Psalm 139

Introduction

[TS] We want to look at this Psalm in four PARTS…

Major Ideas

PART #1: The All-Knowing One Knows Me (vv. 1-6)

Psalm 139:1–6 NASB95

1 O Lord, 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 Lord, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

[EXP]

[ILLUS]

[APP] He knows me this completely and still sent Jesus to die for me.

Hebrews 4:13–14 NASB95

13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

[TS]…

PART #2: The Ever-Present One is Present with Me (vv. 7-12)

Psalm 139:7–12 NASB95

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 take 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 overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

[EXP]

[ILLUS] Lillian in the dark this past Monday night.

Mama wasn’t there, but God was.

[APP] His Spirit is within me though faith in Jesus, so He lives with me always.

John 14:15–18 NASB95

15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:23 NASB95

23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

[TS]…

PART #3: The All-Creative One Created Me (vv. 13-18)

Psalm 139:13–18 NASB95

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 skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also 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.

[EXP]

[ILLUS]

[APP] Jesus went through this bodily formation so He could lay down His life and take it up again so that I could be forgiven of sin and counted as righteous.

Philippians 2:6–11 NASB95

6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[TS]…

PART #4: The All-Holy One Calls Me to Be Holy (vv. 19-24)

Psalm 139:19–24 NASB95

19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 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 Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. 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.

[EXP]

[ILLUS]

[APP] He call me to separate from the world and to examine myself.

James 4:4 NASB95

4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 John 2:17 NASB95

17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Matthew 7:13–14 NASB95

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

[TS]…

Conclusion

“A Psalm of David.”

Reassured by God’s knowledge, presence, and care

Encouraged to stand for God

Challenged to be holy as God is holy

Exiles

Reassured by David’s testimony of God’s knowledge, presence, and care

Encouraged stand for God like David did

Challenged to be holy like David pursued holiness

Us

Reassured by this testimony of God’s knowledge, presence, and care (1-21)

Encouraged for stand for God (19-22)

Challenged to pursue holiness (23-24)

Because we too are exiles

Because we too are men and women after God’s own heart through faith in Jesus Christ

[PRAYER]