I Am, who He Says I Am

Text

Psalm 139:14 NASB95

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.

Background

This great Psalm was penned by David and is a unique one

Unique because it highlights key elements and fits them together into one piece of writing

We notice elements of praise for the character He displays in the life of the Psalmist

We notice that the wisdom of God is exalted

We also see that the Psalmist laments about the evil-doers and the desire for justice

This psalm can be broken up into two (2) stanzas

1-18 - A Reflection of God’s Character

God’s Knowledge Psalm 139:6 “6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

God’s Presence Psalm 139:7 “7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”

God’s Concern Psalm 139:14 “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.”

19-24 - A Response to God’s Character

I Will be Faithful Psalm 139:21 “21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?”

I WIll be Humble Psalm 139:23 “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;” (Prideful people do not do these things)

Psalms 73–150 (Form, Structure, and Setting) Psalm 139 as “a meditation on God’s searching knowledge of man’s innermost thoughts, on the limitations of human knowledge, and on God’s inescapable presence throughout the created world. Estes, Daniel.

Who am I?

Man has asked this particular question many times

Rene Descartes says, “I think, therefore I am”

Nagel questions if I can really know who I am, ever

John Locke believed that the key to answering this question lay in concisousness and memory

Socrates stressed that it is important to know yourself

While many may think this is a philosophical issue, I beleive it is a theological issue. That for man to understand who he is, and what he was meant to be lies in Him connecting to His creator.

The Pslamist says I am fearfully and wonderfully made

Key word being “made” - and at the core of everything, there is a purpose for which it was made.

If I was made, it implies I have an inherent purpose. Meaning, God made me for a reason.

The quest to determine “Who am I” begins by knowing who is God

Some think the answer to who I am is looking in, but it begins by looking up

The first being that is mentioned in the Bible is God. If I want to know who I am I need to let the Lord tell me

Psalm 100:3 “3 Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

We did not make ourselves, and God always infuses purpose in what He makes, that purpose will tell me who am I

Whatever God makes, He desires that it operates within its purpose

Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker, will the clay question the intention of the Potter

God is the potter, and if He brings you into existence you are now imbedded with purpose.

David couches this powerful declaration while knowing he is facing enemies of God, wicked people and men of bloodshed

David is able to make this declaration because he does not allow what’s around him to determine/redefine who he is

Maybe David understood “greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world”

When we go all the way back, we can see what God initially intended, and what He still intends to have.

# I Was Made

This implies purpose

This means purpose becasue of the one who made him: GOD

ILLUSTRATION: Story is told of a man who built a machine, wheels turned, gears meshed, pulleys pulled, lights flashed, bells rang, buzzers buzzed. When asked, “what does it do?” He said, it does nothing, it just runs.

This is not what God did with us, God did not make us to simply “run” with no goal, aim, objective, calling, function or purpose.

In a world that sometimes diminishes human worth, always seeking to “improve” on what God made. You’re not good enough, not smart enough, not beautiful enough, not strong enough.

It’s encouraging to consider the great truth about our creation, it calls us to hold on to the magnificent, divine craftmanship of God. Leading to us being filled awe and wonder, inciting us to praise God, and moving us to trust God and give our allegiance to Him.

1. Dominion

When God made man, he gave him dominion. He gave him rule.

This was an extension of God Himself in the man. The same way God rules in the heavenly realm when God made man, He wanted him to rule the earthly realm under His soveriegn authority.

This is not irresponsible rule, but a divinely appointed stewardship of all that belongs to God.

Genesis 1:28 “28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it (like flour being kneaded is at the rule of the baker); and rule over (lead, control or manage) the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

This purpose was connected to who He was

Genesis 2:15 “15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

2. Fellowship

One of the ways we can look at the garden of Eden is like temple.

That’s why when they sinned, Genesis 3:8 “8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Before sin, there was no enmity. There was harmony, peace, union with God

The “walking” implies an intimacy and is used by NT writers to highlight someone who is seeking to draw close to God. “walk in the light”, “Enoch walked with God”

There is a closeness, intimacy, union, fellowship - thta God intended to have

3. Image-bearers

Genesis 1:26 “26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

When we think of image, don’t just think qualities, think function

QUALITIES: cognitve skills, emotions, communication with God, intellegence, rational thought, reasoning, having a spirit.

FUNCTION: rule and have dominion, worship, execute God’s commands.

When God made me, I am made to be an image-bearer, That is my status, and it came with a function.

When He told man, “fill the earth”, He wanted the earth filled with image-bearers.

#I am Fearfully (Made)

Admittedly this could be figure of speech called “hendiadys”

However, there is value in considering what each word contributes to our understanding of the text.

Fearfully carries the idea that what is made inspires and generates awe and amazement upon consideration.

The intricaies of the human anatomy, points the psalmist to the one responsible (The Creator), then prompts him to praise God and fill him with amazement.

The consideration:

Psalm 139:13 “13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.”

[Ecclesiastes 11:5 “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 activity of God who makes all things.” ] - trying to explain the mysterious working of God, he likens it to the forming of a child in the womb.

Consider what Job says:

Job 10:10–12 “10 ‘Did You not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese; 11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? 12 ‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit.”

APPL. You are worth something to God! So much that God sent His Son to die IN YOUR PLACE!

APPL. This then means that the life I live for my God should cause people to be in awe (not of me) but of God - Matthew 5:16 “16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

#I am Wonderfully (Made)

Wonderfully carries the idea of being distinguished or set apart from the rest

Man was not like everything else that was made by God, He was DIFFERENT!

Man, according to David, was “woven”, “skillfully wrought”. Like an embroidery worker carefully puts one thread over, under, around, and together with the others - so God made him

“The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood-vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.” (Spurgeon)

This distinction is special, he is not like this with the plants, animals or angels

God wants fellowship with us, relationship with us, He cares for us, “he will never leave us nor forsake us”, he “demonstrates His love toward us”

“He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Jesus”

“He has caused us to be born again unto a living hope”

“His eyes are on the sparrow, I know He watches over me”

We are special in the eyes of God, no other perspective surpasses that of God’s - that’s who we are

Zechariah 2:8 “8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”

1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

That’s who God intended for us to be

Though we live in this world the one who guides us, directs us, called us, and uses is us is from heaven - we act like heaven people. We act because we have been made by a sovereign King who wants our loyalty, worship, and our obedience.

Philippians 3:20 “20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

We live in earth, but we are guided by heaven

#David’s response

Keep in mind, there’s a lament over the wicked, men of bloodshed, and those that are in oposition to God

Psalm 139:19–20 “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.”

There are those in this world that are similar to what David describes in this verse.

Thanks/praise

Psalm 139:14 “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.”

I am thankful that the one who was reposnsible for me, is the one that sees all, knows all, and can do all things

His hands are powerful and purposeful

His intentions are good and caring

What I have seen you do with your hands warrants thanks and praise from my lips

Loyalty

Psalm 139:20–21 “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?”

David in this Psalm expresses amazement for what God has done in making Him

Amazement for His immense knowledge

Amazement for His inescapable presence

To that David expresses loyalty to his Maker, what he expresses is the fact that He is with the Lord and is against whoever the Lord is against.

APPL. We must stand where God stands. We affirm what God affirms. We let God have His way all the time

Psalm 1:1–2 “1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

Devotion/Intimacy

Search me - search out to discover something, probe, examine

Know (my heart an dmy anxious thoughts - take notice of them (be concerned)

Try me - examine something to determine its genuineness

See - make your judgement and reveal to me

Lead me - carry or bring in a particular direction (the everlasting way)

Ultimately, David does not want the Lord to be far from Him, and he does not want to be far from the Lord

Closeness to the Lord carries a cost

You can’t do you and do God at the same time - you and God can’t have rule at the same time

“No man can serve two masters” Are you going to be with God or not.

God made you for fellowship with Him, will you submit to that purpose

Whatever comes up in life, David is expressing that whatever the Lord says I am, I am. I’ll let the Lord have His way in my life

I might face evil doers, wicked people, hard times, tough situations, persistent problems, satan’s snares

But, I can trust in the Lord, that sees all things, knows all things, present in all spaces, commands all power to

Lead me, direct me, bring me, carry me. . .to the everlasting way.

“Long obedience, in His single direction”

Obey God, and head in His direction

2 Corinthians 4:16–5:2 “16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,”

Philippians 3:13–14 “13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

2 Tim 4:6-8.