Psalm 19

Psalm Chapter 19, If God Exists, There Psalm Chapter 19, If God Exists, There Should Be Evidence, bibliographic tests, Should Be Evidence, bibliographic tests,

Empirical, forensic, historic scienceEmpirical, forensic, historic science

BIBLE IN FIVEPastor Dave KooyersValley Bible FellowshipBox 433Boonville CA 95415http://www.slideshare.net/dkooyers www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org

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Matthew 10:8 …Freely you received, freely give.

When I consider your heavens, the work of When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you

care for him? Ps 8:3-4 care for him? Ps 8:3-4

When you read that verse, do you really When you read that verse, do you really believe that everything is the “the work believe that everything is the “the work

of His fingers”?of His fingers”?I’ve got a treat for you today! But first…I’ve got a treat for you today! But first…

The Heavens Declarethe Glory of God

How Does That Apply To Us?

This NASA Picture Has Been Called “The Eye Of God”

Please open your Bibles to Psalm 19

God’s Witness in Psalm 19

• Psalm 19 is Divinely divided into 2 sections;– Vs. 1-6, Witness of God’s World– General revelation– Vs. 7-14, Witness of God’s Word– Special revelation

Psalm 19:1, The Work Of His Hands

• NAU Psalm 19:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Testimony Of God’s Work

• NAU Psalm 19:1 …The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse [the firmament, expanse, sky] is declaring the work of His hands.

• I brought in an actual piece of His work!• Here is one of God’s rocks.• If this was the only piece, how could we

explain it’s existence.

“If something exists now, then Something exists necessarily.”

• If there was a time when there was absolutely nothing in existence.

• What would be in existence now? • Absolutely nothing. You cannot get something from

nothing. Nothing produces No thing.• The world does exist (and it is passing away), that

demands that there has to be something that has always existed. And, that Something must be self existent. An uncaused cause, an uncreated Creator, a First Cause.

• The universe exists, is dying a heat death, is expanding, had a beginning. It is an “effect” and therefore had to have a cause.

4 Explanations for This Rock

• I believe there are only 4 possible explanations for this rock.

• I.C.E.S • No that’s not how we spell the plural of “ice”• 1. Illusion• 2. Eternally existent• 3. Self existent• 4. Created

4 Explanations for This Rock

• 1. Illusion• Absolutely no evidence for your existence as just

an illusion. Or that we share dreams.• An illusion requires a sender and a receiver. An

illusion can’t be to just itself. Illusions don’t have illusions. Only minds have illusions.

• Where do illusions come from? Who generates, coordinates, and sends them?

• Christian Science, Eastern Religions, Word Faith

4 Explanations for This Rock• 1. Illusion

• 2. Eternally existent• Norm Geisler presents “S.U.R.G.E.”• Second Law• Universe is expanding• Radiation echo• Great mass of matter• End of infinite time is impossible

4 Explanations for This Rock• 1. Illusion

• 2. Eternally existent• The first cause must be immutable, the entire

universe is changing, therefore it can't possibly be eternal. It would have already changed completely and died a heat death.

• It is logically impossible that time could be passing, and still be eternal. It would have already passed away in eternity past.”

• NAU Malachi 3:6 "For I, the LORD, do not change…

4 Explanations for This Rock• 1. Illusion• 2. Eternally existent

• 3. Self existent• This is a logical contradiction, requiring existence before

existence. “It” must be, before “it” is.• The “Big Bang” doesn’t help. It is impossible for sterilized

water and hot rock to become a tomato. Let alone a farmer or philosopher. Mutation and survival of the fittest, only remove or destroy genetic code. Evolution has no means to write or increase genetic information. It is deductive and destructive. Birth defects!

• If nothing ever existed, then nothing would be.• Do you know what “nothing” is?• Aristotle said, “Nothing” is what rocks dream about.”

Is The Cosmos Self Existent?

• Carl Sagan used to always say,• “The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will

be.”• Self Existence and Eternally Existent• Blind faith in why there is something rather

than nothing

“If you exist, then Something exists necessarily.”

• You are not self existent, eternally existent, or an illusion, therefore you require a First Cause who has personhood, is more powerful than your “terrarium” and is self existent.

• I “am” therefore God/First Cause exists.• I will have to paraphrase this, Ravi Zacharias

was once asked by a college student, “How can I prove that I exist?”

• Ravi 's answer was “Who shall I say is asking?”

4 Explanations for This Rock

• So, the universe is real (not imagined). It had a beginning, will end, so it cannot be eternal. It is an effect, requiring a cause, and could not have caused itself before it was.

• 1. Illusion• 2. Eternally existent• 3. Self existent

• 4. Created

I.C.E.S.• The universe is contingent, dependent, derived, not self-

existent, had a beginning, and is going to end. What started this effect?

• A big bang requires a Big Banger. Nothing bangs without a cause. Gases expand with 600 times more force than their gravity exerts on each other in attraction.

• Empirical science cannot answer the question of how all space, time, matter, and energy started. Because we cannot set up an experiment and start multiple universes, to test our theory.

• Single events in the past require forensic, or historic science. We examine the physical evidence, eyewitness testimony, and recorded information. The Bible passes the 3 bibliographic tests. (S.P.A.M.S), Science, Prophecy, Archeology, Manuscripts, Statistical Probability

I.C.E.S., The Bible Declares A Creator • The Creator of the universe must be self-existent, immutable,

omnipotent, alive, and a person. Also, outside of, and independent of, the time, space, material universe.

• Manmade gods whether of wood or stone, or of the philosophies and religions of men are not the God of creation.

• The God of the Bible is the only Creator of all things, and His Word declares it;

• NAU Isaiah 43:10…understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 "I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me… [Deuteronomy 4:35, Isaiah 44:8, 1 Samuel 2:2, Psalm 86:8]

• NAU Isaiah 46:9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done…

Testimony Across Time

• NAU Psalm 19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

• Gen 1:16-19 God made two great lights…the fourth day.

• Gen 1:27-31 God created man in his own image… the sixth day.

• Every human is accountable

Testimony Across Languages

• NAU Psalm 19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.

• Acts 17:25-28 neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist…

Testimony Across Distance

• NAU Psalm 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

• How far?

Testimony Across Distance

• If a trip of 1,000 miles cost $.01• A trip to the moon would cost $2.38• A trip to the sun would cost $930• A trip to the nearest star would cost

$260,000,000• NAU Psalm 8:3 When I consider Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;

Ps 19:4 Their Line?

• NAU Psalm 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth…

• <06957b> ו )qav )876a ַק�• Meaning: a line…• Usage: circumference*(1), line(16),

measuring line(3).• DLK adds, we use a “measuring line” to test,

evaluate, and as a witness of straightness.

Testimony Everywhere The Sun Shines

• NAU Psalm 19:6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

• There is no place you can hide.• NAU Psalm 104:19 He made the moon for the

seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.• NAU Deuteronomy 4:19 …the sun and the moon

and the stars…those which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

Denying Him Deserves Judgment• NAU Job 9:7 Who commands the sun not to shine, And

sets a seal upon the stars; 8 Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea; 9 Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; 10 Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.

• NAU Job 31:26 If I have looked at the sun when it shone Or the moon going in splendor, 27 And my heart became secretly enticed, And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, 28 That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

The Sun, Moon, And Stars Testify

• NAU Psalm 136:7 To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: 8 The sun to rule by day, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, 9 The moon and stars to rule by night, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

• NAU Psalm 19:4 …through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world…

If You Have Seen The Sun

• If the sun has shined on you, you are accountable for it’s testimony about God.

• If you saw a burning bush it would only be natural, logical, and scientific to assume there was someone/something that caused the burning.

• It would be unnatural, illogical, and unscientific to assume there was no one/nothing that caused the burning.

Psalm 19:1b, Cause & Effect

• Psalm 19:1 …The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

• Every work must have a worker.• Paintings have painters.• Buildings have builders.• Every effect must have an adequate cause.

Isaiah 45 Identifies The First Cause

• NAU Isaiah 45:12 "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.

• NAU Isaiah 45:5 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God…6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, 7 The One forming light and creating darkness… [Isaiah 45:18,22-25, Job 12:7-12]

A First Cause Is Required

• Powerful• Personal• Provider• Apart from the Effect• Our DNA is an error correcting, digital code. Digital

code requires a sender and a receiver, a method of communicating, an agreed upon protocol. Paul Revere's ride encompassed all that in simple code.

• The requirement of a First Cause is so basic and essential that….

Men Are Without Excuse

Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

NAU Jeremiah 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name:

Innocent Native Rhetorical ?’s• NAU Romans 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON

THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."• 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they

have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

• NAU Romans 10:18 But I say, surely they have never heard, have they?

• Indeed they have; "THEIR VOICE HAS GONE OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD."

God’s Witness in Psalm 19• Psalm 19 is Divinely divided into 2 sections;

– Vs. 1-6, Witness of God’s World– General revelation

–Vs. 7-14, Witness of God’s Word–Special revelation–NAU Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is

perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Witness of God’s Word

• God’s Word says;• NAU Psalm 19:8 The precepts of the LORD are

right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

• You may be asking, “Well, what else does God’s Word say?”

Nothing in all creation is hidden Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is from God's sight Everything is

uncovered and laid bare before uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must the eyes of him to whom we must

give account. Heb 4:13give account. Heb 4:13

Rom 3:23Rom 3:23for all have sinned and fall short for all have sinned and fall short

of the glory of God,of the glory of God,

Rom 6:23Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death, For the wages of sin is death,

but the gift of God is eternal but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 1:12John 1:12Yet to all who received him, to Yet to all who received him, to

those who believed in his those who believed in his name, he gave the right to name, he gave the right to

become children of Godbecome children of God

Since men are without excuse.Since men are without excuse.

What will you say on Judgment What will you say on Judgment Day? Day? What will you say today? What will you say today?

Now Is “The Day Of Salvation”

• NAS 2 Corinthians 6:1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--

• 2 for He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you"; behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation "--

In ConclusionIn Conclusion• When you are

questioned about God’s existence remember the ICES caps on our world;

• 1. Illusion• 2. Created• 3. Eternally existent• 4. Self existent

THE ENDTHE END• Psalm 19, The World and the Word