Fully Known and Fearfully Made

Introduction

Knowledge is a powerful and useful thing in life. Whether it be developing a new skill like learning how to read or write or sing a song or ride a bike, knowledge can help us tremendously. Knowledge can help us get a job. It can help us provide for our family. Knowledge is a good thing - God wants us to learn and to use the faculties that He has given us. But we all know that there are things that we simply don’t know… Like how many goose feathers are equivalent to a fully grown male elephant - does anyone know the answer to that question? Please, if you do, let me know! The more and more that you learn in life, the more and more you realize that there is so much more to learn! People who think that they know it all simply prove that they don’t know anything at all.

Spurgeon once shared that, “The knowledge of our ignorance is the doorstep of the temple of true knowledge.” .”

God has given us much in this life, and one of the things that He has given us is a brain in order to understand things and learn and grow. Why did God give us a brain? Why did God give us life? Why did God create us in the first place? See, some people answer these questions by saying that we are here by accident or chance. We’re here to acquire knowledge and make the world a better place and then we’re done and that’s that. Is that true or is there something more to this life than just random chance?

This morning, we’re going to dive into Psalm 139 to help us see why exactly we are here… and as we learn that question, we’re going to also answer a much bigger question and that is the question of what is our Creator like?

This morning as we land the plane on our Summer in the Psalms sermon series, we’re looking at Psalm 139 and we’ll see how much God knows us, cares for us, and loves us. Whatever you might’ve heard, whatever the world might say, there is a God who knows all things and who is in control and who has a perfect plan today. He is the God of All - let’s read about this God today!

Psalm 139 CSB

For the choir director. A psalm of David. 1 Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. 3 You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. 5 You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. 6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. 7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I live at the eastern horizon or settle at the western limits, 10 even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night”— 12 even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you. 13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. 17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! 18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you. 19 God, if only you would kill the wicked— you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me— 20 who invoke you deceitfully. Your enemies swear by you falsely. 21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you, and detest those who rebel against you? 22 I hate them with extreme hatred; I consider them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.

What a passage! The God who created the stars and galaxies also created our hearts and lives. He formed us. He knows us. He invites us to worship Him. Let’s pray and ask Him to help us understand His power and grace even more today!

God is Omniscient | We are Known(1-6)

As a kid, I always assumed my pastor knew everything… call it being naïve or wanting to respect my elders, I genuinely did. As I got older, I realized that this isn’t the case. That no pastor knows everything, and just in case you were wondering, your pastor doesn’t know everything either! Time goes on and I get into seminary, and I have some incredibly brilliant professors. Guys who can open their Greek and Hebrew Bible and translate it into English on the fly! Over and over in seminary I was reminded by smart and godly professors that they don’t know everything either. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to know the Word and have answers for questions that we get asked, but it does mean that we aren’t God… and there will always be things that we can’t fully grasp in our mind. People can’t know everything. But what about AI? This is all the rage in our world today. Type a question into ChatGPT, ask it to write a paper, seemingly whatever you want, ChatGPT can do! But even AI gets things wrong. It doesn’t have all the answers, although it sure seems to have a bunch.

Think about the person that knows you the most. They know how you feel just by looking at your face. They know the things that you like to do. They know what you’re going to say before you say it! There are some people that we just know well, and they know us well… but they don’t know everything. Whenever I walked into my 3rd grade Sunday school class in Ozark, I met my 2 people who would change my life: my childhood best friend and the girl that I would end up marrying (praise the Lord for children’s ministry and Sunday school class)! Lindsey and I have known each other since 3rd grade and it took quite a bit of convincing on my end to prove to her that I did mature since those days in 3rd grade. We’ve known each other for 20 years - almost 3/4 of our life. But, 8 years ago, Lindsey didn’t know something BIG. The summer before our junior year of college, I talked with her dad about marrying her. She didn’t know we met. She didn’t know that I had gone to Mitchum Jewelers and got on a payment plan to pay for her wedding ring. She didn’t know that I had my college roommate’s truck “breakdown” next to a sunflower field in Bolivar to catch the proposal on video. Y’all, I was planning those things months in advance and it was hard… but I’m glad she didn’t know those things because it would’ve ruined the surprise! It’s a good thing that we don’t know everything…

But there is one person who does. God! God never discovers a secret. God never is surprised by a decision you make. God never has to ask questions to learn something. God knows it all. God knows the worst about us, and yet He is the One who loves us the most! God doesn’t change. God doesn’t need help. God doesn’t need the KY3 weather app to check the forecast for tomorrow, because He is the One in control of the weather. The God who created the stars, knows what is going on in our lives. God has numbered our days. He knows the number of hairs on our head, and some of us men have made his job easier so He doesn’t have to count quite as high as He used to! God knows! To some people, this is frightening… They think that if God really knew what was in my closet, there’s no way He could love me. If God really knew my weaknesses, there’s no way that He would save me. Friend, God knows. Psalm 139 reminds us of this: He understands. He observes. He knows all about it. Scripture tells us that He declares the end from the beginning. Look at what our response is supposed to be to Him in Scripture

1 John 1:9 CSB

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It doesn’t matter what your past looks like, God’s Word promises us that He is faithful and righteous to forgive and to cleanse us whenever we confess our sins to Him. He understands. He knows. This reality leads David to rejoice and worship, not to be afraid, because God is faithful. He is forgiving. He is omniscient. He perfectly knows all things! Job 36:4 says that God has complete knowledge. This means that whenever we come to know Christ as our Savior, we come to know the One who knows exactly what we need. Exactly what is best for us. The things that we have are gifts given to us from the Lord. We are fully known and taken care of by our good God.

Augustine, the early church father once said, “Restless is our heart until it finds its rest in Thee.” Psalm 139:1-6 can lead us to be fearful - God knows everything, including our deepest and darkest secrets that no one else knows… but for God’s children, this isn’t the case. This truth leads us to be worshipful. We praise God because He knows us. He provides for us. We turn from our sin, we trust in Him. We have faith that He is working all things for His glory and our good because He is omniscient - we are known!

God Is Omnipresent | We are Seen (7-12)

How exactly does God know all things? I know this is a question that I’ve been asked many times, typically by teenagers. Usually it goes like this, “If God is in heaven, how does He know what I did in private?” Look at what David says in this section of verses that follows - “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” God is omniscient because God is omnipresent. He knows it all because He sees it all.

How many of us have heard the expression from Matthew 18 that says, “Where 2 or more are gathered, there I am with them?” That is a Bible verse. But it is often misapplied! I’ve heard that to say this, “We gather for church and as long as 2 people are there, God is there too!” This is a true statement. Where 2 believers are, God is present with them… but, brothers and sisters, let’s think about this. What does that say about you as an individual believer? Would we dare say that God is not with us when we are alone? I sure hope not!

Hebrews 13:5 CSB

5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.

God is with us as Believers! Wherever you are, God is with you. He is omnipresent. This is certainly good news, especially as we go through difficult things in this life, like the author of this Psalm, David, did.

Think of how Jonah tried to hide from the Lord - he went down to Joppa, down to the boat, and then down inside the heart of the boat. Trying to hide. How did that work out? Not so good! You can’t outrun, out-hide or outsmart an all-knowing all-present God! We can’t flee from His presence!

No mountain so high, no valley so low, no where to the East or West. Your God sees you! The omnipresence of God is something to be appreciative, not apprehensive of. He knows everything. He sees you in the good and the bad. He holds you fast. Distance, Darkness, even Death, nothing can separate you from your good God! You are fully known because God is omnipresent! Even when you feel invisible, you are fully seen by God.

God is Omnipotent | We are Created (13-18)

God is omniscient. God is omnipresent. God is also omnipotent. This means that God has all power! Sometimes we see the word Sovereign or Sovereignty in the Bible. God is the King with authority. Now, don’t we see people in our world who are obsessed with power and authority? Everyone wants to be in control and often think that they’ll finally be satisfied whenever they have control. See, even the wealthiest and most powerful people have to pay taxes. They get sick. They face death. As much as we crave power and as much power as some people appear to have, it’s here one minute and gone the next because we’re not that powerful. Contrast this with what Scripture tells us about God, though.

Job 42:2 CSB

2 I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted.

Psalm 115:3 CSB

3 Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases.

No plan of God’s can be thwarted. He is in heaven and does what He pleases. He doesn’t have to get approval from HR for a vacation week. He doesn’t have to consult with a supervisor before making a decision. He is in control. What God determines to do happens because He has all power. This is a BIG God. Yet, He also is active and involved with creation. The Creator of the Stars also Formed our Hearts!

Alistair Begg said, “The Bible shares that the Universe is made by God, sustained by God, and accountable to God.” This includes every planet, plant, and person. God has all power and because He gives us life, we are accountable to Him as His creation. See, Psalm 139 reminds us that we are not self-sufficient. Whenever you think about your life, you didn’t arrive here by accident. Many struggle with the question of identity: Why am I here? How did I get here? Where did I come from? We can say that we are here because our mom gave birth to us, sure. But in a postmodern world that abandons truth and the God of truth, people are starving for genuine answers to these questions and Psalm 139 gives us the answers. David says that we are not here by chance. We are not here by luck. We are only here because it is God who created us and formed us and knit us together. Before you were a thought to your parents, before a pregnancy test came back positive, you were intimately known by God! Before your father held you in His arms, you were already being protected by your Heavenly Father from a fallen world that seeks to do you harm. God is the giver of life! And this begs a question…

Why does our world love death so much? We’ve traded truth for autonomy. Whenever a society abandons and rejects God’s authority, it must redefine things like life and death. Instead of life being a gift from God, our world says that life is at times an unnecessary burden that restricts my freedom. This isn’t anything new. Take the Canaanites who worshipped a god named Moloch and offered child sacrifices to this god. This goes back to Bible times as we read about this in the Old Testament in places like 2 Kings 23. If you take arguably the strongest Canaanite nation, the people of Carthage, they were a major world power for a few hundred years, practiced child sacrifice, and eventually were destroyed by the Romans. Take the Israelites, they too fell and began practicing child sacrifice and within a few generations they were taken into exile! Just south of our nation, in modern day Mexico there was an ancient civilization called the Aztecs, guess what? They too practiced child sacrifice… from their peak to their destruction was less than 200 years. Why is this practice such a big deal? It marks a downgrade for the nation. Life is no longer a gift, it is a curse. Children aren’t the future, they are a pain. Entire civilizations breakdown after a few generations of this worldview as evil is normalized. Brothers and Sisters, are you awake this morning? What is the modern worldview? There is no God, and if there is one, you are God. This means that you get to decide what to do with life. Abortion? Abuse? Child trafficking? Normalized. Societies that normalize what God calls evil do not last. Birth rates tumble. Depression skyrockets. Society literally breaks down within 50-200 years.

Isaiah 5:20 CSB

20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

This is our world and a godless world can’t stand godly lives. Our world can’t stand Psalm 139:13-16. We read in these verses that life isn’t an accident. Gender isn’t a curse. Family isn’t an afterthought. No, God doesn’t make mistakes. He is the author of life. The sustainer of life. The planner of life.

We see in our world people coming out, speaking their truth, screaming “I want to be seen!”

Brother or Sister, you are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the Universe. He see’s you. He knows you. You might feel like you are here accidentally, but Psalm 139 reminds us that He created you intentionally. Today, maybe you feel like you’re a mistake. Accident. Unplanned. Right here in Springfield, just over 29 years ago, a teenager discovered she was pregnant. She wasn’t married. She wasn’t even in a committed relationship with the father. I can only imagine the fear, worry, anxiety, embarrassment, uncertainty she felt. In 1996 there were between 1.2 - 1.3 million abortions in the United States in 1996 and 82% of those were from women who were unmarried. Strictly based on percentages and pregnancies of unmarried couples, 1 in every 3 babies were aborted. Y’all - that should’ve been me. Psalm 139 talks about being made in secret, y’all, that was me. Psalm 139 says that we’re not just created but that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Whenever I was born, I had cleft pallet. My mom and dad couldn’t get me to eat and gain weight, and come to find out years later, I was left alone often. Also, in Springfield, was a couple who wanted a baby for years and God closed that door multiple times over the course of years and years. They get a phone call asking if they wanted a baby in Springfield who “has some problems and likely will have developmental problems as he gets older” and they said Where and When do we get this boy? South Gate, this is the legacy of Christians for 2,000 years. The earliest Christians were so well known for their care for children in the Roman world that whenever a family had a child that they couldn’t take care of because of poverty, they would drop the child off at a house church and the Christians would care for that child. The Roman practice of adoption was often to acquire a child to prolong the name of the family… Christians began adopting primarily for the purpose of helping those in need. Why? Because life is a gift. Because children who have been adopted by God adopt children made by God!

In a world growing more anxious by the minute and where absolute truth is seen as the unpardonable sin, we need help. Error loves vagueness. Our world desperately needs the hope and truth of God’s Word!

“The answer to gender confusion is Gospel clarity… we don’t need surgery, we need a new identity!”

There was a time in your life when your own mother didn’t know you were alive. She was unaware. But you were already in God’s care. The same God who created the stars that dwarf our sun, created our hearts intricately and fingerprints uniquely. From embryo to eternity, God has a perfect purpose and plan for our lives. Not just birth to death, from the womb to the tomb - we belong to God. We are designed by God. We are known by God. Look at verse 16 in our text - God had a plan for us from the time that we are formless. The literal word here in the Hebrew is also used in Jeremiah 1:5 in reference to God’s plan for the prophet Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:5 CSB

5 I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

God forms us in the womb and has a plan for us. Have you ever wondered what God’s will is for your life? This is a question that gets asked often! How can I know what God wants from me? Which verse can I go to and find that answer. If you’re looking for “God wants me to be a professional football player” in the Bible, you have to go to 2nd opinions because it isn’t anywhere else! What is His plan? God’s plan is for God’s people to glorify Him. How do we do this? We do this at all times. The good times and the bad times. See, God uses all things to make us more like Christ. This is why James 1 says that we can consider it a joy whenever we undergo trials because they test our faith and help us grow in endurance. Our trust in the Lord increases. Our trust in ourselves decreases. If you know what it’s like to be sick, you know this to be true. That when you are at your weakest, your reliance on God is the strongest and that is a good thing! That is when your faith grows the most and that this is what God wants for His people.

God’s plan and our plan don’t always match up. My plan for my life as a 16 year old was to be a neurosurgeon, making a lot of money, healing brains, and saving lives… God’s plan for my life was to become a pastor, make a lot less money, and preach the Word as God saves lives. Our plan isn’t always God’s plan. God’s good plan for Paul in Scripture was for him to be shipwrecked, imprisoned, and persecuted for proclaiming the Gospel. God’s good plan for Stephen was for him to be stoned after proclaiming the Gospel. Friends, God has a plan for His people. This doesn’t mean that we are robots who don’t make decisions, we do! But it does mean that nothing surprises our God. Scripture tells us that our days are numbered by God. That whenever our head hits the pillow at night, I can rest in the fact that He has a plan for me. That He made me. That He sustains me. That He has work for me. I am intentionally designed for a reason in this season!

And one day, whenever my job here is done, as verse 18 says, I will go to sleep and wake up, and be with Him forever. That all things in this life work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose! God is omnipotent - He has all power. He has the whole world in His hands… and He has a plan for each one of us! We can trust in Him fully!

God is Sufficient | We are His (19-24)

David talks about all that God has done. God knows. God sees. God creates. We might expect this Psalm to end on a high note, but look at what David begins doing in verse 19 - God, kill the wicked… Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you? What on earth is going on here? This is an imprecatory Psalm and these Psalms call for God to bring justice down on His enemies. This sounds harsh for many in our world today, often because our world and many Christians in the world, only view God as a God of love and nothing else, or at least nothing to that level. However, these Psalms remind us that God is just. That evil will be judged. That God’s will will be done. That wickedness doesn’t win.

But what do we do whenever we see sin celebrated? Whenever evil is platformed? Whenever children are harmed? I read a story on social media this week that had blown up as two men in the UK were arrested for assaulting a 13 month old baby boy who was placed in their care for adoption. I saw this news article in my office and I wept. Thinking of my son, who is 1… and thinking about the fact that I was adopted at a young age and could’ve been in a tragic situation like this poor boy. My heart hurt seeing this story, and I’ll be honest… My response was very much like David in Psalm 139, asking the Lord for justice.

So many view God as love, love, and love… but think about the judge in this situation. The evidence is presented. The witnesses give their testimony. The jury gives their verdict. All unanimous in pronouncing a guilty sentence… but then the judge stands and says, “I’m feeling really loving today, you’re free to go. Have a good day!” What would we all say? That’s a messed up judge. That’s not loving, that’s actually incredibly unloving to that victim’s family. There are some instances where we see evil and wickedness and we’re almost in unanimous agreement that a punishment is not only warranted, but necessary.

Are you ready for the twist of the knife this morning? What you and I deserve today is God’s judgment. You and I have sinned. Sure, we may not have committed the “big” sins that our world thinks of or that the church is really good at reminding us of. But we all have rebelled against God. As those who are born again and saved today, we should long for the day that God eliminates evil. I can’t wait for the day that sin is silenced and death is destroyed! I’m thankful for God’s love. I’m thankful for God’s justness… And I’m equally thankful for God’s patience. I’m thankful that God was patient with me whenever I was a wicked, broken, sinner who stood separated from Jesus. I’m thankful that God showed me mercy and grace whenever I deserved wrath and judgment. Sin should break our heart and there is good Biblical support to go as far as these imprecatory Psalms do and to say that sin should be something that we hate… but where does that start? We’re great at hating the sins of other people. But David’s prayer is his own sin. David asks the Lord to examine his own heart. To change him. To lead him. To forgive him.

AW Pink once said, “It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors.” Just because you’re a Christian, doesn’t mean that you won’t struggle with sin. Just as pastors don’t know everything, pastors aren’t perfect. But you know what you should expect from a pastor whenever he falls short? You should expect an example of someone who seeks repentance and forgiveness from the Lord! Someone who grieves over his own sin first and foremost. South Gate, I’m the worst sinner that I know. And here’s what I also know, God’s grace is sufficient!

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 CSB

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Today, do you realize just how weak you really are? Have you come to understand the depth of God’s grace? Whenever you stand before God, He won’t ask you “Were you a good person?” “Did you live your best life?” Did you do nice things for others?” He’ll ask, “What did you do with my Son?”

Today, what have you done with Jesus? What has Jesus done with you? Have you come to the realization that apart from Divine intervention, you don’t have any hope? Have you come to the place that David came to, that he needed God to cleanse him of his sin and to give him a new heart?

Psalm 51:10 CSB

10 God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

David knew that he had a past. Thousands of years later, we know about David’s past. Marked by sin. Shortcomings. Mistakes. Lust caught the King’s eye and he gave into sinful temptation… David knew his past was that of a broken person. Can I give you hope today? God uses broken people. He uses crooked sticks to hit straight shots. God saves sinners. God has purposes in the pain. God will judge evil and those who rejoice in evil, but God will save those who repent and trust in Christ for salvation. Today, there is hope for all who call upon the name of the Lord, they will be saved! Regardless of your past, the grace of God is sufficient to cleanse you and to change you. This is why we proclaim the good news. This is why we as Christians need to remember the good news daily! We aren’t where we might want to be today, but we also aren’t where we used to be, and it’s all due to God’s grace.

Colossians 1:17 CSB

17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

The reason that you are here this morning, the reason that you are fully known and fearfully made is because there is a God who rules and reigns over all things as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As you examine your life, which way are you walking? Psalm 1 begins by reminding us that there are 2 paths: The way of the Word and the way of the World. The way that leads to reward and the way that leads to ruin. The way that provides hope and the way that promises hell. Which path are you on? Which person are you today?

You might’ve arrived at South Gate unsure of why you are here… but you can leave certain. You might’ve arrived lost… but you can leave saved. God has a plan for each of us, look at this in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:8–10 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

God has works prepared for you and for me! What are those works? They are works that bring Him glory and they are works that are for our good. How can we succeed in accomplishing them? 3 applications for us from this incredible text.

God has a Plan - Trust in Him

God’s plan might not make sense. Think of David. He was anointed as king whenever there was another king. David slayed a giant. David was beloved by the people. But David was persecuted and hunted down by Saul and eventually by his own son. Yet, this was no surprise to God. After all, it was God’s plan for David to be anointed and to become the King. What did David do? He trusted in the Lord. Today, you might not understand God’s plan… but you can trust in the God behind the plan! He knows us. He knows all things. He knows the past. He knows the present. He knows the future. We can trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God! Trust in Him today

God has a Plan - Live for Him

As we trust in God, we wonder, how does this play out? Ephesians 2:10 reminds us that we have works to do today as His adopted children. We are saved to serve and share and sing and shout… not to sit and soak and scrutinize and shrug. There’s a temptation to think that “I prayed the prayer, I’m good!” or “God just wants an hour a week, a dime from my dollar, or an occasional song or service project and that’s it!” No! God demands our all. He made it all. He deserves it all. Just because you walked the aisle and got dunked, doesn’t mean you get to sit on your blessed assurance. No! We are changed to contribute! God has a plan, we live for Him.

God has a Plan - Worship Him

As you live for God, you quickly realize that you will stand out from the world around you. This is why Jesus calls His followers to be salt and light in Matthew 5. Light pierces through the darkness. Salt keeps things fresh in a world that brings about decay. In this life, you will have hard days. Your feelings will change. But Jesus doesn’t. He really came to seek and save lost sinners like you and me. He is always worthy of our praise. God has a plan for this world. God has a plan for your life. And God has a plan for this church - do you believe that? For 36 years, God has used this church to lift high the name of Jesus, to stand on Scripture, and to make a Kingdom impact in this community. You know what we’ll do for the next 36 years? We’ll exalt our Savior. We’ll engage our Society with the Gospel. We’ll exposit Scripture. We’ll equip saints. We’ll encourage sheep. We’ll evangelize souls. And the reason that we do this, even when it’s hard, is because Jesus is worth it.

Your present season isn’t random, it is assigned! Today, you are fully known and fearfully made.