Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalms 139. I'm not going to tell you how
I got here, but it was a long way. Looked at Hosea. That looked good. Boom, boom,
boom. Just different passages, and then one verse in Psalm 139. I couldn't have planned this.
No way. I couldn't have planned it. I
looked up the Greek, or the Greek, the Hebrew, and was quite astounded
at what the word usage was. We're going to start reading
in verse 1, and go to verse 14. To the chief musician David a
psalm, a psalm of David, Lord, O Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassed my path and my
line down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word in my tongue, but O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. Thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy right hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. If
I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall
be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee." Whether we're believers or unbelievers,
you can't hide from God. Now, maybe the God of your imagination
But the God of Scriptures, you can't hide. Verse 14, I will
praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous
are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. That my soul knoweth right well. Now, this first 14, the first
part, this is what we're going to look at. I will praise thee
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Now, this can mean commonly
is taken as the human being. He's made, we're made fearfully,
we're made wonderfully. We get sick. and we get healed. There's something incredible
about the human body. But I venture to say that this
is not completely what he's talking about. Because every person for
whom Christ healed, they died. So yes, we are fearfully and
wonderfully made, but we're decaying. We're dying. We're going to the
grave. So that's really not any great,
wonderful thing. We were created in the image
of God and when we fell, we fell to our ruin. And on a side note,
the death process in this country where they embalm you and then
they put you in a, not in a casket, in a vault and they charge you
astronomical fees for this. Lynn and I have been looking
at Legally, there's places in this country, in this state,
actually, that you can be buried for pittance. Wrap you up like a mummy, put
you in the ground. It's over. You don't have to
go through all this expense. And believe me, seeing John and
Betty's expenses, it's ridiculous. It's robbery. Well, they say,
you don't want mom and dad, you don't want creeping things. We decay from inside out. So what difference does it make? We're going to decay. We decay
from the clay, from the dust. That's how we're going to return.
They can do what they want to. All these embalming things, they
can do what they want to. Decay is inside, just like the
deadness of our heart. But this word, Like I said, I
couldn't have, I couldn't have made this up. I looked this up. So I wonder what this means.
Cause I've always loved this verse. I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. This word means to distinguish,
to separate, to differ, to differ, to distinguish. Now we talk a
lot about, distinguishing grace. So I'm going to take a look at
this two ways. As this verse applies to the saints. I'm fearfully
and I'm distinguished. I am fearfully made and separated. I am fearfully made and I'm made to differ. As this applies to the believer. We are made, we are created,
we are reborn. We are made meat for the master's
use, 2 Timothy 2.21. We are made to be partakers of
the inheritance of saints and light, Colossians 1.12. We're
called, quickened, and delivered from self, Satan, and judgment.
This is something that is done outside of us. You see that? I will praise Thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. It's not something that we did
ourselves. It's nothing we did ourselves. If we have been distinguished,
we have been separated, we've been made to differ, it's only by God's grace. Only
by God's grace. This then is the character and
the attitude of one elected, chosen by God the Father, called
by God the Son, and quickened by the Holy Spirit. We know by
heart experience, head knowledge, and life reality that we are
wonderfully made, that we have been called. We have been separated,
come out from among them. And we know we are distinguished
only by sovereign grace and separated only by love divine through faith
in his word. I will praise thee for I'm fearfully,
that word means reverence, and wonderfully made. Grace,
grace, and grace. We also know, because David's
the whole first 12 verses. We also know that in our flesh,
we're not going to get any better. We cannot please God. We are
loathsome to our own nostrils. Job said that. He said, I've
seen, I see, and now I hear you. And I, I hate, I hate myself.
I abhor myself. This is the contradiction in
the believer. He loves Christ. On one hand, he knows he's been
called and separated and he's like Christ, because Christ's
righteousness. He has Christ's righteousness.
On the other hand, he loathes himself. Paul said, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? Well, we know that we are capable
of doing any and all sins known to man. Like I said, I quoted
this on last Wednesday or whatever. I remember Marvin Stoniker making
a comment years ago. He said, you know, I used to
say when I'd see somebody, I'd say, well, I wouldn't do that.
He said, you know what? He said, I've learned to quit
saying that. That I, but by the grace of God,
I would be doing that. And when we looked at that horrible
chapter, you know, I say it's a horrible chapter humanly, in
2 Samuel, David and Bathsheba? One corruption after another,
after another, then justifying, then killing a man, and all these
different things. And He killed not only the man, but He caused
many of His servants in the battle to be killed. One thing after
another. If God withholds His grace, that
is what is going to happen to us. So the believer, as he stands
here and he says, I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well." We stand in humble contrition
and say, as all past saints have said, 2 Samuel 7, verse 18, when
David said, God, who am I and what is my house that You should
be so kind and gracious to me? Who am I? And what is my house? We've got
no room to boast. As Mephibosheth said in 2 Samuel
9 verse 8, he says, Oh Lord God, he falls on his face and says,
what are you taking notice of me, such a dead dog as I am?
Fully aware that my soul knoweth right well. Daniel chapter 4 verses 34 to
the end, when King Nebuchadnezzar, he was before the Lord, smote
him and humbled him, he walks out and he looks around and he
says, this is, man, this is my kingdom and I've done it with
my might and my power and my, my, my. And he didn't even get
the words out of his mouth. The Lord smote him. Creeping
around like a beast and eating things in the field. He said,
then there's reason to return. Then by God's grace, the believers
They have good reasoning. Reasoning seasoned with grace.
He said, now I know, God, you can do anything. He said, you're
able to exalt the humble and abase the proud. And he just
talks about God's sovereignty. Look at that when you get home.
Start in verse 34 at the end of the chapter. Paul says in
1 Corinthians 15 and verse 9 and 10, he says, Let's look at that. 1 Corinthians
15 verses 9 and 10. Paul says, For I am the least of the apostles, and I am not
meet to be called an apostle, because I persecute the church
of God. But the grace of God By the grace of God I am what
I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain,
but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but
the grace of God which was with me." That word, meet. For I am
the least of the apostles, and am not meet to be called an apostle. The word in Greek is fit. I'm not fit. I'm not fit. As in character. So we stand
in humble contrition and agree with all past saints and all
these fellow believers that have uttered throughout all time,
as he said again in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, Who maketh thee to
differ? That's the open book narrative
on us who have tasted that the Lord is gracious. And what do
we have that we have not received? What do we have that we have
not received? Well, John, John the Baptist in John chapter one,
verse 27, he said, there's one coming. I'm not even unworthy
to unloose his shoe. In this world of self-aggrandizement,
this world of self-praise, self-worth, I had to fill out a vitality
thing for work. And they go through the whole
thing. They want to know your weight, your height, how much
you exercise, what you eat, and they do everything that makes
sense. Well, then on part of it, they kind of, they want to
know how you think. Have you ever felt worthless?
Depressed? And I just, nope, nope, nope,
nope, nope. Trying to find something there.
And only the believer understands, in his heart of hearts, the contradiction
that we have against ourselves. We beat ourselves up, and then
we get down, and then Satan, and then the world, and everybody
piles on. But we understand. We understand that my soul knoweth
right well. We're continually confronted
with the challenge of the Gospel. We do what we have, we know we
receive. And we're talking about grace.
We're talking about wonderfully made, distinguishing grace, separating
grace. Makes us to differ. He's made
us to differ. Now, I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. We look at the, you know, in
the scriptures. Except the Lord build the house. They that build
it labor in vain. And people are trying to build
the house. And women and I are talking. There's nothing for
the aged. This is not Japan where the aged are highly esteemed
for their wisdom and their long life. No. This country, it's
all about youth and strength, etc., etc. That's what it is.
And you who are young, it's okay. You're going to get old. If the
Lord graces you, and then you're going to be sounding like me
20 years from now. That's just the nature of it.
I'd never watched Shenandoah. Jimmy Stewart, are you familiar
with that? During the Civil War. So I recorded it. I watched the
whole thing. I watched the whole thing. He's
a stubborn, proud man. I had seven kids or five kids,
and some of them got killed. And the Civil War came to ease.
I'm not going to go. I'm not going to join this. We're
not going to support it or nothing until he had to get involved. Now they've included the McClanahan. Now they've included us. So he
goes out looking for his son who was taken captive by the
Union. And after the whole thing, after
a humbling experience, after a humbling experience, he sees
his son get shot right in front of his eyes. His other son, left
at home, gets killed. His wife gets killed. All these
things. It's a humbling thing. One of
the last segments in that movie, they're all sitting around the
supper table, and they're starting to pray. And I'm thinking, well,
this should be pretty good. He's learned a few things. He
says, I thank you, O Lord, that you've given us this land
that we plowed. That our hard work made it. We
pulled the stumps. We did this. We did that. We
did it. Boom, boom, boom. And I thought,
you learned nothing. You learned nothing. That's not
what the believers attitude. That's the Pharisees. I thank
thee God that I'm not like, well, yeah, that poor little rascal
there. That's what he was saying. That's
what he was saying. I thank Thee, O Lord, that You
gave, and then it took over. I mean, mean, mean, mean, mean
this. David says, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I'll praise
You in my soul. I know that. I know that right
well. But now, most importantly, I'm
going to look at this text as it applies to our Lord Jesus
Christ. Because all Scripture points to Him. And our responsibility,
our duty should be, and we desire, is to look at this passage. Actually,
the whole thing could be very easily rendered to the Lord Jesus
Christ. But we'll stick with our text.
I praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am to be reverenced. Was not
Christ the first? Wasn't he not the first chosen
and distinguished and the first one separated by God? Isn't that
what the scripture says? Behold, mine elect, my chosen.
He was chosen to be the head of the church, and he was the
firstborn among his brethren. And in his birth, yes, he's fearfully
and wonderfully made. Because the scriptures does not
say he's begotten a woman. The scripture said he's made
of woman. That tells me that this was no
ordinary birth. This was of divine origin. I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. Who can fulfill that to the T
other than our Lord Jesus Christ? because it's a truly immaculate
conception. The Father and or His Mother,
they were all together passive in its origin and its nature.
Nobody else, nobody else can say that. Now I know they could
say Mary, they could say Mary was immaculately conceived, but
they can't find it in this book. The Lord Jesus Christ was fearfully
and wonderfully made. Scripture says He's made a woman,
a woman begotten. And from henceforth, the Scriptures
state in John 7, verse 46, that never a man spake like this man. When they heard him speak, they're
like, wow, never a man spake like this man. In Matthew 7,
verse 29, he spoke not as described in Pharisees, but he spoke with
authority. Matthew 7, 29, Mark 1, 22, never
a man lived like this man, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, could not be charged with one sin. Yet he was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet, what's the scripture say? Without sin. Indeed, he was fearfully and
wonderfully made. Never a man died like this man,
Isaiah 52, 14. It says his visage was marred
more than any man. The things that he suffered physically
and spiritually when he took upon himself all the wrath and
anger of God bore upon himself that we may go free. Yet he must
go through all the pain and suffering, both physically and spiritually,
for all of his foolish and wayward people were like sheep. We wander, we wander, we come
and go. Never a man would suffer like
this man and raise from the grave as he rose. He was the first
one, the perfect one. He was the carrier of all the
sins of all his church. do us, thus securing for us eternal
peace and forgiveness of sins. He is fearfully and wonderfully
made. I ask that the Lord would bring
such thoughts and scenes before us continually, lest we become
haughty and self-sufficient. So when a believer reads the
Scriptures and he sees the application, much more than just doctrine,
much more than just black print written on white pages, much
more than something to trivialize and to gain knowledge about this.
But when a believer looks at this and he sees in himself,
and he sees in here Christ, he understands the contradiction
against himself, trusting Christ exclusively, what does this do
for the child of grace? What does this do for us? Well,
let's close. Let's look at Habakkuk 3. I love this passage here too. Habakkuk chapter 3. It's right
before Zephaniah, after Nahum, Micah. Habakkuk chapter 3. Now look at all these negatives
in this verse 17. Although the fig tree is not
going to blossom. So that means we're not going
to have any fruit. We're not going to have anything to eat.
Neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall
fail, side dishes, food. The field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold. And there's not even going to
be any herds in the stalls. And if you're living in an agriculture
system, this is how you live. So look at all these negatives.
This isn't going to happen. Frost may come. Early frost.
You know, we get frost in the peaches. You don't get any peaches.
I like peaches. No peaches this year. Okay, that's easy to live
with. We'll go to the store. We'll buy meat. Well, there's
no meat. Okay, well, I'm going to go down
the aisle and get some milk. There's no milk. Well, we're
going to go get something. Now there's nothing there. Well,
I got my garden out there. Well, the bugs got it. Boom,
boom, boom. Verse 18. Yet, Because I know this right well.
I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I've been separated by
the free sovereign grace of God without my assistance. And I
realize that the Lord Jesus Christ did this all before so that I
could live. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. And He will make my feet like
hinds' feet. And He will make me to walk upon
mine high places. Oh, and incidentally, let's sing
about that to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. It's
not, well, okay, I guess the Lord's, you know, He's been merciful
to me. You know, like I call it the
Eeyore Complex. You know, a little black rain
cloud. Oh well. Yeah, I know things
could be worse. I know. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Yet. Yet. Yet. And I'm so thankful that He's
given us life this day. Let's sing about it. Let's just
sing to the praise and the glory of His grace. That's amazing. That's truly
amazing. And I don't mind talking about
it every week. Because the weeks I've been going
through in Manhattan, it's like I can't wait to get here on Wednesday.
I can't wait to get here on Sunday. I can't wait to see your faces.
It's like, you know, Retirement. Ron talks about you retire early.
I said, boy, you better believe it. Gone. But you know what? Probably what happened. No, I
get ahead of myself. Something happened. I got to
work five more years. I got a bunch of stuff. I got
the retirement thing. Another 9-11 happened. It's gone. Yet. And I tell you this, but
I tell myself this. May God give me grace, give us
grace. Yet. Yet. Praise the Lord. John the Baptist. He's out eating
locusts. Camels. Prepare the way. The Lord of
glory is coming. Let's close with a hymn and then
Nathan will close us in prayer.