BRAVERY AND HAPPINESS

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

(Psalm 139, NLT) “O Lord, you have examined my heart and 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. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. 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! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can 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. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 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. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

1. GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ME.

(Psalm 139:1–6 NLT) O Lord, you have examined my heart and 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. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to sayeven before I say it, Lord.  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!

a. God knows every time I move.

b. God knows every stage of my life!

“Then a great beauty was revealed in him, so that all who after came there looked on him in wonder; for they saw that the grace of his youth, and the valour of his manhood, and the wisdom and majesty of his age were blended together.” –The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien

c. God knows my every motive.

d. God is always with me.

2. GOD IS EVERYWHERE.

(Psalm 139:7–12 NLT) I can never escape from your Spirit! I can 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.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—  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.

“If God does not enter your kitchen, there is something wrong with your kitchen. If you can’t take God into your recreation, there is something wrong with your play. We all believe in the God of the heroic. What we need most these days is the God of the humdrum, the commonplace, the everyday.” –Peter Marshall, Sr. (Former Chaplain of the Senate)

a. Wherever I go God is there.

b. God will guide me with His hand.

c. God will strengthen and support me.

d. God will make the darkness light for me.

3. GOD DREAMED, DESIGNED, DEVELOPED, AND HAS A DESTINY FOR ME.

(Psalm 139:13–18 NLT) You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

“A recent poll from YouGov, a polling firm and market research company, found tha 30 percent of millennials say they feel lonely. This is the highest percentage of all the generations surveyed. … If this generation is truly lonelier, that’s concerning for a number of reasons: Research shows that loneliness tends to increase as we get older. What will happen to millennials, who are already reporting high levels of loneliness, when they reach old age? … We need stress. We need some amount of loneliness. The pain of loneliness is a reminder that we are social creatures who need other people. … “As long as we then do what we should do — reconnect with people — then loneliness is a good thing,”…

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/8/1/20750047/millennials-poll-loneliness

a. God created me in community.

b. God’s presence brings joy in life.

c. God’s presence bring joy in the resurrection.

“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”- John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion

4. A CONFLICTED AND CONVICTED PRAYER.

(Psalm 139:19–24 NLT) O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.