LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 23 JULY 2023
SPEAKER: MR JEFFREY FERGUSON, ACRE GOSPEL MISSION
Psalm 139
Verses 1 to 6 – The Lord knows all there is to know about us.
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine
uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down and
art acquainted with all my ways. For
there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid
thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
Isn’t it amazing to think
that the God of the universe knows even you.
There are 8 billion people on this earth today but God knows them all. He knows every detail of every person that
has ever lived. Every second there are 4
babies born into this world. God knows
them all. He knows when a little sparrow falls to the ground. He knows our coming in and going out, our
movements, our thoughts, the words even before they are on our tongue. He knows our inner most thoughts. He knows me in a way no-one else can know as
a human. We can describe the human characteristics
of someone we know, even their personalities and sometimes intimate knowledge
but there are limits. We don’t know the
thoughts on someone’s mind or their unspeakable fears that they might
have. Sometimes we hear the expression “I
thought I knew that person but now I see a different side to them.” We cannot understand that – it is infinite.
We talk about God as omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. God is all those and more. He knows every problem we have, all the
things that trouble us. As our great
heavenly father he knows what we need.
Can we really say we know everything there is to know about our family
members? Even as parents we don’t know every
thought or worry our children have. God
knows though. We can leave every care
with him knowing he understands. That
can be a blessing but also a warning.
God knows your thoughts and deeds but maybe there are things you wish no-one
else knew about it – remember God knows them.
Verses 7 – 12 there is no place we can hide from God
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee
from thy presence?” If I ascend up into
heaven thou art here; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even
there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me. Yea,
the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the
darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
As Christians this should
give us a sense of security and hope. He
is present every day of work, every place we go to. We cannot hide from
him. Many things overwhelm us but we
should not be afraid. Equally no matter
where we run from God he is there.
Sometimes we don’t like this idea of being constantly watched. We hear a lot today about Artificial Intelligence,
the idea of being constantly watched.
That no matter where we go in life there are security cameras watching
our every move. It is amazing to see how
technology has advanced so much. As
humans we want our privacy. We grow
suspicious of people knowing too much.
God sees all things. There is no
hiding from him. Rather than being suspicious
of God, his presence conveys to us the immense care and love God has for
us. God can lead us by his will. We can be led by him. Our natural inclination is to hide from
God. That comes from Adam and Eve hiding
from God in the Garden of Eden. If our
sins have been forgiven today we no longer need to run from God. We see in these verses a picture of love and care. It is like a shepherd who looks after the
sheep. In Jesus’ day the shepherd would
go before his sheep to lead them and then at night he would bring them into the
sheepfold. He himself would lie at the
door protecting them from every danger.
Or think of the scene with a mother hen and her chicks. She would protect them by ensuring they never
left her side too far so that when the threat of danger came they could run to
her and hid under her wings. We can take
encouragement from these verses today – God’s hand is on us day by day.
Verses 13 – 16 God knew
you before you were born
“For thou hast possessd my reins: thou hast covered me in my
mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well. My substance was not
hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see
my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
These verses offer an
amazing insight as to how God saw us even before we were born. A wonderful picture of how we were created. As human beings God had a plan to knit us
together. Our DNA, the very detail in
our cells holds the information needed for life. Every small detail is accounted for. As we go through the world today many will be
told it all happened by a big bang, it took years to form. Doctors and scientists will say that we are
just a formation of cells that one day will become a baby. That takes away from the sanctity of life. It takes away the idea of worth, that our
lives do not count in any way. Jeremiah
1 verse 5 says “before I formed thee in the womb I knew you.” He knew you before you came into existence. He has set us apart for himself. He gave us a soul which will live for ever. Today babies are being killed in the womb, old
people are pushed to one side in society.
Life is so precious, so much so that Jesus came into the world to die
for our sins. He paid the price for sin
so that if we accept Christ for ourselves we can be a partaker of a new heaven
and a new earth one day. God knows us
inside out. He knows how long we will
live. He will be our guide in life if we
place him first and foremost.
Verse 17 and 18 “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O
God: how great is the sum of them. If I
should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am
still with thee.”
We can never understand
the vastness of God’s knowledge. Even
with all that knowledge he has time to think of us individually. We need to trust him to work in our lives and
allow his plans to work themselves out in ours.
Verses 19 – 22 The
Psalmist writes about the wicked.
“Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me
therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak
against thee wickedly and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? And
am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them
mine enemies.”
David the Psalmist was
exposed to the enemy many times. He had
to face many battles. Here he unburdens
his heart to God. He was crying out and lamenting
the situation he was in. He knew that
his enemies wanted to hate him. He also
knew he had a great God and the victory would be his. In our lives we can call to the Lord for his
protection. We will face many different
battles but the Lord will be there to fight each one for us. God is the one who can defeat our enemies. David was asking the Lord to step in and slay
the wicked. We know we have no strength
in ourselves. We depend on God to fight
our battles. David did not want to be a
part of what his enemies wanted to achieve.
Do we set ourselves apart from what we know is wrong. Or are we happy to join in with sinful things. We can see how God will deal with the wicked in
the last days. They will receive God’s
ultimate judgement. God will have the victory. Without Jesus as Saviour no-one will escape
the righteous judgment of God. We can
have assurance and hope in God if we are his today.
Verse 23 the Psalmist wants God to look at his life and see
where improvement can be made
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: And see if there be any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
That is how we can grow as
Christians. God will reveal to us over
time in reading his word areas of our lives that need to be changed. David wants to be right before God. David asks God to examine his very thoughts
to see if anything needs to be changed.
What a lesson for us. We need to
ask God to help us to live each day that is pleasing for God. When we are open to God, giving correction in
our lives then this is how we will grow more and more. God is the Father and he loves us, views us
as his child. He is ready and willing to
receive his children. God is waiting to
forgive you. God knows you, who you are. Let it be an encouragement to our hearts and
challenge us to live for him.
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