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[ Silence ] ♪ Guide my feet in peaceful ways ♪ ♪ Turn my midnight into day ♪ ♪ With the clouds ♪

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♪ With the moon ♪ ♪ With open seas ♪ ♪ Of so many wonders ♪ ♪ The sun will go away ♪

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♪ And you'll walk ♪ ♪ All alone ♪ ♪ I sleep at night ♪ [music]

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As we continue our sermon series based on Psalm 1, the 19th Psalm, based on the book of Psalms, the 19th Psalm is our focus today. The eighth verse is the key verse which will serve as the basis for the message. The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

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The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The subject of the message, blessing through a bridal. Blessing through a bridal. Psalm 19 is a song which expresses love for God's law, love for God's law.

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The law is called the Torah, and law may be regarded as a burden, as a curse, something that places us in bondage. The psalmist, however, sees law as a bridle. recognizes that there is a divine blessing that comes through this bridle.

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A bridle is used to keep a horse under control, to give direction. It enables the person who is riding the horse or driving the horse as the case may be to have the horse to go in the desired direction.

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It's it's a part of the paraphernalia so to speak that is placed on the horse and It has the reins connected to it the bit and all of that that

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Makes this possible to keep this animal in check To guide it

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Through dangers seen and unseen What a blessing It's a blessing through a bridal So as we focus our attention on the statues of the Lord,

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we recognize the fact that here in Austin, our church is located just a short distance from the capital where the laws for this state are made. Lawmakers gather here every two years for that purpose.

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Thousands of bills drafted and presented, but only a few of them end up on the law books. There is a story concerning a legislator who came to Austin for the first time to serve his constituency and he decided that he would read all of the bills that were submitted. Some eight to ten thousand bills are submitted and so he soon discovered that that was too

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much and then he decided next that he would try to read all of the bills that were drafted and ended up in his committee. And that had to do with well over 1,000 bills. And that was still too much.

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And he finally decided that he would just read only the bills that he was presenting. So it's always been a difficult task for many people to fall in love with law.

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law, but law is necessary. It is essential to our well-being. There is a deluge of new legislation in this state year after year. Some of it we like, some of it we do not there are good and bad laws. Such is not the case with the law of the Lord. God's law is without fault. Therefore we can praise God for the

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revelation of himself through his law, through the Torah, through established rules through a prescribed and particular mode of conduct for his people. First the psalmist thinks of God's revelation of himself through the world of nature. God reveals himself through natural law.

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to what he says. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth his handiwork. The sky above us with its arched dome,

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the sun that sends its dazzling rays of light and gives warmth to the earth, the moon the silvery queen of the night and the stars that shine in their sockets, yea, the heavens testify concerning the glory of God.

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So when we look at the heavens above, we get a message concerning the goodness and greatness of God. The heavens remain, same sun still shines that was seen by the psalmist who wrote these words thousands of years ago, that sun is

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here for us today. The moon still shines, the stars are still there, they remain. There is a certain constancy when we consider the heavens with all of their beauty, they perform with regularity. their mission remains from year to year, from age to age the same. The heavens, that which is above and beyond us, that which blesses us with light, the heavens, that which gives us warmth, the

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heavens that place that is the source of our water the heavens revealed the glory of God. Immanuel Kant the renowned philosopher said two things fill my soul with all the starry heavens above and the moral law within two things fill my soul with all, the starry heavens above and the moral law within. God manifests

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himself in creation. He said, "Let there be," and it happened. At the utterance of His Word, the heavens were created. God's rule is expressed through natural order. God rules through nature, the Sun, the moon, the stars are works of His fingers. God has firmly established the manner by which the natural order is to function.

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The heavens just didn't happen. They are the results of happenstance. The law governing the heavens is an expression of the divine will. Look at the heavens.

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Heavens declare the glory of God. Now when we consider the heavens, we recognize the fact that heaven assigns and sets bounds for the development of every living thing on earth. Everything we have on earth is affected by the bounds that are set in heaven.

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So you see, as to how much rain we get is determined by what comes down from heaven. to how much sunlight we get, it's determined by what comes down from heaven. So you see, heaven sets the bounds. So the bridle that we have in life is the bridle that comes to us from heaven.

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The law of God comes from heaven and rules the earth. recognized everywhere just as people everywhere you see under the heavens. Heaven just isn't for somebody. The heavens that we're talking about, the sun, moon, stars, no matter what your color, what may be your country, what may be

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your condition or circumstance, all of us are subject to the heavens. That's the law of God. The heavens provide the kind of bridal for all of us So creation, says the Psalmist, glorifies God through his work. The sun, the moon, the stars do what God has told them to do.

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They're not just functioning out there without having had rules and regulations that govern their operation. And there is a divine will that controls the natural order. And if we would look at the natural order, we cannot really look at the natural order without recognizing that there is a mind, there is someone behind it all.

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And the psalmist looks and sees, not only with the natural eye, but he sees with the eye of faith and says that the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows his handiwork. the word of God, the glory of God, the activity of God is reflected in the

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heavens. God spoke and said let there be. It was his word that created the heavens, expression of God's law, his rule, his established order. So the Torah is a special, it's a general, the heavens so to speak, first of all let me say the heavens represent a general revelation of God. If you didn't read the Bible at

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all and just looked at the heavens you ought to recognize that God is. If you look at the beauty of the sunset, you recognize that God is alive in the world. That's a general revelation even for the heathen. That's a general revelation that's bad. Then the psalmist talks about the special revelation and that special

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revelation is that revelation that God has given of himself to his people Israel that God revealed himself in a special way to this nation called Israel. He revealed himself to Abraham. It was a covenant with Abraham and this covenant renewed and God gave the law at Sinai to Moses that this is a very special

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revelation that God somehow chose a special people and this people is to introduce him to the whole world. He says to Abraham, "Abraham, Abraham through you all of the families of the earth are to be blessed." That's a special revelation. How odd of God to choose the Jews.

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I don't understand it, but that's the way God works. He gives his general revelation and he gives his special revelation. Then the psalmist considers this word of redemption, for God has given this word of redemption through his law, keeping his word, being obedient to what God demands.

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God demands something of us, my beloved. He demands something. You know, some people think that you can just do whatever you want to do and God has to take it

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and that somehow we're gonna be all right. No, that's not the case. God has some demands. And every one of us, preacher and pew,

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will be judged by the demands of God. God has his demands and they are stated clearly in his law that even a fool may not err. God has demands, and so he says here that the law of the Lord, whatever God demands,

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the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, that our redemption is perfect. You see, what God has provided, what God has set up as the standard that his law is perfect, converting the soul and the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple, the statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening

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the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." In other words, what God demands is just like gold, no alloy, no foreign matter in it, no

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No error in it. You know, the laws that we make, you have to keep revising them. We have to keep polishing them up because as soon as one law is made, they discover that we didn't cover something in it.

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We had our educational reform bill presented a few months ago, and just as we started implementing it, before that, people began to find out there were flaws in it. We're demanding this and that, and we need to do this, and we need to do that, and we find ourselves continually having new legislation. That's why we keep the

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sessions of our Congress going from time to time, but not so with God's law. It's perfect. It has no imperfection in it. One moment this is legal and the next moment it may be illegal, but not with God. That the The Lord of God that provides for our salvation, the demands that God has for our salvation

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are perfect. They're like gold. We cannot discern many times our own errors. That's the way it is with us.

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We don't even recognize many times our own errors. Sometimes we say something and we discover, "Did I really say that? I didn't recognize that I said that." So we're not many times aware of even our own errors.

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And so we're not many times aware, well, we cannot be, of our hidden faults. Now, there's some faults that all of us have that are hidden from us. Other people see them, but we don't see them. They're hidden, hidden from us.

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That's why the poet Robert Burns say, "Oh, what some gift to give us, the power, the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us. Oh, what the power, the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us." So there are many hidden faults that we may have, faults that we are unaware of, and we

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need God's redemption to save us from ourselves, our hidden faults. We need that. And then he says, as he reads that psalm, he says also that there are presumptuous sins, presumptuous sins.

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See, when they gave the sacrifices in the old order, the Book of Leviticus, there were the hidden faults that you made your sacrifice for, the hidden faults. But then there are the presumptuous sins,

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and those presumptuous sins, for which there was no forgiveness by that system, murder and adultery, those were the two presumptuous sins. Those were premeditated.

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murder, you decide that you're going to kill somebody, so you think about it, you plan, you deliberately carry out the action, murder and adultery. Now David was guilty of both of those, and the court preacher Nathan walked in and told him, pointed the finger and said, "Thou art the man."

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He was guilty of both of those sins, but God somehow in his love and in his mercy covers not only the hidden sins, but he covers the worst, the presumptuous sins. So as he considers God's Word in natural law, God's Word in redemption, what he concludes is with a personal commitment.

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He says, we often use it in our services, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." That's a personal commitment. When you look at the natural order, look at the sun, moon, stars, God revealed himself,

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and then when you consider the statues of the Lord, the word of redemption, his covenant, his special revelation that God has given through his people, but what does it really mean to me? It's a personal commitment. Let that same God who said let there be light and there was light. That same God that said let there be and there was,

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that same God you address him and say Lord let the words of my mouth, in other words I want to be under your control, I want to be guided by your spirit, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable. Take my life and let it be. Consecrated Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in

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ceaseless praise. That's a bridal. It's a bridal when you say to God let you you recognize that you're submitting yourself to the bridal of his demands, but in that bridal is a blessing for every one of us. For it's only when that bridal is upon us, and we say to God, "Let my mind, my heart,

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and all be governed by your spirit," that we can live the life that he has designed for us. And as we come now to the singing of the hymn of invitation, we invite you to accept this God who reveals himself through nature, who reveals himself through his law in the redemption

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of humankind, who reveals himself in the general revelation and the special revelation, to To whom he asked that we will make a personal commitment to him, we ask you to come now, accepting him as Lord of your life, uniting with this church, this family, and seeking to do his will. Saying, "Lord, I want you to put this bridle on me, guide my life."

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I invite you to come. [ Music ] [MUSIC] ♪ To them we owe the deepest of our debts ♪

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♪ And in earth the hardest of debts we sin ♪ ♪ We will all be free ♪ ♪ The Lord be with you ♪ ♪ Be ye ♪

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♪ Godly ♪ ♪ The Lord obey ♪ ♪ Lord, when you lead me ♪ ♪ I cannot stay ♪

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♪ Oh Lord, let me go ♪ ♪ Please let me be ♪ ♪ Leave me alone with me ♪ ♪ I need the Lord ♪

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♪ Oh, you leave me I cannot stay ♪ ♪ Lord, you walk on this heavenly way ♪ ♪ Keep me, O Lord, keep me, O Lord ♪ [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [Music] [Music] (music)

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[BLANK_AUDIO]