Summer in the Psalms: 2020 (Week 4)
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Worship
Worship
Songs
Prayer
Giving
Missions: Knoxville Dream Center,
Missionary Returning from Africa,
Spring Hill Elementary-?
Transition
Transition
Sermon
Sermon
PRAY
RECAP
INTRO
The Psalm we are going to look at today is Psalm 139. I mentioned a few weeks back that a key verse that both my dad and I were praying during this season of racial unrest and social justice was the last two verses of this chapter.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
You see, we all have blind spots. I don’t see mine as well as you do, and you don’t see yours as well as others do. But the Lord, who sees it all who is David is writing to and about when he writes these words. God, search me and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be in my any offensive way, and lead me in the way everlasting. (the path that leads to life)
The psalmist positions the word offensive in contrast to everlasting. Today, offensive words or thoughts are treated differently. Some seek to offend while others seek to be offended. Sometimes we act in both lanes of offense in the same moment. Either lane keeps us from operating in God’s life everlasting.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He marked the work of the enemy as the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But Christ came that we may have life and have it to the full (everlasting, eternal).
My question to myself and all of us today is are we seeking to walk in His way everlasting, full of grace and truth, the way of life everlasting? Or are we seeking to abuse grace and truth by joining the work of the one that steals, kills, and destroys those around us…walking in an offensive manner, offensive to both God and man.
So join me in this prayer during this season through the end of this year:
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Now let’s read the Psalm in its entirety together.
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
What does the idea of being known, I mean fully known, mean to you? How does it make you feel if someone were to know everything about you?
Is it unsettling, uncomfortable, too vulnerable, bring up issues of mistrust, expose areas of your life you rather keep hidden?
Or is it comforting, reassuring, bring your rest rather than anxiety, peace, satisfaction, and make you feel valued and loved?
I think the idea of being known can tend to do one of two things for most of us.
Past experience/Current circumstance/Future reassurance
For the saved...
For the the lost...
Peter Scazzero, pastor in NYC, writes in Emotional Healthy Spirituality, that in order to know God you must first know yourself. Here are a few quotes from his writings that you help grasp the gist of what he shares:
“Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality. Listening to our emotions ushers us into reality. And reality is where we meet God. . . . Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice. . .”
“When we deny our pain, losses, and feelings year after year, we become less and less human. We transform slowly into empty shells with smiley faces painted on them. Sad to say, that is the fruit of much of our discipleship in our churches. But when I began to allow myself to feel a wider range of emotions, including sadness, depression, fear, and anger, a revolution in my spirituality was unleashed. I soon realized that a failure to appreciate the biblical place of feelings within our larger Christian lives has done extensive damage, keeping free people in Christ in slavery.”
Many of us want to know God but don’t know how to allow Him to know us. Much of that is due to the fact that we, ourselves, are not in touch with our own reality. We don’t know ourselves, and lack self-awareness because we are responding to how we are told to think, feel, and act. Knowing and growing in love with God is realizing who and how He has created us.
Accepting His love includes accepting ourselves as His beloved.
We have talked a lot about the Great Commandment these past couple of months: Loving God and Loving our Neighbor.
Listen to what the Scripture says again...
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Love your neighbor as yourself. I even said a better translation might be to love our neighbor as they would want to be loved. Showing love in a meaningful and valuable way means tailoring that love in a way that communicates that to them. Love in a way that love can be received by the receiver as love.
But, love your neighbor as yourself, means you also have to have a certain measure of respect and love for yourself. It should go without saying, but it’s 2020 so we better say everything anyways. I am not talking about being self-absorbed, in love with your self, selfish, etc. Love God and your neighbor as God has loved you and allowed you to receive and experience love because He has made you aware of just how much your needed it and just how much you didn’t deserve it.
I use a book in some of my marriage counseling by Timothy Keller titled The Meaning of Marriage. In it he writes this...
Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage
"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us."
vs. 1-6
In the first section of this psalm, David expresses gratitude for God’s knowledge and discernment.
You have searched me and ...
You know me.
You know when…you perceive…you discern…you are familiar…you know completely…you hem me…you lay your hand upon me…such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
David emphasizes the knowledge of God.
The knowledge of God is relational. The Hebrew word ידע (yada), the word for ‘know’, appears multiple times. The Lord knows his own. He discerns their every move. David is moving towards the last section of this psalm where he asks God as judge to pardon him. He establishes his case for forgiveness though based upon this relationship and knowledge.
Let that sink in for a minute. Even from David’s BC perspective, he perceives his ability to be forgiven upon a relationship with God. The beauty is that God knows us fully, completely, and because He knows us makes a way where we couldn’t for ourselves. He provides the sacrifice for our redemption and full pardon. He make the only righteous sacrifice for our wholeness through Christ.
But the accused is not afraid of his judge. The divine Judge is more than an arbiter, because he is also the one in whom the psalmist has found protection. He hedges in his own for the purpose of protection (“behind and before,” v. 5). This thought receives further amplification in v. 5b: “you have laid your hand upon me.” The placement of the divine hand signifies protection and blessing (cf. Ge 48:14, 17; Ex 33:22).
This knowledge of God is nothing less than a knowledge that discerns and discriminates in favor of those who are loyal to the Lord. The discerning and favorable acts of God are gracious. It is grace that justifies, and it is by grace that humans are blessed. Though the psalmist has taken seriously his responsibilities in all of his ways (his sitting, rising, going out, lying down, and speaking; cf. vv. 2–4), still he exclaims that God’s favorable acts toward him are “too wonderful” and “too lofty” to apprehend (v. 6; cf. Ro 11:33; see Reflections, p. 603, The Mighty Acts of Yahweh).
For those in the family of God this morning, followers of Christ, dear brothers and sisters, beloved of God, He knows you.
vs. 7-12
In the first section we see God’s knowledge and discernment of us. While in the second section of this psalm, we see his perception of us.
The presence of God is everywhere; hence he perceives all things in all places. People cannot hide from the all-seeing eye of the Lord, whether in the highest heavens, the deepest recesses of the earth, or the depths of the sea. The psalmist is not trying to evade God when he amplifies that God’s knowledge is beyond the ability of humans to grasp. The knowledge or discernment of God can never be limited to any particular place, because God’s sovereignty extends to the whole created universe.
SONG:
He uses words like Spirit and presence speaking of the Lord being everywhere, at all times, and in all places. David portrays Yahweh in direct contrast to the pagan deities, whose authority was conceived as confined to certain areas. The Lord’s authority extends to “the heavens…the depths…the wings of the dawn…the sea”.
The farthest reaches of heaven and the depths of the earth, the extremities of east (“the wings of the dawn,” v. 9) and west (“the far side of the sea”) and of “darkness” and “light” (vv. 11–12), serve to strengthen the image of God’s absolute sovereignty over creation.
God’s guiding hand remains with his children. Even in all these places, there’s not a place mentionable where the Lord won’t continue to guide and protect.
The Lord will guide: meaning He will lead, turn (eyes) towards, direct our movements (implying leadership and rulership).
This is the Good Shepherd, our Lord, David knew Him well.
3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
The Lord will hold me fast: meaning God will grasp and take hold of us in a manner to protect and support. As the base or foundation of a wall or arch supports the rest of the building, so the Lord is the support and protection holding all things together in our lives.
The Lord’s hand will protect God’s child wherever he or she may be (v. 10), even in “darkness” (vv. 11–12). There is only light with God, and his light brightens up the darkness so that the psalmist can say affirmatively, “The night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (v. 12).
vs. 14-18
We have traveled through David’s expression of God’s knowledge and discernment of us as well as His perception and presence to land in a place of His purpose (overarching and infused).
These might be some of the most beautiful verses in all of Scripture. They poetically depict the loving care our Creator has for each one of us.
Confidence in the Lord’s ability to discern and perceive the nature and needs of his people comes from a belief in God’s purpose. He is the Creator, and his creative concerns include individuals.
David reminds us of Divine involvement with emphatic use of “you”. You know…you created…you saw.
The natural and right response to the recognition of being God’s creation, uniquely and individual, is praise. Praise is the proper response to God’s grace of discernment, perception, and purpose.
PIANO
14
The child of God sees God’s presence everywhere (vv. 7–12) and experiences the joy of God’s watchful eye over him. All God’s “works” are “wonderful,” but the believer, more than any other part of God’s creation, senses that he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Though God’s grace toward him is like “knowledge … too wonderful for” him to comprehend (v. 6), he lives with a personal awareness of God’s gracious purpose (“I know that full well”). The psalmist reveals a unique awareness of God’s grace toward him and responds with a hymn of thanksgiving (“I praise you”).
15-16
Even when unborn (“when I was made in the secret place,” v. 15) and little more than a physical being (“my frame”; lit., “my bone”) in the womb (“when I was woven together in the depths of the earth”), the Lord had a purpose for the undeveloped embryo (“my unformed body,” v. 16). The idea of purpose comes to expression more clearly in v. 16. The Lord’s writing in the book (cf. 51:1; 69:28) refers to God’s knowledge and blessing of his child “all the days” of his life (cf. Eph 2:10). His life was written in the Book of Life, and each of his days was numbered.
17-18
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
The wonder and amazement of God’s purpose is expressed with magnificence.
THOUGHTS:
Has someone ever called you, sent you a card or text, telling you they were thinking of you? Remember how that made you feel. Have you ever gotten that sensation of comfort that tingles on your skin and makes your hair rise? It is comforting to know we are connected, that someone is thinking about us, and we are not alone. The truth is that God’s thoughts are always towards us. They are precious to us (literally costly, of high fam
The “thoughts” of God are too magnificent, too numerous, and too exalted for humankind, whose “thoughts” (v. 2) are fully known to the Lord. It is impossible for the creature to comprehend the Creator fully. Yahweh’s plans are beyond humankind’s ability to comprehend, as they are more in number than the sand of the sea (vv. 17–18; cf. Ge 22:17; 32:12). They are like a dream; but, unlike a dream, God’s love is real. When awake, the psalmist still knows that he enjoys God’s presence (v. 18).
PRAY