Psalm 139

What Is My Self-Worth?

Sanctity of Life Sunday

January 21, 2018First Baptist ChurchJackson, Mississippi

USA

What’s the number one thing?

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The Glory of God!

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1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

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January Memory Verse:

Philippians 3:1414 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Pray for Pastor Search Committee:

• Doug Gunn, Chairman• Lenora Bigler• Dottie Hudson• David Maron• Jim Merritt, Jr.• Elizabeth Rich• Mallory Rosamond• Don Waller• Jeff Zachary

National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday:

• Instituted in 1984 by President Reagan.• Sanctity of Human Life is an annual observance held on the

Sunday closest to the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision by the U. S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973.

• Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion in the US.• There have been at least 55 million abortions since 1973.

References:

• Jeremiah, Dr. David, Ten Burning Questions From Psalms (Walk Through The Bible, Atlanta, GA, 1994), pp 21-32.

• MacArthur, John, The MacArthur Study Bible (Word Publishing, Nashville, TN, 1997).

• Phillips, John, Exploring The Psalms, Volume II (Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ, 1988) pp590-600.

• Unless otherwise stated, scriptures are quoted from the ESV.

Introduction to Psalm 139:

• A Psalm of David.• Possibly written after David is told by God of the dynasty of his

ancestry in 2 Samuel 7:18.• God is referred to by name 6X’s and by a personal pronoun

30X’s. • The psalmist refers to himself 50X’s. • Only able to write this because of a deep, personal and

intimate knowledge of God.

How do people usually decide their self-worth?

• Answer: “By comparing ourselves to others.”• Appearance – the mirror or other’s opinions.• Money – look at salaries of professional athletes.• Education – increases marketability.• Employment – health insurance and pension.• Family – royalty & ancestry.• Childhood – influence of parents.• Social – acceptability of others, # Facebook friends.

What is wrong with basing our self-worth or value on comparisons?

• Comparisons get us in to trouble either way.1. Pride – we feel superior to another person because we

appear better than they are.2. Inferiority – we do not feel adequate with comparisons

to another.

• Determining our self-worth by comparison with others is NOT biblical

The Bottom Line of Psalm 139:

• Every person is of equal value in God’s eyes.

• God made you and knows everything about you.

• Psalm 139 is God’s loving smile to you!

David Explains 3 Characteristics of God in Psalm 139:

1. God is Omniscient – God knows everything about everything, including everything about me.

2. God is Omnipresent – God is everywhere and is not limited by time or space.

3. God is Omnipotent – God has all of the power of life and death.

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:11 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

• Searched = “to pierce through.”• God can see right through you.• Your self-worth comes from the fact that God knows you - “He

Knows My Name” (Song).

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:22 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

• “Sitting down and rising up” – OT expression for the routines of life (active & passive).

• God knows what you do.• God knows what you think.• God knows my motives – “thoughts from afar.”

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:33 You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

• God knows all of your habits, what you need and all that is going on in your life.

• God saw your first step in life and will see your last step; He knows where you go.

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:44 Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

• God knows what you say.• Matthew 12:36-37

36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:55 You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

• Hem = hedge, to restrict, to protect.• Behind refers to space; before refers to time.• God knows what you need, and He is protecting you.• Matthew 6:8

8 “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Omniscience – “All Knowing.”

Psalm 139:66 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

• David admits that this is too much for him to understand.• David realized that he did not even know himself, but God

does.

Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 & Job 41:11 to describe God’s Omniscience.

Romans 11:33-3633 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Omnipresence – “All Present.”

Psalm 139:77 Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

• David explains God’s presence everywhere by asking, “Where can I hide from you?”

Omnipresence – “All Present.”

Psalm 139:88 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

• God will be with you where ever you go, from now throughout eternity.

• God will be in your mind forever, even in eternity.

Omnipresence – “All Present.”

Psalm 139:9-109 If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

• References to the East (wings of the morning) and West (Mediterranean Sea).

• God’s right hand holds you – “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hand” (Song).

• “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” (Song) Thomas Dorsey.

Omnipresence – “All Present.”

Psalm 139:11-1211 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night," 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

• The darkness of life does not keep God’s presence from us.• John 8:12

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Omnipotence – “All Powerful.”

Psalm 139:1313 For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

• God made you and was involved from the moment of your conception.

• The human embryo is not the result of a biological accident.• God formed every part and arranged the genetic structure.

Omnipotence – “All Powerful.”

Psalm 139:1414 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

• Another translation - “I am fearfully wonderful.” • God made us personally and protects our individuality.• No two human beings are created exactly alike.

Omnipotence – “All Powerful.”

Psalm 139:1515 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

• God protects our identity.• God had your identity planned from the beginning.

God’s sovereignty and purposes controls every aspect of our creation.

• Jesus answers the question of “Why?”• John 9:1-3

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

The Shorter Catechism: Question 1.

• Question1: What is the chief end of man?• Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him

forever.• 1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Omnipotence – “All Powerful.”

Psalm 139:1616 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

• God has a plan for each day of our life.• Psalm 90:12

12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Omnipotence – “All Powerful.”

Psalm 139:17-1817 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

• God thinks about us.• God continually cares for us and His thoughts of you are more than

the sands on the seashore.• God watches over us while we sleep.

What does Isaiah say about God’s thoughts?

Isaiah 55:8-98 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What are some of the ways that God’s thoughts are different than man’s?

• Man can only see the small picture, but God has the big picture.

• There is no evil or ill will in God’s thoughts.

• God’s thoughts are perfect.

How do we have access to God’s thoughts?

1 Corinthians 2:9-109 But, as it is written,

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him"—

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

How do we have access to God’s thoughts?

1 Corinthians 2:11-1211 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

Jesus taught about how valuable you are to God.

Matthew 10:29-3129 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

God loves you and values you.

Jeremiah 31:33 the LORD appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

1 John 4:1616 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

You can know you are valuable because God loves you.

Romans 8:37-3937 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Introduction to Psalm 139:19-24.

• These verses are David’s obeisance – homage or reverence to God.

• When David contemplated God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence, he prayed for two things:

1. That the Lord would save him (v. 19-22).2. That the Lord would search him (v. 23-24).

David’s Obeisance:

Psalm 139:19-2019 Oh that you would slay the wicked,

O God! O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

• David wanted no part of men who insult and profane God’s name.

David’s Obeisance:

Psalm 139:21-2221 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

• David declared that he hated those who hate God.

David’s Obeisance:

Psalm 139:23-2423 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

• David knew of the evil that tempts man.• He wanted God to expose the inner sins, so that his outward

walk would be pleasing to God.

“lead me in the way everlasting!”

Philippians 1:66 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

• David and Paul are describing the reward of salvation and glorification of believers in eternity.

John describes the day of Jesus Christ:

Revelation 21:3-43 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

John describes the day of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 21:5-75 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 6 And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Closing Thought:

• In order to be accepted by the “all present, all knowing and all powerful God”, you must accept His Son, Jesus as your Savior.

• John 3:16-1716 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Next Sunday

Acts 18:24-28; 19:1-7

Incomplete Picture

January 28, 2017First Baptist ChurchJackson, Mississippi

USA

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

John 3:1616 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 14:66 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

Romans 3:2323 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23a23a For the wages of sin is death,

• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life

to pay the penalty for our sin. • The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death

explained in Revelation 21:8.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

Revelation 21:88 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Romans 5:88 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

Romans 6:23b23b but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 21:77 “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to be conquers.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

Romans 10:9-109 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Romans 10:1313 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The Plan of Hope & Salvation:

Have questions or would like to know more?

Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/