Sermon Central
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"The Swan"
Contributed by Phil Anderson on May 31, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: What does the Bible truly have to say about our self-worth? Where do we find it?
“The Swan”
PS 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. 19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
INTRODUCTION
• Have you all seen this show on Fox? It’s amazing but disturbing at the same time. Likewise, there is a show on MTV called “I Want a Famous Face”
• What is sad is the fact that these people seem to place their entire self-worth on what they look like and how OTHERS perceive them.
• Friend, let me make a statement. There is a correlation between how you see yourself and how you see God.
• This morning, I want to show you how I think we should find our self-worth. I’m not trying to make you cocky or set you on an ego trip this morning.
• I can find my worth and my value by looking at these attributes of God:
I. His AWARENESS of me {vs 1-5}
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
• We are not mere statistics to God. Look again at these verses:
He is my Supervisor (vs 1-3)
He knows my Secrets (vs 4)
He is my Security (vs 5)
• There are things God cares about that we cannot even imagine…even the very hairs on our heads are numbered!
II. His AVAILABILITY to me {vs 7-10}
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
• There is no where I can go and find Him unavailable…He is always with me and there for me.
Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
