Pastor Peter Mason - January 27, 2019
The LORD’s Powerful Presence
The LORD’s Powerful Presence Psalm 139:7-16
I. The Question about the LORD’s Powerful Presence (v. 7)
Where can I flee from your presence?
II. The Quantity of the LORD’s Powerful Presence (vv. 8-9)
God’s presence is with us wherever we go.
III. The Quest of the LORD’s Powerful Presence
a. Guides (v. 10 a)
The hand of God leads. God’s presence is a way of guidance. His presence provides guidance for his people.
The events of our lives are not left to chance. The Lord is sovereign over these circumstances and reveals
the way to go.
b. Secures (v. 10 b)
God’s presence is a source of security. We rest secure in his hand. The right hand is the place of power.
The king would hold his symbol of power such as the scepter in his right hand.
c. Illuminates the Darkness (vv. 11-12)
God’s penetrating illumination is not dependent on the created light sources so he provides comfort and security.
d. Creates each one of us personally within the mother’s womb (v. 13)
i. Verse 13. For you formed my inward parts;
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
Biologically, human life begins at conception. When the sperm and the egg unite, a unique genetic code is made.
A human organism has begun. Even during the first eight weeks when the human life is called an embryo,
this is a human being.
The unborn are not potential persons, but rather persons with potential (John F. Kilner, Ed.
in Why the Church Needs Bioethics, p. 82). Because human embryos are biologically human beings,
they deserve the protection of all human beings.
ii. Verse 14. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Prenatal development is a wonderful expression of God’s workmanship. This creative act of God should cultivate
a heart of appreciation and respect for God’s will in creating this new life.
The development of a child within the mother’s womb is not simply a natural, biological process.
It is an act of God. God himself is forming a child in the mother’s womb and through this process
reveals His glory.
iii. Verse 15. My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
The “frame” refers to the bones in a collective sense. By the end of six weeks, only 42 days after conception,
the delicate skeletal structure is formed. The brain already coordinates the movement of muscles and organs.
iv. Verse 16. 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.
The span of life is not determined by a person’s usefulness to society but by God himself.
A person’s value is not determined by usefulness, but by being the handiwork of God. A person’s value
is being created in the image of God.