Known by God Ps 139:13-18

Introduction

This unit v.13-18 could be titled; God cared about his people before they were even born.

In the previous two units we saw that God perfectly knows his people, and that he is always with his people. Here we learn that God was thinking about them before they were even born.

This unit is an explanation of the previous two. We could sum up these three sections by saying “God knows us and is always with us because he has created us.”

The truths that David touches upon in this part of the psalm causes him to burst out into praise twice. Thats how wonderful they are.

Let us look at them together.

I. God created us

For You formed my inward parts; The literal translation of this is you formed my kidneys. To the Hebrew mind this was the seat of the emotions, for us in the west we see the heart as the seat of emotions. David is simply saying He made us spritual beings- he created the soul.

He made us in his image. Therefore he knows how we work, he knows how we think, what we need. Our deepest longings.

You covered me in my mother’s womb. Other translations say you knit me together in my mothers womb. The thought here is that God is the one who put us together. God did just create the natural processes and now he lets nature run its course, rather he is actively involved in the creation pof every person.

He also made us physical beings, he created the body.

Davids response to these trusths is praise. The fact that God created him, is a cause for David to worship God and to love him.

Listen to the response of David, he almost has an outburst of praise before he continues.

v.14 “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.”

David praises God for his creation and then he continues to speak about it in v.15.

He says My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

David says my frame was not hidden from you, the word frame probably refers to his skeleton, his bone structure.

He says although I was made in secret, skillfully made in the lowest parts of the earth my frame was not hidden from you. Here we have a poetic reference to the time he was in the womb. He says although I was hidden and no one could see me, yet I was not hidden from you. You knew all about me, you were the one making me.

He continues this thought into v.16. He says;

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

Here is a reference to the embryo. God saw David while he was still an embryo, infact he saw him while he was only a fertilized egg.

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Here David shares a wonderful thought. God loves us and is interested in us and he has been since we were an embryo in our mothers womb. He was the one who created us. He made our souls, he made our bodies. He knit us togethor.

What should our response be to such truth? It should be the same as David’s in v.14. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

We should praise our great God for his marvelous works.

Yet we know that this is only a fragment on the marvelous works of God, because not only has he created us, but he has also come into this world as a human being, in order to save us from our sin. The Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

David has said that God created him and was caring for him while he was in the womb, before he was even born, then what follows is truly amazing.

II. God has ordained our days

We learn that God created us next we learn that God has ordained all of our days.

David continues in v.16 and says;

And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

Here we learn that God has planned our lives before the were even existant.

David says that God had written the days of his life in his book before they even were.

God had planned David’s life before he was even born.

This seems to be a comfroting thought for David. A good God is in control of his life. Nothing can come upon David that God has not permitted, therefore David can trust God in whatever he is going through because he knows it is all part of God’s plan.

The NT puts it like this “God makes all things work together for good, to those who love him to those who are called according to his purpose.”

App- David here is reminding us of the trust that if you follow God through the Lord Jesus Christ, you an trust that he is in control of your life. He has planned your life from the get go and therefore you can leave all your worries and cares with him, because he is in control and he has a purpose for every part of your life. The good times and the bad.

What is Davids resposne to this?

Again it is one of praise.

He says in v.17-18

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with you.

Here we have another outburst of praise.

Here David is saying God’s thoughts about us are above our comprehension. God thoughts about David are more than he can count and greater than he can imagine.

To David God’s thoughts about him are precious. This is amazing for David.

In another psalm David says “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?”

This is the same kind of amazement that David is showing here.

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What is true for David is true for everyone who knows God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

All who have been forgiven for their sin, born again by God’s Spirit and made a child of God can say that God’s thoughts about them are great.

If you know Christ God thinks about you, he knows you, he takes an interest in you.

Of course God does this in some sense for every person, but he does all the more for the one who has been reconciled to him by Jesus Christ.

He loves everyone and wants everyone to be saved, yet he has a special love for those who are saved.

If you know Christ, then everything David is saying here about himself is also true about you.

Conclusion

Here in this unit David touches on two wonderful truths. God has created us and he has planned our lives.

These two truths cause David to praise God for his marvelous works.

This should be our response too. Those of us who know God through Jesus Christ should love him and live for him.

Maybe you are listening to this message but you do not know this God. Maybe you would like to?

The Bible says you must turn from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. He died to pay for your sin on the cross and rose again from the dead on the third day. He is the one who brings us into a relationship with God.

Repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. Then you will know this wonderful God for yourself.