Psalm 19: Peace for My Soul

I'll say good morning. There's a couple conversations that are going on and we'll give them a chance. Then I want to say a couple of things. I don't think Renee mentioned this, but in the video it said the chili pie contest is this Friday. That is correct. So start cooking. Now, um Nate did. Yes. However, Nate said it was at our house. (00:23) That was the intent. But if you saw our house right now, no, that's not allowed. So, um, it's going to be here at the church on Friday night, 6 o'clock. Um, we'll have some, uh, popups out there. Food will be in here. We're going to have a great time together. And it will be our usual chili contest and pie contest. (00:45) So, please plan on coming, but be here. So, I just wanted to make sure you went to the right place because if you go to our house, we won't let you in. So, um, uh, yeah. So, that's that's what's going on there. Another uh important announcement, but she's up in the in the booth up upstairs. But, uh Marissa is getting married today. (01:09) So, I wanted to and Mar where Mario's here. Oh, right there. Stand up, Mario. You're getting married, too, if you didn't know that. So, [laughter] yeah. [applause] So, yeah. Congratulations to both of you. I think that's really exciting. And uh it's going to be just a small personal ceremony uh right here in this room at 3:00. (01:34) I don't know if people happen to show up. Those things happen. So um [laughter] no. Okay. Am I in trouble now, Marissa? So >> yes, I am. Okay. [laughter] Uh all right. We are going to continue our study and look into the wisdom found in the Psalms. And today we're going to be in Psalm 19. If you were not with us last week, um I gave just a brief introduction to uh what we're going to look at in Psalm 19. (02:07) And so I want to just do a quick review of that. We'll jump in and dig out the wisdom that is being presented to us from uh David and his uh walk with God. And we learn a great deal in just a few verses in this psalm. I said last week and I still feel the same way. Psalm 19 is rich. It is it is powerful. (02:31) It's lifechanging if we understand what's being said. Now, the three I gave three questions last week that I wanted you to consider as kind of a filter to approaching Psalm 19. If you weren't with us, I'm going to give you those three questions now. You we're going to cover uh today and next Sunday in Psalm 19. (02:48) So, maybe jot them down or if you need to, you can come ask me afterwards. But the first question is this. Do you ever consider the state of your soul? Um, with that, I'm going to talk about it a little bit more in just a minute. But just do you consider the state of your soul? We are spiritual beings. We are created as a soul to relate to God who is spiritual. (03:11) In that connection, do you ever consider the state of your soul? Are you healthy? Talked about last week. Many of us uh live spiritually dehydrated and so we're looking at this idea how do we hydrate our souls in connection with God and uh one of the things that is wisdom in connection to that is to do self evaluation on a regular basis. (03:35) Second question we're asking is how much in life can you really control? Now you're going to what does that have to do with the first question? They go together. I'm going to talk about that this morning. How much of life can you actually control? Um there's actually been a number of studies on that and a lot of different theories have been placed out there to how much we as human beings can actually control. (03:57) Um and that's not really the intent of trying to determine you know from a scientific perspective what we control and don't control. What I'm wanting to get at and what I will talk about today is that this the pursuit of control in our physical world has a direct spiritual impact on our lives. And so I want you to be thinking about that. (04:19) How much of your life do you spend trying to control as many things in around you and then if we're honest many things which you actually don't control. You may think you've got them under control and suddenly something changes. The economy changes your employment changes. Your um your relationships change. Those things change that we even think we have control over. (04:39) We'll talk about that and the connection there. And then third, and and I've kind of already addressed this, but the third question is, how is the pursuit of control affecting your soul? And that's where we want to get uh at the heart of Psalm 19. David is doing an inventory. And in that process, he is weighing the uh he's trying to bring his mind and his spiritual uh direct or his physical direction back in line with what God intends spiritually for him. (05:09) And so I want to see if we can't take that walk with David this morning. So let's let's jump right into Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak and night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or a word. Their voice is never heard. (05:34) Yet their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world. Okay, first reading of that, we see those words and we go, okay, he's telling us that I look out and there are uh evidences of God in creation. That's the simplified response to what we read right there. There's evidence of God in creation. (05:57) But David wants to take it further and he is saying that the evidence of God that is found in creation from the heavens to all of the creations they all cry out for a purpose and that is to bring glory back to God. They reflect who he is and he is reminding himself and you and I as the reader we're in the midst of that creation. (06:16) We can't get away from it. We are surrounded by that which screams out, calls out, sings out not only the existence of God, but our soul's desire to be with God. Okay, I I want to hold that thought. I want to develop it now and go back to kind of where we asked the questions a minute ago. We spend much of our lives chasing after things in this physical world without giving consideration to the spiritual impact that it has on our lives. (06:52) I'll say on our souls. You and I, I mentioned a minute ago, we are created as spiritual beings. We are a soul that was designed and intended by God. God gave us existence. And in our physical body, he breathed his spirit, his life into us. We exist because of God. He put us into a creation that was intended to support us, not just physically, but spiritually. (07:18) And in fact, it was to they were to work harmoniously together in our relationship with God. Read the Bible if you don't believe me. Go back to Genesis chapter 1, 2, and 3, and you will see that God's creation was bringing heaven and earth together. That garden was where God would dwell with humanity. Don't overlook it and don't simplify it. (07:42) That was the place of God's intent. Human physical beings in a physical world would dwell with God and his presence spiritually so that the physical would express and lead to and bring health to the spiritual. They work together. What happened in creation? You and I rebelled. We broke away from the spiritual and broke the physical away from the spiritual and its intended connection. (08:13) And I want you to know, I think I may have mentioned this last week. [clears throat] And if you've been uh reading through the Bible with the with the uh Bible project app that we're using this year for our reading, many times in there they will speak to the fact that the um from the garden and all the way through there is a garden motif in scripture. (08:35) Why is that motif there? Because God intended for the garden, the physical garden to be an expression of spiritual life and a connection with him. You go from the garden which we rejected and and were cast out of by sin to the tabernacle where God comes to dwell. Go back and do a study on it. The tabernacle is a small garden of Eden. (09:00) Look at what's placed in the tabernacle. It is an expression of the garden. It is a physical place where God is providing everything we need for uh our existence and he's in the center of it and every need that is met is an expression of praise and a health to our soul. It is what is intended to be. And then you move even to uh so much of the uh around Jesus the things that are happening especially as he goes to the cross. (09:32) It's a picture of the garden and our rebellion at the tree and he hangs on a tree. God is wanting to restore the physical so that we are drawn back where those two that are separated now come together. And in that we have God's dwelling with us so that we are spiritually alive. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the one that is the gate. (09:57) He is the door. He is the one through which we find life and that life is intended to be lived in the physical world with God. And so when we live our lives solely focused on the physical, we often neglect the spiritual and we are dying inside. We're dehydrating ourselves. Why did Jesus say that he came? To bring the kingdom of God. (10:30) We often think of heaven is up there somewhere separated. Really, the picture of heaven is a realm, a spiritual realm that is right here with our physical realm. But there's a divide between the two. What did Jesus do when he died on the cross? He tore that divide. And he says, "Through me, you can have a relationship with God. (10:49) Faith in me will bring you back in." And that is where life is found. He said he is the life that is needed for you and I. Spiritual life. He is the light of the world. We're in darkness separated. Heaven is light. He tore the curtain and the light came in. We can have it and live by it and come spiritually alive. But we have got to be aware and live mindful of our soul's existence. (11:15) If we we ex uh what do I say? If we excuse the existence of our soul, if we uh neglect the existence of our soul, if we just plain forget about it, doesn't mean it's gone. It means I suffer. And I can't always figure out why. I can't figure out that that sense of depression that just sits in and on me. I can't figure out why it is that that often uh for things that I don't even know why. I feel anxious. (11:46) I feel overwhelmed. I feel yeah and and I'm not putting down and trying to say well the whole problem mental problem you may suffer is just all spiritual but I'm saying that there's a much bigger connection than most of us know and if we won't address the spiritual we're never going to be whole and God wants us made whole in his image and so he is calling our soul back to him. (12:15) He has been since we were pushed out of the garden. And you know the loudest voice is what David is talking about right here in these verses. The heavens declare the glory of God. Do you ever just set sit outside and look up? This last week was one of the uh more spectacular heaven displays that have happened in quite some time. Did you catch any of it? There was a meteor shower on Wednesday. (12:43) There was an eclipse that took place. There were six planets visible with the naked eye. I mean, this was it was awesome. It was exploding around us. What were they saying to you? Or did you sleep through it? You see, the heavens declare the glory of God. Why do you need to know that? Why do you need to be able to respond to that? Because your soul wants it. (13:08) Your soul hears the cry. But we have become deaf because we're so physically oriented. Slow down, take a breath, and let your soul come alive. We I asked the question, how many things can you control in your life? It has been shown, and I could show you real quick. I don't need science to prove this one. (13:35) We spend almost all of our time worrying about physical things. Is the room cool enough or is it too hot? Is is the traffic going to be heavy? It's going to be like, can I find a place to park? Is, you know, we we're just constantly doing these things that we're worried about the physical. Jesus literally meant it. And when he said, "Why do you worry about this stuff? Why could he say that to us?" Just because Jesus wanted to take a new angle on approach to living, no, he wasn't a self-help guru. (14:08) He was God himself saying, "What are you worrying about?" Think about this. If you're having a conversation with God and you're saying, "Hey, God, I've got 10 minutes to give you right now." Okay? I got 10 because I've got to write this. I've got to pay this. I've got to go here. I've got to buy this. (14:28) I need and and then God, there's some real good reels on my phone. I gota Kind of starts to look a little foolish, doesn't it? When God's sitting there go, "Well, tell me what you need. I created you. I promised to provide for you. Why aren't you asking me? Why aren't you depending on me for this? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. (14:56) " Now, I I state that. Repeat what Jesus said. We look at this principle that God wants to provide. And I will guarantee you, you're sitting there going, "Yeah, but" and we can think of the areas where, "Yeah, but I'm not ready for that." Or, "I don't know if he'd give me what I want. I, you know, we come up with these excuses, but we don't understand is the excuses are really our means of keeping our souls separated from the source of life. (15:28) It hurts. the loneliness, the the desperation. We can feel it always creeping in and we think it's because we haven't gotten the latest iPhone or with the latest whatever it is. I don't, you know, I don't drive a Tesla that I I'm I'm missing out. No, your soul wants God. It wants to commune with its creator. And so David is drawing the reader to this truth and is saying look around you. (16:05) Look up in the sky the skies and the stars that you see don't even touch the stars that you can't. The planets in his day he didn't know the name of every planet at least to the degree that we do and the way we see it. But they saw the changes and they watched it and they knew that it pointed to of God. Listen to those words again. (16:26) The heavens declare the glory of God. The they the skies display his craftsmanship. Have you looked at his craftsmanship today? He's really good. It's beautiful. Day after day, they continue to speak. Night after night, they make him known. They speak without a sound or word. Their voice is never heard. You see, you don't have to have a voice to be able to praise God. (16:57) You need to seek God as you are naturally made. Yet, their message has gone throughout the earth and their words to all the world. For some reason this morning, I was thinking about this the message and I was thinking about how so many things in in life I can allow to build stress. Maybe it's maybe it's because Renee and I are in the midst of some things that can be a little stressful um in trying to remodel our house and the timing is not going the way we thought it was going to go and it just seems to there is a time vortex in our house. Let's (17:34) just put it that way. Um but the reality is as I was thinking about we often if I come back and face it the stresses are not spiritual they're physical. Now, I can have spiritual concerns and angst and things I need to bring to God. But so often I don't even get to that point because I let the physical overwhelm the spiritual. (17:58) Um, if you ask my family, tell me about Pedo Lake. My family will tell you not about the beauty of the lake. Some of you may know. Anybody know where Pedo Lake is? Do you know what I'm talking about? Doesn't it? You don't have to, but let me tell you. It's between B and Jasper up in uh BC and it's off of the Glacier Highway going up there. Beautiful drive. (18:23) There's a little turnoff. You can go to a place called Pedal Lake and it has a high lookout over this beautiful, you know, that blue color that that the glacier waters have. It's just gorgeous up there and and you can you're quite a ways above it, but it's just a gorge gorgeous view. (18:40) That's not always what my family will first remember when we cuz we've been there. Some of you I've told this before. We went and we see the sign for Pedal Lake and we're like, "Okay." And then it says up there as we're going up this little road, it says RV parking and I'm towing a trailer. And so I get up and I make this turn into the parking lot to the point where I have no option but to go straight ahead because the way things are. (19:05) The problem is the parking lot is full. It's beyond full and it's a very very tight circular uh uh park little small parking lot with all these cars already in there and then people parked where they shouldn't be parked and I'm now in and can't get back out. So, guess what I remember about PO Lake? Little bit stressful, but I did do a lot of praying. (19:32) So, um but we went we got through there. God was good. There were times like a couple inches on either side as we maneuvered our way through and it ends up the RV parking was up and around the other way, but the sign didn't indicate that. So anyway, I learned a lesson and that's one of the things when you pull an RV, you learn soon to think ahead. (19:53) Thought I had got caught. Um, but here's my point in all of that. We often approach life kind of like a pedo lake situation. We say we want the spiritual experience of seeing God's in beauty of his creation, but the physical surroundings so distract me. That's all I can see. Things are parked in the wrong spot. I can't get through there. (20:24) Are we going to be able to get out of there? Have to maneuver. I now I will tell you we finally got a spot to park and we went up and saw the lake. So that was great, but I will tell you that until we got through there, it was not very much fun. I was a little stressed. My family's out there watching each corner and guiding me and we're we were we had totally said we didn't even matter where we were at that point. (20:49) We just had to figure out a way to get through the parking lot because here I am jamming everything up. You see, the same thing happens in our lives. God wants to show us something spiritual, wants to talk to our souls, wants to be communing with us. And that's all the time. And yet, I can't even look up to see his display of his majesty in the sky or to be aware of the fact that he wants to commune and talk with me or lead me, guide me, give me comfort, slow me down, tell me to be silent. I'm so physically wrapped up. (21:22) So David starts us off, open your eyes and look up. William BBE, some of you may know who he was. He was a friend of uh Theodore Roosevelt's and he was a naturalist and he used to tell the story that at uh they would be together and at a place called Sagamore Hill after an evening of talk the two would go out on the lawn and search the skies for a certain spot uh of spot of stars like I can't even read this star like light near the lower left corner of the great square of Pegasus. (21:56) So they're looking at a specific spot in the sky. This is what their routine was together as friends. And they would look up there and they would find this spot of light up in the sky. And then Roosevelt would recite that is the spiral galaxy of of uh in Andromeda. Man, I cannot speak this morning. It is as large as our Milky Milky Way. (22:20) It is one of a 100 million galaxies. It consists of 100 billion sons, each larger than our son. Then Roosevelt would grin and say, "Now I think we are small enough. Let's go to bed." You see, I think there is a reality that you and I need to get small again. We need to look up, be humbled, and allow our souls to breathe in again. (22:47) Because it's in our bigness that we squash our soul. We're so interested in ourselves in a physical world. And what David is doing is saying, "Look up. It all is declaring the glory of God. It's all for you, but it's not all about you. It is all to bring glory to me. I love you. I made it for you. It's designed to pull you back to me. (23:16) Why are you ignoring it?" That's where David starts us. But he doesn't leave us there. Verse four, uh, last part of four and then going on to six, he says, "God has made a home in the heavens for the sun." I want you to see what he did here. It is all up here. He now is making, he's bringing it down closer. (23:36) We could get lost out there in the universe, couldn't we? But he doesn't want us to get lost. He brings us back to our to our universe, our son. And he's saying this, God has made a home in the heavens for the son. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. (23:58) Nothing can hide from its heat. Okay, he brought it down to our world. You can't look up and see all that. How about the sun? Did you see the sun today? Did you notice it? Do you feel its warmth? You did. But how many of you noticed it? And he's trying to bring it down for the reader and for his soul itself. (24:18) Are you aware that God's creation is pointing you back to him? Are you doing it? He's done it in a very personal way. He makes the sun to rise. He has its course set for the day. He's the one that brings beauty at sunset. God is doing that. You can exist in this world he created for you, for you to know him. (24:43) I love the imagery that David gives in that psalm. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding in uh ancient Israel and their whole um wedding and marriage ceremony was quite different than ours in a lot of ways. It lasted for a whole long period of time. But when that day finally came when the ceremony was going to take place, the the bridegroom would wear his very best clothes and often buy very expensive clothes for that time. (25:10) So the radiance would be they would be it was he was making a declaration about the value of what he was entering into. I'm entering into something that deserves my very best. And then he talks about the the bridegroom uh uh what does he say? A radiant bridegroom after his wedding and he bursts forth. (25:32) It's it's the idea there is that um there's been over a year of anticipation for the bridegroom and he has been waiting and he's been preparing and oftentimes during that year he's been he's been building a place where he and his bride will dwell they he's setting aside their own home. Now he's gone to the effort he's prepared him richest of clothes so that he looks like uh what he's doing is of value. He wants to express it. (26:00) And in the midst of that, having gone through the ceremony, he now burst forth, this is my new life. I am alive with the one that brings me joy, the one that brings me that just brings ex uh meaning to my existence. I think back Rene and I celebrated our 38th. Is that right, Renee? You're the one that forgets. So, right. Okay. (26:23) Um 38th wedding anniversary a week and a half ago. And um once I got Renee corrected on what year it was, um she said it had been eternity. But anyway, the um [laughter] sorry, not true. Um but the reality was I was thinking back to our wedding day and I still can in my mind picture the details of the place where we got married and I'd only been in there one time and I can give you the details of that space. (26:55) >> [snorts] >> Sorry, shouldn't have gone here. Um, uh, too much romance in the air, right, Renee? Okay, so, um, but here's going to be a real shocker for you. When, uh, Renee came through the door at the back of that auditorium. I still remember kind of like now uh [snorts] just being overwhelmed. Just an overwhelming sense of this is unbelievable that the person that I want to spend my life with has said yes to me. (27:42) And so I get that idea of a radiant bridegroom bursting forth. David's wanting to understand the sun doesn't drudger go with drudgery through its day. Oh, it's another day for these stupid humans. Wish I didn't have to do this. Do you see what David is wanting us to understand is that when the sun rises, it rises to glorify God. (28:08) The radiant heat that gives us life is an expression of joy for you and I and for our souls. So my suggestion today is go out and get a suntan, but give God the glory. Soak it in so you can give it back. Your soul needs it. [snorts] Isn't it funny how our bodies physically need sunlight? We really do. (28:38) We actually are created and need sunlight. We can come up with artificial ways to try to get it, but we need sunlight. I don't think that's by mistake. I think we are created to be in sunlight to be able to say, "God, thank you for thinking of me, giving me what I need to exist, creating all of this around here to bring life for me. (29:04) May I, like the sun, enter my day, bursting forth with joy and pride that you are aware of me, and I am aware of you. I will live like the son. Now in [snorts] all of this that David is doing I talked about this last week. He is talking about what uh in other parts of scripture and he does David does in the Psalms is this will be considered part of the law of the Lord. (29:29) He is re uh reciting for us the law of the Lord. The heavens declare the glory of God. He's talking about aspects [snorts] of truth in our creation that that talk about a truth or principle from God. And he's wanting us to see these laws around us are designed to give us life. We can live in the midst of them and it brings out for us what God intended. (29:55) That is to have a relationship with him. However, we tend to ignore way too much. So, he starts us big, works us down a little bit smaller. But now I want you to see where he goes in the next verses and it's in uh verses now 7-9. He says this, "The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (30:24) The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true. Each one is fair. If we're paying attention, what he just did for us is he said, "Look," and this is what um I told you before, there's wisdom in the Psalms. (30:49) We treat them as poetic literature. They're actually wisdom literature in in more colorful language. And in the midst of this wisdom literature, he has just walked us through the law of the Lord. the law of the Lord that surrounds us every day and the written law of God that is intended to bring personal what we were created for. (31:13) Listen again to what he says. The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. So he wants me to understand David to to me the reader is saying I want you to see that if you look around and you are wise enough to look up and you look at the close intricacy of this world in which we live and how God continually provides and God uh has given you let's make it even more personal for you that God brings the sun out each day and it reflects with joy what it was created for and and scripture says that even the (31:46) rocks and the trees everything including the sun cry out glory to God, but I didn't leave you there. God says, I also gave you personal instruction. So, in other words, it's God inviting you to sit down now and let your soul hear from God. What your soul longs for and cries out for, it now can receive. And he says that the law of the Lord, instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. It's what I need. (32:19) I need to know what God has instructed. We often hear the word law and we think of its application within scripture and we suddenly see a list that God wants to limit. We hear law, it brings limit. There is some truth in that. But it's a we're thinking from a control perspective and God's wanting to take away my control. (32:43) God's wanting to limit what I can do. God's wanting to keep my life boxed in. And actually, the only limit that God sets with his law is the law of life. Here is the path that I will limit you on if you will follow me. That will give you life and revive your soul. You are free to choose any path you want to. (33:05) But if you want to know what you were created for and you want your soul to be revived, listen to my instruction. Because my instruction isn't trying to limit and take away your control. It's trying to help you understand I control all things. So the instruction of God are perfect. In other words, he's saying, look, I don't make mistakes with my instruction. (33:31) There's a good question right there. Often do you think God has made a mistake in the instructions he has for your life? Yeah, he hasn't ever. But many of us live like we could outsmart him. We've got to be careful. He continues on, "The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple." If you want that paraphrase, he's saying, "Look, you're simple. God is wise. (33:54) Listen to his instruction." We may not want to be called simple, but in reality, you know what? Go back out and look up in the heavens again, and then you'll realize, "Oh, yeah. I forgot who I was. I'm pretty small. I'm pretty insignificant. I'm still a thought of God. And he wants to give me his best. (34:18) The commandments of the Lord are right. Bringing joy to the heart. How often do you look at the commands of God and does it bring joy to your heart? There is a great listen test right there. If you will look and find that there are are commands of God that you go, "Oh, that makes me so angry." I'll guarantee you, you have yet to live its experience. (34:40) You're still holding it out for your control, not surrendered to his control. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Huh? We often try to make them difficult. And God's saying, "Look, I'll tell you how to live your life. I'll give you life." Reverence for the Lord is pure and lasts forever. You learn to rever God. (35:03) live as as it uh as David speaks of and and Psalms speak of the fear of the Lord. Proverbs tells us, fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. If you want to come alive, your soul to be revived. This is all talking soul life here. You should be seeing a picture of a soul finally being hydrated and coming to life. (35:20) And he's saying it's through the connection with God. He has put you in a place where that is to be taking place every day, all the time. And he'll instruct you in how to live in it. Are you doing it? >> [snorts] >> The laws of the Lord are true. Each one is fair. Psalm 19. Now we as we continue here, we go to verse 10. (35:41) And I want you to hear the results of living in this path that David has laid out for us. And he's now talking about kind of our perspective of the law of God. This is how I said a minute ago, we approach God's word so often a a uh well, if I want to hear what I'm doing wrong, I guess I'll read this thing. (36:03) Um, it's it's actually an instruction of life for your soul. It's what this this is your soul manual right here. You were created to know this. You were created to live this. You were created to experience it as the means of drawing you into that relationship that you and I were ultimately created for, but has been torn us under by our decision to rebel against God. (36:24) Jesus came to restore that so that heaven resides on earth with us physical and spiritual together. And that is why we were given the Holy Spirit that we can begin today. Kingdom of heaven is not coming. The kingdom of heaven is here today and we can live in that kingdom in relationship with God. And he says here's how you do it. (36:46) And yet we spend so much time trying to figure it out because we want to be in control of its expression. But even in that, we left our soul long ago. We're soulless beings oftentimes or I should say shriveled up souls that are longing to be with God. And so he wants us to understand here's the value of knowing God's law. And it is this. (37:08) They are more val more desirable than gold. Even the finest gold. Think about that for a minute. How much of your life is spent chasing gold? It doesn't have to be physical actual gold. monetary return. David's saying here that the laws of God are more desirable than any monetary return. (37:33) Yeah, but if I only just had a little bit of Elon Musk money, then I would be better off and he'd be able to balance the world. We often think, let's be really honest, you see the lottery numbers start getting higher and higher and you're thinking, boy, could I do some good with that money? Now, the good would start with me, but it would get there for everybody. (37:55) We have a hard time sometimes believing what David is saying here, but he's saying if we know the law of God, the law of life, the law of soul revival, it is better than gold. It's sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. In scripture, honey has is a um it's the picture of really the perfect food. It is intended. It's sweet. (38:20) It's restorative. It's It's good healthwise. And I want you to know that we're developing our own honeycomb here in the church. Um, we have a beehive that they decided to set up and we're going to try not to bother them, but maybe someday we'll be drawing honey from it. But anyway, that's a whole side note. I think honey is also in scripture a picture of the presence of God. (38:43) Did you know that honey often represents what is it's always stated we could take this and if I asked Dave explain to me what you mean and he would tell tell you this your soul was created to drip with the honey of the existence of God. It is to bring sweetness, revival, and health to those around you. (39:12) And your soul is is so full of the presence of God. It It just drips off your words. It drips off in your relationships. It brings sometimes it's sticky because it where we want to separate. Things need to be stuck together sometimes. And it's like being it's the oozing presence of God. And it is so sweet. And it's a picture of health. (39:39) A comb, a beehive that is healthy has honey. Have you ever seen what happens when a beehive when gets unhealthy? It starts to dry up. The bees die off. Things go wrong and soon it's there's no honey at all. Some of our souls, some of your souls, some of us here today need the presence of God in our lives again and be dripping with the honey of God on our in our words, our conversations, our relationships, everything that we do. (40:10) It's sweeter than honey, sweeter than honey in the comb. And then he says, "They are a warning, the law of God, a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them. Is this beautiful or what? David just took us on a nature walk and brought it down to personal. And by the time we're done with that walk outside and we see what God has done and it was all for you and me. (40:40) And in the midst of that though, we begin to realize that we're pretty small and insignificant, but we're not invaluable. We're not lacking value. We are those who God thought of and wanted to have a relationship with. And so he has gone to the effort of bringing us back into that relationship. And it is not just in a personal let the sun warm you up today, but we should be like the sun. (41:07) It should our souls should be revived every morning in the presence of God. And the way that we do that is by knowing and walking with him. Not just encouraged by the praise that echoes around us, but in that praise step forth as ourself. I have been redeemed by God. I come forth like the bridegroom. God, the one who loves me and created me wants me to sit down with him. (41:35) And I sit down and I listen to his words. I know his words. I study his words. I eat up what he has given. And it is like honey in the honeycomb. It is brings wealth to my life that I could not get anywhere else. And my soul is revived. That's what you were created for. That's who God made you to be to know, experience, and express. (42:03) We serve a good God. We serve a loving God. But some of our souls are going, "I want a little of that, honey. I want some of that, please. And sometimes when you're outside and you're feeling the sun, stop and listen to your soul. It's saying, I want to be purposeful like the sun is purposeful in my relationship with God. (42:31) Listen to your soul. Your God knows you, gives you everything you need, and wants to continue to instruct you. That's pretty awesome.