03.18.2012 Strategize to Know God

by Dick and Sue Cooper
PSALMS 139 & 150 March 18, 2012

STRATEGIZE TO KNOW GOD

DICK: In continuing on our relentless march through the psalms, Sue and I want to talk about psalms 139 & 150 today.

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A couple weeks ago Mike talked about three ways to view the Psalms.
They were: 1 personal devotions, which is typically how they were written; 2 corporate worship; 3 teaching theological issues. We have looked at some theological issues in psalms over the past few weeks and we sing from the psalms most weeks.

Therefore today we want to spend some time looking at the personal devotion aspect of Psalms.

SUE: Psalms aren't just part of God's Word, but God's Word given to us in the form of poetry. Why poetry? Poetry is able to communicate the expression of emotion more intensely than is typical of prose. Wordsworth said “poetry is the spontaneous outpouring of powerful feelings.”

Hebrew poetry is more easily translated than poetry in other languages because it depends on “rhyming ideas” instead of sounds and the repetition of thought instead of meter.

If you look for it you will see there is often a pattern of repetition of ideas, line by line. That repetition creates “mental rhyming”. The psalmist communicates feelings to us by using images of the physical symptoms of the emotions. For instance, in Psalm 6:6 David doesn't just say I am very sad. He describes his tears lying in bed. I can relate. Been there. Done that. Know the feeling.
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6 I am weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears.

DICK: This may not seem apparent to all of you, but deep down inside here I am a very sensitive and emotional 90's type guy. One of my problems is that I don't always know how to express my emotions to others. I am not even always sure what emotions I am feeling. The Psalmists write of emotions but emotions aren't words. You don't think I
am feeling angry, you just ARE angry. They had to put into words emotions that address issues that we all face throughout life. They provide glimpses of life as they open up their heart about situations and attitudes and emotions they have experienced and how they deal with these things and how God deals with these things. They are free to communicate their true emotions much like a child is free to communicate what is truly on their minds; which is usually full of innocence, humility, trust and honesty. They teach us how to emote. I think we too often mean well but maybe we are too politically correct or diplomatic to express ourselves so clearly. We need to be free to communicate this way to God.

Sometimes I may feel inadequate or discouraged, alone, unimportant or incapable, fear the unknown. I find when I feel this way I often turn to the psalms. And Psalm 139 is one of my regulars.

This Psalm is often used for a good bit of theological arguments; by the right to lifers to “prove” life starts in the womb and to support anti-abortion issues; by predestinationists making a claim on God's omnipotence; and speaking of which often it is used to reveal others of Gods omni- qualities; omni-science (all knowing, past present future) and omni-presence (all present in all places at all times) and omni-potence (all powerful-unlimited power and authority). Now I'm not doing a theological word study today. That's just not me. In fact when I think of omni and potent in the same sentence, this is what I think of.
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That is one potent omni.

All these Right to life, predestination concepts and omni attributes are all true and fine and psalm 139 offers rich theological insights into them. But today I want to look at what this psalm says to us as individuals. I want to read through this Psalm allowing it to speak to each of us. I will add in some of the thoughts that have occurred to me about this psalm. Definitely not definitive or the only thoughts possible. Just thoughts. God can surely speak to each of us as we read His Word.

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1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
God has the option to really search through my life and intimately KNOW me. He knows my every move and thought each and every day. He knows me and still chooses to be intimate with me. And is still pleased with what He has made. Being searched and known can be a frightening thought but as I get a better picture of God I realize this is what I want.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
Is this speaking physically and that God is someplace far away? I don't think so. Or maybe it is speaking chronologically and He has understood my thoughts from way back in history. Or maybe my mind is wandering again and God is still able to follow my far out thought patterns.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
Some have said, if this is true why do I even need to pray? Good question. I don't have an answer to that. But another viewpoint is, BECAUSE He knows all of this then I am completely free to pray and pour my heart to Him whatever it might be. I can be as honest as I want. I can say whatever is on my heart – venting, ranting, crying. It is all healthy. I will never take Him by surprise or offend or hurt His feelings.

SUE: Without this kind of honesty there can be no healthy relationship with people, not between us and God. David is seeing here that all his innermost thoughts and feelings are laid bare before God, - as He strips away layer after layer until David's heart is revealed – no hiding places. We can see God's willingness to handle our joys and sorrows, our pain and fears. What about our anger?

I read recently about a rabbi whose 9-year old daughter had died in a car crash years earlier. A friend asked him if he had been angry at God. The rabbi answered that for a while he was furious at God. The friend said, “Didn't you feel guilty cursing God being a rabbi and all?” “No”, the rabbi said. “Because even in my fury at God I was acknowledging his sovereignty and power”.

No matter what I may be feeling I need to go honestly to the One who has the power to hear, to help, and to heal.

DICK:
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Some have said this and some later verses are talking about predestination.
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Predestination. Another big word and I already said I wasn't going to do words studies. I think in pictures and when I read this I get a picture like this:
( 7) We are safe and secure. Or maybe

( 8) He is willing to get dirty and sift us and cultivate us
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6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
If God is this interested in me, this involved in my life, loves me this much, I never need to feel alone, left out, uncared for, unimportant, insignificant. The Creator of everything is taking the time each day to know more about my daily life than I do about myself. And I really agree with the psalmist, I just can't begin to grasp God's infinite love and concern for me.

SUE: We have mentioned before, Dennis Knable's life changing concept that God is like a Giant Sequoia tree and we say we understand God as we're clinging to a tiny area of the gigantic tree.
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We can know parts about the tree – but a total “grasp” of the tree is WAY beyond our capacity.

But I think God does love to give us peeks at His glory. Sometimes when God speaks to me or reveals some new insight, I feel like I just got a glimpse of a shimmering sparkle from one of a million facets of the most magnificent diamond ever.
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And there are millions, gazillions more of these shining flashes of light that God is just waiting to reveal to us if we will only stop and look.

DICK: Now the psalmist shifts gears from looking at God's intimate knowledge of us:
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7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; (DUH!)
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. (HMMMM. What was that Mike said about Sheol a couple weeks ago?)
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. (interesting not just find me but lead me)
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
I don't think about running and trying to hide from God, because even if I did he would find me. But I think about driving out in the middle of nowhere late at night with no house lights to be seen anywhere or street markers anywhere and I am running really low on gas, my cell phone just died, and I can only get country on the radio. I'm really lost.

Maybe to all the rest of the world I'm lost but not to God. The good news, no matter where I go what I do or think, He is right there beside me, He can't take his eyes off me. Read this psalm closely. He is Omni-intimate as well. I know sometimes I think that's also the bad news, no matter where I go what I do or think, He is right there beside me. But all the time He can't take his eyes off me.

David says that even if he wanted to there is no place he can go to hide from God. His eyes are on us ALL THE TIME! And we can't hide. It might be easy to think he is just Big Brother watching for us to slip up.
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But I don't think so. Sue and I have had our share of babies and there were occasions where one of them would actually fall asleep. And some of these times Sue and I were not too tired to take time out and watch them sleep. The life of the wild and reckless. Hey how about tonight we watch a baby sleep. There they were, just sleeping, they really weren't doing anything, good or bad, they were just being there. It would make us happy just to watch them sleeping. We thought: They're our child. We loved them. We smiled. We couldn't take our eyes off them. Selah

SUE: Once I asked my father (who was not the mushy type at all) if he and mom watched my sisters and I sleep when we were little. He said “Yes!” I was floored! I mean I loved and appreciated my parents, but I didn't want to watch them snore! (News flash to kids - Parents love you WAY more deeply than you could ever imagine and that is nothing compared to god's love for you) I DO love watching my kids – am I watching to find sin – NO! Though sometimes they are caught red-handed. Those times I ache for them, but all of the time as I watch them just being themselves it thrills my heart. It's not like DiNero but more like the love song “Can't Take My Eyes Off of You”.
DICK: ( 14)
13 For You formed my inward parts; (OK here is my shot at intellectual biblical exi-Jesus. The marginal reading for this verse is You formed my kidneys-pretty cool. You can learn a lot of theology in these psalms)
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
He formed my inward parts He wove me in the womb, fearfully and wonderfully made, I was made in secret, Skillfully wrought. I think in pictures and these phrases really conger vivid images to me. Sometimes I may be tempted to think I might be “B”stock material, but that isn't Gods view. Fearfully and wonderfully made. No mistakes here. When I am doubting my abilities or feeling inadequate or afraid I am really doubting Gods truthfullness in all He has said and done in my life. God has made me with my specific abilities specifically for this time in history and with this set of situations around me. So I need to realize that God used all his OMNI-creative juices to make me unique and he is pleased with what he has made – fearfully and wonderfully.

Plus I get the picture that while He so carefully formed me in the womb He also carefully crafted my heredity. Before time even began He knew what I am thinking right now and what I am about to say. He ordained my days. He directed my ancestry. He knew just the proper times in history for me to be dropped into. And for Cindy that should read He knew just the proper times into which I should be dropped into.

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17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
I was on a beach once in Cancun with some time on my hands so I counted all the grains of sand. Well OK, I really threw that part about Cancun in just to be able to say I spent time on a beach in Cancun. But there was a lot of sand.
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As I did this it occurred to me that this was just one little beach and there are lots of beaches everywhere around the world. That's a lot of grains of sand. And this verse doesn't just refer to sand on the beach. It also includes desert sand. Now we're talking some serious sand grainage. And God's thoughts toward me outnumber all of these.
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I don't think I pop into his thoughts every once in a while so he sends a little thought my way. Hey do you remember some guy named Cooper?
Maybe Dick. Yeah he was OK. I kind of liked him. No I think his thoughts totally inundate me and surround me. And every one of them is precious.

Now typically at this point in the psalm I am starting to feel better about who I am in God's eyes and I feel more secure in His love and attention to me.

Here again, David shifts gears. I sometimes wonder what the psalmist was thinking about just now. Was it that or maybe his mind was doing one of those wandering things. Or maybe he felt so comfortable in God's hands he started nan nanny boo booing these “other people”.

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19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 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 the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Kind of sounds like David is saying “Mommy, Billy touched me. You need to rip off his arms.”

David seems to have some physical enemies he has to deal with. I sometimes look at this passage with a broader reference.

How many of you play chess?
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It's such a great game with all these horses and rooks moving all sorts of different directions. I used to play a lot with a roommate in college. He was better then I but I always gave him a good game and won a lot. His game was aggressive. My game was protective. He would come out with both barrels blazing and I would defend my ranks. Sometimes Denny would win, sometimes I would.

But one ornery day I decided to come out with barrels blazing as well. We moved our pawns and started getting some middle board strength and then he aggressively put one of my players in check. I would usually defend that player by retreating or moving a player to guard him. This time I attacked a different one of his players. We could trade or not. Then he attacked another player. Again I didn't retreat or protect but found one of his vulnerable players and attacked. I don't know if he saw the end coming or was just surprised by my aggression but he was the first to flinch. And once he flinched it was a blood bath. I started ripping his ranks to pieces.

But Denny had always said his real strength showed if you give him any two players and a king. After a few minutes of picking off his players and not paying close attention it occurred to me what he was now thinking. In chess you never really win. You can't kill the opponents king. You put this king in a situation where he has nothing he can do and he surrenders. Check-mate! But another option is if both teams get to a point where neither can put the other away you tie. Stale-mate! And Denny was playing not to lose. If I was going to win this game I needed to regroup and focus and keep aggressively attacking. I was able to finally win that game but I needed to concentrate every single move. True story.

All that to say our that our Christian walk is like a game of chess. Satan can't kill me but can get me so immobilized I can't move, I am in check-mate. Sometimes my enemies are people and circumstances but more often they are my own thoughts inside me. Maybe the wicked and men of bloodshed are my feelings of inadequacy or discouragement, loneliness, fear, inferiority. I need to HATE these enemies, not accept them, and relentlessly attack to destroy these thoughts and attitudes and misconceptions. And I need to relentlessly attack and not give up or ease off. Ever. If I slow down for even a moment my enemy gets a foothold and the bloodbath begins. I need God's help.

SUE: It's true we have enemies out there and in here tearing us down and stunting our spiritual growth. I remember a time in my life when God showed me an enemy within that I hadn't recognized. It felt like He took my face in His hands to get my full attention and said, “No more attacking yourself. I love you!” And He used psalm 150 to do it.

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Psalm 150
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
2 Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
3 Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

I read that one day and was thinking how God delights in our worship – which made me think of my friend and neighbor, Wendy. If you knew her you’d see the connection. She was a young wife and mother (like me at the time) but that is where the similarity ended. She was a bubbly joy-filled person. She'd spontaneously burst into song from sheer happiness. I don't bubble. I don't burst into song. There may be a reason for that.

That comparison entered my mind and I found myself apologizing to God. “It must be so much nicer to be worshiped by someone like Wendy, so bubbly and joyful. I'm sorry I'm not more like her.” I mean, honestly, I liked her personality better than mine, it seemed natural that God would, too. And that's when God started to speak and I started to notice all the different instruments used to praise God mentioned in Psalm 150. What a variety! And this was only a sampling; line after line of different instruments. Then it occurred to me how monotonous and boring it would sound if there were only cymbals, or only trumpets. EW!

That's when God reassured me that he loved the variety in His children, too– that He loved the way I looked up at Him – the way that I worshiped Him. And that He delights in the different lives and worship of all His very special and unique children.

DICK: It's funny that there is absolutely no mention of kazoos in that passage. Or accordions come to think of it.

Then David sums up psalm 139.

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23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

He asks, begs really, that God would search his very innermost thoughts and desires. He offers himself to God totally without restraint to search for any hurtful ways. And then not just point them out but to lead him and guide him in the everlasting ways.

This is psalm 139. God has used this section in both Sue and my lives to a great extent. I know I want to be like David, willing for God's searching and leading. Psalms are an excellent place to allow Him to speak to our hearts.


Let's stand up and lets read together because it is SOOO good.

Psalm 139

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 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 the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

I remember once after a particularly bad day at the office I was feeling like I really was totally inadequate, I should not be doing the job I was doing, hiring me must have been a terrible mistake; I felt as though I couldn't do anything right.

In verses 13 & 14 David recognizes that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. God in his Omni-creativeness thought me up INDIVIDUALLY and made me just the way he wanted. He wove me together while still in the womb. All the parts are carefully fit together and made to order. God doesn't have a quality control department because everything he makes is just what he wants.