We Are God’s Creation

We Are God’s Creation

Psalm 119:73-80

The children version of the Westminster Shorter Catechism opens with the question “Who made you?” The answer, God”

It continues: (2) What else did God make? God made all things. (3) Why did God make you and all things? For his own glory. (4) How can you glorify God? By loving him and doing what he commands

The text we read I will say also answers the question who made you: “Your hands have made and fashioned me” The Psalmist in this Psalm acknowledges God as his Creator. Indeed this is the testimony of the Scripture that God is the Creator of all things including human beings. The first words of the Bible doesn’t argue for the existence of God. It simply introduces him to us: “In the beginning God…” Then everything that follows details out the creation narrative.

This morning I want us to consider what I have titled We Are God’s Creation. I will give you my points as we walk through the text. Now an obvious and straightforward understanding of the text is that God created us and therefore

God is our source of life

Since God made the Psalmist, then we can say, he is acknowledging God as his source of life. He takes his life and breath from God. He exists for the glory of God, because as the Catechism says, the reason for God creating us is that we may glorify him. Indeed if God made us, then it follows that he owns us and we owe our existence to him, therefore we must live in obedience to him. The 100th Psalm, captures this well

Know that the LORD, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name.

We see in this text (i) God made us (ii) We belong to him (iii) He cares for us (iv) and we must thank him.

Now Psalm 119:73 is not only speaking about God as our Creator. But there are other things we can learn from the text. 

The phrase “your hands” signifies the power and authority of God. Whenever Scripture speaks about the hand of God, it is painting a picture of God’s power and rule. Now we should note that, Scriptures uses anthropomorphic words to describe God. So God has not God hands or body parts. But Scripture uses human language to help us in our understanding of God. The hand of God therefore is God’s rule. Further, “your hand has made and fashioned me” signifies a personal involvement in the life of the Psalmist. God is close. God doesn’t just create and leave his people on their own. He cares for us. He guides us. He protects. He watches over us. Your hands have made and fashioned me, therefore points to a personal care God has for his people. Listen to what God told the Israelites

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me

This is a picture of God’s care for his people. The Psalmist therefore acknowledges God as the source of his life. Whoever he is, whatever he has become, God made and fashioned him. 

God as the source of life is not only our physical life. You see, the Bible condemns everyone as a sinner separated from God (Romans 3:23). So while sinners may be alive physically, yet they are dead spiritually and separated from God. They don’t have the life of God in them. And one day, if they don’t repent, the judgement of God will come upon them. So sinners are spiritually dead and they need the life of God which comes through faith in Christ.  

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12)

Now because God is the source of his life, the Psalmist responds in certain ways towards God. He

Sought Wisdom From God

The second line of the verse 73 is simply the Psalmist seeking wisdom from God: “Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.” Because you made and fashioned me, because you created me, because you made me who I am, give me wisdom to live. 

Dear friends, you and I The Psalmist looks to God for understanding. Teach me, guide me, lead me, instruct me. The Psalmist leans on God for understanding.

The word understanding means to discern, to be wise, to gain insight. And where is this insight going to come from? The word of God obviously. You see it clearly in the text: that I may learn your commandments. The wisdom the Psalmist seeks is to learn and know God’s word. 

Showed God’s Glory – God Is Glorified Through Him v.74

As one who acknowledges God as his source, the Psalmist’s life s brings glory to God. That’s the picture of the verse 74: “Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice” This is a life that glorifies God. So in a sense, believers see him and they give glory to God. 

What a life that is. For others to see you and give glory to God. Don’t you want this? That God will be praised because of your godliness, because others see you and they are encouraged. God will be praised because of your love to the saints. God will be praised because of your service to his church. God will be praised because you are a godly example to others. What will other believers take away when they interact with you? Will they see a man or woman who loves God? That is basically what the Psalmist is saying, that people will see him and rejoice. Not rejoice in him, not rejoice in his gifts, but they will rejoice in God.

How cheering is the sight of a man of God! How refreshing his converse! How satisfactory and enlivening is the exhibition of his faith! The goodness of God to one becomes thus the joy and comfort of all. What an excitement is this to close communion with our God, that the light which we thus receive will shine on those around us! What a comfort will it be even in our own hour of temptation, that the hope, which we may then be enabled to maintain in the word of God, shall prove the stay, not only of our own souls, but of the Lord's people (Charles Bridges, An Exposition of Psalm 119)

Steadfast In The Word -- Confidence In God’s Word 

Now related to the Psalmist’s life bringing glory to God is his confidence in the word of God. He is a man of faith. A man who trusts in God’s word: “because I have hoped in your word.” (v.74b). His hope is in the word of God. In the immediate past verse, we saw how precious the word of God is to him (v.72). 

Brethren, do you trust what God has said in his word? Is the word Your joy and delight? The believer must make the word of God their source of trust. 

The word steadfast means unwavering, persistent and committed. This means commitment and confidence in God’s word. You wont move to the left or right. You stay on the word. Look at the verse 75: “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous” 

I know… that is an expression of confidence. An expression of certainty. An expression of hope

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)

We know! This is an expression of certainty, that things always work for good. Are you called? Are you in Christ? Did Christ die to save you from your sins? Have you believed in him? Then have certainty, confidence and hope in his word. 

His rules are righteous! That means he never errs. Whatever he commands is right. He never makes a mistake. That’s God’s word. It is the standard for the believer. It is the roadmap for believers (vv.11;105). The word gives hope, the word gives life, the word keeps us from sin, the word brings us to faith and trust in Christ. The ultimate purpose of the word is to bring sinners to faith in Christ: “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” I once heard Alistair Begg say “the work of God can be done only by the word of God.”

Friends this church will grow by the word. Our lives will be fruitful by the word. Our marriages, our labour in the world, our child raising…everything we do in this life as believers must be grounded on the word. Because his rules are righteous. The believer is not going to flourish on 10 strategies to success, 15 ways to win friends, 5 Steps to prosperity.

Now as someone who works in the corporate world, I must confess I read some of these books to navigate the corporate world. But these things don’t belong to the pulpit. For me personally, if anyone saying these things doesn’t identify as a Pastor, I am fine. But the moment you identify as a Pastor, I don’t expect to hear these from you. My point is that they don’t belong to the church’s pulpit. We can train business executives with that. We can train a salesman chasing a deal with that. But Christ’s pulpit preaches faith and hope in God. Christ’s pulpit preaches the gospel. 

The pulpit of the church is for the proclamation of the good news that Jesus died to save sinners. And that sinners must repent and put their faith in him. It is not that Christ died so that you will be healthy and prosperous.  

Strength In Affliction (v.75b)

If you read through Psalm 119, a certain picture emerges. This Psalm was written by a man in affliction. He had enemies. People were after his life. People were lying against him. People were seeking his destruction. I did a count of the many times he spoke about his affliction. And I counted about 23 times. Perhaps it will be more. But the Psalmist was constantly under affliction and attack. Let me read quickly some of these verses (vv,23,42,50,96, 110, 141). Now in the midst of these afflictions the Psalmist stills finds strength and courage in affliction. 

In fact, he sees his affliction as evidence of God’s faithfulness (v.75b). How can this be? I believe he acknowledges whatever is happening to him, has been allowed by God. We saw that last week. Affliction came to him as a corrective measure (v.67).

Dear friends, whatever happens to you in this life, believe that God is faithfully working through the challenges in your life. Don’t be vindictive towards people who appear to hate you. Don’t seek vengeance. Don’t take shortcuts through life’s challenges, rather trust that in everything God is at work

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).

Can you be joyful in affliction? I know that is difficult. But if we are confident of God’s word and his work in our lives, we should be able to look up to him in affliction and perhaps say, God I don’t understand what is going on, but I know you mean well, so I can trust in you. See, I don’t think this is going to be easy. You lose a love one, you are broke, perhaps you are given a medical report that is not good, you are looking for work which seem not to be coming…naturally you will be worried. But God’s word calls us to believe in what he is doing.

Sustenance In Life --- God’s Comfort and Mercy (vv. 76-77)

Because God is his source, the Psalmist seeks God’s comfort and mercy. Steadfast love and mercy always seem to go together in Scripture because they mean the same thing, God showing his love and care to his people. Dear friends, we are all sustained by God else none of us will survive. He shows us his love and mercy everyday. Lamentations 3:22-23 I believe is common with us by now. I have made constant reference to it: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never comes to an end.

God keeps us. He watches over us. He cares for us. He provides for us and most importantly, he has redeemed us from the pit of destruction through faith in Jesus. Once we were dead in sins and trespasses, separated from God and will have no relationship with him. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5)

Now the Psalmist again takes comfort in the word: “according to your promise to your servant” (76b). “for your law is my delight” (77b). At the risk of belaboring the point, brethren the word of God is the center of our comfort. And I believe this comfort comes to us through the work of the Holy Spirit in us

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:16-18)

Are you in any trouble? 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace

Safety From Evil (v.78)

In seeking comfort, the Psalmist also sought that God will deal with the wicked (v.78). They have wronged him; they have spoken against him. And he seeks God to vindicate him by putting the wicked to shame. This broadly can also be viewed as protection and safety from the wicked. Obviously, from the devil himself who is considered as the accuser of the brethren. Friends, the fact remains that because you are a believer, you are 

Shares The Word (v.79)

In his life, the Psalmist seeks to share the word of God. He desires to be a means  by which people will be taught and instructed in the word. He seeks perhaps to witness about the goodness of God in his life. And this must be true in our life in every way possible, that we will speak of God’s goodness, that we will instruct others. That we will be a channel of blessing in sharing God’s word. This of course includes witnessing to unbelievers. Let us make it a point that we will desire and seek the salvation of those we interact with regularly. Be a source by which someone will come to faith

Salvation Through Justification (v.80)

The Psalmist finally asks to be blameless. Now that means he will stand before God as one who is justified. And this is what Christ has done for us. In Christ we are justified before God and stand blameless. Because we are in Christ, there is no condemnation. We are secured in him and no sin held again. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Amen