Keys

Written by cycleguy on June 26th, 2016

I spoke today (Sunday) on the wonder of climbing the mountain peak of Psalm 139 and catching a glimpse of God and being so overwhelmed it is word-defying. I’m excited when God shows me a better way to present what I have studied, even when it comes on a Sunday morning as I’m making my “cheat sheet” on post-it-notes for inside my Bible. As I studied it hit me there were three key components of God presented in Psalm 139.

The first is God’s Omniscience. A fancy word (as many of you already know) for God’s knowledge. We say He is all-knowing. He knows what we do (verse 2a); what we think (verse 2b); where we go (verse 3); what we say (verse 4); and what we need (verse 5).

The second is God’s Omnipresence. Someone put it this way: God is either NO WHERE or God is NOW HERE. It certainly can’t be both. Verses 7-11 are worthy of your study.

The third is God’s Omnipotence. If God is not all-powerful, then He is not sovereign. If He is not sovereign, a whole chain of events comes into play which unravel who God is. Look at verses 13-18. He may have used creation as an example of God’s power, but none is as profound as the miracle of birth.

There is so much more to say, but time says, “Stop.” I hope you will do your own study on Psalm 139 and see how climbing this mountain peak will leave you in awe and wonder.

 

19 Comments so far ↓

  1. floyd says:

    It’s been awhile. Sounds like it’s time for me to climb back up the mountain. Thanks for the inspiration to.

  2. Sharon says:

    How often I take for granted the awesome wonder of those three “O’s” about God. I think perhaps I also need to dust off my hiking boots, grab my climbing poles, and start a new hike!

    GOD BLESS!

    • Sharon says:

      And in answer to your question on my blog post, I suppose I look at it this way: If the spiritual battle is a test, and the enemy is attempting to draw me away from God’s Truth, then I stand my ground. If the spiritual battle is a temptation, and the enemy is attempting to draw me away from God into sin, then I flee!

    • cycleguy says:

      Never hurts to hike again. 🙂

  3. Betty Draper says:

    Hummm, Psalm 139:1-5 are some of my favorite verses. That the God of the universe with all He has to maintain knows me intimately. I mean He keeps the ocean in bounds, the heavens from falling, the air just right for our human lungs, keeps light and darkness in just the right amount of time so things will grow for our use. I could go on and on but the best part of what He does is knows me. Knows more then anyone on this earth ever will about me and loves me. I searched all over for this kind of love in humans, is does not exist except in Him. Great scriptures for lifting of the soul and bringing us back to His knowledge of all His creation. Good one Bill.

  4. Lisa notes says:

    God is NOW HERE. Love this, Bill. God is so good to continually drop fresh words to us from old scriptures. Appreciate you sharing parts of your Sunday lessons with us here.

  5. I think I’ll take some time to meditate on this Psalm and the three “O’s” as Sharon dubbed them. We can’t begin to remember enough how truly awesome our God is!
    Blessings, Bill!

  6. And that kind of fits in with something I’ve always believed, that either everything we do matters, or nothing does.

    Good post.

  7. Wonderful to meditate on the attributes of God. It is certainly cause for wonder and awe! Thank you, Bill.

  8. Jeff says:

    Someone, someday, will have to explain to me how in the world ancient myths, dreams, hallucinations, and fantasies are even remotely reason for wonder and awe in todays world.

    • Jeff, if Bill doesn’t mind, I’ll have a go.

      First, the experience described in Psalm 139 is one shared by many people (and by people of many faiths); it’s the experience of the transcendent, and is uncanny in the trues sense of the world; beyond our ken, yet quite real.

      It has a quality different to that of dreams, and certainly lacking in myth. Dreams are in the main hallmarked by their UN-reality, while myth is always a clear extrapolation from human experience and society. The psalmist is describing nothing like this.

      Hallucinations? I don’t think so, because hallucinations that are not caused by either drugs or an extreme physical situation (like exhaustion) are quite rare. The Hebrew culture from which Ps. 139 arose was not noted for the ceremonial use of drugs, and the experience described doesn’t have any feeling of a described hallucination. I’ve been badly wounded on several occasions, and had hallucinations caused by blood loss and morphia. It’s nothing like that. I saw a truck being driven by a killer whale, not God.

      A fantastic construct is perhaps more admissible, but it would have to capture the imagination of many cultures through two millennia, and through the time of the most sweeping changes in human history. One would have to conclude that either people are gullible fools, fit only to be led by despots, or that there’s something underlying this structure of belief that dwells in the heart or soul, and is ever-nourished from without.

      I’m not a theologian; I was a security contractor in some of the nastier non-wars of recent years. This may disqualify my comments from having any relevance, or they may add a spurious authority. I’d prefer to think of myself as someone who has seen and experienced a lot that I can’t explain rationally, and through the application of Occam’s Razor has come to an acceptance of Christianity and a faith based more on logic than enlightenment.

      • Jeff says:

        Thanks for taking the time to try and explain. I understand transcendent feelings and the difficulty in explaining exactly what is going on with that. I don’t agree with your assumption that dreams are UN-reality. At least mine often are about real places and real things. I do believe people can be gullible fools and I agree there are inate feelings that can manifest themselves in common beliefs amongst large numbers of the population. Whether the beliefs are true or not is another matter but it helps explain the beliefs to the pattern seeking primates that we are.
        I think the point that you missed was that whether the Psalm came from dreams, hallucinations, fantasy, or just ramblings it is not based on any factual experience of any kind. And my point is that I do not find wonder and awe from fiction or storytelling. The natural world is far more wonderous and awe inspiring than any ancient fiction. And I might suggest David Hume (rather than Occam’s Razor) as a much more valid philosophy for determining what is real and what is not when there is little to no evidence.

    • cycleguy says:

      Probably because we don’t consider them ancient myths, dreams, hallucinations and fantasies but reality. All the others are unproven or subjective. (My comment comes after Andrew’s was made. His is much better)

      And thank you Andrew. I don’t mind you taking the “comment reins” on this at all. Your experiences from the military and life are superior to mine. I also beg to differ than not being a theologian disqualifies you from having valid comments. It is that simple fact which validates it to the max.