A Prepared Bride 12 - Loving Yourself 2 - Psalm 139

In order for us to love others, we must first come to an agreement with God about how He made us, as individuals, and learn to love and appreciate His handiwork.

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matt 22:37-40 NIV

Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments boiled down and distilled from the 600 or so that the Jews were accustomed to trying to obey. Of course, without the law we would never know that we doing anything wrong.

“…through the law we become conscious of sin. Rom 3:20 NIV

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." Rom 7:7 NIV

Therefore, the law came and exists to show us our sin because no one can fulfill the law. If that were possible, to obey all the Ten Commandments, for instance, then we would not have needed sacrifices in the Old Testament nor the greatest sacrifice in the person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. As the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote,

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Heb 10:1-4 NIV

And Paul adds this statement,

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
Gal 3:25 NIV

Not that we no longer have to obey the law but that now we serve a higher law – 2 that work from the inside out rather than 613 that try to work from the outside in!

Anyway, to return to the subject today, after having discussed our need to be selfless (Loving Yourself 1), it is time to gain an appreciation for the miraculous creation who you are!

David has penned an incredible understanding of what we would refer to as “procreation” or as I like top look at it – co-creating with God. We supply the raw materials in the form of DNA and nutrients while God puts it together just how He wants to create a unique, specifically gifted individual endowed with desires and talents predetermined by God.

Let’s take a look at Psalm 139.

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.
Ps 139:13-16 NIV

There is so much in this entire Psalm. I encourage you to meditate on it and recognize just how completely your Heavenly Father is acquainted with you and your situation. There is no place that you can go that He is not already there ahead of you. There is nothing that you can encounter that takes your Father by surprise. Amazing!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb
- The fact that man is manifest to God even to the very bottom of his nature, and in every place, is now confirmed from the origin of man. The development of the child in the womb was looked upon by the Israelitish Chokma as one of the greatest mysteries, Eccl 11:5; and here the poet praises this coming into being as a marvelous work of the omniscient and omnipresent omnipotence of God.*
- We are woven together as a unique creation in our mothers’ womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
- Not made in fear but an expression of the awe and trembling which results when we recognize the complexity and specificity of the creation which we are.
- The same word that is translated “wonderfully made” is used in the following verses to indicate someone set apart, sanctified or consecrated to the Lord.

- How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" Ex 33:16 NIV
- Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;the LORD will hear when I call to him. Ps 4:3 NIV

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,
- God is involved even in the forming of our skeletal structure. I tell the story that when I was in high school, I was part of the choir. I had one of the lowest voices of any of the guys but was also one of the shortest as well. In fact, I was so short; I was placed in the front row between the altos and sopranos. The nearest male voice was two rows behind me. At one point, it was said that the average American male was 5’ 10” tall. I was only 5’ 6”. Somewhere out there, someone has my 4 inches!

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
- The embryo folded up in the shape of an egg is here called golem , from gaalam, to roll or wrap together (cf. glomus, a ball), in the Talmud said of any kind of unshapen mass (LXX akate'rgaston, Symmachus amo'rfooton) and raw material, e.g., of the wood or metal that is to be formed into a vessel*
- The raw material (DNA, etc.) that would be used to create who we uniquely are.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
- I do not have sufficient space here to discuss predestination but suffice it to say that God knows the beginning from the end and as Paul stated,
- For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Rom 8:29-30 NIV

Essentially, what I would like for us to take away from this Psalm is a recognition of the incredible work God did in creating each of us as individuals. He deposited gifts and talents, abilities and desires that make each of us unique. But even more, once we accept Jesus’ death and resurrection as truth and embrace Him as our Lord and Savior, we can begin to actually fulfill our destiny and see our gifts and callings begin to manifest in a God-ordained manner. All of this is ultimately designed to bring glory and honor to the only true God.

When we embrace the work and grace of God in our own lives, when we recognize the great mercy shown to us then we can appreciate the work and grace of God in others and be merciful as we have received mercy. Until we come to that place of loving ourselves, who God made us to be, we can never learn to love others.

Granted, there may be things about us that are sinful or that we simply don’t like – change it if you can. If you are overweight, stop eating and exercise! If you don’t like your hair, color it or cut it or wear a wig or shave it off! If you are an angry or critical person, begin to serve, preferably by scrubbing the toilets at the church, and throw yourself on the mercy of God that He will break this self-centeredness in you. My experience is that whatever is driving us nuts about another person is usually something within ourselves that the Spirit is putting His finger on but with which we are refusing to deal!

Also, anger is simply an expression that results from our feeling that our rights have been violated. I can’t do what I what to do! Watch any 2 or 3 year old, you will see the same attitude! Just let me advise you that dead men have no rights! Therefore, your anger is a sign that you ain’t quite as dead in Christ as you claim!

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Col 3:1-3 NIV

Learn to appreciate the marvelous work of God who you are. Thank Him for His handiwork! Be grateful for His gifts.

Remember my story about being the shortest guy in the choir? A number of years later, in the 80s, Erica and I took a trip to Haiti with two very tall brothers. They were each over 6 feet. When we arrived in Haiti, we needed to rent a car get around the island. Of course, the only cars they had available were Toyotas so we rented a Toyota wagon. One of the fellows insisted that he was going to drive being the “man of God” and all. Not only was he tall, but he was big – over 280 lbs. With the drivers seat all the way back and even leaning as far back as was practical, when he finally squeezed himself into the car, he discovered that he could not possibly drive because his knees rose up on either side of the steering wheel so that it was impossible for him to steer the vehicle. Needless to say, I drove all around for those days. Even with the front seats all the way forward, these two guys had a very difficult time just getting in and out of the car. Thank God for 5’ 6”!

*(from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)