Say Something - Part B

Scripture is like the Sun coming up on a dark alleyway in the inner city.

It's dark, you don't want to go down it, then the Sun pops up and you can see to navigate. The Bible throws light on life. It's amazing how much light the Bible throws on politics. It's amazing how much light the Bible throws on dating and marriage, finances and all of life. It gives insight into life. Theologian J. I. Packer once said, We are to order our lives by the light of God's law, not by our guesses about his plan. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares how God can speak to your soul through the power of his word. Right now we want to tell you about a resource that will help grow your relationship with God as you apply his word in real life ways.

2022 is almost here. Plan now for your spiritual menu starting in January. This month, we're offering Skip's Daily God Book devotional containing strong thoughts for each day of the year.

Here's a sample from January 1st. Martin Luther once said, The Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet.

It runs after me. As you read each day, listen each day and prepare for the greatest adventure of your life. That's an excerpt of the direction found in Skip's Daily God Book that you'll receive in hardcover when you give $35 or more today to help keep your soul alive. Keep this Bible teaching ministry growing. We'll also include Playlist, eight messages by Skip on key Psalms delivered on CD as our thank you. Here's a sample of the wisdom you'll hear in the Playlist series. If you're going to spend energy in life, and we all do, make sure it's about people that you're building up, not just projects that you're building up. To give and receive this month's resource package, visit connectwithskip.com or call 800-922-1888.

As we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching, we're in Psalm 19. It's a fortuitous occurrence of accidental circumstance. I could say that. I could say, and it just so happens that the surface temperature of the sun is 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. And we are 93 million miles away from that.

But it's just an accident. See, actually, if our rotation were a little bit further away. Like Mars, or a little bit closer, we'd either burn or freeze to death.

We couldn't have the kind of life we have on this planet. But, amazing, it just so happened. And get this, it just so happens that the little sphere that we're on the earth rotates 365 times as it makes its yearly journey around the sun.

Why? Why not 30 times? Well, if it did rotate 30 times on its axis, the days and nights would be 10 times longer and there would be alternate freezing and cooling and carbon-based life like we know it could not be sustained on this planet. It's a marvelous accident, though, isn't it? And I could say, and get this, it just so happens that the earth is tilted 23 and a third degrees on its axis, giving us four beautiful seasons year after year. Incredible coincidence. And furthermore, it just so happens that the atmosphere that we breathe is a perfect balance of oxygen to nitrogen, 79% to 20% with 1% of varying gases.

Amazing. Why not 50-50? Well, if it was 50-50, you wouldn't be doing this.

You'd be doing this, plop. And the first guy to light a match would blow it all up. But there's more. It just so happens that the water to land ratio on the earth is just marvelously balanced. There's 71% of the earth's surface that is ocean. Did you know that if the oceans were half the dimensions they are presently, we would only have one fourth of the rainfall we have on earth? Imagine what this place would look like. It wouldn't exist. If the oceans were just one eighth larger than they are, we would have four times the amount of rainfall that we have and the earth would be a flood zone. So yeah, I could say, it's a marvelous accident that just happened.

Or I think I could be a little wiser and say, no, no, no. There is design built into that. And therefore there must be a designer behind it all. I remember hearing this stuff in school. I heard it for years.

You hear it. We all just came from spontaneous generation of a single bacterium. I love what Sir Frederick Hoyle, the noted astronomer, once wrote. He said, The probability of spontaneous generation of a single bacterium is the same probability that a tornado sweeping through a junkyard could assemble a 747 from the contents therein.

It didn't just so happen. The heavens declare the glory of God. The sermon is continual and the sermon is universal. Everywhere on earth you see stars. Everywhere on earth there's moon.

Everywhere on earth there's a sunrise and sunset. And this is the reason the Apostle Paul said, What you see around you is enough to make you responsible to believe in God. It's enough to let people know God exists. In Romans 1 verse 20 Paul writes, From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky and all that God has made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, i.e. glory. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. So yeah, we can say, Say something!

God would say, I did, but evidently you're not listening. You notice in verse 5 and 6 he poetically describes the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening like a bridegroom and like an athlete running a race. When you walk outside and you feel the sun brush against your cheek or perhaps today beating harshly on your head, what you are experiencing is the radiation that the sun is giving off. And did you know that the radiation that the sun gives off is produced by the loss of part of its mass? Did you know that the sun loses 4,200,000 tons of its mass every second?

And it only recovers 1,200th of what it loses. You know what that means? It means the sun is running down. The light bulb is running down.

And if the light bulb is running down, it means it must have had a beginning. The heavens declare the glory of God. So the skies speak. God speaks in the skies. Second, you'll notice David writes that God speaks in the scripture.

In verse 7 he turns now looking downward at the scripture after upward at the skies. 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. So he looks upward, but he realizes, you know, the universe speaks, but it doesn't tell you the whole story. There are certain things the universe cannot tell you about God. Can't tell you about his love, can't tell you about his grace, can't tell you about his mercy, can't tell you about his judgment. But when we look at the scripture, now we get special revelation.

Now this is specific speech. And in the scripture, God will speak to you about life, about death, about what happens after you die, about love and relationships and the future. Now if you'll just indulge me a moment and you look down at your Bibles that you brought, you'll notice that there are essentially what I read six lines, six poetic stanzas.

And each line has three parts. First of all, there's the title for God's truth in scripture. Second, there is an attribute of that truth.

And third, a result. So notice the titles, law, testimony, statutes, commandments, fear of the Lord, judgments, all synonyms for scripture. The attributes, it's perfect, it's sure, it's right, it's pure, it's clean, it's true and righteous altogether. This is a high view of scripture, by the way. Sometimes people may wonder, why is it always a Bible study? And that's one thing that I do. I do expositional Bible study.

I don't run back and forth and dance and shout and come up with an idea that I had after a late night pizza or something that I think is cool or here's my opinion. I want to give you what the Bible says because I believe God speaks through his word very, very specifically to people's hearts. But I just want you to know something.

I think you already know it, but I want to tell you and explain why. I believe the Bible is indeed the very word of God. I believe it is without error in its original documents. And I believe we have the complete mind of God in the scripture. I realize in saying that that a whole lot of people do not hold to that. And it could be that some people here may not even hold to that. And that would be evidenced by the fact that you don't read it and never carry it. It's not a big deal. It's just something the preacher does on Sundays and we listen to it.

You might have a much lower view of inspiration than I do. Here's what I want you to know. I believe the Bible to be the word of God for one simple reason. I believe Jesus Christ.

I follow him and I believe what he said. Now let me just tell you, when I first got saved, I was drawn not to the Bible. I was drawn to Jesus as a person.

I was compelled by the person of Christ. I didn't know much about the Bible. I didn't get the Bible and when I tried to read it, it's like, what? But I kept reading and I was presented in the Gospels, in the Bible, the historical Jesus. And I started reading what he said about the scripture.

And it floored me. He said, his words, the scriptures cannot be broken. That's a high view. He said, I didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them, not one jot, not one tittle will pass from this law till it's all fulfilled. High view of scripture. Heaven and earth will pass away.

My words will never pass away. High view of scripture. So now, when I read the Bible, I believe that I'm seeing it and reading it and believing about it what Jesus saw and believed about it. That it is indeed the very voice of God and the word of God.

So let's go through that list quickly and give you some of the results of the special revelation of God in the scripture. What will it do for you? Number one, it will refresh your soul. Verse seven, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

The word convert means to turn back to something or you could translate it to restore or to refresh or to revive. The scripture will turn you back to God and in turning you back to your God, you will be refreshed. It will always realign you. It will do it the first time when you come to him at salvation. It will do it the second, third, fourth, fifth, umpteenth time in sanctification. The Bible is like an unending well that refreshes and realigns your life with God's purposes.

So here's this. You can go to a doctor for the needs of your body. You can go to college for the needs of your mind. You can only go to the scripture for the needs of your soul. It refreshes your soul.

Second thing it'll do is it'll challenge your mind. Verse seven, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. And when you hear the word simple minded, you might think of a naive person. That's one way to look at it. But the word also means open minded, open to instruction. Now I will grant you that you come across certain things in the Bible, it's hard for your mind to get around, hard for your mind to deal with.

They're just like so big and you look and you go, really? But hang in there, even if there is, listen, an apparent contradiction, not a contradiction. I believe there are none, but there are apparent contradictions.

You just keep applying yourself and you will see how things weave together and align themselves beautifully. I've discovered that people don't reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but people reject the Bible because it contradicts them. And they're just looking for something to say, see, contradiction.

That's because you don't want to deal with you. And the Bible does. It'll challenge your mind. Third thing it'll do is it'll delight the heart. In verse 8, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Remember the happy man last week in Psalm 1? His delight is in the law of the Lord.

In his law, he meditates day and night. Okay, but sometimes, am I right? You read the Bible and you read that verse and it's not so delightful. Ouch. You go ouch. God's smacking me upside the head on that verse.

Ouch. That's not delightful, but conform yourself to it. Don't turn away from it. Allow it to shape you and mold you and change you and the result of all that will be a delightful result. It will delight the heart. Jeremiah said, your words were found and I did eat them and they were to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.

Number 4, it'll clarify your vision. Also in verse 8, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. If you have a new living translation, it says giving insight to life. Folks, Scripture is like the sun coming up on a dark alleyway in the inner city.

It's dark, you don't want to go down it, then the sun pops up and you can see to navigate. The Bible throws light on life. It's amazing how much light the Bible throws on politics. It's amazing how much light the Bible throws on dating and marriage and finances and all of life. It gives insight into life.

Number 5, it'll stabilize your future. Look at verse 9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

Now we have something a little bit different. You notice the phrase the fear of the Lord. Here it's a synonym for the Bible, for Scripture, for God's written truth.

It's odd because you find that nowhere else. And the reason I believe he's using that phrase is because he is describing the effect that it has on you. The effect of exposure to God's truth is it produces within you, or it should, if it's doing its job and you're open minded, it'll produce a respect, a holy, awesome respect for God.

That's the fear of the Lord. And because God's truth is clean, truth, that's his word, that is pure, without deficiency, without error, it will endure forever. Listen, the truth that got you through yesterday is the same truth that will be available tomorrow.

It worked then, it's working now, it will be there in the future. And finally, it will benefit your whole life. Verse 9, the end of it, You know, one of the things I've discovered as I read the Bible is that it warns me about the path I might be wanting to go down. It tells me the truth that the world hides from me.

The world didn't tell you the whole truth about making that choice you're going to make. It just says, oh, no, no, no, it's all good. Whatever feels good. The Bible will go, I want to warn you about that.

Not a good idea necessarily. By them, your servant is warned, and in keeping them, there is great reward. John Bunyan used to say, he wrote Pilgrim's Progress, this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. Psalm 119, the psalmist said, Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.

It will benefit your whole life. So God speaks in the skies, God speaks in the scriptures, and now he turns inward to his own soul. Even there, God speaks. We finish it off, verse 12. Who can understand his errors? His is a small h, not referring to God. It's referring to David. The antecedent is in verse 11. Your servant is warned.

That's him. Who can understand David's errors? Cleanse me, writes David, from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins or deliberate 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.

Okay, now get this. He looks up in the sky, he goes, wow! Looks down at the scripture, amazing! Now he looks inside of himself, yuck!

Am I right? Do you notice the word that he uses here? It speaks about sin and error and faults. The first thing David realizes is his need for forgiveness.

From sin, from error, and from fault. That's what looking up at the skies will do. Because you realize that's a glorious God, but I, on the other hand, am an inglorious being.

Right? David, here's the proof. David, Psalm 8. When I consider the heavens the work of your fingers, the sun and the moon which you have ordained, what is man?

That you are mindful of him. The revelation of the glory of God means I see myself as I really am. So as I realize the glory of God in the skies, and I realize the greatness of God in the scriptures, I now see a need for the grace of God in my soul. God is speaking inwardly to me.

This is the reason. We should give God unfettered access to our conscience. Unfettered access to our conscience. What the skies proclaim and what the scriptures pronounce is what the soul should process, should affect us. So basically, man is crying out, say something, David's going, already has.

He's been speaking a long time, still speaking today. He speaks in the skies, he speaks in the scripture, and he even speaks to your own soul. And now a closing prayer. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. The revelation of God in the skies and the revelation of God in the scripture brings him to the place where he says, now I want to please you, God. I realize who I am, I need your grace, and now I want to please you in my words and in my thoughts. I love the honesty of this psalm. So we might say, God never speaks to me. God might say, he never listens to me.

God is speaking. Here's what it's like, it's a very simple illustration. Okay, you're driving down the street in your car, right? Can you picture it? You got a radio? Okay, you turn on the radio to a local radio station, right? You hear it, but you drive out of town, and the more you drive out of town, further away from the radio tower, what happens? This happens, right? Pardon me for the noise, but you're driving down, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then pretty soon, then pretty soon it's just white noise.

Right, did that happen? If you want to finish the song, what do you got to do? You got to turn around, that's a Bible term, repent. You got to turn the car around and drive toward the signal. And you drive toward the signal, and it gets strong again.

It's the same concept here. The further you drift from God, the weaker the sound. You've heard the old saying, if you feel far from God, guess who moved? You've been driving the other direction, so you turn around and you drive back to the signal.

Or in James' words, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. One Sunday morning, a preacher was preaching like, I am here, and he noticed during the message that in the very back row there were two girls talking and laughing. So he interrupted his own sermon. And he said, there's two people in this room that haven't heard a word I'm saying.

They immediately stopped. But they were in the back row, as I mentioned, everybody else in the church did not see that, didn't know what was going on. They just heard the preacher go, there's a couple people in this room that have no idea haven't heard a word I'm saying. So after the sermon, he's shaking hands in the foyer, and several members came up to him and apologized for falling asleep during the message.

I put to sleep some of the best, folks. What I say is not important. What God is telling you is all important.

It's all important. It is always all important when God is speaking. What is God saying to me? I look up at the skies, wow, awesome, glorious. I look down at the scriptures, amazing, detailed, great. I look in my soul, I see the need for His grace. And so I turn the car around and I move toward the signal.

And it could be that today, for some of you, you go, man, I've been tracking with God, I'm walking with God, I hear the signal, it's so bright, it's so clear, life is good. But some of you, others, turn around. Turn around.

Drive right back toward Him. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. That wraps up Skip Heitzig's message from his series Playlist. Now, here's Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way to connect you and many others around the world with God's truths.

True fulfillment and happiness in life comes from just one thing, and that is pursuing God Himself. I'd like to ask you to join us in getting that life-changing message to a world that desperately needs to hear it. And you can help make that possible by giving today to keep this program going strong. Here's how you can do that now. To give today, simply call 800-922-1888.

That number again is 800-922-1888. Or give online at connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know there's a great biblical resource available right at your fingertips through your mobile device? Skip has several Bible reading plans available in the YouVersion Bible app. You can dive deeper into several books of the Bible to gain new insights. Or search Skip Heitzig in the YouVersion Bible app. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heitzig talks about the spiritual reality of depression to help you face life's difficulties and find your joy in God's light. Make a Connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.