WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!

Transcription

1 Before reading the Passage WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE! Psalm 139:1-18, Return To Psalm Master Index Page Psalm 139 is one of the great Psalms of worship and praise. No where are the attributes of God presented so powerfully as they are in this Psalm. Three attributes are declared in this Psalm. They are called the omni attributes. The word omni means all. 1. God is omniscient All Knowing 139: God is omnipresent All Present 139: God is omnipotent All Powerful 139:13-18 But...the psalmist doesn't describe God's attributes as they relate to the vast universe. Rather, he examines there great attributes as they relate to man...better, as how they relate to the psalmist, himself. God is named six times and is referred to by personal pronouns 30 times. The psalmist refers to himself 50 times. To the psalmist, there are only two beings in the universe God and himself. Here man is the workmanship of God and stands in the presence and under the watchful eye of his maker and God. Read the Passage We sing a little chorus: What a mighty God we serve...what a mighty God we serve, Heaven and earth adore Him...Angels bow before His, What a mighty God we serve! Listen as David gives worship and praise to hie mighty God! David says his mighty God is: I. Omniscient (All-knowing) 139:1-6 There is nothing God doesn't know...in fact, if He didn't know even one fact, He would not be the all-knowing God of the Bible. Here's what makes God, God: There never was a time when He didn't know

2 everything...and watch this this knowledge is in Himself...No one ever taught God anything! Isaiah 40:13-14 He knows what is going to happen He knows what you are having for lunch! He knows what you are going to do tomorrow. He knows the name of the driver of the hearse who will take you to the cemetery! He not only knows what you did yesterday, but why you did it! God never forgets, so He doesn't have to remember! He not only knows what is; He knows what could have been. Matthew ll:20-24 He knows what would have happened if you had been born in another time or place or race or if you had married another person other than your mate. l. Notice Psalm 139:1 Thou hast searched me and known me. The word searched describes a process of minute investigation...it means to pierce through my inner most parts. We sometimes speak of seeing right through a person. That, of course, is poetic but when it comes to God it is simple fact. Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. There never was a time in which we were unknown to God, and there never will be a moment in which we shall be beyond His observation. That's why the Jews call God The Eye of the World. Proverbs 15:3 2. This truth is either Thrilling or Threatening...depending on the way we live. 3. The psalmist gives details of this truth: A. Lord, you see my every movement Psalm 139:2a (1) He observes and appraises our most common and casual acts...my running and my resting...my private life and my public life...my social life and my secret life. (2) Nothing is concealed from God...not surprising to God...nor misunderstood by God. (3) He sees my every movement...and He is interested! B. Lord, You sound my every motive Psalm 139:2b

3 (1) God discerns our every thought afar off...not over the distance between heaven and earth...but before our thoughts are fashioned. (2) He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12) (3) He knows if our thoughts are lofty or lewd...cruel or compassionate...he knows every thought that has ever crossed our minds. of C. Lord, You search my every moment Psalm 139:3-4 (1) He knows my Walk...He knows my Talk He knows every single Step and every single Statement (2) Every idle word that man shall speak they shall give account thereof on the day judgment. D. Lord, You surround my every maneuver Psalm 139:5 The word beset means to encircle...god you completely surround me. There is only one thing that God chooses to forget...jeremiah 31:34. II. Omnipresent (All-present An atheist wrote on a chalkboard: God is nowhere. But a Christian used the eraser and made a significant change so that it read: God is now here. You can't hide from God Adam/Eve..Jonah Jeremiah 23:24 He's so high, you can't get over Him. He's so low, you can't get under Him. He's so side, you can't get around Him. That's what these verses teach. A. Death does not Hide us from God Psalm 139:7-8 God is present everywhere, on both sides of the grave. We expect to see Him in heaven...we will see His face...experience His presence... enjoy fellowship with Him. But the sinner will meet Him in hell also...as Judge...and will experience His wrath! B. Distance does not Hide us from God Psalm 139: The wings of the morning are the rays of the rising sun. The figure emphasizes the rapidity with which the light of early

4 morning spreads over sky. If a person could catch a sunbeam and ride it at the speed of light as far as it would go, he would never reach a place where God cannot be found. 2. He is wherever I am...wherever I shall be...wherever I could be. C. Darkness does not Hide us from God Psalm 139:11-12 Darkness may hide men from men, but it does not hide man from God. Nothing not death; not distance; not darkness nothing hides us from God. III. 139:13-18 Omnipotent (All-powerful) You would think David would use the universe as an example of God's great power; but, instead, he uses the miracle of birth...from conception to development in the womb to birth. 1. Verse 13 You possessed (created, formed) my reins (my innermost parts, including my thoughts and feelings and emotions). Verse 13b And covered me in my mother's womb...means to weave together or to knit. You knit my muscles and bones together. 2. Verse 15 My substance is not hid from Thee..Substance is Embryo. The Bible declares that person-hood exists from the moment of conception! Verse 15b Curiously wrought This describes how God ties or knits us together so that one organ supports another. The lungs need the heart; the heart needs the lungs; the liver needs the kidney and the stomach needs both. Think of the eyes of man They contain 100 million receptors that enable us to see all the colors around us. Think of the ears of man 24 thousand fibers which vibrate at the sound of a robin or the cry of a baby. Think of the heart of man It pulsates in rhythm 70 time a minute 36 million times every year...pumping our blood through more than 60 thousands miles of veins each year and pumps 1,500 gallons of blood every day! Think of the brain of man It only weighs about three pounds; yet contains 13 billion nerve cells. What a mighty God we serve!! Note 139:23-24

5 Eugene Petersen's The Message: Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; see for yourself whether I've done anything wrong then guide me on the road to eternal life. Lord, you have searched me (verse 1)...Search me again...keep on doing it... Never take your searchlight from me..look for all the spots and wash them away. A. Lord, Search me Thoroughly 139:23 Put me under your spiritual CAT scan...bring out what I would normally hide from everyone else. B. Lord, See me Clearly 139:24a A man went to the doctor and said, Doctor, I've been misbehaving and my conscience is troubling me. The doctor said, Do you want something that will strengthen your will power? He said, No, I want something that will weaken my conscience. That's opposite to what David said. He said, If there's any wicked way in me, I don't want to run from it, hide it, excuse it, justify it; I want to know it and get rid of it. C. Lord, Steer me Rightly 139:24b If you are lost, one day God will unfold your sinful past life. Paragraph by paragraph...page by page. You will cry Stop, but He will not stop until every sinful thought, evil deed, and every rejection of Him has been read and justly punished. Don't wait for that to happen. Let Him put your sin under His blood and into the sea of His forgetfulness. Return To Psalm Master Index Page