DO 23716/86

1. (David: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for this bright & sunny day‚ Lord, & that we got to cook some delicious French toast! Thank You that Grandpa knows how to cook so well, Lord. And we pray now, Jesus, for this Bible Study, that You will please bless it to us, Jesus, & help us to get a lot out of it, Lord, & be good listeners when Grandpa's talking with us. Thank You for how we have such a fun Bible Study, & please help us to get lots out of it & be good listeners so Grandpa will want to teach us, in Jesus' name, amen!)

2. So what Chapter are we studying? (David: Psalm 19!) And what verses have we finished? (Children: 1‚ 2 & 3!) Can you quote the next one we're going to study? (Children: "Their line is gone out through all the Earth, & their words to the end of the World. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun.") That second part should have really begun the next verse, Verse 5‚ but the translator divided the verses a little differently. So we'll just take, "Their line is gone out through all the Earth, their words to the end of the World."

3. It's the same thing we've been studying‚ that God's Creation really speaks & tells! Do you want to tell Mama what it tells? (David: It tells that there's a Creator, because somebody had to create it. Like Grandpa said about the tape recorder‚ somebody had to create it, so it shows God's handiwork.) What else does it tell you? What does it tell you about God? When you look out there at that beautiful Creation, what does it tell you about God, besides God exists? (Children: It tells you that God loves you!)

4. God's Creation tells us that there is a God & that He loves us, & therefore that tells us what? What part do we have in it? (David: We have to love Him & serve Him in return!)—Exactly! It shows that there's a God, that God is‚ & that He loves us, & that He wants us to love Him! And it tells us all these other things too. The stars tell where you're at on the World's surface, & the Moon tells you where you're at in the month, & all kinds of things. The Moon also affects not only a woman's period, but what else on the World's surface? (David: The tides.)—Right!

5. "In them hath He set a tabernacle for the Sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, & rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race." How do you think a bridegroom looks when he's coming out of his chamber after his first night of love? (David: Happy!) He's all happy & glorious! So the Sun wakes up in the morning, comes up & looks beautiful! Beautiful & happy! PTL!

6. "He rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race!" What kind of race is he running? How far does he run?—Clear through the sky from one horizon to the other! At least that's the way it looks! And God had to speak in language people would understand. The Sun doesn't actually go round the Earth, but the World is turning & it makes it look like the Sun's going around the Earth. They didn't know that then, so He had to speak in language they understood. The Sun rose over here in the East & travelled through the sky & settled over there in the West.

7. Where does the Sun rise here? Can you show Mama what direction is East? (Techi: It rises in the East & it sets in the West.) No‚ that's not West! When it rises in the East, it sets in just the opposite direction. So that makes what North & what South here? (Techi points: North, South!)—Exactly!

8. (Verse 6:) "His going forth is from the end of the heaven, & his circuit unto the ends of it; & there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." Right? In fact, if it weren't for the Sun we'd all be dead! Because what does the Sun give us? It gives us light, it gives us heat, what else? (David: It makes the plants grow, which feed the animals, which feed us!) Both the plants & the animals feed us, right! (David: It activates chlorophyll.) Yes, the process of photosynthesis in the leaves by the activation of chlorophyll. But I don't want to make it too complicated for little kids, Honey, that's high school stuff! I don't want to make it too complicated for Techi. (Techi: Chlorophyll, is that the green in the plant?) Yes, it is. (Maria: She's already in high school, Grandpa!)

9. What else does the Sun do for the Earth? If the Sun wasn't there, not only would life be impossible, but what would happen to the Earth itself? It would go wandering off in space! Because it's the Sun's gravitational pull that keeps the Earth whirling around the Sun. Just like you tie a string to a ball & you can whirl it around your head. When you do that, imagine you're the Sun & the ball is the Earth‚ & the string hangs onto the Earth & keeps it in its what? (Children: Orbit!)—Its path‚ which is its orbit.

10. (Maria: Grandpa‚ Techi has a nice little song about that‚ can she sing it for you?) (Techi & David: "Without the light of the Sun we'd be in total darkness, without the heat of the Sun, we'd also freeze to death! Without the rays of the Sun there'd be no food, we'd die of hunger‚ without the Sun's gravity we'd go wandering off in space! Now if the Sun has that much power, think how much power God has, because He's our Sun! If the Sun has that much power‚ think how much power God has, because He's our Sun!") PTL! Amen! Beautiful! (Maria: It answered all the questions!)

11. (Verse 7:) "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." What's the law of the Lord? (Techi: The Bible!) Well, the most important law of God is Love! Love converts the soul, right? The churches used to teach that the Bible is the law & the Mosaic Law is the law & all that sort of thing, & that was the law, that's true. But the law simply told about Love, actually‚ described Love & how to love & how not to & all those things. But now we just simplify the whole thing. Jesus came along & simplified it all & just said that all you have to do is love, God's only law now is Love!

12. So "the law of the Lord is perfect," what is that? (Children: Love!) (Maria: It says to "put on the bond of perfectness," which is Love!) "Perfect Love casts out all fear" too! And Love "answereth all things," Love is the solution to all things. It converts the soul.—Col.3:14; 1Jn.4:18.

13. "The testimony of the Lord is sure‚ making wise the simple." The testimony of the Lord, what's that? What is a testimony? It's something we believe in, that you should do all the time whenever you can, & all our people all over the World are busy doing it! (Children: Witnessing!) A testimony is a witness! (Children sing: "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!") All right, that's the next verse! So God's law of Love converts people & makes people wise!

14. Also, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." His laws of Love are right, it makes you happy! And "the commandment of the Lord is pure," nothing bad about it. "Enlightening the eyes," it helps you see things better, helps you see the way things ought to be! It doesn't mean just these natural eyes alone, but the eyes of the spirit, to have greater discernment & understand things better. Now do you know the song for the next verse?

15. (Children sing: "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgements of the Lord are true‚ & righteous altogether!") Very good! "The fear of the Lord is clean!" If you fear the Lord‚ what will you be? (Children: Clean!)—Clean, right. You won't be dirty. If you get dirty, at least you'll clean up! "The judgements of the Lord are true!" Whatever the Lord says is right & true! "And righteous altogether," completely righteous! All right‚ sing the next verse.

16. (Children sing: "More to be desired are they than gold‚ yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey & the honeycomb.")—Very good! You guys know songs for all these verses! It's more to be desired. Is it better to have Love or money? (Children: Love!) The Lord will supply everything else if you have Love, right? "Yea, than much fine gold." (Techi: That reminds me of the story, how the girl didn't want her sons to be slaves so she obeyed the Prophet & she got money to give them.) (See 2Kings 4:1-7.) Very good. That's right. So Love is more precious than fine gold, sweeter also than honey & the honeycomb! Love is sweet! Oh, we're going to have to go back over this & learn all the things that Love does when we get done! Next?

17. (Children sing: "Moreover by them is Thy servant warned: & in keeping of them there is great reward.") By His laws of Love you can be warned of danger, "& in keeping of them there is great reward." How? Does He give you money for it‚ does He pay you to do it? Well‚ He gives you money because you need it‚ & He pays you for your service, He takes care of you. But there's more reward than that! What's our final reward? (Techi: Heaven!)—Heaven! Life in the Heavenly City & the Heavenly Earth! Isn't that wonderful? I'm going to look forward to that. Can you sing another verse?

18. (Children sing: "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults.") "Who can understand his errors?" How do you understand your errors, what's right & wrong? (David: By the law of Love.)—Right! Whatever is loving is good & right. (Techi: They're not His errors!) Not God's errors, it's talking about us. Who of us can understand his errors? (Techi: Who of us can understand his sins?) Yes, exactly, who of us can understand his errors? How's the only way we can understand what's good & what's bad? Errors are mistakes, sins. How can you understand your errors, how can you know when you're doing evil? (David: By the law of Love!) There it is again, see? You can know whether you're doing good or evil. How do you understand if you made a mistake? (Techi: If you're not loving.)—Exactly! "Who can understand his errors?"—That's your errors, not God's errors.

19. "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." Now we know we have some faults. But do we sometimes have faults that we don't even know we have?—Secret faults that other people can see in us sometimes, but sometimes we don't see. But by the help of what can we see? (David: By the law of Love!) Sing the next one!

20. (Children sing: "Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, & I shall be innocent from the great transgression.") That's good! That's really something how they learn a Chapter by singing it! "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." (David: That's pride!) What's a presumptuous sin? That's something that you do on purpose! (Maria: That sounds like pride too, presuming.)—Yes, presuming that it's all right to do it, you do it deliberately. "Let them not have dominion over me." Let what not have dominion over me?—What he just said!

21. "Then shall I be upright, & I shall be innocent from the great transgression." I will be upright, I will be good, in other words‚ do things right, & be innocent of what? (Techi: Not loving the Lord.) That's the biggest transgression of all, not receiving & believing the Lord! That's a sin that Jesus told the scribes & Pharisees wouldn't be forgiven either in this World or the next, if you didn't love the Lord, & you didn't believe in Him & receive Him.—Mat.12:31-32. Right? So, next song?

22. (Children sing: "Let the words of my mouth, & the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength & my Redeemer!")—Amen, amen! He says here now that he hopes that Love will make the words of his mouth...what are the words of his mouth? (David: What he says.) And the meditation of his heart? (Children: What he thinks!) Right! Boy, these are smart kids, Mama! "Be acceptable in Thy sight." He wants the words & the meditations to be acceptable in the Lord's sight. How will they be acceptable? What kind is accepting & pleasing to the Lord? (David: What the Lord likes.)—Exactly! And what kind does the Lord like? Words & meditations of what? Almost this whole Chapter is about what subject? (Techi: Love!) First the Love of God in Creation, then the Love of God in us‚ it's all about Love, the Law of Love!

23. "O Lord‚ my Strength & my Redeemer!" What does he say the Lord is?—His Strength & his Redeemer! (David: His Saviour, I think it means.)—Redeemer means Saviour. And if you want the Lord‚ you can have the Lord to have strength & be saved!

24. All right, let's see how many things we can find now in this Chapter that Love does for you! This Chapter is really all about Love! The Creation shows there is a God of Love. He made the Creation because He loved us & He wants us to love Him & others‚ & how wonderful the Creation is, all designed to tell us all kinds of things about God & about where we're at. I mean, there are just so many things that God's Love did for us in making the Creation! It was all created for our benefit!

25. God's law of Love—the law of the Lord is...(Techi: Perfect!) And it also does what for us? (Children: Converts the soul to be loving!)—Yes! And there's something that is very sure? (David: The testimony of Love!) Yes, it's sure! Very sure! It always gets results, Love never fails! And what does it make simple people? (David: Makes them wise!) And Love is also right, & it does what to your heart?—Rejoices the heart! His commandments are... (David: Pure, enlightening the eyes.) And when you fear & love the Lord... (Children: You're clean!) You're clean! (David: And you're going to last forever.)—Last forever! And these judgements of Love are... (David: True!) True & righteous! How much? All of them? (Techi: Altogether!) (David: And more to be desired than gold!) Even much... (David: Fine gold! Sweeter also than honey & the honeycomb.)—Exactly! All about Love‚ see? All God's laws of Love! "Moreover by them is Thy servant warned & in keeping of them there is great reward!" Oh my, we should have counted them!

26. Then he's concerned about things that we don't do in love, what does he call them here? (Techi: Errors.) Things we don't do in love are errors. "Who can understand his errors?" How can you understand your errors? How can you understand what's good & what's bad?—By His law of Love! See, everything's measured by Love! Everything's all about Love!

27. And then he asks to be cleansed from what kind of sins?—Secret sins! And the next one is‚ "Keep back Thy servant also from..." (Children: Presumptuous sins!)—Sins of pride & rebelliousness, etc. "Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright & I shall be innocent from the great transgression," which is the worst of all sins, not to love the Lord! "Let the words of my mouth & the meditation of my heart" be what? (Children: Be acceptable, be pleasing.) And how will they be acceptable & pleasing to the Lord? (David: If they're according to the law of Love!) If they're all in love‚ according to His law of Love! If your words & meditations are in love, they'll be acceptable, right?

28. And then finally, what does he call the Lord of Love? (Techi: "O Lord, my Strength & my Redeemer!")—That's right! The Lord of Love is our Strength & our Saviour, our Redeemer! Okay‚ Techi, you close in prayer! PTL!

29. (Techi: Thank You Lord for this nice good fun reading time, Lord, & thank You for Grandpa explaining it to us, & thank You for how we got a lot done, Lord. Bless the little goldfish too, help us to take good care of them! Thank You for Your Word, Lord! Please bless it to us & help us to really get a lot out of it, in Jesus' name, amen!) Amen! As we pray, Lord, for this day, the prayer You taught us to pray! (Prays the Lord's Prayer.)

30. Now guess how long that took us?—Songs, prayers, verses‚ review, everything! (Techi: Half-an-hour!) All that took us only half-an-hour! Reading the Scripture, explaining the Scripture, singing the Scripture, figuring out what the Scripture means‚ & then reviewing the whole Scripture! Do you want to sing all of Psalm 19 as a closing hymn? Okay‚ sing it! Sing it all the way through so the tape recorders can really hear you sing it all the way through without stopping this time. (Kids sing it through!)—Very good, beautiful! That's really good! It shows you how you can learn Scripture even better by singing it! Isn't that beautiful? That's what the old Jewish services did too, the cantor would sing the Scriptures. They called him the "cantor," which means a singer. That way they could learn the Scripture easier by singing it!—And they still do that today. So that's good! We had a good Chapter! PTL! All right‚ GBY all! Come kiss Grandpa & Mama & then you can go see your goldfish!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family