Offering Ps.138:1,4 Prayer of thanksgiving and intercessions Ps.145:1,5 Divine blessing

Transcription

1 Liturgy for Sunday AM Confession of Dependence and Divine Greeting Ps.29:1,3 Ten words of the covenant Ps.139:1,4,13 Prayer of confession and illumination Ministry of the Word Reading: Psalm 139 Ps.8:3,4,5 Text: Psalm 139:13-18 Praise the LORD for how we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We ll consider: 1. how God created us. 2. how God cares for us. 3. how God comforts us. Ps.139:7,8,9 Offering Ps.138:1,4 Prayer of thanksgiving and intercessions Ps.145:1,5 Divine blessing Songs for worship taken from the 2010 version of the Book of Praise See for pdf files of Psalms and Hymns Rev. Joe Poppe 1

2 Singing: Ps.29:1,3; Ps.139:1,4,13; Ps.8:3,4,5; Ps.139:7,8,9; Ps.138:1,4; Ps.145:1,5 Reading: Psalm 139 Text: Psalm 139:13-18 Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, Until about a hundred and fifty years ago man s general worldview included the idea that God was the creator of the world and all that was in it. Then Charles Darwin published his book, The Origin of the Species. He promoted a viewpoint that human life evolved over millions of years. Today this is the predominant worldview held in the Western world. We might think: who cares what people believe about the origins of man. Yet what you believe about this has a profound effect on your perspective on life. It influences what you think about God, and what you think about man. Those who do not see God as their Creator, also do not believe that he has a claim on their lives. They see themselves as autonomous beings who can do what they want with their lives. Often those who do not recognize God also do not place much value on human life. Man is just a bit more developed than the other species, but he came from them and inherently is no different from them. People with that kind of perspective can get fanatical about a save the whales campaign, or boycott the sale of fur coming from cute seals. Yet they think nothing of aborting a fetus, because it is just a blob of cells anyway. They feel morally justified to help someone suffering from a debilitating disease to kill themselves. After all, if your dog was sick and suffering, you d put it out of its misery, wouldn t you? As Christians we have a different perspective on our origins. We believe that God created this world, and that he made man in his image. Mankind is inherently different from the animals. We were created with a body and a soul. We have the ability to think and plan, remember and imagine. We were made to live in relationship with other people, and have the ability to communicate by mouth or in writing. We have been made moral creatures, knowing the difference between right and wrong. Best of all, we can know God, love him, enjoy him, and worship him. I preach to you the word of God under the following theme: Praise the LORD for how we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We ll consider: 4. how God created us. 5. how God cares for us. 6. how God comforts us. Psalm 139 is a psalm of David. In it David confesses God s greatness and praises him for it. You can divide this psalm into four parts, of six verses each. In the verses 1-6 David confesses the LORD to be all-knowing; in verses 7-12 to be everywhere present; in verses to be all powerful; and in verses to be righteous and just in his dealings with man. In this Psalm David teaches us to confess God s majesty and glory, and to praise him for his wondrous works. Our text begins by stating, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother s womb. That word for is important. The words of our text provide the basis for the comforting truths that God knows us intimately, and is always with us. Why can we confess these things? God knows us intimately, because it was by his design that we came into being. He is with us always and cares for us, because he is the one who knit us together in our mother s womb. In our text there are two wonderfully descriptive words used to picture God s act of creating new life in the womb. The first is found in verse 13. David says that God knit me together in my mother s womb. Think of what is involved in knitting: stitch after stitch put together according to an intricate design, to make a beautiful garment. The second description of God s creative work is in verse 15. David says, I was woven together in the depths of the earth. The word woven can also be translated embroidered. It is used elsewhere to refer to the work Oholiab did in preparing the tabernacle. He was an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn (Exo.38:23). God embroiders us in the womb. It says something about how intricate and complex we are. Rev. Joe Poppe 2

3 Since David wrote this psalm, we have learned quite a bit more about how human life is formed. When our parents were united in an act of love, sperm and an egg united to form a single cell. It contained 23 chromosomes from our father and 23 from our mother, carrying some genes from each. These genes, like letters of the alphabet, spelled out everything unique about us: the colour of our eyes, hair, and skin, our facial features, body type, personality qualities, intelligence and sex. Within 6-12 hours of fertilization the one cell split in two, and then the two into four, and four into eight. We settled into our mother s womb and began growing at a dizzying rate. Within three weeks our heart began to beat. Within four weeks our arms and legs appeared, and our internal organs were growing. Within six weeks our brain was fully developed and its signals could be measured. By three months we were moving about in our mother s womb, with unique fingerprints, closed eyelids, and translucent skin. Many people don t want to acknowledge this. They view our origin as a blob of cells. They refuse to recognize what is growing in the womb as new life. They call the developing life a fetus, because they don t want to personalize it. Why? Because many times the new life God has created in them is inconvenient. People are not ready to take responsibility for a child. They speak about a mother s right to control her own body. They identify themselves as pro-choice. And so they abort the wonderful creation within them. This is so sad. It is so wrong. Why? Because God created us, he formed us. The Scriptures speak repeatedly about life beginning at conception. In Job 3, in the midst of his anguish Job cries out, Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.' In Psalm 51 David confesses, Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Both Job and David regard their conception as the beginning of their personhood. This is not only man s perspective on the beginnings of human life. It is also God s viewpoint. In Jeremiah 1:5 the LORD says this about Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. God knew Jeremiah and called him to serve as prophet, while still a tiny baby in his mother s womb. There is an interesting account of fetal life recorded in Luke 1: After Mary was told that she would become the mother of the Lord Jesus, she went to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard her greeting, the baby in her womb leaped for joy. At that time Elizabeth was about six months into her pregnancy. Yet her unborn child responded to the presence of his Lord, whom he would serve as herald. At a time when Jesus himself had only been conceived weeks earlier. Thus the Scriptures make it clear that life begins from conception. Our text goes on to speak about the wondrous way in which God has made us. David says, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Have you ever stopped beloved, to consider the marvellous way in which God has made us? Consider our feet. God made us with a skeleton to keep us erect. In our feet he put 52 bones that all work together to help us stand straight, walk, and keep our balance. Our hands have 54 bones in our wrists, hands and fingers that allow them to function effectively. One of the wise and amazing things about the way in which God created us is the way blood flows through our bodies to carry oxygen and food to each of our cells. Scripture tells us that our life is in our blood. Blood is amazing. God created us with platelets in our blood, so that we won t bleed to death every time we cut or scape ourselves up. When platelets flowing through your body come to an injury, they gather there sticking to each other like glue and forming a clot. The clot plugs up the cut so blood cannot come out. The clot hardens into a scab and will remain over the injury until new skin grows underneath. God created us with a digestive system to break down our food into fuel. A variety of different enzymes are used in our stomach and digestive tract to accomplish this task. They function together marvellously; if even one of them is missing, people can face severe problems in digesting Rev. Joe Poppe 3

4 their food. God has given us a brain, which controls the whole central nervous system. Until recently not much was known about the brain; the use of MRIs to image the brain during various activities has enhanced our understanding of how it works. What is clear is that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. There is something that distinguishes man from the rest of the creatures God has made. God has made us in his image, in his likeness (Gen.1:26-27). We were created good, righteous, and holy, like God is. We were given the charge to rule over all the rest of God s creation. God created Adam out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life. He created us with both a body and a soul. Part of being made in the image of God is having the ability to learn and use so many other parts of God s creation. A bird can build for itself exactly the type of nest it needs. But it doesn t consider different house plans and choose its favourite one. It doesn t decorate the nest. Only to humans did God give the ability to create, like he does. We are different from all the other creatures because we can have an idea for a painting or a quilt or a new computer game, and make it. Many animals, fish, and birds migrate every year. They may travel great distances, and do so by some instinct God has made within them. As human beings, however, we can think and plan, remember and imagine. We can plan a holiday trip, and do all the different things we planned months before. We can imagine things we ve never experienced. We can think through issues and make decisions. This is unique among all God s creatures. The ability to think and reason is part of how God made us. Various animals can communicate with one another. Whales can be heard calling one another from a long distance away. But they cannot tell each other what they are thinking, or what they did last week. Yet as human beings we are able to communicate a wealth of information, as well as our thoughts and feelings. We may record our thoughts so that people may read them hundreds of years later. A lion may kill another lion. Perhaps in a fight to see who is the dominant male. Does it feel bad? Does it even know the difference between right and wrong? No! They are just animals and don t know any better. Yet God gave us as human beings the knowledge of right and wrong. We are moral creatures. We have been made with a conscience. This too sets us apart form the rest of God s creatures. There is one final thing that separates us from the animal kingdom. We can know God. Dogs often like those who care for them, and can be incredibly loyal. They may express their friendship by wagging their tails and licking you. But you cannot teach a dog about God. A dog cannot worship or pray. Yet God made us in his image so that we could know him, love him, enjoy him, and worship him. He made us so that we can have a relationship with him that will last forever. The fact that God created us in his image has consequences. We need to see God as the Creator of life, and praise and worship him for how we have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We also need to see that as our Creator, God has a claim on our lives. God has made it clear that the life of every human being is valuable in his sight. He says that he will require an accounting from anyone who sheds the blood of another human being. Yet, beloved, in our society we see a disregard for human life. In Canada some 100,000 babies are aborted each year; in the United States the number is about 1.2 million. We can get passionate about this as a political issue, and address it by writing to our elected MPs or signing petitions. Yet we should not think that the sin of abortion could not take place among us. Recently I heard from someone who talked with a girl that attended one of our Canadian Reformed schools in another part of the country. She said that there were a bunch of girls that had abortions. This was confirmed by a comment made by a sister working in a crisis pregnancy centre in that area. How is this possible, you might ask? Don t these girls know better? Rev. Joe Poppe 4

5 Well yes, they know that abortion is wrong. That gets discussed regularly at school and in the catechism classes. But at times they can feel trapped enough to do this. If their parents and community found out about them being pregnant, this would be acknowledging that they were sexually active. It would bring shame on their family. Many young people would find it incredibly hard to speak to their parents about being pregnant. They feel incapable of raising a child. They fear that their child might be labelled because it is born out of wedlock. The point is that because of shame and fear, we could be tempted to abort an unborn child. Beloved, why we need to know who our God is. The LORD God knows us inside out. He has a better understanding of who we are and what makes us tick than we do ourselves. The LORD knows our coming and going; he perceives our thoughts; before we speak a word God knows what it will be (v.1-6). His Spirit is present everywhere. Wherever we go, God is there. We cannot flee from his presence. Neither distance nor darkness can hide us from God. His hand is there to guide us, his right hand to hold us fast. We also need to know who we are. We are men and women, boys and girls created in the image of God. Precious in his sight. As our Creator God has a claim on our lives. He owns us; we belong to him. This claim has been strengthened by what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He has redeemed us from all our sins by paying the price for them. Christ gave his body and blood for us on the cross. To purchase us as his own people; to make us his own possession. Young men and women, if you are ever faced with an unwanted pregnancy please remember who your God is, and who you are in him! That will give you strength to make wise decisions, to God s glory and for your baby s good! Brothers and sisters, when someone confesses their sins and repents from them forgive them and support them. When abortion occurs in our churches the fault does not lie completely with those overcome by fear and shame. What kind of community are we, if we cannot accept a repentant sinner, and lovingly support him or her? It is easy to point fingers and make judgments. Instead let us serve as a hand and foot to one another, especially when someone is struggling. At times we are the face of God to those who go through hard times. This brings us to our second point. In it we ll consider how God cares for us. After speaking about how we are fearfully and wondrously made, David goes on to speak of God s providential care over our lives. He says in verse 16, All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. With these words David confesses the sovereignty of God. Not only is he the almighty Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them. He also upholds and governs this world by his eternal counsel and providence. It is very important for us to realise that all that happens to us in life is under the controlling hand of God. The things that happen around us and to us are not random events that come about by chance. God has a plan for each of our lives. He brings it to fruition. As Christians we may struggle with this. For our lives do not always run smoothly. We may face sickness or be confronted with struggles in our mental health. At times things happen that cause us much sorrow or regret. We may face the consequences of sin in our lives, or struggle with loss. When hardships occur we may question where God is, and why he allows such struggles. The Bible talks about God s love and care for us, and maybe that s true for other people but I don t experience it in my life. What then, beloved? How do we reconcile God s grace and love for his children with the adversity and struggles we may face in our lives? How can a good God allow bad things to happen to his children? David addresses this when he says that all the days ordained for him were written in God s book before one of them came to be. It is helpful for us to realize that David was not a man without struggles in life. He underwent great hardships and adversity. The LORD anointed him king of Israel, and King Saul realized that and was jealous and sought to kill David. For years Saul pursued David throughout the land; he Rev. Joe Poppe 5

6 hounded David so that at times he despaired. Yet through all those struggles, the LORD was near and preserved David s life. David, like us, was a sinner. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. He tried to cover up his sin by calling Uriah home from warfare, but Uriah would not sleep with his wife while the LORD s armies were out fighting. So David sent him back into battle, and gave orders that he be left vulnerable, so that he would be killed. Thus David murdered Uriah in order to cover up his sin. God was angry with him, and his hand was against David until he confessed his sin and repented from it. One of the consequences of David s sin was that the sword would never depart from his house (2Sam.12:10). His own son Absalom rebelled against him. David was forced to flee from Jerusalem. He was mocked and cursed and reviled as he went. He did not know if this was the end of his kingship, and feared for his life. Yet the LORD delivered him. David s armies prevailed against those of Absalom. You would think that this would make David happy. Yet he suffered much grief and mourned deeply, seeing his son killed. How did David deal with all the struggles and hardships he faced? He knew who the Lord was. That God knew him intimately, and was present with him always. David knew that God had a plan for his life. It included hard days and troubling times. But through it all, God would sustain and support him. David knew that the God who cared for him was the almighty creator of heaven and earth. The all-powerful God who holds the whole world in his hands. That is an immense comfort for us, beloved. To know that almighty God is with us always; that his hand will guide us, that his right hand will hold us fast (Ps.139:10). The LORD God cares for us. So much that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom.5:8). What we need to understand is that God often uses hard times in our lives to help us focus our lives on him. He uses adversity and sorrow to cause us to grow in our trust and dependence on him. Please don t see tough times as a sign that God doesn t care about you. The opposite is true. He cares so much that he uses both times of prosperity and times of adversity to lead you into a close relationship with him. This brings us to our final point. In it we ll consider how God comforts us. In verses 17 and 18 of our text David confesses how incomprehensible God is. How we cannot understand the LORD, because he is highly exalted above us in majesty and glory. David says, How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. What David is saying is that God is too great and he is too small to understand how and why God has ordered life in the way he did. Other passages in Scripture also make the point that God is far beyond our understanding. Just think about what the LORD reveals about himself in Isaiah 55:8-9. He said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Beloved, we may not always understand God s direction over our daily lives. Yet let us whole-heartedly believe God s promise made in Romans 8:28. Paul assures us that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. God is our faithful Father. We have his promise that not a hair can fall from our heads without his will (Mat.10:30). We have his assurance that no creature will be able to separate us from his love (Rom.8:39). God s providential care covers all circumstances. It covers the whole of our lives. We are safe with him! This is clear from the words at the end of verse 18. After speaking about how incomprehensible God is David says, When I awake, I am still with you. Despite the fact that David does not always understand God, or how he is at work in his life he knows he can count on his God. David was privileged to live in close fellowship with the LORD. No matter what, he knew that God was with him, and he was with God. Nobody and nothing could separate him from his faithful God. Rev. Joe Poppe 6

7 David ends Psalm 139 by confessing the LORD to be a righteous God. It is clear that David faced strong enemies who were seeking his life. He calls on God to show forth his justice and righteousness by slaying the wicked. David declares that he wants nothing to do with them. At the same time David prays for God to search and know him, to see if there was any offensive way in him. David wants to continue to live in a close relationship with the LORD. His desire is that the LORD lead him in the way everlasting. May that be our desire too. That despite all the sins we commit and the struggles we face, the goal of our lives is to live in close communion with the LORD. To walk with him through life; to desire his presence with us always. Two things will help us immensely in this, beloved. The first is knowing who God is. That he is the all-knowing, everywhere-present, all-powerful God. A God who will judge the wicked but show forth his grace and mercy on those who fear him. The second thing we need to know is who were are. That we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That we are God s image-bearers, redeemed by Christ and renewed by the Spirit. Enabled to love God and serve him. To enjoy living in close fellowship with him. If we understand who God is, and who we are then we can only respond by praising and worshipping the LORD. Ultimately that is the purpose of our lives. Thus let us glorify God for all his wondrous works, and rejoice in his grace towards us. Let us walk with him on the way everlasting, and thus enjoy his presence forever. Amen. Rev. Joe Poppe 7