God Shows Us He Knows All About Us! (Psalm 139) Series

MAKING MUSIC FROM SHARPS AND FLATS IN LIFE

Sermons Based on Selected Psalms

Psalms Sermon XIV – Psalm 139

David the shepherd lad who became King of Israel was a music maker. He played a harp – the most popular instrument in Old Testament times. The Book of Psalms is a collection of his compositions inspired by both his life experiences and his majestic moments with the Lord God.

As a sheep herder, the boy David became fascinated with the wonders of the out of doors even as he became familiar with the uniqueness of sheep.

As the one chosen by Samuel to be crowned the next king of Israel, David had no choice but to sharpen his defensive battle skills when Saul threatened his life; he had demonstrated his skills as a shepherd lad when he defended his sheep from the attack of wolves, and when he defended his family by killing their enemy Goliath with one stone fired by his slingshot.

David’s favor with God and the people worsened King Saul’s insanity, making him so blindly jealous that he made David the target of a relentless campaign to destroy the king-to-be.

David won the battle; but, more importantly, he won the hearts of the people because he had won the heart of the Lord God who had chosen him.

As king, David ruled righteously in accordance with God’s will; Israel enjoyed the golden years of their history during David’s reign.

Yet, as a man, David sinned; however, as a sinner, he was aware of his need for God’s forgiveness; as a forgiven child of God, he courageously accepted God’s punishment; as one who suffered the consequence of sinning against God, he also accepted the challenge of rebuilding his life for God.

As a Psalmist, David’s innermost thoughts - expressed in the verses of his poetry - have become the greatest collection of spiritual nuggets the world has ever known.

From a lifetime of positive and negative experiences, David has become our hero for making music out of the sharps and flats in life.

Any musician knows that it takes both to make good music. It takes the positives (the sharps) and the negatives (the flats). Arrange them in such a way that they blend into chords, orchestrate the chords into a harmonious melody, and what you get is a work of art that is pleasing to the ear.

Life is like that. The isolated sound of a sharp or the lonesome sound of a flat does nothing for the spirit. Get it all together in conformity with THE Great Composer’s divine plan for our lives, and what you have is harmonious living that is pleasing not only to God but to others as well.

These devotional messages, based on the Book of Psalms, are intended to draw from David’s orchestration of the sharps and flats in his life to help us make music from the sharps and flats in our own lives. Selah.

Psalm 139 . . .

“God knows” is a phrase I have heard all my life - an expression of exasperation over not knowing the answer to a question somebody might ask. For example, someone asks, “Do you have any idea why he did such a foolish thing?” And the answer might be, “God knows.”

Usually, when those words are used due to exasperation, the phrase is meant in a way like the way cuss words are used – in a blasphemous tone of voice – and we all know that blasphemy is unacceptable to God.

In this sermon, however, I want to use the phrase within a Christian context – for, you see, when spoken appropriately, the two words together mean just what they say: God knows.

It is no secret to those of us who know God as our heavenly Father that the God we worship and serve is ALL-KNOWING. The Bible tells us that his knowledge has no limits. There is nothing in the universe that God is unaware of. He knows each detail; after all, He created all of it.

The focus of Psalm 139 is on God’s knowledge of each individual human being on the face of the earth – those who lived yesterday, those who live today, and those who will live at any period from now on.

So, this psalm is about God’s awareness of you and me, our individual situations, and our personal circumstances. He knows all about us. He knows who we are and where we are. He knows our past, present and future.

God knows us so well that even the hairs on our heads are numbered. And yes, He knows about the bald spots too – and the freckles, the wrinkles, the warts, whatever. Nothing is hidden from our Maker.

Adam and Eve made the mistake of trying to hide from God; but they only deceived themselves into believing that they could somehow go someplace where God was not. You cannot get much more naïve than that.