When I was a kid growing up in the sixties my favorite magazine was “MAD Magazine.” It was bi-monthly. I would save up a quarter to buy a copy when it went on sale. It was filled with satire and silliness. When I was in middle school my friend and I did a comedy skit where I shot him for a copy of his MAD Magazine. You cannot do that in school these days.
Although the magazine was first published in 1952 as a comic book the main character would not be introduced until 1955. It was then that Alfred E. Neumann graced the front cover of the magazine with the catch phrase “What, me worry?”
It would be wonderful to have that type of attitude but our nature lends itself to worry. In a survey by Beneden Health some startling facts emerged about what we worry over and the effects.
We worry about our physical appearance. We worry about being overweight and our diet. We worry about getting old and wrinkled. We worry about our sex life and whether we are attractive. We worry about our physique and our sense of style in dressing.
We worry about our overall fitness. We worry about our low energy levels. We worry that we have an illness that has gone undetected. We worry about a feeling of just being unhappy.
We worry about meeting targets or goals at work. We worry about our job security and whether we have pursued the right career. We worry about trying to find a new job if we are unhappy.
We worry about our loan payments, credit card debt, and rent or mortgage; we worry about our lack of savings for a financial future.
We worry about finding the right partner or unsure we are with the right partner. We worry about our spouse still loving us or possibly cheating on us. We worry about being good parents and the health of our children. We worry about the health of our pets. We worry about friends and family issues.
We worry about addiction and unhealthy reliance. Some worry about a clean house and driving.
What are the results of all these worries? Sleepless nights, lost confidence, arguments with partners, reduced appetite, poor performance at work, distance from partner, avoidance of social events, increased alcohol consumption, paranoia, and nausea are the top results.
The average time spent worrying is 14.31 hours per week. That equals 744 hours of worrying per year, 45,243 hours in a lifetime, 1885 days in a lifetime, or 5.2 years of our lives spent worrying.
In Luke 12:25-26 Jesus asks a very pertinent question. “Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?” Perhaps we can say “What, me worry?” Today I want to share with you six facts about God found in Psalm 139.
Fact one; We have a God who knows.
When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply name tags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it.
"Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?" they offered. And later, "Fruit Stand, how about a snack?" He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. "Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?" He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word "Anthony."
Psalm 139:1-4
“O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.”
We have a God who knows everything about us. The Hebrew word for know is Yada. It means to know, recognize, and understand. Unlike poor Anthony in our story God recognizes who we are and understands everything about us.
He knows where we are at all times. Whether we are sitting, standing, traveling, or at rest, He knows, recognizes, and understands us.
He knows our thoughts, our actions, and even our words before we say them. He understands why we do what we do, say what we say. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And in spite of that great knowledge He accepts us. Knowing you have a God in a close relationship with you should help you say “What, me worry?”
Fact 2 We have a God who dwells
A man offered a little boy, who was returning from a Bible class, a dollar if he would show him where God is. The little boy responded, "Mister, I’ll give you ten dollars if you will show me where God ain’t!"
Psalm 139:5-12
“You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
David tells us that God goes before us and follows behind us at the same time. God leads way the way while having our backs protecting us from a sneak attack by the enemy. And not only does He have our front and back He also has his hand on our head. It is a hand of blessing. It is a hand of God’s favor. In spite of knowing us as well as He does He still favors us. No wonder David proclaims “this is too wonderful for me.”
No matter where we go we are always under his watchful eyes. We could be his presence like this morning with praise and worship. We could be going through some dark moment in our lives and his presence is there. We could be so depressed that we do not want him around us but He is still there. We cannot escape him. Even when, by our own choosing, we are far from him, his hand is there to guide us, and his strength is there to support us. How can we say anything but “What, me worry?”
Fact 3 We have a God who creates.
Psalm 139:13-16
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.”
We could spend the entire day discussing how intricate our bodies are. But just consider the power of your heart. It averages beating about eighty times a minute and the average cardiac output is about six liters of blood every minute. The next time you are in the grocery store, go to the aisle where all the two liter drinks are and consider that every minute your heart is pumping enough blood to fill up three of those plastic two-liter bottles. In one hour, your heart has filled 180 bottles. In twenty-four hours, your heart has filled 4,320. In one week your heart has filled 30,240 of those two liter bottles.
Not only were we made a complex creation but He knew us, recognizing and understanding us, before we were born. He foreknew the day of our birth and knows the day of our death. In his Book of Life it is recorded. And though the word says “every moment was laid out” that does not mean we are predestined to do or behave in a certain manner. It just means what it says. Our lives have a beginning and an end. And we will live every moment that has been given to us.
Since He is a God of creation He is not finished with us yet. He still forming us, knitting us to be more like his Son. Knowing we have a God who is still active in the creation of our personal lives should help us proclaim “What, me worry?”
Fact 4 We have a God who loves
Psalm 139:17-18
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!”
Think of all the grains of sand on all the beaches in the entire world. God’s thoughts about us out number that. He is concerned about every aspect of our life. The Bible says He has even numbered the hairs on our head. We are told not to worry about earthly needs because He will supply those needs. That does not mean we get a free ride. He expects us to labor. He expects us to be good stewards with our money. Knowing we have a God who is concerned about us constantly will make it easier to say “What, me worry?”
Fact 5 We have a God who judges.
Psalm 139:19-22
“O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.”
At first glance David seems to be a bit upset. “God destroy the wicked. Get away from me all are blood shedders. I hate your rotten guts.” It would seem David needs a chill pill. Actually He is praising God for being just. He is pronouncing God’s righteousness. Those who are evil and guilty deserve nothing but punishment.
The word “hate” is not filled with the same anger as the word is today. Hate was a description of an enemy and not an emotion. David was asking God a rhetorical question as to whether he should feel toward the enemies of God as God did and coming to the conclusion that he should. Basically David was asking this question, “Shouldn’t I turn my back to the things of the world that would draw me from you?” And then answering his own question, “Absolutely.”
We are not God’s enemy. Jesus paved the way where we would become God’s friend. We do not have to fear a God who would destroy us. We have a God who wants to care for us. Therefore we can say “What, me worry?”
Fact 6 We have a God who sanctifies
Psalm 139:23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Are you still worried? God gives us a formula here to get beyond that point. First ask God to search you. Let him shine his light in every dark corner of your heart. Let him open your closet doors where all those skeletons are hidden. Let him see your weaknesses as they are.
Then allow him to know your heart. Allow him to see if you have surrendered your heart to him. Let him recognize what’s in your heart. Let him understand why you struggle with the things that you do. Let him put you to the test. Expose those thoughts that worry you. Explain to God why you feel the way you feel.
Then take a step back, say “God, I have been real with you. Now show me the things in my heart, my thoughts, and my life that offend you.” Listen to the Holy Spirit as He responds then take action. Let God lead you along the path of righteousness.
Motivational speaker Dale Carnegie wrote this concerning worry. “As the years went by, I gradually discovered that ninety-nine per cent of the things I worried about never happened.
For every ailment under the sun. There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it.”
With God standing by you, you can say “What, me worry?”
