Psalm 139 – Putting on the safety harness of 4 truths.

This message was preached by Colin D at Word of Grace Church on  May 19th, 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and prophetic contributions please click here  

Psalm 139 – Putting on the safety harness of 4 truths.

Sometimes we feel our lives are under so much pressure from all sides viz. finance, relationships, health, illnesses etc. you wonder whether you will survive. You can be praying for a long time and your prayers have not been answered.  You ask, where is God?

The sailors on the deck of a ship in a storm are not safe because they are strong but because they have a harness around them that secures them. Today we have a harness around us – the loving arms of Jesus.

Psalm 139This is David’s Psalm and we are familiar with it.

We will draw out four truths from this chapter.

VERSE 1-6 GOD KNOWS YOU

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

We may think we know ourselves or that we know our husband, spouse, children but we discover new things every now and then.

God knows everything about you. He knows individuals by name- even the number of hairs on your head. In these verses, David shows 8 different wats God knows us: our sitting, rising, thought, our ways, our speech, our lying down,

Only God is omniscient. He alone is all knowing. Think about Joseph – God did not abandon him in prison. He knows our frustrations, dreams, fears, past, present and future. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

This is the harness we need to put on. We often do not fully know ourselves.

2.  VERSE 7- 12 HE PERSUES YOU

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

God does not know us from a distance. Rather, He is with us. This is another harness to put on and believe in. God is with and in us.Verse8 Even if you go to the farthest star God will be with you. He is interested in you.

We are called, children of God, his beloved. Even if we turn our backs on Him he will peruse you eg) Jonah ran away but God pursued Him. He who began a good work will bring it to completion.

Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

This is another harness to put on esp. if you have faltered and fallen away. Turn back to Him. You cannot outrun Him.

3 VERSE 13-16 GOD HIMSELF MADE YOU

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

The picture here is of a weaver weaving a garment one thread at a time. We are, fearfully and wonderfully made. God made and fashioned us. God considers us precious. We are different and made differently. Think about the capacity the human brain has and the marvels of the human body.

We are created in the image of God, therefore we need to be careful how we treat people. We need to treat people with love and respect and honour. God made us the way we are and we are precious in His sight. Gideon was sacred and threshing wheat in the wine press. The angle called him a “Mighty Warrior”

4. VERSE 17 – 18  GOD HAS GREAT PLANS FOR YOU

How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

V18 God is thinking about us. God is working everything for our good. Joseph was sold as a slave but God was orchestrating events for a great plan.

Seventy people went into Egypt – 430 years later they are 3 million.

God has plans for you and we need to link into God to fulfill those purposes.

Each one is special and unique. Only you can do what you need to do. He has unique things for you to do. Our job is to step into your plans. What is the next step in those plans? That next step may not be easy. We have to step out of our comfort zone. Bur God is with you. This is another harness to put on.

When we wear these truths, we will never falter and be able to weather any storms.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.