Bible Studies for Life Sunday School Commentary for the week of January 4, 2009

Gain Fresh Perspective   Psalm 19:1-14

I love the outdoors. Hunting and fishing have become a great hobby for me in recent years, and I enjoy the panoramic spectacle from the deer stand, duck blind, dove field, and turkey blind. Our text for this week often comes to mind; it’s like God giving me His personal “Good Morning” with each sunrise.

David’s poetic descriptions of the sky, sun, and night reveal how God’s creativity and majesty is revealed in what He has made. He did not hear an audible voice from heaven, yet the message from God’s universe cannot be missed. People in all the earth can hear and see the message of God’s glory in the creation. His observations parallel those of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-20.

“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.”

Romans 1:18-20 (HCSB)

Mankind can see for itself that God exists and has unmistakable attributes such as power, intelligence, and eternality. Consequently, people cannot rightfully claim they do not have knowledge of God or that He does not exist.

However, although God’s creation points people to Him, it doesn’t reveal everything about Him. A person does not learn of salvation by observing nature alone. God provided knowledge of salvation in the scriptures and ultimately in His Son Jesus Christ.

In our text this week David used six different nouns to describe the scriptures and what they provide to us. Taken together, the words provide a rich and complete view of God’s revelation to us in His Word. Meditate on each and think of how the scriptures give you fresh perspective.

Instruction

Testimony

Precepts

Commandments

Fear

Ordinances

David then follows up with six adjectives that point out the value of God’s Word. Look at each and see how they mate with the list above.

Perfect

Trustworthy

Right

Radiant

Pure

Reliable

David compared the value of the scriptures to gold. People the world over have fought over gold for all of history. Its value remains high everywhere. God’s Word is valuable to people the world over; its truths are applicable in every culture. He then compares the sweetness of scripture to the taste of honey. The scriptures were to him a great delight, making the bland parts of life sweet.

Gaining fresh perspective from God’s creation and God’s Word will cause us to gain a fresh perspective on ourselves. When we are confronted with the majesty of God and the rightness of His person, our personal sins and faults are manifested. We need to confess our sins to God regularly and often, and gain His promised forgiveness so our relationship with Him remains unhindered.

Our perspective can become skewed as we are bombarded with the cares of this world, temptations, oppressions, heartaches, and successes. Take the time today to look at the sky. Revel in God’s creative majesty. He is God of the universe, and there is no other. Revel in His revelation to us in the bible. He is the God of our salvation; its beginning and consummation rest in Him. Then look into your own heart and see what needs to be changed to gain a proper perspective.