CWC - Psalm for the Day - Epiphany 3 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Epiphany - meaning
What are we to show forth, reveal or disclose?
Today’s Psalm tells us about some of God’s epiphanies.
God gives us Epiphanies through
(Tells us something about Himself)
1. The creation 2. Our consciences 3. His Word
IA1 How big was your heating bill last month? It sure would be nice if we had a heat source that would take care of our heating needs free. There is one source of heat that is free. And it is truly amazing. It heats up the entire earth. 6: “nothing is deprived of its warmth, ". the Psalm writer says. That source is the sun.
2 Another amazing thing is the distribution system. Oil trucks show up at the customer’s
house when the computer says it is time for more oil. The sun has a delivery route too. 6: “It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other.” This huge flaming source of heat is always in the right place. It doesn’t get too close to make toast out of us. It doesn’t go too far away to make permanent snow cones out of us.
3 (4)In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course." Like a bridegroom coming out of the portable enclosure used at the public wedding ceremony, ready for new life, so the sun arises each morning ready for the new life of the new day. Like a champion running around the course with his arms raised in a victory trot, so the sun victoriously makes its course around the earth, conquering darkness and cold each day.
B1 The sun is used in verses 4-6 as an example of the rest of the parts of the universe, called the heavens and skies. When we look at these things, we see amazing things like the sun, which do amazing things, which display amazing power, which provide amazing benefits.
2 These amazing things talk to us, they tell us things. “2 Day after day they pour forth
speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Since they impart information without speech or language, every human being everywhere can understand the message. Since everybody everywhere is able to observe the working of the universe, everybody everywhere has access to the message which the heavens and the skies proclaim.
C1 What is the message which we hear the heaven, the skies telling us? The first thing they tell us is that whoever is responsible for all of this is wise. He had to be smarter than a human being. It has taken humans almost 10,000 years to just come to a little understanding about how all this works. He is smarter than we are.
2 Next. Whoever is responsible for all this is powerful. Not only was He smart enough to make the planets have a course, but He is powerful enough to keep them on course. Not only was He smart enough to give the sun the ability to warm us. He is powerful enough to keep it sending out the energy that we need. Not only was He wise enough to set up the water cycle, the chlorophyll cycle and many other intricacies of our world, but He is powerful enough to have put those cycles into action and keep them going.
3 Third. Whoever is responsible for all this is very good. Through each thing in the universe some benefit is provided. The sun - heat and light. The moon - gravitational pull. The water cycle - makes food grow. On and on.
4 What epiphany does the sky, the heavens give us? That there is somebody very wise, very powerful, and very kind out there who is responsible for everything we see around us. It was all the work of His hands. And we are led to join the skies in saying that He deserves to be praised for who He is and what He has done. “1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
IIA1 If this person who is responsible for all this around us is smart, powerful, and kind, we ought to strive to be as much like Him as possible. That is easier said than done. In order for us to be able to do good to others, we have to be smart enough to figure out what they need. Sometimes that is easy. Sometimes it is not. If we aren’t aware of what is needed to benefit someone else, it’s quite apparent that we are incapable of taking care of the need.
2 There is another problem. We aren’t always even looking to be in tune with other people’s needs. It’s called selfishness. If left to ourselves, we would only look out for ourselves. If left to ourselves, we get so caught up with what we are doing, what we want, what we like , and what makes us feel good, that we don’t even see what others need, what they are missing, what we might do to benefit them.
B1 So the Psalm writer concludes: “12 Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” “Lord, when I look at what You do for me through Your creation and I compare it with what I do for others, I have to conclude that I don’t even think about my responsibility toward others very much. If I don’t even think about it a lot, I know I fail to be helpful, to give myself to others when they need it. Lord, I need Your forgiveness for all those failures that I don’t even know about.”
2 “But Lord, I also have a problem with things I do which hurt others. My selfishness sometimes goes into high gear. I want to take advantage of others. I want to use others. I want to get back at others who hurt me. I want to verbally abuse others. I know those things are wrong. I need Your help. I need our strength. I need Your protection so that I don’t get actively involved in things that are destructive to others and ultimately to myself. “13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. “
3 “Why do I need to avoid things that oppose Your will? Because I know they have drastic consequences. They destroy relationships. They destroy peace of mind. They destroy my relationship with You. They make me deserve Your punishment. They put me outside of Your family.
C1 How does God tell us about Himself? How does He gives us epiphanies? He has placed in each of us a basic knowledge of right and wrong. He has placed in each of us a little voice which testifies to what is right and wrong. It leads us to compare ourselves with the goodness, wisdom, and power of God. It leads us to draw a conclusion as to whether we are comparable to Him or not.
2 So, our conscience tells us we are responsible to Someone who made all things for our benefit. It tells us that we don’t do a very good job of reflecting His goodness, wisdom and power. It makes us feel uncomfortable because of our failures. It reminds us of our actions which go counter to what we know about God’s way of doing things.
3 It teaches us that we just can’t make it with this powerful, wise, and good God on our own. It teaches us that we fail. It points out to us that we need to get help from somewhere else if we are going to have a relationship with this God.
IIIA1 Sometimes our consciences don’t make very clear comments. Sometimes the circumstances in a situation seem to overwhelm us so that the conscience gets drowned out. Sometimes the selfishness within us does a good job of arguing the conscience out of what is right. Then what?
2 Then God talks to us in another way. God has written His will down. It is in the Bible. Something written down doesn’t change. Circumstances don’t alter it. Selfishness doesn’t affect it. It is an unchanging standard. “ 7 The law of the LORD is perfect.”
3 “7bThe statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Sometimes we just can’t figure out what we ought to do in a given situation. Sometimes we don’t know what is right and wrong. Then we can go to the written word of the Lord and become educated. It makes us simple people wise.
4 Sometimes we just can’t see how to apply what we have read. We don’t see any way out of a situation. Or, we don’t see any way into a situation. 8b" The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” The solution is - God talks to us more from His Word. He will clear away our blindness so that we will see how to apply His will.
5 “9b The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous." We don’t have to second guess. We know that the Lord has given us His Word. It is true and sure. It isn’t tainted with selfishness. It doesn’t have a wrong motive. It’s what’s right.
6 So, the Lord talks to us. “11 By them (God’s words) your servant is warned.” He warns us that sin makes us guilty before Him. He warns us that sin makes us deserve His anger. He warns us that the only way to achieve His praise is by perfectly keeping His law. He warns us that the devil takes over in the lives of those who oppose His will. Those warnings make us fear God, acknowledge that He is the one to whom we are responsible. He is the one who has a perfect right to expect perfection from us because we are His creatures. Those warnings make us want not be subject to His punishment. That fear is a good thing. “9 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.”
7 But we also know that if we could keep His law, we would be right with Him. If we could keep His law, things would be much better for us now. “11b in keeping them there is great reward.” So, we ask His help to implement what our conscience says is right and what our reading of His will tells us is right. “14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
B1 Did some phrases sound strange? 7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul.” The Law shows us our sins. The Law threatens punishment. The Law doesn’t revive the soul. The LORD Himself is the only one who revives the soul, gives the soul life. He does that by telling us that we can live forever because Jesus died to wash away our sins, lived perfectly to cover us with His holiness, and rose so that we might live forever. The only way this verse makes sense is if we translate the word “Law” as “teaching” which is possible meaning. “Teaching” then would include both Law and Gospel. The Gospel, the good news about Jesus, is what revives our souls.
2 Another strange phrase. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The precepts of the LORD take away our joy because we can’t keep them. But the entire message of the LORD which includes what He gives us, forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life - that gives joy.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. God’s words, whether we call them precepts, or teaching, are sweet because they tell us about our Savior. Our Savior who lived and died and rose to give us holiness, forgiveness, and eternal life. That’s what revives the soul. That’s what give joy to the heart. That’s the most important epiphany God has given us. That is what Jesus said the Scriptures were all about. They testify to us about Him.
Lord, thank You for giving us epiphanies through the creation and from our conscience. But most importantly thank You for Your Epiphany that come to us through Your Word. The epiphany that reveals Jesus to us.