THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Psalms: God's Nurture Of The Inner Man In The Life Of Faith

CXXXIX: Relying On God To Handle Our Most Difficult Relationships, Psalm 139

C. Relying On An Omnipotent God To Handle Difficult Relationships

(Psalm 139:13-18, 19-24)

I. Introduction

A. Some of our relationships with others can be so difficult that we lack the ability to understand how to begin to address them, and we wonder whether we are part of the problem or whether the other party alone is at fault.

B. Psalm 139 addresses this concern by applying God's omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence to it, with Psalm 139:13-18 in light of verses 19-24 focusing on applying God's omnipotence to such relationships:

II. Relying On An Omnipotent God To Handle Difficult Relationships, Psalm 139:13-18, 19-24.

A. The numbering system of the psalm in the Hebrew text matches that of the English Bible (Kittel, Biblia Hebraica, p. 1095), so we stay with the English Bible's numbering system for this lesson.

B. We then translate Psalm 139:13-18 [in light of verses 19-24] as follows: (13) "For You (emph. pron.) formed my (lit.) kidneys (fig. for emotional structure); You wove me together in (the total darkness of) my mother's womb!" (14) "I will praise You because I am fearfully and wondrously made; Your works are wonderful, and my life principle knows it full well." (15) "My skeletal structure was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place (of the womb), when I was woven together in the hidden interior (the womb)." (16) "Your eyes saw my embryo, and all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to exist." (17) "How precious are Your thoughts to me, O Elohim! How vast is the sum of them!" (18) "Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I wake (come out of my previous prophetic trance), I am still with You."

C. The translation of vs. 19-24 applicable of vs. 13-18 is as follows: (19) "If only You would slay the wicked, O Elohim! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!" (20) "They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name." (21) "Do not I have an aversion to those who hate You, O Jahweh, and abhor those who rise up against You?" (22) "I have only an aversion for them; I count them my foes." (23) "Thoroughly examine me, O Elohim, with the result that You know my heart; test me with the result that You know my anxious thoughts," (24) "and see if there be in me any offensive way, and lead me in the way everlasting."

D. We note significant observations regarding this psalm (as follows):

1. There is a strong connection between verse 1 and verse 23, the idea of God's thoroughly examining David with the result that He knew all about him, and verse 23 adds the subject of David's thoughts that are full of anxiety due to his relationship with oppressive enemies that he cannot handle, verses 19-22.

2. David was so concerned about having God address the difficult relationships he faced with his enemies that he asked the Lord to apply His omnipotence over him to the difficult situation, that if the problem in the relationship with his enemies actually lay with David himself, that God might expose it to him that David might confess it to the Lord that he might be led of the Lord in God's everlasting way, v. 23-24.

3. The lesson is powerful: if we are overwhelmed by a very difficult relationship, and we do not know if we are the cause of the difficulty or not, we can trust God to apply His infinite attribute of omnipotence over us to examine every part of us thoroughly so as to ascertain the truth about our hearts and see Him expose what sin might lie in us that we might confess it to Him. God can then lead us in His way of blessing.

4. God's omnipotence as described in verses 13-18 is to be noted: (a) Even the emotional structure of a human embryo is formed by God, v. 13a. (b) The skeletal structure complete with God's weaving of the tissues over it were all formed by God (v. 13b, 15) and (c) the embryo and all of its tiny parts were seen and carefully recorded as to their nature and length of days under God's ordination when as yet they did not exist, v. 16. (d) The sum of God's thoughts about a human being thus being formed, not to mention after he is born, exceed the number of the grains of sand of the whole earth! (v. 17-18a)

Lesson: David relied on God's omnipotence to examine him thoroughly with the result that God knew him thoroughly to ascertain if David needed to make any adjustment to attain God's blessing in difficult relationships.

Application: (1) May we rely on an omnipotent God to evaluate all our heart that He created to correct us as needed for blessing, especially as it relates to handling difficult relationships. (2) May we be comforted to know that (a) God rules over all of us and (b) made all our material and immaterial parts (c) so as to help us with them!