15 June 2014
I. Introduction
--
turn in Bibles to Psalm 139:1-6
Psalm 139:1-6 (NIV)
1 O LORD, you have searched me
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 know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in--behind and
before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, too lofty for me to attain.
-- today is
Father's Day -- and as I began to study and meditate on this passage of
Scripture, I couldn't help but think of how fitting it was that God had led us to
this Psalm on this particular Sunday
-- in this
Psalm of David we see David pouring out his gratitude towards God the Father
for His protection and grace throughout his entire life -- from before he was
formed in his mother's womb and, even now, after he has been graced with the
responsibility for leading God's chosen people as their first true Godly king
-- the
major theme that weaves its way through this Psalm is that David could always
count on God to be there when David needed Him -- and as I reflected on this
theme, I realized it was also true in my own life -- growing up -- and even to
this day -- the one thing I could always count on was Daddy being there, no
matter what the problem
-- for
instance, my first couple of trucks were not four-wheel drives, and I can't
tell you the number of times I got stuck in the mud when I went hunting or fishing
-- and it didn't matter when it happened or where it happened -- whether it was
during the day or after dark -- all I had to do was walk to a phone -- for you
younger folks, there was actually a time when no one had cell phones and we had
to use a pay phone or knock on someone's door and ask to borrow a phone -- all
I had to do was call, and Daddy would stop whatever he was doing and come and
help me get out
-- and his
help didn't quit when I grew up and got married -- several years ago, Kim and I
were driving up to Adel well after dark and, all of a sudden, all the lights
came on in the car and I lost my steering and my air conditioning and
everything right in the middle of the interstate -- we made it to a gas station
and called home and Daddy came in middle of night -- he actually brought a mechanic
and parts with him and replaced our serpentine belt right there on the spot
-- he was
there when I was getting out of school and getting married and moving from town
to town to town -- he's always been there to help when I needed it -- and to
this day I know if I have a problem, I can count on his help and advice when I
need it -- I know he'll be there
-- a few
years ago Dave Branon interviewed a couple of pro athletes, and their story was
very similar to mine -- Howard Cross, a football player for the New York Giants,
told Branon, “I spent most of my time with my dad. He was always there for me,
taking care of me, pointing me in the right direction.” -- And basketball
player Avery Johnson, point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, said, “My parents
were prime-time examples. They were always there for me.”" [Dave Branon,
Our Daily Bread]
-- that's
exactly the message David is giving us in this Psalm -- he's telling us we can
trust in the Lord to always be there for us -- David points out in this
poetical Psalm that the Lord knows us -- He loves us -- and He wants the best
for our lives -- that's why I titled today's message, "Father Knows
Best"
II. Scripture Lesson (Psalm 139:1-24)
-- so let's
turn now to Psalm 139 and let's see what we can learn about "Our Father,
who art in heaven," from David's perspective and close by considering what
our response should be to the Father's providence, protection, and presence in
our lives
-- as we begin,
I want to make you aware of the structure of this Psalm -- David wrote this in four
poetical stanzas of six verses each -- the first three sections each address a
separate aspect of God's interactions with us while the last section covers our
response to Him
-- so with
that said, let us look now at Psalm 139:1 at the first section of this Psalm
A.
The Omniscience of God (Psalm 139:1-6)
-- verse 1-6
Psalm 139:1-6 (NIV)
1 O LORD, you have searched me 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 know it completely, O
LORD.
5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand
upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me
to attain.
-- in this
first section of Psalm 139 David emphasizes the Father's omniscience -- he
tells us the Lord knows us because He is aware of who we are and what we are --
God's knowledge extends to our movements -- our thoughts -- our actions -- our
words -- our very being
-- he opens
this Psalm with the words, "O Lord, you have searched me and you know
me" -- and there's a couple of important things there I want you to see
-- the idea
of God searching us that David conveys is not that of a superficial search --
God didn't just Google us -- He didn't just track our movements by our phone's
GPS -- no, the concept here is a deep searching of our very being -- who we are
on the inside, not just who we pretend to be to this world or to ourselves
-- God
searched to the depths of our souls -- to the innermost parts of ourselves --
in order to know us intimately and personally
-- and I
want you to see that this is a personal searching and knowing of yourself by
God -- David doesn't say in this section, "O Lord, You know all
things" -- he doesn't just address God's infinite knowledge and
omniscience in this light -- instead David says, "You have searched me
and You know me"
-- I went
to a Promise Keeper's event a few years ago, and the speaker was sharing with
us his thoughts on prayer -- he said at an early age it had been impressed on
him by his mother to pray to God in all things -- not just the big things --
when he lost his socks and couldn't find a matching pair that he needed for
football, he would yell out to his mother, "Have you seen my socks?"
-- and she would respond, "Have you prayed about it?" -- and he said
his initial response was, "No -- God doesn't care about my socks -- He's
got more important things to worry about than that" -- but he had come to
learn that God does care about our socks because God cares about us and about
the things that affect us -- even whether we have matching socks or not
-- that's
what David is saying here -- God cares so much about us individually that He
has searched us out to the innermost parts of our being and He knows us
intimately and personally -- the idea David gets across in these first six
verses is that God is so in love with us that if He had a wallet, our picture
would be in there -- God loves us so much that He pays attention to everything
we do and say and think and believe
-- it
reminds me of what William Young wrote in his book, "The Shack" -- as
the character in that book speaks to God about certain individuals in his life,
God smiles at the mention of each one of them and responds about them,
"They're my favorite!"
-- that's
what David's saying here -- you're God's favorite -- and because of that, He
has searched you and He knows you and He loves you
B.
The Omnipresence of God (Psalm 139:7-12)
-- verse 7-12
Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)
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.
-- in this
second section of Psalm 139 David emphasizes the Father's omnipresence -- he
tells us the Lord knows us because He is always with us -- there is no where we
can go where He is not
-- an atheist
philosopher once asked a Christian, "Where is God?" -- the Christian
responded, "Where is He not?" [John Arrowsmith (1602-1659) commentary
on Psalm 139]
-- David's
point here is that God is everywhere I am -- He is everywhere I could be -- man
is always somewhere, but God is always everywhere -- there is no where we can
go that God's presence is not already there
-- I've
been reading several books lately on missionaries to the persecuted church and
their own ministry in the restricted countries of the world -- and the one
thing that stands out so clear in their accounts is that they can travel to the
spiritually darkest places on earth -- they can go into the midst of Muslim
territories where Christianity is not tolerated -- and, yet, they find God is
already there -- His prevenient grace is already present, working and
protecting and guiding the people to a saving knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ
-- David
says, "Where can I go from your Spirit? -- Where I can flee from your
Presence?" -- and the answer is you can't -- because God is there
-- David
says if I go up to the highest heavens or if I go to the depths of the earth
and make my bed in Sheol, I find you there
-- if I
rise on the wings of the dawn -- a poetical way of saying if we go as far to
the east as possible -- or if we settle on the far side of the sea -- David was
referring to the Mediterranean Sea -- to going as far to the west as possible
-- as far as the east is from the west -- no matter where we travel -- no
matter where our feet carry us -- God is there
-- even in
the middle of the night -- when the darkness closes in and our fears become
larger and more scary -- God is not distant, but right there among us -- making
our night as bright as day -- and keeping us safe through the storms of our
hearts
-- the
question is why? -- why do we keep finding God wherever we are? -- because He
wants to be there when we need Him -- He wants to be there because He loves us
and just can't stand to be apart
C.
The Omnipotence of God (Psalm 139:13-18)
-- verse
13-18
Psalm 139:13-18 (NIV)
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, O 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.
-- in this third
section of Psalm 139 David emphasizes the Father's omnipotence -- he tells us
the Lord knows us because He created us -- and I want you to see the emphasis
of David's remarks here about our Creator Father
-- once
again, we don't see God's work in our lives given to us in general terms --
this isn't a retelling of Genesis 1 and 2 -- David doesn't say here, "God
created the heavens and the earth -- God created mankind" -- no, look what
David says
-- "You
created my inmost being -- You knit me together in my
mother's womb" -- what David's saying is that God made him -- individually
-- personally -- before David's parents ever came together -- before God
created this earth -- before time began -- God said, "I am going to make
David so I can love him in a real and personal way"
-- God said
the same thing about each of us -- God -- the God of the universe -- the God
who walked on water and raised the dead and died for us on the cross -- the God
whose thoughts are so immense that if you tried to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand -- that God -- that God sat on His
heavenly throne and said, "I am going to create Greg so I can love
him"
-- and I
want you to know, I'm not trying to be sacrilegious here, but when I thought
about the point David is trying to get across here -- that God loved us so much
He made us individually and planned out what we were going to be like and what
we were going to do and where we were going to go -- I just couldn't help but
think of Bugs Bunny
-- remember
the cartoon where Hugo the Abominable Snowman picks up Daffy Duck and hugs him
and says, "Just what I always wanted -- my own little bunny rabbit -- I
will name him George and I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him and rub him
and caress him..."
-- that's
kind of what David is saying God is like -- God made you and He made me -- not
just as a general afterthought -- not just, "Hey, I need a couple more
people down there" -- no, God said, "I need a Greg and I'm going to
make him and I'm going to love him and I'm going to search him and know him and
protect him and guide him and take care of him and be with him no matter where
he goes"
-- and
that's true for you and me and the most vilest sinner on earth -- God loves us
the same -- God loves us extravagantly -- that's why the Bible tells us that
while we all were still sinners, Christ died for us -- the Godly for the
ungodly -- the just for the unjust
-- God has
a plan for our lives -- all the days ordained for us are written out in His
book -- and while we may have strayed from His plan for our lives -- while we
may have rejected Him -- He never rejected us but waited for us to come home to
Him as the prodigal's father waited for him to return
D.
Our Response (Psalm 139:19-24)
-- verse
19-24
Psalm 139:19-24 (NIV)
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me,
you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries
misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those
who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my
enemies.
23 Search me, O 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.
-- so how do we respond to this extravagant
love of God? -- now that we know what God has done for us -- now that we know
just how much He loves us and cares for us and calls us to Him -- how do we
respond? -- what is our spiritual act of worship in response? -- how can we
love God as He loved us?
-- in John
14:23 Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching" --
and in 1 John 5:3 we read, "This is love -- to obey His commands"
-- what is
our response to a God who loves us in the way David has expressed in this
Psalm? -- our response can only be to love Him by obeying His commands and
living in a righteous relationship with Him -- that's why this last section of
David's Psalm is a call to personal holiness
-- every
time I have read this Psalm, I have always thought verses 19 through 22 were
just out of place -- here we've had this wonderful Psalm of praise extolling
God's virtues that are expressed to us through His searching and knowledge of
us -- through His presence in our lives -- through His power expressed in His
personal creation of us -- and then we reach these verses which begin with the
thought, "If only you would slay the wicked!" -- it just seems out of
place, doesn't it?
-- but
after spending some time really studying this and thinking about what David is
saying here, I have to come to understand why he added these verses
-- as I
said this last section is a call for personal holiness in response to the
Father's goodness -- and what David is trying to express in these verses is the
need to reject wickedness -- holiness means living apart from the wicked -- it
means being in the world but not of the world
-- over in
the New Testament when Jesus sent His disciples out to minister in His name, He
told them He was sending them as sheep among wolves -- we are the sheep -- we
are of His flock -- and we are to act and think and live and breathe as sheep
-- as those called by His name
-- but we
are surrounded by the wolves -- by the wicked -- by the world -- who live
differently from us -- who have different values -- different ways of dealing
with those around them
-- David
says, "I hate them" -- some translations say "I hate them with a
perfect hate" -- and, while we certainly aren't supposed to hate anyone,
the point David is making here is that we are to hate the sin -- we are to hate
the wicked -- we are to hate their actions -- the way they slander the Lord's
name -- the way they speak of God with evil intent -- the way their lives are
filled with evil -- that's what he's saying
-- how we
can know God in such an intimate way as described in this Psalm and associate
with the evil of this world? -- we can't -- oil and water don't mix -- evil and
holiness don't mix -- so personal holiness means living apart from the
wickedness of this world
-- personal
holiness means we choose to turn our backs on the world and live with and for
God -- we live in an honest and open relationship with Him -- David is a
realist about living in this world -- he is described in the Bible as a man
after God's own heart -- and yet David sinned in ways most of us could not even
imagine -- taking another man's wife and killing him to cover up his sin
-- that's
why David asks God here in verse 23 to search him and know him -- to test his
heart -- he already said in verse 1 that God had searched him and knew him -- so
why ask God to do it again? -- because we get corrupted just by living in this
world
-- this is
a dirty place -- and just walking through it, that dirt clings to our feet and
we carry it home and we carry into our hearts -- and so David asks God to search
him and to search his heart and to show him anything that shouldn't be there --
to reveal to him any ways that he has that are not right -- so he might repent
of his sins and follow God with a clean heart and clean hands
-- David
cries out to God, "Lead me -- show me your path -- guide me in the paths
of righteousness for Your Namesake" -- that is the only response we can
make to God's presence and providence and power in our lives
III. Closing
-- in a
copy of Reader's Digest, Donald Ballar shared this story about an instructor of
student truck drivers -- the instructor gave this scenario to his class.
"You are in an 18-wheeler with a heavy load, barreling down a mountainous
two-lane highway -- Ed, your co-driver, is asleep -- There are six trucks behind
you, and as you come over the top of a hill, one of the trucks behind you pulls
out into the left lane to pass -- As he comes along side of you, you see
several trucks coming from the opposite direction moving towards you -- One of
the trucks coming at you is in your lane because it is passing another truck
-- so,
there are five trucks behind and one beside you -- there are several trucks in
front of you and the two out front have both lanes blocked -- The question is,
'What will you do?'
-- one student
called out, 'The answer is simple -- I would wake up Ed.'
-- 'Why
would you do that?' asked the instructor.
-- The
student replied with, 'Cause Ed ain't never seen a truck wreck like this one
before!'"
[Terry
Laughlin, Victoriously Living Over the Flesh; http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-terry-laughlin-humor-holiness-68391.asp]
-- that's
exactly what this Psalm all about -- it's about preventing a truck wreck --
it's about staying on the right path and following God with all your heart and
mind and soul -- it's about making sure that there is nothing in our lives that
is hindering our walk with God and preventing us from fulfilling His calling
for us
-- David
has made the case in this Psalm that God is with us -- He knows us, intimately
and personally -- He is always with us, no matter where we go -- and He created
us -- not to be in a truck wreck -- but to live lives of purpose and meaning
and holiness -- to be holy as He is holy
-- David's
point in this whole Psalm is to tell us that if we could just be aware of God's
power and presence and providence in our lives -- we would walk differently
than we do -- we would walk in holiness and righteousness all the days of our
lives
-- Jonathan
Edwards, one of the great preachers of early American history, used to make personal
resolutions -- one of these resolutions written in his journal was "Resolved,
never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of
my life"'
-- that's
the same idea that David expresses as he cries out in verses 23 and 24,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart -- test me and know my anxious
thoughts -- see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting"
-- with
that thought in mind, let me close by asking you this question: Are we serious enough about living our lives
in obedience to Christ that we are willing to do something about it?
-- I have
felt led to start a new sermon series next week on everyone's favorite subject
-- sin -- specifically looking at the seven deadly sins -- with the goal being
to ask God to search our hearts -- to reveal to us our sins -- and to lead us
in the way everlasting
-- so with
that, let us close -- and, as we pray together, may you respond to God's word
as you feel led
-- let's
pray
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