Message From the Skies

Psalms 19:1-6

With all the hype and excitement concerning April 8th And the TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE I thought we would that a look at the skies this morning..
The Title of Our Sermon is A MESSAGE FROM THE SKIES.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking
I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me
and I learned that the little things
can be the special things in life.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make a meal and
take it to a friend who was sick,
and I learned that we all have to help
take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you give of your time and money
to help people who had nothing
and I learned that those who have something
should give to those who don't.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me good night and I felt loved and safe.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it
and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw how you handled your responsibilities,
even when you didn't feel good
and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes
and I learned that sometimes things hurt,
but it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know
to be a good and productive person when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked at you and wanted to say,
Thanks for all the things I saw
when you thought I wasn't looking.'

OPEN: According to “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” the longest love letter ever was written by Marcel de Leclure in 1875. Marcel was an artist in Paris France and his letter contained the 3 word French phrase “je vous aime” (pronounced “shavou same”)
which means “I Love You.” This wasn’t just written down once... it was written 1,875,000 times.

And he didn’t EVEN write the letter. He hired a scribe. He dictated that message – word for word (all 3 of them) – and then had the scribe read it back to him (remember, this was the same phrase written 1,875,000 times).
Reflecting on this love letter, Robert Ripley (the creator of “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”) said “Never was love made manifest by as great an expenditure of time and effort.”

(PAUSE) One person observed “That’s ridiculous. How loving is it to just write the same thing a million times?” But that’s how some people think sometimes. By contrast – when God showed his love for David – David realized that God did far more than write down “I love you” a million times. In Psalm 19 David tells us HOW God showed His love. David looked up at the heavens and saw God’s love filling the night sky.

Please turn with me to Psalm 19:1-6
The opening verse declares,
• “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.”
• This poetic language emphasizes that the vast expanse of the heavens— the moon, stars, sun, and the entire celestial canvas— serves as a testimony to God’s creative power.

• When we gaze at the night sky or marvel at the intricate design of the universe, we sense that someone greater than ourselves crafted it all.

• Verse 3 continues, “There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.”
• Unlike human speech, the heavens communicate silently but powerfully. Their existence speaks of a divine Creator. Day after day, night after night, creation pours forth its silent message, inviting us to recognize God’s handiwork.

• In verse 4, we encounter the imagery of a tent set for the sun.
• The sun, like a radiant bridegroom, emerges from its chamber each morning and follows its course with joy. Its rising and circuit span the entire heavens, leaving nothing hidden from its warmth and light.

These verses teach us that creation itself testifies to God’s glory. The heavens and the sky proclaim His handiwork day and night, inviting us to recognize the Creator behind it all. As we marvel at the natural world, we catch glimpses of the divine Artist who shaped the cosmos.

Abraham Lincoln said: “I never behold (the stars) that I do not feel I am looking in the face of God.” In our culture, where we spend so much time inside, we rarely get to experience the majesty of a starry heaven like David did.  But, when we do – like all the hype of the TOTAL SOLAR eclipse set for April 8th … it can sometimes be a little overwhelming.

In one of his Psalms, Psalm 8:3-4 David wrote: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

The heavens are so imposing that David wondered why God even gave him a 2nd thought. (pause) But God DID give David a 2nd thought, and David knew it. That’s why he tried so hard to be a man after God’s own heart. But, if he’d only known how much God did for us in the heavens…
David would have written far more of his Psalms. Because - you see - the heavens might be pretty, but they’re more than just that.  Over the centuries, STARS have served as way to measure seasons (a fact taught us in the first chapter of Genesis). From the structures of the Aztecs to those of the Egyptians and perhaps even with Stonehenge – the ancients used the stars to chart the stars and determine the best times to plant and harvest their crops. Stars were also used by sailors to find their way across uncharted oceans.

And of course, there’s the closest star in our universe. The SUN. One scientist marveled “In many ways, the sun is just an ordinary star. But in other ways, sun was designed for life to be possible on Earth.” The sun’s temperature and distance from Earth is ideal for LIFE. If it were closer or hotter, LIFE would be burned away; and if it were farther away or colder than it is, last week’s cold snap would seem like summer day.

Earth would just be too cold to sustain life. In addition there are scientists out there who mock our Sun because it’s smaller and weaker than some of the more impressive stars in the universe. But those bigger and hotter stars produce huge amounts of harmful radiation. And they tend to fling devastating flares far out into their solar systems. These flares – would incinerate any life on our planet (not to mention what they’d do to our cell phone reception).

Yes, our star was DESIGNED by God to make life possible. Back in 1968 there was an Astronaut named Bill Anders who had the privilege of flying over the earth in space. He said: “(The earth) was the only color we could see in the universe...” So, the starry heavens are more than just another pretty face. They’re a declaration of God’s loves for us and that He has made a beautiful planet for us to live on.

As Romans 1:19-20 declares “What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

You see - that’s what David saw. When David looked up into the heavens he saw a God Who was not only powerful, but a God Who also loved HIM enough to show Him the beauty of His creation. But David didn’t stop there. While the heavens may declare God’s majesty and power, God’s WRITTEN WORD reveals what God really thinks about us.

David wrote in Psalm 19:7-10: “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”

Now, bear in mind, David’s Bible was much smaller than yours and mine. There was no New Testament (this was centuries before Christ was born), and less than half the Old Testament had been written at that time. There were just a few books of Bible history at that time... but most of what David knew and studied were the Books Of The Law – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

And THAT was what David was praising here:
The LAW, the PRECEPTS, the COMMANDMENTS, and the RULES. He declared that they were more precious than fine gold, and sweeter than the sweetest honey.
(PAUSE) But now, wait a minute... that doesn’t make any sense. Those books are boring. They were filled with long tedious rules and regulations. And they spoke of an angry and vindictive God who doesn’t seem to love anyone.

OR... at least that’s what some scholars have said over the years.  For centuries many have said the God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New Testament. The God of the Old Testament was mean and harsh and spiteful, but the God of the New Testament was loving and forgiving.

Now, that’s all pure hogwash (it’s the same God), but I can see where someone might get that impression.

I mean the Old Testament does talk a lot about RIGHT and WRONG, GOOD and EVIL, SIN and MORALITY. And, of course, it talks a lot about judgment and condemnation of wickedness. There are folks who read the Bible and struggle with God being... so JUDGMENTAL. But that’s not the way David saw it. David saw a God who defined what evil was. A God who hated wickedness, a God who punished evil doers and rewarded those who tried to do the right thing.

David wrote in Psalm 19:11 & 13: “By (God’s laws) is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.... 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.”

You see, there’s something about God’s written word that changes people. If we take the Bible seriously it makes us into better people. In other words – God loves us so much that He’s given us a tool to transform us – His BIBLE.

David knew the power of God’s written word to transform and to improve the lives of those who would listen to God. And in that truth, David realized that God believed in us. God had not given up on us. And God believed that we could be better than what we’ve been.

(PAUSE) And one more thing.
As much as David understood the love of God there was one thing that David did NOT know about God’s love. He didn’t know the truth of John 3:16. Repeat it with me: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

God did something in sending His Son that neither stars nor the Scriptures could begin to describe for us. The stars may be beautiful... but they’re wayyyy up there (way above us) and we don’t know very much about them.

And while the Bible is mighty and has the power to transform us, there are things about the Scriptures that are hard to understand. Stars and words on a page can seem cold and impersonal – but when God gave His Son... that’s something else again.

We all have sung this song for years:
“Jesus loves me this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.”

MORAL OF THE STORY IS … Jesus loves you. He loves you in spite of what you may have done in the past or how badly you may have messed up your life.
He LOVES YOU.

A major question was asked to the disciples by many people who were in this same situation back in Acts 2:36 – 38
Men and Brethren what must we do to be saved?
"36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.  37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
The answer to them is the some answer we hear God tells us today, Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins.

It was in God stepping down out of heaven and becoming a man that we understand just how much Jesus did love us.

CLOSE: Someone once said this in a powerful way:
“When God chose to reveal Himself to mankind,
what medium did He use?
A book? No, that was secondary.

A church? No, that came afterward.

A moral code? No, to limit God's revelation to a cold list of do's and don'ts is as tragic as looking at a road map of Colorado and saying that you'd seen the Rockies.

When God chose to reveal Himself,
He did so through a human body.
The tongue that called forth the dead was a Human one.
The hand that touched the leper had dirt under its nails.
The feet upon which the woman wept were callused and dirty.
And His tears... oh, don't miss the tears...
they came from a heart as broken as
yours or mine has ever been.

So, people came to Him. My, how they came to Him!
They came at night;
they touched Him as He walked down the street,
they followed Him around the sea;
they invited Him into their homes,
and placed their children at His feet.

Why?
Because there was not one person who was reluctant to approach Him for fear of being rejected.”

INVITATION

Based on a sermon
By Jeff Strite