Let's turn to the scriptures standing together for the reading of the same. We turn first to Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1, and then to Psalm 19. So Romans chapter 1, verse 18, beginning at verse 18 down through 25, and then to Psalm 19. Romans chapter 1 and verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And now to Psalm 19. To the chief musician, a Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, the much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. This is the work of the living God. And let us pray together. O great God, we praise you that you indeed have spoken. That you are the God who reveals yourself. You've not left us without sure revelation of who you are and what you have done in history, and particularly the way to life and communion with you through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that in Him, your words indeed are sweet to our taste. Lord, we pray tonight that by your Spirit, you would deliver us from lesser glories, from distractions, from our inward foolishness, and even our own blindness, and show us afresh the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ so clearly revealed in your holy word. Instruct our lives under your good law. Teach us indeed to meditate in your law day and night, to find in it our food and our drink. Conform us more and more to the image of Jesus Christ, the one who loved your holy word and walked therein day and night. And for any who are yet outside of Christ tonight, Lord, we pray for conversion, that you would convict them of their sin, that you would show them your glory and bring them savingly to your son. In whose name we pray, amen. We're turning in the Word tonight for the preaching of the same to Psalm 19. This wonderful psalm, really a delightful psalm that speaks to us so clearly of the glory of God. and the glory of God that's revealed to us in a very distracted age. You and I live in a distracted age, don't we? Our smartphones buzz and ding and vibrate and make all sorts of noises and constantly, there's a constant stream of distractions, seemingly endless video clips to watch, seemingly endless articles to read, news stories to follow, and there's abundant distraction for us. But our problem goes deeper than just external distraction. Our problem goes deep within, not just external distraction, but our own blindness, our own hearts. The reason that distractions have such an allure, don't they, is because our hearts are blind and needy and so often foolish. But Psalm 19, in this clear revelation of God's glory, cuts through the distraction of lesser glories, and cuts through the blindness and foolishness of our hearts, and brings us again face to face with The shining glory of God. The psalm breaks down very simply and easily for our study, for the preaching of the Word tonight. Very simple approach to this psalm. The first six verses of the psalm speak to us of the glory of God in the world. God's glory revealed in all that we see around us, even in nature and God's creation. the glory of God in the world. And then verses 7 through 11 speak to us of God's glory in the words. That God has not merely spoken, He's not only revealed His glory in all that He's made in nature, but He's also revealed His glory and principally His glory in the scriptures. The law of the Lord indeed is perfect, converting the soul. But we're not left in this psalm merely to gaze on that glory as abstract observers, merely recognizing that God has revealed His glory in the heavens, and that He's revealed His glory then in the Word. In verses 12 through 14, there's the holy response. to the glory of God revealed in the world and in the word. How you and I are to respond, how we are to appropriate, how we are to believe, how we are to repent, how we are to worship, how we are to confess our sins. There's an inescapable conclusion that we'll reach in verses 12 through 14. As we take home, as we digest and apply to our lives by the grace of God's spirit, the glory that he's revealed in the world, then in His Holy Word. So the glory of God first revealed in nature, revealed in the world. The psalm opens so clearly. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. What does Nature teach you? What do sunrises and sunsets and oceans and mountains and insects and all that God has made, what does nature teach you? The glory of God. That there is a God who sits on his throne in heaven. This conclusion is inescapable. You can't miss it. The heavens above declare unavoidably the glory of God, that there is a God in heaven who sits on the throne, that He stretched out the heavens like a curtain. He spoke and the earth stood fast. Invariably and constantly, the heavens above declare the glory of God. The heavens preach this message. Not only tell us, but declare to us. As it were, there's a sermon in nature. A sermon that preaches the glory of God unavoidably to you. and to me. It's inescapable as you look out at all that God has made, and I hope that you do. Again, we do live in a distracted age. We live in a time when our eyes are so full of lesser things, and we need to learn by the grace of God to see His glory revealed even in all that He's made, His handiwork in the natural order. The heavens above declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork, all that He's made. The heavens above us, and even the earth beneath, the waters, the animal kingdom, all that God has made. Our own bodies fashioned in His holy image. There's a way that the scriptures call us to think about nature, to think about God's creation, His handiwork, and all that He's made. You know, there are many approaches that folks have these days to nature, to the created order. I've already mentioned the problem of distraction, of ignoring what God has made, of not really having an eye for the beauty, the wonder, and the glory of the heavens above, of the sun, the moon, and the stars, of animals, and even bodies made in the image of God, a distraction. But there's another problem that's always marked pagan worship throughout the centuries, and that's to worship nature. You might hear the phrase mother nature, not a helpful phrase at all. And there's a worship even of the sun and moon and stars. We don't go into that trap either. We avoid that reality of worshiping nature. No, we recognize the heavens and all that God has made as His handiwork. We use the created order as material for praise to lift our eyes even beyond that creation to a God who sits on His throne, who is the one Creator, the triune Creator of all things. This is what the Apostle Paul is getting at over in Romans 1, verses that we read just a few moments ago. What do we learn from the created order? Verse 20 of Romans 1, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. God's invisible attributes. His immensity, for example, as you walk out on a clear night and you see the expanse of the sky, millions, billions of stars scattered out throughout the heavens. You see God's immensity. You also see the orderliness of all that God has made, day and night, following one right after another. the patterns in creation that are evident. We see his invisible attributes. We also see his eternal power. Children, You enjoy, or you may enjoy, thunderstorms or snowstorms, and you see even in the storms that come upon us in the rain as it pours down and thunder and lightning, you see the power of God in nature. And also His Godhead, Romans 1 verse 20, His divine nature, that there's a God who sits on His throne in heaven, the creator, the one who is who sits on his throne, who is not bound by time and by space, but has spoken all that we see into existence. Indeed, the heavens above declare the glory of God. This is the message of nature. And it's a constant message. Verse 2, back in Psalm 19. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. It's not a one-time event. It's a constant refrain. It's a constant sermon in the heavens and what God has made. Day by day and night by night there's a, as it were, a constant stream of witnesses being called to the stand to bear witness to the God of glory, goodness, and wisdom. A never-ending sermon. Literally, verse 2, day in the day, utter speech. It gushes out or pours forth speech. There's millions of these witnesses that God has raised up for himself. Everything from the brightness of the sun at noon to the stars in the evening sky to oceans and mountains and sunsets and the beauty of all that God has made. throughout our own nation and even to the ends of the earth. Everywhere you go, everywhere you might travel, these witnesses constantly proclaim the glory of God, His handiwork. It's, again, inescapable. The scope of them, again, I've already mentioned it, but verses 3 and 4, the scope is to the ends of the earth. Verse 3, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line or their voice, literally, their sound has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. You don't need a translator for the sermon of nature. You don't need, it's not to be heard just in one language as opposed to another, it's universal. It's a universal sermon that's clear to all. From Japan, to Norway, to Mexico, here in South Carolina, there's a universal message that God's creation invariably proclaims. A God of glory, of wonder. of goodness and of power. You might try to suppress this message. In fact, many do in blind unbelief, but you cannot avoid, you cannot escape the witness of God in creation. There's a God who sits on his throne in heaven, who made all things, and you are accountable to him. He's a God of holiness. He's a God of justice. He's a God of all power, and to him, you are accountable. The psalmist draws our attention particularly to the sun as a case study. Certainly the words that he uses and the way that as it were he dips into creation and gives us a few examples just representative of the whole. There are literally millions of things that the psalmist could bear reference to, but he focuses on one. He gives us a case study, if you will, at the end of verse 4 and following. "...in the heavens he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat." And the psalmist directs our gaze to the sun as that heavenly body from which really nothing on earth can hide that dispels light and heat everywhere it goes. It's like the beaming bridegroom who comes out of the back room with his groomsmen at his wedding, beaming to meet his bride. The sun is like the runner crouched on the starting block, every muscle strained to begin the race. The sun rises like a strong man running its race. Again, nothing hidden from the fervor of its heat. The sun that casts that warmth and light throughout the entirety of the created order. And just one example of the glory and the majesty of nature. Again, as I said a moment ago, there's no avoiding the clear testimony and witness of God's world, the glory revealed in the world. You and I as Christians ought to cultivate eyes for that glory, not to be distracted, not to attribute nature to anything less than the glory of God's created hand. Learn to meditate deeply on the wonder of all that God has made. Use it as material for worship. And for any of you who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and are not worshipers of the one living and true God, you're accountable for the sermon that nature preaches, that God's creation preaches. You could suppress it. You could try to worship the sun and the moon and stars, and that would be horribly wrong. You could try to distract yourself endlessly with your smartphone. You could try to come up with natural explanations for all that you see. You could try these things, but there is no avoiding the God who sits on His throne, a God of goodness, wisdom, and power. But we're not left just with the sermon about nature, as glorious as it is. The psalmist draws our attention to even greater glory, and it's the glory of God revealed in his holy word. And I think really that's what the psalmist is getting at in verse 7 and following. David is reflecting on the glory of God in the word. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. There's much packed in these simple verses on the glory of the Word. And I really think that's what the psalmist is getting at. That he would have us to reflect not only on the glory of God revealed in creation, but the glory of God revealed in this book, in Holy Scripture. It's full revelation of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. You have six words here that describe that word. And remember, the word that David has, the scriptures that David has, not the full 66 books in our scriptures, but David has the first five books, the Pentateuch, Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, likely a few of the early historical books, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, perhaps the book of Job. Nine books, and even in these books, the psalmist is delighting in the law of the Lord. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It is the Spirit-blessed ministry of the Word, of that holy law of God. And by law, not only referring to the Ten Commandments, but all of God's revelation, His covenant revelation of Himself, His gracious character, His way of salvation, ultimately through Jesus Christ. that God uses to convert our hearts, to bring us to salvation. It is the testimony of the Lord that's sure and that makes wise the simple, that instructs the simple young man of Proverbs, and that instructs him in the way that he is to go, to turn from sin and to cling to true wisdom, ultimately wisdom found in our Lord Jesus Christ. You'll remember what Paul told young Timothy, that the Scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. You want true joy? You read the word and find in them the words of life, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the words of life and salvation. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The scriptures correct our vision and remove our misperceptions, remove our confusion. remove our foolishness by the working of the Holy Spirit and grant us true understanding and true light. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The scriptures themselves, the psalmist meditates here in the scriptures is the fear of the Lord and it's clean. There are many things today that you could read and expose your heart and soul and your eyes and your ears to that are unclean, but the word is clean. By the grace of the Spirit cleansing your heart, pointing you to Christ and the blood that washes away your sins and granting you purity of heart. And it's the judgments of the Lord that are true and righteous altogether. Man's judgments, man's statutes, his promises are often made half-heartedly and broken just as quickly. but the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. The Word is a perfect revelation, a perfect Word. The glory of God is revealed here on the pages of Holy Scripture. This is, I think, what our Westminster Confession of Faith picks up upon. and what our larger catechism picks up on. There's a section in chapter one of our Westminster Confession that speaks of all the perfections of the Word of God, the majesty of the style, and the heavenliness of the matter, and the truth of its doctrine. And then it has this little phrase, the consent of all the parts, which is to give all glory to God. What's the reason? What's the big goal of Scripture that at the end of the day, is to give all glory to God, and to show us the one way of salvation through Jesus Christ, to open our eyes to the glory and the beauty of God triune, and enable us to live lives that honor and glorify Him. The point of Scripture is the glory of God. Certainly the psalmist makes explicit at the opening of the psalm that the nature, the heavens declare the glory of God, but that same glory is continued and even intensified on the pages of Holy Scripture. This again is what the Apostle Paul will pick up on. and what he will point us to the glory of God again revealed in scripture 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 18 as we read the scripture he speaks of all those who the Spirit has has opened and converted and opening our eyes and converted us by faith we all with unveiled face behold beholding is in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. You want to see and know the glory of God, you read the Word, and the Word accompanied by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Later, in chapter 4, he says that it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It is as we read the word and even tonight as we hear the word that we see accurately and see truly the glory of Jesus Christ, his person and his work, his love for our souls, the one way of salvation through his cross work and resurrection. The scriptures invariably proclaim the glory of God on their pages, their perfection as they point us even better revelation in a better way than nature does, the glory of Jesus Christ. And the psalmist isn't done as he reflects on the perfection of scripture and the way it brings all glory to God. He uses illustrations to drive things home. Basically, he says it's the scriptures are better than money and they're better than honey, better than money. Verse 10, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine golds, better than a stockpile of cash, better than all the bitcoin in the world, better than a 401k that's doing quite well, better than all the wealth that the world might offer, is the knowledge of God. in the Holy Scriptures. And better than physical pleasures, like tasting honey, the sweetness of that pleasure, the Scriptures are far better, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. The psalmist David has tasted and seen that the Lord is good. as his eyes have been opened to the glory of God, even before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, looking ahead to that coming glory of the Redeemer. His eyes are open, his affections are lifted, his mind has been filled by the Word. he exalts in the sweetness and the goodness and the and the true weightiness of Scripture better than gold better than honey and in them there's great reward moreover by that verse 11 moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward this is the way of life the way of salvation this is the perfect revelation of God in Scripture God's Word is God's glory revealed in the world, God's word, glory revealed in his holy scripture, and David rejoices. Again, for any of you who are yet resistant to that word, we've upped the ante here. You see the glory of God revealed in nature, in the world around you, but even now, you see the glory of God revealed in the scriptures. you're doubly accountable. There's no, what is general revelation as we call it in nature and all that God has made? What is it for? What does it do in our lives? Well, as I've already said, it instructs us as to the glory, the goodness, and the wisdom of God, tells us that there is a God in heaven and that we are accountable to Him. It cannot save us. It renders us inexcusable, but it cannot show us how we are to be saved, how we are to turn from our sins, believe, and repent in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we need the Scriptures for. We are accountable for the glory of God that we see. We can't unsee. There's no unhearing and unseeing the glory of God in creation. And there's certainly no unseeing and unhearing the Word of God in Scripture, the lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're accountable for what you hear. children hear me what a privilege it is to hear God's Word to hear the the law of the Lord that's perfect and converts the soul to hear about the testimony of the Lord that's that sure and that makes wise the simple to from an early age taste and see that the Lord is good to hear the Holy Word of God what a privilege morning and evening every Lord's Day to have this word opened to meditate upon it that's a lot of privilege that's a lot of of God-given opportunity to hear the Word. Take hold of that Word. Pray for the grace of faith to reach out, to believe the Gospel, to not turn away, to not push it away or suppress it, but lay hold of Jesus Christ as He's offered to you. Don't make the pursuit of a stockpile of cash your great aim in life. or pleasures, certainly give God thanks for the good things He gives, but make your main pursuit to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, to love the word, to seek first God's kingdom, to hear the word and lay a hold of it, to meditate on it, lay it up in your heart, to read it daily, to delight in reading it with your families, and to confess that, yes, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. See, this is what David is getting at as he's reflected on the glory of God in the world and now the glory of God in the scriptures. There's really no escaping it. We are not casual observers here as we see this glory. How are we to respond? How are we to appropriate this glory? The psalm helps us. As David bows his heart before the Lord and he prays. He doesn't respond in pride. He doesn't say, I've got it all figured out. I understand how God works in creation and now how he has revealed himself in scripture. His response is not one of pride. He bows in prayer, in confession, worship. You see how he responds? Verse 12, who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Lord, forgive me. Search me and know me. Cleanse me from my sin. This is how we are to respond. This is how you are to respond as you see the glory of God in creation and particularly the glory of God in Christ. Confess your sins. Realize that you are accountable to the one true and living God, that there's no escaping Him, that you could try to hide your sins from others, but there's no hiding your sins from the omnipotent King of Heaven who made all things and who's spoken to you in His Holy Word. Confess your sins. Pray that that God by his spirit would even show you that the depth of of your sin You know, our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can who can know them? sometimes I'm surprised in conversations with believers who seem to Seem to believe that they can know that the depth of their own sinfulness that that they can account for it John Calvin said that really reflecting on this song that we can't know the hundredth of of our own hearts and the depth of our sinfulness and our neediness. So we pray to the one who sits on his throne, who reveals his glory in all that he's made and revealed his glory in Christ, Lord, cleanse me from secret faults. Search me, cleanse me, make me clean. And this prayer is accompanied by a prayer for God's help and his deliverance from sin moving forward. Keep back, verse 13, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression. We ought never to pray for pardon for our sins without also praying for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the keeping power of his Holy Spirit to keep us from future sin. that the Lord would strengthen us. He would both pardon and cleanse our sins, but then also keep us back. Isn't this what our Savior taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer? Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Keep me from going down that road. Forgive my sins, but then also keep me from going down that wicked way. Make my life that which pleases you. And that is exactly how the psalmist ends in worship. Verse 14 is really as David takes all of this in and thinks about his own heart and life. His prayer is this. If the heavens above are declaring your glory, and every square inch of the universe is resounding, reverberating with the worship of God triune. If the message that's pulsating through scripture is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, then let my heart, my mind, my affections all join in. Let there not be anything in me that's out of order with the worship of God that creation is offering and that the word points to. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. A prayer that you and I ought to pray. But a prayer that we can't pray apart from a Redeemer, apart from one who delivers us from all of our secret sins, our secret faults, and cleanses us, and one who keeps us back from those presumptuous and proud sins. It's fitting that the psalmist ends, that David ends this cry with the word Redeemer, a prayer that the Lord would help him, a prayer for a Redeemer. And here in the shadows of the Old Testament, you have a clear pointing ahead to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is himself our strength and our Redeemer, a Redeemer who would come, who would delight in God's holy law in every way where we haven't, where we have failed to, where the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts have not been acceptable to the Lord. His were. Again, a life of perfect obedience, a life acceptable to God in every way, a perfect delight in the holy law of the Lord. the law that converts our souls, looking to the testimony of the Lord's word, the one who is, as I've said often, but the one who in the wilderness confessed that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, a redeemer who would come and delight fully in the precious revelation of God, both revealed in nature and also in the word. a Redeemer who himself again you see the glory here a Redeemer who himself spoke those same heavens into existence and all that's made Consists in him he upholds it all as the Redeemer as the pre-existent Son of God But one who humbles himself in the incarnation as we saw this morning comes and lives the perfect life That's acceptable to God in every way acceptable to the father words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart always acceptable in the sight of God, and then who goes to the cross to bleed and to die for all of our faults, all of our iniquities, all of our transgressions, who rises again the third day and who pours out his spirit upon us so that we truly can pray now, Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, who enables, who changes our our dark and distracted and foolish hearts, who converts them, who shapes us into worshipers who can join in the song and the sermon that creation is proclaiming. The glory of God revealed in the heavens, the glory in the word, it all has a point, that our lives will be lived to the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And just one more thing. As Paul picks up on this language in Psalm 19, he'll pick up the same language over in Romans 10. And most interestingly there, he applies, in fact, the language of verse 4 to the preaching of the Gospel. This is most interesting. He says, In Romans 10 verse 18, in reference to the preaching of the word to the ends of the earth, even to the Gentiles, I sit in verse 18 of Romans chapter 10, but I say, have they not heard? Yes, indeed. And he quotes Psalm 19, their sound has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. And what is he quoting back here in Psalm 19? The reality that this message of creation is being proclaimed in every place, in every language, to every people, unmistakably that there's a God of glory, wisdom, and power revealed in nature. You see how the Apostle Paul applies this same text in Romans 10. The reality here is not only that the glory of God would be proclaimed in the heavens, and that the sound, the revelation of that glory would go out in all that He's made. But Paul is pointing us to the reality that the blessed gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that special revelation, that saving revelation of grace, that that message would be proclaimed to every people, to every tribe, to every tongue under heaven. That as the Word goes forth, as preachers are raised up and the Word is proclaimed, that not one people under heaven would be left out. That God would raise up faithful preaching to the ends of the earth. And we're evidence to the faithfulness of God that even here in Taylors, some 2,000 years later, we've gathered in under the name and the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to hear the Word, that special saving revelation, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may it be our resolve that out of gratitude to God, that we would give and pray and labor that that gospel would continue to go out to the ends of the earth, that all those who see the glory of God revealed in the heavens as the heavens above declare the glory of God, that the same glory of God in Jesus Christ and the blessed gospel would be preached. Let us labor to that end, give to that end, and pray to that end, that we and all people, indeed, would worship the one living and true God. All glory to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we delight in the glory that you have revealed in your creation, all that you've made. Indeed, the heavens above declare your glory. The firmament shows your handiwork. We praise you for all that you've made, for the beauty and the order and the immensity and the goodness of all that you've made for your glory and even for our enjoyment and use. Teach us to delight in these things, and even more, to take up your Word, to be those who meditate upon it day and night, to look to the glory of your Son, Jesus Christ, on the pages of Holy Scripture. Lord, instruct us by your Holy Spirit. Drive your Word home to our hearts. And indeed, may the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. We pray these things in our Redeemer's name. Amen. We'll go with the blessing of our God. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make this day shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace. Amen.