230122 Psalm 139: Known | Made for Relationship | Made for Him

Made in the Image of God | To Know Christ and make Him known | Made Known to Be Made Known|Intimately known by the infinite God we are made by Him and for Him

I. Omniscient (v1-6) You know

Psalm 139 | For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm. 1 O Yahweh, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Yahweh, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And You have put Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Themes

Theology

Omniscience

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

v1 = Monostichic - a sigh

v2 “understand” = sum of life of spirit and soul of man

v3 ways = sum of human action

v3 scrutiny is unabated and always present

v5 enclose me behind and before = an ever present protection that will not suffer the object to escape

Principle

Implications

Even the very hairs of our head are numbered

Immanence of the Knower

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Parallel Passages

Psalm 139:1 “O Yahweh, You have searched me and known me.”

Romans 8.27 “and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Cross Reference Support v1-v6

Ps 94.9 “He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?”

Romans 11.33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.”

Context

II. Omnipresent (v7-12)

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will bruise me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not too dark for You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

Themes

Doctrine

Theology

Infinity: Tension between Immanence and Transcendence

God is not only unlimited but illimitable

God is not subject to spatial limitations

He is infinite related to time - He is unchanging

His knowledge has no measurement

He is omnipotent and is able to do all things that are proper objects of His power

Can never be frustrated - what He wills He does

He is fully free

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

Principle

Implications

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Parallel Passages

Cross Reference Support

Pr 15.11 “Sheol and Abaddon lie open before Yahweh, How much more the hearts of the sons of men!”

Je 23.24 ““Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares Yahweh. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Yahweh.”

Da 2.22 ““He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.”

He 4.13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.”

1 Jn 1.5 “And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Is 45.7 “The One forming light and creating darkness, Producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these.”

Context

III. Infinite (v13-16) Wonderful | Origins | omnipotent

13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And intricately woven in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unshaped substance; And in Your book all of them were written The days that were formed for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Themes

Doctrine

Humanity is, and continues to be, the creative work of God; He has personally formed each person, inside and out (Ps139.13)

Theology

v16 Predetermination

In the OT it is Inconceivable that anything happens independent of God’s will and work

God’s plan originated before… it is from all eternity

No chronological sequence in planning

We exist for Him and not He for us

His plan is unchangeable

He is specifically sovereign overseeing every iota of actions in space and time

v13-16

Unborn

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

circumstances eliciting a shudder of astonishment or excitement - this is how I have come into being

v15 depths of the earth - relationship with the origin of Adam in the earth.

The mothers womb of adam was the earth

Principle

Implications

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Parallel Passages

Ps 139.14 “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”

Revelation 15.3 “And they sang the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “GREAT AND MARVELOUS ARE YOUR WORKS, O LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY; RIGHTEOUS AND TRUE ARE YOUR WAYS, KING OF THE NATIONS!”

Cross Reference Support

Ex 26.36 ““You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver.”

1 Co 3.16-17 “Do you not know that you are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the sanctuary of God, God will destroy him, for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are.”

Jb 10.8-11 “‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You swallow me up? ‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again? ‘Did You not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese, Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews?”

Jb 14.5 ““Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.”

Ps 56.8 “You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?”

Ps 90.12 “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Ec 11.5 “Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who works all things.”

Is 44.24 “Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,”

Je 1.5 ““Before I formed you in the innermost parts I knew you, And before you came out from the womb I set you apart; I have given you as a prophet to the nations.””

Ps 94.9 “He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?”

Romans 11.33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Context

IV. Righteous (v17-18)

17 How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

Themes

Doctrine

Theology

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

Principle

Implications

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Cross Reference Support

Ps 36.7 “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the sons of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”

Ps 40.5 “Many, O Yahweh my God, are the wondrous deeds You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. I would declare and speak of them, But they are too numerous to recount.”

Ps 92.5 “How great are Your works, O Yahweh! Your thoughts are very deep.”

Ps 119.160 “The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting.”

Ro 11.33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Context

V. Just (v19-22) | Opponents | Outrage | Offense

19 Oh that You would slay the wicked, O God! O men of bloodshed, depart from me. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Yahweh? And do I not revile those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.

Themes

Doctrine

Theology

Hamartiology: Blasphemy

Using the name of the Lord in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious manner

Scorning God’s truth, grace and ways, hypocritical professions of religion

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

Principle

Implications

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Those that forsake and reject Yahweh will face His justice

Blasphemy is a serious offense

Bloodshed is a serious offense

Wickedness is a serious offense

Speaking against God is a serious offense

Parallel Passages

Psalm 139.21 “Do I not hate those who hate You, O Yahweh? And do I not revile those who rise up against You?”

Revelation 2.6 “‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

Cross Reference Support

Ex 20.7 ““You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Deut 5.11 “‘You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Ps 5.6 “You destroy those who speak falsehood; Yahweh abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.”

Ps 26.5 “I hate the assembly of evildoers, And I will not sit with the wicked.”

Ps 31.16 “Make Your face to shine upon Your slave; Save me in Your lovingkindness.”

Ps 58.10-11 “The righteous will be glad when he beholds the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!””

Is 11.4 “But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with uprightness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will put the wicked to death.”

Mt 5.43-44 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

Jd 15 “to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.””

1 Cor 6.2-3 “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not worthy to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?”

VI. Savior (v23-24)

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Themes

Doctrine

Theology

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

Knowing the Lord and being known by the Lord

Of utmost importance is being truly known by the Lord and expending every energy to know Him more

Principle

Implications

Cross Reference Support

1 Sam 16.7 “But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.””

Ps 16.11 “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

Ps 94.19 “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.”

1 The 2.4 “but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.”

Hebrews 4:13 “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.”

Application:

unboxing our lives to expose all to the Lord

How to develop our relationship with God

Learn about Him and Hear from Him

Speak to Him

Believe Him

What reveals that we have a relationship with Him

Knowledge of Him that is increasing

Nauseated by sin and its affects

Obedience to Him out of joy

Working out our salvation with fear and trembling / Wonder at

Themes

Doctrine

Theology

How does this support my Main Point

Does anything in here detract from my main point

Observation

Principle

Implications

Application to Christians/Non-Christians

Parallel Passages

Cross Reference Support

Context