books and systematically removed the name of God. All nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

Asa’s Prayer for Victory

God, just let them see that they're not supermen. They're just men. When God shakes the place, you know that you're just a dust. You're not as big as you thought you were. I like this, arise, O Lord, let not man prevail.

It reminds me of the prayer of Asa in 2 Chronicles. About chapter 13. When a huge army of Ethiopians and Nubians were invading the land, over a million. He said that he was gonna go out in the name of the Lord against this vast host.

He said, Lord, it doesn't make any difference to you whether we're weak or strong. Help us, O Lord, for in your name, we're gonna go out against this enemy. And then he said, don't let man prevail against you.

That's getting things in the right perspective. When I am on the Lord's side, and I say that carefully, I didn't say, when the Lord is on my side. I'm not so interested in getting the Lord on my side.

I'm interested in getting on the Lord's side. And so he sort of, Asa sort of put himself on the Lord's side. He said, Lord, in your name, we're gonna go out against this host. Don't let man prevail against you.

Now I've got things in the right perspective. They're not gonna prevail against me. Though they've got a million man army, and though they're invincibly powerful as far as human standards are concerned.

Hey, Lord, we're going out in your name. Don't let man prevail against you. And so here the psalmist is declaring the same. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in your sight.

Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know that they are just men.

We'll return with more of our verse-by-verse venture through the Bible in our next lesson, as we continue with the prayer for victory over evil. And we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now, I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message, or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one, you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives, and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. Now, once again, here's Pastor Chuck Smith with today's closing comments.

Strength Made Perfect in Weakness

May the Lord bless and give you a beautiful week. May He strengthen you in your spirit, in the inner man. And may you just experience the strength and the help of the Lord. In those areas of difficulty and weakness, may you discover the power of God, for His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.

And so may we, as David, learn to just cast ourselves upon the Lord and draw from Him the help and the strength that we need to survive in this heathen pagan world in which we live. By the strength of the Lord, we shall have victory.

Looking for direction and understanding? Our world values knowledge, but people don't always strive to know the most important things. The truth is, you may be extremely knowledgeable about something, but if you don't have the wisdom of God, you're missing the most important knowledge a person can ever hope to attain.

Join the tens of thousands who have benefited from reading Pastor Chuck's devotional, Wisdom for Today, which takes you systematically through the entire Bible one day at a time. Start each day with biblical wisdom as Pastor Chuck gives practical everyday examples in which to draw God's wisdom from your daily life.

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