Transparent Worship – Part 3
Psalms 139 (13-18)
September 25, 2022pm
This evening we continue our study of Psalms 139.
It is a Psalm that really asks us
To contemplate the transcendent glory of God.
Tonight I want to start with a question for you.
I want to start with an idea for you to ponder.
WHY IS GOD’S WORD IMPORTANT TO YOU?
I want to start there.
WHY IS GOD’S WORD IMPORTANT TO YOU?
In verse 17 David is going to make a wonderful statement regarding his love for God’s word.
“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!”
• Clearly God’s word was important to David.
• Clearly He loved what God had to say on any subject.
• Clearly He wanted to know God’s take on everything.
SO WHY IS GOD’S WORD IMPORTANT TO YOU?
As you ponder that we’ll recap a little
Because it is always important to get back into the flow of a text.
So we have called this Psalms “Transparent Worship”
Namely because David has come to a full realization
That his worship is transparent before God.
God sees all, God knows all.
There is no fooling Him in worship.
• Ananias and Sapphira could fool everyone in the church regarding their giving, but they couldn’t fool the Holy Spirit.
GOD KNOWS.
And David has begun this Psalm by meditating upon that reality.
We have decided to break this Psalm down into 3 main points.
Thus far we have only looked at point 1.
And tonight we should conclude it.
#1 THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE TRANSCENDENCE OF GOD
Psalms 139:1-18
We have also decided to break these 18 verses down a little more
As David discusses this transcendence of God.
1) HIS OMNISCIENCE (1-6)
God is All-Knowing
And David contemplated what that meant as it regards to his life.
God knows everything about David.
• “when I sit down and when I rise up”
• “my thought from afar”
• “my path and my lying down”
• “all my ways”
• “a word on my tongue”
God knows it all.
There are no secrets from God.
And this is lofty knowledge that is beyond our full comprehension.
And we discussed some of the implications of that truth.
1. Sinners should know their sin is not in secret.
2. The righteous should know God rewards even their secret obedience.
3. In times of trouble, God knows everything about it.
4. Regarding sanctification, God knows what we need.
HE IS OMNISCIENT.
And when you worship, bear in mind that
YOU ARE WORSHIPING THE ALL-KNOWING GOD.
Don’t try to fool Him.
Be real with Him.
There is no place for hypocrisy.
GOD KNOWS.
Then Last Week
2) HIS OMNIPRESENCE (7-12)
The is the reality that God is “All-Present”
We noted how once David realized that God know everything about him
That the FIRST INSTINCT of David was to HIDE.
But David was confronted with another truth.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”
• To the highest heights – He is there.
• To the lowest depths – He is there.
• To the far east – He is there.
• To the far west – He is there.
• To the remotest area – He is there.
• Into the darkness – He is there.
There is no escaping God’s presence.
Even in hell men are judged in the presence of God.
They do not enjoy His compassion or mercy,
But they are judged in His presence.
And we discussed implications of this as well.
1. Sinners should know they will not avoid God’s judgment. He knows right where they are.
2. This is also true for sinning believers like Jonah who could not flee the presence of God.
3. God is also a very present help in trouble.
4. God is also available to save when sinners call.
We are worshiping an All-Present God.
He knows whether our worship is true
He is here to witness it Himself.
These are the FIRST TWO realities of God’s transcendence that David recognizes.
Tonight let’s move to the 3rd aspect of God’s transcendence that David sees.
3) HIS ORDINATION OF ALL THINGS (13-18)
The point here is that God is sovereign and God is wise.
He is in sovereign control of ALL THINGS.
And just in a simple sense THINK ON THAT for a moment.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
• Paul told the Ephesians that God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (1:11)
• Paul told the Corinthians that God “works all things in all persons.” (12:6)
• Paul told the Colossians that in Jesus “all things hold together.” (1:17)
• The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus “upholds all things by the word of His power.” (1:3)
So you understand this point in a simple sense.
That God is sovereign over all things.
• He works all things
• He holds all things together
• All things are for Him
• He forces all things for good
GOD ORDAINS ALL THINGS.
But just as David did with God’s omniscience and omnipresence
He examines God’s sovereignty from a personal position.
Let’s follow David’s thinking in this Psalm.
• David JUST STATED that God knows everything about him.
• David JUST STATED that it is impossible for him to exit God’s presence.
God seems to be EXTREMELY INTERESTED in David.
• He “scrutinizes”
• He “knows”
• He is “intimately acquainted”
And when we get to verse 13
WE FIND OUT WHY God is so preoccupied with David
(and why He is so preoccupied with us).
Notice verse 13.
“For…”
Don’t skip that word.
It is a word that tells us that this verse is the explanation
As to WHY God has taken such an interest in his life.
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.”
Very simply put, God had such interest in David
Because God created David.
GOD MADE HIM.
We see words like “formed” and “wove”.
• David is the product of a design.
• David is the creation of God.
Of course in our day and age
We are aware that this creating took place “in my mother’s womb” which is all the evidence we need regarding the evil of ABORTION.
It is astounding that men can be so fiercely protective of the environment as that which God made and even so fiercely protective of animals as God’s creatures
And yet so nonchalant about abortion.
Biblically speaking there is no way to view an unborn child
As anything other than a human created in the image of God.
And therefore there is no other way to view abortion than as murder.
I also love the reality that God “formed my inward parts”
There is mystery here as well.
• A doctor might be even more equipped to worship at this point,
• But it is remarkable all the things that we don’t even know about our own bodies.
Science has studied the human body and made astounding discoveries.
• They can tell you what the kidneys do and how the liver functions, and the purpose of the pancreas, etc.
• Someday, maybe in heaven, God will reveal the purpose of the appendix which modern medicine has no explanation for.
But what amazing wisdom to know that God caused
Even the internal functions of our body to work so amazingly.
But THE POINT is that David is the creation of God.
For the first time we see David’s present attitude.
verse 14 “I will give thanks to You”
DAVID IS GRATEFUL.
• God’s scrutiny of his life is NOT about God being some overbearing judge.
• Rather, it is God loving the one He has created.
David says, “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”
That is to say,
• “I’m not an accident”
• “I’m not a mistake”
We have so many people in our world
Who suffer from a misunderstanding of this reality.
I think of
• People who maybe were given up for adoption.
• Or people who are deemed accidental
• Or like the infamous “throw away baby” in China.
Imagine living with such a stigma.
Like you were some sort of mistake or accident
And you are of such little value that you were discarded at birth.
But David knows the truth.
The truth is that we were “fearfully and wonderfully made”
It means to be “meticulously made” and to be “made distinct”.
When you were created by God it was not haphazard.
You weren’t thrown together.
Every single human is put together with precision
And with the mark of a 100% authentic original.
• There is not another like you anywhere on earth.
• There has never been another like you anywhere in history.
• There will never be another like you at any point in the future.
David knows he is “wonderfully made”
Because he knows “Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”
God doesn’t make junk.
People today struggle with who they are.
Some of these struggles are seemingly insignificant, like:
• Why am I short?
• Why am I tall?
• Why am I skinny?
• Why am I husky?
Some have gotten even more confused of late as they ponder
Why they are male or female or even their sexuality, etc.
But the answer is that you were not a mistake.
You are the way you are because you were METICULOUSLY DESIGNED.
Now SOME RESENT this because they compare themselves to other people and wish they were more like so and so.
And so the hear a truth like this and think that
God must have played some cruel trick on them.
You even hear people get depressed as if to say,
• “Why didn’t God make me more like so and so?”
• “I could be so much more effective if I was like that person.”
That is to assume that God made a mistake in making you.
That God wasn’t paying attention while you were in the womb.
That reveals a sinful preoccupation with worldly acceptance.
It reveals a person who has given too little thought
To God’s purposes in making you the way He made you,
And for what purpose.
Think about inanimate objects.
Which object has more glory?
• A diamond or a lump of coal?
• You’d say a diamond.
Which object has more value?
• A diamond or a lump of coal?
• You’d say a diamond.
But the answer to that question depends on how cold you are.
Everything has value and purpose
When you understand the reason for why it was created.
David is now understanding that.
(15) “My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;”
• Again we see words like “skillfully”
• Again we understand God at work in the formation and making of David.
(16) “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”
• That God has determined when you would live.
• And God has determined how long you will live.
• God has set your time boundary on this planet.
It has been determined by His ordination of all things.
Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”
God is the One who created David.
God is the One who created you.
This is David’s understanding as to why God is focused on him.
• Why would God watch when I sit and when I rise?
• Why would God scrutinize my path?
• Why would God read my thoughts from afar?
• Why would God not let me out of His presence?
And the answer:
BECAUSE YOU ARE HIS CREATION
He made you and He made you for His purposes.
All of a sudden DAVID COMES TO A VERY IMPORTANT REALIZATION.
He is not in charge!
He doesn’t make the plan!
He’s not here to master his own fate!
When a man tries to forge his own way according to his own will
He is agitated at God
• Who “made me like this”
• Who continually scrutinizes his path
• Who questions his motives.
When a man tries to forge his own way
He seeks to hide from God
• Who can call him into judgment.
• Who can find him no matter where he goes.
But when man realizes that he has been designed by the God of heaven
And that he has been designed for a specific purpose
That man then finds great fulfillment
In seeking the Creator to learn that purpose.
If you read one more verse from that passage in Acts.
Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
You weren’t created to blaze your own trail.
You weren’t created to look inward,
• Figure out which gender you want to be,
• Determine your own path,
• And walk it at all cost.
Do we not learn from that arrogant man James spoke of?
James 4:13-16 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”
That man who makes his own plans according to his own will
With no thought of the One who created him is a sinful fool.
And David has learned that.
He was created.
He is intentional.
The direction of his life has been ordained by his Creator.
WHICH MEANS DAVID’S CHIEF OBJECTIVE
Is not to look inward to what he wants,
But to look upward to what God wants.
NOW READ verses 17-18
“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”
I asked you at the beginning:
“Why is God’s word important to you?”
You may have said something like,
• “Because it’s true”
• “Because it’s God’s word”
• “Because it tells me about Jesus”
And all of those things are true and good reasons.
Do you want to hear David’s answer?
BECAUSE IT TELLS ME WHO I AM AND WHY I AM HERE.
God’s word gives David purpose and direction.
And now David turns to his Sovereign Creator and asks:
WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE FOR ME?
“How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”
David speaks of the value of knowing God’s plan for his life.
• I don’t want to know why I think I’m here.
• I don’t want to know why the world says I’m here.
• I want to know why You say I’m here.
And what a difference this makes in a life.
• Saul thought his purpose was to become a super Jew until God revealed that he would be a messenger of Jesus to the Gentiles and we’d all call him Paul.
• Esther may have thought herself to be a boring Jewish girl in a pagan land until she learned that she was created for such a time is this.
• The man born blind must have wondered many times what God was thinking by allowing him to be born blind.
John 9:1-3 “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
We read of JEREMIAH and JOHN THE BAPTIST
As men set apart from their mother’s womb.
But listen to me: SO WERE YOU!
You were meticulously designed and designed for a purpose.
It is a purpose which God ordained for you before you were born.
You say, “What is it?”
• I have no clue specifically.
• I don’t know what all God has in store for me specifically.
But in general?
What is the chief end of man?
• “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”
That man “would seek Him…though He is not far from each one of us.”
AND THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE DAVID DOING HERE.
He is seeking the God who created him
That he might find his true purpose.
Now, let’s one more time follow some of the IMPLICATIONS of this reality.
We already mentioned a very important one.
You need to know: YOU ARE NOT A MISTAKE
THERE IS A DIVINE PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE.
Even if you are like the man born blind who was blind for the glory of God.
Even if you have a past of rebellion like Saul.
God redeemed His life and made it of great purpose.
1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
So what is your big infirmity?
• You’re too short to be important?
• You’re too fat to be important?
• You’re too shy to be important?
• You’re too blind to be important?
• You’re past is too checkered to be useful?
All of those things may be true
If we’re talking about you fulfilling YOUR plans and dreams.
• There has been many a person in this world too short to fulfill their dreams.
• There has been many a person in this world too shy to fulfill their plans.
• There has been many a person too handicapped to accomplish their goals.
BUT NOT GOD’S.
Quit seeking your plans and seek out your Creator.
There is a divine purpose for your life.
But we should also speak of THOSE WHO REJECT THAT PURPOSE.
Let’s again talk about what this means for sinners.
• Those who refuse to seek God.
• Those who refuse to acknowledge or honor their Creator.
These people aren’t just sinning, they are in direct rebellion.
Consider what Paul says about sinners under God’s wrath in Romans 1.
TURN TO: ROMANS 1:18
I know this is familiar, but we learn something every time we look at the Scriptures.
We see now this picture of the sinner, who is under God’s wrath,
And we see his direct rebellion against God.
He’s not just accidentally offending God,
He is intentionally rebelling against Him.
(18-23)
• These are people who know better but rebel anyway.
• They intentionally suppress the truth.
• They don’t want to know what God wants of them.
They are dead set on being the masters of their own destiny
And they are determined to walk in their own path.
And they rebel against the One who created them.
Now, what do you see God doing with these rebels in Romans 1?
“God, gave them over”
(24, 26, 28)
• They did not want to know the will of their Creator.
• His thoughts were not precious to them.
• They wanted to walk their own path,
AND WHAT DID GOD DO?
He allowed it.
So did they thwart the sovereign plan of God?
• Did they break His sovereign control?
• Did they succeed in breaking free and now control their own destiny?
TURN TO: ROMANS 9:17-24
Here we see Pharaoh, another man who rebelled against God.
• Over and over God called Pharaoh to repentance
• Pharaoh hardened his heart.
• He insisted on his own path.
So did God just turn him loose?
Nope. God let him live a while longer and preserved him
Until the day that He would crush Pharaoh for His glory.
Pharaoh was a vessel of wrath,
Just like those in Romans 1 whom God gave over to their sin.
And he was “preserved as a sinner” until God chose to use Him to demonstrate His love to His vessels of mercy, by crushing Him.
WHAT IS THE POINT?
There is no escaping God’s purpose in your life.
But far better to seek God and learn His purpose
Than to rebel against God and be used in judgment.
When men deny God’s will they are “given over” to corrupting purposes,
But they are still used for His glory.
You were created by God for a purpose
And it is a foolish thing to rebel against that purpose.
But that’s not all we learn from the fact that God ordains all things.
Since God ordains all things, that also means that:
THIS WORLD MAKES SENSE TO HIM
It doesn’t always make sense to us.
• It’s hard for us to see why our culture runs the way it runs
• Or why we are stuck with the leaders we are stuck with.
• It’s hard for us to understand all mysteries of life,
But it’s not hard for God.
He ordained it.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
I was asked this week by someone about
Submitting to the governing authorities.
This is an increasingly hot topic these days, and I’ll be honest,
I’m not sure all of the answers given
Are as biblically sound as we might think.
I certainly agree with the stance that no government ever has the right to command the church to disobey God’s word.
• We’re not going to stop praying.
• We’re not going to stop preaching the gospel.
• We’re not going to stop assembling together.
The government has no jurisdiction here, not like that.
But I’m hearing a trend that troubles me a little
And that is this notion that if we determine that the governing authorities have somehow failed in their calling, that because of their failure they are “illegitimate authority” so we are then given the right to rebel or reject.
You know, if they don’t do their job as outlined by Scripture they are “illegitimate” so we are no longer commanded to submit to them.
You won’t find that clause anywhere in Scripture.
• Nor will you find the clause that says wives don’t have to submit to an unbelieving husband.
• Nor will you find the clause that says husbands don’t have to love a quarrelsome wife.
• Nor will you find the clause that says fathers don’t have to train rebellious children.
• Nor will you find the clause that says children don’t have to obey ignorant parents.
In fact, when Paul and Peter wrote those passages about submitting to the governing authorities and honoring the king, the ruler of the land was Nero and he was about as corrupt as they come.
Well what about those Hebrew boys and the golden statue?
What about Daniel and the command not to pray?
They were right not to obey those commands,
But they still walked in submission and honor.
They submitted to the consequences.
They didn’t try to subvert the authority.
They didn’t try to lead a revolt.
WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?
Listen, when you can walk in submission
To the governing authorities even in their foolishness
It is a clear evidence of your faith that God is sovereign over it all.
We believe that while the world is a tangled mess of unredeemable evil,
IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO GOD.
• He is sovereign.
• He ordained the rulers of the world.
• He placed you here at this time for His purposes.
Now is not the time
To seek our own hearts to determine what our purpose is in all of this.
Now is the time
To seek the Author of our lives to find His purpose in this.
The fact that God ordains all things
Is a great comfort to us in wicked times.
I would also point out to you that YOUR LIFE IS LIMITED BY DESIGN
This life that you live on this rock was not intended to last forever.
• You weren’t even given a body here that could last forever.
• You were given a body that can’t even enter heaven.
You are here for a limited time.
• You are on a mission trip.
• You are on a tour of duty.
As one missionary agency said a few years ago,
“You have one life, do something.”
Do we really suppose
• That God created us and placed us here for no specific purpose whatsoever?
• That your God-ordained destiny is a blank sheet of paper?
No, God has placed you here by His design and for His purposes,
For the short time He has allotted.
So are God’s thoughts precious to you?
Or are you still consumed with your own thoughts?
• Go back to Ecclesiastes and make the most of your time.
• Number your days and realize you are here for a reason.
These are the things David has grasped.
• He is worshiping the God who knows everything about him.
• He is worshiping the God whose presence he cannot escape.
• He is worshiping the God who created him and has a definite plan for his life.
AND SO ARE YOU.
Consider this as you worship Him.
