Psalm 139 "To be Known by God"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.

! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,

either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us

that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,

we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the

Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do

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checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us

questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things

that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

And let's pray. Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for the chance to meditate it on this

morning. We ask that you would guide us by your Spirit, that you would illuminate your Word and

show us what you would have to say to us today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Well, how many people would you say know you, really know you? Not counting those that know things about

you or know your perspectives on things. Those who know you deeply, interpersonally,

authentically, authentically, people that know you when you're not in active image management.

Those that know your hopes and fears. How many do you think know you like that?

One or two people, more, none.

One, well, what do you think it is that keeps us from being known in this sort of way?

Two or three things came to my mind. One is the societal pressure of fitting in, right? We want to

project to others what we think they want to hear from us. There's, of course, the practical

give and take of relationships where we want to be known proportional to the other person. We don't

want to divulge too much too soon. And perhaps, perhaps strongest of all, is the fear that we might be

known and that we might be rejected. The others might know us, our personality, our fears, our hopes,

our longings, and that they might reject us once they know these. There's all sorts of reasons for

why we are not known to others, why we might hide, why we feel the need to conceal.

Now, all of this talk of being known begs the question, well, what does it mean to be known?

Who are you truly? What is the innermost part of you that you try to conceal? Are you your darkest

thoughts or are you the best version of yourself or a mix of both? Is the authentic you the person who

you are when no one's looking or are you most truly you when you're in relationship? If relationship,

which relationships? To know thyself, right? The great Greek maxim is easier said than done.

And being known is not straightforward. And yet, of course, to be known, to know yourself, to be known

by God, that this is our greatest longing and certainly our most fundamental need.

Well, the psalm that we read this morning, Psalm 139, is a deep source of wisdom for those of us

navigating this question. The psalm presents us with someone living before the face of God, found out by

God, searched by God, and opening his life to the gaze of Almighty God. We don't know the context exactly.

We're told that David wrote this psalm. We don't know the exact time in his life when it was penned.

But the verses and images of the psalm suggest someone who has fled from God, or at least who's

tempted to flee from God, who's gone into hiding, who may be questioning God's intentions with his life,

questioning God's goodness.

But whatever the context the psalmist was writing from, the scripture invites us to be known

in the deepest sense that you and I need. As we go through the psalm, we'll see that we're invited to

be known by God, our maker. We're invited to be known by God, our knower, and God, our pursuer.

God, our maker, our knower, and pursuer. And we'll find that he alone is worthy and capable of knowing

us as we were made to be known. So first, our maker.

Well, so much of life is a competition. A career, those who get the job, athletics, those who win

the games, or who can lift the most. And while much of life is a competition, there's a lot more

in life that feels like a competition, although it's not. Maybe our looks or our status. And so it's

difficult for us not to be constantly comparing ourselves to others, measuring ourselves up against

one another. And unfortunately, in competitions, there generally is one winner and many losers.

And so many of us, as we frame life in this way, we get down on ourselves.

If only this part of my body looked different. If only I was a bit smarter.

If only I were a bit more outgoing.

We spend much of our lives feeling

stuck in our bodies, stuck in our personalities, held back.

Feeling inadequate, perhaps wondering whether we are worthy of love

or worthy of the good life.

And yet the scriptures that we read this morning in Psalm 139,

scriptures, in contrast, tell us,

they tell you that you've been fearfully and wonderfully made.

That the Lord knit you together while in your mother's womb.

We read,

your eyes saw my unformed substance.

In your book were written,

every one of them, the days that were formed for me.

When is yet, there were none of them.

Well, this is good news for us this morning.

We were made to live before God, our maker,

who reminds us each time,

each day, each moment,

that he made us and that he made us well.

You don't need to wonder or worry whether you measure up,

whether you're worthy of love or the good life,

that by function of having been created good by a good God,

you are told that you are wonderfully made.

Now, perhaps some nuance on this point will help

for those of us who struggle so much to receive and believe this truth.

On one hand, this is not a fatalistic conclusion

to say that however you find yourself,

whatever state you're in,

this is caused by God

and you need to accept it passively as a gift.

I don't think that's what the scriptures tell us.

There is sin, like a bad temper.

There is unexploited potential areas where we need to grow up,

areas where we need to mature.

And then there are weaknesses or circumstances

that God placed us in that his glory might be revealed.

Think here of the man born blind,

that where God's glory would be revealed in his healing, right?

There's all sorts of ways that this truth of us being wonderfully made

is more complex than first meets the eye.

And you might think,

yeah, thank God for my temper, you know,

thank God for the way that he made me.

Well, perhaps your temper is the downside

to a passion that God has given you to use for his good,

to stand up for truth,

to stand up for on behalf of others.

And so while you will need to ask God's help for your temper,

it may be the flip side of a God-given gift.

The boldness that allows the entrepreneur to succeed

also causes him or her to perhaps too quickly say the wrong things

and lose friendships.

The shyness that keeps someone from career opportunities

may also have the introspection to bless the world

with writings or sympathize with someone in need.

The aspect of you that you may feel holds you back.

How might this be recast as a new opportunity,

perhaps an advantage,

or else like the man born blind,

an opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed?

So affirming that God made you well

does not necessarily mean we sit back passively,

helpless to change anything.

Instead, we're called to seek out how God truly made us.

What are the God-given aspects of myself, of yourself,

that I am to accept as a gift?

What areas am I called to receive as gifts to be developed?

And what aspects of myself am I called to accept

that certainly don't feel like a gift,

wondering how God might use these for his glory?

In all cases, we can know this morning

that you were made by a God who doesn't make mistakes,

that the raw materials that you are made of,

made from,

the blueprint of yourself,

that this was made by a good God.

When you think there's aspects of yourself

that you don't like,

you can know God made you well.

You were fearfully and wonderfully made

to bring about the greatest amount of good

for the glory of God

and for the good of others.

Society tells us,

be yourself, right?

That's,

I'm sure you've heard that one before.

Be yourself.

And of course,

there's good truth to this,

but the scripture puts it somewhat differently,

doesn't it?

Be who God created you to be.

You don't find this by simply turning inward,

but by turning to another,

to the one who made you

and tells you who you are.

And so that's what we see first in this psalm,

that God made you

and we desperately need to be found by this God.

More than having made you,

he also knows you.

He knows all about who you are today.

He knows about your experiences,

the things that brought you in,

the door today,

and the complexity of life.

He knows your ways.

In the words of the psalm,

we read,

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord,

you know it all together.

I don't know how it is for you,

but I've been in many conversations

where I've tried to express my viewpoint,

and at the end of it,

I think,

I don't think this person understands what I'm saying, right?

We can go through life often feeling misunderstood,

and yet the scriptures talk about a God

who knows our thoughts before they hit us,

before they can be conceptualized

and formalized or formulated by our words.

When looking to buy a house many,

some years ago,

my wife and I,

we looked at our budget and thought,

well,

we can't do as well as we had hoped,

and so,

why don't we buy a fixer-upper?

Now,

if you know anything about me

and the skill of these hands,

you know that that would be a bad,

bad idea,

and often we look back on that time

and think,

you know,

how silly of us to think

that we might be able to do this sort of thing,

but is this not what we do all the time, right?

How often do we misunderstand our ways

and our gifts

and how we were made?

We are,

in many ways,

so blind to our ways,

and yet,

all of our ways we read

are known to him.

St. Augustine,

he knew this well

when he wrote famously,

in his words,

you were more inward to me

than the most inward part of me.

You get that?

You were more inward to me

than the most inward part of me.

He's saying that

better than he can know himself

is the God that knows him,

that made him and knows him.

And there's some days

where I'm quite overwhelmed

at all I want to be and become,

find it extremely comforting

to know that the one

who knows me better

than I know myself

is the one who is working on me,

the one who's sanctifying me

and leading me in this,

the way of eternal life.

In a culture

obsessed with self-exploration,

personality tests,

DNA tests to figure out,

you know,

where you're from,

psychoanalysis

and making sense

of childhood experiences,

you know,

all good things

to know ourselves,

but the scriptures show us

that the deepest way

to be known,

more existentially important

and prior to all these things

is to know

and to be known

by the God

who made you

and knows you.

And so in this sense,

all our therapy,

all our introspection,

all our psychoanalyzing

is to be reframed

to emphasize

that we need

to keep in step

with the spirit

who knows us deeply

and personally

and that on our own,

our efforts will be

limited.

Now,

some of our ways

that God knows

better than

we know ourselves,

some of these ways

are,

in all honesty,

deeply troubling.

Well,

worse than

we would be willing

to admit

on a Sunday morning

to one another

that the degree

of selfishness

and pride,

our evil desire,

we wonder,

can we really

tell the full truth

about these?

Can we be known

in this way?

Are some truths

not too difficult

to stomach?

Can we bear

the weight

of these?

We so desperately

want to be thought

of well

and we so desperately

want to think

of ourselves well.

And so we,

of course,

have this desire

to hide,

to not look

our sin in the eye,

to turn to

delusion

because we can't

entertain the reality

of the depths

of our sin.

Now,

all this leads

to our third point,

that God,

he made us,

he knows us,

and yet,

he still chooses

to pursue

you and I.

The psalmist

prays,

where shall I go

from your spirit?

Where shall I flee

from your presence?

And later on,

O Lord,

you have searched me

and known me.

Now,

transparency

and being known

has,

does it not have

the worst

wrap

in our day?

You think about

airport security,

there's nothing

less comfortable

than going through

that scan

and having to

return to take

off the belt

that you forgot.

And we think

about the internet

and how the

going wisdom

is that the

government

and service

providers should

know,

you know,

absolutely nothing

about what

we're doing

online.

When we think

about transparency

and being known,

many of us

think back to

George Orwell's

famous 1984

Big Brother

sense of transparency,

this oppressive,

impersonal knowledge

that seeks to

catch us.

Of course,

in contrast

to that

in Psalm 139

is

that God

seeks us out

not impersonally,

not,

yeah,

not impersonal

omniscience,

not uncaring

knowledge,

but this

deep sense

of caring

and loving

to know us,

to know us

deeply.

The scriptures

tell us

that the

God who

made us

knows us

deeply,

that this

God came

down to

earth

in the

person

of Jesus

Christ

and died

for each

and all

of our

sins,

that our

sinful ways,

the things

that we know

about,

the things

that we don't

know about,

our sinful

choices,

even the

things that

we most

seek to

conceal from

others,

that Jesus

died for

these things

that we

might be

freed from

sin and

reconciled to

God.

This

relationship

of safety

and security

that God

provides to

us is the

thing that

our hearts

long for,

that outside

of this

relationship,

the stakes

are too

high for

full confession.

confession.

I don't

know how

it is,

but when

we're

confessing

or you're

saying

something

that you've

done wrong

to one

another,

we'll often

tell those

stories in a

way that

best reflects

us,

right?

Because we

want to

manage our

image and

we don't

know what

that will

do to

us if

somebody

else knows

the full

weight of

what we've

done.

So we

half confess,

but when we

come before

God whom

we cannot

successfully run

and hide

from and

who loves

us the

same,

we can be

fully transparent

about our

sins and

we have the

safety of

this relationship

where as

we deeply

need and

as we

deeply long

for to be

known and

to be

loved,

to allow

him to

transform our

hearts and

lead us in

the way of

eternal life.

One

pastor and

writer,

he put it

this way,

he says,

if there

was even

one thing

God did

not know

about me,

that might

be the

thing that

would put

me beyond

his grace.

If I

could hold

back anything

from him,

I would.

Of course,

keep back

my darkest

deeds,

my most

shameful

secrets.

I would

display my

best and

hide my

worst.

But then

when the

books were

opened in

the last

day,

it might

be found

that these

sins were

the ones

for which

there is

no forgiveness,

the ones

he had not

foreseen when

he accepted

the sacrifice

of his

son on

my behalf.

My

confidence

would be

undermined

and destroyed.

But,

no,

all of my

ways are

known to

him,

and even

this complete

knowledge does

nothing to

diminish or

destroy his

love for

me.

And so,

this morning,

if you

haven't come

before the

face of

Almighty God

who knows

you,

who loves

you,

who pursues

you in

the person

of Jesus

Christ,

he welcomes

you to do

so.

This is the

relationship you

and I

most need.

And if you

have, he

invites you to

live more

fully before

his face,

to live

knowing and

embracing the

reality that

all aspects

of your

life are

lived before

God,

and that

there's no

part of

your life

that will

go well

if you

try and

conceal it

or lock

it off

from God's

pursuit.

Our longing

to be fully

known and

fully loved

is met in

the person

of Jesus

Christ.

This is

the relationship

we most

need,

and so we

can pray

with the

psalmist,

search me,

O God,

you've

searched me

before,

now search

me again,

get rid of

everything that

keeps me from

you,

that holds

me back

from the

way of

life

everlasting.

Let's pray.

Father, we

are grateful for

this, your

word that

speaks to

us, the

ultimate

relationship

that we

need to

live lives

that are

exposed,

that where

we will find

forgiveness,

where we can

be known and

loved and

cherished by

you as we

were created

to be.

We ask for

each of us

in this room

for the

areas that

we conceal

before you

and others

that you

would help

us to

come clean

before you,

that you

would shine

your light

in our

lives,

that we

would say

the same

thing as

you,

as you

already see

in our

lives,

and that you

would do

far more

than we

can possibly

ask or

imagine,

knowing the

mess in our

lives,

knowing the

sin and

all the

things that

we wish to

be different

about our

lives,

and that you

would bring

transformation

by the power

of your

spirit,

that you

would lead

us on the

way of

everlasting

life, we

pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.