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An Introspective Psalm
The Magnificence of the Divine Mind “Before there is a word on my tongue, you know it completely, O LORD” (Psalms 139:4, NIV). Donald Holliday David’s beginning words lead into one of the most introspective psalms in the entire collection: “You, Lord, are intimately acquainted with every part of my life and thoughts, past, future, present, though such a realization bewilders the natural mind. Everywhere is near You. Your nearness knows no limits. There is neither height nor depth of human experience beyond Your sharing or perception. All that I am comes from You. You are the cause, and Yours the skill, that from my beginning called forth and watched over every stage of my growth, thus turning Your thoughts into my being. The comprehensiveness of Your thoughts defies my imagination, and by them I am brought forth, not unto myself, but unto You, Your presence, care, and love. Where can any evil stand in Your presence? May it flee before You, and thus before all whom You cause to stand near You. And may that nearness discover and eradicate all trace of error, that I may walk with You always.” This paraphrase, condensed from Psalm 139, surely expresses the wonder of God’s dealings and His care for each one of His people. It is an intimate confession of the surprise and the awe brought to us by the truth when we are let into divine secrets. Thus we are confronted with the mystery, why? Why, Lord, are you interested in this worthless lump of clay? Who am I, Lord? And who are these Thy people? What claims have we upon divine love? We are here only because You made us, Lord. We are what we are because that is how You made us. We are in Your presence, because that is where You had in mind for us to be. If the lips were David’s, the words were of the holy Spirit. Their full appreciation requires that same Spirit of God within the hearts of its readers. This psalm embraces a beautiful melody of fatherly love and care and God’s closeness and understanding every step of our way. There are answers to questions we may have felt improper to ask. How close are you Lord? Do you really care so much about me? Do You personally anticipate my thoughts and my reactions to circumstances that You only can foresee? Like as a father pitying his children, understanding each need, ever ready to comfort and embrace; does Your love thus encircle me, Lord? The psalm answers more positively than we could have asked. Can a woman forget her infant child? Yet will I not forget thee (Isaiah 49:15). The half has not been told! The very wonder of such divine involvement in the life of the humblest saint opens vast treasuries of heavenly truth. The amazing balance of divine sovereignty coupled with human free will; the awesome boundlessness of the realm in which God dwells, and His unlimited awareness of all things future as if they were already past; the inescapable presence of Him in Whom we each live and move and have our being; the unfathomable mystery of the all-pervading spirit of God that broods over all. These great themes occupy the first three of the six-verse sections of the psalm. The last section ends with the writer’s revulsion of all that would dare oppose so wonderful a being. These sacred realities stagger the human mind to comprehend and have long been pondered. Only in the attitude of reverent prayerfulness dare we venture into the deep things of God or attempt to scale the heights of heavenly vision to behold the glories of the divine secrets “as in a glass,” faintly perceived. There is, we know, a wondrous harmony bonding in perfect accord every attribute and quality of our great Creator’s mind and ways. Unquestioned confidence inherent in each child of God anticipates the day when every mystery will depart before the noonday sun. Meanwhile, perfect trust is the highest heavenward compliment we may pay and such is undoubtedly precious to our Father’s heart of love. The Blending of the Will In the framework of Scripture is woven a remarkable pattern surrounding this subject. Threads of gold are mixed with many other threads of every possible hue in endless variety and complexity. The result is a glowing exhibition of divine wisdom and skill. The multiple threads of such variety of tints represent the throng of billions of individual human minds, each entrusted with freedom of will. The gold threads represent the sovereign will of God and His ability to achieve His wondrous design in perfect harmony and concord with every other thread. We have yet to see the accomplishment of this great divine purpose: (1) bringing into subjection every thought to the obedience of Christ, (2) interlacing all with the threads of gold, (3) blending each thread into everlasting union with the perfect will of God. The process of weaving each human will with that of its Creator and all the heavenly hosts has to be one of the great wonders of the divine plan. So wonderful, indeed, that it would be impossible to dream-up such a vision of universal harmony amongst the billions of free minds were it not so described in the word of God. “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Ephesians 1:10). What a challenge to divine wisdom, patience and skill! Five Sections Jewish minds were prompted to divide the psalms into five parts, corresponding with the books of the Pentateuch. Psalm one, first of the “Genesis” collection, illustrates the state of sweet accord with the Creator and the harmonious blessedness of walking with God. This we associate with Edenic perfection. God knew the stage of human innocence would shortly pass, and in the second psalm we confront the rebellious nature of the creature crying out for release from the paternal bonds (Psalm 2:3). That cry persists to our day. Thomas Huxley, a strong defender of Darwinism, spoke exuberantly of what he regarded as a joyous release from all moral obligation to a Creator God. The Lord shall laugh at the tower of arrogance man builds as if to reach to heaven and usurp the divine throne. God’s plan allows these long ages of human rebellion with all their sad consequences. Human analogy is encouraged in the Scriptures as a means of communicating divine thought by use of human experience. Every parent knows that sooner or later some degree of conflict will arise as a child asserts his freedom of will. Much wisdom is required to handle this effectively and bring about a satisfactory result. Wisdom is something that our Creator has plenty of, and of the highest possible kind, for He is wisdom’s source. The advice of a well known child specialist comes to mind. Present the child with two choices, either of which will be acceptable to the purpose of the parent. In the case of mankind the choice was obedience or rebellion. Inevitably the second choice was made with disastrous results. But this God knew and in His wisdom He allowed the prodigal son to forsake his father’s home and spend his living in self-gratification. There was a happy ending to that parable, as there will be in the case of mankind. This is not due to coercion, but to the discipline of hard experience. Herein lies the triumphant exhibition of divine sovereignty which, without impairing man’s freedom of choice, overrules all to His own higher purpose and loving design. In Thy Book All My Members Were Written We might entitle this book; “Divinely Nurtured Anatomy,” or “DNA.” Scientists call it Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. This DNA is the largest molecule in the cell, though the cell itself requires a microscope to view. This fine strand of DNA is six feet long when extended. Most cells of the body retain these structures. If the strands were unwound and joined end-to-end the string could stretch from the earth to the sun (over 95 million miles) more than four hundred times! Each body cell has such a book. Theoretically that means any single cell could be developed into a physical clone of what we are. If something the size of a microdot contains all that we are, then “why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). Scientific description of this set-up uses the very language of a book with words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters. “As in spoken or written language, the smallest combination of letters capable of carrying a meaning is a ‘word.’ Molecular biologists call this irreducible unit of genetic meaning ‘the codon’ [codex means a book]. The entire vocabulary is made up of three-letter words which ring the changes on all possible combinations of the four available nucleotides. ... To issue an order it is necessary to utter a well formed grammatical sentence, long or short, which cannot be abbreviated without destroying its meaning. Each of these irreducible sentences constitutes the instruction for the manufacture of a recognizable protein. ... Separation of these sentences is guaranteed by punctuation which is built into the code. Some of the codons are introduced ... solely for marking the end of one sentence and the start of another. They ... ensure that there is no confusion between the messages which they separate” (source unavailable). In this amazing procedure from one almost invisible cell develops every kind of tissue, bone, muscle, nerve, etc., that became what we are. In verse 13 the word ‘possessed’ in the King James is better translated ‘formed,’ and ‘covered’ means ‘to plait or weave together,’ picturesquely describing the interlacing bones and sinews, as in Job 10:11. “The precise sequence ... of any individual is unique, except in the case of identical twins, triplets, etc. The molecule is enormously long: human DNA [God’s book] contains a thousand million nucleotides.” We are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In a sentence, the psalmist has summed up a miracle. “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” No wonder Job just could not believe that such a wonderful creator, revealing so much design and skill in His work, so much thought and care, could ever forsake the work of His hands at a time of greatest need (Job 10:8). Nor can we!
Come Up Higher When we consider the complex human frame, we awe not only at the greatness of our God, but also at the deep spiritual implications to each of the Lord’s people. Most amazing is that this wonderful creation of man, the ultimate creature of the material realm, will be surpassed by another work of creation far greater and belonging to a surpassing realm of being — the formation of The Christ, Head and Body. If so great a skill, such vast foresight, such wealth of wisdom and design, is exhibited in the creation of a human body, what of the New Creation! Would it not tax credulity to imagine for one moment that something less can be involved? After so great a display of divine oversight and care on the human plane, it is inconceivable to think that the formation of the new mind would be left to disconnected circumstances, experiences and influences and mere chance! By analogy, we grasp that God has another book in which all the details of the sequence, the production of the spiritual “enzymes,” the oversight of the whole blessed process of the formation of the Christ within, is most carefully prepared. Is not this great truth contained in Romans 8:28? “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (NAS). By the will of God they are conceived (James 1:18). By the will of God they are brought into being and formed. In every part of that process the will of God is revealed. Each, like Jesus their head, comes into being with that one design to satisfy the desire of a wise and loving God. “In the volume of the book it is written” (Psalm 40:7) — each promise, shadow, prototype of that cherished in God’s mind from the beginning of time, and in accordance fashioned by His wisdom, skill, and almighty power. It is with wonder that we hear that same angelic message now come down to us, “The angel answered and said to her, The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
Throughout
the entire process of development, the fetus remains blissfully unaware of the
multitude of directions in which the body’s enzymes go forth in perfect sequence
to each living cell and solicit the desired response. With the New Creation,
responses to the stages and experiences of development are essentially a matter
of choice. Yet there is great similarity in how the spirit of God broods over
the work in us, stimulating faith and zeal and causing the power of sanctifying
truth to form the new mind. Countless messages in the promises interpret into
words of life. Each God-breathed message contributes something more of growth
according to the Divine purpose. Perfect Hatred From verse 19 on, the psalmist speaks of perfect hatred for those that despise so precious a God. Other psalms plead for vengeance against personal enemies. On occasion, God directed Israel to war against their enemies. For example, when Israel reached the end of its wilderness journey, God commanded Moses to kill all occupants of Canaan. How does one harmonize this with Jesus’ command that one love their enemies? There can be no conflict between his holy perfect mind and that of his father. After all, he said that his words were not his own but his father’s (John 14:10).
The enemies of human happiness now stand in the way of utopia. The sinful propensities in the hearts of man must be disposed of and each must yield to the incoming power of righteousness before death itself can be destroyed. Our enemies are within, and the psalmist’s last plea is for the eyes of a holy God to search them out from the inner recesses of our being and lead to the way everlasting. Amen. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalms 139:14) |