Class Outline:

Wednesday October 26,2022

God is the sole Creator, and many Psalms summon us to bring Him honor, praise, and thanksgiving, Psa 8; 19; 29; 104.

 

There is no single Psalm that speaks only of creation. The creation is a picture of the power and the faithfulness of God, which He has demonstrated for us, which He revealed most of all in His Son.

 

So that we don’t lose the reality of the application of this in our lives, we must be praying these psalms right away, as we are reading the studying them. We are not going to study the individual psalms we see line by line. We will read them through if they are short enough, but not always. That is not what we’re after right now. We are learning how to use God’s Prayer Book. If we don’t apply this now, after we move on to our next section, we will too easily forget it. As a suggestion, pray each type of psalm that we look at for a few days in a row. Keep in mind our last class that our prayers are always for the Lord’s sake. In our next section we look at creation. Pray these psalms over the next three or four days so that you learn how God as Creator can so wonderfully effect your spiritual life.

 

The praise of God for creation is a recurring theme in the Book of Psalms. Think of your favorite aspects of the creation around you. This morning I marveled at the mists sitting over the glens while the sun was rising with orange flares behind the clouds on the eastern horizon. I have been thoroughly enjoying watching the moons of Jupiter move around through my binoculars. Think of something you’ve seen in nature that just floored you and moved you. God purposefully made them, and even in the midst of a fallen world that remains under a curse, these beauties of God could not be hidden. Nature is a fingerprint from God, but why cannot nature give us lasting happiness and fulfillment? It’s temporary, and the good feelings it gives us can last, and it’s immaterial - all true, but the real reason is that it is not God.

 

The lie of pantheism has attempted to make all creation as God (the ocean and the trees and the air are all God, etc.), but this isn’t true.

 

God created matter. He is not matter. God is Spirit.

 

And God, on the sixth day created man in His image, male and female, He created them. He breathed into them the breath of life. God gave mankind a spirit, and then at regeneration after the finished work of Christ, He gave believing mankind His Holy Spirit. Man can therefore relate to God on a relationship level, and all around man is the creation that reminds him of his God who formed it.

 

We begin with Psa 8, which focuses on aspects of creation, but it does not praise nature, but the God who formed it. In fact, this is the only psalm in the collection that is addressed entirely to God.

 

Psa 8 For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

 

O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!

2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength

Because of Your adversaries,

To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

 

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

4 What is man that You take thought of him,

And the son of man that You care for him?

5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God,

And You crown him with glory and majesty!

6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen,

And also the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,

Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

 

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

 

Only mankind can appreciate nature. In the contemplation of the heavens we feel our insignificance.

 

At the center of the psalm is the affirmation of human power and authority; but the boundaries are:

 

O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth, (1)

 

and …

 

O Lord, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth! (9)

 

These must be taken together. To read them alone is to miss the point.

 

Human power and blessing must always be bounded and surrounded by divine praise.

 

Doxology gives dominion its context and legitimacy.

 

While it is true that we have been formed from the dust of the ground, God has crowned us with glory and majesty and has set him above all creation.

 

This psalm sets before us our utter weakness and our wonderful potential. We pray for greatness in humility by God’s will.

 

God shows His power by using weak things. Therefore, I am reminded that God desires to use us in magnificent ways, while yet we remain as infants who by faith praise the Lord.

 

MAT 21:14-17

And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant 16 and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?" 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

 

Right after this, the Lord Jesus curses the barren fig tree. Israel, professing to know God, produced no fruit.

 

But yet, God can make fruit out of the mouths of infants. Do you see, if we were praying for strength or wisdom or for victory over those who would oppress us, how this psalm would keep your prayers proper, focusing on where true strength lies, and how it would not matter at all on how strong or smart you were in and of yourself, but on God who has mercy?

 

God has chosen the weak things to confound the mighty. He does not need to use powerful people or eloquent speakers to silence His adversaries.

 

Psa 8 praises the name of God and His gracious act to humanity as the crown of His work.

 

But man does not rule as intended, a fact that the writers of Scripture never fail to point out to us. Not only do we not rule as we should, but also the world is in chaos. The real ruler of the world, the one really pulling the strings, is Satan, according to the Lord Jesus.

 

But the New Testament tells us how this plan is going to be fulfilled. By the incarnation, the Son of God took on mortal flesh and was made for a little while lower than angels, becoming the Second Adam, but never ceasing to be divine. He has accomplished the first part, salvation and new covenant spiritual blessings for all believers, and He will return to finish the second part, to put all enemies under His feet.

 

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, holy and righteous, Your power and wisdom has made all things that I enjoy. Your grace has made me in Your image and have crowned me with glory and majesty and authority, yet I am nothing alone. Your strength flows through children who by faith praise you. I need that strength. May I never be prideful to think I can do anything without You. Help me to be humble, and bless others in my life with the same knowledge that together we might be one in You. Help us all to enjoy Your creation all around us and get our eyes off of ourselves to take in our souls the work of Your hands. To You alone, Lord, be the glory!

 

Psa 19 is a classic presentation of divine revelation (nature and Word) and its intended effects.

 

Psa 19 speaks of the splendor of the movement of the heavenly bodies but not without relating them to the revelation of God’s law.

 

Perhaps, in the not-so-distant future, when we look at the heavens, or the sun or moon, we will think of the revelation that God has given us. When you look up, think of God relating His truth to you through His word.

 

Psa 19 For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

 

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

2 Day to day pours forth speech,

And night to night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard [it’s there but not audible].

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

 

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

 

The sun is like a bridegroom and a strong man and it touches every person with its heat.

 

The bridegroom coming out of his chamber is filled with joy and anticipation. The strong man who runs his course is proud to show his strength and to win. So is the law, or Scripture, of God. The Word of God is proud and ready to win, to accomplish all of God’s good purposes, and it is joyful and anticipatory for those who will receive her. She, the Word of God, will fall upon every person.

 

We have three distinct parts:

The contemplation of divine revelation in nature.

Reflection on the value and benefits of the written word.

Prayer for cleansing and preservation from sin.

 

The faithfulness and power of God in nature is the same in His Word, and the Word has its designed effect - our desire to overcome sin and live to please the Creator.

 

The mention of the sun is a direct refutation of the worship of the sun that so many of the polytheistic, pagan nations did in the ancient world. The sun is not a god but the creation of the God.