11-21-21 Don't Lose the Wonder

I love that song, ‘We Will Remember,’ because it takes us back to the place of wonder, grace, gratitude, love, and forgiveness we experienced when we first came to Christ. And today I want to talk about not losing our sense of wonder; not forgetting times and places where God came through for us, over and over again. I want us to try to come back to that sense of awe, reverence, and thanksgiving for His sacrifice we had when we began following Him, because that sense of wonder and awe is what leads us into worship God’s way. Remembering who God is, His grace, His mercy, and His love is what brings us into a place of worship where we can say, “you are God and I’m not! Lord You’re worthy of praise and have Your way in me, no matter what.” And I want to talk about this ‘wonder of His presence’ today because it’s the natural next step after death. We talked about death last week - if you missed it, it has been posted online if you’d like to to listen to it. But what I mean when I say that “the next step after death is wonder,” is that after we have made the choice to die to self, after we have chosen to come to the cross with Jesus and nail self-will, self-confidence, self-pity, self-indulgence, and selfish purpose to the cross with Christ, we start to come alive to the sheer wonder, magnitude, and greatness of God and His glory. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NLT “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 10 And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.” God broke the power of death over us (the Bible says we were slaves to the fear of death) and now He illuminates the way to life for us through the Gospel. That illumination means that the light bulb above our heads has just lit up! The word in the greek for “illuminated” is FO-TID-ZO. Don't Lose the Wonder | 1 We get our english word “photo” from this, and it literally means “to bring something to light.” Or to say that in a different way, when we see something, it’s “brought to light.” My point is that after we die with Christ, we are brought to the light of God - we can start to see the glory, the awesome power, the wonder of God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ! And the awareness of His magnificence, of His glory leads us into worship, where in His presence we receive all the things we need for life and godliness. And it’s important to maintain our awareness of God’s glory, a sense of His wonder, because if we lose our sense of wonder at who God is, our capacity to worship will atrophy.1 In other words, if we don’t exercise a child-like faith in worship, a child-like wonder and awe about God and who He is, we run the risk of slipping into an “ism.” There are a lot of isms to slip into. Intellectualism, emotionalism, sexism, racism, conservatism, liberalism, whatever. You can figure out your own ism. My point is that we want to have the same sense of His wonder that we had at the beginning of our life in Christ, marveling at the attributes of God, His creation, and His redemption of our lives. A lot of Christians start off with this sense of wonder, it naturally tends to wane, or disintegrate if we don’t stoke the fire of it within our hearts. God’s works of righteousness, creation, and redemption can just become religious platitudes that no longer grip our hearts or imaginations if we’re not careful. If this happens, our ability to worship in spirit and in truth also disintegrates. If we’re not gripped by God - who He is, what He does, and how He loves - we will be gripped by something else. And whatever else does grip us will start to supplant God as our object of worship.2 1 2 Boa, Kenneth. “Modern Pensees.” Reflections Newsletter, November 2021. Boa, Kenneth. “Modern Pensees.” Reflections Newsletter, November 2021. Don't Lose the Wonder | 2 And so today I want to look at Psalm 139. In this Psalm we’ll see that God is exalted as omnipotent (He’s all powerful), omniscient (He knows everything about everything), and omnipresent (He’s everywhere), and He has known each of us in intimate detail since before we were born. But let’s pray before we get started. Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name. We honor You, Lord Jesus. We give you weight, authority, and clout in this place and in our hearts. Holy Spirit we invite You here to move in whatever way You want to. We come together to say that You are the One True God, worthy of our praise and adoration. We ask that Your kingdom would come and Your will would be done in this place, and in our areas of influence, just as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread - provide for us exactly what we need when we need it, not what we think we want in our flesh. thank you that You are the God who provides, You’re Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. Forgive us our sins, and help us to forgive people who have hurt us. Deliver us from temptation and help us grow in our spiritual disciplines, in the fear of you and the reverence for Your Name each moment of each day. We love You, Lord, and we invite the wonder of Your presence here today, in Jesus’ mighty, powerful, matchless Name, amen. So let’s just jump into Psalm 139; and as we go through it, I want us to try to take ourselves back to the place of wonder at God - who He is, what He does, and how intimately He knows and loves us. This first section of the Psalm has to do with how intimately God knows you and me. Psalm 139:1-4 NKJV O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” Don’t you think it’s amazing that God knows all of our thoughts? That’s scary for some of us. To be honest, that’s scary for me! Don't Lose the Wonder | 3 God knows my thoughts and He knows that sometimes they’re not that great. Psalm 94:11 NLT “The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless!” Yeah, that describes my thoughts when they aren’t about God. But God has given us grace. Grace actually means ‘unmerited favor.’ That means He gives us good things even though we don’t deserve them and even though we don’t always do a good job of thinking about Him. Psalm 139:17 TPT Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! This is wonderful! Wonderful means this is exciting, it’s marvelous, it’s astonishing! Webster’s dictionary says that the word wonderful means something is “unusually good.” I like that. God’s grace towards you is unusually good. He thinks of you constantly in every thought! He desires to be with you more than you can ever imagine, and He made a way for His desire to become reality by sending Jesus Christ to die for you on the cross. Thank You Jesus! And the Psalmist continues talking about this. Psalm 139:5-6 NKJV You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.” In other words, God knows Your every thought, and yet He still protects you from harm, He provides for you, He takes care of you better than any human ever could. And knowing this is deep, it’s wonderful, it’s incomprehensible. Basically, it makes no sense. But God’s love is like that; it defies logic. The love of God sacrifices and creates a way for us to be with Him. 1 John 4:10 NKJV “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And in this love, God promises He won’t ever leave you alone. There is nowhere You can go where God’s love won’t find You. Don't Lose the Wonder | 4 There is nowhere you can be where God won’t be there with You. How can God find us in the depths of our despair, our loneliness, our failures, our sins, and not turn His face away? Because of His love. Psalm 139:7-13 NKJV “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.” Do you remember that word ‘photo?’ Something is brought into the light? You see, the reason why darkness can’t hide you from God’s love anymore is because, in Jesus Christ, you are seen! You have been brought to the light! You have been illuminated to God through Christ! And now, even when you feel overwhelmed by darkness, even when you feel choked, stifled, and smothered by the darkness in you and around you, the light of God’s presence will shine as bright as the daystar rising in the east. It will be brighter than the sun at the highest point of the day. Don’t lose the wonder that God sees You no matter where You are and what You’re going through, because He doesn’t change. He continues to reach out to You and me in love, in grace, in unmerited favor, to bring you into His presence, to bring You into deeper and deeper relationship with Him. 2 Peter 1:19 MSG “We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.” Don't Lose the Wonder | 5 He says to keep focusing on the Word. Regularly engaging with God’s Word can help us regain a sense of wonder at the knowledge, presence, power, and holiness of God whenever you feel like you’re starting to lose it. Why? Because John 1:1 NKJV “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” When you engage with God’s word, you’re engaging with God. Now, there are a lot of spiritual disciplines and ways to engage with God and His Word. We don’t have time to go in depth to spiritual disciplines and ways to engage with God today (maybe I’ll do a series on that soon), but to give you a quick list: Solitude, Silence, Prayer, Journaling, Study, Meditation, Fasting, Chastity, Secrecy, Confession, Fellowship, Submission, Guidance, Simplicity, Stewardship, Sacrifice, Witness, Worship, Celebration, Service. There isn’t a standardized list out there of all of the spiritual disciplines, you may be able to come up with some that aren’t on the list. But my point is that growth with Jesus isn’t instant, it’s a process. And it’s not haphazard or sloppy, it’s a relationship that is developed and refined. And the key to not losing the wonder at who God is growing in two areas: discipline and dependence. Discipline should be in concert with depenance, since grace is not opposed to effort, but it is opposed to earning. And it’s easy for us as humans to slip into one of two extremes; one over-emphasises our role and minimizes God’s. Usually if that is the problem, we see a lot of striving that focuses too much on rules, knowledge, human effort and activity, and often ignores the work of the Holy Spirit. The second extreme over-emphasises God’s role and minimizes ours. We’re responsible to work out (NOT WORK FOR) our salvation, and God gives us the desire and power we need to do His will.3 Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 3 Boa, Kenneth. Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation, P75. Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 2001. Don't Lose the Wonder | 6 much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” But as we grow in wonder at His word, it will lead us to praise. Psalm 139:14-18 NKJV “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” The Hebrew word here for precious means valuable, prized, costly. He’s saying that God’s thoughts towards you are a wonder in and of themselves! God thinking about you is worth a lot! The same word is used in Isaiah 43:4 ERV “You are precious to me, and I have given you a special place of honor. I love you.” And this is the foundation of our wonder of God - His love for us. The fact that He has given us a special place of honor even though we don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it. And then, from this place of wonderment at God and who He is not only flows praise and worship, but also victory over the enemy and the works of the enemy. Praise is power, did you know that? Psalm 139:19-22 NKJV “Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20 For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.” Don't Lose the Wonder | 7 Now, we don’t fight against people anymore, we fight against spiritual enemies. But you can take these Psalms and apply what David talks about to the demonic realm, to the spiritual enemies of Jesus, and you can pray that God would slay them, defeat them, and send them away. Let’s take a quick look at a story that illustrates how praise very simply defeats the enemy. 2 Chronicles 20:15-22 NLT “He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!” 18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout. 20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.” 21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: “Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!” 22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.” Don't Lose the Wonder | 8 This is a great lesson about the power of praise and the presence of God. When the enemy threatened to wipe out Judah, the people sought God in prayer and had faith in Him and His word. They were encouraged by the word of a prophet (one of the sons of Asaph, a guild of musicians) not to be afraid. The people responded by praising God with strong, loud voices, enthroning God (or inviting His rule and reign into the situation) on their worship. The results are profound, as God’s presence confounds three enemy armies. Some scholars say there was angelic action, while others say the enemy was fighting among themselves. Either way, the connection between praise and worship and the defeat of the enemy is clear, as God brought total and complete victory.4 And my point is that we can’t forget the wonder of who God is, because if we do, our ability to worship will atrophy, and if that happens, we’ll be unable to properly fight our battles. And we’ll close with the last portion of Psalm 139. Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” The Psalmist is simply asking God to do a heart-check, to find the things that are causing anxiety, to bring peace, hope and healing and a renewal of heart through the wonder of God’s presence. Have you lost your sense of wonder at the God of creation and redemption? Will you ask Jesus, through the power of His Holy Spirit, to reawaken in you a child-like wonder and awe? Will you choose to nourish your heart with high thoughts of God? Will you move forward in dependence and disciplines?5 4 5 Hayford, Jack W., editor. The Hayford Bible Handbook, P743. Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 1995. Boa, Kenneth. “Modern Pensees.” Reflections Newsletter, November 2021. Don't Lose the Wonder | 9