Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are great opportunities to gather together with the people we love the most and tell them how much we appreciate them. On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day we receive love and appreciation from our children, and we shower our moms and dads with appreciation.
But for some people Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are painful reminders of a childhood that they’d just as soon forget. For people with parents who died when they were very young or with parents who abandoned them when they were kids, these holidays can be painful. For people who were raised in abusive homes, these holidays are annual reminders of the hell they escaped from. And for many people who were adopted, these holidays cause an inner yearning to know their birth parents.
Having parents who abandoned us, abused us, or left us when we were very young can have a profound effect on our lives. Recently I ran across a fascinating book by a professor of psychology from New York University named Dr. Paul Vitz. Dr. Vitz’s book "Faith of the Fatherless" looks at the psychology of atheism. Vitz looks at the lives of 27 famous atheists throughout history, and he finds that all of these atheists came from homes where their father died, abandoned them, or was abusive during their early childhood.
For example, perhaps the most famous atheist in history was Friedrich Neitzsche, who in the late 19th century proclaimed that God was dead (20). What many people don’t know is that Neitzsche’s father was a Lutheran pastor who died when Neitzsche was just five years old (Vitz 21). David Hume is another famous atheist, and Hume’s father died when he was just two years old (25-26). Bertrand Russell, the author of the 1957 book Why I’m Not a Christian, lost his father when he was just four years old (Vitz 26-27). The French atheist Jean-Paul Sartre lost his dad when he was just fifteen months old (Vitz 28). The father of atheist Thomas Hobbes was a compulsive gambler who abandoned his family when Thomas was very young (Vitz 34-35). Sigmund Freud’s dad Jacob Freud was unable to hold down a job and provide for his family, and according to Sigmund his dad molested several of Sigmund’s siblings (Vitz 47-48).
All of these figures were impacted greatly by their early experiences with their parents. Now granted atheism has never been very popular. Only 3-5% of the U. S. population identify themselves as atheists or agnostics (Gallup 23-24). However, many people are affected by their early relationship with their parents in more subtle ways.
In fact, many people believe that God exists but they believe God to be an absent God, a God who’s distant from the daily affairs of life. These people view God in a way similar to how a person who’s been adopted views his or her birth parents. They know God exists, just as an adopted person knows he has biological parents. But they don’t know God personally and they’re not even sure they’d recognize God if they encountered him. As someone who was adopted when I was about 8 years old and who hasn’t seen my birth father in 25 years, I wouldn’t recognize my biological dad if I bumped into him on the street. Many people feel that way about God; they believe God is real, but for them God is an unknown God, someone who’s unknowable and inaccessible.
We’ve been in a series on God’s attributes called SIMPLY GOD. So far we’ve looked at the God of the Bible as the God who is real and as the God who cares. Today we’re going to see that the God of the Bible is the God who speaks. God is not content being an unknown God in our lives, a sort of absentee landlord, but he desires a relationship with us, so he speaks, he makes himself known. Today we’re going to see two ways God speaks, and once God does speak, how we can respond to his voice.
1. The Book of Nature (Psalm 19:1-6)
C. S. Lewis wrote a little book called Reflections on the Psalms, and in that book he called Psalm 19 the greatest poem in the Bible (63). Let’s look at verses 1 to 6 together.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat (Ps 19:1-6 NIV).
By personifying the heavens and the skies, the psalmist is picturing nature as a preacher, standing behind a pulpit with a sermon to preach. The sermon preached by the heavens is God’s glory. In the Bible the Hebrew word for "glory" means "weight" or "heaviness" (NIDOTTE 2:577). The more "heaviness" or "weight" associated with a person, the more status and splendor that person was thought to have. God’s glory is the reality of God’s presence as it’s manifested in his power, splendor and holiness (NIDOTTE 2:581).
The word used for God in v. 1 is the simple Hebrew noun el, which is the most simple and basic title for God in the Bible. This title emphasizes God as the Creator.
In v. 2, the word "pour forth" is a verb that means to "bubble" that’s often used of a natural spring of water. Just as water constantly bubbles from a natural water spring, the heavens and skies pour forth speech and display knowledge of God. This flow is constant, not just occasional or once in a while.
Although nature’s sermon doesn’t consist of literal words, this sermon’s message penetrates the entire universe. Every language hears nature’s sermon, as creation bubbles with God’s speech and knowledge. Every corner of the earth, from New York City to Katmandu, from London to the rain forests of South America, from Los Angeles to the deserts of Africa. Theologian John Calvin has said, "Wherever you cast your eyes, there is no spot in the universe where you cannot discern at least some sparks of His glory" (Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.v.1).
And situated soundly in heaven is the sun, which constantly saturates the earth with its life giving heat. Although most ancient religions of the world worshipped the sun, here we find the sun pictured as a circuit preacher, making its way from one end of the horizon to the other, bringing our attention to God’s glory. Like a newly married groom rushing out of the church with his bride by his side, the sun rises each day (Craigie 181). Like Mark McGwire circling the bases after breaking the homerun record, the sun triumphantly struts through the sky preaching its sermon. Just as nothing escapes the sun’s heat, no one escapes the sermon of creation.
Here we find the first way God speaks. THROUGH NATURE GOD COMMUNICATES HIS GREATNESS.
God speaks through his creation. And while some people call the heavens "space," as if were empty and void, the psalmist sees the heavens as infused with God’s glory. The beauty and regularity of the universe are a sermon about God’s greatness, power, and wisdom.
This is why people feel close to God when they’re close to nature. A breathtaking sunset or a snowcapped mountain inspires us to think about God. Some are so awed by nature that they worship nature itself, much like we might be tempted to idolize a great preacher rather than worship the God the preacher is speaking about.
But the book of nature is limited; it only tells us about God as our creator. We can know about God through nature, as we’re confronted with his greatness, his majesty, his awesomeness, but we can’t know God personally through creation. This is why those who seek God in nature end up with such a vague, undefined concept of God, like an adopted child who yearns to meet his birth parents, creation only reminds us that such a person exists.
In nature God speaks about His greatness.
2. The Book of Scripture (Ps 19:7-11)
But starting in v. 7 we find a shift from God as our maker to God as someone we can relate to.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (NIV).
Notice the sixfold repetition of the word "LORD" here. The Hebrew term here is Yahweh, the Old Testament personal name for God. Every other term for God in the Old Testament is a title, but Yahweh is his name. When we know someone by title we know about them, but when we know them by name, we have a relationship with them. Nature’s sermon, for all its wonder and beauty, can’t tell us God’s name. Only God speaking beyond nature can move us from knowing God as our creator to knowing God as a person.
Now I’m going to suggest that these verses describe the Bible. The terms law, statues, precepts, commands, and ordinances are all terms used to describe the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These five books of Moses were Israel’s earliest Bible, and when King David penned these words, this is what he was referring to.
But when the Bible was completed, with the addition of the Old Testament Writings and Old Testament Prophets, and then with the addition of the 27 books of the New Testament, this description of the five books of Moses can be applied just as much to the rest of the Bible.
So God not only speaks through nature, but he also speaks through the Bible. THROUGH THE BIBLE GOD COMMUNICATES HIS WAYS.
The ways of God are the pathways we walk to come to know God personally. This is why God’s name Yahweh occurs six times here, because the Bible takes us beyond God as our Creator to God as our Redeemer. God is our Redeemer in the sense that He forgives our sins and invites us into a personal relationship.
This is why it’s so important to get the Bible out to people in their own language. This is why we’re sending out members of our own church, Leigh and Barb LaBrecque in just a few weeks to join the Bible translation team in Vanuatu. This is why we have small groups here at the church to study and read the Bible together. Pastor Bruce is leading a Care Pastor training seminar in a few weeks, to equip new small group leaders so more and more people in our church can learn God’s ways by learning the Bible. The more trained and equipped care pastors we have in our church, the more people are going to be able to learn the Bible in our small groups.
Now we find the Bible described in several different ways here. In v. 7 the Bible is called "the law of the Lord". Now when we hear the word "law" we usually think of something negative, like the California penal code or all the legal jargon in a legal contract. But the Hebrew term for law here is the word torah, and it simply means instruction or teaching (NIDOTTE 4:893, 897). Ancient Israel viewed God’s torah as an expression of God’s love because the torah--the law-- revealed God’s way to live; it was teaching and instruction on how to please God.
God’s torah is described here as "perfect," which means it’s whole and intact, free of blemish or imperfection. The effect of God’s torah is to "revive" our soul, or as the old KJV has to "convert" the soul. God’s torah turns us back to God when we’ve gone astray, it gets us back on track when we’ve taken a wrong turn in life. This is what the Bible does in our life, bringing us back to him. God’s perfect instruction brings us back to Him.
Without the Bible, we hear nature’s sermon, but we have no idea which road to take to establish a relationship with God. Nature’s sermon is unable to convert our soul. We need the Bible for that.
God’s "statues" are his "testimonies" about the way life is. Whenever we read a book about how to live, we read that author’s testimony about the nature of life. If we read the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we hear Steven Covey’s testimony that people should live what he calls principle centered lives. In other places we hear Anthony Robbins’ testimony about how to live, or Oprah Winfrey. God’s testimonies in the Bible are described here as trustworthy. This means God’s testimonies are reliable, they "hold water" and don’t "give way" or "collapse" (Lewis 60). God’s testimonies are reliable because they’re true, they correspond to the way life really is. The effect of God’s trustworthy testimony is to make us wise. Wisdom in the Bible isn’t so much book smarts as it’s the ability to live life skillfully. A simple person in the Bible is someone who hasn’t yet mastered basic life skills, but a wise person is someone who knows how to live.God’s truthful testimonies show us how to live successfully.
The Bible contains God’s blueprint for mastering life, for developing the attitudes and habits in our lives to live life the way it was meant to be lived. From God’s truthful testimonies in the Bible we learn about how to be faithful spouses, effective parents, reliable friends, fair employers, and so forth.
God’s precepts in v. 8 describe God’s "directions" or "orders" (NIDOTTE 3:665). This is the same word often used to describe a road map. God gives us a detailed map for life in the Bible. These directions are described as "right" which means that they’re straight. They don’t lead us off no side trips like an outdated map does, but they keep us moving toward our destination. The effect of these "directions" is joy for our hearts, the kind of joy that comes from knowing we’re on the right track and moving in the right direction.
Last summer I flew into Midway Airport in Chicago for a class. I rented a car, and had to drive about 40 miles to the school where the class was. I had detailed directions I’d gotten from the internet; the only problem was I wasn’t sure which way was East and which way was West. So I ended getting on the right freeway going in the wrong direction, and as a typical guy I didn’t stop to ask for instructions until I started seeing signs that indicated I was getting close to Indiana. Because I wasn’t sure I was headed in the right direction, the entire trip was characterized by anxiety and restlessness.
But contrast that with my family vacation last summer to Big Sur. Since I’d been to Big Sur in the central coast so many times, the drive there was wonderful, as we leisurely enjoyed the sights of scenic highway 1. Knowing where you’re going gives joy.
God’s directions give us a roadmap for life. When we’re following this roadmap it brings joy to our hearts, because we know we’re on track, heading in the right direction. We can enjoy the journey when we have a reliable map and we know we’re heading in the right direction.
In v. 8 we also read about God’s commands. God’s commands are God’s divinely given imperatives for how we are to live our lives. These are the "thou shalt" and "thou shalt nots" of the Bible. God’s commands aren’t merely suggestions or advice, but they’re backed with God’s own authority. These commands are radiant, in the sense that they are clear and pure, straightforward and not hard to figure out. The effect of these commands is to give us light so we can see what needs to be done.
In this way the Bible functions to give us light for our path. God’s commands light our path. God gives us commands so we can live, not to restrict our freedom or keep us from having fun. For example, God commands us to be faithful to our spouses in the seventh commandment because he knows what misery unfaithfulness produces. God commands followers of Jesus to participate his church because he knows no one can live the Christian life in isolation.God’s ordinances are his judgments. These are God’s standards in our lives, standards about what’s good and what’s bad, about what’s proper and what’s improper. These standards are altogether righteous, because they come from a perfect God.God’s standards in the Bible will never lead us astray.Some people spend their entire lives in pursuit of more money, but the Bible gives us something even more valuable than precious gold. Some people live for the finer tastes of life, tastes of fine wine and luscious desserts, but the Bible gives us something even sweeter. In the Bible, God communicates his ways to us.
3. Responding to God’s Voice In Nature and Scripture (19:12-14).
Since God speaks through the book of nature and the book of Scripture, how should we respond?
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer (19:12-14 NIV).
Who indeed can discern his own errors? If you’re wrong about something you don’t know you’re wrong, otherwise you wouldn’t be wrong. All of us have been wrong before, so how can we discern when we are wrong? God’s voice shows us when we’re wrong. These hidden faults, these secret sins, are errors we slip into without ever knowing we’re going astray. Like a toddler who wanders away from his parents unnoticed at the beach, the toddler doesn’t know he’s lost and in danger. Only God’s voice in nature and God’s voice in Scripture can help us know when we’re wandering away.
If "hidden faults" are at one end of the sin spectrum, "willful sins" are at the other end. Willful sins are those times when we know exactly what God wants us to do, yet we stubbornly refuse. Willful sins are the stuff addictions are made of, because the more we willfully sin the more these willful sins begin to rule over us. Two ends of the spectrum, hidden errors and willful sins, and only God’s voice in nature and God’s voice in Scripture can help us avoid these two extremes and all the dangers in between.
Since God has spoken in nature and spoken in the Bible, the psalmist asks God to help his words be pleasing in God’s sight. Notice what he calls God, his rock and his redeemer. The title "Rock" is sometimes used in the Bible to describe God as our creator, which is a fitting way to describe God in light of nature’s sermon in vv. 1-6. And the title "Redeemer" is used to describe God in relation to the Bible, because in the Bible we find our sins exposed and God’s remedy for our sins offered.Why does God communicate to us through nature and the Bible. God communicates His greatness and His ways so we can live a life pleasing to Him.
God speaks so we will pray David’s prayer here. God speaks so we can know when we’re wrong, so we can avoid addictions that threaten to rule over us, so our words and thoughts can be pleasing to God. God speaks so we can come to know Him as our Rock and our Redeemer.
Sources
Craigie, P. 1983. Psalms 1-50. Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 19 (Waco: Word Books).
Gallup, George and D. Michael Lindsay. 1999. Surveying the Religious Landscape: Trends in U.S. Beliefs. (Moorhouse Publishing).
Lewis, C. S. 1958. Reflections on the Psalms (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company).
NIDOTTE = W. A VanGemeren, editor. 1997. New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. 4 Volumes. (Zondervan Publishing).
Vitz, Paul. 1999. Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism. (Dallas, Spence Publishing).
