139: Bryan Styles - Embracing God in Your Life

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. This class is called Embracing God in Your Life by Brother Brian Stiles. It was the first class in a series he gave, the North Battle for Ecclesia, which is in Saskatchewan. Study Day in 2018. This class was suggested to me, and I very much enjoyed it.

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   Brian does a really good job kind of defining some terms. He uses God consciousness as kind of a definition of our awareness of God being active in our life and our need to have a relationship with Him. I found it to be just a really great kind of meditation and exhortation, you know, to recognize how we can't kind of separate our lives as we so want to do and kind of separate our minds, compartmentalize.

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   And he really, yeah, dives into that, has a bunch of really great examples and passages. So this was a great class. I'm thankful to the brother who suggested it to me. Please do keep your suggestions coming to all of us. We really appreciate them. And we thank everyone who has sent one before.

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   I'm excited to share this class with you. Here is Embracing God in Your Life by Brother Brian Stiles. Well, good morning, everyone. Good morning. It's nice to see everyone today. Though it's cold outside, it's a little bit of a shock treatment for us. It's not too much warmer in Michigan. There was some snow falling when we left, but it definitely feels like winter here.

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   Nonetheless, we're very excited to be spending some time around God's Word and look forward to some warm fellowship. Because really, when you think about it, what could be more exciting, what could be more important than thinking about our relationship with our Heavenly Father? And that's really what today and this weekend is all about, is stepping back and considering our relationship such that we might improve it and grow as we walk toward the kingdom together.

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   The genesis for this study was really thinking about some of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and wondering how is it that they could be so incredibly faithful when they didn't have a Bible to read? When they went years without a visible manifestation of God in their lives? How is it that Abraham could be motivated to leave his home and go to a place that he had never seen before with just a promise that there was something there, that God would fulfill that for him?

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   How is it that Jacob could serve a dishonest Laban, having his wages changed ten times but continue to walk forward in faith despite the actions of other people? Or Joseph, when you think about him as a teenager being taken away from his home, being taken into the land of Egypt, a place that didn't even believe in God, and still being resolute in his faith, still not giving in to the temptations of Potiphar's wife, despite having no ecclesia, no parental or peer accountability or oversight, no Bible to read.

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   How is it that these men and even women of faith, if we were to continue down the list, could continue to walk forward in the confidence that they had in God? Well, the key is really God consciousness. To them, God was a reality. And because God was real, the reality of God was reflected in their behavior.

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    Their religion was not just a set of doctrinal beliefs that they clung to. It was a relationship. And that relationship was based on belief. It was based on a belief in the promises that God had made. And a commitment from mankind to keep the terms of those promises, to keep the term of that covenant.

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    And because of that, they lived their lives in a way that reflected that they truly believed that God was going to do what he said he was going to do. When we step back and think about the grand purpose of the eternal spirit, it is true that God manifestation is the grand purpose.

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    That God is going to fill the earth with his glory. But God consciousness is being aware of God manifestation. Because God is present all around us. And even though we can't physically see him at times, if we train our minds, then we can see his hand at work. But it takes the quieting of the mind to hear that still, small voice that is ever present.

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    Because in a world of chaotic noise, in a world of distraction, unless we are intentional about really focusing on our relationship with God, we'll find that we don't see him. That he's not a reality to us. And as a result, that we don't have the true relationship that each one of us desires and that each one of us would want to have.

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    So this weekend is intended not to be theoretical in nature or abstract as we consider this theme of God consciousness. It's meant to be real. It's meant to hit hard at the core of our discipleship. And even if you have thought about this topic before, think about how you've grown since the last time you've considered it.

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    Because hopefully it's not event-focused. Of where we focus on God when we come together as an ecclesia. Or at a specific weekend. Hopefully it's not event-focused from that standpoint. But it becomes a continual process. A continual accountability to our God. Not that we're afraid that we're going to be destroyed. But that we're motivated and inspired to want to serve him.

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    Because of the love that he has for us. So many who were not conscious of God. So many who looked at God as a set of beliefs. Without forming a relationship. Ended up turning aside to idolatry. And the reason that they turned aside to idolatry is because the desire to see, to feel, and to experience are innate to humans.

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    We want to be able to see, to feel, and experience what it is and who it is that we worship. And when people didn't go down that path of really forming a relationship with God. They ended up turning to something that they could see. The things that they could experience at this present time.

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    And ended up trading in the kingdom for the present time. Because they did not form that relationship. That's the danger of not being conscious of God. But those who were conscious. And who lived their lives according to that relationship. Could slice through the monotony of repetition. And could find real purpose in their lives before God.

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    That's our hope for this weekend. Is to reinvigorate ourselves in the hope that we have. In the formation of that relationship with our Heavenly Father. So how is it that we plan to do that this weekend with our time together? Well as was announced our first class is titled Embracing God in Your Life.

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    And to get us thinking around this theme. Consider this verse as we start talking about God consciousness. And being aware of Him in our lives. Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Seth the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? Seth the Lord. Just pause and think about what this verse in Jeremiah is communicating to us.

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    That there's nowhere. Nowhere that we can be that God does not see us. That God is not just aware of where we are. But knows everything about us. Think about this verse as well. That the eyes of the Lord are in every place. Beholding the good and the evil. In Proverbs 15 and verse 3.

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    Capture for yourself how that makes you feel. Think about going through a day in your typical life. A day in your week. Going to school. Going to work. It's not really that hard for us to imagine a typical day. Because they tend to be somewhat repetitious. But what do we do with the time that we have in our commute?

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    Or when we wake up. What do we find ourselves first thinking about in the morning? As we go to work or to school. Or we interact with others. What do we find ourselves talking about? What fills our conversations? When we come home in the evening. We spend time at the end of the day.

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    What do we spend that time doing? What do we entertain ourselves with? What do we use our free time for? Are they the things that pertain to eternal life? Now take all of those things from a typical day. And then overlay the question on top of that. Would I feel comfortable doing those things?

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    Would I continue doing the same things? If an angel were visibly present with me throughout the day. On my commute. And angels in the passenger seat. Would I react the same way? When situations come up on the road. Or the way that I use the time in the car. Or would I interact the same way with the people at work or school.

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    Or whoever else it is that I interact with throughout the day. Would there be a different level of accountability. In my level of patience. And how I communicate. Would I find myself doing different things. At the end of the day. Would my focus improve? If we find a disparity between how we would behave.

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    If we could see an angel visibly present. Versus how we are behaving presently. Then that means that we have work to do. In regards to our level of God consciousness. Because the reality is that an angel is with us. At all times. That's what these verses are telling us. And cognitively we all know that to be the case.

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    But why is it that there is this disjointedness. Between our cognitive knowledge. And behaviorally how we act. How many of us have played hide and go seek. With a two or three year old before. I see a couple hands coming up. And the whole protocol of this. Is you count to twenty. And then you get done.

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    And the kid is sitting there with their hands over their eyes. Right? And hidden in plain sight. We had a situation like this with our youngest. He was told no potato chips before dinner. Well he was intent on getting potato chips. We turn our back for a little while. We turn around. We hear the crunching of potato chips.

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    And not only do we hear the crunching. But then there is a Joshua sized lump in the living room. With a blanket thrown over him. And he's eating potato chips. But he's thinking that he's being really sneaky. Because dad can't see him. Neither can mom. So he's hidden. But in reality. That's not a very good hiding place.

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    And we chuckle a little bit. I chuckle a little bit. But then I wonder how do I interact with God? Have I really progressed beyond the toddler stage? In regards to my level of God consciousness. Because if I act differently. On a day to day basis. Then I would act if an angel could visibly be present to me.

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    Then it helps to put things in perspective. That maybe I have some growing to do. Because sometimes those imageries help us to visualize. Maybe where we're presently at. And where those opportunities are. And so if you think about developing a real relationship. Can you develop a relationship with somebody that you don't know?

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    Or can you develop a relationship with somebody that you don't talk to? If you thought that the person wasn't listening. Would you continue to talk to them? Or if they weren't even there. Would you just talk to an empty seat? It may seem a little bit ridiculous. But is this how we view God?

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    Do we really view that God is there listening? Do we really talk to God? Do we really know who God is? And does God know who we are? Do we take the time to listen to Him communicating to us? These are all the questions to ask ourselves as we're thinking about this topic.

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    And so as we begin to go through this topic. Knowing that God is everywhere. And that God does see everything. We need to prepare our minds to consider this topic. Because the mind only sees, or rather the eye only sees, what the mind is prepared to comprehend. And what this means is that if we don't prepare our minds, then we will miss things that are happening in plain sight.

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    We'll think that God is not active in our lives. We'll think that God is not responding to us. But in reality, the fault lay with us that we haven't prepared our minds to see the visible hand of God at work in our lives. And so let's take a little bit of time to prepare our minds to help us see what it is that we truly need to see if we want to have that relationship with God that we desire.

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    And not just the relationship that we desire, but the relationship that He desires from each and every one of us. So as we go through our studies this weekend, this is the roadmap for how we'd like to walk through this topic. It's split into two basic sub-themes. The first of knowing God, and the second of being known of God.

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    Because both of these are fundamentally important if we want to have the relationship with God. We first need to know who He is, His character, what it is that He requires from a relationship. And in turn, He needs to know who we are. And He learns who we are. He knows us and identifies us as His when we adopt the characteristics and begin to model them in our lives.

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    When we make a commitment to Him through the waters of baptism and actually live that commitment out. And so this first class is embracing God in our life. Really coming to terms with not just the fact that God knows everything and reluctantly accepting that, but actively inviting God into our lives because we see the value in a relationship.

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    Running to Him in faith and not running from Him in fear. The second class really begins to tackle this aspect of knowing God. We'll look at the life of Moses and we'll see where he found a gap in his own understanding of wanting to know the glory of God. Wanting to understand His character.

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    And we'll walk through the attributes of God together to remind ourselves of not just what God manifests, but who God is as defined by His character. We'll then move into our second sub-theme of being known of God. How is it that God begins to identify us as His? And we'll look at this aspect of fearing the Lord.

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    Of developing this deep reverence for Him. Walking through the Proverbs and some of the Psalms to see how this is defined. What it is. What it does for us and how we obtain it. And then as our brother mentioned in the opening prayer, the need for us to remember what it is that we learn.

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    To actually identify ourselves with God, not just today, but each and every day. Remembering our commitment and what it is that we've learned as we implement that together. And finally in our exhortation, we'll look at the theme of being conscious of God as manifested in the life of David in Psalm 34. And we'll see a real life application of how he did this when he faced adversity.

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    And how the language that he used helped to reinforce in a real way, not just for himself, but for those who were with him, what it meant to truly put his trust and belief in God. And so the overall goal then for this weekend is to build our relationship with God by increasing in our awareness of him.

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    So let's go ahead and get started together then in terms of our first class of coming to terms or embracing God in our lives. I mentioned a little minute, a few minutes ago, that this aspect of God consciousness was at the center of many faithful men and women. Is there proof for that in the Bible in terms of the language that's used?

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    Look at some of the language that God uses to really try to reinforce and to drive into us the fact that he wants us to be aware of the fact that he is everywhere. He uses this term presence, panim, which actually literally means his face. It's used many hundreds of times in the Old Testament.

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    And it's meant to reinforce for us that we are always before the presence, always before the face of God. It's used of other things besides God. But when it's used concerning God, he's trying to reinforce to his creation that they are right before him all the time. Adam and Eve in the garden, they tried to hide from the face of the Lord.

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    It didn't work. Jonah tried to flee from the face of the Lord, the presence of the Lord, but that didn't work either. Over and over again, God uses this language to reinforce this point. The eyes of the Lord are another metaphor that God uses. Not just a metaphor in the sense of something that is figurative, but real.

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    As God tries to convey to us that his eyes are everywhere. The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He ponders all his goings in Proverbs 5 and verse 21. And we can see similar references in Zechariah 4 and verse 10 and Hebrews 4 and verse 13. The sight of the Lord with the children of Israel and what they did in the sight of the Lord.

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    The kings of Israel, the Father, which seeth in secret, even in the New Testament, as the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to calibrate the minds of his disciples to help them realize that God is seeing everything. You could add to these verses references concerning the hand of God, the arm of the Lord, to help them see the reality of God at work in their lives.

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    We know even in our present day from Revelation 2 that Christ is walking in the midst of the ecclesia. That often we talk about Christ being absent, but he's not absent from us now. We just cannot visibly see him at our present time. And he's reminding the ecclesias in the New Testament that he is walking in the midst of the ecclesias.

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    And Jesus tells us that he's present in the way that we interact with each other. And the criteria for success is how we manifest these principles, not just in our relationship with God, to seek the Lord our God above everything else, but to show it in the way that we interact one with another.

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    That if you've done it unto these the least of my brethren, then you've done it unto me. And so scripture is full of this language that's meant to drive an awareness and a consciousness of God at all times. Yet how does that make us feel when we step back and we really think about the fact that God sees everything in our lives?

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    That God sees our thoughts? That God knows where our hearts truly are? and that as we ran through that scenario of going through a day in our typical lives, that God is with us each and every moment. Does that make us feel good? Or does that make us step back a little bit and have pause?

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    Do we feel a little bit like this verse that's on the screen? Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? from thy face? Because when we take a look at Psalm 139, we see a journey taking place. A journey of where somebody, in this case David, through the spirit, begins in the point of that journey of reluctantly acknowledging that God knows everything about him.

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    And actually using language that would indicate that he'd prefer to have a little bit of space. to not have somebody else's eyes prying in all the time. He goes from that point to actually recognizing, appreciating, and inviting God into his life. How does that occur? Well, we want to walk through Psalm 139 together to begin to see how David, through the spirit, makes this journey.

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    Because before we can ever have a real relationship with God, we have to invite him into our lives. God will not force his way into our lives. True, he has called us and it's an immense privilege. But we have to make sure that we have the right mindset concerning our Heavenly Father if we're going to have a relationship.

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    Because what is it that drives that desire to want to get away from God? To want to have some time for ourselves, some me time? Isn't it only when we do things or we're involved in things that we know don't align with his principles? And so this gives us an opportunity to think deeply about those areas of inconsistency and the areas of improvement.

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    And so if we could turn to Psalm 139, we'll begin walking through our opening reading together and hopefully gain for ourselves some insights and some appreciation, building on the appreciation that doubtless we already have to help to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father. One of the themes that comes out very strong in Psalm 139 is this aspect of knowing, the omniscience of God, that God knows everything.

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    It's mentioned seven times in this Psalm, the Hebrew word yada or de'ath, both conveying a similar meaning of knowing everything. And the first number of usages, the first three times it comes up, relate to God's knowledge, that God knows everything. And so when you take a look at the application concerning David, he knew everything about David in verse one.

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    It was all-encompassing. He knew everything that David did and he knew everything that David thought. This is the first portion of the usages of this word. The second, as we'll see throughout the Psalm, when the last four occur, are then David's response to the recognition that God knows everything about him. So as we begin to walk through this Psalm, let's see how it is that David is unpacking or processing this omniscience of God as it pertains to his daily life.

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    So as we begin walking, he starts the Psalm in Psalm 139 in verse one and says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. When you take a look at this word searched, Jesenius tells us that it actually means to make search by digging. It's not just a superficial search but it's actually digging beneath the surface to see what it is in David's life that was taking place.

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    As we move on in verse two, we begin to see that the ways that David was dug into by God. He knew everything about what he was doing, what he was thinking, even from afar is what it tells us in verse two. He says, Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off.

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    So distance was not a burden or a hurdle that God could not overcome. He knew where he was going in verse three. He says, You compassest all my ways. That means to scatter or to winnow. Sometimes our lives can seem like a bit of a jumbled up mess of where there's so many things that are going on at once.

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    We feel sometimes underwater with all the different conflicting priorities and burdens that come our way. But David says, Not so with God. God is able to take our lives and to spread them out before him and to see everything about our lives, to see everything that we're involved in, and to see very plainly what we have going on.

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    He says that God is in all that he does in verse three. And that word acquainted actually means to inhabit. So it's not just God as a casual onlooker being aware of what we're doing. He says God is actually inhabiting, dwelling within my life. And isn't that what we're told in Isaiah 66 verses one and two, that God wants to dwell within the hearts of his creation.

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    Or as Stephen said in Acts seven and verse 48, that God does not dwell in temples made with human hands, but God wants to dwell within his creation. And David's recognizing that God is actually dwelling inside of me. Is God a welcome guest or an unwelcome guest is the question that faces us as we begin to walk through this psalm together.

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    And he knows everything in verse four that David is going to say before he even says it. Before it comes out for public consumption, God is already aware of what it is that David is going to communicate. And so he's realizing that God's knowledge is all encompassing. But this begins to make David feel a little bit trapped.

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    If you knew that somebody knew everything about you, you could begin to feel a little bit unable to escape. Like where can I actually go to move away from this? to where I'm not going to be understood or everything about me isn't going to be seen or I can't even think a thought without somebody else knowing what that thought is.

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    And so this language begins to express the feeling of being trapped. God's knowledge wasn't bound by time nor was it bound by space. He says in verse five, You look at this word beset, it actually means besiege. So this isn't a positive word. When you start to think about besieging somebody, it means surrounding them so that they can't escape.

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    Nothing goes in. Nothing goes out. And as David is looking at how he's besieged, he talks about things behind. It's a bit of a misnomer. It actually speaks of the future, of a time to come. And he also talks about before, a time of old or a time of past. So whether it be past, present or future, God had David's life completely understood that yes, David had free will to do the things that he desired, but God knew everything.

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    So much so that God could simply take his hand and place it over David and he would be completely covered on every side. And that's what this word, thou hast laid thine hand upon me, actually means. It's the palm of the hand and it's the imagery of taking one's hand and placing it over something.

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    You can begin to feel rather insignificant when you think about the largeness of God and the smallness of humankind. And as David is thinking about this initially, he's using this language of being besieged, unable to escape, trapped on all sides, time, space, it didn't matter. God was there. God was everywhere present. But David begins to transition in his thought.

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    He begins to change concerning his thought process as he starts to think not just about God in his life personally, but he begins to think about God in creation. He begins to think about his mortality. Because as we continue reading in verse 7, the apex of this expression is where he says, whither can I go from thy spirit, or shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

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    This is very much the same thing that Jonah did. Jonah 1 and verse 3, that he fled from the presence of the Lord. Didn't work for Jonah. And he's wondering where he can flee from the presence of the Lord. There's nowhere that he can go. He says in verse 8, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.

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    If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. And so he begins to make this transition to now speaking in more positive terms in verse 10.

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    Of this hand that was besieging him before is now a hand in verse 10 that is leading him, and a right hand that is holding him. And you wonder, well, why is this the case? Well, because David began to think about his mortality in verse 8, as he thought about the heavens, and then he thought about the grave.

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    And he realized that even though his life would come to an end, that God's time would continue on forever. And David's mind now begins to think, well, why is God doing all of this? Why is God involved in my life? Is it just so that God can see everything that I'm doing, so that he can hold me accountable to the judgment for the things that I've done wrong?

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    Well, as David thinks about creation, he realizes that there's a lot more than that. There's something way more significant going on that David is beginning to see, that God is leading him to understand. And so in verse 10, as I've mentioned, he goes on to say that God's hand is leading him. And his right hand is holding him.

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    And this word of leading me speaks of a shepherd. Just like Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. In Psalm 23 in verse 3, of leading him in the paths of righteousness. Thy right hand holding me, that's the right hand of power, of deliverance. It's used in Exodus 15 in verse 6. And 15 in verse 12, when they're brought out of the Red Sea by the hand of God and they're delivered from their oppressors.

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    They're delivered from the Egyptians. Christians. And as he continues reading, or thinking rather, as we continue reading in verses 11 and 12, we can see the aspects of creation continuing, of where he begins to speak about darkness and light, and the fallacy that people have when they think about darkness and light. He addresses this fallacy that people can have of thinking that in the night, they're freer to do the things that they would desire to do because nobody's going to see them.

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    You think about crime and the rate of crime at night versus during the day, that there's this conception that since you're not seen, you're able to get away with things that you wouldn't normally do in the light. But look at what David says as he addresses man's thinking and then contrasts that with the reality with God.

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    Man thinks darkness shall cover me. Man thinks darkness hideth. Man thinks that there's a difference between the night and that there's a difference between that and the daytime. But he says the reality with God is that night shall be light around me. That darkness doesn't hide from God. It actually shines as the day that both are alike to God.

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    That God sees absolutely everything independent of day or night. And so at any point in God's creation, at any time of day or night, God is there. And we say that, well yeah, of course Brian, this isn't anything new. Why are you acting like this is some huge realization? But do we live our lives that way?

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    In the privacy of our own rooms? When nobody else is around? Do we really have this level of awareness when other people are not present? Because what these verses are telling us is that independent of day or night, of other people around, that there is a light shining down from heaven all the time, placing everything that we do on display, everything that we think.

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    And this isn't meant to create an anxiety within us. This is the reality of what God is doing. But why is he doing these things? Well David continues to explain why God was involved in his personal life. That God is not just interested in the expanse of creation, creation, but God took a very distinct and purposeful interest in the life of David personally.

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    And he takes a very distinct and real interest in each of our lives as well. As we continue to read on, look at the language that he begins to use concerning God's involvement in his life. Because now David goes on in verse 13 to start talking about how God was involved in his life long before he had any conception of who God was.

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    Long before David could even think God was there. We see this in verse 13. For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. This word possessed actually means to redeem. It's the word that was used concerning Boaz and Ruth. And David in his mind's eye now begins to think through the spirit back to his great-grandmother.

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    He begins to think of Ruth and how it is that his great grandfather Boaz redeemed Ruth. What was the purpose of Boaz's involvement in Ruth's life? It was to redeem her, to take her out of Moab, to give her a place that would actually grant her some kind of hope beyond this life.

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    And he's using this language because now this is purposeful language to communicate why it is that God sees everything. why God was taking a keen interest in his life. It was to redeem him and what part was it that he had redeemed? What part is it that he had purchased? Well he had purchased the reins or the kidneys, the seat of the innermost desires and affections.

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    And we know from Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10, where our hearts are, that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. But who can know it? The Lord. He's the one that searches the heart. He tries the reins. This is what God has purchased. He's purchased the mind. And he wants all of our mind.

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    That's what we read in Romans 12 and verse 1, that he wants us to be that living sacrifice. That's our reasonable, our logical service. And David realizes that God has done that for a real purpose and for his benefit. And when he says that you have covered me in my mother's womb, that actually means to make a hedge.

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    It's no longer a besieging. It's a hedging. It's a protection. And from the time that David was in his mother's womb, God was there protecting him, redeeming him, and preparing him for the work that lay ahead. And God's involvement was way, way before David could ever be aware of God. Start thinking about yourself in this context because this isn't something that's unique to David.

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    Look at the language that he continues to use in verse 14 where he says, I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. This word fearfully speaks of a fear of terror but it also could speak of a fear of reverence.

95. 37:14

    Young's literal translation says that because that with wonders I have been distinguished. And he sees the wonderful way that God had distinguished him. Not that David stepped back and said, well, aren't I wonderful? He's talking more about the perspective of how God had distinguished him by giving him a hope of salvation. By setting him apart from everything else that was around the rest of the world and giving him a hope.

96. 37:40

    Giving him an opportunity. And this is what this word wonderfully made. It means to separate or to set apart. That God had set apart David and God too has set us apart for a specific purpose. As we continue reading, we can see that David expands upon this. And think about the reality of this for us because it's rather amazing to try to fathom how God is involved in our life at this level.

97. 38:11

    Take a look at what David says. He says, My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth. There's a lot of debate today on when does human life begin. And we know the reason for that is because people try to figure out when human life can be extinguished.

98. 38:30

    When is it okay to end a pregnancy? But when you take a look at how David is defining this, he's looking at it from the standpoint, not when does a heartbeat begin to occur, but when does God get involved in my life? And look at when God gets involved in our lives. He says, my substance, which means my bones or my body, that God was involved in the construction of David's bones.

99. 38:55

    He goes on to talk about how he was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, referring to the womb of his mother. And he uses this terminology that's actually reserved for parts of the tabernacle, of where they would take four different types of fabric and interweave them together to make one composite product.

100. 39:14

     All of the other usage of this phrase, curiously wrought, refer to aspects of the tabernacle. It refers to the door of the tabernacle, the gate of the court, the girdle of the high priest. And you had this blue material, which was representative of divine thinking. Purple, representative of royalty. Fine twine linen, which was righteousness.

101. 39:38

     And scarlet, which is really representative of the nature that we possess. And God was interweaving into David, despite the nature that he possessed, the latent potential for greatness. Not greatness of David's own accord, but being able to understand divine principles, preparing him for the royalty that he would have, not just in this life, as the king of Israel, but a king and a priest in the age to come.

102. 40:06

     David saw himself as part of the construction of the tabernacle, realizing that these words that were used to Moses in the planning of the tabernacle were actually meant to apply to people. It's rather amazing to think about it from that perspective, to see that God is preparing within each one of us a place for him to dwell in, a place for him to inhabit.

103. 40:31

     Are we actively doing the same to where God would want to dwell within us? Well, look at what David says as he continues on, as he talks about this living tabernacle. He says that God was involved in my life from the very, very beginning. He uses this word golem, which actually means embryo.

104. 40:52

     This whole phrase is one Hebrew word, my substance yet being imperfect. And when you look at an embryo, it refers to the first eight weeks of a pregnancy. He says during that very, very early stage, all of my features were written in the book of God. That's what he says. He says that all of my members were written in that book.

105. 41:17

     And so when God began during the pregnancy of David's mother, God had a design. design. And then God worked throughout those months of pregnancy to execute the design in the womb of David's mother. This was the place where the potter would go to work. And this is the language that David uses to express this.

106. 41:40

     He actually uses this word fashion, like a potter with clay, is what Jesenius tells us. And it's the same word that God uses back in Genesis 2 and verse 7 when he formed Adam. Each and every day, day by day, week after week, God was forming David in the womb into the man that he would need him to be.

107. 42:02

     Imbuing into him the characteristics, the latent abilities that David would later need to activate as God put him into the position that he needed him to be in. God had designed David for a purpose. And God has designed each one of us for a purpose. None of us are here by mistake. We are written in the book of God and God has begun to build this creation in each and every one of us, beginning all the way back to the womb of our mother, creating in us the latent abilities that we can activate through his grace and mercy throughout our lives.

108. 42:41

     But how are we activating those abilities? Where do we give the credit for those things? Paul had to admonish the Corinthians to say, why do you differ? It's not because of your own abilities that you differ. It's because God has created those differences. Each one of us are a different member of the body of Christ.

109. 43:00

     How are we using those different opportunities that God's given to us? Are we using them solely in the service of Pharaoh, the things in this life? Or are we really focusing on the fact that God's written us in his book for a reason, for a purpose, and to use those abilities in his service?

110. 43:21

     And as David thinks about this, his mind just begins to explode. And he just said, I can't, I can't comprehend this. It's just too much for me to imagine. As he continues on in verse 17, How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, there are more in number than the sand.

111. 43:44

     When I awake, I am still with thee. David now is seeing the reality for why God is in his life. And we have that same opportunity. And as David sees the importance of accepting this calling, he feels now a responsibility to make some decisions. You see the decisions that it drives in David's mind.

112. 44:10

     He says in verse 19, 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. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

113. 44:28

     He doesn't want to be any part of people who have not come to that same recognition concerning their responsibility before God. And it needs to drive that accountability within each one of us. Because now he goes on to say it's not just separation from other people. He now turns it inward and says, Lord, show me those disparate ways within my own self.

114. 44:53

     And reveal to me those places where I need to change. He says in verse 23, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. What a transformation from the beginning to the end of the psalm.

115. 45:13

     Of where he says God's digging into my life, besieging me on every side, to now search me, O God. Show me those hidden faults that he talks about early in the psalms. That's a pretty brave prayer to offer, isn't it? To ask God to show us those hidden faults, the things that other people cannot see, and to rise those things up to the surface, to allow us to see those things that perhaps we'd rather not see naturally, because they're not pretty.

116. 45:42

     But David says, I want to see those things, because I want to be more like you. I'm inviting you into my life, God. And so this change in perspective is so important for us, if we're going to develop the relationship that God desires to have with each and every one of us. And so as David uses this term four more times in the psalm, he begins to recognize, accept, and then invite God into his life.

117. 46:09

     He first recognizes that God knows everything, he accepts it, and then he invites God to continue to work in his life, to reveal those areas that need improvement. And this is our opportunity, isn't it? To continue to invite our Heavenly Father in, to show us those ways in which we need to improve.

118. 46:31

     When we take a look at the world around us, we can see the signs of the times. We know that this world can't continue on, that the iniquity of the Amorites must almost be full. So, let's increase our level of focus, increase our level of intensity to see those things that are holding us back, those weights which beset us and prevent us from running that straight course.

119. 46:57

     And so if we were to summarize what it is that we've taken a look at from this psalm and the process that's laid out for us, these are the things that David identifies through the Spirit. To first recognize that God knows everything about us, that He's everywhere, that yes, this is vitally important to see this, but to go beyond that, to then acknowledge our inability to comprehend God's ways, that God's in Heaven and we are on Earth and that His ways are not our ways, and that we continually try to reach to Him to understand and to grow that we might be more like Him.

120. 47:32

     We need to understand that God has a purpose in knowing everything about us, and that purpose is for our good. It's at that point that we have to make a decision, though, don't we? Are we going to be baptized? Are we going to make a decision to commit our lives to Him? Or are we going to live our lives running away from that responsibility?

121. 47:55

     Running away from the commitment that we need to be making? And having made that decision, hopefully the right decision, what are we going to do as we continue to move forward? We need to take that level of accountability to continue to remove unrighteousness from our lives and to invite God to search us, to cleanse us, and to lead us toward the kingdom.

122. 48:20

     This is the way that we start in our relationship with God. And it's never too late to restart, to reinvigorate, to return to God so that God can direct us. And so we see these aspects of knowledge and humility, of an understanding and a belief, of the need to make a decision which leads to a commitment, a relationship, and righteousness and eternal life.

123. 48:50

     This is all available to us through God's grace and God's mercy. And so as we think about some of the final considerations for our class and what some of our initial take-home messages are, I'll put these up for our consideration. That being conscious of God is fundamental to our developing of a relationship with Him.

124. 49:11

     we have to be aware of Him and we have to be developing this relationship. Our behavior is a litmus test as to how conscious we truly are of God and where those opportunities for improvement are. God truly is everywhere present in His creation. And it's not just a matter of us saying this, it's a matter of us demonstrating this through our behavior as the previous bullet point says.

125. 49:40

     We must run to God in faith and not run from Him. Not continue to try to escape the presence of the face of the Lord, but to realize that He's there for our benefit, trying to help us. Each one of us has been specially designed for a purpose by our Heavenly Father. That none of us are an accident.

126. 50:00

     That God has created us how He has intended us to be. But we need to continue to develop those abilities that God has created within us that we might be more like Him. And so finally, we must know and believe God, commit to Him, and work to develop a relationship with Him. And having arrived at this point, our next class will begin to consider in greater detail what it means to truly know God such that we might develop with Him the relationship that He truly desires.

127. 50:50

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128. 51:05

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129. 51:35

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