Christian Wisdom 1 (Psalms 104)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:04.360 If you would turn your attention with me now to psalm one hundred and four. 2 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:13.949 Want to begin this morning preaching series on wisdom. Do we begin with 3 00:00:14.029 --> 00:00:24.620 Psalm one o four. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, oh Lord, 4 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:29.940 my God, you are very great. You are clothed with splendor and 5 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:34.579 majesty, covering yourself with light, as with a garment, stretching out the 6 00:00:34.700 --> 00:00:39.729 heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters. 7 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:44.729 He makes the clouds his chariot. He writhes on the wings of the 8 00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:51.119 wind. He makes his messengers winds, his ministers, a flaming fire. 9 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:56.240 He set the earth on its foundation so that it should never be moved. 10 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.399 You covered it with the deep, as with a garment. The waters stood 11 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:04.590 above the mountains at your rebuke, they fled. At the sound of your 12 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.989 thunder, they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valley sank down 13 00:01:10.390 --> 00:01:14.709 to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they 14 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:19.019 may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You 15 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:23.340 Make Springs Gush forth in the valleys, they flow between the hills, they 16 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:29.340 give drink to every east of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. 17 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:34.049 Besides them, the birds of the heavens dwell. They sing among the 18 00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:38.609 branches. From your lofty abode, you water the mountains. The Earth is 19 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:44.890 satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for 20 00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:49.359 the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food 21 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:55.239 from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make 22 00:01:55.319 --> 00:02:00.549 his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the Lord 23 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:06.790 are watered abundantly, the Cedars of Lebanon that he planted in them the birds 24 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:10.030 build their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The 25 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:15.340 high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are refuge for the Rock 26 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:21.300 Badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons. The Sun knows it's 27 00:02:21.379 --> 00:02:25.060 time for setting. You make darkness and it is night when all the beal 28 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:30.729 beasts of the forest creep out. The young lions roar for their prey, 29 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:35.810 seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and 30 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:39.250 lie down in their dens. Man Goes out to his work and to his 31 00:02:39.370 --> 00:02:46.479 Labor until the evening. Oh Lord, how manifold. Are Your works in 32 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.120 wisdom? Have you made them? All? The Earth is full of your 33 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:54.159 creed truths. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with 34 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.469 creatures, innumerable living things, both small and great. There go the ships 35 00:03:00.789 --> 00:03:05.949 and Leviathan which you formed to play in it. These all look to you 36 00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:09.629 to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, 37 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:13.699 they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled 38 00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:16.979 with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed. When 39 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:22.340 you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When 40 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:25.419 you send forth your spirit, they are created and you renew the face on 41 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:30.770 the ground. May The glory of the Lord Endure Forever. May The Lord 42 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:36.330 rejoice in his works. Who looks on the Earth and it trembles? Who 43 00:03:36.530 --> 00:03:40.840 touches the mountains and they smoke? I will sing to the Lord as long 44 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:45.719 as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 45 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.719 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. 46 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:54.830 Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. 47 00:03:55.669 --> 00:04:01.909 Bless the Lord, Oh my soul. Praise the Lord, and he 48 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:15.060 may be seated. What a wonderful song. God's Word is good. I 49 00:04:15.220 --> 00:04:20.259 want to introduce you today to the theme of Wisdom, and there are many, 50 00:04:20.300 --> 00:04:25.410 many reasons why that might be a good thing to do. Want to 51 00:04:25.449 --> 00:04:30.970 mention just two quick ones. One is that to understand something about wisdom is 52 00:04:30.129 --> 00:04:38.050 to understand something about God. Wisdom is first and foremost an attribute of God. 53 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:45.360 As Roman twenty seven says, he is the only wise God. To 54 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.439 say that he is all wise or even only wise, is to say that 55 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:55.389 God is special. It's to say that anything that we can perceive about wisdom, 56 00:04:55.470 --> 00:05:00.149 anything that is ultimately going to tell us something true about our world and 57 00:05:00.310 --> 00:05:05.550 it's patterns and many other things, ultimately does tell us something about God himself. 58 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:11.100 In other words, you can't abstract wisdom from God, and so to 59 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:17.860 study wisdom is to study God. A second thing to think about is about 60 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:23.009 wisdom, is that God tells us to think about wisdom. It's a good 61 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:27.689 thing to think about, because God tells us to. Throughout proverbs and especially 62 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:30.329 in many other places in scripture. We are called to seek it, to 63 00:05:30.850 --> 00:05:39.680 pursue it, like a person might seek great wealth or honor. Our strike, 64 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:44.959 our quest for wisdom, should be one of of striving, of perseverance. 65 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.959 It is a desirable thing, and of course, not only to scripture 66 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:54.430 tell us this, but you know it inherently. That's because, in the 67 00:05:54.509 --> 00:05:59.829 wisdom of God, you were made in his image and you were made also 68 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:04.300 to be a wise person, and that means when you lack it, you 69 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:09.259 feel it. I want to ask you to raise your hands, but I 70 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:12.980 would guess if I did and said how many of you were in a situation 71 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:17.100 this week where you could have really used wisdom, you would all raise your 72 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:23.649 hands. Week to week, day to day, sometimes four months and years 73 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:28.569 at a time, we find in ourselves and situations where we need wisdom. 74 00:06:29.410 --> 00:06:33.519 We need to be able to perceive not only a knowledge about a particular thing, 75 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:40.000 but how it fits in with the whole, how the means meet with 76 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:46.310 the ends, how it fits rightly within the world, what is the right 77 00:06:46.509 --> 00:06:51.470 thing to do. And so in God's word we are given this promise and 78 00:06:53.189 --> 00:06:59.230 command in James, a book that is very much like proverbs and James Five, 79 00:06:59.589 --> 00:07:02.779 God says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, 80 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:09.100 who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given into 81 00:07:09.139 --> 00:07:14.019 him. So here are some great reasons, as I said, to seek 82 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:16.649 wisdom. There are many, many others, and I would encourage you, 83 00:07:17.009 --> 00:07:21.649 as we think about this and as you pursue and seek wisdom in your own 84 00:07:21.769 --> 00:07:30.079 life, that you think about these reasons create a little bit of a store 85 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:36.480 house in your mind on why pursuing wisdom is a good thing. With that 86 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:42.399 being said, let's turn to psalm one O four. We begin our quest, 87 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:46.430 or will we've begun our quest, but we begin the sermon series anyway 88 00:07:46.149 --> 00:07:51.389 with a look at this psalm. Psalmone o four teaches a very simple truth 89 00:07:51.470 --> 00:07:57.829 about wisdom, and that's found in verse Twenty Four. Verse Twenty Four explicitly 90 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:03.139 says o Lord, how manifold are your works in wisdom, you have made 91 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:09.060 them all. The Earth is full of your creatures. But to read both 92 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:13.730 before and after this verse, we realize that God is not only found in 93 00:08:13.850 --> 00:08:20.209 the wisdom of God is not only found in his creation or the creation of 94 00:08:20.290 --> 00:08:24.410 the creatures. In other words, it's not just in the specific things that 95 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:28.800 we look at that we see the wisdom of God, but also in the 96 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:31.799 way that they're all held together. So another words, not just in the 97 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:37.879 creation do we see God's wisdom, but in preservation we see God's wisdom. 98 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:43.990 Take a look, for example, at Verse Twenty Seven. These all look 99 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:50.190 to you, all these creatures, to give them their food in due season. 100 00:08:50.190 --> 00:08:56.059 Right, do season? That means the appropriate season at the right time, 101 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:00.259 and that's often what wisdom is about. Right it's about doing things in 102 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:03.860 the proper order, at the proper place, at the right time. You 103 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:09.250 think about proverbs, which talks about a word spoken in season is a fitting 104 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:16.090 thing, a good thing, like apples in a setting of silver. When 105 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:18.330 you give it to them, it says, they gather it up. When 106 00:09:18.370 --> 00:09:22.169 you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide 107 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:26.000 your face, they are dismayed. When you take away their breath, they 108 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.039 die and return to dust. You See, God doesn't just create the world 109 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:33.399 and we look at it and we say wow, that is wise, that 110 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:37.559 is impressive. It is, but it's even more than that. In the 111 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:43.429 preservation of the world and the due appointment of all things, in the orderliness 112 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:46.669 of it, in the beauty of it and the way it all holds together, 113 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:56.019 God makes his wisdom manifest. God takes care of the whole creation, 114 00:09:56.779 --> 00:10:03.860 each act done according to his perfect time. I'Ming Maximus the confessor says this. 115 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:09.009 We do not know God from his being, but from the magnificence of 116 00:10:09.090 --> 00:10:15.889 his handiwork and his providence for creation. Through these all as, through mirrors, 117 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:22.679 we perceive his infinite goodness and wisdom and power. We can't climb up 118 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:28.120 into the heavens and see God as he knows himself. We can't perceive and 119 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.279 know about God in his being, but we can know God in his revelation, 120 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.950 in the way that he reveals himself to us. And where do we 121 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:43.629 find it? Well, different places, but one is the creation, his 122 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:48.029 creation and his preservation. Of course, as I mentioned, Maximus the confessor 123 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:52.700 says this, many, many others, all good theologians say this, but 124 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:54.980 more importantly, the Apostle Paul says it, as we read earlier, in 125 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:01.580 Romans One nineteen through twenty. For what can be known about God is plain. 126 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:07.929 Why? Because God has shown it. That's why it's plain right. 127 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:11.730 If I, if I show you my Bible, it's plain to you that 128 00:11:11.850 --> 00:11:16.929 it's here. Why? Because I showed it to you. It's as simple 129 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:22.440 as that. And it's that way for creation. Paul continues for his invisible 130 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:28.519 attributes, namely is eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since 131 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:33.590 the creation of the world, where in the things that have been made. 132 00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:39.750 That's how we see the wisdom of God. Now Psalm one hundred four tells 133 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:45.549 us that you can add wisdom to this list of things that Paul mentions. 134 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:52.340 Wisdom is also clearly perceived in the things that have been made. In a 135 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:56.860 way, it's one reason that the things are clearly perceived, because wisdom involves 136 00:11:58.059 --> 00:12:05.289 revelation it. Wisdom is often about making things known. Well, Paul's thesis 137 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:09.649 in Romans One, in a way you might say, is argued and given 138 00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:16.759 all kinds of proofs. In Psalm Four, God displays his wisdom before us 139 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.960 in this psalm by causing us to pay attention to all these different things about 140 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:31.990 our world. We come to see that wisdom is not only an attribute of 141 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:35.309 God, something we can know about him, something we can say about him, 142 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:43.870 but wisdom, the wisdom of God, is fundamental to our very existence. 143 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:52.340 Without God's wisdom we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be sustained, maimed 144 00:12:52.340 --> 00:12:56.179 and preserved. So, whether or not you or I have wisdom, we 145 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:00.970 should be glad that God does. would be maybe one one thought to draw 146 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:05.409 from that. So let's take a look at Psalm one, O four and 147 00:13:05.570 --> 00:13:09.490 consider the wisdom of God, the proof of the things that Paul says they're 148 00:13:09.570 --> 00:13:16.279 and insult and Romans. One, this psalm of praise to God begins with 149 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.200 a call to praise him, bless the Lord, Oh my soul, oh 150 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:26.320 Lord, my God, you are very great. Then, from the second 151 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:30.549 half of verse one, we are given a perspective, I. A A 152 00:13:30.669 --> 00:13:33.669 way of looking at things, and the perspective is from the heavens, from 153 00:13:33.669 --> 00:13:39.029 the skies, from the heavenly places, and to see so see them in 154 00:13:39.269 --> 00:13:43.700 relation to God. What do we see? Well, these first four verses 155 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:48.460 we see that the things that are highest above us, the things that called 156 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:54.779 many cultures and societies and people have worshiped, the Sun, the moon, 157 00:13:54.940 --> 00:14:00.730 the stars, these things are but the clothing of God. They are not 158 00:14:00.929 --> 00:14:05.330 God himself, as impressive and as magnificent they are, we do not worship 159 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:09.279 the sun or the moon or the stars, because we worship their maker, 160 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:16.480 the one who wears these things as a man wears a garment. You are 161 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:22.720 clothed with splendor and majesty. The Psalm says, covering yourself with light as 162 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:30.549 with a garment. Note also the orderliness of these things and the activity that 163 00:14:30.710 --> 00:14:35.590 is described here. God is not haphazardly or randomly doing this thing or that 164 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:41.259 thing. He is stretching out the heavens like a tent. Have you ever 165 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:43.940 tried to build a tent? You ever tried to do it in a random 166 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:48.500 or haphazard way? You can't build a tent that way. It's a just 167 00:14:48.740 --> 00:14:54.649 be a big mess on the floor or on the ground. God stretches out 168 00:14:54.769 --> 00:15:00.929 the heavens like a tent. He lays its beams. He's riding on the 169 00:15:01.049 --> 00:15:05.129 clouds, a picture that's used in scripture of his judgment and his power, 170 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:11.240 clouds and wins that are also identified with his servants, the angels, imagery 171 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:18.879 that's picked up in his Zekiel, these flaming, fiery creatures that are not 172 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.149 his lords and his masters, as magnificent in as powerful as they are, 173 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:31.470 but these angels, these messengers of him, are of him, they are 174 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:39.019 but his servants, his messengers, yet more creatures designed to proclaim his word, 175 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:46.940 to bring forth the message of God. Next, in verses five and 176 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:54.289 following five through nine, we see that God's careful and master building not only 177 00:15:54.409 --> 00:16:00.169 applies up in the skies but also down below. In verses five through nine, 178 00:16:00.210 --> 00:16:03.519 he lays the strong foundations of the earth. He commands the water this 179 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:07.840 way and that way and they all move, just as he would on the 180 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:12.440 boat in the Gospels when he commands the sea to be still, and in 181 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:19.870 a moment it stops. This Mountain Raises Up, that Mountain sinks down. 182 00:16:21.830 --> 00:16:26.590 You and I struggle to predict the rain. We get caught and downpours, 183 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:30.029 we forget our umbrellas, or we think and we depend on the rain, 184 00:16:30.269 --> 00:16:34.340 and then it doesn't and our plants die. God, on the other hand, 185 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:40.340 knows every drop. The Psalm says, he sets the boundaries of the 186 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:45.379 flood and he keeps his promise to Noah to preserve the world. Next, 187 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:49.769 in verses ten through twelve and in sixteen through eighteen, we read how he 188 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:55.450 uses the earth that he is set in place to provide for the animals that 189 00:16:55.529 --> 00:17:00.049 he is filled with them, the seas and the seas and the lands, 190 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:03.200 the Badger, the stork, the Rock are, I'm sorry, the go 191 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:08.519 to, the donkey. All of them do not live alone and apart from 192 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:15.670 him, they live in him and buy him and through him and for him, 193 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:22.670 He provides their food in due season. He gives them their perfect place 194 00:17:25.430 --> 00:17:33.059 right as he says, let me find it here right the high mount verse 195 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:34.980 a team. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are 196 00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:41.740 a refuge for the rock badgers. Seems like a simple point until perhaps you 197 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:45.289 go to the pet store wanting to buy a new pet. And what do 198 00:17:45.329 --> 00:17:48.930 you do? You ask them and you say, how do I create a 199 00:17:49.289 --> 00:17:53.970 habitable place for my new little thing, whether that's a dog or a lizard 200 00:17:55.009 --> 00:17:56.890 or a bird? There's a they take you to the right aisle and they 201 00:17:56.890 --> 00:17:59.559 said, well, you're going to need this, and you're going to need 202 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.480 this and you're going to need this, and there's a wisdom right there. 203 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:07.359 There's a wisdom that is imparted to you so that you can act properly to 204 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:12.829 care for this animal that you are bringing into your house. We struggle to 205 00:18:12.910 --> 00:18:17.750 manage a few. Most of US struggle to manage faithfully even a few pets 206 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:21.990 at home. A few of US are skilled enough to master a great number 207 00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:26.910 of animals, but no one is like God, who creates and fills this 208 00:18:26.109 --> 00:18:32.700 world in these magnificent ways. Fills it with his creature and doesn't accidentally put 209 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:37.140 the Rock Badger in the ocean, but puts the Rock Badger in the rocks 210 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:41.089 and the wild goats on the mountains and the birds in the trees. We 211 00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:47.049 assume these things and they're so orderly, they're so perfectly place that we get 212 00:18:47.089 --> 00:18:51.490 used to it. That's simply the way it is. But would that be 213 00:18:51.609 --> 00:18:53.769 the way it is if you tried to do it or if I tried to 214 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:56.720 do it? Do you think you might make a mistake here or there in 215 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:00.799 your design and the way that you set things? Of course you would. 216 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:07.440 As I mentioned, we struggle to manage our own little tiny houses. God 217 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:15.109 manages, he preserves, the whole world. The Earth is satisfied, it 218 00:19:15.349 --> 00:19:22.750 says, with the fruit of his work. Verses Fourteen through sixteen tells us 219 00:19:22.789 --> 00:19:30.700 that the greatest of God's creatures, US mankind, also receives our blessings from 220 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:36.059 him, unlike the rock badgers and the storks. We tend to think ourselves 221 00:19:36.099 --> 00:19:42.730 as God's yet clearly not. We are alike the other parts of creation, 222 00:19:42.930 --> 00:19:48.529 the plants and the animals, in that all everything we have and need is 223 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:52.809 provided for us by God. But we're all so different from them as well, 224 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:59.279 and that God gives this earth to us for our blessing and for our 225 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:03.000 enjoyment. We are called to rule in it, to keep it, to 226 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:08.829 to work in it, and God is very gracious in this way. As 227 00:20:08.869 --> 00:20:15.950 it says, he not only gives us bread for strength or oil for our 228 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:19.750 our bodies that we might be radiant, but even the joys of life, 229 00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:26.339 wine, he says, that we might drink and be merry. Surely God 230 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:30.859 is good. Well, shall we go on? I think we must. 231 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:37.890 Versus Nineteen and twenty three, which brings us up to the verse that circles 232 00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:41.490 in on Wisdom in Verse Twenty Four. These verses right before that, tells 233 00:20:41.529 --> 00:20:47.049 us how all of these things were probably made, and then leads us to 234 00:20:47.289 --> 00:20:52.200 this point. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works? It wisdom. 235 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.920 You have made them all. The Earth is full of your creatures, and 236 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.680 for all this the rightly, the Psalm rightly concludes then, in Verse Thirty 237 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:06.230 One, by saying may the glory of the Lord Endure Forever. May The 238 00:21:06.349 --> 00:21:14.589 Lord rejoice in his works indeed. Well, what about you? Will you 239 00:21:14.829 --> 00:21:18.420 rejoice in his works? As Verse Thirty Three says, Sing to the Lord 240 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:23.259 as long as you live, sing to praise my God. I while I 241 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:29.059 have my breat my being, I will sing to the Lord as long as 242 00:21:29.099 --> 00:21:33.329 I live. I will sing praise to God while I have my being. 243 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:41.210 How long will you have your being? Well, that depends. How long 244 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:47.359 will you live? It depends. God will enjoy the fruit of his works 245 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:52.640 for all eternity, because God is eternal and eternally blessed. He will always 246 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:57.279 rejoice in his works. He will glory and rest in himself, as he 247 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:04.750 always has and always will. But what about you? Will you rest and 248 00:22:04.910 --> 00:22:15.109 enjoy and have pleasure in the wisdom of God? It depends. After all 249 00:22:15.269 --> 00:22:18.259 of this glory, in this praise, PSALM ONE AFORD does end with a 250 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:25.500 sober reminder that not all is well in God's house, but it will be 251 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:30.210 one day. We read in a verse Thirty Five, the very last verse 252 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:36.250 of the Psalm. Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked 253 00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:45.359 be no more. There is sin and these sinners in the world and in 254 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:49.400 the glory and the power and in the wisdom of God, they will be 255 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:56.079 consumed from the earth. Earth. If you have something in your life that 256 00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:00.430 is out of place, that is not in its proper spot, that is 257 00:23:00.549 --> 00:23:04.509 not in its right order or is not being done well. What do you 258 00:23:04.589 --> 00:23:14.299 do? Typically, try to fix it right. Your air conditioning breaks on 259 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:18.819 your car, you have a different route on the way to work, you 260 00:23:19.019 --> 00:23:22.859 find that you don't have the ingredient that you need for the recipe. What 261 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:27.450 do you do? You fix it. It's how wisdom works, right you 262 00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:34.289 you create a situation in which things then work properly. Would we expect any 263 00:23:34.329 --> 00:23:38.410 letther thing less of God when he has a world that is as good as 264 00:23:38.450 --> 00:23:44.079 it is, a world that was made to glorify him and rejoicing him, 265 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:49.119 and when God looks down on the world and sees sin and death and curse 266 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:53.079 that has been brought into the world through our sin, what ought God to 267 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:57.390 do? What does God say? He ought to do to fix it, 268 00:23:59.589 --> 00:24:03.309 and he promises to do that. And so this prayer of the psalmist will 269 00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:07.789 indeed be fulfilled. One day sinners will be consumed from the earth, that 270 00:24:07.869 --> 00:24:14.859 wicked will be no more. Sin Has disrupted the order. That's what sin 271 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:19.180 does. It misses the mark, it causes frustration, it brings curse where 272 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:23.970 there was blessing. Confusion where there was order, death where there was life. 273 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:29.650 Now, as you know, each one of us is born with a 274 00:24:29.730 --> 00:24:36.250 sinful nature. Though we see the wisdom of the world, we clearly perceive 275 00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:41.440 it, Paul says, we plainly perceive it, we suppress that truth, 276 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:48.720 we push it down in unrighteousness and exchange that wisdom for foolishness, for sin. 277 00:24:48.880 --> 00:25:03.230 And this exchange, this foolish exchange, deserves punishment. We deserve to 278 00:25:03.349 --> 00:25:10.059 be among those who are consumed by the glory and the wisdom of God and 279 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:17.819 placed in a state of punishment and wrath. Now, Psalm one, O 280 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:21.099 four only hints at it here, but the rest of the Bible makes it 281 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:26.769 very clear that God's revelation, God's wisdom, is not only revealed here in 282 00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:33.769 creation, but it's also revealed in a new creation that God brings about in 283 00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:41.119 the world, a new creation that comes through a different great exchange. Our 284 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:48.599 sinful exchange is exchanging the glow glory for the of the Immortal God for Mortal 285 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:59.990 Creatures Worshiping Them. God's great exchange is becoming a creature in be taking on 286 00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:07.859 humanity to himself, in Jesus Christ, to save us, to save us 287 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:14.059 from our sins to save us from this wrath to come, this being consumed 288 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:21.210 from the earth. This wonderful life that God has created and promises one day 289 00:26:21.329 --> 00:26:26.650 we can rest in through obedience, is achieved for us, not by our 290 00:26:26.650 --> 00:26:33.799 obedience but by his. This, the Bible says, is another aspect, 291 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:38.440 and indeed the most important aspect for US anyway, of the wisdom of God. 292 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:45.319 In Him we can have eternal life, we can have the blessings of 293 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.710 the new heavens and the new earth. We can live and enjoy the blessing 294 00:26:49.750 --> 00:26:56.309 of God forever. The psalmist sings and says and praise in verse thirty three, 295 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:00.549 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will 296 00:27:00.549 --> 00:27:04.299 sing praise to God, my God, while I have my being, and 297 00:27:04.460 --> 00:27:11.140 I believe, he says that, in faith, believing that that praise will 298 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:17.769 go on eternally. Why? Because his faith is not only in the God 299 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:22.490 who made him, but then in the God who saved him, in Jesus 300 00:27:22.609 --> 00:27:29.650 Christ, God who became men. Are Sins can be forgiven, your sins 301 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:34.640 can be forgiven and instead of being consumed by the wisdom of God, you 302 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:41.319 are raised up by the wisdom of God. Resurrected by the wisdom of God. 303 00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:45.470 Instead of being drawn down into a cursed earth which is passing away, 304 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:52.589 you are raised up into the heavenly places which last forever. Our bodies will 305 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:57.309 be consummated and made to belong to the new heavens and the new earth. 306 00:27:57.619 --> 00:28:03.380 You won't be standing in the glory of the Kingdom of God going I don't 307 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:08.339 fit here, this is not good. No, your body will be made 308 00:28:08.579 --> 00:28:15.569 in wisdom to fit perfectly with that order. You will not feel out of 309 00:28:15.730 --> 00:28:18.170 place, you will not feel like you to belong. Don't belong, no 310 00:28:18.529 --> 00:28:26.720 impostor syndrome. In Heaven. You will be exactly right, exactly fitted for 311 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:33.559 that place. Why? Because you are in Christ. And who better, 312 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:38.680 or who would you say, is more fitted for the heavenly places, then 313 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:48.670 God himself? In him you have this new life and you will sing beloved 314 00:28:48.869 --> 00:28:56.859 forever because of the wisdom of God. In creation we see God's most amazing 315 00:28:57.019 --> 00:29:02.539 wisdom. We find our call to live according to it, and in it 316 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:07.019 we also see our fall in it, the ways in which we have utterly 317 00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:12.529 failed to do the things God has called us to do. We must study 318 00:29:12.569 --> 00:29:18.009 the world, we must give him praise but if you desire more than that 319 00:29:19.170 --> 00:29:26.119 and eternal that, if you desire not merely to wonder at the works of 320 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.920 this world but to sing and glory in the praise of God forever, then 321 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:36.440 you must learn to study and have faith not only in the God who created 322 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:41.069 this world, but the God who preserves it and the God who is saving 323 00:29:41.150 --> 00:29:45.789 us into a new world, a new heavens and a new earth. And 324 00:29:45.990 --> 00:29:52.900 that comes only through the fear of him, through faith in Jesus Christ. 325 00:29:53.099 --> 00:30:00.099 Put Your trust in him. There's true wisdom there. Let us pray