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礼拝式順

聖書の話（説教）

Intro: There are many types of books in this world: novels, history, textbooks, cookbooks, and of course comic books…

But why do readers read?  Some for enjoyment or to escape the pressures of life. Others may read because it is assigned to them or we may also read because we really need to know something.

Today’s Bible passage, Psalm 19, responds to one of our true needs. We have a real need to know God! We need to see him, hear him, know him, love him and obey him! God has answered our great need to know him by writing what we might call “two books.”  These two books are self-revelations by God and they correspond to the two portions of Psalm 19.

MP1: The first book we could call “God’s book of Creation”

Let’s read Psalm 19:1-4a once more. King David claims that the heavens can speak. What do you think the psalmist means by this? Can stars and planets really talk? The heavens certainly do tell us a lot about whoever created them, don’t they?  What power and might, intelligence and care, it took to create such a vast and complex universe!

The opening of the psalm answers the question of “who” this way: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  Although there are clearly some who choose not to believe this, God’s testimony of creation points to the intelligent design of a powerful, personal God who created all things.

In verses 4-6 the psalmist narrows his focus to a single aspect of the heavens – the sun. Many cultures around the world, including Japan, have special beliefs and religious practices related to the sun.  Yet, although the sun is powerful, it’s important to note that the author declares that it is God who has “pitched a tent” for the sun in the heavens to do the work that God himself has designed for it. He compares the sun both a bridegroom and also to a strong man who joyfully runs his course from one end of the sky to the other each day. Some writers tell us that that in middle eastern weddings, the groom would leave his house with friends and family – making his way in a joyful procession toward the bride’s house on their wedding day.  We should note that the sun is not represented as a god or a person, but rather as a small, essential part of God’s vast universe which obeys God’s every command, and serves his glorious purposes.

APP: What lessons can we learn from the first half of this Psalm?

1) First, we learn to recognize that God is the creator! Life was not created by chance or impersonal forces, but rather a personal act of creation by an intelligent, good, powerful, creator God.  The very act of creation implies that God is the sovereign ruler and sustainer of the universe – he is the King of all that exists!

2) Secondly, we can learn about the greatness of God and his attributes from his creation. Please look briefly with me at Romans 1:19-20. Verse 20 speaks of his “eternal power” and “divine nature” – both are clearly evident in creation – to everyone!  As Psalm 19:4 says “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” This is why some speak of God’s creation as “general revelation” – because God has revealed something about his existence, something about his attributes such as power, creativity, goodness and wisdom – to everyone!

3) Thirdly, since, God made such a glorious creation – it follows that we have a moral responsibility to glorify him and thank him for his good creation.  (Paul goes on to make this point in Romans Chapter 1:21ff. which I encourage you to read later.) However, because of our sinfulness, we are sometimes tempted to glorify creation, rather than its Creator.  So, as we enjoy a tasty meal, admire the majesty of the mountains, or marvel at the complexity of the human body, we should praise and thank the one, true, creator God who provides these blessings.

MP2: However, because the book of creation doesn’t tell the full story, God gave us another book: The Bible – God’s written word to us!

Why has God given us his Word?  What makes the Bible so great? Let’s allow God (through his servant King David) answer these questions.

Please look again with me at Psalm 19:7-9 noticing carefully how God’s word is described.  Did you notice that sentence has a parallel structure with a noun, adjective and verb. First, nouns like “law”, “testimony”, “precepts”, “commands”, and “rules” describe distinct contents of the Bible. Then each of these words is modified by an adjective such as: “perfect”, “sure”, “right”, “pure”, “clean”, “true” and righteous”.  Even these basic descriptions hint at the glory of the Bible, but I believe it is most significant how David focuses on the gracious work the Bible accomplishes in the life of the believer:

• “reviving the soul” – The word reviving can refer to “converting” or “repentance” and spiritual renewal. (D. Kidner) God revives and refreshes our soul by the Holy Spirit working through his life-giving word!
• “making wise the simple” – “The simple” refers to those who are indecisive and easily lead astray. So we see that God’s faithful testimony gives a firm solid foundation to guide us.
• “rejoicing the heart”- When you know you’re doing the right thing, you sense a freedom and spring in your step. As one respected commentator says, God’s precepts “preserve a joyous consciousness of being in the right way towards the right goal.” (F. Delitzsch, 1883)
• “enlightening the eyes” – “…refers not merely to the enlightening of the understanding, but of one’s whole condition; it makes the mind clear, and body as well as mind healthy and fresh” according to Franz Delitzsch. Another commutator notes “For the eyes to have light or to be bright is for the person to be alert and active.” (J. Collins, ESV Study Bible Ps 19:8)
• “enduring forever” – God’s word will never fail, never change, never pass away
• “righteous all together” – God’s judgements are always correct, right and perfect

Does this sound like the kind of life you wish to have? It does to me! But let’s note the double blessing in verse 10.  It says that God’s word is “more to be desired … than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb” Gold is beautiful & valuable, money can buy a lot of things – and honey is representative of the finest of foods!  However, isn’t it striking that God’s word is MORE valuable than either great wealth or the richest of foods?!

Verse 11 presents a transition by setting mentioning two contrasting aspects of God’s Word.  “Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” Warning and reward. I’d like to tell you about an experience our family had driving that may clarify this verse a bit for us.

IL: Montículos en la vía  / 警告：道路上の塚  / Caution: Mounds on the road

When Karis and Aimee were young, we lived in Ecuador.  One day on a trip to the Amazon jungle, our family was traveling in our station wagon through a dense, hilly area of the jungle. We had never driven this way before. The road was narrow, curvy and appeared to still be under construction.  It was a very foggy and lonely road. All we could occasionally see were few construction signs. Soon saw a large orange sign saying “Precaución: Montículos en la via” Warning there are “montículos” in the road. Montículo is not a very common Word in Spanish… but I thought it meant something like mound or pile.  Even though I couldn’t quite understand because of the dense fog, we heeded the warning and slowed down. As we proceeded very slowly, we suddenly though the fog, we saw a very large pile of rocks and gravel – left by a dump truck right in the middle the road! If I had been going much faster, we would have crashed right into it!  But because we slowed down, we safely took a little detour around the pile of rocks. Even though we didn’t fully understand, we listened to the warning and were certainly thankful we did!

What was my reward for obeying the sign? Certainly, the government was not going to reward me for my obedience. Nor was anyone going to congratulate us for careful driving. No, our reward was in the fact that we obeyed the warning and were able to safely continue our travels. Despite the danger, our lives were blessed by paying attention to the warning.

In a similar way, the reward that we are promised in God’s Word is NOT riches, or fame or power! God doesn’t promise us an easy path in life or great wealth or honor. However, God blesses his children with a true, enduring relationship with himself through his son Jesus Christ – for now and eternity!  In Christ – the Word made flesh – we can enjoy the blessings of a life that he has designed for our good and his glory!

MP3: Our response to the One the Heavens and the Scriptures proclaim

As we look at the closing of this passage, what is our response to God’s self-revelation?  We’ve been reminded that the LORD himself is perfect, right, pure clean true and altogether righteous, just like his Word!  Yet in our fallen, sinful nature we are decidedly imperfect, impure, false, and altogether unrighteous.  How can sinful humans hope to stand before a holy God? We might be tempted to strive in our own efforts to become truly good and acceptable to God, but this will only end up in despair since we can never approach God’s perfection. On the other hand, some people might be indifferent to God blindly follow their own desires or even rebelliously turn away from God.  But David, encourages us to pursue a safer path, a path that doesn’t require perfection or human striving, but rather it requires a humble, faithful response to God’s grace. The psalmist sees the greatness of the One that the heavens and scriptures proclaim and he humbles himself, calling himself God’s “servant” – and offers up three heart-felt prayers to God!

His first prayer to God is in verse 12, “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.”  What are hidden faults?  These are sins that we have committed in ignorance, because either we didn’t realize that they are sinful… or they sins that we never noticed or perhaps have forgotten. Even though they were in this sense “hidden” from us, they were not hidden from God, and must be forgiven.  This is why, the psalmist calls out for mercy – that he be “declared innocent” which is an act of God’s pure grace – not something we could ever earn!  So, from this first petition of David, we learn that it is right and good and necessary to ask forgiveness even for sins that we have committed in ignorance.

In verse 13, we read his second petition: “Keep back your servant also from presumptions sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.”  Though all sins are serious, willful sins are more heinous in God’s sight – because the motivation of our heart is also sinful and rebellious toward God.  This and other scriptures warn that if we remain in these sinful patterns, they will become our master, in slavery to them. However, when we acknowledge our complete sinfulness and inability to keep God’s law – and place our full trust in God’s mercy, he frees us – so that we will not be controlled by our sin.

We see this Covenant relationship between God and his people even more clearly established in verse 14. Let’s read it together. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”  This third special prayer to God, echoes the requirement for worshipers in the Old Testament to offer acceptable ceremonial sacrifices to God.  So, by praying this prayer, we are asking God to receive our thoughts and prayers – (as imperfect as they might be) and consider them acceptable in his sight.  Also, in the broader context, our true desire is that by God’s grace, the whole of our life each day would be acceptable to him – bringing him honor that and glory that he alone deserves!

APP: What special lessons can we gain from the second half of this Psalm?  First off, we see that that God’s word is both necessary and sufficient.

• God’s word is necessary because apart from it there is no way that we can enter into personal relationship with the one true God. We cannot worship God by simply through meditating on the wonders of God’s good creation from the top of a mountain. We can only know God as our “rock” and “redeemer” by trusting in the work of his Son Christ as revealed in his holy word – the Bible!
• God’s word is sufficient – we need no further revelation. God has spoken finally and completely through his scripture. All other supposed sources of guidance like, self-help books, horoscopes and astrology, believing in lucky or un-lucky days are false forms of religion that are damaging and draw us away from a true worship of God. The Bible is sufficient as the only trustworthy guide for knowing God and walking with him!
• Also, it goes without saying that we should actively seek God’s grace to fight against sin –praying as King David does for God’s protection from sin, and grant us a tender, repentant heart and forgiveness through Christ when we do sin.
• If you are here today and would like to know more about God as he is revealed in his Word – please ask me or any of the leaders today, we would count it a privilege to talk with you and discuss any questions you may have.
• Finally, for all of us who know Christ and his love, we are reminded again today, that his Word does us no good unless by his grace we know it, understand it and obey it. How might God be calling you and me today to place more value on his Word?  Private reading and study of God’s word is foundational, but I would also urge you to consider reading it together with your spouse, your child, parent or a good friend. One of my treasured memories growing up, was hearing my grandfather read scripture together with my grandmother each night before bed. Even as he struggled at the end of his life with a difficult illness, it brought them joy and life to read a chapter of God’s word together.

May we know more and more, the greatness of the One – that the Heavens and Scriptures proclaim!