A DREAM COME TRUE
Psalm 139
January 19, 2003
Introduction:
Have you ever had a dream that seemed so vivid and realistic that when you woke up you still thought it was real for a few moments? I have had dreams like this that fall into one of two categories. I have had dreams that were so great, so wonderful, so amazing that when I woke up and realized that it was only a dream I was terribly disappointed. I have had a couple where I was so disappointed when I woke up that I was mildly depressed throughout the day as I continued to remember my dream and wish that it had been true. On the other hand I have had nightmares so terrible and frightening that I woke up scared and then felt a tremendous sigh of relief flow through me as I realized that it was only a dream.
In verse 18 the Psalmist experiences this effect from the positive perspective. “When I awake, I am still with you” (Psalm. 139:18). It is almost as if the Psalmist has had a dream -- a dream of God -- and upon awaking it seems too wonderful too be true, but it is. For the Psalmist it is a dream come true and it can be a dream come true for you too. In fact I can guarantee that this is a dream that will come true for each of you. For some it will be a dream so wonderful and amazing that you will have to pinch yourself to make sure that it really is real, but for others it will be a nightmare -- a nightmare come true. Let’s look into Psalm 139 together and learn about the God that David dreamed about.
THE GOD DAVID DREAMED ABOUT IS . . .
1. THE GOD WHO KNOWS ME. (vv. 1-6)
Many people have dreamed of knowing their heroes in person or of having their heroes know them. You have probably had the same dream. Maybe not an actual dream while you slept, but a daydream. We have all sorts of heroes -- sports stars, movie stars, singers, political leaders, and religious leaders. At times we dream about what it would be like for those we look up too and admire the most to actually know us. After all we are the one who elect them to office, cheer for their teams, rent their movies, and buy their books. Wouldn’t it be great if they actually took the time and trouble to get to know us. David dreams about a God who has done just that as he writes in the first verse, “Oh, Lord, . . . you know me.”
How has God come to know David? God has come to know him by searching him and surrounding him. First by searching him. God searched David in order to get to know him. You might say God researched David. You’ve all probably had a research project to do in school or for work or for home. You might not always have thought of them as research projects, but in reality they are. You do a research project when you purchase a car, but a house, or hire an employee. In a research project you study something or someone in order to learn all you can about them. That is exactly what God did with David. He is after all the One Paul described as the God “who searches our hearts” (Romans 8:27).
In order to get to know David God researched every area of his life. God researched his habits -- “You know when I sit and when I rise;” (v. 2a). God researched his thought life -- “you perceive my thoughts from afar” (v.2b). God researched both his public life -- “You discern my going out” (v.3a) -- and his private life -- “You discern ... my lying down” (v.3b). In fact God has so thoroughly and completely researched him that David can write, “you are familiar with all my ways” (v.3c). When you get to know someone really, really well you can almost predict what they are going to do or say in a particular situation. Couples who have been married for sometime have come to know each other so well that they can often finish each others sentences. But God has researched David so well that He knows David even better than that. It is one thing to be able to finish someone’s sentence once they have started it, but it is another thing to be able to complete their sentence before they have started it. But that is how well God knows David -- “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord” (v. 4). God has thoroughly searched or researched David in order to get to know him.
God has also surrounded David. “You hem me in -- behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me” (v. 5). If you were to cup your hand and hold something in it, your fingers would rise up in front of it and the back of your palm would rise up behind it. Then you place your other hand over it and you have the object surrounded or hemmed in. This is a picture of what God has done to David. Because He holds David in the palms of His hands He has the perfect perspective from which to research David’s life. Because of this perspective we can be sure that God’s research was complete and that nothing was missed or overlooked.
David is not the only person whom God researches in this manner. He researches my life in this manner and he researches your life in this manner. God knows your habits. God knows what you are thinking about. God knows your public life. God knows your private life. In fact, God is familiar with all your ways. God’s research on you is complete and you can be sure that nothing will be missed or overlooked.
For some of you this may be more of a nightmare than a dream come true. Today we worry about people knowing too much about us. We guard our privacy because it seems we have less and less of it. These worries and fears are not unfounded. There is something called identity theft. If someone we were to learn your birth date, your social security number, and your credit card number, they could be you. This can and does happen. If too much information about you falls into the wrong hands it could be very dangerous. Also, we are not likely to open up and share personal things with a complete stranger. But we would share with someone we know and trust. That is the key to whether this is a nightmare or a dream come true.
The Psalmist knows God and trusts Him. He has a personal relationship with God and so the idea of God knowing all the intimate details of his life does not frighten him. Rather he says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (v. 6). David thinks that it is wonderful that God knows him so well and, if you have a right relationship with God, you will think that it is wonderful too.
These verses teach us of the omniscience of God. Omniscience is a big word that means all knowing. Is the concept of an omniscient God a nightmare or a dream come true?
2) THE GOD WHO IS WITH ME. (vv. 7-12)
We like to have those we love the most close to us. Many married couples have never spent even one night apart in many years. My wife and I have only spent seven days apart in the last 5 1/2 years. And my guess is that is more time apart than many of you have spent. We love to be with the people we love. I sure that most of you have loved ones who live a long distance away from you and so you rarely get to be with them. You have to rely on phone calls, letters, and email to keep in touch, but that just isn’t the same as being able to spend time with them in person. For you, it would be a dream come true to have these loved ones move closer so that you could be with them. And that is David’s dream for His God.
David dreams of a God who is with him, of a God who is close by, of a God with whom he can have a relationship. David writes, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence” (v. 7)? It is not just that God lives near David, but that God is everywhere David is. It’s not just that David gets to spend time with God frequently, but that God is with David all the time. In fact, there is no place that David can go that God won’t be there. God is everywhere all the time.
David illustrates this be speaking of two vertical extremes and then two horizontal extremes. “If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there” (v. 8). If David had lived here in Colorado Springs, he might have said, “If I go up to the top of Pikes Peak, you are there; if I go into the deepest caverns of the Cave of the Winds, you are there.” Then he writes of the horizontal extremes: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, If I settle on the far side of the sea” (v. 9). The phrase “the wings of the dawn” refers to the east because that is where the sun rises at dawn. The phrase “the far side of the sea” refers to the west where the sun set over the far side of the Mediterranean Sea from Israel’s perspective. Once again if David had lived in the Springs he would have said, “From the eastern plains to the Western Slope.” David is simply saying that there is no place on planet earth that you can go where God won’t be. There is no place above or below where God isn’t.
Once again, for some of you this might sound more like a nightmare than a dream come true. How would you feel if you went home today and someone followed you. You went to a restaurant and they followed you. You went to the store and they followed you. You went to the gas station and they followed you. No matter where you went this person kept following you. You would certainly be troubled and concerned probably even scared. When you went home you would make sure that your doors were locked and if you had a gun you would probably make sure it was handy. Then you would most likely call the police to report this bizarre behavior. None of us would like to have someone following us everywhere we go. And for some of you the thought of never being able to get away from God may be just as troubling as the thought of a stranger stalking you. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you because it wasn’t that way for David.
David understood that God was with him at all times because God was looking out for him at all times. What a difference that knowledge makes. When we have established a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ we are on God’s side and He is looking out for us. David says, “even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (v. 10). God is with us at all times so that He can guide us. God isn’t like the stalker who follows along behind us. He is before us taking us by the hand and guiding us. We spoke of this a few weeks ago as we looked as the 23rd Psalm: “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). He is present to guide us and, should we forsake His guidance and get of track, He is present to save us. “Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered” (Psalm 108:6). When you have a right relationship with God and you understand these things then God’s presence is a source of security rather than a cause for concern. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). Being followed by a stalker would be a frightening experience, but, if you knew that the person following you was really your personal body guard looking out for you and protecting you at all times, you would be comforted. I believe that is how David felt -- comforted and reassured.
We have learned that we cannot flee from God’s presence and next we learn that we cannot hide from God’s presence. If you are playing hide and go seek the best place to hide is in the shadows because it is much more difficult for anyone to see you there. But if you are trying to play hide and seek with God it won’t do you any good because He can see in the dark -- or more accurately the darkness recedes in His presence. “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (vv. 11-12). The Bible teaches us that “God is light” (1 John 1:5). Experience tells us that light always dispels the darkness. We know that it is impossible for darkness to exist in the presence of the light. If you are not right with God, there is no place for you to hide. “There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide” (Job 34:22). It as if you were playing hide and seek and you are hidden in the perfect place deep in the shadows, but the kid who was ‘it’ came looking for you with a high powered spot light. But, on the other hand, we don’t have to worry about the darkness (which can represent evil or wickedness) being able to separate us from God if we have established a relationship with Him. “Who shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ? ... I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35,38-39). If you are not right with God, nothing can hide you from His judgment. If you are right with God, nothing can seperate you from His love.
In the first section we learned something of the omniscience of God. In this section we are learning of the omnipresence of God. Omnipresence is another one of those big theological terms. It simply means ‘ever present”. Is the concept of an omnipresent God a nightmare or a dream come true?
3. THE GOD WHO CREATED ME. (vv. 13-18)
We learn here that God created David inside and out. “For you created my inmost being;” (v. 13a). It is interesting that the words “inmost being” are a translation of the literal Hebrew word for kidneys. For the Hebrews the kidneys represented the seat of the emotions, the center of moral sensitivity. I heard of a culture for whom the seat of the emotions was the bowels. Can you imagine whisper in your sweethearts ear, “Oh baby, you make my bowels move.” I think it loses something in the translation. Obviously for our culture the seat of the emotions and the center of moral sensitivity is the heart. But, when you stop and think about it, that is just as ridiculous. We say that when we were saved we invited Jesus into our hearts. Do you really mean that you invited Jesus to live in you blood pumping muscle? Does he take up residence in you left ventricle or something? And then when we ‘surrender our all’ to God does He then get all four chambers? It is interesting to think about the different organs that we use to refer to our “inmost being.” What he is really talking about here is the part of us that isn’t physical -- the spiritual part of us.
God also is credited with creating our outward physical bodies. David says,“you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13b) We know much about the physical process of how babies develop in the womb, but David challenges us to look beyond the science to the spiritual realities that are found in God. God is the author and creator of life. He created us inside and out -- the whole person. He created you and He created me.
Because God is the creator and we are His creation we have the responsibility of praising and worshiping Him. David does just that -- “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (v. 14). Because He is the creator He does not answer to us, but we answer to Him. “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Romans 9:20). Unbelieving mankind is desperate to explain away the truth that God is our Creator because they are smart enough to understand that if God did create them then they must answer to Him and that is the last thing they want to do. I read an article several years ago in which a scientist admitted that the theory of evolution was full of holes and that to believe in it was like grasping at straws. However, he said that he would rather grasp at straws than even consider the alternative. What is the alternative that this scientist refused to consider? (And how scientific is it to refuse to consider all the alternatives?) That he was created by a sovereign God to whom he must worship and be accountable too. Man wants to be his own God. Man wants to be accountable to no one, but himself. But, whether we want to recognize it or not, the truth is I was created by God and you were created by God and we must join with the Psalmist in offering our praise to God.
I believe that when you properly understand the truth of this verse it will do more for your self esteem than a year’s worth of therapy. God’s works are wonderful. You are one of God’s works. Therefore, you are wonderful. That is the clear teaching of the Word of God. Accept it. Believe it. It will transform your life. I guarantee it.
Thursday afternoon Amanda and I went to the doctor and we saw our unborn baby. We saw its legs and arms, hands and feet, and eyes and nose. Through ultrasound technology we now have the ability to look into a mothers womb and see the baby. But we see in this passage that God didn’t need an ultrasound. “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, your eyes saw my unformed body” (v. 15-16a). Then David goes on to say something even more amazing -- “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (v. 16b). Before David was even born God had already seen him and had ordained a plan for his life.
These verses and others like them are the reason that no Bible believing Christian can support abortion -- the murder of the unborn. God sees the person even though physical development was complete. If we don’t think someone is human until their physical development is complete then we should recognize someone as human until they are about 18. Then anyone under 18 could be killed by their parents at any time because they aren’t human. God develops and ordains a plan for a persons life even before their birthday. It is evident that God recognizes the unborn as persons and he clearly forbids the taking of a persons life when He said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Abortion is clear violation of the sixth commandment of God.
Once again, if God has ordained a plan for our lives, then we have a responsibility to follow his plan for our lives. To follow our own plan for our lives is to live in rebellion against God -- to live in sin. If you are not living your life in a right relationship with God, then the thought of a Creator God to whom you must one day answer must be a nightmare. But again we see that this though was not a nightmare to David -- “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you” (vv. 17-18). For David this vision of God is a dream come true.
CONCLUSION:
The first section taught us of the omniscience of God -- He is all knowing. The second section taught us of the omnipresence of God -- He is ever present. This final section has taught us something of the omnipotence of God -- He is all powerful. He has the power to create something out of nothing. He has the power to see the unborn. He has the power to ordain a plan for their lives even before they are born.
Is the concept of an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God a nightmare or a dream come true? If it seems like a nightmare to you, it doesn’t have to be that way. All you have to do is stop living out your plan for your life and begin living out the plan that God has ordained for you. That is what you do when you repent. Repent means to change. You change for your way to God’s way. And you confess to Him that you have sinned by disobeying Him and doing your own thing instead. Because Jesus took your sins upon himself and died on the cross to pay the price for your sins you can be forgiven and David’s dream God can be your dream come true too.
Steve Dow
Heritage Wesleyan Church, Colorado Springs
heritagewesleyan@hotmail.com
www.forministry.com/80909hwc
If you use this sermon or a revision of it, please email me. Thank you!
Study Guide:
A DREAM COME TRUE
Psalm 139:1-18
January 19, 2003
“When I awake, I am still with you.” Psalm 139:18
THE GOD THAT DAVID DREAMED ABOUT IS . . .
1. THE GOD WHO ______________________________ME.
(vv. 1-6)
He is the God “who searches our hearts.” Romans 8:27
2. THE GOD WHO ______________________________ME.
(vv. 7-12)
“He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:3
“Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.” Psalm 108:6
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“God is light.” 1 John 1:5
“There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.” Job 34:22
“Who shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ? ... I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:35,38-39
3. THE GOD WHO ______________________________ME.
(vv. 13-18)
“Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Romans 9:20
“You shall not murder.” Exodus 20:13
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
