Psalm 139:19-22

Father, we confess before you that it is far easier for us to deceive ourselves than we realize.

Father, we confess before you that self-deception plays a far greater role in our lives than we realize.

And we confess before you, Father, that we do not know ourselves as well as you know us.

But, Father, we hide this from ourselves so often.

And we feel, Father, that we know ourselves and you better than you know ourselves or that you know yourself.

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move and work deeply in our lives,

that you would help us today, Father, to become more honest with ourselves and more honest with you.

And, Father, we give you thanks and praise that as your Holy Spirit leads us to a greater honesty about ourselves

and an honesty with you that you, Father, will come and enter into our lives and have a far greater role and power.

We ask, Father, for your wisdom into our lives, that you would help us to hear the wisdom of your word.

And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

I have to confess it's not a matter of confessing.

I haven't received hate mail lately.

And I'm happy about that.

I don't know how many of you have ever received hate mail.

But a few years ago, I had an involvement in sort of a national debate on things that touched a lot of different people.

And I took a side on that national debate.

And I would regularly receive hate mail.

In fact, some of you might know I've even been stopped on the street and told off about how hateful I am and the views are that I have.

And it's not fun receiving hate mail.

It's not fun just walking on the street, minding your own business and being stopped by a stranger who recognizes you from wherever to be told off and sort of condemned.

It's not a fun experience.

And I know I haven't dealt with as much abuse as probably.

I'm sure there are some of you who have had vastly, vastly worse examples of hatred directed at you and probably over a far longer period of time.

So I'm not claiming to know about hatred more than all of you.

But I do know a little bit about what it is to be hated, to receive hate mail.

Actually, twice I've been assaulted in my office over the years by people trying to beat me up because they hated me.

This was on a separate matter.

So I have a very, very tiny sense of what it's like.

And so I understand the worry that some of us can have when we hear the Bible passage today.

It all started just so nice, didn't it?

And then all of a sudden towards the end, I hate them with a perfect hatred.

And so for some of us here in the room, there can be a great degree of anxiety that emerges when we hear such a scripture text.

A worry that the Bible, in fact, is promoting hatred.

But the Bible is legitimizing us hating people.

And so we're going to look at that a little bit today.

We're going to look and see, is it in fact the case that the Bible promotes hatred?

Or is it in fact the case?

Well, let's just see.

So if you have your Bibles, it would be a great help if you open your Bibles up.

And turn with me.

The psalm was Psalm 139.

Psalm 139.

And the part that we're going to look at first, sort of our entrance way into the text, is verses 19 to 22.

19 to 22.

Towards the end of the 24-verse long psalm.

And 19 to 22, of course, towards the end.

And that's the surprising bit, the shocking bit, maybe for some of you.

And I just want to let you know something as you sort of turn to that.

One of the things which is not good about the Anglican tradition in Canada is that in 1959, when they were revising the prayer book,

and most Anglican churches follow some type of lectionary,

and in 1959, when they were changing the lectionary for Anglican churches,

with this psalm, they took it out.

They took that part of the psalm out.

And so if you were to go and find a little tiny red prayer book and flip through it, these verses aren't in it.

And in fact, for many, many Anglican churches and Roman Catholic and Lutheran United churches,

they follow something called the Revised Common Lectionary.

And in that Revised Common Lectionary, when they talk about Psalm 139,

these parts of the psalm are taken out.

And so it's quite possible for many people to have thought they've gone to church all their lives,

maybe an Anglican or Catholic or Lutheran United Church,

and heard the scriptures read and not realized that this is actually even in the Bible.

So we're going to look at it.

And here's what it says.

Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God.

Verse 19

O men of blood, depart from me.

They speak against you with malicious intent.

Your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with complete hatred.

I count them my enemies.

Wow. It's a very, very stark text.

Well, here's the first thing as we look in this.

I have to confess that there are some times that Christians talk about themselves

as if Christians are better than other people.

In the Irish household that I grew up in,

my parents and my relatives, who are all Protestant Irish immigrants,

had a way of referring to something as being very Protestant.

And the implication was that Protestant people were good and Catholic people were bad.

And so if you did something that was good or well-organized or intelligent,

that was very Protestant.

And the implication was that if you weren't doing those things, it was Catholic and bad.

Or maybe, I mean, I guess they would have been open-minded and said Muslims, Hindus, and Jews,

and everybody else.

But they're not Protestants, and Protestants are sort of good.

And that's not a part of my background or my heritage, which I embrace or I'm proud of.

And it's easy sometimes.

And all of us have heard Christians who've talked as if somehow Christians are better than other people.

But the first thing I want to suggest to us is that not only must we as Christians

completely and utterly repent of any such type of attitude towards that, of saying that way,

that somehow we Christians are better or better behaved than other people.

The other thing is that we need to understand that this is a human problem,

that hatred is a human problem.

That on one hand, while it's often, you don't have to look very far on the Internet

to find Christians talking as if things like hatred is a Muslim problem or an atheist problem

or a gay problem or something like that.

I mean, I don't mean to offend anybody here.

I really don't mean to offend.

But I haven't been able to think of a different way to put it.

But on Saturday in the National Post, there was an interview with a scholar

from the University of British Columbia who's written a book.

And the thesis of the book, according to the interview,

and I don't know whether the interviewer got the interview correct.

Okay, so I'm just going to go by the interview,

that big gods create big civilizations.

At the end of the interview, not only is it that big gods create big civilizations,

but that big gods who create big civilizations create lots of reasons

to dislike a lot of people and sort of legitimize violence against them.

And I guess it might be a shock to be a secular professor at a university.

But the fact of the matter is, and here I don't mean to offend anybody,

but if we look at it honestly, hatred is a human problem.

Hatred is a human problem.

Over the last couple of weeks, there's been reports in the papers about Buddhist mobs

attacking people who aren't Buddhists.

We see lots of examples of Muslim on Muslim and Muslim on Christian and violence.

There are stories in the papers over the last couple of months of Hindu violence

against Christians and against Muslims.

Whole states, atheist states, have been characterized by profound hatred

against social groups or dissidents or people who have views that are other than their own.

And in fact, it's probably very, very often the case that an atheist might think

that hatred is a Christian problem and atheists aren't like that.

And Christians think that hatred is an atheist problem and Christians aren't like that.

And Hindus think that hatred is somebody else's problem and not their own.

And the fact of the matter is that we can be profoundly self-deceptive

and that hatred is a human problem.

And I don't mean, but hatred is a human problem.

And if we start to understand that hatred is a human problem,

then the question really becomes,

does the spirituality or the ideology or the philosophy or the religion

that we adhere to or adhere to or follow,

does it speak wisely into the issue of hatred?

Or does it inflame hatred?

Does it permit hatred?

Legitimize hatred?

Lead to self-deception about human hatred?

Is the philosophy or the ideology or the religion that we follow or adhere,

does it actually speak wisely into the human problem of hatred?

Now, I think that if we start to look at this psalm,

and we're going to look at the psalm more,

we're going to look at these words again more in a couple of seconds,

we're going to look at the whole psalm.

I'm going to tell you this.

I actually think that if you look honestly into the resources within atheism and other faiths

and look into the resources of Christianity

in terms of how they can speak into the whole issue of wisdom,

you'll see that I don't believe there's anything which is as wise and as insightful

about the range of human experience and emotion and the reality of hatred as we will find in the Bible.

And that even this psalm and even this part of the scripture,

which at first seems so worrisome,

is that we can worry that if we take it to heart and take it literally,

that we'll all turn into reverend Phipps types going around chanting,

you know, death to faggots or, you know,

and other types of unbelievably obscene hatred.

And rather than actually thinking that if we take the Bible more seriously

and delve into it more deeply,

that we will turn into a Pastor Phipps,

I think we will see that in fact the Bible has profound wisdom and insight

into the reality of the human problem of evil.

So the first thing is to say that hatred is a human problem,

not a Christian problem,

although Christians have that problem,

it's a human problem.

And the second thing is as we hear this text,

I'm going to read it again,

Is there any type of social context or experience

whereby that prayer might actually make any type of sense?

Imagine that you're in Syria.

You can't get out.

And you're a Christian businessman or a Christian businesswoman,

and you have a little church.

And your business has been attacked many times.

Your church has been attacked many times.

Your friends and your neighbors,

maybe some of your family members have died from gas attacks.

The Assad regime,

in anger at the triumph of the rebels,

partially takes it out on you,

the rebels,

and they take it out on you.

And the rebels,

angry at the success of the Assad regime,

take it out on you.

And you've not only endured low-level violence

and maybe high-level violence

for most of your life in that country,

but over these last two years,

you have had many loved ones die.

Maybe your own family.

What do you think,

if you're in Syria,

you would think about this text?

What do you think you might think?

You see, friends,

here's the very, very first thing.

Those of us who think

that they can protect the church

by editing out parts of the Bible,

ultimately what they do

is create care-bear Christianity.

And care-bear Christianity

is insipid,

weak,

useless,

idle.

That's what it is.

The Bible addresses

the depths

and the breadth

of human experience.

Amongst other things

that Christians in Syria could say,

they could say,

God understands a little bit

about what's going on inside of me.

He understands.

And surely,

wouldn't you want a Christian in Syria

to pray something along that line

to have his life

be somehow informed by that

in some way?

Because wouldn't you think

it's valid in that context

for you to pray,

if I have nine kids

and if I'm that Syrian dad

and six of my kids are married

and I have grandkids,

I would want to pray,

Father,

don't let one of my kids

get so completely overwhelmed

by these people

who do not value human life,

who hate.

don't let my son

or my daughter

join them.

Father,

please never put me

in a position

where I,

to protect myself,

to protect my business,

will become like one of them

to kill

or to maim

or to rape my neighbors

to save my own skin.

Father,

please grant me

the courage

to be completely

and utterly loyal to you.

I know,

Father,

that you find

what's going on around me

completely

and utterly abhorrent

and,

Father,

please do not let me

ever join that side.

Don't you think

that something like this prayer

might actually speak

into their lives?

You see,

the problem is

that we become ethnocentric.

The fact is,

this text does not give me

any type of insight

about how to deal

with the person

who cuts in front of me

in the lineup

at McDonald's.

Okay?

If you think this verse

is speaking into

how to handle the guy

or the gal

in front of you

cutting to you at McDonald's,

wrong.

But the fact that the matter

is that many of us

will have to make,

should pray,

Father,

hopefully,

I never have to experience this.

So that's,

that's the first thing

about this text

is that

it actually,

there are,

it touches on

context,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the young girl

who's now 16 years old

who's been brutalized

in secret

by her father

or grandfather,

her stepdad,

ever since she was

a young girl

and is horrified

by the fact

that the family members

rally around

to disbelieve her

and to protect

the guilty one.

this song

might speak

into her life,

don't you think?

The Bible

addresses the full breadth

and depth

and shallows

as well

of human emotion.

Bible,

not this text,

other places

where it addresses

the shallows

of human emotions.

It's not care pair

Christianity

and the way

of following Jesus

is not just

for the successful

person

who's never had

anything go wrong

in their life.

See,

one of the problems

with care bear Christianity

is that when things

go really bad

in our lives

and we just feel

so much anger,

we're such strong emotions,

we feel we have to stay

away from church

rather than understand

that God is familiar

and knows the full breadth

of human experience

and that if we are

dealing with

great,

great,

great anger

rather than thinking

that the Jesus way

has nothing to do

with us,

we are to understand

that the Jesus way

has everything

to do with us

and the Bible

has everything

to speak into our lives.

So the first thing

we can see about

the wisdom of the Bible

is that the wisdom

of the Bible

actually acknowledges

the strength

of profound,

deep,

human emotions

and social context

that we maybe hope

we never have to go into

but it speaks into it

and that in fact

by speaking into it

it provides a type of wisdom

but it also has

another type of wisdom

because you see

we want more than wisdom

when looking at the human,

the reality of hatred,

we want something

that speaks about

restraint and context.

Well,

does the psalm

provide some type

of restraint or context?

It does in a very,

very profound

and powerful way.

Let's look up

to the part

just before

verses 19 to 22

and I'm going to begin

reading at verse 13.

Yes,

verse 13.

Check my notes.

Here's what it says.

For you formed

my inward parts.

You knitted me together

in my mother's womb.

I praise you

for I am fearfully

and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works.

My soul knows it

very well.

My frame was not

hidden from you

when I was being made

in secret,

intricately woven

in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw

my unformed substance.

In your book

were written

every one of them.

The days that were

formed for me

when as yet

there was none of them.

How precious to me

are your thoughts,

O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I could count them,

they are more than the sand.

I awake

and I am still with you.

Now,

first of all,

this psalm

is not saying

that the psalmist

thought that babies

developed in caves

and pelicans

go and

get them

out of the cave

and then somehow

go and bestow them

upon a happy couple.

This is not what

the psalmist

is talking about

at all.

It's using

chaste,

poetic imagery

to talk about

the conception

of a child

in its mother's womb.

And here's the thing

which is so

powerful about the text.

I am known

and loved

by God

from conception.

So from conception,

I have

a dignity

and value

as a human being

regardless

of what

a parent,

regime,

race,

institution

will say.

This text

is telling me

that I am known

and loved

by God

from conception.

So from conception,

I have

a dignity

and value

as a human being

regardless

of what a parent,

regime,

race,

institution

say.

I do not have

to wait

for a parent

or an institution

or a race

or a social class

to declare

that I am human

and fit

to enter

into the society

of humans.

I don't have

to wait for that.

I mean,

it might be

that they

mistakenly

are going to act

as if they have

that power

of God

over me.

But this text

in a very,

very powerful

and profound way

says that

in fact,

it's by being

begotten,

it's by being

conceived

that I receive

value,

dignity,

excuse me,

and worth

and integrity

from the moment

of my conception

and every human

being does

as well.

You know,

I was joking

with my wife

last night

when we were

driving,

I helped my

oldest son

move yesterday

from Renfrew

to Wormprior

and I was joking

that,

you know,

Louise,

this is a really

easy text,

I'm just going

to talk about

hatred,

abortion,

maybe I should

throw in

tithing

and same-sex

marriage or

something while

I'm at it

just to sort of

get like three

or four or five

really controversial,

actually I could

talk about

same-sex marriages

from this text

but I won't.

You know,

maybe I'll just

throw in a whole

pile of things

all at once,

you know,

and then if people,

here's the thing,

this is very,

very,

very,

very profound,

it's a profound

limiting factor

on hatred

in two ways

because the first

thing is,

what is it that

happens to us

when we get

overwhelmed by

hatred?

We dehumanize

the other person,

we see them

as less than

human,

we see them

as worthy

of death,

we see them

as worthy

of being

treated

like garbage

and this text

is a profound

guard against

that.

Once again,

if I'm that dad

in Syria,

I have to

realize that

those people

that are

horrendous

were also

made human

at the moment

of their

conception,

that there is

in fact a

dignity of them

as human

beings,

that comes

not by my

anger or

my approval,

but from

God.

Most

importantly,

and that's

a very,

very,

very,

very,

very important

limiting

aspect and

wisdom into

hatred.

You see,

the fact of

the matter

is,

is that if

any of us,

even those

of us who

have been

terribly

brutalized

and

terribly,

been terrible

recipients of

violence,

it would

not be

appropriate

for us

to ever

just meditate

upon verses

19 through

22,

but to

meditate upon

the whole

psalm.

And as we

meditate upon

the psalm,

where even

as we

are dealing

with the

depth of

our emotion

around hatred,

we are also

taught very

deeply about

the dignity

of every

human being,

a dignity

that comes

from God

from the

moment of

their

conception.

And for

me,

who is a

victim of

hatred,

this is a

profound thing.

When those

of us who

have suffered

some type

of violence,

it's very

easy for us

to be deeply

ashamed about

who we are,

to actually

wonder if

the people

who have so

hated us

and attacked

us are

right in

treating us

being somehow

subhuman and

worthy of

violence and

assault and

brutality,

it is easy

for that to

go through

our minds.

And in

the face

of being

the recipient

of human

hatred,

we can look

at this and

say that I

am fearfully

and wonderfully

made.

So it is

both profound

wisdom into

those who are

the victims of

hatred and a

profound limit

to human

hatred.

It is

bringing

wisdom into

a very,

very powerful

thing.

But it

also provides

another

aspect of

trying to

bring wisdom

into the

whole situation,

which is maybe

a little bit

first it's

surprising,

but we get

great help

in understanding

part of the

psalm if we

know Star

Trek.

Because,

you see,

I'll tell you

the point and

then I'll show

it to you from

verses 1 to

12.

The whole

psalm is a

prayer to

God.

I mean,

the psalm

ends with

saying in

verse 23

and 24,

search me,

O God,

and know my

heart.

Try me and

know my

thoughts.

See if there

be any

grievous way

in me and

lead me in

the way

everlasting.

The entire

psalm is

captivated,

excuse me,

with God.

And how is

God described

here in the

psalm?

Here's how

he's described.

God is not

a Vulcan,

and nor is

he overwhelmed

by irrational

emotions.

If you've

never watched

Star Trek,

you're not

going to get

the Vulcan

reference.

But the

psalm portrays

God, that God

is not a

Vulcan, he's

not Spock,

nor is he

overwhelmed by

irrational

emotions.

Listen to the

delight of the

psalm.

Go to verse

1.

O Lord,

you have

searched me

and known

me.

You know

when I sit

down and

when I rise

up.

You discern

my thoughts

from afar.

You search

out my path

and my line

down, and

are acquainted

with all my

ways.

Even before

a word is

on my tongue,

behold, O

Lord, you

know it all

together.

You hem

me in behind

and before

and lay your

hand upon

me.

Such knowledge

is too

wonderful for

me.

It is high,

I cannot

attain it.

This in

very, very

concrete

language is

describing God

seeing you

and being

present in

your life.

In the image

of hemming in

and hand

upon you,

think of a

little two-year-old

maybe after

church during

coffee hour

and an

attentive mom

or dad

or grandparent

with their

two-year-old.

And they

sort of just,

you know,

the stairs are

over there,

or maybe it's

a 16-month-old,

and they just

sort of move

over here to

hem in the

16-month-old

so they don't

go tumbling

down the

stairs.

And then they

just put their

hand upon them

in love and

affection,

just so they

know that you're

there,

just to sort of

guide them and

hold them.

And the psalm

could just say in

one word,

one little

sentence,

God is all

seen.

God is

God is

God is

God is

God is

present

everywhere,

but once again,

in poetic,

beautiful language,

concrete,

visual language,

which can

capture the

imagination.

it goes on

to say,

where shall I

go from

your spirit,

or where

shall I flee

from your

presence?

And actually

the word

there for

presence is

literally

face.

Where shall I

flee from

your face?

Where shall I

flee from you

looking at me?

And you can't

read the psalm

without realizing

that it's

picturing God

looking at us

with his face

and being not

in our face

in a bad sense,

but looking at

us with

affection.

Picture once

again a mom

watching her

little 12-month

old or 13-month

old who now

starts to

toddle a

little bit

like this,

and for a

moment,

or maybe a

long moment,

the mom is

no longer

thinking about

all the other

people up there

having coffee,

but just looking

with delight at

their little

child go like

this.

And the

child,

the mom's

face is

on the

child

of

affection.

Where

shall I

go from

your spirit?

Verse 7.

Or where

shall I

flee from

your presence?

If I

ascend to

heaven,

you are

there.

If I

make my

bed in

Sheol,

you are

there.

If I

take the

wings of

the

morning and

dwell in

the

uttermost

parts of

the sea,

even there

your hand

shall lead

me and

your right

hand

shall hold

me.

If I

say,

surely the

darkness

shall cover

me and

the light

about me

be night,

even the

darkness is

not dark

to you.

The night

is bright

as the

day,

for darkness

is as

light with

you.

And then it

goes on to

say,

for you

formed my

inward parts,

this beautiful

picture of

conception and

God's seeing

the person in

the womb.

And here's

the thing.

God is not a

Vulcan, nor is

he overwhelmed

by irrational

emotion.

See, the

problem for us

as human

beings, and

the great

problem, by

the way, with

hatred.

Those of

us who

have experienced

hatred, know

this, hatred

can overwhelm.

Hatred can

overwhelm.

Maybe I'm the

only wicked

person here in

the room, but

hatred can

overwhelm.

Hatred can

fester.

Hatred can

make it so

that you can't

stop thinking

about this

person.

It wakes you

up at three

o'clock in

the morning.

It greets you

when you wake

up in the

morning.

It is there

as you're

trying to fall

asleep.

And not

only hatred,

but there are

many, many,

many different

passions or

emotions that

can overwhelm

us.

Whether it's

an overwhelming

desire for that

promotion, or for

that woman, or for

that man, or for

that amount of

dollars in the

bank, that there's

passions and

desires that can

overwhelm us

irrationally.

And often in our

culture we think

that the only

option to be

overwhelmed by

emotion is the

Vulcan option of

having no

emotion.

But here we

see God.

Here we see

God, neither a

Vulcan, nor

overwhelmed by

irrational emotion.

And he's the

one that the

psalmist is

dealing with.

You see, and

the implication

is that there

is a way to

recognize the

evilness of

evil.

evil.

Is there

possibly a way,

Father, for me

to see and

understand the

evilness of

evil in a way

that does not

overwhelm you?

Dear God, show

me if there be any

grievous way in my

life.

Dear God, lead me

in the way of

everlasting life.

Lead me in that

everlasting way.

Lead me away from a

grievous life.

Now, if this was

all the psalm said,

then I'd have

given you some

good therapy this

morning.

And we could learn a

few therapeutic

things to move on in

our lives.

But the psalm has far

more to deal with

than therapy.

Actually, the psalm has

a profound riddle

in it.

And let's

illustrate what the

riddle is in a

moment.

But this is maybe

the way some of

us would hear the

text if we were

just, well, here.

You know how to go

and say, oh, Lord,

you have searched me

and you know me.

Verse 1, you know

when I sit down and

when I rise up, you

have assumed my

thoughts from afar.

You search out my

path and my line down

and are acquainted

with all my ways.

Even before word is

on my tongue, behold,

oh, Lord, you know

it all together.

You know, such, you

hand me in behind and

before and lay your

hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too

wonderful for me.

It is high, I cannot

attain it.

Some of you have

heard this story

before.

This is a long time

ago.

I was doing a

wedding and during

the wedding

rehearsal, this, I

think she was a

16 or 17 year old

girl, she was going

to read the Bible

passage and she

got up and she

had to read the

Bible passage with

a very, very solemn

voice and then she

closed the Bible

like that and said,

I don't want to

read this.

I want to talk

about me.

And her dad, who

was a lawyer, was

horrified.

And then she had

this dramatic pause

and then she skipped

down the steps and

gave him a kiss on

the cheek and said,

don't worry daddy,

I'll do it proper

tomorrow.

And, you know,

here, if you met

somebody who said

with a straight face,

with no type of

embarrassment, God

just loves following

me around for the

day.

He just can't wait

for me to wake

up.

He just looks at

me all day and

smiles and thinks,

gosh, St.

Claire is so

wonderful.

Look how cute he

is.

Everything he

thinks about is

just so wonderful.

It makes me

giggle.

Like, if you met

somebody who

actually thought

that that's what

God thought about

them all the

time, what would

you think about

them?

Not good

thoughts, right?

You'd actually

probably have some

pity for them.

You'd think that

they're captivated

with, they have a

profound narcissistic

personality or some

other type of thing

like that.

That's what you'd

think, right?

So how on earth

can this psalm be

true?

Let me tell you

what most human

beings experience

when they think

about God.

Most human

beings, most

Christians, when we

think about God, we

want God to rescue

us when we're in

trouble.

And when we want

to do those naughty

things, we like to

pretend he doesn't

exist.

Maybe I'm the only

wicked person in the

room.

But the fact of the

matter is that if

this text is brought

home to us about

God being all

present and all

seen, if that's

brought home to us

very, very, the

fact of the matter

is that we don't

actually want God

to know everything

about us and see

everything about us,

that we want God

to keep his

distance from us.

That's the natural

human condition.

We find it not

comforting to think

about God's all-seeing

eye and always being

present, even with no

qualification.

So how can this

psalm be true?

How is it that we

could read it?

You see, the psalm

contains a riddle.

Contains a riddle.

The psalm contains a

riddle that is more

than us being able to

get a few good

therapeutic ideas

about how to live a

more human life.

The psalm provides a

riddle which is only

answered by the

person and the work

of Jesus in the

gospel.

You see, on one

hand, this all-seeing,

all-knowing aspect of

God helps us to

understand something

about the death of

Jesus upon the cross,

that we are to

understand that Jesus

dies for the whole

me, from conception

to death, from the

depths to the

shallows, with

nothing left out.

That Jesus dies for

me, from conception

to death, from the

depths to the

shallows, with

nothing left out.

That, I apologize,

folks, I had a

yellow cord at home

that I was going to

use to illustrate

this, and I forgot

it.

So I ripped out my

bookmark, which is

gray, which you can

probably hardly see,

but I have a

bookmark here, and

it's probably actually

pretty good for our

lives.

It's sort of bent,

twisted, obviously

not a perfect type of

a thing.

And in a sense, what

the Bible is saying

is that from the

moment of my

conception here to

the moment of my

death at this end,

and all of the

wrinkled, bent,

creased parts, the

stitching, the depth

of that entire thing,

when Jesus is dying

on the cross for me,

and I don't know,

maybe I hope that in

terms of my life I'm

only still here and I

have all this left to

live.

I don't know,

actually, if right now

I'm down at this end

and I have only the

tiniest little bit left

to live, but it's the

big constant mistake of

Christians is that they

think if they come to

Jesus when they're

here, that maybe

Jesus knows a bit of

that which has gone on

here, but the fact of

the matter is that when

Jesus sees me, he sees

me from my death to my

conception with all my

stitching and all my

wrinkles and all my

shallows and all my

depth.

And when Jesus dies for

me on the cross, the

me he dies for is this

me.

And when the

scriptures say that

Jesus in a sense takes

my life into him,

his and takes my doom

into him, it's as if

Jesus takes all of

this, all of it, even

if my future is still

another 40 years away,

he takes all of it.

And he takes all of it

with nothing left over.

See, that's the wonder

and the power of the

gospel.

Because God is all

present and the image is

there of conception and

everything.

I don't have time to do

it.

It's both.

It shows both that from

conception, it talks about

the time, God being

present in all times, in

all places and all

seen.

And so Jesus, when he dies

for me on the cross, he

sees it all.

He takes it all.

My standing with God,

the ability for me to

stand before God has

nothing to do with me,

for my accomplishments,

but only with Jesus

taking it all in his

person as he dies on the

cross.

And he takes upon himself

my life, including my

doom, and offers me his

life and his destiny.

And so this psalm is both a

riddle to show how it

points to the cross, that

Jesus actually, the all

seenness of God means that

Jesus takes it all on the

cross.

cross, and it also then

starts to provide a little

bit of a picture of what

it means to understand that

now as I go through my

day in the presence of the

all-present God and the

all-seen God, on one hand

he sees me, but he sees me

clothed in the righteousness

of Jesus.

That I have a type of

eternal security based on

his finished work that is

completely and utterly

unshakable.

And that in a true sense

in Jesus, this is how God

now sees me when I put my

faith and trust in Jesus.

And I need to confess my

hatred to him.

I need to say, God, the

things that are going on in

me.

Am I living in light of what

the gospel says?

Or am I living in rebellion

about that?

Show me the grievous ways in

my life so that I might walk

in the way everlasting.

But it's only as we are

gripped by the gospel that

Psalm 139 can become a

reality that we can grow into.

And understand it is not only a

picture of what happens to us on

the cross in the past, but a

picture of our destiny in the

future.

You see, as we're gripped by

the gospel, as we're gripped by

the story of what Jesus does for

us on the cross, it provides a

push for us to move forward in

life.

It provides a pull for us as we

see our destiny and the final way

that God will see us.

And it provides a way for us to

understand as our lives are

shaped by this good news of the

gospel.

Please stand.

Once again, I confess that I

apologize for not being able to get

this done in advance, but maybe it

is that the Holy Spirit is pushing

you in a particular way right now to

say certain things to God.

And if I can be of any help in

that, I'm going to try to be of

help.

I'm going to say slowly in a few

moments this prayer.

And I'm going to leave with

pauses.

And if it speaks into your heart,

you can just quietly and silently

repeat it after me.

And the prayer is going to be this.

Dear God, please help me to be so

gripped by the story of Jesus' death

for me that I grow in a humble,

trusting knowledge of the greatness of

Jesus to save me immediately,

eternally, completely,

perfectly, and unfailing.

And maybe for some of us that's the

beginning of our Christian walk.

Maybe for some of us it's just a

deepening and a commitment in the

Christian walk.

But if the Holy Spirit is moving in

your lives to somehow respond to God

in something like these terms, then

quietly, silently pray that prayer.

I will leave pauses.

Dear God, please help me to be so

gripped by the gospel, the story of

Jesus' death for me, that I grow in a

humble, trusting knowledge of the

greatness of Jesus to save me

immediately, eternally, completely,

perfectly, and unfailingly.

Amen.

Just continue bowing our heads.

Father, help us to be gripped by the

gospel, the story of Jesus.

Father, you know those things in our

lives that are overwhelming emotions

for us right now.

We ask, Father, that they not be a

ground for us to stay away from you and

stay away from Jesus, but that we

understand, Father, that they are

invitations to come to Jesus, that they

help to show us we really need him and we

need your wisdom in our lives.

And we ask, Father, that you so lead us

from self-deception and so lead us to

trust your Son and trust your Word that

we might come to the great wisdom that

comes from trusting Jesus as our Savior

and learning to follow him as Lord.

And we ask that your Holy Spirit fall on

us and help us to be such a people and

such persons.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.