Precious Thoughts Precious Life

The State now claims deity in defining morality, a life worth living, and what a human person is.

Scripture: Psalm 139

Sermon Notes:

1. In the context of moral chaos and a murderous society, Psalm 139 speaks to us today.
2. The Psalm celebrates the intimate omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God, as well as His mercy and judgment.
3. This is a tremendously comforting Psalm for those who fear God, yet it is terrifying for those who work evil.
4. God knows all men and their aims and desires, and as our Creator, God tests and searches us.
5. We're confronted with Gods' sovereignty, providence and predestination in this Psalm.
6. The message of God's omniscience is an insult to rebellious man's sense of autonomy and independence.
7. God's lawful authority extends over us completely (v. 5).
8. God lays His hand upon us for our good: for judgment, discipline, or blessing, or for His own mysterious purposes.
9. God's sovereignty is seen in His complete providential government of our lives from beginning to end.
10. The womb is the studio where God forms our embryo; He also sets our life's course (Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15-16). Man's responsibility and God's sovereignty are both revealed in scripture, yet we feel a tension due to our limits as creatures.
11. Abortion is condemned in Exodus 20:13 and 21:22-25.
12. God sees the womb as the ultimate place of protection, and His law prohibits the exploitation of the womb.
13. Eugenics, a wicked agenda seeking to guide evolution by controlling who reproduces, lives on in the abortion industry.
14. There is something profoundly evil about a culture embracing abortion, euthanasia, and eugenics.
15. Christ alone is the source of resurrection and life. When we're separated from Him a culture of death consumes us.
16. The State now claims deity in defining morality, a life worth living, and what a human person is.
17. Abortion is a matter of theology (God's Word), not politics, because all life is controlled by God, not man or the State.
18. To take human life lawlessly is an attempt to play God (cf. Psalm 5:4-8).
19. God hates and abhors evil men. If we do not have an abhorrence of sin, our godliness is defective.
20. There's no middle ground; if we love righteousness we cannot approve and support wickedness.
21. Love is not to have warm feelings for your enemies; we are to treat enemies in accordance with God's Law.
22. You can't separate love from God’s Law. Romans 13:10
23. We must have an aversion to wicked people. To delight in or accommodate such people is to participate in their evil.
24. Nothing can come before honouring God and His Word.
25. The false, anti-biblical view of the human person divorces intention and action, denying responsibility for crime.
26. Biblically, sin is something that we do. Murderers are evil because murder is evil. There is no crime without the criminal.
27. All sin can be forgiven; God cares so much for us that He formed us in the womb, and He offers us renewal in Christ.
28. David knew his integrity was not enough; he concludes the psalm asking God to search him, and trusting His guidance.

Application Questions:

1. What are the implications of Psalm 139:1-3 for believers and for unbelievers?
2. Has God laid His hand upon us? (v. 5) Do we ;live in light of God’s lawful authority over our lives?
3. How does Psalm 139 speak to our culture of death?
4. What should we do in response to the destruction of the most helpless and innocent of human beings?
5. What is providence? Do we delight in the goodness and wonder of God’s sovereign providence? (Cf. vv. 13-18)
6. How do we reconcile the Psalmist’s call to hate the wicked with Jesus’ command to love our enemies? (See vv. 19-22)
7. Is my life open before God? Do I pray Psalm 139:23-24?