Jesus is calling, study of Psalm 139

Jan 22^nd, 2020

Title: Jesus is calling

By Jeannie L Horton Life Christian University student#17122

Text: Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24

 “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Introduction:

1. Every time I turn on the news, I learn of something tragic that is happening in the world. It has become rare that there is ever a story reported on something good. I often think that when the newsman goes on and on about how we can get prepared for the 1% possibility of snow, nothing bad has happened (which is good), and they didn’t have anything to report on.

2. The world needs hope: People are desperate for it. Today we are going to be studying from Psalm 139. It points the way to a God that is all-knowing, eternal, and present everywhere. It is a psalm that gives comfort and hope because our God cares, and with His mighty hand, He guides and leads us. He is a God that will not abandon us ever.

Proposition: The ever-present, all-knowing God thoroughly knows us and has a purposeful plan for us.

Interrogative Sentence: How can we be confident that God knows what is best for our life?

Transitional Sentence: As we study the text from Psalm 139, we’ll see that we serve a big God who is 100% present in our lives, so we can be confident in saying yes to the plan and purpose that He has for us.

1. Reading from Psalm 139:1-6, we’ll see that God knows everything about us. It says,

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”

a. God examines our hearts, and He knows everything about us

As much as I think I know my own two teenage children, it is nothing compared to what God knows about us. I don’t know what my kids are thinking, and I’m not sure I’d really want to know at times. But God knows all about us. He knows how many hairs we have on our head, to the number of tears that we shed, to our every thought. Yet He purposefully chose, accepts, and loves us unconditionally. In Mathew chapter 9, Jesus healed a paralyzed man and told him that his sins were forgiven. The religious teachers accused Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus said to His disciples in Mathew 9:4, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?” He didn’t say this to condemn them, but to convict them of their wrong words. He wanted them to turn their thinking around for good, with thoughts outwardly expressed are true, pure, and that speak only love and hope. The verse is also saying that He examines our hearts. Proverbs 16:2 from the amplified bible says, “All the ways of a man are clean and innocent in his own eyes [and he may see nothing wrong with his actions], But the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intents [of the heart and knows the truth].” We could do something good and noble for God, but if our heart attitude isn’t right or if we are doing it with wrong motives, God isn’t going to bless our actions.

Trying to comprehend God’s infinite wisdom entirely is beyond our human understanding. Romans 11:33, “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” Just think about it for a moment. God, who named every star in our galaxy, and they're about 200 billion, knows everything about us. When He created the universe, the stars, and planets, He already knew us. He knew what we’d be like, and what we’d look like. He knew how many children we’d have, our joys, heartbreaks, blessings, and disappointments. Nothing is shocking to God. So, don’t try and hide from Him. If you sin, go to Him, confess it. He already knows what you did, but confessing it and being open to Him makes us humble, which allows His grace to be poured on to us in our repentance.

b. God often arranges our circumstances

           God’s ways are best, and He often wants to test and strengthen our hearts. In the book of Exodus, God arranged the Israelites to go the long hard way to the promised land. After Pharaoh let the Israelites go, God did not lead them the shorter way, which was through the Philistine territory. This area would have been a more direct route but was also heavily guarded by Egypt. God says in verse 17, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." He instead led them around the desert toward the Red Sea. This route was hot, dry, and barren. The Israelites complained a lot; They were utterly disobedient. What should have only taken a few weeks, took 40 years. But God in His wonderful grace, never left their side. Even thru their constant complaints, He kept showering them with love through miracles, food and water. They were always provided for. God kept His promise, and they were led into the promised land.

In our lives, we need to get good about not complaining about everything that we have to do. Things like slow store lines, discourteous drivers, and situations that don’t go our way are going to happen to us, and it does no good to get upset and lose our peace. Complaining is only going to make things worse: getting upset over a small offense is only going to hurt you. The world is getting more offended. It’s a decision not to be. And be quick to forgive. If you feel offended by someone, learn to drop it and forget about it. There’s probably nothing you can do about it anyway in most cases. Do not stoop to their level by lashing back, that’s how strife starts. You’ll keep your peace, and God will bless you for it.

Transitional Sentence: I feel completely in awe that the God that created the universe, in His infinite wisdom, knows so much about me, will pull me off the wrong path and onto the right one. He arranges circumstances to get me back on track. Wow, I am so very thankful. We’ll now move on to verses 7-12, where we will learn about the omnipresence of God, and how choosing His plan for our life will ultimately bring us the most joy, and His blessings.

2. Verses 7-12,

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”

a. The omnipresence of God

David recognized the omnipresence of God in these verses. He knew God’s presence is everywhere: from heaven to sheol, in the light and the darkness. It is useless to try and run from God. He is everywhere, and I am thankful for that. He is eternal, He has always existed, and He will exist at the end of time. Even if you could run from God, why would you want to? He is a God that loves and provides all of our needs. In my life, I don’t want to do anything without the Lord. I need Him with me at all times. I especially need Him with me as a long-distance runner. Years ago, I was running all alone in Gasquet, CA. Gasquet, CA, is a very small town, and the trail is right off the main highway. The trail would go up about 3 miles and 2000 ft before it connected to French Hill Road. Once on French Hill road, you could either go right, and you’d head down for quite a while, or you could take a left, and it would go up for at least seven or so miles. It wasn’t an easy running trail: I called it good training. But there was only one way back to my car, the trail. I was running 20 miles that day, and I’m almost back on to the trail, but I kept thinking I hear a rattling sound in the bushes. I knew there were black bears and cougars that I could encounter, so I thought to myself, “if I hear that noise one more time, I’m going stop and see what it is.” Well, I didn’t hear it again, because about ¼ of a mile away is a huge black bear on the road. I stop, pull my ear-piercing body alarm. I’m yelling, and waving my arms. The bear looks up, and it starts walking towards me. I panic, turn around and head the other way. I’m thinking, “I don’t want to go the other way. I want to go home.” I stop, turn around, and head towards the bear to see if it left. It didn’t. I yell at it again, and it starts walking towards me again. I say a prayer, “Lord, help!” God tells me to get off the road and enter the forest and go around it. Well that works, because I’m loud stomping through the trees and bushes. I see it run away. I get onto the trail and run fast; it was a personal record all the way back down to my car. I’m genuinely thankful God is always with me.

b. Will you choose God’s plan or yours?

We do sometimes have a different plan for our lives then what God wants for us. But we’ll be happiest when we align our will with God’s. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times that God would take the cup from Him. Jesus didn’t want to die; He didn’t want to go to the cross. But Jesus also said in His prayer, “not My will, but Yours.” Even though Jesus didn’t want to die, He still wanted to be obedient to God. He wanted to do the Father’s will: which was dying on the cross for our sins so that all of us could have right standing with the Father once again. We are in a partnership with Him: He isn’t ever going to ask you to do anything without His hand on it. He will strengthen you for the job. He isn’t ever going to ask you to do something for Him, but leave you stranded without the ability to do it.

Jonah tried to run from God. When God asked him to go to Nineveh and preach to the people there, Jonah didn’t want to. He instead got in a boat headed towards Tarshish. God, knowing what Jonah was up to, sent a fierce storm that left him shipwrecked and in the belly of a whale where he stayed for three days and three nights. After Jonah finally repented of his disobedience, God, in His grace and mercy made the fish to spit Jonah up. Where? On the shore of Nineveh, exactly where God wanted him to be. Jonah stayed there for 40 days preaching to the people there until they turned from their wickedness in repentance.

Will you do the same? Will you say like Jesus, “not my will, but Yours?” Or will you refuse and try and run from God like Jonah? I can guarantee that if you say yes to Jesus and His will? You’ll be significantly blessed.

Transitional Sentence: The day of my bear encounter, I was so glad that God was with me. I need Him in my life at all times. Don’t try to run from God, He knows where you are: and He’ll just wait for you to come back to Him. He is extraordinarily patient. You were created with a purpose, so come to Him with a heart of thanksgiving, eager to do His will.

3. Verses 13- 16 from Psalm 139 says,

“you made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

a. Here on purpose

Don’t ever think that you are here by accident and that there isn’t a purpose for your life. You are not here by mistake; God purposefully created you. You are unique, one of a kind. You are special, God’s child, and He has a great plan for your life. It is heartbreaking that in today’s world, people think they are nothing, not wanted, not loved, and they feel as if they have no purpose. This is a stronghold from the devil, who wants to destroy you and God’s good plan for your life! Don’t ever let him. Don’t believe in his constant lies, refuse to. Don’t let him bring you down. Work with God to find peace and joy for your life. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we would live in darkness: in fear, depression, confusion. He died so that we would have life, joy, peace, happiness, love, and have a purpose in Christ. We are God’s children. Look to Him who is the source of life, and choose right now to be happy. With that choice, you can work with God to get out of any slump.

I spent years in depression. Until one day, I said “enough,” and I cried out to God, asking for help. He helped. He gave me step by step instructions, and I did them all. It started with listening to only Christian songs, reading my Bible daily, attending church, going on a mission’s trips. Everything the Lord said to do, I did it. I can honestly say I am happy and have a great relationship with God because of my decision to admit that I needed God and crying out to Him for help.

b. Heart of thanksgiving

We can see in verse 14, David thanking God. Again, he says, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it.” God inhabits our praises. When we praise and thank God, that is when He moves on our behalf, that is when we see our situations turn around, even ones that seemed like would never get better. God moves when we give thanks to Him. Make it a habit. Find something good in each day and thank God for it. Someone once said to me, “Expect the worse, that way, you can’t be disappointed.” That is a sad way to live. Expect something good to happen every day. When you wake up in the morning, say to God, “I need you.” Say, “something good is going to happen to me today, and something good is going to happen through me today.” And expect it to. God wants to bless you; He is just looking for someone He can be good to. Open your arms, and say, “Be good to me, Lord, I love you. I only want to do your will. Choose me.” If you do, you can expect good things to come your way.

c. Purposeful life

God has a good plan for your life. It is a plan that is uniquely yours, that can only be fulfilled by you. He isn’t going to give your plan to anyone else. You are never too far beyond His reach. He’ll bring you back in so His will can be fulfilled. He is just waiting for you to desire to do His will. He sees the end from the beginning: God knows who you are now, but He also sees your potential, and where you’ll be if you keep working with Him. He is extraordinarily patient and will never give up on you. If you are not sure what His will is, ask Him. You can discover His plan for your life by reading daily His word and spending time with Him. You’ll discover it soon enough. And sometimes, you just need to step out in obedience and see what happens. If it is His will, He will open the doors for you to succeed. He desires an obedient heart. If you’re standing still, anxious, and afraid to step out, there is nothing God can do. Step out in obedience.

Transition: God didn’t just create the earth and leave you all alone. You were not an accident. He is with us always, and He has a good and purposeful plan for each of us. Expect good things to happen to you each day. Have a heart of gratitude, and humbly ask Him to reveal His good will for you, and then step out in obedience. He is waiting for you. Are you willing? He adores you and has so many good thoughts about you. He never thinks bad of you. We’ll look at that next.

4. Verses 17-18, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" 

Unlimited thoughts of God

 God has so many thoughts about us that they outnumber sands. He thinks about us all the time, and He wants to bless us in our obedience. When the Israelites were living in Babylonian captivity, they believed that God had abandoned them. But, He hadn’t. He was always with them. Reading from the amplified Bible, He said to them in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts, and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.” God adores you. His thoughts of you are ones of welfare, peace, prosperity, and hope. Even repented of sin, He remembers no more. For it says in Hebrews 8:12, “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember sins.” This verse means we don’t have to live in condemnation: listening to the lies of Satan. God forgets our sins, and if He completely forgives you, then you should too. Don’t let the devil steal your joy; forgive yourself. So many people live beating themselves up for something that happened years ago. Repent of it, let it go, and move forward. We cannot live up to our full potential in Christ when our thoughts are on something dumb we did years ago. God wants to work with you, strengthening you and molding you more into His image so that He can do those good works that He predestined for you to do.

Transition: Refuse to live in condemnation over your past. God doesn’t. He has too many good thoughts about you that they cannot be contained. Live feeling God’s love for you: know that He wants to pour out His blessings to you. Have a heart that is completely open to Him: asking Him to examine you fully and choose to have a relationship with Him.

5. Verses 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

a. A heart that is open to God.

Know He loves you and has a good plan for your life. Don’t hide from God; invite Him into your life, all areas. Don’t try and keep specified areas from Him. Ask Him to prune away anything that isn’t pleasing to Him, and in obedience, watch Him mold you into Christ’s image. He wants to use you for His plan and purpose, but He needs to change you into Christ's image. Let Him. Don’t run away from God; don’t try to hide from Him. Even as Christians, we can avoid God by being busy, even with church activities.

b. Alone time with God

We need daily alone time with Him, a quality relationship with Him. As a wife, I can’t have a healthy, quality relationship with my spouse if all I ever did was work, come home, cook, clean, but ignored my spouse, never spending any quality time with him. It wouldn’t work. The relationship will likely fail. I could say, “but I did so many things for my spouse: I worked, made dinner, and the house is all cleaned.” But I didn’t spend any time with my husband. I no longer know Him. It’s the same way with our relationship with God. We can’t be so busy doing things for Him, that we never spend any one on one time with Him. We won’t have that intimate relationship with Him that He desires and we need.

Conclusion:

Psalm 63:1-8 is powerful. I believe it wraps up everything that we studied today:

“O God, you are my God: I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.”    

Humbly come to the Lord with arms open wide, ask Him to search your heart thoroughly, and then watch Him move on your behalf. He’ll fling the doors of blessings on to you so wide. He desires to pour out all of His love on you. You have to be willing and obedient to Him. This is your time, your moment. Say yes to Him.