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Main Idea: In Psalm 139 we find out how God views an unborn child. In this psalm David meditates on four truths about God that touched his life.

It’s one of the most breathtaking experiences I’ve ever had. Sherry and I were all alone in an examining room at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids , Michigan . Dr. Stryck entered the room, turned off the light, and his nurse turned on what looked like a small black-and-white screen television. Then, taking a wand-like instrument in his hand, the doctor began his search, scanning back and forth with care and precision. He was looking for something, rather, for someone. And then, to our amazement, we saw on the monitor a shadowy, yet clearly discernable image of a tiny baby. We stared in wonder as we saw the tiny hands and feet, the head and bone structure. And then we were startled as we saw movement. The unborn infant turned and twisted and flipped. Suddenly our eyes noticed something pulsating in rapid, rhythmic fashion. It was our child’s heart, beating at a rate of some 140 beats per minute.

We breathlessly praised God as we left the doctor’s office that day. For the first time we had enjoyed the privilege of seeing our yet unborn child. It would be several months until we would hold her in our arms, and yet in those few moments, through the help of an ultrasound, we were touched with the amazing reality that we had seen a human life.

Today, January 22, is “Sanctity of Human Life” Sunday. Thirty three years ago, in the infamous “Roe versus Wade” decision, the United States Supreme Court legalized a procedure called abortion that takes the life of an unborn child. Since that time some 50 million pre-born children have lost their lives in our country alone—world-wide the number is much larger.

There’s so much rhetoric about abortion that the effect is almost numbing. Sadly, many people (including church goers) view abortion as merely a political issue, a controversy they wish would just go away. But it’s not merely a political issue, nor even a social issue primarily. It’s a moral issue, a spiritual issue that God has addressed in His Word.

And the sanctity of life issue isn’t just about the unborn. What about assisted suicide for the terminally ill (or anybody else that doesn’t think life is worth continuing)? What about the elderly—is it okay to terminate their lives when the ‘quality of life’ dips below some supposed level of acceptance? Again, these are not issues simply for the politicians and Supreme court judges. These are issues we must face, and do so by asking, “What does God think about human life?”

Last week we investigated Biblical Reasons to Protect the Unborn by means of a topical study of various passages in God’s Word. Today I’d like to set up camp in one text, what may be the most important text on the subject, and seek to answer this question…

How does God view an unborn child? I know of no passage in God’s Word that answers that question more succinctly and powerfully than Psalm 139. The primary answer is found in verses 13-18, but I want us to see that answer in the context of the entire psalm.

Notice the heading. “For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.” What we call the book of Psalms was actually Israel ’s song book. David indicates he penned this God-inspired psalm and put it in the hands of the director of music. We can assume he did this so that other people of God might benefit from its truth as they worshipped the Lord.

David. As a young boy he shepherded his father’s flock. Now he’s shepherding his heavenly Father’s flock.

By the way, in terms of literary quality, Psalm 139 is absolutely beautiful Hebrew poetry. Modern day critics of the Bible, in their pride, often have the notion that we’re so much smarter today than people used to live “back in those Bible days.” Keep in mind that David wrote Psalm 139 some 3,000 years ago.

A comment from the early 1700’s by Claude Fleury says it well, “Let modern wits, after this, look upon the honest shepherds of Palestine as a company of ‘rude and unpolished clowns;’ let them, if they can, produce from profane authors thoughts that are more sublime, more delicate, or better turned; not to mention the sound divinity and solid piety which are apparent under these expressions.”[1]

But it’s not merely for its literary beauty that we’re turning to Psalm 139 today. In Psalm 139 we find the answer to the question of the day, how God views an unborn child, and consequently how we should view such a child. In this psalm David meditates on four truths about God that touched his life. Since David personalized these four truths, I’ll do the same. There are four things about God I can affirm without question today…

Listen to David in verses 1-4: “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”

God knows me. What’s true of His knowledge? As David meditates he states two conclusions about God’s knowledge.

A. His knowledge is personal. Notice the first two words, “O LORD.” David isn’t addressing simply “God,” some impersonal deity in the sky, but the LORD. He uses God’s covenant name, Yahweh, the One who chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who established the nation of Israel and who promised that through that nation He would bring hope to the world. God is a personal God. He’s not merely whoever you want Him to be. He is who He is.

Furthermore, His knowledge of us is personal. “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways…” The Lord is personally involved in your life and mine, not just in general terms but in the nitty-gritty specifics. What does He know about me? He knows when I sit down in a chair. He knows when I get up out of that chair. He knows my every thought. He knows my going out—when I go to work or to work out or whatever I go to do. And He knows my lying down—I may rest but He never does. His knowledge is highly personal. Furthermore…

B. His knowledge is complete. Verse 3 again, “You are familiar with all my ways.” Not some of my ways, but all of them. What did you do last week? Did you lose sleep over a wayward child? He knows. Did you go out of your way to anonymously help a brother in need? He knows. Did you look at inappropriate things on the internet or television? He knows. He knows all my ways.

But that’s not all. Verse 4 says, “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.” He knows all my words and He knows them even before I say them.

Other psalms emphasize the greatness and majesty of God, like Psalm 8 for instance. “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” But Psalm 139 makes it clear that although He is great, indeed the greatest being in the universe, the Lord is also near and intimately involved, not just in my neighbor’s life, but in my life. He knows me.

But there’s something else about God, something that thrilled David’s soul as he faced the challenges of life (and apparently David was in some kind of a challenge as he wrote this, apparently being attacked by people as the latter part of the psalm will indicate). God knows me, yes. But also…

Notice the mention of God’s hand in this section, at the beginning and towards the end of it. Verse 5—“You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.” And in verse 10—“… if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

God is a spirit, not a flesh and bones being like us. In that sense God does not have a hand with five fingers as we know it. This is what’s called an anthropomorphism, a figure of speech which attributes human characteristics to God in order to communicate truth about Him. What does this imagery teach us about the Lord? Let’s join David in pondering three very personal actions here attributed to God.

A. His hand touches me (5-6). “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

I can remember as a child walking through a crowd of people. It’s kind of intimidating for a young fellow trying to make your way through a mass of individuals that tower over you. But my father would do something that took away the anxiety. He put his hand on me. All of a sudden my feelings changed. My father’s hand resting on my shoulder guided me so that together we moved through the crowd.

It’s amazing yet true. The Lord Almighty reaches down and puts His hand on us. In other words, He touches our lives. But this is no light tap on the shoulder, no glancing touch. David says, “You hem me in”—KJV ‘thou has beset me.’ And the awareness of God’s touch, indeed the awareness of His personal and complete knowledge simply overwhelms David. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

That’s interesting. Just because I can’t fully fathom the greatness of God doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. David is here meditating on God’s omniscience, and at the end of the day he will confess, “It’s too lofty. I can’t get my hands around it!” yet there’s value in trying.

Beloved, all of us have too small a view of God, but what’s worse, some of us are satisfied with that small view. That ought not be. Jesus said (John 17:3), “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

B. His hand guides and protects me (7-10). “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time for the simple fact that He is not limited by time and space. He created time and space.

Right now I am here, standing before you behind this pulpit in Wheelersburg , Ohio . I am not in Buffalo nor Bangkok, but here. But God is here, and He’s also there, in Buffalo and Bangkok and everywhere else, not only on planet earth but in this universe.

Yet to say that He is everywhere doesn’t say enough. He’s not only everywhere but He’s personally involved in the lives of His people everywhere. David says, “If I went up to heaven, or down into the depths of the earth, or escaped to the distant side of the Mediterranean Sea, You would be there. And not just be there, but You would be guiding and protecting me there.”

But there’s something else about God’s presence that’s even more staggering…

C. He sees me even if I think He doesn’t (11-12). “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

Again, though God has made us in His image and has in very special ways allowed us to reflect Him, He is still the Creator and we are still creatures. It can be said and indeed must be said, God is not like us. He’s not limited by time, space, or even by light.

We’re limited by light. Umpires call little league ballgames for lack of light. Farmers stop working in their fields for lack of light. Kids stop playing in the yard when the light is gone. For us, darkness prevents activity. Not so for God. I love how David puts it. “Lord, the darkness isn’t even dark to You!”

Don’t miss the point here. In verse 11 David begins with the words, If I say. “If I say that the darkness will hide You, Lord,” the fact is, it won’t. Just because I say or think something about God doesn’t make it true. And we do that all the time.

Every time we chose to sin we do that for we convince ourselves, “God isn’t watching.” But He is.

Every time we give way to anxious thoughts we do that for we wrongly think, “God isn’t watching so I’d better start worrying.” But He is watching, and not merely watching. He is holding me.

Let the weight of what we’ve seen thus far sink in. God knows me. God holds me. Are you facing a giant in your life, a challenge that’s getting the best of you? Do you feel alone and forgotten? Affirm the truth with David. God knows me. God holds me. But in order to say what David said you must know what David knew. You must know the Lord, know Him as your Savior and King. And you must live in light of that knowledge of the Lord.

At the beginning of this message I shared how amazed I was in watching the development of our yet unborn children. Now ponder this question. What was God doing at the time my daughters were in their mother’s womb? You’re about to find out, not only about my daughters but about what God was doing when you were in your mother’s womb. David tells us in verses 13-16:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

In commenting on this passage John Calvin wrote, “Should an artisan intend commencing a work in some dark cave where there was no light to assist him, how would he set his hand to do it? In what way would he proceed? And what kind of workmanship would it prove? But God makes the most perfect work of all in the dark, for he fashions man in the mother’s womb.”[2]

David reflects on six things God was doing when He was in his mother’s womb. Since God did the same with us, I’ll use the plural pronoun.

A. He created the part of us no one can see (13a). “For you created my inmost being.” The “you” is emphatic in the Hebrew. You did it, God! You created me. I am not the random result of mere biological processes. I exist because of a work You accomplished.

What work? The KJV states, “Thou has possessed my reins.” The verb means “to get or acquire,” as in acquiring property. It’s used in Deuteronomy 32:6 to refer to God redeeming His people Israel. Israel existed because God brought that nation into existence. That’s why we exist as well.

But David is very specific. He says that God created my inmost being [my ‘inward parts’ in the KJV]. It’s the Hebrew word for “kidneys.” The Jews used this word to talk about the seat of human conscience. We use the word “heart” and if we’re hurting on the inside we way we have a “heavy heart.”

Some people cry at commercials, while others haven’t shed a tear in years. What makes us so different? Certainly there are other contributing factors but the bottom line is this. God created you and that includes the part of you that no one else can see, your kidneys! your heart.

B. He fashioned us in our mother’s womb (13b-14). Verse 13—“…you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” The verb means “to weave together.”

My mother-in-law loves to knit. She starts the process with a bag of yarn beside her and by the time that yarn goes through her skillful fingers, out pops a beautiful creation!

The Creator God did that with you, beloved. He knit you together. He fashioned you in the womb. Though unseen by the world, and though unfelt by others (except for an occasional kick or twist felt by our mothers), we were alive and well in the safe confines of our mothers. And God was actively at work.

Just think was this means. God put you together. He formed you, your digestive system, your cardio-vascular system, your nervous system. He gave you the ability to think, to breathe, to move. How should these truths affect us? How did they affect David?

Verse 14—“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” When we reflect on what God has done, we can quickly come to two conclusions.

Dr. Paul Brand, a hand surgeon who specialized in work with leprosy patients in India, describes how human skin works in his book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. As you listen, ponder the greatness of the One who made our skin:

“Although scientists disagree on exactly how touch works, they can calibrate how well it works… A normal hand can distinguish between a smooth plane of glass and one etched with lines only 1/2500 of an inch deep. A textile feeler can readily recognize burlap by the friction—that’s easy; but he can also pick satin over silk, blindfolded. By rubbing his hands over a synthetic fabric, he can detect if the nylon blend has been increased by 5 percent. Those seemingly useless hairs blanketing our bodies act as levers to magnify the sensation of touch. We can discern a thousandth of an ounce of pressure on the tip of a half-inch hair…

“Every square inch of the body has a different response to touch…The soles of the feet, thickened for a daily regimen of abuse, do not report in until a weight of 250 milligrams per square mm is applied. The back of the forearm is triggered by 33 milligrams of pressure, the back of the hand by 12 milligrams. The really sensitive areas are the fingertips (3 milligrams) and the tip of the tongue (2 milligrams)…

“Touch distribution was not handed down at a blackjack table (‘God does not place dice,’ said Einstein): the sensitivity of each square inch is programmed to fit the function of that body part…”[3]

Question: Who programmed the touch distribution in your body? God did. His works are indeed wonderful. In other words, they should cause us to full of wonder. What’s more…

2. His works should produce praise in us. Like they did David. “I will praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” That’s the appropriate response to the knowledge of God’s creative work, to praise Him. But there’s more that He’s done…

C. He made our frame in the secret place (15a). “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.” In the Hebrew the verb “not hidden” is in an emphatic position. David emphasizes that even before others could see him, even when he was tucked away in the secluded, secret place inside his mother, even there he was not hidden from God. Conversely, at that time he was being “made.”

This particular verb asah is used in Genesis 2:4 to say that God made the earth, and in Genesis 8:6 when Noah made the ark. God made me, says David, and He did it in the secret place.

What an amazing fact that before the world knows, even before the woman carrying the child knows, God knows a child exists. And in the secret place of our mother’s womb, God is actively involved in the tender task of making us. There’s more…

D. He wove us together (15b). Verse 15 again, “My frame was not hidden…when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” The term “frame” [‘substance’ in the KJV] seems to refer to David’s bones. What about our bones? He says that just like an embroiderer exerts great care to fashion his product, so God painstakingly put together our very bone structure piece by piece.

There’s a great children’s song that reflects on this activity. “The head bone’s connected to the shoulder bone. The shoulder bone’s connected to the backbone. The backbone’s connected to the hip bone…to the thighbone…to the kneebone…to the anklebone.” And let’s not forget who connected all those bones! But God did more…

E. He saw us while we were developing (16a). “Your eyes saw my unformed body.” One commentator (Allen) suggests this word actually refers to our embryo. Yes, God saw us in the earliest stages of our development, as a tiny embryo, with all our potential for growth, even then He saw us and knew us completely.

This is a critical statement. When does a person become a person? I remember hearing one politician make the statement, when asked about his position on abortion, “Well, there’s difference of opinion about when the fetus actually becomes a person.” The fact that there’s difference of human opinion may be true, but God’s Word is quite clear. David says that God saw his unformed body. In other words, before his body was completely formed God saw a person. God saw him.

In case the question of personhood still persists, consider something else God did…

F. He ordained all of our days (16b). “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

God doesn’t simply respond to knowledge like we do. He knows. He knows everything and He’s always known everything. What’s more, He ordains everything. Nothing just happens in God’s universe. He ordains every detail in His creation and every detail concerning His creation, that includes every detail in your life and mine.

Here we’re told that He ordained all the days of my life. The fact is, I will live the exact number of days that my Creator ordained for me. He even wrote them in His book to show just how comprehensive His plan is. He didn’t ordain some of the days, but all of the days of our lives, and He did it even before the first day took place.

Did you have any good days this week? God ordained those days. Any days you would consider “bad” days? God knows about those days, too, and in fact ordained them and has a purpose for them.

You say, “I have trouble with saying that God ordained bad days. Are you saying that God ordains bad things.” Not at all. I’m simply agreeing with this verse that God ordains all our days and that includes what we consider to be the bad ones. Part of the reason we consider some days to be “bad” is because of our perspective.

Think of it this way. Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” What day is that talking about? Two verses earlier we read, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone…” Jesus applied this verse to Himself in Matthew 21:42. What day was on His mind? The day of His crucifixion. We call that day Good Friday.

Was that a good day? Humanly speaking, it was a terrible day, the worst of days, the day when wicked men killed the Son of God. But from God’s perspective, it was the most important day in the history of mankind. Indeed, it was a God-ordained day. That’s what Peter said in his sermon to the very people who killed Jesus, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross (Acts 2:23).”

What made Good Friday good? It was part of God’s plan. And what is God’s plan? To form a people for Himself, to redeem a people by sending His own Son to die in their place, to transform that people so that they would resemble His Son (Rom 8:29). Because of what Jesus did on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday God will forgive you and make you His very child, if you will repent and believe in Christ.

But it’s not just Good Friday that God ordained. He ordains our days too, every one of them, to accomplish His purpose. “All things [all days] work together for good (Rom 8:28) for those who love God…”

So all the days were ordained for you and me before one of them came to be. How should this truth affect us? Here’s how it affected David…

Verses 17-18 “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”

David said that God’s thoughts were precious to him. David thought about God. He pondered God’s works. Our problem is we seldom stop to think God’s thoughts. We fill our minds with ESPN and Nick at Night. Nothing wrong with that but they don’t help us think God’s thoughts. I challenge you this year to read good books that will help you think God’s thoughts. Certainly read His Word. Also read books like:

Let’s resolve to get to know God better in 2006, to grow in our knowledge of Him.

Today we’re learning four truths about God that we, like David, can affirm with confidence. God knows me. God holds me. God made me. Here’s the fourth…

It’s impossible to come to grips with the truth about God and not be changed. The knowledge of God should affect us in three ways, as it did in David’s case.

A. The knowledge of God shapes the way I view the wicked (19-22). David’s tone changes in verses 19-22, “If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.”

You say, “Where did that come from? One moment David is meditating on the greatness of God, the next He’s calling on God to judge the wicked. Why?” Quite honestly, these verses don’t seem to fit, do they? Maybe that’s because we don’t know God like David did.

1. When people misrepresented God, it bothered David. Notice what David says captured his attention:

Verse 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD…who rise up against you?

This isn’t something personal. David’s motivation is God’s reputation, not his own.

Remember, David’s been pondering God’s works and reflecting on the truth about God. If you really grasp the truth about God, and of course that’s only because of His grace, it will bother you when others ignore Him, slight Him, mock Him, and misrepresent Him. Simply put…

2. When people misrepresent God, it ought to bother us. Have you heard anybody misrepresent the Lord recently?

“God knows I’m not happy in my marriage. He won’t care if I break my marriage vow. He wants me to be happy.”

“God knows money’s tight this month. He doesn’t care if I keep His tithe.”

“God wouldn’t want me to turn down the overtime. He’ll understand if I miss church to make money. He knows my heart.”

“This just isn’t the right time to have a baby. I’ve got my career to think about. God wouldn’t want me to sacrifice my career plans with this unwanted pregnancy. He won’t mind if I terminate this pregnancy.”

No! No! No! If you think those thoughts about God you are misrepresenting and offending Him.

To us David seems to “change the subject” in verse 19. But it is the subject. The subject of Psalm 139 is the superiority of God, and when His superiority is questioned or attacked, it out to grieve us.

But the fact is, we who know God are not immune from misrepresenting God. So David concludes his psalm with a very specific prayer in verses 23-24:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

B. The knowledge of God shapes the way I view myself (23-24). The fact is, we need to take inventory, to pray this prayer with David, for we have two great needs. I’ll make it personal…

1. Since I’m prone to deceive myself, I need God to search me. “Search me, O God. Know my heart.” My heart is so deceitful, so is yours. We need God to expose the truth, the hidden truth about the condition of our hearts. We need Him to test us, to reveal the truth about the thoughts we’ve been thinking about Him, about ourselves, about life itself.

I urge you to pray this prayer right now, as I do. Since I’m prone to deceive myself, I need God to search me. But I, like David and like you, have a second need.

2. Since I’m prone to wander, I need God to lead me. “Lead me in the way everlasting.” Not in the way of expedience. Not in the way of convenience. In the way that will matter in the light of eternity.

“Where will that path take me?” you ask. “If I allow God to lead me, where will I end up?” We don’t find the answer in Psalm 139. Psalm 139 ends, as does the rest of the Old Testament, simply looking forward.

C. The knowledge of God leads me to the cross. When I grasp the truth about God and His greatness, and face the reality that I am sinner who has offended this great God, my only hope is to trust in the One He sent to reconcile me to Himself, the One who went to the cross in order to lead me in the way everlasting.

**Note: This is an unedited manuscript of a message preached at Wheelersburg Baptist Church. It is provided to prompt your continued reflection on the practical truths of the Word of God.

[1] Quoted in Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3, p. 266.

[2] Quoted in Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3, p. 280.

[3] Paul Brand & Philip Yancey, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, p. 125, 130.