Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 19. We sang the latter half there. Psalm 19, I'll read the psalm, and then our focus this morning will be on verses 7 to 11, just by way of reminder. The psalm as a whole is the psalmist's contemplation on the revelation of God.
And he first takes up a contemplation of general revelation, God's revelation of Himself through the created order. We see that in verses 1 to 6, but as well, based on Paul's citation of verse 4 in Romans 10, We notice that there is also prophetic significance in the entirety of the psalm as it sets forth our Lord Jesus Christ. He is that bridegroom in verse 4. He is that one that comes forth from his chamber, and he is that one that blesses the nations through the power of his gospel based on his finished work in terms of sinners.
And then in verses 7 to 11, he turns his attention to what we call special revelation. So if general revelation is the doctrine of God's revealing of Himself through the created order, special revelation is just that. It is special. God speaks to us in His word.
As we sang in Psalm 29, as we sang in Psalm 119, as we sang in Psalm 19, we see the emphasis here in verses 7 to 11 on the revelation of God through His holy word. So I'll read beginning in verse 1. To the chief musician, a psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes 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 judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand His errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen.
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your written word. We know it's given by inspiration of the Spirit. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
We pray that you'd open our hearts to receive your truth and that by your Spirit, that Spirit of truth who gave us that word of truth that records the glory of the incarnate truth, even our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that you would forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness, cleanse us in that precious blood. And may we take to heart the things written in this psalm. May we, with our beloved Savior, muse on the glory of God revealed in the created order, the glory of God revealed in the written word.
And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Introduction
Well, last week when we looked at the first part of the psalm, I mentioned that there are two major components in the psalm. Basically, we have, as I said, the psalmist's contemplation on the revelation of God in verses 1 to 11, and then secondly, the psalmist's response to the revelation of God in verses 12 to 14. So, Lord willing, we'll take that up next Sunday morning. And with reference to that contemplation, as I said, the didactic emphasis in verses 1 to 11, the doctrine of general revelation. the prophetic significance of the psalm as a whole is to reveal to us the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, and here now the psalmist's exaltation of special revelation.
Attributes and Benefits of Scripture
So notice specifically in verses 7 to 11, we're going to see four attributes of scripture and then three, benefits of Scripture. So the attributes of Scripture are highlighted in verses 7 to 8. It's perfect, it's sure, it's right, and it's pure. And then in verses 9 to 11, the benefits of Scripture, the effect of it, verse 9, the value of it in verse 10, and then finally the usefulness of it in verse 11.
So we've got attributes and we've got benefits. But when we come to this particular statement, verse 7 specifically, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. We don't typically think of the law converting. We typically think of the law condemning, the law convicting.
The Heidelberg Catechism asks the question, how do you know your sin and misery? Well, I know my sin and misery because the law tells me so. The law is a killing letter. When the Lord Jesus Christ has truck with that rich young ruler, the rich young ruler says, all these things I've kept from my youth.
Jesus sends him back to the law, specifically the 10th commandment to show that he was, in fact, a sinner who stood in need of saving grace. So the law of the Lord typically isn't related to the conversion of a soul. We want to make the argument that law is used narrowly. It means law.
It means command. In fact, you'll see the synonymous use of law, testimony, statutes, and commandment in verses 7 and 8. So law narrowly means that which God commands or that which God forbids. But there's a broader meaning in Scripture.
For instance, in Psalm 78, we read, give ear, O my people, to my law. And then what follows is not a rehearsal of the Ten Commandments, but rather parables, sayings, and then the history of Israel up until that point, which demonstrate the mighty acts of God. So narrowly defined, law means that which God commands or that which God forbids. But there is a general more broad meaning in terms of God's Word.
In fact, Andrew Bonar makes the statement, standing on the platform of earth, but looking away from what in it is merely man's work, the eye of him that speaks in this psalm has rested first on the glorious heavens, and then on the law that reveals him who dwelleth in the heavens. Law here is equivalent to revelation. It is Torah that is what God teaches. Torah, again, is more broad than just Ten Commandments.
Gil agrees. He says, "...the law of the Lord is perfect, by which is meant not the law of Moses of the Ten Commandments, but the doctrine of the Lord, as the word Torah signifies." Even the whole Word of God. All the Scriptures of truth, which are profitable for doctrine, for setting doctrine in a clear light, and for the vindication and establishment of it, and are the rule of doctrine both to preachers and hearers, and which are perfect, contain the whole mind and will of God, both with respect to faith and practice. whereby the man of God is made perfect and thoroughly furnished to all good works. And especially the gospel part of the word may be designed, which both in the Old and New Testament is called the law or doctrine, being eminently so the doctrine of the Messiah and of justification by faith in his righteousness." So just by way of introduction, when we see this emphasis on law, testimony, statutes, and commandment, we need to understand that that comprehends the entirety of God's word.
It comprehends, yes, the law, but also the gospel. It comprehends the glory of the Christ revealed to us in Psalm 19, verses 4 to 6, that blessed bridegroom of the church. that blessed one who lived for us and who died for us and who was raised again for us, and when the psalmist comes to speak of special revelation, he encapsulates it all under this term, law. So
First Attribute: The Word Is Perfect
let's look first at the attributes, the first being the word of the Lord is perfect. What the psalmist does is he tells us the attribute and then he shows us the effect. He gives us the attribute, and then he tells us what it does. So notice in verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
The law of the Lord is perfect. It is infallible. Our confession says the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. It's an infallible word.
That means it's incapable of error. It's incapable of deceit. It's incapable. It is impossible for it to lead us astray.
It is a perfect word. It is a short word. It is therefore authoritative. It is consistent with the revealer.
God is perfect. There's no imperfection in God. There's no sort of inferiority in God. God is and He is most glorious and He is most perfect.
There's no increase in his perfection. That would be impossible. There's no decrease in his perfection. That would be impossible.
He is perfect. That's his status. And so his word reflects that authority as well. The word is comprehensive.
It is to be our rule of faith and life. That word is sufficient, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life. As well, that word is clear. There's some tough things to learn when you open the Bible.
There are some difficult passages. The Apostle Peter makes that statement concerning the Apostle Paul's writings. In some of his writings, some of the things of which are hard to understand. There are some difficulties, to be sure.
There's a lot of things that we haven't worked out, perhaps, say, for instance, the end times. I mean, there's a lot of different interpretations on what happens at the end, and I'm not here to say that everybody who doesn't share my position is necessarily wrong, and they are hell-bound. So there are some difficulties, but those things necessary to make known the mind of God relative to our salvation are abundantly clear in Scripture. The clarity, or what the older boys called the perpiscuity of the Scriptures, are everywhere upheld.
And then that word is final. That word is final, the voice of God that shatters the cedars of Lebanon, that voice is in fact perfect. Manton says concerning the special revelation of God through His word, there is more of God to be seen in His word than in all the creatures of the world and in all His other works besides. So the tactic, the strategy of the psalmist is to start with the revelation of God in nature and to move on then to the revelation of God through the written word.
So the perfection of the word is clear. The law of the Lord is perfect. What's the effect? It's converting the soul.
And that by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Remember, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Dead sinners do not choose for Jesus. Dead sinners don't respond to altar calls.
There shouldn't be altar calls, but dead sinners don't come to Christ any more than dead people in a graveyard are responsive to your dinner invitation. It's the effectual call by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. It is being called out of darkness into marvelous light, granted the graces of faith and repentance such that we may by grace close with our Lord Jesus Christ. So when the scripture says here the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul, other scriptures help us to understand how that is the case.
James 1.18, of his own will. by the word of truth he brought us forth. He brought us forth. He gave us ears to hear and hearts to receive. The spirit works in and by and through the word.
The spirit of truth who gave the word works through the word to bring dead sinners to life, and then to grant them that faith wherein they lay hold of Jesus Christ and receive all the benefits wrought for them, both forgiveness of sins and a righteousness that avails with God." So here we see the beauty of God's Word converting the soul to corrective to man's sinful prejudices. Matthew Pool says, "...converting to wit from the errors of mind and conversation in which men without this light do generally wander and perish unto God from whom all men are naturally revolted." That law of God, strictly speaking, narrowly defined, does function in the hand of the Spirit to show us our sin. Jesus makes this statement in Matthew 9. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, right?
How do sinners know they're sinners? I mean, we all have this kind of understanding. I'm not the best I could be, but I'm not really bad. I've never killed anybody.
I've never committed adultery. I've never done those sort of benchmark sins. We need the law of God. How do you know your sin and misery?
Because the law of God tells me so. If we, like the rich young ruler, would dare to boast all these things I've kept from my youth, all Jesus has to do is take that 10th word, you shall not covet, and apply that to our hearts. It was that which broke the heart of this young man. What happened?
The young man went away sorrowful. Why? Because he had a lot of possessions and he didn't want to get rid of them. It's the law that convicts us of our sin.
It's the law generally or broadly considered, which reveals to us the doctrine of the gospel, that those broken, bruised, and battered by their own sinfulness can find healing in our Lord Jesus Christ. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. If you're here this morning and you know anything about your own sin, I want to tell you everything about the glorious Savior for your sinful self. The Lord Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The Lord Jesus on that last great day of the feast in John chapter 7 says, the God of heaven and earth through the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 55. He says, oh, everyone who thirsts, come, you who have no money, you who have nothing, come buy and eat from me. You get water for refreshment, you get wine for exhilaration, you get milk for nourishment. He goes on to castigate through the prophet all those who spend their wages on that which does not satisfy.
That's symptomatic or typical of the human condition. What do we do? We spend our energies, we spend our resources, we spend our time on that which does not satisfy. It's easy to see it with the pagan bowed down to his idol in some other country.
It's not quite as easy to see it in the paganism extent in our own country. We may not be bowing to sticks and stones, but we're bowing to money. We're bowing to prestige. We're bowing to the creature.
We're not bowing to the Most High God. So the prophet's question is very profound. Why do you spend your money on that which does not satisfy? Ho, everyone who thirsts, come, I will grant this to you, I will give this to you.
The Lord Most High is profuse in his grace. The Lord Most High is benevolent in his grace. In fact, go back for just a moment to verse four. B, in them he has set a tabernacle for the son, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
Does Christ the bridegroom rejoice in the work given to him? Absolutely, positively. Why do we have this idea or understanding or misunderstanding that Christ's gonna save you, but he's gonna be miserable about it? He's gonna save you because he has to?
That's how we go about our chores. That's how we clean our garages. So we show up for our boss, but not this one, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. He's ready to go.
In fact, he illustrates that joy found in the saving of sinners three times in Luke's gospel. Luke 15, all the sinners and the tax collectors drew near to him to hear him. The Pharisees and the scribes, of course, these ultimate buzzkills, Pharisaism is miserable. If you've got a Pharisaic attitude or tendency, which I would suggest we all do when it comes to others, we're very libertarian when it comes to us, we at the same time have an antinomian in our heart, we have a legalist in our heart, we got all kinds of messed up things in our hearts.
But all these tax collectors and sinners draw near to Jesus to hear Him. What do the Pharisees say? What do the scribes say? This man receives sinners and eats with them.
The sounds of the words probably disgusted them, even having to say it. This man receives sinners and eats with them. They're grumbling. They're moaning.
They're whining. The opposite of joy and thanksgiving. They've often said, because I invoke this passage a lot, if I was one of those in the multitudes, it was a tax collector or a sinner, and I heard that argument or complaint made about our Lord, this man receives sinners and eats with them, I'd really be curious to see how he answers. I'd want to know what's he going to say.
Is he gonna rebuke their charge and say, no, I don't, I'm just like you, nasty, miserable Pharisees and scribes. Legalistic wretches wagging your fingers at everybody who doesn't dot every I and cross every T just like you. I'm listening, what's he gonna say? He says three times, you're right, I am that.
The first thing he says, is that he's like a shepherd who loses one sheep out of a hundred and he leaves the 99 and he goes after the one. What happens when he finds the one? Does he kick it? Does he slap it?
Does he beat it? Perhaps you've seen that image online. You've got the sheep and the genuine, a real sheep. It's not a fake sheep or a feep.
What we have is a true sheep jumping into a creek or a ravine or a ditch of some sort and the shepherd coming over and dutifully pulling it out, putting it down and it runs and jumps right back into the trench. If that's not an illustration of us, I don't know what is. The hymn writer captured it well, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love. But Jesus uses that illustration.
The shepherd leaves the 99, he goes to the one, he finds the one, and what does he do? He puts it on his shoulders and he rejoices. He rejoices in his work, or he's like that woman who loses one out of 10 coins. Doesn't just write it off.
Doesn't just say, well, you know, that's the way it goes. No, she moves the furniture. She gets out the broom and she dutifully finds that coin. And what does she do when she finds that coin?
Oh, I hate finding coins. No, she rejoices. In the third segment, the man who had two sons and the one son said, father, give me my share. In other words, you're better off to me dead than alive.
I just want what you've got that is my portion and lot. What does he do? He goes out. He spends it in prodigal living.
He wastes it. Then he comes to himself, not to Christ, he comes to himself and he says, I know what I'll do. I'll cast myself on the mercy of the Father. Not savingly, but pragmatically.
I want food. I want a cot. I want to be able to have a roof over my head at night. That's what I'll do.
I'll go to him. So what happens? When he's a long way off, the Father sees him a long way off and he runs to him and he falls on him and he kisses him. That looks like joy to me.
Do you know who the story is about, or each of those three stories are about? Yeah, it's sinners conquered by saving grace. Sinners rejoiced over by the Savior and by the heavenly multitude. I think it's really about the Pharisees.
This man receives sinners and eats with them. Why do I think that? Because that's how the brother of the prodigal responded. I've been with you all this time.
I've served you. You've never slain the fatted cat for me. Grumbling, whining, moaning, just like the scribes and the Pharisees. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
And in the hand of our blessed Savior, He does it joyfully. He does it as his job. That's the mission of the Son of God, to save his people from their sins, but it's not begrudging. It's not with grumbling.
It's not with complaining. If you're a sinner here this morning, you don't have to wonder about this. If I come to Jesus, will he be upset? Where did we get that theology of an upset Jesus when sinners come to him?
That's bad theology. All that the Father gives me will come to me, John 6, 37, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. Hebrews chapter 7, he is able to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
Your soul, if you're not a believer, needs converting. It needs conversion. It needs regeneration. You need to be born again.
We wait upon the Spirit, affectionately calling you. But I tell you with the Scriptures everywhere, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Second Attribute: The Word Is Sure
Notice then, secondly, the law of the Lord is sure. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Psalm 117 says the same thing. The law of the Lord is perfect.
The testimony of the Lord is sure. That means it's faithful and true. That means it's certain, and that means it's stable. In a world of flux, in a world of chaos, in a world of lies and deception, in a world that is almost at the point of looking at a blue sky and calling it green, We need the sure word of the living and true God.
We need the sure testimony of the Most High. He's not going to steer us wrong. He's not going to lead us astray. He's not going to take us down a path and us at the end of the path say, well, this is no good.
Every path the Lord leads us on, every testimony of his word is sure. And then notice the specific effect or benefit, making wise the simple. I've always found great encouragement in that passage, making wise the simple. God doesn't just save rocket scientists.
God doesn't just save neurosurgeons. In fact, Paul's able to point to what the world would perceive as the foolishness of the cross by the Corinthians themselves. Not many wise, not many noble among you. But this concept of making wise the simple, again, it's by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 119, 130 says the same thing. Psalm 119, verses 98 to 100 tell us that God's word is the source of truth. And then if there is a New Testament counterpart to Psalm 19 verses 1 to 6 in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 to 23, the New Testament counterpart to Psalm 19, 7 to 11 must be 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 15 to 17. Where the apostle Paul tells us, or tells Timothy in the first place, and you know from childhood the sacred scriptures, which are able to do what?
Make you wise for salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Our brother alluded to Matthew 16. Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Various reports from the disciples.
Who do you say that I am? Peter confesses, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. What does Jesus say? Well, you win the candy bar today because you got the right answer.
And by the way, Sunday school teachers, it's a great thing. Give them candy bars. Parents don't let him eat until after service. Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father.
Or Jesus in Matthew 11, verse 25, he says, thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Why? For you did hide these things from the wise and the prudent, but you revealed them unto babes. The law of the Lord, the testimony of God is sure.
It makes wise the simple, the simpleton who in his sin and rebellion and transgression and lack of conformity just fumbled his way onto hell. That blessed truth of Christ comes, that testimony concerning the one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And that law, that word, that blessed gospel makes wise the simple. I once was lost, but now I'm found.
I was blind, but now I see. I was dead, but now I'm alive. You see, the law of the Lord does that. It has the power and efficacy under the ministry of the Holy Spirit to affect that change.
It's most blessed.
Third Attribute: The Statutes Are Right
Notice then thirdly, he says, the word of the Lord or the statutes of the Lord are right. Again, consistent with the author of those statutes, who is rightness, God most high is right. God most high is righteous. Of course, the product of his hand, the Holy Scriptures, is gonna be right.
The consistency of that word with its instruction, the law is right. Going back to the narrow definition of law. It is right for you not to kill people without a cause. We all know that.
It is right for you not to go into your neighbor's wife It is right for you not to steal. It is right for you to not bear false witness. It is right for you to give glory and honor to the living and true God. It's right for you to carve out a day in order to do that.
It's right for you to not try to capture the glory of God and put it into an idol. The rightness of God's testimony is evident. Again, we suppress that truth in unrighteousness. We don't like the ethical implications of it, but nevertheless, you get men under truth serum, they're gonna have to admit, yeah, adultery is a bad thing.
It attacks the foundation of society. You attack family, you attack society. It affects churches. It affects everything.
All those things are obviously right. Consider the rightness of the gospel. It's rightly glorious. Because technically speaking, God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Proverbs 17 tells us that the man who, the judge, who condemns the righteous and acquits the godless is an abomination of the Lord. So on the surface, one dying for all, those who believe in him, just doesn't seem right. Well, that's why the gospel. That's why Romans 3.
That's why God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The doctrine of imputation, the doctrine of representation, the reality that Christ assumed our human nature to live the life that we never would, to die the death as a public person, as a high priest, as a representative, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and then to be raised again. Paul, I think, encapsulates it well in Romans 4.25. Christ was delivered up.
Why? Because of our offenses. And He was raised for our justification. That's right.
That's gloriously right. That is such that God can be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. He doesn't sacrifice His righteousness. In fact, at the cross, you see a demonstration, yes, of love, yes, of mercy, yes, of grace, but you see a demonstration of God's righteousness.
The cross means that God upholds the righteous demands of His law. The cross means that there must be a penalty for those who break the law. The cross publishes those perfections of God right along with His grace, His mercy, His love, and His willingness to receive sinners unto Himself. The testimonies of the Lord are right.
Notice, rejoicing the heart. Back to that Pharisaism again. This man receives sinners and eats with them. What a miserable life.
Or go to the foot of that tree that Zacchaeus shimmied up. Remember that? Jesus looks up at we Zacchaeus and says, come down, make haste, I'm going to eat dinner at your house tonight. What was the net effect upon the crowds?
Praise God that Messiah takes to himself our humanity such that he shows pity and mercy and demonstrates grace even to such an unworthy like Zacchaeus. Of course they don't. They grumble, they whine, and they complain. There's something in us.
I mean, I know what it is. It's sad. It should have been happy. We should be happy.
Yes, we're melancholic. Yes, we're sorrowful at times. Yes, there's trials. Yes, there's afflictions.
Yes, we're troubled in the body and in the soul. All that is true, notwithstanding sort of the overarching identifying mark of the person that is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is joy. The testimony of the Lord is right, rejoicing. Notice the heart.
God's fixed your heart through actually heart transplant. He took out the old stony one and He put in a new fleshly one. He's made you wise, simpleton that you are. His testimonies are right.
So there ought to be rejoicing in the heart. There ought to be delight in the Lord. There ought to be a whole soul engagement in the public worship of God in our coming to scriptures to read in the morning when we pray to God. It's not drudgery.
It's not pain. It's not some sort of a religious ritual designed to tear us down at all. You know, when preachers Try to encourage people to read scripture. They do so often in a scolding sort of way.
Now, brethren, you know me. I'm not immune to scolding. I'd rather not. I'm not your mother.
I'm not your father. I don't think scolding is legitimate for the blood-bought children of God. As I've looked over the time that I've been here, yeah, hopefully modified in some areas. But I will say this, you really shouldn't have to be scolded on reading scripture, on praying, and coming to church.
You get that? Mothers don't have to scold their child to eat dessert Mothers don't have to scold their child to go to the park. What is our antipathy to that which rejoices the heart? What's David's response when he wakes up on Sabbath morning?
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Read the Psalms, feel the ethos, get the sentiment from the worshipers of God Most High. It's not, I got to go to church again. I got to read this Bible again.
The testimony of the Lord is right. Rejoices the heart. Now brethren, I'm not here scolding as one who ought not to be scolded. We all wake up extra tired sometimes.
We got a lot of extra things going on. We drag and we're, you know, the spiritual equivalent of a dead cold fish. I get that. I know that experientially, unfortunately.
But again, the overarching approach to our lives as those blood bond children of God most high who have been converted, who've been made wise, simpletons though we are, or were and are, There ought to be joy in the heart. Joy unspeakable and full of glory, the apostle speaks. How do we sing psalms and hymns of praise to God? Because I got to?
No. Because we get to. Why do we gather together in the public assemblies of God? Because I got to.
We get to. I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Nobody had to come and screw a 38 in my ear and say, come on, you're going to the house of God. All right.
If our overarching approach to the means that God's ordained is misery, pain, and a hardship to endure, Let the psalmist check your heart here. The testimony of the Lord is right. It rejoices the heart. Our religion is about joy.
Our religion is about rest. Gill says this cannot be understood in the law, this rejoicing of the heart. the statutes of the Lord, this cannot be understood of the law, which is a voice of terror, pronounces guilty, curses and condemns, is the killing letter, and works wrath. But of the gospel part of the word, which is a joyful sound, publishes good tidings of good things, and when applied by the Spirit of God, is found to have this effect." When applied by the Spirit of God, that word is bound to have this effect. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, I've been converted by God's grace.
I was ignorant of the things of the Lord and reveled in my sin. The law of God came and it made wise the simple. Statutes of the Lord I now see are right. The statutes of the Lord I now see are glorious.
The statutes of the Lord I now see are beautiful and a reflection of who God is. So what do I do with that? I rejoice, I thank God, I praise the Lord, I sing, I pray, I read scripture, I try to have that countenance that looks as if a man has been conquered by sovereign grace. Luther said, rejoicing the heart, for the gospel comforts the weak, despairing, and troubled conscience.
Praise God for Martin Luther for all of his foibles, all of his issues, all of the things that offend delicate sensitivities today and about the way that he spoke certain things. He understood justification by faith. And when asked, why do you preach justification by faith every week? I do it every week because my people forget it every week.
Listen to this. Rejoicing the heart, for the gospel comforts the weak, despairing, and troubled conscience. I think there is a time when you're struggling with assurance to get your act together better. I think we can grow complacent, I think we can grow lazy, and I think we can be completely neglectful of Philippians 2.12.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I genuinely believe that. You've got to take a cold, hard look at yourself in the mirror and say, look, dude, you've got to get up earlier. You just do.
You know, there's not an app to download scripture into your head while you're asleep. You're probably going to have to get up. You're probably going to have to be more disciplined to get to church. You might even consider the Bible study.
I believe there's a place for all of that. But your first stop in the battle with assurance ought to be the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the healing stream. That's the fount that's open for sin and uncleanness.
That's wherein the Lamb of God was crucified for the sins of the world. That is what Paul was talking about. He was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised for our justification. In other words, get ye Christ in your dealings with the assurance problems or issues or trials.
Yes, get up earlier. Yes, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. But don't do it devoid of a fresh view of Christ, a fresh understanding of the cross, a fresh reality check that it's Christ Jesus who came into this world, sinners to save.
Fourth Attribute: The Word Is Pure
And then the final attribute, and we'll stop after attributes. We'll pick up the benefits next week. The last one is the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Again, the consistency of the word with its author.
The commandment of the Lord is pure. God is pure. In him there is no darkness. Shouldn't we expect? that his written word would likewise be pure.
All the predicates or all the attributes or all the perfections ascribed to scripture, perfect, sure, right and pure is absolutely consistent with the written book because of its author. The commandment of the Lord is pure. It doesn't lead astray. It's unadulterated.
It's unmixed. It's not polluted. It's not like, well, you know, some of these parts stay away from. No.
The entirety of thy law, the psalmist says. The scripture is pure. We've already seen that in Psalm 12, specifically at verses six and seven. The words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times.
You shall keep them, O Lord. You shall preserve them from this generation forever. So the commandment of the Lord is pure. Its purity is inherent, again, because of the one who authored it.
You get a pure author, you're gonna get a pure word, which doesn't happen on this side of the scriptures. If you ever do any editing, you'll notice as hard as men try and as best as they do, typos always make it in. Even Oxford publishers, they can publish a book that big and charge you 180 bucks for it, and they'll still have typos in it. It's the nature of the beast, the purity of God's Word.
He doesn't lead you astray. When he tells you you're a mess, you're a sinner, you're degraded, you're depraved, he's not attacking you, not trying to make you feel bad. He's giving you the real story on your condition. When he tells you that because of that condition, he sent his own son to live for us, to die for us, to be raised again for us, that is sure information.
That is very necessary information. And note the effect, enlightening the eyes, again, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The word enlightens our eyes to our danger. The word enlightens our eyes to the remedy of that danger.
How do I know my sin and misery? Because the law of God tells me so. How do I know of deliverance from my sin and misery? Because the gospel of God tells me so.
Beautiful. God doesn't just come along to try to ruin your day by telling you how bad you are. He tells you that so you'll see your need for him. And you'll see that the way that he addresses your particular need is absolutely incredible.
He sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law and bring them into an adopted status whereby we cry, Abba, Father. It enlightens the eyes. You've probably all had this experience in your Christian lives as well. There was a time before Christ, you might have looked at scripture, you might have looked at the Bible, and it was like dead.
You would have profited more reading a Chinese phone book. You looked at it and you knew that it's been held in high esteem, it's sort of foundational for Western civilization, it records the stories of God Most High and creation and fall and redemption. But you might have picked up that Bible and you might have read it and you're like, I don't get it. What happens when you're converted?
What happens when you're made wise? What happens when that joy of the Lord fills your heart? What happens when those eyes are enlightened? Wow!
That's exactly what happens. I never saw that before. I never knew that before. This is amazing.
You're like that pearl merchant that found that pearl of great price. What does he do? He rejoices. He does everything he can to get that pearl.
It enlightens the eyes to your condition, to your need. It enlightens your eyes to the provision for that need in and through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So when the psalmist comes to contemplate on the special revelation of God vis-a-vis the word of God, it's perfect. It converts the soul.
It's sure. It makes wise the simple. It's right, rejoices the heart, and it is pure, enlightening the eyes.
Application and Closing Reflections
I just want to give a couple of thoughts and then we'll close. First, in terms of the contemplation of the psalmist, David, obviously, Probably looked up into heaven, saw the Son, and thought about how great God is. David as a prophet, Acts 2.30, also by the Spirit, told us about how great the Son that God the Father was going to send is. But as we've had cause to reflect, the Psalms are the prayers, the songs of Jesus.
Which, by the way, just a practical aside on the value of Psalm singing. I suspect there are times when we sing hymns, and I'm not suggesting, you know, you horrible wretches, we're all there, that we're kind of lying. We're kind of lying when we sing hymns about how godly we are. I'm not that godly, brethren.
The way some of the hymn writers speak, I'm nowhere near what they say. Get that the prayers and the songs of the Psalms are Jesus. When we sing them, we're not lying. We're not saying, behold Father, I have kept my hands pure and clean.
We're acknowledging that Jesus has kept his hands pure and clean for us men and for our salvation. But with reference to this psalm as a prayer or song of our Lord Jesus Christ, listen to Bonner. There was once in our world. There was once one in our world who used this psalm and was guided by it to gaze on the glory of God in the heavens and in the law.
Our Lord and Savior loved his father's works and word. Often did he sit on the high mountains of the land of Israel or look abroad over its broad plains and then turn upward to the blue canopy overall to adore his father. Often did he unroll the volume of the book or sit listening to its words read in the synagogue. He's saying that Christ took Psalm 19, appropriated it in his earthly ministry, gazed upon the heavens and saw the glory of God manifest and then reflected on that blessed law that he himself read, that he himself heard in the synagogues and temples, that he himself had received according to our human nature.
Remember, he increased in wisdom. He increased in stature. That's not predicated of divinity. That is stated of his humanity.
The Lord Jesus valued the sacred book. David obviously valued the sacred book. The people of God as well should value the sacred book. And we ought to see God gloriously displayed in the created order as well.
And then I would say, finally, The expectation of the psalmist. We talked a bit about this conversion, making wise the simple, the joy of the heart, and the enlightening of the eyes. All concepts that are picked up in the New Covenant or New Testament and used to basically explain the salvation of sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. I mean, couldn't you imagine, you do hear Paul say this. for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness.
It's very similar here. Conversion of the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes. If that's not New Covenant Christianity, I don't know what is. Well, you know, no, it's not different.
We shouldn't shrink back from singing Psalms as well, because the Psalms are all about Jesus. Psalms are all about him. They're his prayers. They're his songs.
He wrote on me. He received them, all that. But with reference to the expectation of the psalmist, notice again, verse five, we already read it, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. So there's a joy associated with the Savior when he goes about his saving task.
It's obvious. The bridegroom here is prophetic of the bridegroom of the church. And as I argued last week, Psalm 45 calls Jesus the bridegroom. Song of Solomon calls Jesus the bridegroom.
John the Baptist calls Jesus the bridegroom. Revelation 19 says there's going to be a marriage supper of the Lamb, hence the bridegroom. Yes, David is teaching us about the beauty of general revelation. But he's teaching us about the beauty prophetically of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
So there's a joy connected to the saving ministry of our Lord. Hebrews 12, 2. Notice the pervasiveness of it in verse 6. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
He shall have dominion from sea to sea. He shall bless, He shall save from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, a great multitude that no man can number by the way. I quoted Spurgeon last week in this way, And there are no seeking souls, however degraded and depraved, who shall be denied the comfortable warmth and benediction of his love. Even death shall feel the power of his presence and resign the bodies of the saints.
And this fallen earth shall be restored to its pristine glory. I love what Spurgeon says. There are there are no seeking souls, however degraded and depraved. I think there's at least in some minds this thought that, you know, I've sinned so much, I don't think the Lord will ever take me.
That's precisely why you go to the Lord. I'm just so hungry I can't eat a sandwich. I'm just so sick I won't go see the doctor. My car is just so empty I'm not going to go put gas in it.
The fact that you're depraved and degraded is the best argument for you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That law converts. That law makes wise. That law rejoices the heart.
And that law enlightens the eyes. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these attributes. by the psalmist concerning your blessed word. We thank you that it is perfect, that it is sure, that it is right, and that it is pure. We ask that you would cause us once again to reflect upon the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We ask that you would help us to love the scriptures, to study the scriptures, to receive them, and by your grace to be shaped by them through the power of the Holy Spirit. And for any all and all here that are dead in their trespasses and sins, awaken them Enlighten their eyes to see their condition before a holy God, and by the Spirit may you use that word to convert them unto our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray in his most blessed name. Amen.