Summer in the Psalms
Psalm 139:1-18
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
08-15-202
[Manna Media Video - Psalm 139]
Background of Psalm 139
Psalm 139 was written by David to the chief musician. It is in the fifth book, or division, of the Psalms which focus on God being among us and a longing for our heavenly home.
Several Jewish commentators have called this Psalm the “crown prince of all the psalms.”
I’ve often wondered what it may have sounded like. Was it more of a spoken word or even a rap? Gaithers or Skillet? Country or rock? We aren’t sure but Jesus and His family would have known this song well and it would would have been part of their family worship.
The psalm can be broken down into four parts and speaks of God’s attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and holiness.
Turn with me to Psalm 139.
Prayer.
God Knows You
“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. (Psalm 139:1-6)
First notice that David addresses God as “Lord.” This is Yahweh, the promising keeping God.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
This God knows David. He knows everything about David. God has “searched” him, meaning to explore or to mine. God’s knowledge of David is perfect.
This God knows everything David does.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
God knows when he “sits and when he rises.” This is a way of saying that God knows the totality of David’s life.
This God know David’s thoughts.
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
His heart is an open book before God.
This God knows David’s actions and is with him everywhere he goes.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
The word “discern” means to winnow or sift through our lives. “Going out” is his public life, his daily routine, his conduct. “Lying down” speaks to his private life, when it is just God and David. God is intimately acquainted with all of David’s ways.
This God knows everything David is going to say even before he says it!
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
This God protects David with, literally, thick, thorny hedges.
You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me
God will guard, guide, and provide David with everything he needs.
This section highlights what theologians call God’s omniscience.
Maxine calls me the “well of useless information.” Recently, I took a test online. They gave you two seconds of a song and you had to name the song and the album. I only missed seven! Maxine says that is because because I had a sad childhood, which may be true.
There is nothing that God doesn’t know.
How many of you had World Book Encyclopedias? If you had asked me at twelve years old what I was reading, I would have said “B”. I’ve tried out for Jeopardy and I’m constantly reading and learning new things.
But God doesn’t learn or have “aha” moments. He knows everything eternally, perfectly, immediately, and comprehensively.
David makes that clear in Psalm 147:
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:4-5)
Solomon understood this as well:
“For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.” (Proverbs 5:21)
And Paul breaks out into praise when he considers this attribute of God:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Rom 11:33)
God knows everything. But more than that, He knows you! In verse one, the word “know” means to know intimately.
How many people actually know you? The real you? I would say that there are less than five people in the world that know the completely Jeff.
Maxine knows me better than anyone in the world. There are things that Maxine knows that I haven’t told anyone else. After 29 years of marriage, she can read my mind.
But so can Google!
But God knows me at an infinitely deeper level than Maxine. He knows my motives, my thoughts, my words before I think them. That kind of knowledge could make us uncomfortable if God wasn’t such a good God!
Look at David’s response in verse 6:
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain
David responses with awe and praise. This knowledge is way beyond David’s comprehension. It fills him with hope not horror, with faith not fear.
Isn’t that what we want most - to be known completely and still accepted and loved?
Listen carefully brother and sisters God knows you perfectly, He knows your sins, your flaws, your faults…and He LOVES you!
Matt Chandler says, “God doesn’t love some future version of you. He love you now!”
God is Everywhere with You (7-12)
God not only knows David intimately but He is with him consistently.
“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.” (Psalm 139:7-12)
David begins by asking two rhetorical questions:
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
The implied answer is of course there is no where David could run to escape God’s presence. This is the lesson that our study of the book of Jonah taught us.
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there
If David were to go to heaven God is there. If David were to die and be placed in a grave, God is 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 David were to travel east at the speed of light or west to the Mediterranean Sea, God is still there.
No matter where he goes on the map, north, south, east or west, God’s hand will guide him and hold Him fast.
Even in the darkest times, maybe especially in the darkest times, God can see through the dark in order to lead David through.
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.”
Isaiah echoes this:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” (Isa 43:2)
This section highlights what theologians call God’s omnipresence.
God is everywhere present in every place in all of creation in all His fullness. He is transcendent, which means high and lifted up in the highest heavens, but He is also near to us and “leads us beside quiet waters and refreshes our souls.” (See Psalm 23)
Jeremiah quotes God:
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jer 23:23-24)
Once, after teaching on this topic to high school students, one of them asked the question that I think many of them were thinking. She said, “So God is always with us? Always? He sees me in the shower? When I’m going to the bathroom?” When I laughed and said yes, she said that was creepy and a little scary.
I told her that if could be if God wasn’t such a good God.
God’s ever watch care over us isn’t like the police state of North Korea but more like a baby monitor that lets you know that the baby is safe and sleeping.
This can be very convicting for us. God is there in the middle of the night when you click on that website to remind you that young lady is someone’s daughter. God is there when you tell the little white lie, or cheat, or gossip. This should cause us to pause and consider our actions.
But this is also incredibly encouraging to us. At the end of the Great Commission, Jesus promises, “…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20)
God isn’t like your father who left or your wife who abandoned you or your adult son who doesn’t talk to you.
The writer of the book of Hebrews, quoting Deuteronomy, assures us that God has said:
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb 13:5)
So if you feel alone right now just know that God knows you and loves you is with you always.
God Created You (13-18)
“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.” (Psalm 139:13-16)
This is one of the most well known passage in the Bible. Not only does God know David and promises to be with him but it is God Himself who created David!
This is the attribute of God that theologians call omnipotence. God is all powerful and creates out of nothing but the very word of His mouth. In Psalm 19, we saw this power in His creation of the universe. Here in Psalm 139, we will see His creative power in what a friend of mine calls, “a womb with a view.”
The word created (or formed) means “to cut, to frame or fashion.” It’s the same word that describes God creating Adam and Eve in Genesis. David was making it clear that he was made, created, formed by God in the image of God (imago Dei).
David’s frame, his skeletal structure, was seen by God as he developed.
David was made in “the secret place.” This word carries with it the idea of protection or covering/shelter. The womb should be the safest place in the world for a baby to grow. Unfortunately, it’s been said that the most dangerous place in America is a mother’s womb.
David uses a beautiful word picture in these verses. He says that God “knit him together in his mother’s womb” and that he was “woven together in the depths of the earth.”
This is a picture of fine needlepoint done by a master’s hands.
Job says the same thing:
“Did you not clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?” (Job 10:11)
According to a Christian/Biblical worldview, life begins at conception.
There are those, like Simon Biles did this past week, that said that abortion is a matter of a woman’s right to choose what to do with their body. The only problem with that is that the baby isn’t their body, it’s a whole different individual person with different DNA and could even be a different sex.
Again David breaks out into praise. I love the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases verse 14:
“I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation!” (Psalm 139:14, The Message)
David proclaims that God saw his unformed body. We will get into this more in just a minute but this is really important.
God told Jeremiah:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jer 1:5)
In the middle of a prophecy, Isaiah writes:
“This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb…” (Isaiah 44:24)
Quick trivia question. Who was the first person to give praise to God for the coming of the Messiah in the presence of Mary? John the Baptist…in the womb!
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:41)
From a Christian worldview, a baby in the womb is a full, living being, made in the image of God, and deserving our care and protection.
[Video of Baby Development]
Look at the second part of verse 16 with me carefully - “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to pass.”
Sometimes we use the saying that “a person’s days are numbered.” But, according to the Bible, this is absolutely true. God knows how many days you will live.
We see this in Job:
“A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” (Job 14:5)
And in Psalm 90, Moses prays that God would “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
This might be a little frightening if God wasn’t such a good God. He knew us before we were born and has a purpose and plan for your life that no one can thwart.
You are not a accident or mistake. God made you on purpose, with a purpose, for a purpose.
[Nick Vujicic video]
David ends this section by again breaking out into praise:
“How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:17-18)
David is overwhelmed with the fact that God cherishes him, is with him, created him, and his purposes and plans for him.
It too much. It would be like counting grains of sand or the stars. Even in his sleep, David knows God is watching over him.
Applications
We are going to stop there so I can make sure to give Darleta enough time at the end.
But let’s look at the obvious application of these verses - life begins at conception, we are made in the image of God, abortion is murder, we need to be pro-life from the womb to the tomb.
I talked to my friend and mentor Brian Bill this week several times and I want to give him credit for some of the ideas in this section.
Brian gives us several reasons why it is important to talk about this from the pulpit:
One of my roles as a pastor is to help you think Biblically about contemporary issues. We need to make sure we are Biblically correct, not politically correct. Abortion is the murder of an unborn child. Even the leaders of Planned Parenthood agree with this now. But they would say that the rights of the mother overrule the rights of the fetus.
Abortion is a Biblical, moral, and ethical issue, not a political one. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, when confronting the evils of the Nazis wrote, “Silence in the face of evil is in itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
We are called to speak up and speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” (Prov 24:11)
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Prov 31:8-9).
This picture was taken in 1999, when doctors were performing surgery on Samuel Alexander Armas for spina bifida. During the surgery, he reached out of the womb and grabbed the doctor’s hand. This picture has been named the “Hand of Hope.”
We are called to swim against the flow of our culture.
Recently, the state of New York passed the most sweeping abortion bill ever In our country. When it passed, the assembly broke into joyous applause and, later that night, the Empire State Building was lit up pink in celebration.
A new trend is abortion parties where teenagers raise money for to pay for their abortion.
In 2020, actress Michelle Williams accepted her Golden Globe with these words, “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose…“Now, I know my choices might look different than yours, but thank God, or whomever you pray to, that we live in a country founded on the principle that I am free to live by my faith and you are free to live by yours.”
In other words, if I had to sacrifice my baby to win an award it’s worth it.
A missionary couple in Africa faced this choice. She had contracted a disease that threatened her life and the baby’s and the doctors told her that she needed to abort the baby. She said no and delivered a healthy baby boy that they named Timothy. We know him as Tim Tebow.
Tim and his mother told this story in a 2010 Super Bowl ad that caused enormous controversy, with commentators calling it a travesty and dangerous, demeaning, divisive, offensive, and political, simply because they were advocating for life.
But watching that night at a friend’s house was Susan Wood, who had just told her boyfriend that morning that she was pregnant. He demanded that she get an abortion and she consented. She walked to the Super Bowl party feeling totally alone in the world.
Tim Tebow was literally the only football player she knew and when the commercial came on, she was riveted to the screen. She thought, is Tim Tebow talking to me. She went to the website later and watched the story, and decided that she was keeping the baby. Her boyfriend left and never came back.
But Avita Grace is alive and well!
In this culture of death, we have to be willing, with truth and grace, to speak up on these issues.
Ultimately it’s about the Gospel. I don’t want to win arguments, I want to focus on making disciples.
I was born in 1968. Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. Since that time, 60 million of my generation have been murdered.
Approximately 1.2 million abortions each year in America
For every 1,000 live births, 200 babies are aborted.
Women in their 20’s are the most likely to obtain an abortion.
The good news is that abortions are at an historic low, down a reported 4% from the previous year.
In 2014, 73 abortion clinics closed or stopped performing abortions.
75% of abortion facilities have shut down since 1991.
But for the first time in a generation, there is real possibility of Roe v, Wade being overturned. The Millennial Generation leans pro-life.
But that hasn’t happened yet. The slaughter continues. You may have wondered what the bell is that has been ringing every 23 seconds through the service. It’s not an angel getting its wings. It represents another baby girl or boy who was just aborted. In the time of this service, there will be over 200 babies aborted in the US.
So what should we do?
I remember standing in the foyer of one of the buildings on the campus of Reformed Theological Seminary and staring at the pictures of past graduating classes. One of those smiling faces was a guy named Paul Hill.
On July 29, 1994, Paul approached the Ladies Clinic in Pensacola, Florida and opened fire on Dr. John Britton, the doctor that provided abortions at the clinic, his body guard and his wife. Dr. Britton died instantly. Paul then put down his weapon and waited to be arrested.
He represented himself at trial and gave the defense that he was trying to save babies. He was convicted and was executed in September 3, 2003. He had no remorse and his last words were
"If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it. May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected.”
This, to me, is the ultimate in hypocrisy and the opposite of being pro-life. If we are pro-life, then we will care about the abortion doctor’s life, and the homeless, the hungry, and the abandoned, and the abused.
* We must be consistent in our stance that we are pro-life from the womb to the tomb.
We must practice purity and encourage others as well. 83% of women seeking an abortion are unwed mothers. Can I just be clear on what the Bible is clear on? Sex is created to be enjoyed in the confines of marriage between one women and one man. In that context is is like fire in a fire place. Outside of that context, it can burn can entire forest down. Sex outside of marriage is called fornication and has moral, emotional, spiritual, as well as the obvious physical consequences.
Encourage a young woman dealing with an unwanted pregnancy.
In our student ministry at my former church, one of our high school students got pregnant. She was 16 and scared and could have easily sought an abortion.
We threw her a huge baby shower and lavished grace and love on her. Several older people in the church asked me why our team would encourage such immoral behavior. I just smiled and said, “We are celebrating the fact that she made the courageous choice to keep the baby safe in her womb!”
Support those who chose to adopt. I’ll never forgetting watching a small group come around a wonderful family who was adopting and prayed, financially supported, and cheered them on every step of the way.
Let’s ask God to examine our own hearts.
“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.”
Share that there is forgiveness in Jesus.
Each week, we are asking where Jesus is in the psalm. Jesus is called the way. He is the way to salvation that everlasting. And in Him is forgiveness and freedom.
I’ll never forget looking back to a group of girls surrounding a friend of mine at the college outreach. She was crying and we celebrated as she committed her life to Christ that night.
A few weeks later, we were at her apartment playing games and I watched her slide off the coach onto the floor and curl up in a fetal position. She was weeping quietly. Several of us sat with her and let her cry.
I finally said, “Whatever it is, God loves you and can forgive you.”
She looked up at me and said, “I know God can forgive anything, but will he forgive me for killing my baby?”
The room went completely silent. I knew her well and didn’t know about this at all.
She had gotten pregnant and her boyfriend made it clear that she had to have an abortion. He drove her to the clinic and walked her in the room. It was the most traumatizing thing she had ever been through.
I looked back at her searching eyes and said, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
I then hugged her and told her that she will meet that little one one day and hear, “It’s okay momma. God took care of me.”
If you have had an abortion, I know that you experience trauma and shame but you can be forgiven.
I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Darleta Gramm, who is the executive director of the Elizabeth Home in Pontiac.
Darleta Gramm Testimony Elizabeth Home story.
Ending Song: Only a Holy God
