God

August 27, 2023
Cory Williams
Abortion, God
Psalms

Note: Due to a faulty piece of hardware, the audio and video cut out sporadically during this sermon. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will be replacing that part this week.

Psalm 139:1-24

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 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.

7 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.

13 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.
17 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.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Discussion Questions:

We learn here that God is all-knowing. What does that mean?
How does God’s comprehensive knowledge make you feel?
From this Psalm we learn that God is everywhere. What are some of the ways that David describes God’s limitless-presence?
How does God’s presence make you feel?
Can we run or hide from God?
In the Psalm, we get the sense that God can either comfort or terrify. Why do you think the response to God is so seemingly opposite?
In the third portion of the Psalm, we are informed about God’s creative power. How does God’s involvement in creating people make you feel about yourself? Others?
The final portion of the Psalm is a confession of confidence in God. David is declaring his allegiance to God. Have you confessed your own commitment to God? Explain.
David also recognizes his own limitations. He asks God to test and prove his faith. Why is it important to allow God to examine our faith? Explain.