Psalm 139

The other day our grandchildren, Miles and Katherine, came over to our house to swim. As we stood on the pool deck, Miles exclaimed, “Look, Papaw, there’s a black Asian beetle.”

Honestly, I didn’t know anything about its ethnicity. I just wanted to throw it out in the yard.

However, 8 year old Miles, began to speculate how it arrived from Asia. Maybe on a cargo ship from China, he opined. Regardless, he was very excited about the little bitty beetle.

Later, when the kids were leaving at night, 6 year old Katherine ran down the drive way enthusiastically pointing to a bright star, wondering what planet it was. Kenny suggested it was probably Venus.

Kids are like that. They find wonder in a bug, a flower, a rock, a shell, a dandelion, or a single star. To often adults lose their sense of awe and need to be reminded to “behold the wonders of creation.”

Our study of Psalms often records the Psalmist’s wonder at God’s creation. His power. His majesty. His greatness. His grandeur.

Psalm 139 is one of the great Psalms that exalts God and reminds us of His wondrous works and awesome attributes. It naturally divides itself into four parts.

#1 God Knows us–He is Omniscient

He has searched me. This means “to explore.” Sometimes the word conveys the thought of digging deep. We may know people on a very superficial level. But God really knows us.

He understands my thought. My secret desires, longings, dreams, feelings, and aspirations. He also knows my hidden anger. My duplicitous motives. My lustful thought. My greed. My bitterness.

God comprehends my coming and going. He can scrutinize my path. He knows where I go.

He is acquainted with my ways. He knows my habits. My strengths. My weaknesses. My business.

God even knows my words before they are on my tongue. Sometimes marriage partners know each other so well they can occasionally finish each others’ sentences. God can do it all the time. Every time.

#2 God is Near to Us–He is Omnipresent

We can’t hide from God. Adam and Eve hid in the garden, and God saw them. Jonah thought he could escape from God’s presence, but he couldn’t. Elijah ran but God found him. God sees us 24/7. His all seeing eye is ever present.

God not only exists in this word. He exists beyond this world. He is not limited by time or space. If man flies into outer space, God is there. If he lands on the moon, God is there. If he’s successful in reaching Mars, God is there.

#3 God Made Us–He is Omnipotent

God’s power is witnessed as the Creator and Sustainer of life. David said that God knew him in the womb. This passage reminds us that human life is special. Unique. And God-given. We are not the product of evolutionary chance. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” One version says “delicately formed.”

Our human bodies are wonderful testimony to God’s incredible power. Did you know…

…Your stomach develops a new lining every 2-4 weeks.
…Your nose can detect a trillion different odors and remember 50,000 different scents.
…Your small intestine is approximately 6 meters, about 3 times longer than the average person’s height.
…Your heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood every day.
…You have 75,000 miles of blood vessels running through your body.
…From a single reproductive cell, formed by joining a father’s sperm and a mother’s egg comes a body that will have at least 26,000,000,000 cells.

#4 God’s Greatness Invokes Our Praise

No wonder David could exclaim, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Not surprisingly he could reflect, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” Confidently he could trust God to protect him from and judge his enemies. And thus he could assuredly say, “Lead me in the everlasting way.”

Indeed our “God is an Awesome God!”

Ken Weliever, The Preacherman