How to Win over Sin

Psalm  19: 12-13

"The good fight of faith is at the root a fight for delight. It’s a fight to maintain satisfaction in God against all the enticements of the world and all the deceptions of the devil. The fight for faith in future grace is a fight for joy. Knowing this will help us understand what is happening to us when the temptations come. Diminishing delight is a summons to war." John Piper

Introduction:

Psalm 19 is an awesome description of how God speaks and reveals his glory. Through creation he declares his glory by the work of his hands. Through the law he declares his glory as the work of his heart.

A Banquet of God's Glory

OUR STRATEGY: An Introduction to meditation on Psalm 19

Our God is a Person. Our God speaks. In his speaking, he reveals himself to people. In his speaking, he reveals his power. In his speaking, he reveals his holiness. In his speaking, he reveals his presence. Christianity is a revealed religion. God has chosen to reveal his glory to us so that we can enjoy “the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Revelation is God’s activity of speaking so that we can know him and enjoy him forever. The Bible is God’s speech written down. In it God still speaks to us personally, opening our eyes so that we can see more of Him; changing our hearts so that we become more like him; and filling our lives so that we enjoy more of his friendship.

Our God Speaks!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Ps 19:1-4

Introduction: Why should we devour That Book? What makes the Bible infinitely more valuable and satisfying than a novel by Grisham or Hemingway or Steinbeck? What is it about a book that was completed over 2000 years ago that makes it as up-to-date as any newspaper or talk show we will hear this morning. Here is my answer: God who is Creator and Sustainer of all that there is, speaks in That Book.  In The Bible God speaks to us and reveals His will and His ways. He not only conveys His thoughts. He conveys Himself. When we hear him speak and respond in faith and obedience, we are brought into experimental union with our God and Savior. That is what Packer refers to when he writes:

Our Radiant Center Of Joy

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Ps 19:6

Introduction: We have been studying the way God reveals his glory to men. In Psalm 19:1-6, the psalmist shows how God speaks without words through what he has made in creation. In 19:7-11, he shows how God speaks through what he has written. It is through his deeds and words we discover and delight in the power and beauty of God. When we respond to what God is saying to us in faith and obedience, our lives find the direction and delight we were created for. That is what Piper points out so eloquently in the following paragraph: