Debt ( 1 ) ( Psalm 51 v 3 - 4 )

 I saw recently a article on the internet ,how a group of  people who had received treatment for cancer treatment, could not pay their final bill. The debt collectors were involved, and it was serious, but the person they owed the money to cancelled their debts. In the article the term that was used was,' he forgive them their debts', in Matthews gospel chap 6 v 12  ,we have what is called the Lord's prayer, these words, ' Forgive us our debts',  here it is used in relation to sin. In Victorian times , there was what was known as the debtors prison, Charles Dickens father spent time in the debtors prison, in England in the 18Th and 19Th centuries 10,000 people were imprisoned each year for debt. Before they could be released they had to repay the creditor the amount owed. We may not realise it, but all  of us through out our whole life are accumulating a debt which none of us can pay, and non payment will result in us paying a terrible price. I am talking about all the sins we have committed ,we will be held accountable by God, and on that great judgement  day ,judgement will be passed, and oh what a weeping and wailing will heard on that day, as the lost will hear of their fate. Tomorrow we will consider this further.

Man know thyself. ( 5 ) ( John 8 v 1 - 11)

 Hopefully today we will finish on Psalm 139 v 19 - 24, in these verses we hear David crying out to God to deal with the wicked, he stresses their ,violence, evil intentions ,  blasphemous language, hatred of God, and their rebelliousness. Sometimes man's evil is so great,  God acts in a dramatic way , like the flood, the inhabitants of  Canaan, Sodom and Gomorrah, even the destruction of Israel . Dr . Meyer writes  the following, ' When we are startled at these strong expressions of  David , we may  well ask ourselves whether , in our tender pity for sinners , we may not be losing something of his stern consciousness of  the evil of sin, and the guilt of  the wicked'. David while imploring God's righteous judgement on the wicked, is conscious of his own fallen nature, and that he may have offended a holy God. v 23 - 24.oh yes David like us all, had a fallen nature ( C P  1 Samuel 11 ) That is why we all need  Jesus, in order that our sins may be forgiven, so we may escape the wrath to come.

God is just.( 4) ( Romans 1 v 18 )

 We continue a last look at Psalm 139, we have highlighted God's, Omniscience ,Omnipresence, and His Omnipotence. Now let us end by borrowing  H. Lockyer's heading for  v 19 - 24, ' The Overthrow of  God's Enemies '. Here our those verses,' If only you, God , would slay the wicked! Away from me, you are bloodthirsty! They  speak  of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you ,Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them;  I count them my enemies. Search  me , 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'.  People struggle with what David says, to them it appears ad odds with a God of love, has David got it wrong?, 'No'.  I will offer a few thoughts on this. Judgement is in the Bible, Old and New,  Jesus spoke of hell and judgement.  Every day the jihdi ,Islamic militants ,are murdering ,kidnapping ,forcing religious conversions , they are blind to the suffering they are causing. Is it wrong to cry out to God to deal with them?,  no it is not. ( of course the Koran calls Jews and Christians wretched creatures. ) In Psalm 7 v 11 we read ,'God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked everyday'. We will continue this next time.

Such power ! Such care! ( 3 ) ( Genesis 1 v 1 )

Continuing on in Psalm 139, lets consider v 13 - 18, Herbert  Lockyer puts this title over these verses, ' The Omnipotence of God', Omnipotence means having unlimited power ,and its in these verses we can see it manifested, so here they are, 'For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for 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. How precious to me are your thoughts  God, how vast is the sum of them. Where I  to count them they would outnumber the grains  of sand, when I awake I am still with you'. These words are breathtaking ,astonishing ,I remember my first child being born ,one never forgets that moment ,one looks at the little fingers ,little toes, amazing and wonderful, and humbling. In Psalm 100 v 3, we read,' Know that the Lord is  God, it is He who made us, and we are His.' Let me say this say  I am not very good at DIY, I struggle even with flat packs, no, I do not believe in self  creation, nor chance,  chance cannot do anything.  God has made us, and we are His, people say I am my own person, your not, on the cross where Christ died, God was reclaiming back His lost creation.

No hiding place ( 2 ) ( Romans 8 v 38 - 39 )

Let us take another look at Psalm 139 v 7 - 12, '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 a dawn, if I  settle on the far side of the sea, even there you hand will guide me,  your  right hand will hold me fast. 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 day, for darkness is as light to you.'  When I was young  my friends and I  would play a game  called ' Hide and Seek', when are first parents sinned, we read that they hid from the Lord  God,  Gen 3 v 8. Since then humanity  has foolishly  tried to hide from God, but the fact is there is no hiding place from God. For although God  is in heaven, his presence is everywhere. The term we use to describe this, is omnipresence ,that God  is immanent in his creation. Herbert  Lockyer, writes,' No matter where we are, or may go, the  words stand -Thou God seest me -  which is blessed to those who know Him  as Father and Friend'. In China at this time a Christian brother called Gao Zhisheng has disappeared,  taken away by the authorities, in some   hidden  detention centre,  his friends and family don't know where he is, but God knows, and not only knows, but God's presence is with that dear brother.

Imperfect. ( James 5 v 13 - 18 )

Elijah was a wonderful prophet, he was very courageous ,and yet sometimes his courage failed him, James in his epistle chap 5 v 17 - 18 writes of this great man ,and how he had wonderful answers to his prayer. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it didn't for three and a half  years ,and then he prayed again and it rained. I remember reading about a man called George Muller was arriving in a ship in America, but a dense fog had ascended, holding up the ship, this was in the 19th century. George spoke to the captain who was Christian, he said he had an appointment that he must keep, the captain said there was nothing that could be done. George ask the captain to go and pray he would pray  also. They did that ,and the fog lifted, when we pray in the will of God  ( 1 John 5 v  14 ), wonderful things can happen. I stress those words ,the will of God. Prayer is not a novelty thing, we must ask with right motives ,every true prayer should have at its core,' Thy will be done', and if it is not God's will, the  prayer will not be answered Cp  James 4 v 3. Returning to Elijah, yes he was a great man, beware of making any person great or otherwise, your idol , yes he was a great but not a perfect man, ( James 5 v 17). These words remind us be be cautious us ,as seeing any godly person, as pure gold. Imperfect though Elijah was ,God heard his prayer and answered, so we imperfect individuals can be assured that God will hear and answer our prayers.

All knowing. ( 1 ) ( John 21 v 17 )

 If you are married, I wonder does your wife ever say , '' I know you'', she says this  in response  to you  saying,'' leave it to me I will do it'', the reason  is simple, her reply is,'' you will forget''. Lets face it after  38 yrs of marriage , she knows what I'm like, and of course I know what she is like. Well not fully, there is always a  hidden side of us, which no other person knows. When I say no other person, of course there is one person who does know us fully, God, we have  this wonderfully  illustrated in Psalm 139 v 1- 6. here is what it says,' You have searched me, and you know me. You know when I sit down 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, Lord, know it  completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is to wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain'. Here we have what is known as ,'The Divine Omniscience', meaning that He is all knowing, if it was otherwise He would not be God. Tozer in his book, 'The knowledge of the Holy', writes ,'To say that God  is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore no need to learn. But  it is more ; it is to say that  God has never learned and cannot learn'. He further says, 'He never discovers anything ,He is never surprised, never amazed'. The being of God is beyond our understanding, and yet by His grace and mercy we can know Him , as our heavenly Father, when by faith we trust Jesus as our Saviour.