Psalm 139 - The Art of Living Well
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Well good morning, my name is Phil Stevenson, I'm friends of the pastors here and every and then they give me a very wonderful, gracious opportunity to come and share with you. So it's a privilege to do that. We're in Psalms, there would be doing a series of Psalms and we'll be in Psalms 139, and we'll be there in a moment, but there's one thing I wanna make sure I point out to all of us this morning that I know for a fact, everyone here this morning is living. Now, you may not feel like you are, but you are. I know it's warm outside, we're all alive. So that's beyond dispute. What could be disputed, however, is how we live the life that we have. And sometimes, of course, when we live our lives, there's things that encroach upon us. There's frustrations, there's challenges, there's surprises in life. There's all kinds of things that we may not have planned on, but we, instead, have to kind of navigate our way through that. But when we look at Psalm 139, and of course it was written by David, as most of the Psalms were, And he helps us understand in the first 12 verses of this passage of scripture of how he lived his life. The life that he lived, that he had to navigate, all kinds of things, it went through all threads of his life. His life was not always the way that maybe he had laid it out. To be honest with you, he started his life, obviously, as a shepherd. He was challenged to become king. He hadn't planned to become king. I don't think he did. Scripture doesn't seem to indicate that. So he's a shepherd guy, and that's what he probably expected he would do, how he would contribute to his family over his lifespan. And he knew how to live with the Lord as a shepherd. He also went through a season of his life where he was a fugitive. King Saul, who was the king before him, wanted David dead. And the reason is, is he knew that David was the next anointed king of Israel, And so even though his son, Jonathan, was the best friend of David, he wanted David dead. And then of course we know he became king and he was kind of experienced as probably one of the greatest kings, if not the greatest kings in the history of Israel. So as a shepherd, as a fugitive, as a king, David learned what life was about as he lived it with the Lord.
And I want us to take a look at this passage of scripture, Psalm 139 verses one through 12. If you have a Bible with you, turn there. If you use your phone like I do or your iPad for scripture, turn there. And we're gonna take a look, kind of walk through this passage of scripture and look about how we can live our life fully with the Lord, no matter what our situations. Because again, David had to navigate his life as a shepherd, a fugitive, and also as a king. The first thing I want us to see, we're gonna go five things that we how we can learn to live well the art of living well and Really life frankly is more of an art than is a science People may try to give us formulas for certain things for the most part life is an art because we have to respond Navigate come across and deal with things that we have maybe never planned that doesn't mean we shouldn't plan our lives out it just means that we'll have surprises as I've already mentioned along our life as as we go after things. This month, I should say this year, December, I'm gonna turn 70 years old. I know you're probably thinking, you don't look a day over 68. Okay, but anyway. And I've learned in my 70 fact, it's funny, with my granddaughter who's seven, and she's, they call me Pappy. She's a Pappy, how old are you gonna be on your next birthday? I said, well, Brielle, I'm gonna be 70 years old. And she looked at me like she couldn't even fathom that number. And I said, "You know about this whole thing of being 70, Brielle, is that not everybody gets to be 70." And that's true. And so even in my 70, almost 70 years, I'm learning things all the time. Understanding new things about God and trying to navigate what the challenges of my life at 70 have been and probably will be over time. We never know. But But David gives us some good guidelines. And the first one is this, the art of living well. The first thing is this, live in the acceptance of God. If you wanna live your life well, live in the acceptance of God.
Psalm 139 verses one through four says this, "Oh Lord, You've examined my heart. "You know everything about me. "You know when I sit down or stand up. "You know my thoughts, even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home, catch this, you know everything I do. That's not very exciting, is it? Or is it? Verse four, you know what I'm going to say even before I say it, Lord. Wouldn't that be good if even we knew what we're gonna say sometimes before we're gonna say it? Have you ever had that situation? Oh baby, I should not have said that. And you probably have had this experience that I've had and simply said, "It's not so much what you said, "it's how you said it." And so we know that we have to live in the acceptance of God. And you probably have had this situation. Have you ever found out something about somebody, maybe just unexpectedly found it out, you weren't looking for anything, but you found out something about somebody and boy, it kind of changed your perception of them 'cause you never saw them that way. or maybe you are like most people who have some things in your life that you're not overly proud about. Maybe something you did as a younger individual. And if at all way possible, if you could steer conversation on that kind of thing, you'd be more than happy to do that. But yet God knows all that stuff and He still accepts us. We have to live in the acceptance of God. There's something freeing about knowing somebody knows all about you, I mean all about you, and they accept you anyway, warts and all.
Tommy Walker, who is a worship leader and an evangelist and a songwriter and a singer, all these things, he's been on staff at a church down the LA area, I think it's Assembly is God Church, down the LA area for about 30 years. And he told the story about when he went on a missions trip, and he was out there on this missions trip, and this kid ran up to him. And he said, "Hi, my name is Jimmy." And Tommy Walker said, "Hi, Jimmy, my name is Tommy." The little kid smiled and ran away. That was the end of that interaction. Later in that same day, the same little kid came up to Tommy and said to him, "Do you know my name?" He says, "Well, yes, you're Jimmy." And he just beamed that Tommy had remembered his name. Turns out, Tommy found out that this little boy had been orphaned at a very young age. He didn't have much of a family around him. Very few people really knew his name. And so when Tommy remembered his name, It struck him as so exhilarating for him. In fact, it impacted him so much, Tommy Walker wrote a song. It's an older song. I've not heard it in a long, I know it. I mean, I've heard it, but not in a long time. I don't think it's hit the list, the hit list for the 2000s here. But it's a song, it's called "You Know My Name." And the chorus goes, I won't even try to sing the tune because I won't get it right, but if you've never heard it, You might think that bad tune is the tune, but it's not. But it goes, he knows my name. He knows my every thought. He knows every tear I cry. He hears me when I call. The power of having acceptance, the power of someone knowing your name, and the art of living well begins right there. Our ability to live our life well has to be foundational in that we are willing to live in the acceptance of God, that God accepts us. Exodus chapter 33 verse 17 says this, "The Lord replied to Moses," the Lord and the Moses were having a conversation, "and the Lord says to Moses, "I will indeed do what you have asked, "for I look favorably on you, "and I know your name." Wow. God knows our name. There's a statement, I think it'll be on the screen, maybe not, but I don't know who said it, it's just powerful. It says this, "Satan knows your name, "but calls you by your sin." "God knows your sin, but he calls you by your name." Wow, that's powerful. And when you grab ahold of that, then you begin to live in the acceptance of God.
The next thing that we need to do to live, to develop the art of living is to live in the blessing of God. To live in the blessing of God. Verses five and six, you go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand. You see the laying on of hands is a sign of blessing. It's a sign of support. It's actually a sign of sending. I'm sure you've done that here before where you just lay your hand on someone, maybe a missionary couple, or maybe just someone that needs some encouragement and strength and you lay hands on them and you pray for them because that laying on of hands is a sign of blessing, a sign of support, a sign of sending. And if we can just picture that, that God blesses us, that we can just imagine the hand of God laid upon us, blessing us, encouraging us, sending us. God blesses us. And then he goes and he stays with us. I have here this morning an actual $20 bill. Now it's not crisp, but it's pretty good. Bob wants the $20 bill. OK, maybe later we can talk. And the thing about this $20 bill, is you know what this is worth? It's not a rhetorical question. You know what this is worth? $20. Absolutely worth $20. Now, if I put this on the ground, it's not too dirty. Whoever cleans up here is scrubbing around a little bit like this, and then finally pick it up. You know how much this is worth? You're screwing the illustration up. Okay, it's worth $20. Now, if you're like I am, and sometimes you take your bills and you fold them up, maybe in half, sometimes maybe in thirds, and you keep them in your pocket, and it gets to get creases in it after a while, pretty soon you have to kinda unfold it, have some creases, but still, you know what, it's worth $20. And then, however, if you got, try to crumple up like a little piece of paper, just kinda crumple a little bit like this, and you undo it here a little bit. Let's see if I can get this uncrumple here. crumpled, crumpled, whatever. This crumpled, somewhat dirty, crinkly little, it's worth $20, still worth $20. It'll spend like $20. And that's what I want us to see when we talk about the blessings of God. No matter how dirty sometimes you may feel or how creased you may feel in your life or crumpled up that you may feel in your life, You are still valued by God. He values you. Our mistakes do not take away the value God places on us as his people. When we live in the blessings of God, we live in the value that God has placed on us. Not the value someone else has placed on us. Not even sometimes the value that we ourselves kind of place on ourselves because we've gone through a difficult, challenging, feeling like a faithless time. God still values you and me. We are still worthwhile in His eyes and we need to live in that blessing.
The third thing that I think David teaches us is we need to live in the presence of God. We live in the acceptance of God, we live in the blessing of God, and then we need to live in the acceptance of God. verses seven and eight, "I can never escape "from your spirit, I never get away from your presence. "If I go up to heaven, you are there. "If I go down to the grave, you are there." We know one of the characteristics of God is that he is omnipresent. So word simply just means all present, he's everywhere. And we need to live in the understanding that God is present with us. Again, back to Exodus chapter 33, where Moses is getting ready to leave the children of Israel and he's concerned about his ability to do this. And in verse 14, excuse me, verse 15, he says this, "Then Moses said to God, "If you don't personally go with us, "don't make us leave this place. "I want your presence, God." That's what Moses is saying. I know what you called me to do, but if you don't go with me, I just shouldn't stay here. I need your presence. God, as I go to my workplace and navigate the challenge that are there, if you don't go with me, I want your presence to go with me, then I just assume not to go to work. If I have to navigate the challenges of my family, then you're not present. I would assume not to navigate those challenges. If I have to find only encouragement in myself in times of discouragement, I need you to be present with me and God is present with you. I don't know your situations or your issues, but I know this, God is present. I don't know your fears or concerns, but God is present. I don't know where you are, where you're going, or how you plan to get there, but God is present. A good friend of mine named Ron McClung wrote these words. He says, "We can't change the past." Now, it doesn't mean we wish we couldn't change the past, but we can't. He said, "We can't change the past. "We can only address the present "and move toward the future." And that's what we're talking about here. Try not to worry about changing your past, you can't. Oh boy, you can start right here in your present. And know that God is present and move toward your future.
The fourth thing I think David teaches us about the art of living well is this, live in the opportunities of God. verses 9 and 10. "I ride the wings of the morning if I dwell by the furthest oceans even there your hand will guide me and your strength will support me." Dawn is always, and that's what we were talking about, the wings of the morning. The psalmist David is talking about dawn. And dawn is typically a metaphor for for what? A new day. I was sharing with some of the folks here that we finally, and our family, kids and grandkids, we've been planning to go on a family cruise since 2020. We had it all set up and ready to go and I don't know if you can remember 2020 most of us would choose to forget it, something called COVID hit. So the cruise lines felt it wasn't a good idea to continue on so that guy shut down. That's okay, we were resilient, we came back and then this 2023, we decide we're gonna do it again in November. We're gonna go on a cruise, a family cruise November of 2023. All set to go, excited, literally one week before we're supposed to leave. The ship had propulsion issues, shut it down any cruise on that ship was shut down for the rest of 2024 into two times 2023 and into 2024 and we finally the week of the 22nd through the 28th 29th got to go on our cruise and the first morning out I sat on our our little balcony and I watched the sunrise our side of the ship was pointing east At least the sun came up there, so I'm assuming it was east. We're pointing east and the sun was coming and it had some clouds around it. It was beautiful. Knew a new day was coming. Didn't know all that was gonna be a part of that new day, but we knew a new day was coming and that's what the psalmist is saying right here.
It's a new day. It's new opportunities. We need to live in the opportunities of God. See, we can't get so caught up in making a living that we neglect and miss the living that we make. See, we get so caught up in just simply getting by and making a living instead of saying, well, let's not neglect how we can make the living that we have. With each dawn, by that I mean with each opportunity, we can choose to rise on those wings of those opportunities. Each dawn brings the potential of new opportunities, opportunities to encourage others, opportunities to fully embrace your circumstances. You say, "I don't like my circumstances." Embrace them anyway, because you know what? They're your circumstances. Opportunities to be renewed in your spirit, opportunities to encounter God, opportunities to the possibilities of God. That's what it means to live in the opportunities of God. A new day, a new dawn, God provides for us. And every day we should look at it from that perspective. On most mornings, and I gotta be honest, not every morning, I will pray this prayer. Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to you in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. And for me, that helps me encounter and go into the day anew and afresh and looking for these things that are out there. Am I living in a way that expresses my relationship with God? Am I serving others? I have that opportunity. Am I being kind? I gotta tell you, I don't know how you are, sometimes it's hard to be kind. So I'll be in a line someplace and they'll be thinking the person just, Pam, and move. And then the Lord says, be kind to everyone you meet. I'm thinking, well, I don't know if I want to meet that person, much less be kind to that person. Now you probably don't do that, but that's just some of the things that I have to hang out there with. But the idea being that we need to live and the opportunities of God.
And then number five, live in the encouragement of God. Verses 11 and 12, I could ask the darkness to hide me in the light around me to become night. Kind of discouraging, huh? 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. We need to live in the encouragement of God because whether we want to kind of pull the darkness around us, we kind of want to hide from situations that are happening to us, God is still there and he wants to encourage us. Makes no difference to him if it's dark or light, he wants to encourage us in those situations. And our encouragement from God is simply engulfed And the fact that we talked about His presence is always with us. Romans chapter eight, verses 38 through 39. Here's what it says. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love, no power in the sky above us or in the earth below. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. But what about nothing? Yeah, but except have this one, nothing. Well, let me tell you about this one, nothing. Let me talk about this choice that I made that nothing. Nothing can separate you and me from the love of God. Nothing, nada, zero, zilch. And when you start to come back with some kind of a reason or excuse why you cannot be under the love of God, I want you to be reminded again of this passage, nothing. Some may say to you, but you look at what you are and how, nothing, nothing. I messed up again, I blew it. Nothing, nothing can separate you from the love of God. In fact, if you leave here later on this morning and you say, what did you learn from what the message was? I learned nothing perfect. Nothing can separate you from the love of God.
And undergirding those principles that King David lived and that he shared with us in Psalm 139, there are two promises I want us to see before we wrap up here. They're in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. And the first one is this, we have the promise of newness. Revelation 21 five says this, And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new." And then he said to me, "Write this down, "for what I tell you is trustworthy and true." We have the promise that God is gonna make everything new. That includes you and me because we're part of everything. He's gonna make everything new. And the second promise we have is the promise of grace. Revelation 22, 21 says, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus "be with God's holy people." We have the promise of grace. Now they're a fitness club, Planet Fitness, you've probably seen them around, we got a few here in the Roseville, Rocklin area. And a purple, I don't get the color. But anyway, they call that the no judgment zone. In fact, one of their tag phrases is this, in the judgment zone, excuse me, in the judgment free zone, you always belong. And what they're trying to do from a physical fitness perspective is that if you go in there and you haven't been in a gym in forever, they're saying, there's no judgment about how physically fit you are, how strong you are. Everyone belongs in the judgment-free zone because we're not gonna judge on where you are. Instead, we're gonna help you be where you want to be. And that's what we're talking about when it comes to grace. And God's graciousness in His kindness, in the grace that we hear about, He embraces us where we are. And then he wants to walk alongside of us to take us to what we want to become under his canopy of love and of grace. But see, we tend to, sometimes we approach God with like some of my approach to gym. I'm not gonna go to the gym 'til I get in shape. Well, you idiot. You go to the gym to get in shape. Don't wait, you go. Even if you're just a slog and you gotta get in there. And then you start where you are and you go from there. And that's what God is saying to us. It's where newness and grace reside. You're accepted where you are. And God then provides you the roadmap to where he would like you to be and where you'd like to be.
2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 says, "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ "has become a new person. "The old life is gone, a new life has begun." See, grace remind us that our desperation, that in our desperation, we have deliverance. Grace allows us to discover the wonder of God in our weakness. Grace is the full embrace of God. Grace clears away any misconceptions that we are alone in this. Grace keeps us moving forward in our doubt, discouragement and despair. Grace is a great equalizer. Grace reminds us, this is so important. Grace reminds us that without God, we are a hot mess. And even in our hot mess, He is there with us. Wow, that's what grace is. Ephesians 2 chapter eight through 10 says this, God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this. It's a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. I love that. We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, "so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago." Wow. If you are here today and you have walked into a relationship with Jesus Christ and He has saved you from your sin and your old way of life, I want to remind you, that was by grace. You didn't do that. None of us are any better than any other of us. That's God's grace. And if you put off trying to grapple with the relationship with God and what it means in real life, and you say, "I just can't figure it all out." Well, that's okay, because it's by God's grace that He embraces you and touches your heart and your life. He can't do anything except for, except what? The grace of God. Accept it, live in it. It's a promise that He's given to every single one of us. And I hope that if you've experienced that grace, you are so grateful for that. And if you have not yet experienced that grace, I wanna encourage you to do that. Understanding that you are accepted as you are. Ask Jesus to come into your life and by grace accept Him and allow Him to move you in your life, in your relationship with Him.
Father, I am grateful for how David could share with us throughout all of time principles and living well, things that I think he learned as a shepherd, as a fugitive and as a king. And Father, I thank you for the promise that we have, especially that one of grace. And I would ask God, I would just ask that everyone here today will realize that it's your grace that makes all the difference in our life. And there's nothing, nothing anyone can do. And there's nothing that can be done to us that will separate us from your love. And we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.