Think of a person you like – whether he/she is alive or not.
Why do you like him or her? What are the characteristics that usually made you like or admire a person?
And why do you prefer that kind of qualities/characteristics?
Now, let’s direct our attention on at least three attributes of God. And because of those attributes, our feeling of security and even hatred to commit sin would be strongly implanted in our heart.
My topic this time is about the… AWESOME ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, as we study Psalm 139:13-16.
So, what are His attributes that, actually, each of us had already experienced its effect? And, now that we acknowledge that He is now our Father, His attributes that He is displaying to us will surely give us the feeling of security and firm commitment to follow Him. What are those attributes we could learn from our text?
Psalm 139 is ascribed to David. However, the date when it is written cannot be established. But the situation is clear enough.
David faced violent attacks from his enemies. And he met the onslaught of his foes by praying for their destruction. Also, by reminding himself of the Greatness of God, whom he could entrust his security and would not want to offend.
“His message bridges the years to tell us that our resource is restful confidence in God, prayer, and energetic commitment.”
What are, then, God’s attributes that we could have “restful confidence” and have an active commitment to avoid sin?
First, God is All-Knowing (verses 1-6).
We read verses 1-6, “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”
David acknowledged that God knows him in his own person, in his outward actions (v. 2a) and inward thoughts (v. 2b). He knows him at all times, whether as he walks the daily path or rests, lying down, at night (v. 3a). He knows him in his habitual ways and his words (vv. 3b, 4). This intimate, detailed knowledge is seen as part of God’s protective, tender care (v. 5), which runs beyond the psalmist’s capacity to understand, yet reassures him that he is cared for by a wisdom that is far in excess of his own (v.6).
To realize that God knows everything is a terrifying thing for the disobedient, but ought to be a great comfort for His children.
Not only God knows everyone and what is happening to him all the time and knows everything, but we read in 2 Peter 2:9, “…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.”
Every sin in thought or action by the unrighteous is noted by the All-Knowing God. He may escape at present the punishment of legal authorities, but the punishment of the Divine Authority, who knows his every infraction, will surely come sooner or later.
But for those who have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ, they ought to be encouraged by the fact that the God, who knows them completely – inside and out, will not allow them to suffer pain they could not bear.
As we read in Psalm 103:13-14, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”
As David spoke of Him, “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” God’s protective care surrounds also His children and His favor is upon them. He knows to protect or deliver them from every trial, even from the great trial that will happen in the future.
How about us -- saints – do we really believe that God knows all things? Do we believe that He knows us not only completely, but intimately?
Young ones, do you say that your parents could not understand you? Your Heavenly Father knows you more than you know your own selves. He knows your desires, your struggles and He knows what is best for you.
The same is true with the once young. God knows what we are going through. He knows our problems, our difficulties. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our pain and its causes.
Do others misunderstand us? God will not. He knows our every failure. And He understands why we fail. He knows our recurring sins or weaknesses we cannot yet overcome. And He knows how He can convert our weakness into strength, how He can lead us to overcome our sins.
God knows all things.
Next…
Second, God is Ever Present (verses 7-12).
We read verses 7-12, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”
David expressed another truth about God that, by His Spirit, He is everywhere present (v. 7), and the absolute reality of this is clarified in a series of contrasts (vv. 8, 9): the world to come (Sheol, v. 8), the present world (v. 9); the contrasting dimensions of height (heaven, v. 8), depth (Sheol, v. 8), and distance (the uttermost parts, v. 9). But this omnipresence is the essence of blessedness, for it means that God is present to lead and hold (v. 10). Furthermore, this divine presence remains the same in all the varied circumstances of life, its darkness and light (vv. 11, 12).
When things are going wrong, or disaster happens, some are asking, “Where is God?” They thought God is absent, when things are going wrong or when evil seems to triumph.
But, God is present in all places and at all times. People should realize that the Creator of all is present not only when things are going fine, but also when He allows in the situation injustice, oppression, trouble, disaster, or suffering to exist.
Again, for the unrighteous this truth is bitter, for if they are suffering, they are “tasting” the anger of God. Also, this is a serious warning to them, for they could actually not ran away or hide from Him. But for God’s children to know that their Heavenly Father is ever present, even when they are in the “fiery furnace” of affliction, could give them strength and hope.
As David said, “even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (verse 10). The New Living Translation says, “even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”
How about us – saints or God’s children – is it also a blessing to know that God is ever present?
Especially, if we are going through any difficulty, it’s not only comforting to know that He is present, but He is on our side. As He promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
Just to entertain the idea that we are just on our own, when we are in difficulty is a very painful thing. There was an instance in my life that I could find it difficulty in breathing. Since oxygen could no longer reach my brain, I could no longer think properly. The thought of God was gone. Even a quick and short prayer did not flash in my mind. It was a terrifying moment in my life – just the absence of thought about God in my mind.
Thankfully, He is always present. I clearly understood God’s grace in that situation. He worked through my instinct, so I could do something and regain my breath.
But, He is always present not only when we are suffering, but He will not also leave us even we stumble in whatever sin.
The Psalmist said, “I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory” (Ps. 73:22-24).
For God’s children, not only He is ever present; He is always with them.
Finally…
Third, God is Sovereign (verses 13-16).
We read verses 13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 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. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
For David, God is the Sovereign Creator, in control in the formation both his psychological (inward parts, v. 13a) and physical (knit me, v. 13b) structure. In this as in all His works He displays wonderful, i.e. supernatural, powers, but the implication of this creative work is His intimate knowledge of His creature (vv 14, 15). The Creator’s work, however, covered not only the person concerned, but also the experiences yet in store for that person (v. 16b). Here again is the comfort implicit in the truth: the Creator plans all life; all our experiences are under sovereign control.
People ought to realize that God’s creative power was in display, not just when He created the material universe. Every life that is being formed in the womb is not just the result of a biological process. God is in control in the formation of the body parts and He created life in it.
But, not only He created all life. But “the structure and the meaning” – the life experiences of the person are all established in the beginning by God!
“The Creator does not push out the boat of the individual’s life to take its chance on the streams of time.”
How about us, saints, do we push ourselves on our own, as little gods, to take its chance on the remaining time ahead of us? Do we let the influence of the world to control our life in this temporary reality?
Or, do we allow the Word of God to govern ourselves, as we navigate in the many circuits of life?
May the Sovereign Creator not make out any one of us here a vessel “for dishonorable use” – a vessel “of wrath prepared for destruction.”
Rather, may He make out all of us here vessels “for honorable use” – “vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.”
CONCLUSION:
In closing, if we know God in an intimate way, as He is now our Father, who is All-Knowing, Ever Present and All Powerful – the Sovereign Creator in control of all things, not only we will celebrate in our security but we will also look at the time when all those who rebel against Him will be destroyed, even the sinful part of our nature -- we will long for that it would totally be gone. It will also be our prayer, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
