Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20051120.htm

RELISHING THE ESSENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Part II: The Attributes Of God
C. Treasuring The Omnipotence Of God
(Psalm 139:14-18, 23-24)
  1. Introduction
    1. We mortals all have sin natures (Romans 3:23; 7:18), and when we yield to their lusts and sin, we hinder our efficiency to achieve all that we were designed to achieve in God's will, cf. Proverbs 10:21; 14:11.
    2. To counter such debilitating inefficiency in his life, David applied God's omnipotence to his life's path:
  2. Treasuring The Omnipotence Of God, Psalm 139:14-18, 23-24.
    1. When David wrote Psalm 139, he was concerned that he might unknowingly be guilty of a way or course in his earthly life that hindered the eternal effectiveness of his life's works, Psa. 139:23-24 (1 John 2:17):
      1. The word for "everlasting" (KJV, NIV, ESV) is olam in the Hebrew text, and it means "most distant times'" in reference "to either the most distant past or to the future or to both," cf. Kittel, Bib. Hebr., p. 1096 (emphases ours); Jenni, E., "Das wort olam im AT," Diss, Theol. Basel 1953 (ZAW 64:197-248; 65:1-35) as cited in Harris, Archer, Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the O. T., vol. II, p. 672.
      2. As we have shown in our previous study, Psalm 139:1-6, this psalm views God in relation to both eternity past and eternity future, for David wills to adjust his life's path to maximize its eternal worth!
    2. Thus, David considered the omnipotence of God, that attribute that perfectly equipped God to address his inability to maximize his life's path due to inefficiencies created by his own sin's numbing effects so as to direct David into the most efficient paths of righteousness that would maximize his life's eternal value:
      1. David praised God for His great power that had "fearfully and wonderfully" made him, Psalm 139:14.
      2. He then described the details of God's achievement of this creation feat in Psalm 139:15-16:
        1. David's "substance" (KJV) ["frame" NIV] in v. 15a is from esem = "skeleton" [Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 1096; B. D. B., Heb. & Eng. Lex. of O. T. , p. 782-783; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to Psa. 139:15].
        2. The verb "curiously wrought" (KJV) or "was woven together" (NIV) in verse 15 is from the Hebrew verb, raqam, meaning "to weave skillfully with variegated cloth or skin," picturing how God had skillfully woven variegated soft body tissues over David's skeletal structure! (Ibid., B. D. B., p. 955)
        3. The "lowest parts of the earth" in ver. 15b KJV poetically alludes to the womb, Ibid., Ryrie.
        4. God thus saw David's embryo, his golem ("substance" KJV or "unformed body" NIV) while it was not yet formed, and, in accord with this observation, had all the days of David's body ordained in His book before they had occurred, ver. 16 (Ibid., B. D. B., p. 166). God thus integrated all of the chemicals David's ancestors had ingested over the millennia and how each affected his longevity! When we consider the inclusion of Canaanite genes via his ancestor, Tamar (Mtt. 1:3 with Gen. 38) and via his ancestor, Rahab (Mtt. 1:5a with Jos. 6) and Moabite genes that came by his ancestor, Ruth (Mtt. 1:5b with Ruth 1:4; 4:13-22) when she as a Moabite belonged to a nation that originated in the incestuous union of Lot and his older daughter, and that with Lot being the nephew of the paternal ancestor of David, the Hebrew patriarch, Abraham (Mtt. 1:1 with Gen. 19:30-38 and 11:27; 12:1,4) the vast complexities of the DNA involved factored with all the chemicals David's ancestors had ingested leave us in awe of God's power to set how long David would live before he was born!
      3. Moved by considering the sheer depth and superhuman number of such thoughts God had about him, David expressed his appreciation of God's thoughts toward him, Psalm 139:17-18a!
      4. Then, while coming out the prophetic trance by which God had just revealed these truths to him [Ibid., B. D. B., p. 884 with qis here for "awake", cf. Jer. 31:26], David noted God's presence had gone right with him through his change in mental state, a revelation of God's power over David's mind, ver. 18b.
    3. Spurred by all these reflections, David asked God to apply His omnipotence to his life's path to weed out any errant path he might take that would diminish the eternal value of his life's direction, Psa. 139:23-24!
Lesson: In considering the omnipotence of God, David asked God to use His infinite power to redirect him from paths or habits in life that diminished the eternal value of his life's efforts.

Application: May we rely on God's omnipotence to direct us beyond our mortal failings to be able to do so, and that to take those paths in life that maximize our earthly life's eternal value for God's glory!