Please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 19. So we finished this psalm this morning, Psalm 19. I'll read the psalm and then we'll look specifically at verses 9 to 14. So 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 utter speech and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through 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. Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word. We thank You that a day like today truly does declare the glory of God Almighty.
We thank You as well for the revelation of Yourself through Scripture. We thank you that you have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We praise you that you have converted us. We praise you for giving us that joy, for enlightening our eyes, and for causing us to know the blessed reality that God is ours and we are yours.
We ask that you would guide us now by the Holy Spirit as we continue in this psalm. We pray for the forgiveness of all of our sins and our transgressions. We pray that we would see Jesus Christ as that bridegroom of His church that comes forth to shine and to powerfully save a great multitude. We ask for any and all that are here today, dead in their trespasses and sins, that You would awaken them and that they by grace would flee unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith.
And we ask that in His most blessed name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said, when we looked at the psalm a couple of weeks ago, it breaks down into two main sections. Basically, we have the psalmist's contemplation on the revelation of God in verses 1 to 11, and then secondly, in terms of a broader point, the petition, or rather the psalmist's response to the revelation of God. So, verses 1 to 11, he celebrates the fact that God has revealed himself through the created order and that God has revealed himself through the written word. And then, as I said, in verses 12 to 14, he responds to that.
In other words, we don't come to the word of God without being moved, without being affected, without being convicted, without being reproved. And we see that model here for us in Psalm 19. When we looked at the psalmist's contemplation on the revelation of God, we noticed the didactic emphasis of the psalmist in verses 1 to 6. And basically, what's he teaching there in the original context?
He's teaching that God reveals Himself through the creation and that that demonstrates His glory, His power, His majesty, and certain perfections. We noted that as well in Romans chapter 1. But also, in Psalm 19, verses 1 to 6, there is a prophetic significance of the psalm. And essentially, what David is doing by inspiration of the Spirit is revealing something to us of our Lord Jesus Christ, especially in verses 4b to 6.
In them, God the Father has set a tabernacle for the Son, the Son of righteousness, that bridegroom. celebrated in Psalm 45, the book of Song of Solomon, and then as well called the Bridegroom of the Church and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in the book of Revelation. And then we've seen the exaltation of special revelation by the psalmist in verses 7, and that's where we're at today. 7 to 11.
Attributes of Scripture Reviewed
So we noted the attributes of Scripture in verses 7 and 8. Scripture is perfect. Scripture is sure. Scripture is right.
And Scripture is pure. So perfection, sure, rightness, and purity, the attributes of Scripture. When we look to God's Word, this is what we see. And we notice the effects of each of these things in verses 7 and 8.
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.
Remember that law can be used narrowly, ten commandments, moral law, but more generally, speaking specifically of God's Word as a whole. In fact, in Psalm 78, in verse one, the psalmist says, give ear, O my people, to my law, and then he rehearses parables, sayings, and the historical acts of God. So it's not law narrowly defined. Ten Commandments, we don't teach salvation by law, but rather salvation by grace.
And so the law of the Lord refers to the Word of God, especially that embodiment of His grace as it's seen in the Christian gospel. So, the attributes of Scripture, now we consider the benefits of Scripture in verses 9 to 11. He says, 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.
Benefits of Scripture
So as we consider the benefits of Scripture, I think the psalmist is indicating or underscoring three things here for us. The effect of Scripture in verse 9, the value of Scripture in verse 10, and then in verse 11, the usefulness of Scripture. But
The Effect of Scripture: Fear of the Lord
note with me first the effect of it in verse 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Some commentators continue the theme that what he's speaking about specifically is still the law of the Lord. I don't think that's faulty, and I don't think that's wrong, but rather I think it is the net effect or the response of those who have been blessed by that word in verses 7 to 8.
So they've been converted, they've been made wise, their hearts are rejoicing, and their eyes are enlightened. By the power of the Holy Spirit, that is precisely what has happened to us in the grace of God. We have been converted. We have been made wise.
Our hearts are full of joy and our eyes have been enlightened. As I said last week, these are all gospel themes. This is a gospel psalm. The Apostle Paul could write verses 7 and 8 in a New Covenant setting to the church at Rome or to the church at Corinth or to the church in Chilliwack.
David is celebrating sovereign grace. He's celebrating the bridegroom of the church. He's celebrating the reality that the law of the Lord, the Word of God, makes known that one who's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And then the net effect, according to verse 9, is the fear of the Lord.
This is prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 32. God, through the prophet, says, I will put my fear in their heart. "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear." We didn't wake up one day and say, wow, you know what? I think I'm gonna fear God because that seems to be the better way to live in His world.
No, "'Twas grace that taught our hearts to fear." It was God who took out the old stony heart. It was God who put in the new fleshly heart. It was God who changed us from within, gave us the graces of faith and repentance such that we now have come to Christ, we are found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is from the law, but that righteousness which is from God through faith in Christ Jesus. What is the net effect of that?
We now fear Him. We despised Him. We loathed Him. We hated Him.
We ran from Him. We hid from Him. We did whatever we could to evade and escape Him, but now there's a fear of God in the hearts of all of His people. And in Romans chapter 3, after Paul summarizes the universal condemnation of all men everywhere, that they're liable to the just judgment of God, he strings together a line of quotation from the Old Testament in Romans chapter 3, and one of those is that there is no fear of God before their eyes.
So as the psalmist rehearses the attributes of Scripture, the effect of Scripture upon the heart of man, he now moves to that effect in terms of the fear of the Lord. Notice again in verse 9, the fear of the Lord is clear, I'm sorry, clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. This means pure, this fear of the Lord that's clean.
It means that it's unadulterated. It means that it's sincere. Now, you probably with me are saying, you know, I fear God by God's grace, but I don't know that I would describe it as pure. Not sure that I would describe it as unadulterated, and I'm not sure I would describe it as sincere.
Well, the primary prayer of this particular psalm is able to say that. The primary prayer, our Lord Jesus Christ is able to rehearse that. And we, by God's grace, receive His righteousness imputed to us and received by faith alone such that we can enter into this prayer and make it our own. He says, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
And then notice the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Again, for those who have not been converted, for those who have not been made wise, for those who do not have that joy in their heart, those whose eyes are not enlightened, They don't acknowledge this. They don't confess this. They don't say with David here in the Psalm or Jesus, the true David, as we were reminded during the scripture reading, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
Is that how the unconverted looks at the judgments of God, the providence of God, the dealings of God in this world? Don't they look around rather and say, well, it's not fair. It's not right. It's not good.
In fact, there's a struggle within the hearts of some of God's people, genuine Christians at times struggle with the reality of God's providence where He governs all His creatures and all their actions. We acknowledge that and we confess that as long as everything's going well. Oh yeah, when it's sunny like this and my wife is nice to me, she's always nice to me by the way, my children are well behaved, then I acknowledge and confess the providence of God. But let affliction come, let trials come, let hardships come, let sorrows befall us and what happens?
Why is God doing what God is doing? It is what the Scripture does according to verses 7 and 8 that produces in us what Scripture yields in verse 9. We have a proper fear of the Lord which is clean and endures forever, and we acknowledge that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Again, that's not a confession that's made by the unenlightened.
That's a confession made by the believer and at times the struggling believer to entertain that statement. Things happen that are tough. Things happen that are hard. Things happen that do promote melancholy and sorrow and distress and heartache.
But when we come, by God's grace, back to the truth of Scripture, what are we told? What are we informed? What are we encouraged with? What are we stabilized by?
We're stabilized by the reality that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. That is a tough lesson, brethren. It is the lesson of sovereign grace. If you're not a believer here and you're not appreciative of God's judgments, God's holy providence, God's government of all our actions, all our thoughts, then may I encourage you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on Him, know the power of the scripture to convert the soul, to make wise the simple, to rejoice your heart and to enlighten your eyes.
This world's a bummer for believer and unbeliever. Again, I could multiply examples, come to the 9.30 prayer meeting sometime and let us lead you by the hand through the various nations of the earth where horrific things are happening. Child trafficking in Myanmar, not just for sex, but for food. It's wretched, as our brother said in the prayer meeting, it's dark.
These are inconceivable atrocities that are occurring as we gather together here in peace, happiness, joy, and privilege. So it's a dark world, brethren. It's dark for the believer, but he has a means by which to assess the situation, and though he may not understand everything, knows that it will redound to the glory of God. Notice then,
The Value of Scripture: Better Than Gold
he moves on to the value of scripture in verse 10. So we've got its effect, verse 9, and the value of it in verse 10. He says, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. So basically, what is he saying?
He's saying whatever it is that we value, gold, whatever it is that is sweet to our taste, honey, The Scriptures got everything on those. The Scripture is far surpassed in those excellencies. The Scripture is that which feeds, sustains, and provides value to the lives of God's people. More to be desired are they than gold.
I've often thought that if you went anywhere in history, let's say you had a time machine, for instance, and you could go back to any generation, to any part of the world, what's always valuable? Gold. It just is. It's a beautiful thing.
I sound like Trump there. It's a beautiful thing. Beautiful, truly beautiful. It's always precious.
Oh, but not anywhere near like the scripture. Christian, if we went in that time machine and we visited believers in whatever age, whatever generation, whatever geographical locale, you know what the consistent response would be? We love the Bible. You see, that's part and parcel for those who have been converted, who've been made wise, for those who have the joy of the Lord in their heart and whose eyes are now enlightened.
Because at one time we came to the book of God when we were unconverted and it made no sense. It just looked like, you know, print on a page. But now as believers, wow. It's alive, it's glorious, it's wondrous, it instructs us, it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto not just some good works but every good work.
And so the psalmist is celebrating the value of God's word and he uses that gold in terms of things that we value in the created order. And at the end of verse 10, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Honey's not just sweet, but it's stable. Honey's not just sweet, but it's stable.
It's something you can, if stored properly, have for thousands of years. It's amazing. They have found honey 3,000, 2,000 years old. Now brethren, I'm not sure I'm going to slather that on my toast anytime soon, but as far as I could tell, it looks good.
What's the psalmist saying? What you value in this present world, gold, which isn't bad as men of God, as workers, as providers, and it's good. We should try to amass some precious metals to secure our wealth, temporally speaking. But he's using that as something that we can all sink our teeth into.
Yeah, we know that gold is precious. We know that honey is sweet. Oh, but far more precious and far more sweet is the very word of God himself. that law that he just rehearsed in verses 7 to 8. Gold doesn't convert the soul, gold doesn't make one wise, gold doesn't rejoice the heart in the spiritual way, and certainly gold doesn't enlighten the eyes.
Honey is wonderful and as stable and as long of a shelf life it has, it doesn't convert the soul, it doesn't make wise the simple, it doesn't rejoice the heart, and it certainly doesn't enlighten the eyes. What you creatures in this lower world have and what you see in value and prize, not bad, he's not condemning it, he's not saying bad, gold bad, honey bad, he's making a comparison. He's saying, believer, do you understand that book that's in your lap is far more precious than you even know, far more precious than you realize? And of course, the implication has to be, if it's that good, I should spend more time with it, right?
You guys don't buy gold to never look at it. You don't buy honey to not eat it unless you're storing it for 3,000 years from now. My generations to come will be flush with honey. That much I can give.
You rejoice in those things. You rejoice in the scripture, which is better than gold, which is better than honey. This isn't unique to our psalmist here. We've got it later in Psalm 119, 72.
The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Psalm 119, 127. Therefore, I love your commandments more than gold. Yes, than fine gold.
Christ speaking His wisdom in Proverbs 8, 10, and 11. Proverbs 8, verse 19. And then sweeter than honey, Psalm 119, 103. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
In giving his history of his call to the prophetic ministry or at least his particular assignment, the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 3 at verses 1 to 3 says that a scroll was given to him. He was told to eat it and you know what he said when he ate it according to Ezekiel 3 verse 3? So I ate and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. that word that is perfect, that word that is sure, that word that is right, and that word which is pure, that word is valuable, far more than gold. It is sweet, far sweeter than honey.
Feed on it, traffic in it, delight in it, hide it in your hearts that you might not sin against God. Get the enlightenment from it that it contains for all of God's pilgrims. He's celebrating the revelation of God in the created order wherein the heavens declare His glory, the firmament shows forth His handiwork, and then He turns attention to the revelation of God through His written word. And the conclusion is, in verse 10, in terms of its value, is that it's better than anything you know.
It's better than anything you've experienced. It's better than anything that you depend on. In other words, you should depend on this, you should benefit from this, you should value and prize this, and you should hold fast to it. Don't let it go, don't neglect it, don't miss church, don't miss Bible reading.
He's not scoldy, he's not lecture-y, but rather as he portrays the value of Holy Scripture, I think the obvious no-brainer response is, yeah, why don't I value it more? If it's that good, why does it sit gathering dust on my table? If it's that good, why don't I listen to sermons? If it's that good, why don't I read good theology?
If it's that good, and it leads me to that blessed reality of John 17 3, this is the eternal life that they may know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. If eternal life is sort of summarized by the knowledge of God and the Son that He sent? Brethren, we've got that as a prized possession now. We should be growing, 2 Peter 3, in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And then notice in terms of the benefits, we've got the effect, verse 9, the value, verse 10, but
The Usefulness of Scripture: Warning and Reward
then the usefulness in verse 11. Verse 11, moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. There might be some question as to how Jesus could pray verse 11, but even more so, how could He pray verses 12 and 13? God the Father made Him, Christ the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
It's going to tip my hand any time we move through the Psalter and I predicate or state that it's of Jesus, how could Jesus pray prayers that sounded like he was a sinner? The doctrine of imputation. He stood in our step. The Father made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.
And as we move through the Psalms, and there's some, particularly David's Psalm 51, Psalm of repentance after the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah. But how could Jesus pray what Jesus prays in Psalm 19? Because of his identification with his body, the head with the body. But notice in verse 11, Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
Again, the counterpart to this latter half concerning special revelation, if Romans 1 basically encapsulates Psalm 19, verses 1 to 6, Then Psalm 19, 7 to 9 or 7 to 11 is basically encapsulated in 2 Timothy chapter 3. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. We all say, yeah, it teaches us God's law. It teaches us God's gospel.
It teaches us the incarnation. It teaches us the hypostatic union. It teaches us the resurrection. It teaches all that stuff.
But it goes on to say for reproof. It reproves us for our remaining corruption. It reproves us when we are wrongheaded in our approach to God's world. It enlightens our eyes.
It warns us, moreover, your servant is warned. Brethren, the day that we think we're beyond reproof, the day that we think we're beyond warning, the day that we think that we're beyond those admonitions of Scripture is the day we're swallowed up in our own pride, our own arrogance. You don't get a whiff of that from David. You certainly don't get a whiff of that from the true David, our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's profitable for doctrine for reproof. Could you imagine saying, well, I don't need reproof? Really? You don't need reproof?
Am I the only one in the room that needs reproof? You know, every Thursday? No, no, every day. and correction were reproved for wrong conduct and then were corrected by the Word of God through the ministry and the agency of the Holy Spirit in the correct pursuits. And I think that's the emphasis here in verse 11.
Moreover, by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward. So if we go back to verses 7 and 8, 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. We might link that to conversion in terms of the order of salvation. We might link that to that time when we're given a new heart, when we're given eyes, when we're given hearts, and we're given the grace of faith and repentance. But moreover, Not just justification by God's grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, but moreover, the life of sanctification.
In the Monday after the Sunday you got saved. And every subsequent Monday after that, every subsequent day after that, moreover, by them, your servant is warned. And I would suggest 11B is specifically a prayer of the true David. And in keeping them, there is great reward.
Who for the joy set before him. He despised the shame and he endured the cross. My need is to do the will of him who sent me. I always do that which is pleasing to the father.
I think 11b is the act of obedience of our blessed Savior, the reward specifically being the likes of us and a whole host of others from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. You see, David depended on sovereign grace. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, Psalm 32, 1. Psalm 130, 3 and 4, if you, Lord, should mark iniquity as O Lord who could stand, but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared.
David was dependent upon sovereign grace. David wasn't dependent upon David's perfect obedience. David was dependent upon true David's perfect obedience. And intriguingly in the next bit, when he talks about those secret faults, those are the unintentional sins that we commit.
I mean, it's bad enough that we got all kinds of sin, but there's a lot of things we don't even think about. We don't even consider. Think back to yesterday. Did you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength for 24 hours?
Did you love your neighbor as yourself for 24 hours? No. Did you on the way to church? Are you now?
Be careful if your mind's thinking about lunch. Bad, bad, bad, bad. I'm kidding. But kinda not.
David is prophetically rejoicing in the Savior. What's the stipulation for the unintentional sin according to Leviticus and Numbers? Sacrifice. Bloodshed.
Animal. Substitute. Atonement. So that apparatus is in full swing while David pens Psalm 19.
He's talking about his secret faults though. He doesn't say, I'm going to put my pen down, go fetch a lamb, take it to the tabernacle or temple, tabernacle at the time, cut its throat, present it to the priest, have it offered up, and then I'll come back and finish the psalm. No, David's thinking and prophetically thinking and prophesying concerning new covenant. I confess my sin to you, laying my hand upon the bridegroom, the surety of a better covenant, that one revealed in 19, 4 to 6, that bridegroom of the church, that one who shines his beams all over for the glory of the father, for the salvation of the elect, and for the reward of his own accomplishments.
Again, verse 11, moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them, there is great reward. Now brethren, there is great reward in keeping the commandments of God. I'm not suggesting go out and disobey, go out and break. The way of the transgressor Solomon tells us is hard.
What's the implication? The way of the non-transgressor is not as hard. I don't want to say it's easy because nothing's ever easy that's good. So of course, labor by God's grace, under the Spirit, according to grace, according to the divine resources and the provision of the gospel.
Yeah, pursue obedience. And in keeping them, there is great reward, I think can only properly be predicated on our Lord Jesus Christ. And then that brings us, so that's the conclusion of verses 1 to 11, the psalmist's contemplation on the revelation of God, verses 1 to 11.
The Psalmist's Response to Revelation
Now we come to the psalmist's response to the revelation of God in verses 12 to 14. Two petitions, very simply, protection and acceptance. Protection and acceptance. But before that, I want to quote Ashe.
He says, before we move to the final verses, it is worth reflecting on 19, 1 to 6, and on 19, 7 to 11. Psalm 19, 12 to 14 makes sense only to those whose hearts have been ravished by the declaration of the glory of God seen supremely in the Christ whose glory is figured by the Son, and to those whose consciences have been aroused to godly desire and alerted by necessary warnings in the beauties of the law fulfilled by Christ." In other words, you can't fully appreciate verses 12 to 14 unless you understand verses 1 to 11. And I would suggest as well, verses 12 to 14 aren't simply a sort of an attachment or an add-on or David saying, you know, I got to finish this psalm and I'm not sure really how I'm going to do it. The absolute close connection between the two sections ought to be obvious.
What does the revelation of God do? It promotes a response. What does the revelation of God do? It moves the heart.
What does the revelation of God do? It comforts, it stabilizes, it blesses, it encourages. In other words, you don't come to the scriptures and remain unchanged. You're either going to be hardened and more rejecting of it, or you're going to be softened and blessed by it.
You know, the sun has that effect as well. The sun can bake and harden things beyond use, but that same sun invigorates and enlivens and blesses and encourages and helps to sustain life. The Son of Righteousness is the same. The reprobate who continues in opposition and rejection is only going to know judgment, damnation, curse, and hell.
But the saint of Christ who comes to the Word of God that's more desirable than much fine gold, that's sweeter even than honey in the honeycomb, what happens to that person? His heart rejoices. And notice the progression here. He says specifically, verse 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.
A religion isn't simply a confession with the mouth, though it is that, but it's an embracing of it from the heart. It's not enough to just say, you know, I affirm the apostles' creed, but affirm the apostles' creed. Or the Nicene Creed, or the Athanasian Creed, or the Creed at Chalcedon. Of course, affirm the Second London Confession.
It's got to affect the heart. Well, how does that happen? Verses 7 and 8, the law of the Lord is perfect. The testimony of the Lord is sure.
Statutes of the Lord are right. Commandment of the Lord is pure. What does it do? It converts the soul.
It makes wise the simple. It rejoices the heart. It enlightens the eyes. You see, with the scriptures, brothers and sisters, we're not to be remaining unchanged.
In fact, Paul uses this argument in Romans chapter 12. He says, do not be conformed to the world. I mean, you know, it's one of those instructions that you kind of think, really, I have to give that? I've used this illustration before with a couple of people.
Have you ever got a bottle of vitamins? and you open the bottle of vitamins and there's a big thing in there that keeps it dry. Am I nuts? Everybody has seen that. You got a big, I don't know, it's some sort of chemical in a plastic thing.
They write on it, do not eat. We live in a world where you have to tell people, do not eat. That big thing that's obviously not a super vitamin, don't eat it. It's pretty evident, it's pretty obvious, don't eat it.
There's evident and obvious things that we find that nevertheless we need to be encouraged about. And Paul says, do not be conformed to this world. Why do you think he has to say that? Because we're the people that open that big bottle of vitamins and take that big thing out that's a chemical and throw it down our throats.
It must be good for me because it was with the others. Now, don't be conformed to this world. What's the antidote? but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." In other words, get your mind in the book. Get your mind in contact with that which is better than gold and sweeter than honey.
Get your mind where it ought to be such that you are not conformed to this world. So
Petition for Protection
notice the petition for protection in verses 12 and 13. And I think there's a bit of a gradation here. I'm leaning on Dixon here because he speaks of pardoning, preventing, and restraining grace. pardoning, preventing, and restraining grace. But note first the question in verse 12a.
Secret Faults and Pardoning Grace
Who can understand his errors? I think it's ethical. I think it's sin. Every other category that follows has to do with sin.
We make errors in arithmetic. We make errors in grammar. We make errors in this world on a whole host of things. I don't think David is saying, who can understand his errors in arithmetic?
Who can understand his errors in grammar? No, no, who can understand his errors, the very foundation of his being at his heart? What's the answer? Obviously, none of us can.
There's not one of us out there that can say, you know, I figured out my heart. I know all its contours, I know all its nooks and crannies, I know all its proclivities, I know everything about it. No, no, he's assuming that none of us can understand his errors. The prophet says it this way, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can understand it? The psalmist assumes it in 133, if you Lord should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand? Knowing good and well, that no one could stand if God indeed takes pen to paper and writes down each and every one of our sins. So who can understand his errors?
Notice he then goes on to petition, cleanse me from secret faults. Again, Jesus can pray this with reference to the doctrine of imputation. David could certainly pray this as a man with remaining corruption, and the church ought to be praying this regularly as believers in Christ. Cleanse me from secret faults.
Again, Leviticus 4, 27 and 28, Numbers 15, 22 to 29. These are sins committed unintentionally. We didn't love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength yesterday. We didn't love our neighbor as ourselves.
Imagine a day if you actually loved your neighbor as yourself. That would be, you know, an amazing thing. But knowing our hearts, it might not be the most amazing thing, because what do I get out of that? He says, who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults. There's an ingenuity about this that ought to speak to all of our hearts. Brethren, when we come to deal with God with reference to our sin, and I'm talking in the life of sanctification, Lord, please forgive me for my unrighteousness. Don't defend ourselves.
You know, God, if it wouldn't have been like this, I probably wouldn't have fallen. We can't argue our case with God and win. You know, Lord, the reasons why I didn't love you yesterday and my neighbor as myself, you know, I got five good reasons here. No, no, just you're worse than you think you are.
What'd you get at church today? My pastor told me I was worse than I think I am. And I think I'm pretty bad. So what do you make of that?
Sin is horrible. It's pervasive. It's found everywhere in us. Things that we never even thought of were probably called up on that last day.
And I don't think it's called up on that last day to say, you see, this is what you did, but rather to shine the light on Jesus Christ, our Lord, who cleanses us from all faults, who cleanses us from all sin. Notice he prays specifically for the protection of special revelation. He says, sorry, verse 12, who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
That speaks with reference to pardoning grace. But then
Presumptuous Sins and Preventing Grace
notice secondly, he speaks of restraining grace or preventing grace. Notice in verse 13, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. That's a good prayer. Jesus taught us to pray thus in the Lord's prayer, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
In other words, God, your word has enlightened my eyes such that I see that there's a lot of mess in my heart. So I'm going to pray specifically, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. If the unintentional sins are that, unintentional, the presumptuous sin is the high-handed sin. So when we willingly and knowingly don't love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and when we knowingly and willingly don't love our neighbors as ourselves, or when we willingly and knowingly plan to engage in a certain act that we know God's law forbids, I think that's a good prayer to pray.
I think that's a very helpful thing for us to remember. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Those entered into willingly. Again, Leviticus 6, Numbers chapter 15.
But then
Dominion of Sin and Restraining Grace
that final petition in 13b is the prayer for or petition for restraining grace. Let them not have dominion over me. Let them not have dominion over me. You see the gradation?
Unintentional sin, presumptuous sin, dominion under sin. Scary. What should we yield from that? Deal with sin at its root.
Even the unintentional. God, forgive me. Cleanse me from secret faults. God, I know with the hymn writer I'm prone to wander and I'm prone to leave the God that I love, so keep me back.
Keep them back. Defend me, as it were. But I know that if I'm not exercising that by the power of the Spirit, dependent upon that word that's more valuable than gold, that's sweeter than honey, dominion, dominion over me. It's terrifying.
This brief glimpse hopefully shows us something about how we ought to deal with sin. Again, justified freely by God's grace, living a life now in the Spirit and sanctification. What's the ultimate help? What's the ultimate hope?
What's the ultimate ground and foundation for breaking the back of the dominion of sin? Romans 6.14, sin shall not have dominion over you for you're not under law but under grace. Romans 6.11, likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We rejoice in the bridegroom of Psalm 19, 4 to 6.
We rejoice in the forgiveness of sin, Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2. We rejoice in that forgiveness in Psalm 130 at verse 4. We rejoice in that justification freely by God's grace all throughout the New Testament, especially the book of Romans and Galatians. What do we know, though, that when we are justified freely by God's grace, based on the work of Christ for us, what's one of the benefits?
We get the Spirit of God and His work in us. It's folly to not deal with sin. It's folly to let it go unchecked. Perhaps this is what Paul has in mind in Romans 8.
If by the spirit you do put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live. He's not saying this is the prescription to everlasting life. He is saying that as a new covenant believer, as one whose blood bought by the Son of God, as one who is indwelt by the Spirit of God, This is the reflex. This is the action.
This is the manner then in which you live. You don't have truck with sin. You don't entertain sin. You don't play with sin.
You don't invite sin in. You certainly don't plan to go out and sin. No, you confess unintentional sins. You pray for God's restrainer preventing grace, and you pray for his restraint on you so that you don't run afar afield.
You don't run amok. You don't lean on, well, David sinned big and so did Peter in his denial of Jesus. Those are there to encourage for sure. In terms of the broken, battered, bruised soul that has sinned against God and needs to be reminded, but there is forgiveness within that thou mayest be feared, but it's not to encourage us to go thou and do likewise.
It's not to encourage us to go out and commit adultery and to go out and commit murder in order to cover that adultery and go ahead and deny your master. Now the psalmist comes to deal very specifically with the issue of sin. And
Petition for Acceptance
then his petition for acceptance in verse 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. So the petition indicates the humility of the psalmist. Paul tells us, I think it was Paul who wrote the book of Romans, or Hebrews, I realize there's some debate about that, and if you're different, that's fine, but he tells us that we can come with boldness to the throne of grace. Don't mistake boldness for arrogance.
Don't mistake boldness for a high-handedness. Don't mistake boldness for an entitledness. No, there's a humility. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.
His desire is simply that communion, which by the Spirit, through the law, brought him into vital union with God. He wants to keep that intact. He wants that to remain good. He wants to know the son of righteousness shining upon him each and every day.
This is heart religion. This is New Covenant theology. This is everything the Bible everywhere sets forth in terms of God's purpose and plan. It's to save us from our sins, to bring us into a relationship with Him so that we can have that dependence upon Him and that comfortableness of being found in the triune God. and its mouth and its heart, its words and its thoughts, its actions, its activities.
It's the entirety of the psalmist. I'm not going to just pray this because I'm in the midst of prayers and that's the way we should pray. I'm praying it from my heart. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight." Notice the ground of his petition is in his God.
Verse 14, "'Be, O Lord, my strength, or my rock, and my redeemer.'" And if you trace the trajectory of the psalm, it's that strength, that rock, who spoke and the world was. It's that rock that sets the sun in its tabernacle. It's that rock who made all things by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good. He sees God as his strength.
He sees God as his sovereign Lord. He sees God as his supreme commander. This is the ground for the petition. In humility he comes, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, not because of what I've done.
Jesus could pray that, not David, not us, but because you're my strength, but also my redeemer. If God uniquely reveals His strength, His power, and His rockness in general revelation, God uniquely reveals His redeeming power in the new creation, in redemption. in the son of righteousness, the bridegroom of his church. You see, that's the ground of his petition. God, my strength, that the creation everywhere screams.
And God, my redeemer, whom I know, because he sent his law and converted my soul. Because he sent his law and made wise the simple. because he saved my soul and rejoiced my heart, and he's enlightening my eyes. He's my redeemer, he's my strength, he's my rock, and it's on this basis I present my petition.
Application and Conclusion
Well, in conclusion, in terms of the exaltation of the word by the psalmist, the attributes, perfect, sure, right, and pure. A little ditty there, a little remembrance there, perfect, sure, right, and pure. It's a good thing to keep in your head. and the effect that that has upon you, converting the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, and enlightening the eyes. As well, it functions to warn you, functions to reprove and correct you.
It's more valuable than much fine gold. It's sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. It's everything. You had to flee to the hills tomorrow.
Hopefully it doesn't happen today. But if you had to flee to the hills tomorrow and you had your go bag, do you got a Bible in your go bag? Well, I got my phone, grid might go down. Get a hard copy, put it in the go bag next to the battle axe.
And there you go. This is what David's saying. The word is that good. It's that awesome.
It's that great. It's that glorious. As well. The responsibility of the church, I think, flows out of that.
If we've got the perfect, sure, right, and pure word, what ought to be central in the life of the church? Feelings? Entertainment? Ecstasy?
No. Dare I say it? That perfect, sure, right, pure word. Don't know anywhere in Scripture where those things are predicated of my experiences, where they're predicated of entertainment, where they're predicated of group therapy, but it's certainly predicated of Scripture, not just here, but 2 Timothy 3 as well.
Spurgeon made the observation, the gospel is perfect in all its parts and perfect as a whole. It is a crime to add to it, treason to alter it, and felony to take from it. He's right. He's absolutely, positively, 100% right.
It is perfect in all its parts, perfect as a whole. It is a crime, therefore, to add to it, treason to alter it, and felony to take from it. Now, perhaps the temptation or tendency for the church today, maybe not necessarily adding to it, though I think we do, maybe not necessarily altering it, but probably we do at some level, and felony to take from it that, again, I think we probably do, probably neglecting it. Just living life as if it's not really there.
I've often wondered about that, you know, what's worse? Well, I won't give that illustration, but for the argument here, let us not neglect that which is more valuable than much fine gold and sweeter than honey in the honeycomb. And then finally, in terms of the examination of the psalmist by the word, the prayer of David, obviously, who knew experientially the reality of secret sins or unintentional, the reality of presumptuous sins, We'd expect a prayer like this written from a man who had been found out having committed adultery and murder. This necessarily follows.
I've been converted, though I think he was converted even when he did that. But having come into contact with that word, the only thing that I can respond is, Lord, help me, keep me, restrain me, protect me and defend me. Why? Because you're my rock and you're my redeemer.
The prayer of Christ, again by imputation, the prayer of all of us, the prayer of the believer in Christ. Matthew Henry said, we ought to pray that we may be kept from sins of infirmity, but especially from presumptuous sins, which most often offend God and wound conscience, which wither our comforts and shock our hopes. He goes on to say, even good men ought to be jealous of themselves and afraid of sinning presumptuously. Yea, though through the grace of God they have hitherto been been kept from them.
Let none be high minded, but fear. It's a good read on Psalm 19. And if you're not a believer, I would say look at Psalm 19 verses 4 to 6 and see the bridegroom who comes out of his chamber and does that in order to shine his light of blessing upon the earth. The son of righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not go through what he went through to not save his people from their sins.
He went through what he went through to save his people from their sins. And the scripture is very clear. Whoever looks to him in faith will have everlasting life. If you look, you live.
You come, you're received. You believe, you're saved. Don't neglect that, don't resist that, don't reject that and see the power of God as it comes through the Word by the Spirit to bring people unto the Savior King. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for this beautiful psalm. We ask that you would bless and encourage our hearts, help us to take the warnings, help us to take the comfort and the encouragement and help us by your grace to put it in us and to pray it in our closets and to be faithful with reference to our relationship to you. We thank you that we are accepted in the beloved.
We thank you that he got as reward all the elect that he had purchased. And we thank you that he rules and reigns at your right hand. And we look forward to his coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And I pray that everyone here would be believing on Him and able to stand on that day.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.