Senior Retreat #2 - Psalm 139 - Revealed to the Christ

Intro

Last time we talked about the great incredible scale of Christ. His amazing control of the universe. He made all things, all things depend on him, all things are moving towards him, all things end in him. He is the God of creation, the means of creation, the center of creation, and the savior of creation.

I hope that Colossians 1 gave you a very big view of Christ. That he is more than a man, but the almighty God of the universe and that he exists at a scale so beautiful and incomprehensible.

Maintain that view, but I want to warn you of a danger.

An issue: we want to be known. We want to be understood. But not at a distant level, at a personal close level.

Wired into every human is a desire for intimacy.

Genesis 2:18 ESV

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

But that desire to be known, understood, and loved is in conflict with one terrible part of our nature in humans.

One thing prevents that: our shame. Sin is always soon accompanied by shame.

Genesis 3:6–7 ESV

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

The Bible often compares nakedness and shame as being synonymous.

In the same way that we have physical parts we cover because of our fear of them being judged and vulnerable to others, so too do we have spiritual parts that we seek to cover. Both go hand in hand.

Romans 6:21 ESV

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

“There are two ways that we can become naked. The first is self imposed nakedness that is due to our sinful nature and personal sin. The second is other-imposed nakedness that we experience because of the sin of other people.” - Ed Welch

When we sin, we become aware of our imperfections and short comings. When others sin against us, the same happens. That feeling is what the Bible calls shame.

This is the heart of insecruity. If we feel insecure, it is because deep down we know something exists within us that if exposed, could lead to our whole lives falling apart.

The modern perception of this is often called “low self-esteem” but it should be better known

So this issue of shame is in tension and conflict with the desire to be known.

I want to take you to the solution. It lies not by trying to learn and love your imperfect self. The more you put your eyes on yourself and try to uplift your own worth the more you will find imperfection and the more you will realize that something can not ascribe worth to itself.

Instead, I want you to see that it is putting your eyes on the perfect Christ that provides the answer. Does he ascribe value to you?

This is a song about the perfect God, who is Christ, and how intimate he is with us.

“The psalmist focuses rather on what these great Divine perfections mean for him personally. The pronouns, I, me, or mine, appear over fifty times in twenty-four verses! That is not because the psalm is self-centered, it is because the psalmist is personally overwhelmed as he sees himself in relation to the Almighty’s character perfections.” - William Varner

This is a very raw text. It deals with difficult thoughts and ideas that are challenging. But I urge you, come before it humbly and you will find the answer to your shame.

How to see Jesus as the solution to your desire for intimacy:

1. Christ’s Knowledge of You is Inescapable (139:1-12)

God’s Omniscience is Inescapable (vv. 1-6)

Verse 1 - David praises God, because God knows David. By singing this, he is bringing it to his own mind.

The word also means “to examine” or “explore.” (חקר) (Perfect verb implies complete action, no need for further examination).

Verses 2-3 - Both the active and the quiet activities and actions of our life are under his eye.

“My path and my pallet, my running and my resting, are alike within the circle of thine observation. Thou dost surround me even as the air continually surrounds all creatures that live. I am shut up within the wall of thy being; I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge. Waking or sleeping I am still observed of thee. I may leave thy path, but you never leave mine.” - Charles Spurgeon

Verse 4 - The words of David are known before he speaks them! That means God knows before your mouth opens if that word will be one of praise or blasphemy.

Verse 5 - “You hem me in behind and before…”

Hem = besiege, surround, to tie up (צור)

Literally a word to describe an army that has surrounded every part of a city.

Every molecule and aspect of David is absolutely surrounded by God. His being is absolutely penetrated and permeated by the mind of God who sees everything about him.

“You lay your hand on me.”

“The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gribbed by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape.” - Charles Spurgeon

Verse 6 - This intimacy may be frightening for some at first glance. Perhaps it feels invasive. Perhaps you feel uncomfortable. But for David, this is a wonderful truth that he rejoices in.

“He [David] speaks of it with admiration. We cannot find out how God searches and finds out us, nor can we know how we are known.” - Matthew Henry

God’s Omnipresence is Inescapable (vv. 7-12)

Verse 7 - God’s presence is an inescapable thing. The New Testament says that if you are born again, you always have the full presence of God around you (Rom 8:9). David knows that he can do nothing to cover himself from the sight of God.

Verse 8 - David speaks of two destinations: heaven and sheol.

Verse 9 - If David flies into the air or hides at the bottom of the sea, God is there.

Verse 10 - If David finds himself banished to the outer reaches of creation, he will still find His God. While that appears terrifying for some, it is not for David. For him, it is the ultimate comfort because that means there is nothing he can do and nowhere he can go to escape God’s guidance of him.

The hand that was described like a prison guard a second ago is brought up again as a hand that leads and guides him.

Verses 11-12 - Parts of creation that feel impenetrable, lost, and hidden, are exposed like bright light to God. Hidden trenches deep in the pacific, tops of unreachable mountains in the swiss alps, deep tunnels formed by insects. All of it is equally penetrated by the presence of God.

I remember being out on this tiny island off the coast of russia in the artic circle. It was a small quiet village known as Merkoryuk. There was nothing but the artic sea, iceburgs, and tundra all around. I remember staring out and thinking “how did I get here? I’m just some kid that grew up in Lancaster California. I remember feeling super lonely for a moment. The place was far too quiet and too isolated. “if there is a place in creation that feels like it’s out of God’s sight, it must be here” I thought. I went and preached at a small church and the life in those villagers was unlike anything I had ever seen. They felt so confident that they were known, seen and loved by God.

Main Point:

For some of you this truth rings out like David: You are so happy to hear you are known through and through.

But for others, you are uncomfortable with everything we just learned.

Why is this uncomfortable? Because if God knows every detail of us then he knows some details that we hope no one ever knows. Private secrets that remain in your mind alone are exposed to the all seeing eye. Knowing those are seen brings with it one terrible enemy: shame.

There are things we wish no one would know.

This also begs the question: “Okay, God knows everything about me. Clearly he sees me as a mess and a mistake.”

That is not what David says about you.

More importantly. It’s not what David says about the God who made you…

2. Christ’s Creation of You is Intentional (139:13-16)

Being known by the almighty God and seeing how he absolutely permeates every part of who you are is a difficult thought. It may even be scary or make you think of contradictions. You may think: “Am I who I am by random choice?” “Did God just roll a bunch of dice and he was going for a Yatzee but had to settle for a pair of two’s and that was me?”

No, David is here to share that nothing about you is random. Every detail was formed by the intimate hand of the almighty with great care and attention.

He breaks down three aspects of his life that is formed by God: his Heart, his body, and his days.

Your Heart was intentional (vv. 13-14)

“You formed by inward parts.”

Literally the word for kidney, but it refers.

The heart is the center of who you are. We often wrongly think of the heart as just being the center of your feelings and emotions. That is true, but it is also the center of your thoughts and actions.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The heart has thoughts and intentions. It comes along with your personality, likes and dislikes, everything you are resides in your heart.

David attributes the creation of his inner man to the creator and the careful intention done with it.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

People love this verse. But I also think people misunderstand it.

People take this verse and recite it to themselves thinking about how wonderful and fearful they are..

That’s not the point. David says “I Praise YOU, because the process I was made in was fearful and wonderful. The process is fearful and wonderful because the knitter is fearful and wonderful.”

It’s not wrong at all to be encouraged by this verse, but your encouragement will only be temporary if the verse makes you think about you. Let it cast your thoughts and mind to God. When you realize how wonderful he is and how he cares for you, you will then have peace.

Your Body is intentional (v. 15)

“My frame” = skeleton outline.

David focuses on the physical form that God designed for him.

He says it was “not hidden,” meaning that the body God designed for David was not randomly generated.

“I was made in secret”

“Secret” implies that you were hidden. You weren’t even a thought to the rest of the world but you were to God.

There is an easy tendency to tie your appearance into your worth. There is also an easy tendency to view your body as something that is assigned at random.

Some of you feel uncomfortable with the way you look, some of you feel too confident about the way you look.

Both are dangerous. Remember this: God has assigned the body he has assigned to you out of an act of wisdom and choice.

“Intricately Woven”

Every detail of you is woven together. The heart and the body are designed with the upmost care of God.

Your Days Are Intentional (v. 16)

As God looks upon you, your unformed substance, he could have left it there and let your life play out after that. He could just let you go and make decisions, and let other people make decisions to you and let everything happen by random domino effect.

But he did not, he looked upon your unformed substance and wrote out in his book every moment of every day of your life with the same care he put into the design of your body and your soul.

We do not make the decision about how our days go. God makes that decision and is involved in carrying it out.

Psalm 127:1–2 ESV

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Does he want you to get married? Then you will. And there is nothing you can do to stop that from happening. There is nothing you can do to sabatoge that plan.

You are not the result of the free will choices of man, the random cast of the dice, but rather the sovereign choice and intentional formation of God.

Here’s the thought: because God knows everything about you, and knows you better than you know yourself, he makes better choices about the way your life goes more than anyone else. Therefore everything you are is authored by God.

3. Christ’s Intimacy with You is Intoxicating (139:17-24)

By intoxicating, I mean that exposure to something leads to change in you.

When me and my wife first got married, I began to notice something taking place in my speech. Jamila always adds unnecessary “s’s” at the end of words. She will say “Hellos” and “I made you the breakfasts” or “I’m gonna give yous a hugs.” At some point, I’m not sure when, I started talking like her. So much so that I would say things like her. I went to the beach with my guy friends (“the bois”). I remember stepping on to the beach and the sand was super hot so I said “ouch my feets.” Needless to say I was no longer invited to that beach day. Completely killed the guys day out vibe.

My intimacy with Jamila began to change me and vice versa

The point: David has gotten so close with God he shares what God loves and what God hates. His mind has been renewed as Romans 12:1-2 speaks of.

David’s Delight in God’s Intimacy (vv. 17-18)

Verse 17 - David’s is so excited and enamored that the God of the universe knows him.

My dad was an actor in Hollywood when I was young and he has some cool stories of famous celebrities he has met or had conversations with or worked with.

Sometimes when we spend time with other people the get excited and start freaking out that they know someone that knows someone famous.

My dad would always respond in humility and would share that

I grew to find that kind of silly over time when I came to realize that I KNOW THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE AND HE KNOWS ME.

David finds it absolutely incredible that God knows him and is close with him. Not only that, the sheer quantity of thought that goes from God towards Him.

Verse 18

I remember when my family moved to Wales and I left all my friends. There were nights I was up late thinking about them and just wishing I could be near them again.

When I returned, many of them acted like they never knew me. They were uninterested, because friendship with me ultimately brought them no earthly good it seemed.

I was distraught because I grew to realize that even if I had thoughts towards them, they had no thoughts towards me.

That would be sad, if the issue didn’t come down to me. I placed my hope in people. Not in God.

How many thoughts does God have towards you? David says it’s like counting grains of sand on the seashore. They are endless.

He is awake still counting and never knows the end of Christ’s intimacy with him.

David’s Zeal for God’s Intimacy (vv. 19-22)

What change does this result in? It’s a love for God and a jealous protection of Him.

Not that God needs our protection, but when we see others in rejection.

This passage is difficult, it seems to condone hating your fellow man without respite.

With greater context, we know this to be a healthy hatred as long as it also is paired with the same grace and love that is extended towards David.

Jude 22–23 ESV

And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

David’s Humility before God’s Intimacy (vv. 23-24)

David does one last thing: he admits he doesn’t know about himself, and about his life to lead it.

He asks God to find sin in himself that he does not see.

The psalm began with David saying God has searched him, and it ends with him asking God to continue searching him.

It is ultimately humility, because he knows he is very capable of being like the wicked that he so righteously condemned moments ago.

He needs to be cleaned. He needs to be washed. Because he knows that his sin had the potential to separate him from this intimacy.

How do you get this intimacy with God? Only one way: the cross.

Think about this: Jesus saw every dark corner in your person. He knows every private thought or sin no matter how disgusting it was. And in response, he gave his life for you.

Not only are you known, you are loved.

David did not know the manner in which the messiah would die. He only knew that God promised that his future descendant would be the messiah and he would be the bridge between God and man. His closeness with God is closeness with Jesus.

Jesus died on the cross that you would be transformed! That you would no longer life for yourself but for him who the universe existed for!

He saw all that shame exposed to his eyes and took the punishment for it as if he committed those secret sins! His rising again gives you a clean white robe that covers your shame and nakedness so that when God looks at you, s

Conclusion

You not only are known, you are known by someone who can cleanse you of your sin. Along with the sin, shame will be cleansed too. You change, you are transformed, and the old you dies with him on the cross never to come down again.

Have you been transformed by this closeness? This intimacy?

What is the point of this message? Last message I wanted you to understand that in response to the question: “who do you say I am?”

Christ is who he says he is.

I also want you to know that you are who Christ says you are. Not who you say you are. You are his. You are bought with a price. But you are loved closely and known by him. So much that you begin to change to be like him.

Beautiful Eulogy “Lofty” - But worth, value, and beauty is not determined by some innate quality, But by the length for which the owner would go to possess them And broken and ugly things just like us are stamped "Excellent" With ink tapped in wells of divine veins A system of redemption that could only be described as perfect, A seal of approval, fatal debt removal, Promised, prominent, perfect priest, Brilliant designed system, redemption for our kinsmen, Can only be described as perfect with excellent execution.