Our Great God
In our world today, God is portrayed in many different ways. It all depends on your context. Some would say that God is an angry, vengeful God who demands certain lifestyles and if not wields the rod of judgment and oppression. Others would say he is a God of love, grace, and mercy. But he doesn’t care all too much about sin and evil. He accepts all people no matter what and is loving and accepting of all who walk on the earth. Some would say there are many paths to God, that religion in all different forms all point to the same God and the same way.
Today, I want to dive deep into Psalm 19 and the powerful truths of who God really is. This is God’s word, it is truth! Outside of it, we cannot find what real truth is. Outside of the Bible we can’t discover who God himself is. I want us all to walk away with a true awe of who God is. I want to establish truth about who he is and ultimately come to the realization that he deserves our worship. He deserves our all. The main idea is this: do you know who your God is? And do you live like that is true?
We need to know the truth and live in the reality of that truth. Because if we don’t, we are living in the reality that something else is true. We are living in the reality that God isn’t God, we are serving something or someone else. It is incredibly important that we know who God is, and it is equally as important to follow up that knowledge and belief with action.
Our God is Big
Expositors Bible Commentary: “The alternation of “day” and “night” reveals the constancy of God’s creation. They reveal “knowledge” (GK 1981) in their own distinct “speech.” The “knowledge” is not only knowledge about God but also a special kind, best understood as God’s wisdom, revealed in his creation (cf. Pr 8:22–31). Life on earth depends on the regularity of the sun.”
His beauty and his goodness, his raw power and majesty are all declared in the world around us.
Have you ever had a hard time with the reality that you can’t explain everything about God? That there are some things that are unknown to you about him?
Take for instance the idea that he exists outside of time and matter. That is mind blowing. Or what about some things the Bible isn’t clear on? How exactly is God all-knowing and all powerful and ever present? How does that work specifically?
I find this as a comfort, not a negative. Why? Because if I fully understood every aspect of the God I served and could explain every detail about him in my puny 3 pound brain, that God probably can’t do much can he? He probably isn’t worthy of my worship. He probably can’t handle all my troubles and my salvation and keep the world in order.
It is a comforting thing to know that we have a big God and not a small God. It is comforting to know he holds us and can handle all of the big things in this world.
Expositors Bible Commentary: “The universe is a revelation of God’s creation of the magnificent heavenly bodies, which are characterized by radiance and regularity. The verbs “declare” and “proclaim” express the continuous revelation of the heavens.”
From NASA: “Think about this for a second; it takes us around three days to reach the Moon, approximately seven months to get the closest planet to us, namely Mars, 15 months to reach Venus, six years to reach Jupiter, seven to reach Saturn, 8.5 years to reach Uranus, 9.5 years to reach Pluto – the closest dwarf planet, and twelve years to get to Neptune, the farthest planet.
The Sun is 0.00001581 light-years away, and in the best-case scenario, we could reach it in 25 days. So how big is the Universe? It is around 93 billion light-years. How much is that? Well, let’s think about the Sun again.
The Sun is one astronomical unit (AU) away from us. One astronomical unit is 92,955,887 miles, and in our top shape, we could reach it in 25 days. Now, the Universe is 93 billion light-years across, and one, just one light-year, is equivalent to 63,000 astronomical units. (93 million miles times 63,000)
One light-year is the equivalent to 6 trillion miles, and our Universe is 93 billion light-years in diameter. That’s how big our Universe is, and that’s not even the end of it. The 93 billion years is just the observable Universe, the Universe, which we can currently see. The whole Universe might very well be 250 times larger than the observable Universe, or at least 7 trillion light-years in diameter.”
Isaiah 40:12, Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? God is big. Bigger than we can ever imagine. Trust in Him.
Our God is Wise
Why do we need wisdom? Hosea 4:6, my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
Is anyone interested in some wisdom? I don’t know about you but it’s getting increasingly hard to believe anything these days. Who in here is looking for a trustworthy source for wisdom and truth? Look no further than the creator of not only the universe we just discussed, but also you.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
We live in a very gray world. If life were black and white there would be no need for wisdom. It isn’t that simple, and at times it can be very complicated. So where do we go?
We look to life coaches, YouTube channels, lifestyle guru’s, docuseries, news networks, authors… why don’t we go to the one that actually is the author of wisdom itself? I’ve had people say, “I tried that, God doesn’t say anything.” Be careful, I ask the same question for those responses: what is your devotional life look like?
Don’t say God is silent when your Bible is shut. This is God’s word, to you! Have you prayed and asked God about something? I ask about everything, all the time! I was in a conversation just the other day and someone was asking me something and as it was coming out I just whispered in my heart: “Lord speak to me, give me the words to say, I want to honor you.”
Bring God in, watch your thoughts and your words radically change. You are a culmination of what you fill yourself up with. Is it with Christ? Are you seeking his wisdom? Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.”
Our God is Worthy of Praise
So with these truths in mind, how are you living in response to that? If these realities are true, what is on your lips? If you know how big, how wise, how loving and amazing your God is, do you worship him and honor him like that is true? Do you praise him often? Or are the words that are on your lips and the meditations in your heart negative towards the God that you came to love?
Let me ask a harder question this morning: is church the only place that you sing praises to your God? Is he continually on your lips or on your heart at home? Is he worthy every day or is he worthy only on Sunday morning?
Our words are a great start, let me challenge you further now, how about in the life that you live? Our lives and our actions are acts of worship. The way we go about and treat others, live our lives, and maneuver this thing called life are all acts of worship. Is the God you serve and love proud to claim you are one of his own or embarrassed at some of the actions we have taken?
One of the most famous home runs in World Series history happened on Oct. 1, 1932, during Game 3 of the 1932 Fall Classic. It was the New York Yankees vs. the Chicago Cubs, and the Yankees won the first 2 games at Yankee Stadium. Game 3 was at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Charlie Root was the Cubs pitcher. He would give up a three-run homer to Babe Ruth in the first inning and a solo shot to Lou Gehrig in the third. The Cubbies would score a run in the first, two in the third and another in the fourth. So after four innings the score was tied at 4-4.
In the top of the fifth inning, Joe Sewell led off for the Yankees and grounded out to short. Up next was “The Babe” – already a larger than life figure. As he stepped to the plate, the Cubs’ bench was riding him mercilessly. Babe would yell and gesture back. With the count 2 balls and two strikes, Ruth seemed to point two fingers toward center field. Then he belted the next pitch deep in the center field seats.
I see a lot of talking in church, and not a lot of action. A lot of calling our shot, but not swinging the bat. A lot of talk, and not a lot of feet. That’s why you’ll hear me say “true worship starts on Monday morning.” True worship is who we are when nobody else is around, when we keep our emotions under control, when we guard our mouths and our thoughts. It is easy to give lip service to the God we proclaim to love but do we give him our hearts and our actions as well?
Conclusion
God is big, real big. More than we can even fathom. And the fact that he is so big is such a blessing to us because that means our big things are small things to him. The earth is his footstool according to Isaiah 66. Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. All of it, and we can rest in how big he is.
God is wise. But the beauty and exciting part of this wisdom is the fact that he wants to share that all with us! He wants to bless his children with his wisdom and insight. Proverbs says wisdom calls out to us, begging to be pursued. Will you seek the Lord’s wisdom, or your own?
And my challenge today, is he worthy of your worship? My answer is yes, yes, yes. To worship and serve ourselves or created things is such a waste. Romans 1 warns us of this! Romans 1:22-23, Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Are you worshiping the world or the one who created it? Don’t make the mistake of serving the wrong one.