Your Divine Love Story
Copyright: South Bay Community Church
Sermon Reflections: Your Divine Love Story
Date: 22 September 2024
Speaker: Lead Pastor Tammy Long
Sermon Text: Psalm 139: 1-18
Sermon Reflections: Your Divine Love Story
Date: 22 September 2024
Speaker: Lead Pastor Tammy Long
Sermon Text: Psalm 139: 1-18
Sermon Quick Summary
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings. Psalm 139 1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today. For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, Psalm 139 is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story: God knows me (verses 1-4). God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6). God is always with me (verses 7-12). God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16). God loves me (Verses 17-18). Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings.
We have been blessed by the gospel in the arts, our worship team, and band. We have been blessed by the messages and the rich gifts that were shared of the preached Word every Sunday and Saturday service. In twelve weeks of Sabbatical, the Goodness of God and the gifts of leadership with a servant heart from the office and pastoral staff, elders, deacons, and ministry leaders have served this church well. We have been blessed by Pastor Emeritus Dr. Stan Long (Father of Pastor Tammy) who, while having issues physically in his body, has been the amazing leader and pastor of pastors that God blesses him to be. Also thanks to the Goodness of God for Ruby Long (Mother of Pastor Tammy) who is both the wind beneath Dr. Long’s wings and keeps him grounded.
Pastor Tammy shared: What I did on my summer sabbatical. There is so much to share that I’ll be sharing not only over the next few weeks, but over the next few months and even into next year. Thoughts and ideas are germinating and marinating. I’m still processing and reflecting on all of it. I am refreshed, rested, and resetting for what God has next.
I had a fabulous time of rest, play, discovery, and just plain fun. In the last twelve weeks, I have been to twelve states (ten on my road trip from New York to Florida). Over many miles I walked and drove to many museums and African American Heritage Sites. As part of the Clergy Renewal Grant I also visited Spain in April. I also decluttered my bedroom and office, tried some new hobbies such as painting, attended a healing prayer retreat, deepened some spiritual exercises, read a few books, took an online class, slept until my body felt rested, and hung out with my husband and family in ways I don’t usually get to do.
As I reflected on these last few months and asked what God wanted me to share this morning, the scripture of Psalm 139:1-18 came to me from God loud and clear.
Psalm 139:1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today
1O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night - 12 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.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 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.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me!
For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, it is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story.
Let us listen again to David’s words.
God knows me (verses 1-4)
“1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord” (Verses 1-4).
God knows everything about us. The context here is more than God’s omniscience that God knows everything. This is a more intimate knowledge that knows at a personal level the details of our lives. God knows our hearts – the seat of our emotions and will. God knows our motivations and our deepest truths even the things we don’t know about ourselves. God knows when we sit, stand, travel and rest at home. This means that God knows the most mundane of details, our physical realities, our mobility, our actions, and our activities. David declares that God knows every thought. God even knows what we are going to say before we say it. In short, God knows everything about our emotional, physical, mental and intellectual realities.
The implication of this deep knowing is that God cares. It is not a distant knowing, but it is a personal knowing. No one knows us better than God. No one knows better what we need, what we would enjoy, what we should stay away from, what would hurt us, and what is truly best for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves.
To be known by God is an incredible gift that we all should long for even when we aren’t aware. That is why we love the song, “God Knows my Name.”
God knows the best and worst of us and loves us still. God can’t love us any more than God already does.
Have you ever been in a place where no one knows you? At first, it may be comforting. Anonymity can have its place when we want to hide or be left alone, but after a while that gets old. Deep down we want to be known. With that knowledge , we want to be accepted just as we are. That is what’s wonderful about God.
God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6)
David declares, “5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand” (Verses 5-6). God is not interested in a long-distance relationship but in a close and personal relationship. God goes before us and is behind us, surrounding us in God’s protective care. David notes that we are blessed whether we recognize it or not. Isn’t that wonderful?
God places God’s hands of blessing upon us. This reminds Pastor Tammy of her ordination when her Dad put hands on her head and she felt the weight, the support, and the love in those hands. No wonder David says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” God knows you and loves you; God blesses you every single day.
Pastor Tammy experienced blessings in a profound way during her sabbatical. As everything fell in line so beautifully, she felt God’s hand of blessing in incredible ways. Pastor Tammy shared that: God knew exactly what I needed, what I would enjoy, when I needed to rest, when I needed to be still, and when I needed to play. I could see it so clearly that God was guiding me in such a personal way. God knows me so well and God knows you too. God not only knows you, but David goes on to say that God is always with you.
God is always with me (verses 7-12)
One challenge we have when it comes to God, we tend to attach human understanding, experiences, and traits on to God. However, we cannot; God is so much more than our limited human boxes. Would any of us say that there is anyone we would want to be with ALL THE TIME?
Pastor Tammy shared: During the sabbatical, I was on the East Coast for five weeks. During the first week, my entire family was at a Christian resort that has a lot of memories for me and is one of my favorite places on earth. Then for the next four weeks, my husband and I traveled down the East Coast visiting where I grew up in New Jersey and African American historical sites all the way to Florida. I was a little nervous about spending four weeks together with him 24 hours a day. I thought we might get tired of one another and need a little space from one another. That is human. But somehow that never happened. We had the best time together. Sometimes we had a companionable silence. Even if we had a disagreement, somehow it turned into nothing. Our time together seemed like a miracle only from God.
God’s constant presence is even more beautiful and miraculous. In God’s presence is fullness of joy, peace, comfort, and rest. Listen to David’s words: “7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—12 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” (Verses 7-12). David tells us that there is absolutely nowhere we can go from God’s presence. We are never outside of God’s presence. David’s assessment is vast! David goes from the heights of heaven to the depths of a grave. God goes across the horizon on wings of the morning and across the breadth of farthest oceans.
Sometimes we think of this scripture text in terms of how we can’t get away from God because God will find you. We think that you can run, but you can’t hide. This isn’t wrong. However, this speaks more to our sinful nature when we, like Adam and Eve, can want to hide from God. This Psalm is not about that you better be good because there’s no place to hide from God.
David is inviting us to think differently. This is so much more than about God’s omnipresence. Yes, God is everywhere, but David is speaking about something more personal. Instead David’s perspective is more about the truth that God gave Joshua when God said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). Jesus expressed the same sentiment when he told the disciples, “Surely, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God with us always and never leaving or forsaking us is what David is conveying in this Psalm 139. God’s presence is so consistent, so close, so personal, that wherever we are God is there. God’s presence offers a helping hand to guide, strength to support, and peace that passes understanding. This is the God we serve.
God is there with us always. On the brightest of days, God is there. During the darkest of nights, God is there. In the craziest chaos, God is there. In the depths of our despair, God is there. It may seem like Jesus is sleeping on a cushion somewhere while a storm is raging and our boat appears to be sinking, but the divine is there.
Psalm 139 reminds us to fear not! Because God is there, no matter what it may look like, we can say as Dr. Stan Long encouraged us to say, All is Well. Even if we don’t feel God or sense God’s presence, it’s not because God isn’t there. God is always there with arms ready to hold, strengthen, comfort and draw us close. No matter where we are, or what we’ve done, or whatever happens to us, God is always with us. Let’s declare that God knows me and God is always with me. The love story David is unfolding is not yet done; there’s more.
God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16)
David also celebrates that God has a Plan (a Story) for Me and for you. Let’s hear David’s words again, as he writes, “13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 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” (Verses 13-16). God is unfolding a story for each of us that began before we were even born. It is a story with a future and a hope. If there were heavenly bookstores, your story would be a best seller!
No matter how your life began, God knows you, is with you and God has a plan (a story) for your life. God is crafting a story that was written even before you took your first breath. It’s not a story of fate, or a predetermined story where you don’t have free will. You choose your own adventure story. God already knows what you will choose. God has a plan for your choices as part of God’s master story. God already knows the plot, the twists and turns, all the characters and settings, the high and low points. God knows the beautiful story ending that awaits all of God’s children.
These last three months, we saw God’s amazing authorship as we heard the Divine Story of Jesus afresh through the preached word. We’ve already seen how God’s story has a long arc from before the beginning of time into eternity. Minister Doug Ericsson shared how Jesus is the Word who was with God in the beginning. Dr. Stan Long shared how God began unfolding his story at creation setting in place the characters and his plans for humanity. God knew Adam and Eve would make a choice that would flood sin into the world. God’s story was unfolding as early as Genesis 3 when we see the foreshadowing that Jesus would come and advance the plot by crushing the power of evil. Rev. Gerald Mann highlighted the New Covenant Jesus made possible through His death and resurrection. We remember every Lord’s Supper as a way to be reconciled with God and experience a new chapter in God’s story. Rev. Troy Nichols reminded us that the story continues to unfold as we are invited to partner with God in the Great commission to tell the story of Jesus and God’s love to all nations. Minister Phillip Thompson reminded us that it is about God’s glory. Only God sees the whole story, and the master story is God’s story.
God is at work crafting your story too. Note the imagery David uses: You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together (Verse 13)… You watched as I was woven together in darkness (Verse 15). The imagery of knitting and weaving speaks of craftsmanship, intentionality, beauty, and individual design. It underscores the truth that you are wonderfully and uniquely made. Your story is one of a kind. If you’ve ever watched a knitter or a weaver at work, you know the intentionality behind the detailed choice of colors, placement, design, and the special care of putting it all together.
Our story, the plan God has for us is one of a kind, too. David says, every day of my life was laid out (Verse 16). Your story includes the good, the bad and the ugly. God knows what will happen, but more importantly, God knows how God will use it in the beautiful story of our lives.
God is the perfect author. Everything that happens to us, God knew it would happen. God also has a plan for how it fits into the story God is writing. This is true for everything that happens to us even if we get ourselves into a mess, or we have been harmed or abused due to this sinful world, or even the things we don’t understand why God did not prevent. God is crafting a story in your life if you will let God do so. It is a great story for your good and God’s glory, but we may not understand until we get to the end of the story.
The theme of Pastor Tammy’s sabbatical was Storia Divina, meaning Divine Story. The sabbatical journey sees the ways God is at work in Pastor Tammy’s story. As we stick with God, we discover that God’s stories are amazing.
God knows me. God is with me. God has a Plan (a story) for me. There is still one more truth David has for us in Psalm 139 1-18.
God loves me (Verses 17-18)
This entire Psalm can be summed up as: God loves me. God’s love is not just an intellectual approval from a cosmic distance. God’s love is a close and personal reality that will fill our hearts to overflowing if we allow God to come in.
One spiritual practice when reading the bible is to notice the feelings that stem from the scripture text. We can notice what stirs our heart as well as our head. What feelings are expressed? What feelings are implied? What motivates us as we meditate on a passage? From the very beginning, this Psalm is a love prayer and story about how much God loves us. Notice these love feelings from Psalm 139: wonder, seen, known, exposed but accepted, cherished, cared for, protected, supported, loved immensely, wanted, grateful, humbled, full of praise.
As we get to verses 17 and 18, David is marveling about the magnitude of God’s loving thoughts towards us. David writes, “17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me” (Verses 17-18)!
Do you remember those early days of a romance when a person is on your mind constantly? You can’t wait to see them, be with them, talk with them, and listen to them. In many ways that’s how God feels toward us. God enjoys you and thinks about you and seeks you out and wants a closer relationship with you. God wants you to know how much God loves you.
Pastor Tammy shared: On one of the days Al, my husband, and I were driving south, I decided to play some old school music. When one particular song came on, it was like a jolt to my heart. As the song was playing, I heard the voice of God singing to me. The words were God’s words of love to me. I invite you to listen to this song you probably know. But listen with fresh ears and let God speak to you! Let’s view the video Stevie Wonder “I’ll Be Loving You Always.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TylLqJyp6_oY39SCHfkg3W3N8YmqAmdD/view?usp=sharing
God is thinking about us constantly. God has declared that God will love us always. What are we to do with a God who loves us that much? That love led God to come to earth and give life for you and for me. In that love, God continues to pursue us and woo us and seeks to get our attention. In that love, no matter how close you may be to God now, God invites us to grow closer still. God’s love is eternal, unconditional, and without strings and games. It is a love that, as David noted, is too wonderful to understand. What do we do with a God who loves us that much?
Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength
We can begin expressing that love right now as we close in worship with this benediction. “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FAMILY GROUPS
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings.
-In what ways has God’s immense blessings on South Bay Community Church impacted you personally during this past Summer’s Sabbatical of Pastor Tammy Long?
-As you review what Pastor Tammy Long did during her Summer Sabbatical, are there any activities that you will also consider doing to become more rested, refreshed, and reset for what God has for you next in your life?
Psalm 139:1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today
-As you read Psalm 139:1-18, what is the principle overall theme that David is writing about? Why is the context of the overall theme important in understanding and interpretation of any particular verse?
For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, it is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story.
-Are there any particular verses in Psalm 139:1-18, that are familiar to you? In what ways might you reconsider your understanding and interpretation of a verse familiar to you as you apply the context of the overall theme that David is writing about?
God knows me (verses 1-4)
-What is the difference between God’s omniscience that God knows everything and God’s more intimate personal knowledge of you? Why is this difference important for David and also for you?
God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6)
-In what ways have you noticed the truth of God going before you and behind you surrounding you with protective care?
-Even if we do not recognize or understand this blessing of God’s protective care, why is it still so wonderful to know truth that God blesses you every single day?
-As God knows you so well in a personal way, in what ways has God been guiding the details of your life?
God is always with me (verses 7-12)
-Why is God’s presence with you all the time so beautiful and miraculous? In what ways does God’s presence bless you?
-What is the difference between the truth of God’s omnipresence that God is everywhere and the more close and personal presence of God in our life?
-One perspective that God is everywhere involves trying to hide from God, but God will find you. How does this differ from the perspective that David’s writing in Psalm 139 is encouraging us to think?
-Why is it important to fear not, no matter what it may look like, as we declare that All is Well?
God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16)
-In David’s celebration that God has a plan for you in God’s master plan and one of a kind plan for you, why is this not simply fate where you do not make choices and have free will?
-What is the significance for you that God is unfolding a plan for each of us that began before we were born?
-Why is it important to you to know that God knows what will happen, including the good, the bad and the ugly, and God will use it in the beautiful story of our lives?
God loves me (Verses 17-18)
-What lyrics of the Stevie Wonder song about the immense personal love by God are most meaningful for you?
Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength
-What is your true and proper worship of God who loves you so much? How does this compare to the living sacrifice and worship in Romans 12:1?
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings. Psalm 139 1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today. For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, Psalm 139 is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story: God knows me (verses 1-4). God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6). God is always with me (verses 7-12). God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16). God loves me (Verses 17-18). Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings.
We have been blessed by the gospel in the arts, our worship team, and band. We have been blessed by the messages and the rich gifts that were shared of the preached Word every Sunday and Saturday service. In twelve weeks of Sabbatical, the Goodness of God and the gifts of leadership with a servant heart from the office and pastoral staff, elders, deacons, and ministry leaders have served this church well. We have been blessed by Pastor Emeritus Dr. Stan Long (Father of Pastor Tammy) who, while having issues physically in his body, has been the amazing leader and pastor of pastors that God blesses him to be. Also thanks to the Goodness of God for Ruby Long (Mother of Pastor Tammy) who is both the wind beneath Dr. Long’s wings and keeps him grounded.
Pastor Tammy shared: What I did on my summer sabbatical. There is so much to share that I’ll be sharing not only over the next few weeks, but over the next few months and even into next year. Thoughts and ideas are germinating and marinating. I’m still processing and reflecting on all of it. I am refreshed, rested, and resetting for what God has next.
I had a fabulous time of rest, play, discovery, and just plain fun. In the last twelve weeks, I have been to twelve states (ten on my road trip from New York to Florida). Over many miles I walked and drove to many museums and African American Heritage Sites. As part of the Clergy Renewal Grant I also visited Spain in April. I also decluttered my bedroom and office, tried some new hobbies such as painting, attended a healing prayer retreat, deepened some spiritual exercises, read a few books, took an online class, slept until my body felt rested, and hung out with my husband and family in ways I don’t usually get to do.
As I reflected on these last few months and asked what God wanted me to share this morning, the scripture of Psalm 139:1-18 came to me from God loud and clear.
Psalm 139:1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today
1O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night - 12 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.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 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.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand. And when I wake up, you are still with me!
For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, it is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story.
Let us listen again to David’s words.
God knows me (verses 1-4)
“1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord” (Verses 1-4).
God knows everything about us. The context here is more than God’s omniscience that God knows everything. This is a more intimate knowledge that knows at a personal level the details of our lives. God knows our hearts – the seat of our emotions and will. God knows our motivations and our deepest truths even the things we don’t know about ourselves. God knows when we sit, stand, travel and rest at home. This means that God knows the most mundane of details, our physical realities, our mobility, our actions, and our activities. David declares that God knows every thought. God even knows what we are going to say before we say it. In short, God knows everything about our emotional, physical, mental and intellectual realities.
The implication of this deep knowing is that God cares. It is not a distant knowing, but it is a personal knowing. No one knows us better than God. No one knows better what we need, what we would enjoy, what we should stay away from, what would hurt us, and what is truly best for us. God knows us better than we know ourselves.
To be known by God is an incredible gift that we all should long for even when we aren’t aware. That is why we love the song, “God Knows my Name.”
God knows the best and worst of us and loves us still. God can’t love us any more than God already does.
Have you ever been in a place where no one knows you? At first, it may be comforting. Anonymity can have its place when we want to hide or be left alone, but after a while that gets old. Deep down we want to be known. With that knowledge , we want to be accepted just as we are. That is what’s wonderful about God.
God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6)
David declares, “5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand” (Verses 5-6). God is not interested in a long-distance relationship but in a close and personal relationship. God goes before us and is behind us, surrounding us in God’s protective care. David notes that we are blessed whether we recognize it or not. Isn’t that wonderful?
God places God’s hands of blessing upon us. This reminds Pastor Tammy of her ordination when her Dad put hands on her head and she felt the weight, the support, and the love in those hands. No wonder David says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” God knows you and loves you; God blesses you every single day.
Pastor Tammy experienced blessings in a profound way during her sabbatical. As everything fell in line so beautifully, she felt God’s hand of blessing in incredible ways. Pastor Tammy shared that: God knew exactly what I needed, what I would enjoy, when I needed to rest, when I needed to be still, and when I needed to play. I could see it so clearly that God was guiding me in such a personal way. God knows me so well and God knows you too. God not only knows you, but David goes on to say that God is always with you.
God is always with me (verses 7-12)
One challenge we have when it comes to God, we tend to attach human understanding, experiences, and traits on to God. However, we cannot; God is so much more than our limited human boxes. Would any of us say that there is anyone we would want to be with ALL THE TIME?
Pastor Tammy shared: During the sabbatical, I was on the East Coast for five weeks. During the first week, my entire family was at a Christian resort that has a lot of memories for me and is one of my favorite places on earth. Then for the next four weeks, my husband and I traveled down the East Coast visiting where I grew up in New Jersey and African American historical sites all the way to Florida. I was a little nervous about spending four weeks together with him 24 hours a day. I thought we might get tired of one another and need a little space from one another. That is human. But somehow that never happened. We had the best time together. Sometimes we had a companionable silence. Even if we had a disagreement, somehow it turned into nothing. Our time together seemed like a miracle only from God.
God’s constant presence is even more beautiful and miraculous. In God’s presence is fullness of joy, peace, comfort, and rest. Listen to David’s words: “7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—12 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” (Verses 7-12). David tells us that there is absolutely nowhere we can go from God’s presence. We are never outside of God’s presence. David’s assessment is vast! David goes from the heights of heaven to the depths of a grave. God goes across the horizon on wings of the morning and across the breadth of farthest oceans.
Sometimes we think of this scripture text in terms of how we can’t get away from God because God will find you. We think that you can run, but you can’t hide. This isn’t wrong. However, this speaks more to our sinful nature when we, like Adam and Eve, can want to hide from God. This Psalm is not about that you better be good because there’s no place to hide from God.
David is inviting us to think differently. This is so much more than about God’s omnipresence. Yes, God is everywhere, but David is speaking about something more personal. Instead David’s perspective is more about the truth that God gave Joshua when God said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). Jesus expressed the same sentiment when he told the disciples, “Surely, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20). God with us always and never leaving or forsaking us is what David is conveying in this Psalm 139. God’s presence is so consistent, so close, so personal, that wherever we are God is there. God’s presence offers a helping hand to guide, strength to support, and peace that passes understanding. This is the God we serve.
God is there with us always. On the brightest of days, God is there. During the darkest of nights, God is there. In the craziest chaos, God is there. In the depths of our despair, God is there. It may seem like Jesus is sleeping on a cushion somewhere while a storm is raging and our boat appears to be sinking, but the divine is there.
Psalm 139 reminds us to fear not! Because God is there, no matter what it may look like, we can say as Dr. Stan Long encouraged us to say, All is Well. Even if we don’t feel God or sense God’s presence, it’s not because God isn’t there. God is always there with arms ready to hold, strengthen, comfort and draw us close. No matter where we are, or what we’ve done, or whatever happens to us, God is always with us. Let’s declare that God knows me and God is always with me. The love story David is unfolding is not yet done; there’s more.
God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16)
David also celebrates that God has a Plan (a Story) for Me and for you. Let’s hear David’s words again, as he writes, “13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 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” (Verses 13-16). God is unfolding a story for each of us that began before we were even born. It is a story with a future and a hope. If there were heavenly bookstores, your story would be a best seller!
No matter how your life began, God knows you, is with you and God has a plan (a story) for your life. God is crafting a story that was written even before you took your first breath. It’s not a story of fate, or a predetermined story where you don’t have free will. You choose your own adventure story. God already knows what you will choose. God has a plan for your choices as part of God’s master story. God already knows the plot, the twists and turns, all the characters and settings, the high and low points. God knows the beautiful story ending that awaits all of God’s children.
These last three months, we saw God’s amazing authorship as we heard the Divine Story of Jesus afresh through the preached word. We’ve already seen how God’s story has a long arc from before the beginning of time into eternity. Minister Doug Ericsson shared how Jesus is the Word who was with God in the beginning. Dr. Stan Long shared how God began unfolding his story at creation setting in place the characters and his plans for humanity. God knew Adam and Eve would make a choice that would flood sin into the world. God’s story was unfolding as early as Genesis 3 when we see the foreshadowing that Jesus would come and advance the plot by crushing the power of evil. Rev. Gerald Mann highlighted the New Covenant Jesus made possible through His death and resurrection. We remember every Lord’s Supper as a way to be reconciled with God and experience a new chapter in God’s story. Rev. Troy Nichols reminded us that the story continues to unfold as we are invited to partner with God in the Great commission to tell the story of Jesus and God’s love to all nations. Minister Phillip Thompson reminded us that it is about God’s glory. Only God sees the whole story, and the master story is God’s story.
God is at work crafting your story too. Note the imagery David uses: You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together (Verse 13)… You watched as I was woven together in darkness (Verse 15). The imagery of knitting and weaving speaks of craftsmanship, intentionality, beauty, and individual design. It underscores the truth that you are wonderfully and uniquely made. Your story is one of a kind. If you’ve ever watched a knitter or a weaver at work, you know the intentionality behind the detailed choice of colors, placement, design, and the special care of putting it all together.
Our story, the plan God has for us is one of a kind, too. David says, every day of my life was laid out (Verse 16). Your story includes the good, the bad and the ugly. God knows what will happen, but more importantly, God knows how God will use it in the beautiful story of our lives.
God is the perfect author. Everything that happens to us, God knew it would happen. God also has a plan for how it fits into the story God is writing. This is true for everything that happens to us even if we get ourselves into a mess, or we have been harmed or abused due to this sinful world, or even the things we don’t understand why God did not prevent. God is crafting a story in your life if you will let God do so. It is a great story for your good and God’s glory, but we may not understand until we get to the end of the story.
The theme of Pastor Tammy’s sabbatical was Storia Divina, meaning Divine Story. The sabbatical journey sees the ways God is at work in Pastor Tammy’s story. As we stick with God, we discover that God’s stories are amazing.
God knows me. God is with me. God has a Plan (a story) for me. There is still one more truth David has for us in Psalm 139 1-18.
God loves me (Verses 17-18)
This entire Psalm can be summed up as: God loves me. God’s love is not just an intellectual approval from a cosmic distance. God’s love is a close and personal reality that will fill our hearts to overflowing if we allow God to come in.
One spiritual practice when reading the bible is to notice the feelings that stem from the scripture text. We can notice what stirs our heart as well as our head. What feelings are expressed? What feelings are implied? What motivates us as we meditate on a passage? From the very beginning, this Psalm is a love prayer and story about how much God loves us. Notice these love feelings from Psalm 139: wonder, seen, known, exposed but accepted, cherished, cared for, protected, supported, loved immensely, wanted, grateful, humbled, full of praise.
As we get to verses 17 and 18, David is marveling about the magnitude of God’s loving thoughts towards us. David writes, “17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me” (Verses 17-18)!
Do you remember those early days of a romance when a person is on your mind constantly? You can’t wait to see them, be with them, talk with them, and listen to them. In many ways that’s how God feels toward us. God enjoys you and thinks about you and seeks you out and wants a closer relationship with you. God wants you to know how much God loves you.
Pastor Tammy shared: On one of the days Al, my husband, and I were driving south, I decided to play some old school music. When one particular song came on, it was like a jolt to my heart. As the song was playing, I heard the voice of God singing to me. The words were God’s words of love to me. I invite you to listen to this song you probably know. But listen with fresh ears and let God speak to you! Let’s view the video Stevie Wonder “I’ll Be Loving You Always.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TylLqJyp6_oY39SCHfkg3W3N8YmqAmdD/view?usp=sharing
God is thinking about us constantly. God has declared that God will love us always. What are we to do with a God who loves us that much? That love led God to come to earth and give life for you and for me. In that love, God continues to pursue us and woo us and seeks to get our attention. In that love, no matter how close you may be to God now, God invites us to grow closer still. God’s love is eternal, unconditional, and without strings and games. It is a love that, as David noted, is too wonderful to understand. What do we do with a God who loves us that much?
Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength
We can begin expressing that love right now as we close in worship with this benediction. “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FAMILY GROUPS
Pastor Tammy Long returned from her summer sabbatical and shared how God has provided immense blessings.
-In what ways has God’s immense blessings on South Bay Community Church impacted you personally during this past Summer’s Sabbatical of Pastor Tammy Long?
-As you review what Pastor Tammy Long did during her Summer Sabbatical, are there any activities that you will also consider doing to become more rested, refreshed, and reset for what God has for you next in your life?
Psalm 139:1-18 is the Yes and Amen to the sabbatical experience and the message God has for you today
-As you read Psalm 139:1-18, what is the principle overall theme that David is writing about? Why is the context of the overall theme important in understanding and interpretation of any particular verse?
For many of you, some verses in Psalm 139 are familiar. As one of the most personal expressions in scripture, it is an intimate psalm of David’s insight and experience with God’s divine love story.
-Are there any particular verses in Psalm 139:1-18, that are familiar to you? In what ways might you reconsider your understanding and interpretation of a verse familiar to you as you apply the context of the overall theme that David is writing about?
God knows me (verses 1-4)
-What is the difference between God’s omniscience that God knows everything and God’s more intimate personal knowledge of you? Why is this difference important for David and also for you?
God’s hand of blessing is wonderful for me and even too great for me to understand (Verses 5-6)
-In what ways have you noticed the truth of God going before you and behind you surrounding you with protective care?
-Even if we do not recognize or understand this blessing of God’s protective care, why is it still so wonderful to know truth that God blesses you every single day?
-As God knows you so well in a personal way, in what ways has God been guiding the details of your life?
God is always with me (verses 7-12)
-Why is God’s presence with you all the time so beautiful and miraculous? In what ways does God’s presence bless you?
-What is the difference between the truth of God’s omnipresence that God is everywhere and the more close and personal presence of God in our life?
-One perspective that God is everywhere involves trying to hide from God, but God will find you. How does this differ from the perspective that David’s writing in Psalm 139 is encouraging us to think?
-Why is it important to fear not, no matter what it may look like, as we declare that All is Well?
God Has a Plan (Story) For Me (vv. 13-16)
-In David’s celebration that God has a plan for you in God’s master plan and one of a kind plan for you, why is this not simply fate where you do not make choices and have free will?
-What is the significance for you that God is unfolding a plan for each of us that began before we were born?
-Why is it important to you to know that God knows what will happen, including the good, the bad and the ugly, and God will use it in the beautiful story of our lives?
God loves me (Verses 17-18)
-What lyrics of the Stevie Wonder song about the immense personal love by God are most meaningful for you?
Our response should be to love God back with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength
-What is your true and proper worship of God who loves you so much? How does this compare to the living sacrifice and worship in Romans 12:1?
Sermon Resources
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Your Divine Love Story
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September 17th, 2024
The Divine Story of Jesus and You: When God Disappoints Us
September 10th, 2024
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The Divine Story of Jesus and You: The WeddingThe Divine Story of Jesus and You: You Must Be Born AgainThe Divine Story of Jesus and You: Do You Want To Be Made Well?The Divine Story of Jesus and You: How to be a Love Agent in troubled timesThe Divine Story of Jesus and You: The Great Blessings of Acceptance
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Finding God in Our Feelings: Facing Shame (Lite)Finding God in our Feelings: Facing Shame (Expanded)Finding God In Our Feelings: Facing Grief (Expanded)Finding God in our Feelings: Facing Anger & What lies beneathFinding God in Our Feelings - Facing LonelinessFinding God in Our Feelings - Embracing JoyFinding God in Our Feelings - Embracing Joy (Lite)
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