Psalms and Psalm 19, Alistair Begg

Highlights and take-aways from Alistair Begg's thoughts on Psalm 19--one thing I appreciate about Begg is that his messages are thoughtfully crafted, including both classic and contemporary examples.  He presents his messages with gravity, a touch of humor, and humility--a winsome spirit.

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2017 was the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Luther's "conscience was captive to the Word."

Begg urges that Luther's introduction to the psalms is worth contemplating in full.  He shares an excerpt from it:

"There is no book of the Bible to which I have devoted as much labor as to the Psalms, and yet, I must openly admit that I do not know whether I have the accurate interpretation of the psalms or not. The Spirit reserves much for Himself so we may always remain His pupils.  There is much that He reveals only to lure us on, much that He gives only to stir us up.  I know that a person would be guilty of the more shameless boldness if he dared claim that he understood even one book of the scripture in all its parts.  In fact, who would even dare to assert that anyone has completely understood one single psalm." -Martin Luther

Begg goes on to share this pithy reminder:

"Remember that the main things are the plain things and the plain  things are the main things.  The Bible doesn't tell us everything about everything, but it tells us how we can view everything."

C.S. Lewis on Psalm 19:  "The greatest poem in the psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world."

Breaks into two parts: 
Revelation--verses 1-11
Response--verses 12-14

or three: 
Revelation of God in His world, verses 1-6
Revelation of God in His Word, verses 7-11
Revelation of God in His worshiper, verses 12-14

Begg's friend views it as a three-fold Invitation:

1. Look up, look to the skies
2. Look down, look to the scriptures
3. Look in, look to yourself.

The Begg makes the connection between Paul in Romans 1 and Psalm 19. 

"The quest for meaning is an understandable quest." -Alistair Begg

Great distinction:

"The idea that you can go up a mountain or sit by a stream or gaze up at the universe and get the answer to these questions is unfounded and is ungrounded because God's Majesty in creation, God's revelation in creation, is sufficient to leave us without excuse when we suppress the truth, but God's revelation in creation is insufficient in bringing us to an understanding of His saving purposes in the person of His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ.  And that takes His Word."  -Alistair Begg

For this reason, the psalm connects from the creation to the Word at the end:

"The law of the Lord is perfect."

"We must make a great difference between God's Word and the word of man.  A man's word is a little sound which flyth into the air and soon vanishes, but the word of God is greater than heaven and earth.  Yeah, it is greater than death and hell for it is the power of God and remains so everlastingly.  Therefore we are diligently to learn God's word and we must know certainly and believe that God Himself speaks with us."  -Martin Luther

Begg elaborates upon this quote and connects it to his prior assertion pointedly:

"In other words, it takes God's revelation in His Word, brought home by His Spirit to the heart of a man or woman, to then look at God's revelation in His works, and to declare as the psalmist declares, "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Be confident in efficacy and sufficiency of God's Word.

His closing prayer:

"God our Father, thank you that Your Word is fixed in the Heavens, that Your Word accomplishes its purposes.  Otherwise, why would we ever spend the time like this, just to listen to a monologue?  Lord, we long so much that you will conduct that dialogue withiin our hearts, showing us ourself and showing us our Savior and making the book live to us.  Help us to this end.  We pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen."