WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:06.639 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:11.119 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:14.400 Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.920 Today, be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.280 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:40.159 We're going to be in Psalm 19 today, and this is a revelation of God's revealing, his self-revelation through his creation, through his kingdom, through his word, and then even through our own humanity. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:46.079 And it's David's writing this, we're going to kind of journey through this passage together. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:58.159 Our lives, based on the world that we live in today, creature comforts, technology, have created a divide, really a distraction to knowing and feeling the God of creation all around us. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:04.400 We miss the constant effort to grab our attention, to hear him whisper his love and affection over us. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:09.280 We are missing moments to meet with him in the cool of the day and walk in his garden. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:16.640 Yet we all have to do is walk outside, look up around, and we can see his hand over our lives. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:22.079 And I think this is not anywhere more true than in this beautiful city of Colorado Springs. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.480 And there's just moments where I'm grabbed, he grabs my attention. 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:34.879 I had the benefit of growing up in a flat land where it was cool when corn was there, but when it wasn't, it was pretty flat and boring. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:43.599 And so when I would come out to Colorado as a young man with my father, we'd come and we'd take ski trips out here every springtime. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.920 And I would just always be captivated by the Rocky Mountains. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.120 And I and I still crack up. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:50.239 Like I'm I can't help this. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:50.719 I'm sorry. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.359 Pastor Brian's talked about watching The Simpsons. 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.719 If you've been to the roadmap, and so I can throw this one out there. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:03.599 I still crack up sometimes in the movie Dumb and Dumber when they're driving out, and he's like, definitely still in Kansas. 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.480 And he's like, I thought the Rocky Mountains would be rockier than that. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.319 That John Denver is full of crap. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:16.960 You know, you're like, and so there's this point where you do cross the threshold of the Midwest, and the majesty of the Rocky Mountains grabs us. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:25.680 And I just am so reminded with the sun rises and even seeing uh glimpses of Pike's Peak, and it captures me. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:28.479 It captures my imagination, it captures my heart. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.039 And those are the moments where like I feel this connection to God and his creation. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:42.400 And so let's let's dive into our first passage because I think this is so much of Psalms is David making his personal declarations, right? 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.120 He's down in the domps and he's like, yeah, I'm gonna declare out of this. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.439 I know that God's word is true, he's faithful, he's just, and I'm gonna stand on that. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:55.439 But now, 19 is a little different because now he's actually saying this is God's declaration. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:01.439 This is God declaring things over my life, over my reality, over my situation. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:11.680 Number one, the heavens proclaim the glory of God, the skies display his craftsmanship, day after day, they continue to speak. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:14.719 Night after night they make him known. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:20.479 See, beauty reveals something about God, and beauty reveals something about each of us. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.919 We see God's heart revealed in the sparkling night sky, and he loves beauty. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:36.319 First point today is as we look through this scripture, we're we're pulling out the revelation of God in our lives and how He is He's coming alive in our world. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.439 And beauty is in all of God's creation. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:45.039 God's design for humanity is to be captivated by the beauty found in creation around us. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:51.120 As a young man, my dad would invite me with him, even like as a young boy. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:04:02.400 He would get me up before the sunrise, and for some reason he thought the fish would bite better than I don't know what it was about like getting on this boat and being in the middle of like this pond in the Midwest, and it's cold. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:03.439 It should be summertime, right? 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:04.080 It should be warm. 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.479 It wasn't, it was cold, and there was no sun. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.159 And I'm like, why are we doing this? 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:13.919 I and I couldn't, I couldn't see the beauty in it yet, but he was he was starting to cultivate something in me. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:18.800 He also thought that there was something honorable in the first tea time on the golf course. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.959 And I'm like, I don't, I can't focus. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.839 First of all, the sunlight's not even up yet, really, and I can't see the ball. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.279 This game's hard enough as it is, and I can't even see it yet. 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:38.079 But there was something about for him, he was showing me and inviting me into this journey that he had realized about the value and the glory of the sunrise. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.959 And so beauty is to captivate our hearts. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:42.240 We're God's creation. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:05:01.439 In fact, because we know in the scriptures where we land in that creation, we're the last piece of it, we're God's final exclamation point of his design, we're to give him glory, and he puts us in this setting that we are to be invited in and share with this understanding of him, his design, his glory, where we fit into all of that. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:05.279 And we're at the pinnacle of his creation, his value on us. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:10.720 We have freedom of choice, we'll get into that in a minute, about what he gives us inside of that. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.680 But he wants to meet with us in his creation. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.040 That's become clear. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.360 And so we were on a hunting trip, I want to say it was like back in 2020. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.480 It was one of the last years we actually got to hunt in this place that had produced a lot of animals. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:25.439 That's just awesome. 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.600 And we had pulled up, we had unpacked, and it was the first night. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:33.759 And I've been in Arizona, we grew up, um, I didn't grow up, but I've spent 10 years down there. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:40.240 They're actually known for having a lot of observatories, and you can see the Milky Way, and it's a great place to study the stars and all that. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:47.279 And I had seen really great skies in the desert, like beautiful night skies and the stars, and I mean, just amazing, right? 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:49.040 You're like, wow, this is awesome. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:06:03.199 Um, but in this particular part of the flat tops up by Meeker, the Milky Way, I don't I don't know what was happening in the heavens that that that particular weekend, but the Milky Way was so bright. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.240 It was so illuminated, and it just captivated us. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:14.560 I think um Josh was doing a film and he was trying to capture kind of the way the sky would move and the movement of the moon, and he was gonna do a time ellipse. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:31.040 But then we were all one guy noticed it, and then the rest of us, and the next thing you know, we had stepped away from the fire, we had walked away walked as far as we could to get to the darkest place on the hill to look up, and and I gotta tell you, in all the years that I've looked at the sky, I've never seen the Milky Way look this way. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.639 It was just, it was the definition, it was crystal clear. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:44.959 And I felt like I had just upgraded to like 8K on my TV, and it was like and it was right there, and we're like 10,000 feet on this mountaintop, and it was brilliant. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:48.000 It was just captivating, and it and it drew us in. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.560 It drew us into the adventure that we were already there. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:52.639 We were far away from any medical help. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.000 There is some inherent danger about where we go and hunt because we're pretty far. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.279 If you get in a bad spot, you're gonna be in a bad way. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:12.079 And so, this adventure that draws us in as boys, as men, we're coming into it, and we're excited to be there, we're setting up camp, we're having our first meal, and then this sky, this sky that just opens up, and it's like God saying, I love you. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:18.480 I think about you, and I've given you this to think about me, and let's connect and let's meet. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.079 Let's meet on this mountain. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:24.240 And instantly, from the beginning that was a special hunting trip for me. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:40.079 Um, we did get an animal, and that was just kind of like icing on the cake for Sam and I, but it was like that moment I knew was going to be a special time of connection with God and those mountains and his sky and what it was revealing to my heart and what he was saying to me in that moment. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:46.879 And as you guys search, all of us in this room can remember a time where you looked at the sky and you were drawn in. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:50.959 You were drawn in by its beauty, wonder, there's mystery up there. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:55.600 We're always pursuing, trying to get the Hubble telescope look, like what's the latest image? 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.680 What can we continue to define? 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.680 What how can we continue to know the unknown up there in the heavens? 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.959 And as a pursuit of our humanity, there's just something that continues to draw us in, and so we keep going for it. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:22.800 We keep launching rockets and missiles, and we're still trying to pursue that and understand it more when God's just saying, I put it up here for you because I love you, and I want you to know that my hand on creation is here, and my hand of your creation is over your heart. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.560 And be reminded that I am for you, I'm with you, I've never left you alone. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.680 And that's what the night sky is there to remind us of. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:36.960 As we get into the second part of this, God's beauty draws us in, and Adam understood this. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:44.399 God didn't build creation, and then he set up a tabernacle, a temple, you know, a sweet house. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.480 Adam lived in the wilderness. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.399 David lived in the wilderness, right? 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.960 We covered this as a shepherd boy, so he knows the night sky, he's familiar with this. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:09:00.879 And so Adam in his in God's first creation, it was a it was the table in which he communed with humanity. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.320 Still, so, God's still wanting to meet us there. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:12.240 For me, because of my dad's initial uh invitation to get drawn into the wilderness and go and meet God. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:19.039 I mean, as a young boy, I'm running through the woods and around where I grew up in farmland and you know, trying to be home before the streetlights came on. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:20.000 That was kind of the rule. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.639 Like, go explore, go have adventures, but don't be late for dinner. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:26.320 That was the kind of the golden rule. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:36.080 And um I got lost out there, played in the rivers, grew up near Mississippi River, and um just had a blast doing all the stuff that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn did, right? 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:37.519 I mean, that was kind of my existence. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:56.879 Um, I probably would have fit in well with Mark Twain's novel and me and my buddies, but it it's like I was learning things about nature and also God's design in my heart and my life at that time, and not really even knowing what it was, but I knew that I was drawn into it, and then the adventure that the mountains offer us here. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:23.519 I have to say that nothing speaks to God's beauty deeper to me than my wife and the gift that she is, and God's perfect design and the beauty, her beauty, not just her physical beauty, and she is certainly that for me, but even more the mysteries of how her mind works, and it draws me in, and the things that she thinks about and how she crafts conversation. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:25.440 And I'm drawn in by that. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.799 It's like God is speaking to me through her beauty as well. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:42.080 And so we got this house, and um, the last place we lived, she gave me a pretty, pretty large uh uh freedom to design and do some things, and it kind of looked like a dude's layer at one point. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:48.159 It was kind of like, okay, this looks like a cabin in the woods where a guy would live, and she would add her beauty touches. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:54.399 But with this, with this house that we just moved into, the conversation was like, okay, thank you for that, and letting me do that. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:08.399 But I kind of wanted to give her kind of carte blanche, and I've been amazed with her draw for beauty and the beauty that she brings into our house and how she looks at things and how she's creating different rooms and environments, and I'm like, I would have never thought about that. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:25.759 That that does not, that's not where my mind goes, but when I go into that room and I can see her hand and fingerprints on things, it draws me in it because it's her, and I love her, and I'm and I'm drawn and attracted by her beauty in that way, and now she's she's putting that in my house, and I can see God's reflection in all of that. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.000 We did have an interesting, funny conversation about the different shades of white. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:32.480 This is a true thing. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:38.879 And I'm looking down, and she has this, she's on the table, she spreads out this color palette, and she's like, What do you think about this white? 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:40.559 I'm like, it's pretty white. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.279 And then she comes over here, she's like, but this one's a little more subtle. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:48.399 There's some picking up some tans and the little hint of yellow, and I'm like, looks pretty white, you know? 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.960 And I'm like, you know, most guys are pretty much colorblind, so white's white to me. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.600 And then, and then so then she comes all the way to the other side. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.559 She's like, but this is kind of a warmer tone, and it kind of cools it off. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:03.360 And I'm going, If you if you say so, I mean, you're kind of the expert on the white color scale. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.919 I mean, blue's blue, green's green, and white is white. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.519 But I mean, there was like a hundred choices of white at the end of the day. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.320 And so that was fun to kind of go through that. 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:16.399 And these as we understand even more about each other's personalities. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:18.639 Jump into verse three. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:27.679 They speak without a sound or word, their voice is never heard, yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.240 Point two, God's love is for everyone. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:36.720 The whole earth shares in the splendor for all to see, and no one is excluded from its message. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.240 Generations of humanity have shared the same sky. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:41.360 I thought about this. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:46.960 I don't know my great-great-grandfather, but I know that he saw the same sky that I see today. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.120 And there's a connection there. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:56.240 There's a connection that we have with the people that walked before us, because they too got to partake in God's humanity. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.080 We have this in common with our ancestors, families, and friends who are now gone. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:04.799 Our children's children will have the same majesty to behold if the Lord tarries. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:12.720 So our great-grandchildren will look up at the sky and see God's mystery and wonder and be drawn in too with their hearts if they allow it. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:28.879 And so there's something universal about sharing this sky here in the United States, in Colorado, Colorado Springs, that people in Beijing, China can also participate in and feel God's delight and love and invitation into his wonder and kingdom. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:36.240 I was talking with Ricky Bobby right before the service, and we're kind of talking about our favorite like animals in nature. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:42.159 And um, a couple years ago I gave a little devo at Tuesday morning about elephants and all that. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:43.679 And he's like, Is that still your thing? 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:48.080 Like, I mean, I dig elephants, they're pretty cool, um, especially as we learn more about them. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:49.919 But he's like, I'm a bear guy, I'm kind of like a wolf guy. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:50.960 And I'm like, well, that makes sense. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.000 I mean, like, I can totally see the bear and wolf thing there, it's good. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.000 And then uh he's like, is that still your thing? 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:57.360 The owl, you know, the elephants? 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.720 And I was like, you know, I mean, I've always been a little fascinated with owls. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.440 They're kind of weird, uh, they're mysterious. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.879 And I don't mean like the whole like pagan owl thing, like with the shape of DC. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:09.279 I'm not like talking about Moloch and all the owl stuff. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:12.080 I'm saying just the owl in nature itself. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:18.159 It's kind of a cool nighttime predator, it's got a lot of cool things, its head swivels, which I think is wild all the way around. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.960 I mean, I like to see what I look like from the back. 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:29.120 It does, it does all that, and so we're walking out, we're moving out of our house, and the thing that I probably missed the most about the old neighborhood was all the wildlife. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:36.720 And I walk out and we're just moving, and there's this tree right in front of our um deck, which is where we hung out. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:38.080 I mean, we hung out in the front yard. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:39.120 It was kind of NASCAR. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:39.840 I liked it. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:48.879 And we would sit on the front yard in the front deck, and in this big tree in front of us, there was this uh decent branch, and there were four owls just sitting there. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.080 I mean, we were probably 30 feet from them, if that. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:15:00.480 And we walked up and they just they just sat there and they let us get pretty close, and we got to take some pictures, but there were four owls, and I was like, whoa, that was like really cool. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:06.159 Like God knew that that was gonna bless me as I was saying goodbye to the wilderness of this. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:23.360 I mean, we where we live now is a pretty much an urban community and and neighborhood, and that's cool, but it doesn't have the same wildlife, and I'm not interacting with with God and nature in the same way that I used to, but these owls were just lined perfectly, and they were looking at me, and it was kind of it was kind of cool, it was kind of intimidating because I was outnumbered. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:24.639 They had me four to one. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.759 I was like, whoa, and then all my kids were running out and checking them out too. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:29.519 But um, that's how he shows up. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:37.919 It's these little moments in our creation, our design where we get to connect with him, and it was him just saying, like, hey, this has been a good time here. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:50.240 And I was like, Thank you, God, for just this opportunity to be here in nature with you, with our family, bringing kids up and watching lynx in the backyard and black bears everywhere, and deer like dogs in your front yard. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:56.559 I mean, it was just, you know, like we had to shoo them out, but that's that's how it is over there. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:57.440 All right. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.919 Number five, it bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:03.360 Sorry, I back up. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:05.840 God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:07.279 Missed that part. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.960 The sun, this is critical. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.960 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:17.120 It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.759 Third point is God is constant. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:26.240 With every sunset, night sky, and sunrise, we are reminded of God's constant care over us. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:36.320 If our world, if we woke up one day and the sun did not rise or the sun did not set, we would instantly go into panic. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:37.919 But yet we take it for granted. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:47.519 We kind of live our lives by we're like, okay, it's sundown, it's time to eat, sunrise, probably time to eat, and then we live our day and the sun shine, and then it goes down, and then the sky comes out. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:58.799 But so quickly, because of our pace and our schedule, if we're being honest, we don't stop long enough and linger in the majesty of God's creation, the beauty that's there. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:12.079 I think about all the colors of a sunset and where we've had those opportunities in the desert, on mountain lakes, over a river stream where it starts to fall behind the canyon, and then in the mornings where it's coming up over the sun. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.279 I mean, we had some of the most amazing sunsets in Arizona. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:24.880 And I don't know what it is about the elevation, the thin air, there's like not a lot of moisture down there, but the colors that come out in a desert sunset are just captivating. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:26.079 It's like everything. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:32.000 And you're like, you're getting, you know, in that moment, you're getting a picture of God's perfect perfection. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:37.920 It's his perfection in creation, it's his fingerprint, and it draws you in if you just linger for a moment. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:40.480 And then we would see down there, hot air balloon culture. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.240 They would launch hot air balloons in the morning, and then they would have the nighttime thing. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:48.799 And so people were trying to get up and around and experience the sun rises and the sun sets down there. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:53.119 And you could always see hot air balloons in the distance wherever you were driving around in Phoenix. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:54.400 That was really cool. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:01.039 So he's constant, and we're drawn into the moments that are fleeting but are completely beautiful. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.559 And we think about those right now. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:16.160 If you guys were to think about some of the best moments, whether you're on the beach with your beloved, maybe you're with your your brothers in the mountains, and you're just you're drawn in even for that moment, and you're reminded. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:23.599 You're reminded, and like everything stops, bills, tax season, you know, where the kids are gonna go to college, how's the 529 plan? 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:25.039 How's my 401k? 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:26.079 All that stuff, right? 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.200 You pause for a minute, and all that stuff just fades away. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.119 And God is drawing you back in. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:32.720 And that's what David is talking about here. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:34.240 He's being drawn in. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:42.319 The sole connection to the truth that this beauty speaks about, our creator and his affinity towards us, his pinnacle of creation. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:50.880 Sunrises also captivate our souls, and the warmth of the heat on a very crisp fall morning, kiss our face, the warmth of it. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:19:07.039 So, one more brief hunting story is where we go up, we sit in this kind of ravine, and there's this um there's this saddle to where you can sit on one side of the hill, and then the animals typically will run down uh through the valley, and you can sit on the other side of the hill. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:13.599 But where we sit so that first shots and first light aren't in our face, we have to sit to where the sun's coming over us. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.880 So we get to see the sun long before it hits us. 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:26.000 And we're generally in place around five in the morning, and it's crisp and it's cold, and we're at elevation, and it's you know, middle of October up there, it's it's pretty cold. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.960 And you're just sitting there and you're waiting and you're waiting. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.759 And we've done this year after year, and we're both like Sam and I are sitting there and we're like kind of just shivering. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.160 We're like, it's gonna come, sun's gonna come soon. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:44.240 And you're like, you know, trying to get warm, you're thinking about the warmth, and then the sun, you see it come over behind you, and you start to see it on the hill. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:20:20.480 And then you see the sun line, the shadow start to come towards you, and come towards you, and come towards you, and come towards you, and then finally, by the time it hits you, you can actually at one point sit there on the side of the hill, and everything looks warm and nice, and you can still see frost right in front of you, and you're like, it's coming, it's coming, and then the sun comes and it warms everything up and the frost melts off, and then you feel it, like you feel it all the way through your bones, in your in your skin, and your in your hunting, like your your coat gets warm, and then you start to get actually kind of hot, and you're like, oh, the feeling of heat and warmth. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:25.039 And there's this this this moment of the sun and the value of it. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.960 But we take it for granted when it rises and sets sometimes. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.640 But I challenge us here today. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.079 Let us be more intentional with when we see the sun rise. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.279 What is that saying to your heart? 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:36.799 What is that saying about who you are? 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.119 What is that saying about God's love over you? 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:41.519 And you feel that warmth on your skin. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:43.599 It's the warm embrace of the Father. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:45.039 It's the warm embrace of the Father. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:50.559 We as children never feel more loved growing up than when we have love and affection from our parents, right? 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:57.519 That's when you feel the most a part of the family, and you're like, I am a child in this house, like I have a place, I have a part here to play. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.519 I'm part of something as a family. 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:07.440 When we have those moments in creation and God's design, that's when he too is showing up for us and loving us in that place. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.359 And we're like, oh, okay, wait a minute. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:10.400 I am a child of God. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:12.079 I am a beloved creation. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:23.839 In fact, I know what Paul says now that there's no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus, and nothing in all of his creation will ever separate me from his love because his creation was made to show me his love. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:32.720 But we forget about it and we walk through creation and we miss it time and time again, and he's always laying out like gifts for us, he's always laying it out. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:40.960 He wants to remind us of our value, our beauty, his belovedness over us, and we'll walk by it, we'll step over it, we'll miss it, we'll get distracted. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.680 And we miss that inner part of our hearts where he's trying to connect with us. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:59.759 David switches gears here, and we move out of the in the middle of the chapter, but from verses seven to nine, there's six points about the qualities of Christ, the qualities of God in our lives, and he brings them. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.480 To he brings them right to the forefront about these are foundational pivotal points. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.839 Bedrock, I'm talking like bedrock, this is a cement. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:10.640 You guys build houses, you put the foundation down. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:16.240 These six points from verses seven through nine, these are the foundational pieces. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:26.400 And as we go through them, I'm gonna have you highlight or circle the specific words that are the qualities of God that David is highlighting as he speaks the declaration over our hearts. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:32.079 We know God by his creation, and now we're gonna know him by his word, the very written word of God here. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:33.680 He is self-revealing in his word. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:36.720 And so in verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:41.200 Converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.960 Making wise is simple. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:44.079 Let's pause here. 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:48.960 Next point, and I would say circle, underline if you're in your Bibles, perfect. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.240 7a. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.400 7B, the testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:56.559 Circle highlight, sure. 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.599 God's laws were designed perfectly for our souls and refreshment for us. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:07.359 There's something here that when we think about God, we get confused and we mix them up with our own parents. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:13.680 And so laws, restriction comes to mind, like, oh man, we're being like covered, we're like, oh, this is rough. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.319 No, no. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:19.680 What he's saying here is that the law of the Lord is perfectly designed for us. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.799 It actually refreshes our souls. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:40.960 When we follow his design for us, which we were created by his design, and then he sets up these laws, we call them laws, it feels a little bit heavy-handed, but when we live inside of those, it actually rejuvenates and refreshes our souls, the internal part of us, the part that lives on and goes forever. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:47.440 We were created as eternal creatures, but very often, very far too often do we ever actually think about eternal things. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:50.240 We're caught up in the moment with what's in front of us. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.160 And God's saying, No, no, no. 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.240 Let me give you more of an eternal perspective. 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:55.440 This is temporary. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:56.799 You're not staying here forever. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.799 There's a much bigger story and a much bigger picture that you will go into. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:08.319 And so his laws are perfect and convert the uh that they they are refreshing to our souls, New King James, converting the soul. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.480 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise is simple. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:16.400 Uh, next point under that is God's testimony gives us wisdom. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:21.680 We can put our trust in it because of the very nature of him and who he is. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:28.640 When we read Proverbs and we look at Solomon's life and the wisdom that he gives us, this play-by-play. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:36.799 And our family, we've started this habit where in the last several years we'll go through Proverbs three or four times a year just digesting and digesting. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:38.799 And it doesn't matter to me, I will just say this. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:43.519 It doesn't matter how many times I go through it, I'm still always picking up nuggets. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.680 I have not arrived, and I don't plan to ever arrive until I get to the other side. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:57.839 But Solomon is still speaking to me about everything in this world that we face, in the world of finance, temptation, our mouth. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.759 How much does he talk about what we say about our mouth and being ignorant as a fool? 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:07.200 There's so much in there, and yet I still catch myself walking around and talking and sounding like a fool. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.920 And I've and I've read Proverbs again and again and again. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.359 I'm like, okay, sometimes a little bit harder to get in there, I guess, for me. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:23.440 But picking this up, and it's his wisdom that takes us from being simple to a deeper understanding of his mysteries of his kingdom in the areas of wisdom. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:29.359 Number eight, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:31.599 Underline, highlight right. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:38.720 When we abide by God's kingdom regulations, they align our heart with his and they bring us joy. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.079 Think about the Ten Commandments that he gives Moses and those people. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.559 This is this is where David's going with this. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:53.839 They step out of bounds so many times, even in the middle of them trying to get out of the wilderness into the land of milk and honey, and they're stuck. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.799 He goes up to give the Ten Commandments, comes down, and sees Aaron participating with the golden calf. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:01.519 And he's like, he destroys, he destroys God's laws. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.960 But we know in the story that God is putting these out there. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:13.359 That when we do that, just like our soul was refreshed, now our hearts rejoice when we can stand in the statutes. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:22.240 These are time-tested, concrete statutes of the Lord, that when we can stand in that, our heart is full, our heart is pure, our heart is good. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:28.880 Then he goes on, the second part of eight the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:33.839 God's commandments are pure light for our eyes to see situations in their true form. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.160 They illuminate the truth for us. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.839 The commandments of the Lord are doing that. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:52.400 And when I think about that, when I read this chapter, and I was kind of going over that again and again, I started to think about this time, and you guys remember in Lord of the Rings, Frodo's on his journey, he gets the light, the pure star light from the Lady of the Realm, right? 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:59.440 So to bring light wherever there is no light, pure light to see when all other lights go out. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:01.519 And I think that's what God is saying here to us. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:12.799 He's like, listen, when you stand in my commandments, if you can step out of the world's understanding, out of your sinful nature in that time, and you can align yourself with me, you're gonna see the field in a whole different way. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:19.440 You're gonna see the landmines of the enemy, and I'm gonna give you light for your eyes to see the path, and I'm gonna make crooked paths straight. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:24.799 And he's always making crooked paths, he's always making straight paths with crooked sticks. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:28.400 Josh gave me that one this week. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:29.039 It's good. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:30.000 I was like, dude, I like that. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:31.359 I'm gonna recycle that man. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:33.359 Um, and he does, that's what he does. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:43.920 We're crooked sticks, but when we align ourselves with God's truth and his commandments and his statutes, we become straight, and he straightens out our paths, and then we have light on that. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:51.599 And you've heard me say this before, but he never gives us the like tractor beam from the place that we're at right now to our personal finish line. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:28:00.559 When we're done with this world, when we're done with this journey, and we graduate to the final destination of our glory and eternity and righteousness, he doesn't give us that complete playbook. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:03.119 In fact, his scripture says he's only lighting my path. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.759 It's like this lantern, this lamp unto my feet. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:14.160 You guys have been in the woods, you could only see a few steps in front of you because he knows that we'll screw it up if we get the whole, you know, the whole tractor beam of the whole journey. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:15.119 We're gonna blow it. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:17.200 It's just it's just what we do. 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:18.720 Wish it was different. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.000 Wish we could get, I want the whole tractor beam, but I know I would blow it. 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:24.799 Because I would have to at some point think that my way was better. 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.119 And so he's always working through us. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:31.440 Chapter or verse 9, and this is where he lands the plane, and I love this. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:34.799 This is for me on the qualities of God. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:37.359 Again, we're touching on the fear of the Lord. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:39.279 The fear of the Lord is clean. 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:41.519 I looked at a lot of different translations of that. 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:46.559 New King James says clean, and I like that, and it endures forever. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:53.519 Fearing the Lord in us produces clean hands, a clean heart, and a clean mind. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:58.079 It will sustain us through our trials and hardships when we fear the Lord. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:08.559 And the fear of the Lord, for the way that I've come to define it in my own life, is being out of the will, abundance, mercy, and love of God by my sinful nature. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:12.880 When I choose, this is a choice I make to step out of that. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:19.599 And I step away from God's covering mercy and grace and love, and I make sinful decisions in my life. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:21.519 I'm not fearing God. 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:25.200 Not that what he's gonna do to me, and that my sin has consequences. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:30.480 I mean, those are the things in their very nature and the and the design and the equity of God's kingdom. 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:31.680 That happens anyways. 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:38.799 But the fear of being far from him, the fear of, and we hear David cry out, God, I don't see you, I don't feel you, I don't know you, where are you at? 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:44.640 Lord, time and time again, he's asking for God to come and come back and give him that rescue. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:51.359 When we stay in the fear of the Lord, because we desire to stay in that place where he is over us. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:55.920 We're loving, he's loving us, we're experiencing him, we are in that perfect place. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:57.440 I think that's the fear of the Lord. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:04.640 The judgments of the Lord are true, and I would also circle true and then highlight righteous all together. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:07.440 The judgments of the Lord are true. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:08.960 He doesn't make wrong judgments. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:19.279 When we get up and we stand before him, and it's just me and God, it's just you and God, and he's laying the book open, everything he's gonna say about you is true. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:25.119 There's nothing false in his book as he sends and he's like, All right, let's look at the resume. 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.279 How'd you spend your years down there? 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:28.559 Uh-huh. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:32.079 Yep, okay, got offline there, got really out of bounds there. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:36.400 But oh yeah, I see, yeah, this is where you turn to me, this is where you called on my son. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:37.599 Oh, yeah, great. 00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:45.440 And so his judgments are pure, they are righteous, and there's gonna be no debate, there's no argument, that's gonna be a one-sided conversation. 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:47.359 We won't really get a chance to open up. 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.119 Does the defense have a reply? 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:55.920 Not really, because it's all right there, and we're just gonna get the resume of our lives, and so how are we spending those moments? 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:02.000 Now we don't spend them out of fear, we should spend them out of love and fullness, because that's what he has for us. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:06.720 God's perception and discernment are true, they encompass his righteousness. 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.640 The last point on nine. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:21.759 He goes on to say that based on these six things, seven things, if you circled the righteous and the truth, they are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:25.920 They are sweeter than honey, even the dripping from the honeycomb. 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:31.039 They are a warning to your servant, and a great reward for those who obey them. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:34.000 So he's out of love. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.119 This isn't a surprise to us because he's putting it out there. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:42.480 This shouldn't be a surprise to where when we show up, we're like, well, I didn't know that was ever, I didn't know that was the expectation of me. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:43.839 I didn't know that's what you meant. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:55.279 He's laying it out in his word, and he's saying, This is who I am, and this is who I want to be in your life, and if you do this, your servant, be warned by this, but then also there's a reward by stepping into this. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:03.279 Last point on that is there's nothing more valuable nor rewarding on this earth than the knowledge and understanding of God's ways. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:16.559 As we step into the full aspect and beauty of the sonship and the adoption that we have when we accept him in, and he calls us sons and daughters, we get this reward and journey of knowing him. 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:20.559 We know his great forgiveness, his great refreshment, his mercies. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:26.880 Where he wipes it all away and he calls us white as snow because his son has done the blood over us. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.519 And he doesn't see that in us anymore. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:33.279 He just sees us as a loving father who wants his children to get it right. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:36.720 We as parents want our kids to do it better than we did. 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:43.039 We want them to not have to step in the same landmines, miss the heartache, miss the pain that this world can give us. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:50.000 And we and we desperately try to give that communication, that message in many different ways so that they will hear our hearts. 00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:51.359 And that's what God's saying to us. 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:59.519 He's saying the same thing in the same ways like, I want you to hear my heart for you, because you don't have to experience that pain, that disappointment. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.200 There's a better way. 00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:02.720 It's in my word. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:05.680 Follow me, come to me, I'll meet with you anytime. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.480 We are designed to desire this knowledge. 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:17.279 We were created with a void and a deep longing to fill that void in our hearts and minds and souls with a lifetime pursuit of God's heart. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:19.039 And that's what we see, David. 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:27.839 God gave us David as a lifetime example for a young man to a sage who ran after God's heart and pursued his kingdom mysteries. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.480 He desperately just wanted to be face to face with God. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:31.519 He wanted to see his face. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:34.799 He wanted to be in that sonship and feel that delight over him. 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:41.519 God is continually rewarding us along the way as we journey the adventure and pursue his heart. 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:45.920 We know God's self-revelation by our own hearts. 00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:47.440 Verse 12. 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.440 See, this is the thing. 00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:53.359 I'm talking about sin and the decisions that we make, the free choice that we have. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:55.039 David's very much aware of that. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:57.200 And he goes even one step further. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.480 How can I know all the sin lurking in my heart? 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:02.640 Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:05.920 This is where he invites God into his imperfection. 00:34:06.079 --> 00:34:12.559