Psalm 19 God’s two books Prayer: please join me in prayer… Introduction: 20 years ago, the coworker sitting in the cubicle next to me stood up, turned around, and faced me. Then he confidently said, “Dave, I will believe in God when he speaks to me. Until that happens I refuse to believe that God exists. Surely, if God exists then he would speak to me. Right???” Some of you have probably asked the same question. You wonder why God has not spoken to you? This is a legitimate question. If you have wondered this, you are not alone. Does God speak to us? If so how does he speak to us, and what is he saying? This brings us to Psalm 19. According to Psalm 19 God is speaking to all of us, all the time. In fact, God speech is so constant that we have learned to tune it out. But if we stop to listen we will be transformed and amazed. This morning we will look at three aspects of God’s speech from Psalm 19… God speaks through the skies God speaks through the scriptures God speaks through the son. First, God speaks through the skies How??? God speaks through the stars in the skies. Psalm 19:1 (ESV) — 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. The heavens and the skies refer to the stars of the night sky. David’s point is simple. The stars speak of the glory and splendor of their creator. But what exactly do they say? Illustration: The stars speak of God’s vastness and infinite power… The biggest and brightest known star in our own galaxy is Eta Carinae. It is more than 100 times larger than the sun…. If the sun and Eta Carinae were the same distance from the earth, Eta Carinae would be 4 million times brighter than the sun.” (Redmond, 44) There is a star named IRS 65… if the sun were 18 inches tall this star would be as tall as Mt. Everest. (Redmond, 44) If our galaxy (the Milky Way) were the size of North America, our solar system would be the size of a quarter. Astronomers estimate that the Milky way has anywhere from 100 billion to 400 billion stars in it. Our galaxy is mostly empty space… it would take five years at the speed of light to get from our solar system to the nearest star (Alpha century). How many galaxies are there? The lowest estimate is 100 billion galaxies and the high estimate is now two trillion galaxies… Most galaxies have over 100 billion stars in them… The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies above proclaim his handiwork. It is not just the stars in distant Galaxies that speak of the glory of God. God also speaks through the sun in the skies. Psalm 19:4c–6 (ESV) — 4... In them (in the heavens) he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. In comparing the sun to a bridegroom David marvels at the splendor and radiance of the sun. In comparing the sun to a strong man, champion, or warrior David marvels at the power of the sun to provide warmth and light. When David writes about the sun rising he is not trying to make a scientifically precise statement. He is using the language of poetry and every day speech to describe what he sees from his perspective. Even in our scientific age we talk about the sun rising and setting. Back to the point of these verses… King David inspired by the Holy Spirit tells us that the stars and the sun speak to us about the glory of God. Illustration: Our sun is rather impressive. The sun is 93 million miles away, yet we still have to wear sun glasses, hats, and sun screen to protect ourselves from its destructive power… “To produce the observed energy emitted from the sun’s solar surface, the equivalent of one hundred billion hydrogen bombs must explode every second in its unfathomably hot, dense core.” (Redmond, 123) It was hot a few weeks ago… 107. But the sun’s core burns at 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. “A pinhead heated to the temperature of the center of the sun would emit enough heat to kill anyone who ventured within a thousand miles of it.” (Redmond, 127) “99.9% of all matter in our solar system is contained within the sun.” (Redmond, 129) 1.3 million earths could fit inside the sun… (image) We see God’s splendor and majesty in the sun… God speaks through the stars in the skies God speaks through the sun in the skies God speaks to everyone in the skies Psalm 19:1–4 (ESV) — 1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, In verse 1 the verbs declare and proclaim are in the participle form meaning that creation constantly proclaims the glory of its creator. Day after day and night after night they pour fourth speech. No one can escape this speech. Furthermore, this speech goes to everyone “Their voice goes out to all the earth…” God is continually speaking to everyone all the time through the existence and the glory of the stars and the sun. Paul picks up on this theme in Romans 1:19-20. Romans 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them (everyone), because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Everyone has sufficient evidence to believe that God exists. Which means that there are no atheists, just truth suppressors. Objections… Science has gotten rid of God!!! Let me recommend two outstanding books- “The Case for the Creator” and “I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist”. Now, more than ever, is the best time to be a Christian who loves science, because science is increasingly on our side. God speaks through the stars in the skies God speaks through the sun in the skies God speaks to everyone in the skies Illustration: There have been many great speeches in history- Ronald Reagan’s “Tear down this wall” speech, delivered in 1987 near the Berlin Wall. Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” speech delivered in Gettysburg Pa in 1863. Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech delivered in 1775 in Richmond Va. Martin Luther King’s Jr. “I have a dream” speech delivered in Washington DC in 1963 But at the top of this list must be God’s speech through creation. This speech is great because everyone hears it all the time… No one can escape this speech. But that leads to a very important question… What is god Saying through the skies??? The skies say that God exists… The stars and the sun, and all of creation for that matter, speak to us that God exists. Which is why the Bible says that if we deny this evidence we are fools. Psalm 14:1 (ESV) — 1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”... God exists, and he is speaking to you and he wants you to respond to his speech by worshipping him alone. You don’t need a PhD in apologetics to defend the faith. All you need to do is point to the skies and ask your skeptical friend where the stars came from. Ask him or her why there is something and not nothing? If he says, “the big bang” explain to him that the most recent science argues that before the big bang there was nothing… no time, no space, and no matter. We all know that nothing comes from nothing… something outside of time, space, and matter must have created everything. The God of the Bible dwells outside of time, space, and matter. The skies say that god exists… The skies say that God is powerful… He spoke billions of Galaxies in to place by the power of his word… and currently sustains every single sub atomic particle in the universe through his son Jesus Christ. What problems do you Face??? Health, financial, relational, besetting sins, etc… do you think God is big enough to handle your problems? Yes!!! The skies say that God exists The skies say that God is powerful The skies say that we are small… The size of the universe humbles us, and it should. It reminds us that we are next to nothing. We live in a little blue dot in an incomprehensibly large universe. Illustration: Show the pale blue dot… This picture was taken on February 14, 1990, by the Voyager 1 space probe from a distance of about 3.7 billion miles away… No one had ever seen planet earth from this far away… this view rocked the scientific community.