NEVER ALONE
Psalms 139:7–12 (KJV)
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 the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy 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.
I want to take you back to a scene I attempted to paint for you last week.
David is still a shepherd boy.
It’s before he was anointed to be King Saul’s replacement.
· Before he had ever played in the king’s house
· Before he had slain Goliath
· Before anyone was chanting his name and calling him a hero
He was the youngest of eight brothers and
He was responsible for his father’s sheep.
It’s a beautiful sunny day on the hillside near Bethlehem[1] –
· The grass is green and lush
· The pond in the meadow is crystal clear and calm
· The air is warm
· The clouds float lazily by
A boy of 10, or 11, or 12 couldn’t have asked for much better.
Life is simple, quiet and without stress.
But David was alone.
As far as we can tell, David would have tended these sheep by himself, and there are many good reasons that you would want a young boy alone while he was watching sheep — too many friends and he might forget about the sheep!
Alone.
I like to be alone.
I like to meditate and pray and think about the things of the Lord alone.
I like to spend hours upon hours in the presence of nothing but the Lord, my Bible and my books.
I imagine David might have enjoyed being alone too.
That is, until he has to fight off a lion, or a bear.
Or whenever, the clouds gather darkly and he thinks about the lions and the bears.
Nobody knows for sure when David wrote Psalm 139, but Dr. Jack Hyles[2] suggests it may have been during those early shepherd years.
Alone.
A young man — boy really, alone in the hills with his father’s sheep.
Alone, but really, never alone.
Imagine David, alone on those hills when suddenly the Holy Spirit reveals to him, he is not alone.
In those moments David realized:
I. THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD
Psalms 139:1–6 (KJV)
O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
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.
David said in verses 4
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
And it is no wonder; God had searched him to know him.
God had taken a proactive roll in David’s life, to know:
· What is in his mind — those things he thinks about
· What is in his heart — those things he cares about and
· What is on his tongue — those things he talks about
He said that God had beset him behind and before and laid his hand upon him.
God was watching.
He took personal interest — in David.
This boy, alone in the fields, with his few little sheep.
· His dad didn’t think too much of him
· His brothers, we know they didn’t think too much of him
But God — he was watching everything about him.
We live in a strange day, don’t we, when it is easier than ever to keep tabs on people.
Some of it is sort of creepy.
When someone is watching us we don’t want watching us.
But I like that my Mom can see all the pictures my family posts online.
I like that she can read what we have written and see where we have been.
I like that I can text my wife at almost any time of the day and know what is happening with her and
I like that she can do the same.
If Bohannan or Caleb install a toilet[3] in someone’s and, for whatever reason, decide to post a picture of it online, I study the photo like I was looking at a photo of my kids — because they did that.
And I love them.
David considered that God studied him:
· His thoughts
· His concerns and
· His conversations
And knew it was because God loved Him.
He was never forgotten out there in those fields.
· When the bear came
· When the lion attacked
· When the clouds gathered into a storm
· When the winds blew into a tornado
He was not forgotten.
God knew what he faced.
And then David realized
II. THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD
Psalms 139:7–12 (KJV)
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 the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy 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.
When people you care for are hurting in some way, when they are struggling, the first impulse is to want to be there with them.
You may not be able to do anything, but you just don’t want them to feel alone. You want to rush to their side.
The Holy Spirit of God made David to ask, Whither shall I flee from the presence?
Is there a place on this planet a man can go that God isn’t already there?
A. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there
Vs 8
That seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?
But not everyone thinks God is in heaven, and not all of heaven is a spiritual place.
The atmosphere we breath and the birds fly in is called heaven
The space where the sun and moon hang is called heaven
John Glenn once testified that he “saw the face of God” in outer space.
Buzz Aldrin and James Irwin returned from outer space with a deeper conviction for their faith.
It’s true that the man who will not see will not see God anywhere while the man who will open his eyes can see God anywhere.
But these men of faith found the presence of God even while in outer space.
B. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there
Vs 8
You might want to remember that, at this time in history, hell had two compartments:
· The one where the rich man was in torments
· The other where Abraham comforted Lazarus
I think the Bible is pretty clear that those in what we think of as hell today are separated from the comfort of the presence of God.
I believe what David is saying is that, for the believer, death does not remove us from the presence of God.
Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
C. If I …dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall guide me
Vs. 9–10
David imagines himself like a seagull or one of the other birds that fly far out to sea miles from land or any others, even there God would find him and take him by the hand.
Imagine what little David would have known about those people who live on islands, David could not have known even existed.
· The Polynesian Islands
· Hawaii and even
· The Philippines
Great revivals have happened in those tiny Islands as God has called preachers to take the Gospel to those in the uttermost parts of the sea.
D. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee…
Vs 12
Darkness can be one of the most terrifying times in our life.
We can’t see what lurks out in the dark.
But David said even then, God can see me.
Thirdly David realized
III. THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD
Psalms 139:13–20 (KJV)
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
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.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
A. God protected him in his mother’s womb
Vs 13
B. God made him in the most marvelous manner
Vs 14
Most significantly for our topic today,
C. God defended him against the wicked
Vs 19
He would know some wicked and bloody men wouldn’t he?
David was not afraid.
He knew that, with God, he was never alone.
Conclusion
· God knew about David
· God was there with David and
· God was able to help David
Those three truths developed what was the heart of David.
· He could sing and pray
· He could stand and fight or
· He could lead and inspire others
All because in his heart he knew that he was never alone.
[1] (I wonder, could he have been grazing his sheep near the site where the shepherds heard the angels announce the birth of Jesus?)
[2] I plan to use Dr. Hyles’ book, The Story Behind the Psalms, as my go to resource for the occasion behind the writing of the various Psalms. I realize that there will be difference of opinions about when they were written, but his opinion is as good as anyone’s.
[3] They are plumbers. I picked toilet because it might seem like the strangest thing they would share a picture of. They do show pictures of sinks, tubs and whole bathrooms they have built for customers.
