Psalm 19,

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,
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.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving 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 rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

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

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.

I’m calling this message, “Foundations for the Future of Cities Church.” There are more than two foundational pillars of this church. But I’m going to focus on two because Psalm 19 focuses on two. The first foundation is the glory of God. The second foundation is the word of God. And these two foundations answer the questions, “What is ultimate reality?”—the glory of God, and “What is ultimate truth?”—the word of God. And what we will see is that the glory of God and the word of God find a perfect, personal union in the Son of God Jesus Christ, our Rock and our Redeemer: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). 

If you’re a child listening to me right now, you might be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of big words. I’m not sure this sermon is going to be for me.” Listen carefully as I point something out. Every child I’m aware of who has been taught along the way that there is a great God who made everything, eventually asks, “Daddy, who made God?” “Where did God come from?” Which is the same as asking, “What is ultimate reality?” This sermon is about the questions of children. The great questions are children’s questions. When a child is taught very early, “You must always tell the truth. You should never lie. Don’t ever say something is true when it’s not true.” Sooner or later a child is going to ask, “Daddy, who decides what’s true?” And that’s the same as asking, “What is ultimate truth?”

By reality I mean what is. And by ultimate reality I mean what has always been, and which defines all of reality, namely the glory of God. God never had a beginning. He has always been there. And he has always been glorious. Ultimate reality is glorious, because God is glorious – infinitely great, infinitely beautiful, infinitely valuable. Everything else, including the entire universe, and 8 billion human beings, is secondary, dependent, derivative. Ultimate reality is the glory of God.

By truth I mean reliable communication of what is, and what ought to be. And what ought to be is defined by what is, which is why God said, “You shall be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Holy is what I ought to be. Why? Because ultimate reality is holy. And what ought to be is determined by what ultimately is. “You shall be holy because I am holy.”

I was led to choose Psalm 19 as the focus of this message largely because I am so burdened by the prevalence today of a kind of Christian who does not like to think in terms of ultimate reality and ultimate truth. They are allergic to those categories. They are kept at a distance and in their place are malleable, fuzzy ideas of tolerance, acceptance, love, justice, compassion, respect, openness. But as soon as you bring ultimate truth or ultimate reality to bear on any of those ideas so as to give them some measure of definition and clarity there is resistance. Truth and reality are felt to be a kind of straight jacket, limitation, constriction, restraint. Even though Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free . . . . So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36). 

So the burden that I bring this morning is to say, Cities Church, if the ultimate reality of the glory of God and the ultimate truth of the word of God cease to be the cherished pillars of this church, you will cease to be a true church. And if the kind of Christian that is allergic to ultimate truth and ultimate reality and the clarity and the definition and the doctrine that flows from them gravitate into the eldership of this church, that will be the beginning of the end. I believe you have a body of elders now that get this just right. Follow them as they follow Christ. Exult joyfully in the ultimate reality of the glory of God. Exult joyfully in the ultimate truth of the word of God. And exalt personally and gladly in the perfect union of the glory of God and the word of God in the son of God our rock and our redeemer Jesus Christ. You will see in just a moment why I stress the words, “joyfully,” and “gladly.”

Now turn with me to Psalm 19. And if you think that was a long introduction, in fact it was exposition of this chapter. Everything I have just said flowed from my meditations on this chapter and I believe is explicit or implicit in Psalm 19. We have not been spinning our wheels.

Verses 1-6 is about the ultimate reality of the glory of God. Verses 7-11 is about the ultimate truth of the word of God. And verses 12-14 is David’s response climaxing in the reference to the Lord as he is Rock and his Redeemer.

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, 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. (Psalm 19:1–6) 

What’s the point of those six verses? There is not a single word there about you or me or any human being. Those verses are entirely about God and how his glory is revealed. What is David doing? He is answering the question: what is ultimate reality? What is behind the universe? What’s the point of the stars and the moon and the sun and everything we see? And his answer is: The point of the universe is to declare that God is glorious. And to proclaim that a glorious God built this with his hands. 

Sometimes you will hear a skeptic say, “If Christianity is true, why are there billions of light years of space and as far as we know trillions of uninhabitable stars many of which are millions of times bigger than the sun, while earth and its history is a tiny blue dot in the midst of this wild, vast universe of unimaginable power?” The message of the universe is not first about us. It’s about God. In fact, since David said he built this with his hands, and psalm eight says he did it with his fingers, we may conclude it was easy, and is very much like a peanut that he carries in his pocket. The point of the universe is that God is glorious.

Verses 1-2 speak of the heavens declaring and proclaiming and pouring out speech, all of which sounds as if we are supposed to hear something. But verse 3 clarifies: “There is no speech, nor are their words.” This is a wordless declaration, a speechless proclamation. Then that last phrase in verse 3 (“whose voice is not heard”) I think means something like this: The heavens have a voice, but it is not a heard voice. It’s a seen voice. Because he goes right on to say in verse 4 their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. A voice without speech, words without words. And there is no limit to this voice that we hear with our eyes—this declaration, this proclamation that we hear by seeing the work of God’s hands. You remember the way Paul picked this up in Romans 1:20, “God’s invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived . . . in the things that have been made” (Rom 1:20).

Then, perhaps most amazing of all, from the end of verse 4 through verse 5 David zeros in on the sun. And what he says about the way the sun proclaims the glory of God is mind-boggling.

“In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.”

When you look at the declaration of the glory of God in the rising of the sun to its setting, what you are to see is a glory — a divine glory — that is like a bridegroom coming out of his tent and walking toward his wedding. What you are to see is a glory — a divine glory — that is like a strong runner who loves to run and therefore runs with joy. Picture Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire, head back, arms flailing, smile on his face, feeling a joyful pleasure of God on his life.

What’s the point? I mean stop and think, this is amazing. This is mind-boggling. What else can the message be but that when you rightly see the glory of God it is an ecstatically happy glory. Happiness in God who thought this up, to make it this way. And happiness in us if we rightly see and savor the revelation of God’s glory. I remember the night of December 20, 1968, lying alone on my bed in the motel room in Barnesville, Georgia, the night before I was to marry Noël, and thinking tomorrow morning is the day I have wanted for two and a half years. And I was so happy. Still am.

If you see the glory of God as it really is, this will be part your experience—the enjoyment of the glorious overflow of God’s joy. And David is not ignorant, nor was Jesus, of the horrible suffering of this world. Jesus said that God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good. David wrote before antibiotics, before anesthesia, before any knowledge of infection, before motors, or electricity, or refrigeration, or indoor plumbing, or central heating, or air conditioning, or 911. It was a hard and brutal world. And in spite of everything, when he looked up at the rising of the sun he saw a bridegroom on his way to his wedding, and a man running with joy. That’s why I said, “Cities Church, exult joyfully in the ultimate reality of the glory of God.”

Now we turn to verses 7-11 which focus on the ultimate truth of God’s word. How are verses 7-11 with their focus on the ultimate truth of God’s word, connected to verses 1-6 with their focus on the ultimate reality of the glory of God? There is more than one right answer to that question. One answer is that verses 7-11 are written to answer the question: “What if I look at the heavens and I don’t experience the glory of God and the gladness of a bridegroom or a happy runner? Is there something wrong with my eyes? Is there something inadequate about the heavens?” And I think David’s answer to those two questions is yes. God’s revelation of himself in nature is inadequate for all that God wants us to know and experience of his glory. And yes, there is something wrong with our eyes, and looking at nature cannot fix it, but the written word of God can. 

As I read these verses look for six ways the written word of God is named, nine ways the word of God is described, and seven ways the word of God affects the reader.

The law (instruction) of the Lord is perfect, reviving 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 [viewed as the focus and aim of the word] is clean, enduring forever; 

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; 

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 

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

He names God’s word as law (instruction), testimony (God’s witness), precepts, commandments, fear, and rules. He takes the one diamond, the word of God, Scripture, and turns it so six of it’s facets show. 

Then he describes it. God’s word is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, righteous, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey. In other words: It is complete, it contains all you need as a reader or a listener in order to know God as he ought to be known. It is flawless and will never mislead you. It is precious beyond estimation, because in its completeness and flawlessness—more valuable than the most valuable thing on earth, and sweeter than the sweetest thing on earth. 

And then he gives the amazing effects of this word on us. It revives (v. 7a). It gives life. You, O Lord, have the words of life. It makes the simple wise (v. 7b), keeps you from being a fool. It creates joy in the heart (v. 8a) for example, when it goes beyond sunshine, and shows the final meaning of the bridegroom and the runner. So the ultimate reality of God’s glory and the ultimate truth of God’s word are both joyful. They both are designed by God to make us glad forever. It enlightens the eyes (v. 8b)—which many of us need when we look at God’s glory in nature, because we don’t see the bridegroom exulting or the runner rejoicing. It endures forever (v.9a) and will never let you down. It keeps back from sin (v. 11a) and leads to final great reward (v. 11b).

In other words, God’s communication in his Word is fuller and more effective than God’s communication in nature. Both are good and do what they were appointed to do. But the Word is better. 

I called the glory of God in verses 1-6 ultimate reality because the point of those verses was that the glory of God is why the universe exists. The glorious God was there before anything else. Everything else exists because of God to show the glory of God, and therefore the glory of God is ultimate. There is nothing before or under or over the glory of God. It is ultimate reality.

And the reason I call the word of God ultimate truth in verses 7-11 is because of the sixfold repetition: law of the Lord, testimony of the Lord, precepts of the Lord, commandment of the Lord, fear of the Lord, rules of the Lord. Nothing is repeated more often than this. The word, the Scriptures are from God and about God and for God. And God is ultimate. He speaks the truth (v. 9), and since he is God the truth he speaks is ultimate truth.

Cities Church, these are two absolutely essential foundations for your future. The glory of God as ultimate reality and the word of God as ultimate truth. Without these you will not be a true church. 

But there is a paradox here. When a church embraces the glory of God and the word of God as a treasure better than gold and the sweetness better than honey two things happen: joy overflows like a bridegroom coming out of his tent, and humble brokenheartedness bounds. The more clearly you see the beauty of God’s holiness, his glory, and more deeply you are pierced by the living word of God, the happier you will be because of him, and the sadder you will be because of yourself. The more sweetly you embrace the glory of God, the more keenly you are aware of impurities in yourself. Other words at the end of verses 1-11, we need a Redeemer.

Let’s read verses 12-14,

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 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. 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 last word of the Psalm, in Hebrew and English, is “Redeemer.” Justification by faith was a reality in the Old Testament. The apostle Paul based his teaching on Abraham. That’s what David means when he says in verse 12, “Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” People who are not innocent in the presence of God’s glory need to be declared innocent. You do. I do. 

But for God to be just and yet declare guilty people to be innocent there needs to be a Redeemer. A very special kind of Redeemer. So God’s word teaches us in Romans 3 that God put Jesus Christ forward as a Redeemer because God had passed over former sins like David’s, and so that he could pass over ours and declare us innocent and keep us back from the sin that leads to death.

The Old Testament sacrifices, the Old Testament priests, could not do it. The glory of God and the word of God need to be more then the voice of nature and the voice of scripture. They needed to become a redeemer—a perfect personal union of the glory of God and the word of God. And that’s who Jesus Christ is. John 1:14,

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”

So there is a third foundational pillar for Cities Church. The first is that ultimate reality is the glory of God. The second is that ultimate truth is the word of God. And the third is that ultimate reality and ultimate truth came to us in Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Therefore, Cities Church, on your tenth anniversary, declare this: We will be built on and we will rejoice in the foundations of the glory of God and the word of God and the son of God as a treasure “more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”