rock and redeemer (psalm 19:14)

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Words and the heart behind them are both important. Sometimes we might just be focused on the right words - thinking that because we said the right thing, or didn't say something bad, then we're ok, even though the motives behind the scenes were wrong. Or maybe we go the other way and think the words we say didn't really matter because I didn't really mean them! Both are important. The words flow from the heart. They are both connected.

How do we change in this area? By looking at God. He is described as our rock. He is the only true, solid, stable foundation that we can rely on. everything else we lean our weight on can (and usually will) fail. It's common to hear people saying "they were my rock" but what happens when that person fails to give you what you need? I heard someone say that, for her and another person, "they were each other's rocks". That is nonsensical. How can you rest on someone who is needing you to support them? we need to recognise God as the Rock.

He's not just an unmoving foundation. We've chosen to leave the rock and stand on other things and become enslaved to sin, unable to help ourselves, unable to return to the rock. But God is also the redeemer. He brings us out of slavery. He acts to bring us back to Him. The fault was all ours, we sold ourselves into slavery, but he paid the price of his life to free us. That's the good news of the gospel!

breaking sin's dominion (psalm 19:13)

psalm 19:13

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

As well as our blind spots (v12) we also need help with the sins that we know are wrong and do them anyway. We are justified - freed from the power of sin and we will eventually be glorfied - freed from the presence of sin, but at the moment we are being sanctified - being freed from the power of sin. that is not done in our strength and so we should be regularly praying God for the areas that we know we are tempted in, the areas we know we are struggling. We should not only pray for forgiveness but also for the power of the Holy Spirit to beat sin.

blind spots (psalm 19:12)

Psalm 19:12

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults

We tend to easily notice the errors of those around us while remaining ignorant of our own. By definition, we can't see our blind spots. That is why we need God's word to warn us, why we need the holy spirit to convict us and why we need to be in community with others who will lovingly challenge us when necessary. What should we do when we are made aware of these things? Not try to justify them. Not try to ignore them. Not try to minimise them by comparing ourselves with someone else (that would be declaring ourselves innocent). Not think that we can change in our own strength. We should run to God, who has declared us innocent based on Jesus' work on the cross.

warnings with great reward (psalm 19:11)

Psalm 19:11

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

God's law acts as a warning to us. Showing us our sin and warning of the consequences. This points us to Jesus, who fulfiled the law and provides a way for us to be rescued and restored despite the fact that we have violated God's law. But, as well as that, this psalm reminds us that there is great reward in following God's law. His commands are not there to give us a poorer quality of life but to give us the best quality to life possible. His commands are for our good.

God's word

In the Bible we find God's testimony about himself, His self-revelation to us, His laws and commands about the way life should work. In Psalm 19 this is described as:

• perfect - complete, providing everything that we need, no fault in it, no deficiency
• sure - not uncertain
• right - not only the opposite of wrong, but the correct way, the correct path
• pure - no bias, no blemish
• clean - clear, can be understood
• true - not a guess at truth like the world offers

do we believe all this. Are we convinced that the bible is perfect?

The effects of god's word on us are:

• it revives the soul - resurrects a dead soul set on destruction!
• makes wise the simple - shows us how life works
• rejoices the heart - gives us joy (in the gospel) despite our circumstances
• enlightens the eyes - letting us see things as they really are
• warns - shows us our sin

that is why it is better than the best thing you can imagine

better than... (psalm 19:10)

psalm 19:10

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

God's word, his revelation to us, is better than gold, sweeter than honey. What God says is better than the best thing you can imagine. The Bible isn't a weighty burden on us, it is good for us. It is the treasure in the field that was worth the man selling everything else he had. It is the pearl that was worth selling every other pearl. It is for His glory, but His glory is also our greatest good!

words that last (psalm 19:9)

psalm 19:9

the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

the fear, awe, reverence of God is something else that we learn from the Bible and it endures forever. People who we might be in awe of, say things that seem wise but those people die and their words are forgotten. God's word endures forever. His rules are true, in contrast to the deceptive "rules" or lack of them (which is a rule in the first place) that are given to us in society. Only God is righteous.