Welcome to the Monday Night Bible Study. This is Shalom Dodi over the mic. I am glad to be with each of you tonight and even more delighted to spend this time together with our Abba.
Our format is Welcome, Song, Prayer, Pondering, Closing.
Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLS ... C6&index=1
All To Jesus I Surrender
Prayer: Lord God of the Universe who created each of us, we thank you for this time we have set aside to meet with you. Thank you that you know each of us intimately and so you know all our needs and are as always Immanuel, God With Us. Please help us to set aside the cares of this day and simply be with you during this time. We bless you in this night and thank you for all the many blessings of our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.
I have found that when we are secure in God's love for us, and who God designed us to be , then we can face life and even the barbs of others without wounding other people, because we "act like ourselves "the true "me" God created
That is VASTLY different than the “feel good gospel” some teach.
We will have trials in life. We know this to be true because Jesus said so in John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
But the fact that we are going through a trial or a difficult season, does not mean we are free to be mean to others. It also does NOT mean we do not have enough faith or that God has stopped loving us.
But we will have a difficult time living “securely” during trials until we realize deep inside our heart, mind and spirit that God is ALWAYS who He says He is and we are also who God says we are.
We are going to use The Father’s Love Letter as our jumping off place.
You can download the text at https://www.fathersloveletter.com/text.html
This “letter” takes different verses about who we are, who God is and what God, as our Father, invites us to receive. It is written as if God is speaking to us and in a sense, the entire Bible is God’s love letter and is surely God speaking to us.
First we are going to read the entire text. As I read it, let your heart relax and receive whatever God knows you most need.
My Child, You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live.Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore.
Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you.
Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you.
1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me.
1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad.
Almighty God
Why don’t we look at Psalm 139. It is referred to 7 times. We are going to read through the entire Psalm. We will pause after each portion. I invite you to share comments as we go along.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
From a commentary about the first six verses we are reminded that God REALLY knows us intimately:
You have searched me and known me: David prayed to Yahweh, understanding that He had personal knowledge of him.
Dodi Note: Yahweh is a form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. It is the name God gave Moses YHWH.
After the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the 3rd century BCE on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons.
As Judaism became a universal rather than merely local religion, the more common noun Elohim, meaning “God,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty
of Israel’s God over all others.
At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai (“My Lord”), which was translated as Kyrios (“Lord”) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Even today a devout Jewish person will write God, G_d.
I LOVE that the name of God, Elohim, was used in Genesis and is plural, pointing to The Trinity.
Pagans often thought that their gods were hostile or indifferent to men and women; David knew the true God cared to have searched and known each man and woman.
Dodi Note: That was in deep contrast to the secular culture of that time and actually still is. We, as followers of Jesus, find it comforting to think that God knows all about us and is with us. I imagine that would be quite discomforting to us if we were NOT followers of Jesus.
Continuing from the author:
· It’s not just that God knows everything, He knows me and you.
· It’s not just that God is everywhere, He is everywhere with me and you.
· It’s not just that God created everything, He created me and you.
“Any small thoughts that we may have of God are magnificently transcended by this psalm; yet for all its height and depth it remains intensely personal from first to last.” (Kidner)
Spurgeon says the same sort of thing: “the meaning of the Psalmist is, that the Lord knows us as thoroughly as if he had examined us minutely, and had pried into the most secret corners of our being. This infallible knowledge has always existed-- "Thou hast searched me"; and it continues unto this day, since God cannot forget that which he has once known.
There never was a time in which we were unknown to God, and there never will be a moment in which we shall be beyond his observation.
Note how the Psalmist makes his doctrine personal: he saith not, "O God, thou knowest all things"; but, "thou hast known me."
Dodi Note: The fact that God has always known us is quite useful when we need to receive healing for a hurt or wound in our past, even our childhood. Since God was there, he has always know our heart-hurt and is fully able to heal AND restore our hearts too.
Verse 4 says: 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
One author said, “The fact that God knows every word on my tongue should affect my speech. Those who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ yet have little care for profanity or impurity of speech should remember that God hears and knows every word.”
Dodi Note: That is a sobering thought, isn’t it?
Verse 5 says you hem me in… in some versions it says hedge me in. The intent is that God protects us.
One source said, You have hedged me behind and before: The normal sense of a hedge in the Bible is of a protective barrier. God hedged David on every side, so that nothing could come to David unless it first passed through God’s permission.
What was true for David is true for all who trust in the LORD.
It can be very uncomfortable to know that you are always being watched. We may get nervous if we see video cameras monitoring us at all times.
Yet our unease is based in the fact that we doubt the good intentions or good will of those who watch us. A child is comforted that a loving parent watches over them; when we are confident in the love and care of God our Father, His constant knowledge of us is a comfort, not a curse.
God is our LOVING Father. We are SAFE because He does portect us.
Dodi Note: Your and my Abba Father, God is always watching over us.
Have you ever considered that even though bad/hard things have happened, that God has in a sense protected us?
Think about it. You are here tonight. You and I are alive and we are free and invited to go to God for healing and to be our hope.
Instead of asking “Why did you allow that God?”, perhaps it would be better to say, “Wow, God, you were with me, what do you have NOW for me?”
Now God offers healing, He offers hope, He offers to use your difficult experience to bless others…see? A totally different mindset. Something we can learn and grow into.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Dodi Note: In reading about this section, I noticed that it reminds us how omnipresent God is. David considered the truth that God is present everywhere, and there was no corner or dimension of the universe hidden from Him. Do you find that comforting or disconcerting?
It reminds me of the safety in never being separated from God’s love. Remember in Romans 8:38-39 it says: 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I find it vastly comforting. Because even though I mess up, God….who is my Father, loves me and will steer me back on the path. And He will do it from a position of His great big love for me. Same for each of you.
The next part of Psalm 139 is one of my favorite reminders.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Dodi Note: God has ALWAYS been with us. Always aware of us. We have never been outside of His presence. We can choose to separate ourselves from Him, or think we can, but even then, and even before we were born or born again, God knew and loved us.
Spurgeon makes an interesting observation. He says, ““The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood-vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.” (Spurgeon)”
Dodi Note: Isn’t that an amazing thought?
And doesn’t this make you wonder how anyone could abort a baby?
But maybe, I wonder…not actually I am convinced that our loving Abba somehow, some way shields those little babies and that they live forever with him.
When I lost/miscarried a child, these verses led me to think of only one good thing. My little baby had never been apart from the presence of God because God was knitting her in my womb and took her straight to heaven to be with Jesus forever.
Our Psalm continues:
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Dodi Note: Some more awesome reminders. And then David changes the tone a bit. He says:
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Dodi Note: To me, this portion always seemed to make no sense but I read something that put it more into perspective: David abruptly shifted from a spirit of wonder and adoration to intense prayer against the wicked and against bloodthirsty men.
It wasn’t primarily because these men opposed David, but because they opposed God: for they speak against You wickedly. David’s adoration filled him with zeal for God’s honor.
So considering it as a prayer helped fit it in.
Then the last portion is just such a beautiful prayer request.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Dodi Note: Can we be brave and trusting enough to pray as David did? Search me Oh God, Try me and know my thoughts…and Oh Abba show me where I grieve your spirit and then show me the way to go.
Next time, we will ponder other verses from The Father’s Love letter. I hope your heart was uplifted and encouraged tonight. Have a BLESSED week.