Precious - We are to God
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 139
Introduction:
Do you find it frustrating to hear words which were once used to describe something or someone in a positive way are now used to describe things or people in negative and insulting ways.
I am sure you can think of several words yourself, but I want to look at the word “precious”.
Today if you use the word precious to describe someone and, especially if you are in Gen Y or X… you may be in danger of getting your nose punched.
For those of you who are older this word now seems to refer to someone who is soft, weak, easily provoked.
But that is not what I grew up understanding the word to mean.
And it is certainly not what the translators of God’s word or the Christian song writers of the past would have been expressing.
You, like me grew up knowing that the word “precious” could be used as an adjective to describe something (or someone) as of great value, highly valued.
Things such as precious metals, especially gold, platinum, silver; precious stones such as gems or even a piece of art and so on.
It was a convenient word, precious metal.
Maybe the politically correct term should be, “A metal of high monetary value”
“Precious” could also be used as a noun, for example ‘my precious = my loved one;
Or even as an adverb suggesting that the item was uncommon or rare, as in ‘there is precious little of it.
So when we come to study a piece of scripture like Psalm 139, we are forced to come to grips with the notion that God desires to have a relationship with us on the deepest level because we are precious to Him.
He searches and knows us (v. 1); His eye is always upon us (vv. 2–3). He hears all that we say (v. 4), and His hand is upon us (v. 5).
How we respond to this can either be with awe, leading to a sense of shame for our many failings.
Which can then lead to (v6), a search for an escape which would be futile in the extreme as God’s presence is always there, in heaven or (Sheol; the place of the dead) the grave, in darkness or in light.
Or as (vv7-12) tell us we can choose to embrace this knowledge and praise God for his mercy, patience and love.
King David, who is recognised as the writer of this psalm, is wrestling with the fact that God is not satisfied to be simply the reigning King, exalted in heaven, enthroned before a sea of angels.
We are precious to God and as a result he has taken the time to get to know us intimately.
Why does He bother?
The answer is of course is contained in verses 13 to 16.
He created us .
When I was teaching Religious Instruction classes in the local schools I would always try to make the point that God created everything, including mankind, and that He never makes any mistakes.
There may be those who are born with what we humanly call defects, but God knew what he was doing and given His ownership as the creator He always has a purpose for what He allowed to take place…even if we in our limited state cannot fathom His plans.
The fact that God took the time to think about His servant David leads David to proclaim God’s many thoughts as precious to the psalmist (v. 17–18), that he hates those whom God hates (vv. 19–22); and concludes with an invitation for God to search him, try him, know him, and lead him “in the way everlasting” (vv. 23–24).
Commentators describe this psalm as a psalm of personal thanksgiving...and as we study it we can make it our own.
It talks about being seen by God (vv. 1–6); being pursued by God (vv. 7–12), and being fashioned by God (vv. 13–16).
The psalmist then flows on to his response concerning God’s loving thoughtfulnesss (vv. 17–18), to his hatred of God’s enemies (vv. 19–22) and finally concludes with an invitation, a submission, to being searched further by God (vv. 23–24).
You are - Seen by God Psalm 139:1–6
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
At the age of 26 when we had only been married for 2 years Toni was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis’
In order to come to this momentous discovery she had to endure 8 different types of tests, including balance tests, hearing tests, lumbar punches, CTs, MRIs and so on.
The specialist upon reviewing all the results which had come back was convinced of his diagnosis.
We began planning for what that would mean for us as a couple, the questions about children, ministry, life expectancy.
Toni doesn’t have M.S. and I believe this is due to the fact that over 200 people were praying for her.
My point is the doctor believed he knew her, even had proof, to safely give his opinion.
But he did not know her, or our God, so he was totally unnerved when the final and brand new technique of an MRI was reviewed by an third party.
The result no MS.
It seems that all the tests in the world could not give him an answer to what was going on.
But God did and does... and He does not need to do any scans of our brain.
He does not need CCTV, or top secret technology which tracks our every action on line.
He doesn’t even need a lie detector.
He knows our every thought, deed, and word spoken - even before we say it.
So...If no thought escapes Him (v. 2), then certainly no word escapes Him either.
All of our communication is monitored by Him, and He clearly knows us better than we know ourselves.
I cannot help but speculate how my own thoughts and words would change if I really believed this, or, better, experienced this, knowing the active presence of God in my life moment by moment.
He knows where we are at all times.
He is even there going before and behind us protecting us like the ultimate father that He is.
And He is blessing us though out the day and night, giving us everything we need.
Verse 6 says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!"
Why would he do this for us if He did not care for us or believe us to be profoundly precious to Himself?
You are - Pursued by God – Psalm 139:7–12
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
There are commentators who believe that the next 6 verses are a bid by the psalmist to flee from God.
The realisation that God knows us intimately is too overwhelming.
To know our every thought - good and bad – cannot be borne.
The writer is ashamed to think that God would know us that well.
But I disagree. I believe 7-12 are to be viewed in a very positive way.
We cannot escape from his Spirit - and would we really want to?!
To know that God is always on his throne in heaven and that we will someday enter into his presence is fantastic.
Verse 8 tells us that God’s presence is so all pervading that if he were to go down to the place of the dead = sheol, that God would be there with him as well.
Please remember that this is the Old Testament reality;
The Jews at this time did not have as good a picture nor all of the blessings we have after death.
Before the resurrection of Christ, death meant either a place of judgement or a place of blessing, which Jesus referred to in Luke 16:19.
Christ's resurrection and ascension opened that way for those who follow him to go straight to Heaven, to immediately be in God’s presence when they die.
There is no place of waiting for us any longer.
Verses 9 and 10 refer to the concept of going as far east or as far west as you can go and God being there with us to guide, strengthen and support us.
Even when I feel that somehow God has left me.
He has always been there.
Even in my darkest moments as I struggled with depression He was there.
He was there drawing me to Himself even as a child.
As we look at verses 11 and 12 we can praise God, that He is Lord over the darkness, both the physical and the spiritual.
Not only is he the creator of light (cf Gen 1:1), but His Holy Spirit calls us out of the darkness of our sin into the light of His redeeming love.
Once we are known by God, we are declared "precious" by Him.
We cannot flee His presence.
His love will not be denied.
You are - Fashioned by God – Psalm 139:13–16
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
There could be no stronger statement concerning the sanctity and dignity of the un-born child these next verses and its context.
Like Jeremiah, we are known to God before He forms us in the womb (Jer. 1:5).
This is a foundational text, which defends the rights of the unborn child.
Surely most of us here experience the wonder of looking at the starfish shaped hand of a new born baby and marvelled at its perfection.
It is as if God took extra special delight in designing that so useful part of the human body.
And have you ever wondered about the super abundant love many children and adults with Down ’s syndrome show to all those who care for them?
God has blessed these individuals with the ability to accept all for who they are.
Or have you ever experienced the intelligence and joy of a person who is incapable of controlling or moving their limbs?
God has given them the wonderful capacity to make a difference in the world as they use their fully functioning brains.
God knows what He is doing, when he formed each one of us.
God is sovereign.
He not only sees the end from the beginning; He moulds it.
The work of the devil when he led Adam and Eve to sin in the garden of Eden caused the fall, because of this there is corruption and suffering, there is deformity and death.
Our own free choices to do wrong only add to this suffering.
But all of these things are always secondary to the reign of God over our lives.
God is not caught by surprise, and His will will be done.
God knew the struggles I would face physically, emotionally and spiritually…every single one, for the past 57 years.
And when I am angry and hurt and rant and rail against Him.
He reminds me of His love for me; His sufferings, his understanding and his sacrifice.
He wants to hear me even in the midst of my hurt and pain because he wants to draws me even nearer.
This is what I can rely on for my future because I know I am precious to him…. just as you are.
You are - Thought about by God – Psalm 139:17–18
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
As the psalmist has surveyed God’s knowledge of him, His presence with him, and His creation of Him, he has seen much of the greatness of God’s thoughts.
He realises there is a divine order to life.
God does not merely create us and then let us go.
He rules over His creation, and He rules over us.
His thoughts toward us moment by moment are innumerable, outnumbering the grains of sand in the world itself.
Let’s ponder this for a minute…while billions of prayers may ascend to God each day, untold billions of messages come from Him to us his children, as He answers our prayers and intimately guides us through each moment.
Verse 18b may be referring to God watching over us as we sleep and then being there for us still when we wake.
What an incredible sense of security this can bring, when you are afraid of what the night, or the morning, will bring.
Or it may even be seen as a statement of how it will be at the end of our allotted time here on earth – especially if we take into account the vast background of verses 7-12.
There is no limitation to where the presence of God can be found, even by death.
“When I wake up” may actually be giving us a glimpse of the resurrection.
Such divine knowledge is not only 'wonderful' (cf. verse 6) but precious, since it carries its own proof of infinite commitment:
God will not leave the work of His own hands (138:8c), either to chance or to ultimate extinction.
I Hate Your Enemies Psalm 139:19–22
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! 20 They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. 21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? 22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.
With the very first line of verse 19 we see a dramatic change.
It is David’s response to all he has just said about God’s devotion to mankind.
He pleads with God to get rid of those who have failed to understand His divine ways.
He longs for justice, his indignation is that these evil people blaspheme, using God’s name in vain (v. 20).
His concern is for God’s honour.
His commitment is clear; he hates those who hate God and loathes (or is grieved with) those who rebel against Him (v. 21).
The psalmist’s rejection and hatred of all who fail to honour his God, the creator of all things is complete.
Isn’t it right to feel this way?
Shouldn’t we feel the same way?
But don’t we teach that we are to hate the sin but not the sinner?
If we look at the ministry of Jesus during his time on earth, who was it that he accepted?
Christ drew to himself the “sinners” in so doing he publicly condemned those who called themselves righteous?
You see Christ was looking at the hearts of the tax collector, the adulterers and those otherwise deemed unclean.
Christ made the distinction between those who believed themselves saved, but whose hearts were bent on their own selfish desires, and those who were seeking the truth, humbly waiting for someone to show them love.
Someone who would treat them, even in their brokenness, as precious.
An Invitation to Intimacy Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
So was David wrong to hate those who oppose God?
Verses 23 and 24 show us that the sense of awe which led him to condemn the wicked, also caused him to reflect on his own motivations, what was in his own heart.
The Lord examines all people, he judges the wicked for their destructive acts and speech; so now the psalmist prays that he will not be among them. (NLT notes)
In Luke 6 Jesus shows us that we are to put all wickedness behind us… to be careful who we surround ourselves with … and it also reminds us to search our hearts…and to replace the evil with the good as an act of worship.
We like David should invite God to point out those things which offend him.
We should want to be corrected and restored to the path that leads to everlasting life.
This is the type of intimacy that God wants to have with us.
He formed us in the womb.
He knows our frame.
He sees our embryo.
He fashions our days.
He knows our thoughts.
He hears our words.
He knows when we sit down and when we stand up.
He protects us.
His hand is upon us.
He who inhabits all things is near to us.
We cannot escape His presence.
In the light He sees us. In the dark He sees us.
We are the continual object of His thoughts.
He searches us.
He changes us.
Here is true intimacy, and if we can allow God to become intimate with us, we can establish a growing intimacy with each other.
Secure in His presence and His love, we can risk opening up.
We can even risk rejection, because we are held in His tender hand because we are his precious creation (v. 10).
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The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 14: Psalms 73-170. Donald M. Williams (ed) Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine - God's Intimacy With Us.
Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Psalms 73-150. Derek Kidner Psalm 139 'Too Wonderful for me'.