Behold Your God - [Psalm 139]

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We all go through trials in life, and there is a key to unlock proper perception for every trial that you ever go through.
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No matter what you are going through or might go through, there is one thing that if you understand properly, it will help you.
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It will help you rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. It will help you not to be anxious about anything.
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And the answer, the solution is not our problems go away, it is seeing them through the lens of a triune
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God who knows you, dear Christian. He knows you. And that is really what all of Psalm 139 is about.
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It talks about how He is present everywhere. It talks about His holiness. It talks about how He creates.
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But Psalm 139 is a very personal, practical, praise Psalm that helps
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David and helps every other follower of Christ and believer in Christ Jesus to think about their trials properly.
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So if you have a Bible, please turn to Psalm 139 right in the middle of your Bible. And I think of Jesus saying, don't be anxious about your life.
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And how does He help people solve their problems of being anxious or having trials?
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He says, look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
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Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
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And so the Lord Jesus knows, the psalmist David knows that we get in all kinds of troubles and all kinds of trials, and we are to walk by faith, not by sight.
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And when I say faith, of course, it's that shorthand for walking by faith in the risen Savior and not by sight.
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It's easy to have those lenses on that make us just see our problems and ourselves and not remember who
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God is. And Psalm 139 reminds us and extols the greatness of God that God knows.
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He knows you. There was a little poem and it said this.
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Said the robin to the sparrow, I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.
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Said the sparrow to the robin, friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly
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Father such as cares for you and me. So today
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I want to help you with your trials so that you don't think myopically, so that you don't just think, you know what?
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I'm so nearsighted. I only see my problems and I forget to remember who God is. We go back to that wonderful phrase that we see here often, that when you are gazing upon the
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Lord Jesus and his promises for his people and then just glancing at your problems, things seem to go well.
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But when you're gazing upon your problems and only glancing at the Lord, then you're in a little more trouble.
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And Psalm 139, it just takes the spotlight and it focuses it on the
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Lord Jesus. When we were children, we would get little magnifying glasses out. There wasn't much to do in Nebraska.
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And so we figured out if you got a magnifying glass out, you could start a little fire with the hot summer sun.
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But you could also roast grasshoppers and other things, right? Because you've got the light coming through this magnifying glass and it's got this hot focal point.
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It starts a fire. Well, this psalm is almost like that. No wonder Pythagoras said,
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I read this psalm every morning and every night because we're so nearsighted, we need to be reminded who
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God is. You're sitting there in the hospital waiting for the test. This is a good psalm. You go to the hospital and you're waiting for that new baby to be born.
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This is that psalm. You think, how am I going to pay my bills? This is that psalm. And it's not one, two, three, four problems over.
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It's I have to think rightly and I have to walk by faith and not by sight.
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I know you know this, dear congregation, before we get into the psalm. But 1 Timothy 6 says
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God is blessed. You know what that means in that context? He's happy. He's not frustrated.
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He's not biting his fingernails. You ever meet people that bite their fingernails? People that don't push in their chairs and bite their fingernails.
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Those are two things we need to teach young people today. God is at peace. God is fulfilled.
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Shalom. He is on the throne and he sits on his throne. He does whatever he pleases. And yet, though he is transcendent and great and holy and above, he knows us.
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We're adopted children. The witness of the spirit cries out. Helps us cry out,
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Abba, Father. So today we're going to look at Psalm 139, the whole psalm. The first section will be a review today.
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Then we'll get into the second section. And as you know, super simple to outline. First -year seminary students can outline this in preaching classes.
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There are 24 verses and four sections, each containing six verses. And so the first six verses talk about God and how he knows us.
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How does God know us? The second six verses, because he's everywhere. And also, how does
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God know us? The next set of verses, he created us. And then it should make us respond with a hatred of sin, not only in other people, but in our very own lives.
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Maybe you've never asked yourself the question, what does the word psalm mean? And in Greek, it just means a poem sung to musical accompaniment.
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And in Hebrew, it just means praises. And that's exactly what this is.
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This is a praise song that you put to musical accompaniment. And instead of just saying, kind of like in a systematic theology class,
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God is omnipresent. God is omniscient. God is omnipotent.
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David's writing in such a way with all the I pronouns and my pronouns and things like that. This is very intimate.
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It's very personal. And that's why probably we love it so much. Last week, we looked at God's omniscience and his omnipresence.
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And let's just review that now. Remember, dear congregation, this psalm is set in a tone of comfort.
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This is a comforting psalm. Remember, verses 20 and following, 19 and following.
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Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God. O men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you.
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David has enemies. And so, what do you need when you have a bunch of enemies? You need to be reminded of who
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God is. God knows you. God's with you. And God's powerful. And so, for the unbeliever, these aren't very comforting attributes.
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And if you're here today and you're not a believer, God knows everything about you. And God is everywhere. And you can't hide from him.
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And God is holy. And these should make you think, I need a savior. I need a friend. I need someone to forgive me.
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But for the Christian, here David has these praises for who
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God is. We saw last time his knowledge. And his knowledge is just verses 1 through 6.
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And here's what I also love about this psalm. The psalmist makes you want to kind of slow down a little bit.
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We're really fast -paced people, right? I kind of go apoplectic in line if they don't help me within 30 seconds or something at the grocery store.
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By the way, don't you dare, in the aisle that says 15 or less items, have 16 items. Unless you're me and make a mistake and I have to think, oh, self -righteously.
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He slows down. He could just say it. God's everywhere. He knows you. And it would be over.
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Two verses. Psalm 117. But he makes you reflect. He wants you to think.
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The Bible doesn't talk about reading the Bible. The Bible talks about meditating on his word. Because we so often don't do this.
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We need to just kind of hunker down and say, you know what? David is fighting for his soul. And where does he go?
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He's the king. He has no other resources. To whom will he turn? And he knows the one who sought him and bought him with his redeeming love.
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God knows everything about you, dear Christian. And that's to give you comfort. What does he say in verse 1?
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He says, oh, Lord. That's the personal name of God. We know him on a personal name -to -name basis because of what the
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Lord Jesus has done. You have searched me and you've known me. You've kind of dug.
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That's the language of someone in an archaeological site. Digging. One commentator back in the 70s said, you know what this psalm means?
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It means God digs you. I'm like, no it doesn't. Groovy, man.
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No, no. He doesn't dig you. He's dug into all your personal business. He knows all the things that are going on.
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He knows your anxious thoughts. He knows your praises. He knows your trials. He knows you. This is the language of Adam knows
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Eve. Personal, intimate, no greater knowing. And then he begins to describe all the different ways.
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Remember verse 2? God knows when I sit down and when I rise up. And everything in between. He knows what
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I do. He knows what I think. Verse 2 goes on to say, you discern my thoughts from afar.
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This is language of intention. This is language of, he knows what my motives are.
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One writer said, God has never learned from anyone God cannot learn. Could God at any time or in any manner receive into his mind knowledge that he did not possess?
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And had not possessed from eternity, he would be imperfect and less than himself. To think of a
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God who must sit at the feet of a teacher, even though that teacher be an archangel or a seraph, is to think of someone other than the
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Most High God, maker of heaven and earth. That is mind -blowing. I stand in awe.
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God knows instantly, this man wrote, and effortlessly, all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creatures and all creaturehood, every plurality, all law, every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feelings, all desires.
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And I can't go on, but he still knows all everything else. And he knows where you go.
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What's he saying in verse 3? You search out my path and my lying down, when I'm passive, when
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I'm active, when I'm at home, when I'm at work. You're acquainted with all my ways. The future is easy for God because he knows everything.
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Verse 4, he even knows what we'll say. He knows what we did say, but he knows what we will say.
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Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
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And it's driving to this. David's on the run. He's got enemies. He needs protection. What does a good father do?
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He provides and he protects. You hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me.
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This is language of a siege, that the troops are going around the city trying to find a crack in the fortress.
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Where can we put the battering ram? And it says here, does
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David, you've hemmed me in like a siege, like a city under siege and I'm thankful.
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I'm cared for. Now, it wouldn't take us very long to go to the
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New Testament and think about the ultimate David. David, the son of David, the Lord Jesus.
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When I read Psalm 139, I think of verses like this. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
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He was a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.
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And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
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I'm the good shepherd, Jesus said. I know my own. Did you hear that? I know my own and my own what?
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Know me. I've got the greatest shepherd. This is language of there's a thousand shepherds out there, but he is my shepherd.
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I have the best shepherd who knows me and cares for me. He's given me everything I need.
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He's hemmed me in. With this trial, he'll deliver me one day. It might be glory, but he will deliver me.
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And he's given me everything else, eternal life, the hope of heaven.
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I love John the Baptist when he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He's taken care of my most pressing need and he'll take care of everything else.
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What's the response? Verse 6, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high. I can't attain it.
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My children would be upset late at night and they were little. Children get big pretty fast and you can't hold them like this.
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But when I could hold them just like this, I would hold them kind of tightly. Yes, they could still breathe.
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I said kind of tightly. And I wanted them to feel that I was strong. It's kind of like why do children wrestle with their dads?
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Because they want to think their dad can protect them. So I'd hold them really tight and I would sing a song.
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And I would sing, everything's all right in my father's house. I protected you.
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Why am I swaying back and forth? I only have a dad.
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Like that. How much more? And he just says, I'm going to praise you. It's too wonderful for me.
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I've got a finite, sin -tainted mind and it blows my mind. I can't figure it out, but I'll praise you for it.
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I don't have to understand everything about you, God, to say you're a great God. I'm wondering even if we stop here and just think, all right,
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I'm in a trial. You're in a trial. And you think, okay, God has given you saving faith.
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He's caused you to be born again. You're justified. He's sanctifying you. He'll glorify you one day. And you just need to stop and think in the middle of that trial.
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God knows me. He protects me. Why me?
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There are other godly people, more godly people for certain. Why me? Because he knows all his children.
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That's why. And you think, that is praiseworthy. Not only that, he goes on in verses 7 through 12 with the next section.
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He's talking about omnipresence here. Not just omniscience. Not just he knows everything.
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But he's everywhere. But it's tied together. This psalm is really only about God knows you.
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How does he know you? He's infinite and he knows you because he's everywhere. Because maybe there would be a place you would go he wouldn't know you.
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So now David says, you know, God is also omnipresent. We saw that last week. Latin, omni, all, present, next to, or close.
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And he asks these questions. You could be thinking about Emmanuel, God with us in the middle of all this.
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Where shall I go from your spirit? Verse 7. Or where shall I flee from your presence? David is not trying to run from God.
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If you read a commentary that says David is trying to run from God and get away from his gaze. No, no, he's not.
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He's embracing it. He wants this. He might not get answers, but he knows who
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God is. God's reach is all -encompassing. His face is near.
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Verse 8. If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you're there.
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Remember this figure of speech, the Marism? High or low and everything in between. Highest point he could think of is heaven.
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Lowest point is the depths of death. Sheol, you're there. You're everywhere. He does the same thing here in verse 9.
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Whether you go to the east or the west, God's there. If I take the wings of the morning, eastern horizon where the sun rises, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, certainly the
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Mediterranean Sea to the west of Israel, whether it's east or west, you're there. God, wherever you are, you're there.
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And you're all there. Verse 10. Even there, your hand shall lead me.
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And your right hand, that powerful hand, that majestic hand, that hand of strength, will hold me.
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That's the language of Isaiah 41 .10. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
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Yeah, but what about the dark? Is there maybe a place? Verse 11. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night.
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Maybe nighttime. Even the darkness, verse 12, is not dark to you. The night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
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This is not for David to say, I don't want to sin now because you're everywhere.
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Although that's true, the focus here is, you're there with me. And we know this can only be good news because David has a mediator.
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He has a high priest. Now let's move to some new information.
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Verses 13 through 18. God knows you, dear Christian. God is with you, dear
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Christian. And now God's power and sovereignty extends to you. God's power and sovereignty extends to you.
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So omniscience, omnipresence, power slash sovereignty. The tie -in here is, of course he knows me.
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He made me. Powerful God, creative God, yes, but personal.
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All kinds of personal pronouns here. This is the God who knows
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David, who's with David, and who made David. Verse 13.
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I know you know the passage and you can see all the language here of God creating a little one in the womb.
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And here he's thinking about himself, David. And it doesn't take you very long to think about the ultimate
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David or the spirit of God. Virgin conception and how the spirit of God superintends the
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Lord Jesus in his miraculous conception and birth. For you formed my inward parts.
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In the Hebrew, you is emphatic. You, you alone. You formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb.
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Literally, you embroidered me. I know some of the ladies here and you knit and sew and embroider. That's that special care, right?
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It's hard to embroider if you have a blindfold on, is it not? I don't know. Maybe mine would look better if I did that.
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This is hands -on language. This is protection. How God takes care of those in the womb.
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All kinds of inward parts. Even the Hebrew is kidneys there. What does that make
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David do? Praise again. I will praise you. See, even though... Mark this.
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Even though he's in a trial, they're out to kill him. Even though you've got that trial with your spouse or your friends or your issues or your doctors and all these things.
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He still praises. He still says, you know, but God, you're great. I'm a louse.
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I'm sinful. I've fallen short. I can't do these things. Other people have hurt me. The list can go on and on and on.
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I've got all these trials. But I'm going to praise you. Because I know what you've done for me. And I know what
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I deserve. Remember, here's what I deserved. And here's what I get. Heaven. And the difference is praise.
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The difference is joy. Versus what does the world say? You deserve it all. And it delivers this. And the difference is sadness and depression.
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This is that kind of psalm where you think, okay. Lord, where's my help going to come? I better look up to the hills.
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In Psalm 139. And he praises. I praise you. For I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
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Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. He can't stop himself.
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He just bursts out into praise. You see Paul do the same thing. He starts talking about one thing and another thing. About doctrine.
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And he interrupts himself and just starts praising. I didn't think about it when
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Haley and Luke were born. They were born in Burbank, California. But I remembered when my other two children were born in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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That when the babies came out. And they would say for both Maddie and Gracie. I said.
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To the nurses and the doctors. You want to know what I said? Ain't evolution grand?
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And they looked at me and said. Do you want to cut the cord? This is not an anti -evolution per se.
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Psalm. But it's anti -evolution because. God makes. God does. God does all this thing.
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I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. What does he go on to say? Wonderful are your works.
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Not time. Not evolution. And by the way. If it was evolution. There's nobody to praise.
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It's like a secular Thanksgiving. We're thankful to be thankful in this country where we have thanks. There's no object of thanks.
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I just come out of blob. And everybody's there. And so. I'm a better blob than you.
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Thankfully we got karma going on. No, no. This is hands -on language. Can you see it?
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You back up and go. God you know me. How do you know me? Well. You never learned anything. That's true.
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And you're everywhere. That's true. But you made me. You knit me. You sewed me together. He's in the middle of all this.
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And he stops. And speaks well of God. Dear Christian. It's good for my soul to do.
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And good for you. Good for your souls. Why don't you just stop in the middle of your trials.
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And your issues. And just say. To God be the glory. Great things he's done. Count your blessings.
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Name them what? One by one. And everything turns from this self -focus.
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And me, myself and I. That unholy trinity to. Oh look at what God has done. It's convicting because.
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He's doing something that we have a hard time doing. Augustine said.
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Men go abroad to wander at the heights of the mountains. At the huge waves of the sea. At the long courses of rivers in the vast compass of ocean.
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And they pass by themselves without wondering. Just how great this body is.
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God made our bodies. And you think. If our blood was a little thicker. We'd coagulate and we'd die.
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If it was a little thinner we'd get cut. And we'd bleed out. You just think. This is amazing. There's a scientist that wrote this about how amazing the body was.
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Every second there's more than 100 ,000 chemical reactions that take place in your brain. The brain has 10 billion nerve cells to record what you see and hear.
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This information comes to your brain through the miracle of the eye. Which has 10 million receptor cells. Rods and cones in each eye.
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Your retina has four other layers of nerve cells. Altogether the system makes the equivalent of 10 billion calculations a second.
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Before an image even gets to the optic nerve. Once it reaches your brain. The cerebral cortex has more than a dozen separate vision centers.
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In which to process it. Your tear ducts supply a bacteria fighting fluid. To protect your eyes from infection.
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The tears that fight irritants. Differ from the tears of sadness. Which contain 24 % more proteins.
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And the list goes on and on and on. Oh by the way. Who wrote that? The atheist astronomer
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Carl Sagan. Page 23 in his book The Dragons of Eden. He even knows.
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David praises God for how great he is with poetry. Verse 15. My frame was not hidden from you.
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When I was being made in secret. There's that language of hands on making again. Intricately woven. Who's the weaver?
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The Lord God is the weaver. In the depths of the earth. My frame. It's like he's talking about my skeletons.
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My bones. They're made in secret. Who works in the dark like that? Wrought with care.
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Wrought with skill. Intricately made. Verse 16. Your eyes saw my unformed substance.
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He's not only a creator. But do you see how sovereign God is? In your book. We're written.
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Every one of them. The days that were formed for me. When as yet there was.
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None of them. Candy work of God. He not only knows you.
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And he's not only everywhere. But he created you. And he knows the day you're going to die. He's sovereign over all that.
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This is all meant to be comforting. This is all meant to say. You know. The day
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I'm supposed to die. I'm supposed to die. And I can just trust in God's hand. He's wise. He knows the best. Every one of my cells.
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He knows about. My days are numbered. And so are yours.
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Your days mapped out. So are yours. In advance. To know
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God so powerful and sovereign. What's the response? Verse 17 and 18. Shouldn't surprise us.
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It's the same as the first section. It ends in a doxology. How precious to me are your thoughts,
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O God. How vast is the sum of them. If I could count them. They're more than the sand.
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I awake. I go to bed thinking about you. I awake. And I'm still with you. Listen to what
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Christopher Ash said. And you can say it about you, dear Christian. If you're trusting in the Lord Jesus.
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I too am Christ's personal loving handiwork. I too have been created by God in Christ Jesus.
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So that I may do precisely the good works. God has prepared in advance for me to do. Ephesians 2 .10. I am not to regret that I'm not someone else.
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That I didn't have different parents. Or a changed upbringing. For however flawed it seemed to me.
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And however painful. I may trust. That God in Christ.
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Has shaped me just as he has purposed for me. To be. I don't have to do all the whatevers.
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And regrets. And what ifs. And only if my dad was this. Or my mom was that. Now you know me.
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I go to verse 18 and say. If I could count them. They're more than the sand. And what do you think I did this week? Not all week.
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But just for a portion of this week. Has anybody calculated. How many grains of sand there are in the world?
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They have. Did you know. In a centimeter cube of. Sand grains.
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You've got 8 ,000. One centimeter cube. There's 8 ,000 grains in it. In a meter cube.
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There's 8 billion grains. Then the scientist in NASA. And other places said. All right. If you're going to go grains of sand.
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In the world. You've got beaches. And you've got deserts. And some beaches don't have any sand.
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And some deserts are full of snow. And so we have to calculate it all out. And add it all up.
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And I can tell by the way you're looking at me. I'm not going to give you any more data. Except to say. That the grains of sand on earth.
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They think are 4 .6. Times 10 to the 23rd power of sand grains.
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Probably a little bit more. Than how many stars are in the universe. David goes to sleep.
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Counting God's. Precious thoughts. God doesn't sleep. And so when
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David wakes up. He still has the Lord. Isn't it good? Why stay up and worrying all night.
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Let God worry. And you go to sleep. Oh sorry. God doesn't worry. You ever do that in life? You're talking to someone.
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You have to kind of theologically auto -correct. Because you know. You just said something not quite right. Now in addition.
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I'd like to say a few things about this passage. In light of abortion. Because if you look at this passage here.
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In verses 13 and following. You simply can't just look at this passage.
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And say. Do you know what? Abortion is good.
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Now may I say early on. That for the men that take the ladies. And the ladies that are there. And then they murder the baby.
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Is there forgiveness found? Can forgiveness be found for someone. That would murder a baby? What's the answer?
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Is the Lord's death so great. To overcome all kinds of deaths. All kinds of sin rather.
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And the answer is yes. That's not the point. My point is to make sure. When you hear the world shouting things.
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Like we need to make abortion safe. And we need to just cut down on some of the abortions. And we need to make sure.
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We're taking care of the ladies too. And all these things. I just want you to remember these verses. Abortion is never safe for the baby.
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Right? It's murder. And it's rarely safe for the mother. Because besides guilt and depression.
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And nightmares. There are hormonal issues. Sometimes they have to have hysterectomies.
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Sometimes they're left sterile. And about 10 ,000 people a year. Women. According to an older New York Times article.
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Says that they have to be hospitalized for abortion. It is untenable.
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For you to think as a Christian. That abortion is good. You are delusional.
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And you need to repent. If you think this is something to stand up for. It's nothing new in the
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Christian church. We have always taught. That abortion is murder. First century catechism.
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Killers of the child who abort. Who taught against abortion? Tertullian. Origen. Ambrose. Jerome.
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Chrysostom. Augustine. Clement. Aquinas. Calvin. One of the earliest writings we have.
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That's not in the New Testament. But was written by some Christians. Quote. Do not murder. Do not murder a child by abortion.
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Or kill a newborn infant. They are called corruptors. Elsewhere of God's creatures.
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The point is not. What does everybody say? The point is not politics. And by the way. For those that say.
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Mike you can't touch this. It's political. Really? This is political?
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No. No. We need to be guarded in our minds. To make sure. Not what I think. Not Rousseau. What I feel to be true.
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But what does the Bible say? Can you not see God's handiwork in the womb? I hope so.
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There's all kinds of reasons to say no to abortion. But one is this. If you say well.
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When does the baby become viable? When does the baby become a baby? When is it life? And then when is it a person?
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And all these other things. Just ask the question about the Lord Jesus. And the incarnation. When did
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Jesus become truly human? In the womb? That and that alone should make you think. I ought never.
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To say to myself. You know what? I'll follow the world. And everyone does what's right. In his own eyes. Friends.
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This is. A modern catastrophe. Do you know? There are such things as pro -choice
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Bible studies. You know. People will say things like this.
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Nowhere does the Bible prohibit abortion. Do you know?
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A Christian school principal wrote. Compassion as Jesus taught it. Considers both the fetus and the mother.
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Children will be born with grave. Physical or mental defects. This option again. Of aborting such a child.
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Affirms our responsibility in considering. Or being concerned with life after birth.
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As well as life before birth. A friend of mine recently had to sacrifice. A Down syndrome child.
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In the hope of having a normal healthy child. God is the creator.
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And author. Of all life in the womb. And that womb is holy.
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God is the creator. And he's to be praised for it. Babies in and out of the womb.
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Are a loved gift from God. They're not tissue. They're not blobs. They're not parasites.
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They're gifts from the Lord. Let's go back and look at this passage. Can you see?
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The personal pronouns here. In Psalm 139. I mean. Formed my inward parts.
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Here's God for me. You form my inward parts. Verse 13. You knitted me together. I praise you for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made by you.
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Wonderful are your works. Talking about what goes on in the womb. And my soul knows it very well. James Boyce said.
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The problem with trying to determine the point. Before which a developing child is fully human. Is that there isn't one.
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There is an uninterrupted development of the child. From the very moment in which the sperm of the father. Joins the ovum of the mother.
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And the cells begin to divide. The father seed cannot multiply by itself. Nor can the mother's egg.
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But as soon as the two sets of chromosomes combine. Not only does the development of child. Continue steadily.
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Unless interrupted. Either accidentally or deliberately. But the life that is developing. Is a unique life.
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There's no other combination of chromosomes. Exactly like these two new ones. The fetus is already uniquely determined.
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Individual. Did you know dear Christian. That unborn babies.
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Shown in the Bible can move. Jacob and Esau. Struggled in the womb. Did you know unborn babies in the womb.
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The Bible teaches can leap for joy. Remember Luke 1 .44. Behold when the sound of your greeting.
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Reached my ears. The baby leaped in my womb for joy. You know the words for in the womb baby.
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And out of the womb baby. Are the exact same. The word for baby in this baby.
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Leaped in my womb for joy. Is the same word for Jesus. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. Do you know that the
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Bible teaches that. Babies in the womb can be consecrated. Jeremiah 1 .5.
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Before I formed you. Before I consecrated you. Did you know in the womb.
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Samson was called to be a Nazarite. In the womb. Did you know Paul was set apart.
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To gospel ministry in the womb. Even from my mother's womb. Paul said in Galatians 1 .5.
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He called me through his grace. Do you know those in the womb. Can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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Luke 1. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. And he will drink no wine or liquor. About John the Baptist. In the womb.
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And I said it before. But I'll say it again. Do you know the unborn in the Bible. Are denoted by personal pronouns.
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There's all this nasty talk. About what's your pronoun. What's the baby's personal pronoun. I, me, mine.
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Before we're even born. Life begins at conception.
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Did you know the Bible never differentiates. Between a child in the womb. And out of the womb. Prenatal and postnatal.
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Did you know dear Christian. That only people can be depraved. Only people can be depraved.
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Not globs. Not masses. Psalm 51. Behold I was brought forth in iniquity.
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And in sin my mother conceived me. The act of conception wasn't sin.
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But the sin of Adam. Has tainted all of us. You can't be a blob. Affected by depravity.
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And what we do if we're not careful. Dear Christian. Is we don't go by what the Bible says. We're afraid to say something for our friends.
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Because it might cause problems. And we buy lies like this. Well whatever happens between a woman and a doctor.
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That's their business. No, no. Here's what that really means. Whatever happens between a woman and an abortionist.
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Who she's never met and never will again. And gets money for this. That's what that means. In the
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Old Testament. In the New Testament times. They try to give drugs to kill babies. They try to hit the babies.
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While they're in the mother's womb. They take ropes and tie them around the babies. To try to strangle the baby while in the womb.
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This is not a new problem. But the problem is now Christians go. You know what? Let's make them rare and few.
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That's what we need to do. No, no. It's murder. Abortion denies the word of God. It denies God is involved in development.
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It denies God's involved in conception. It denies that God cares for the unborn. It denies that God has plans for the unborn.
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Friend, I know you know this. But this is just to buttress this all. The womb is holy ground. God is working there.
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Men working here. No, God is working here. Did you know in the
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Bible pregnancy is never seen as a curse? But a blessing. It's never seen as divine punishment for sexual promiscuity.
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It's never seen as some product of a sexual crime. As awful as that might be. It's seen as life.
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I read Planned Parenthood stuff.
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They have a research center. Years ago they said this is why people get abortions. Because the baby has fetal abnormalities.
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They don't want to be a single parent because it's hard to raise a kid as a child. With a mom and dad.
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They can't afford it. And 75 % said that the child would interfere with their lives. It's like Fleetwood Mac wouldn't have a couple more albums of Stevie Nicks to do.
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He wouldn't have the abortion. Thou shall not murder.
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Is there forgiveness for murders? Of course. Should we be kind to people? Yes. Should we support compassion pregnancy?
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Yes. Do Christians care for people? Yes. In and out of the womb? Yes. One man said the unborn entity within the pregnant woman's body is not part of her body.
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The conceptus is a genetically distinct entity with its own unique and individual gender, blood type, bone structure, and genetic code.
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It's attached to the mother but it's not part of her. Where have we come, even for people in the church that think personal autonomy for sexual pleasure will allow us to murder a baby in the womb?
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C. Edward Koop said, as the Surgeon General of the United States, because sometimes we think, well, what about for the mother?
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And he's not talking about tubal pregnancies, but maybe we need to save the mother. Here's what C. Edward Koop said as a
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Surgeon General. Protection of the life of the mother as an excuse for an abortion is a smoke screen.
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In 36 years of pediatric surgery, I've never known of one instance where the child had to be aborted to save the mother's life.
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If toward the end of the pregnancy complications arise that threaten the mother's health, the doctor will either induce labor or perform a
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C -section. His intention is to save the life of both mother and baby. A baby's life is never willfully destroyed because the mother's life is in danger.
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You say, well, that baby's going to have special needs. I know it needs more love. And people say, yes, but we need to be pro -choice because people are going to die or be harmed.
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Here's what they really mean when you read this. People are going to die and be harmed while they're killing their baby.
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One writer said, this pro -choice argument is tantamount to saying because people die when they're killing other people, the state should make it safe for them to do so.
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Friends, you read Psalm 139 and it's meant to be a praise. But this world is influencing us.
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We are media driven. We look at articles. We read things. And even some of the Christian church will not stand up against this.
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What does the Bible say? Hence, Bethlehem Bible Church. And the Bible says, God is intricately knitting every single baby in the womb and it's holy.
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You've probably heard this before. People come to you. There's four people that come to you. Would you say you should probably get an abortion?
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One, there's a preacher and his wife. They're very, very poor. They've already had 14 kids. She's found out she's pregnant with number 15.
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They're poor and would you consider giving advice? You should get an abortion.
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Number two, the father's sick. The mother has TB. They have four children. The first is blind.
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The second is deaf. The third is deaf and the fourth has TB. She's pregnant again.
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Would you consider recommending an abortion? Three, a man raped a 13 -year -old. She got pregnant.
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If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion? And lastly, a teenage girl is pregnant.
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She's not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby and he's very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion?
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And you probably know in the first case, you would have killed John Wesley. In the second case, you would have killed
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Beethoven. In the third case, you would have killed great gospel singer, Ethel Waters. In the fourth case, you've just killed the
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Lord Jesus. This is not meant to win you over with emotions.
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This is meant to win you over by saying, take a look at what the Bible says and don't believe the lies of the media. You want to talk about really ad hominem attacks?
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If you don't like what I'm saying, you attack me as a person. Well, this is an ad hominem attack on the person, the baby.
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Every life is sacred. And if you attack the baby, ultimately you're attacking the image -bearing person.
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It means you're attacking God. Abortion is a sin against God. Yes, forgivable, but yes, murder.
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Yes, premeditated. And we ought to be kind to people who sin. That is certainly true. But we ought never to say to ourselves, we have a little place in our minds how we can rationalize few but safe and other satanic lies.
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Which leads us to the final section of Psalm 139, verses 19 and following.
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It does directly lead in because now David says, okay, God knows me, God's everywhere,
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God created me. I should respond. I should be concerned about the sin of others and I should be concerned about my own sin.
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When you think about the transcendent nature of God, you think, oh, this is who God is and now how do I respond? He's got two sections.
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I don't want to have anything to do with evil sinners. In terms of joining in, and I also don't want to be self -righteous.
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I need to learn. I need to grow. I need to repent. Both of those are in this section. Verse 19, oh, that you would slay the wicked.
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Oh God, oh man of blood, depart from me. He knew their actions were sinful and he wants God's holiness to judge them righteously.
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He knew their speech was sinful. Verse 20, they speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain.
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This is what God hates. I hate. This is righteous indignation. And they hate God. Do I not hate those that hate you, oh
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Lord? And do not loathe those who rise up against you? I hated them with complete hatred.
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I count them as my enemies. The king understood. When the attack was on the king, it was on God.
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But maybe more personally for us. Verses 23 and following. It's fine to go point out everybody else's sin.
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It's fine to say, you know what, all these other people do all these horrible things, including murder.
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But what about me? What about so I think properly and rightly and there's no vindictiveness and there's no
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I'm better than people and there's no self -righteousness and there's no I'm better and there's no, you know what, look at me and I'm the standard.
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All that stuff is wrong. We ought to be humble and repent from that. And so David says, and we say, this is our prayer as Christians.
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Search me, oh God. See, he's ending as he started. Search me, oh God, and know my heart.
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Try me and know my thoughts. You know my sin. You can examine me, verse 24, and see if there be any grievous way in me.
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I hate wickedness and other people. Now I hate it myself. And so God, would you lead me in the way everlasting?
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Lead me on the righteous path. I know I'm going to be self -righteous at times. I repent. Please forgive me. I know the world's wicked and corrupt.
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Please buttress me against it. Help me.
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This is a congregation to say. Yeah, we might know the doctrine of God's omniscience. We might know about his omnipresence.
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We might know about his omnipotence. We know the five solas of the Reformation. We know the five points of Calvinism. We know this, this, this, and that.
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But knowing who God is and how he cares for us and how good he is to us, how do we respond?
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To take advantage of his grace? To sin that grace might abound? No, no, what do we do? Search me.
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May you pray that even now. God, search me and know me. I'm going to live in the way everlasting.
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I think this psalm really helps us with praise, with thanksgiving. And I'll end with this.
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I had read about this girl who was on the train with her mom for the first time years ago. Trains were new.
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And she's looking out the window. Look at those cows. Look at those horses. Look at those fields.
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Mom, look at those houses. Look at those horses. And the mom was in front of a bunch of people who were sitting next to her on the train.
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My daughter still thinks that everything's wonderful. May it never be that we think, you know what?
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We're past wonderful. For us, for you, for us being Christians, we can still think
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God is wonderful. Well, let's pray. Father, I thank you for some joyous words and then some solemn words.
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And we just pray that you would help us to be a beacon of not self -righteousness And we would ask that you would protect our minds from ever thinking that you don't exist, that you don't know us, that you're not everywhere and that you didn't create us in the womb.
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We're thankful to know that our days were formed. You saw us. You've written every day down.
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And now we can respond with praise. Father, would you protect us as a church?
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Would you protect me from any kind of self -righteousness so that your handiwork might be seen?
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And we would acknowledge that we were ungodly, sinful, helpless, but God, Jesus Christ, great in mercy, great in loving kindness, great in compassion and grace, rescued us in spite of ourselves.