SEARCH ME
Psalm 139
INTRODUCTION
Well good morning and welcome again to church. Thank you for coming today. I realize that this is the end of spring break for most of our community. Even so, I am so glad to see you. Thank you for coming and making this service a part of your weekend activities and plans.
I invite you to take your Bible out with me — and turn to Psalm 139. This is probably a very familiar passage for many of your. It’s one where the writer reminds us that our great God knows all and sees all — and is more than able to manage even the heaviest of baggage that we might be carrying with us.
So, beginning in verse one — the psalmist David writes:
1You have searched me, Lord,and you know me.2 You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down;you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongueyou, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before,and you lay your hand upon me.
TRANSITION
The point of this message is really just to establish a starting place for us — and lead us to become very honest and open with God.
It’s my goal today to help you stand with arms wide open before your maker — inviting Him to have total access to every area of your life. And that by doing so, you will welcome Him to claim the baggage that you’ve been carrying around.
Here’s the thing with Baggage — everyone’s got it!
It comes in all shapes and sizes — but no doubt you’ve got some. Maybe you don’t want to admit it, or maybe you’re in denial.
You know — baggage is a strange thing.
— Sometimes , our baggage becomes part of our identity. It’s who we are. Carrying it around almost seems natural and expected.
— Sometimes we can’t imagine life without it. Maybe we’ve carried it around so long that it brings us a sense of comfort.
— Or maybe for you, it’s just all you’ve ever known. Maybe you don’t even realize that its there.
I’m calling it baggage — but it really has a lot of names. Maybe for you it’s a hurt, or a hang-up, or a bad habit.
- Or maybe it has an even more specific name. Maybe for you it’s called anger. And everywhere you go, it seems to trail behind you on a hand truck. Only this piece of baggage leaves you feeling mad and frustrated and just bent out of shape — with everyone.
- Or, maybe your baggage is called sensitivity. For you, it shows up at the most inopportune times, when you least expect it. But it causes you to take everything personally, and so you often end up feeling hurt, or sad. Sometimes it causes you to strike out at others (as a way of self-preservation). Others notice it, and tend to guard themselves and walk on eggshells.
Maybe your baggage is: unforgiveness, or unfulfilled expectations, or disappointment, or insecurity, or low-self-esteem, or broken relationships, or arrogance, or a bad-habit, or an unresolved past, or fear — or maybe it’s a sin that you’ve not completely released or confessed to Christ.
Whatever it maybe — if it’s not dealt with, it will weigh us down, and eventually wear you out!
What’s worse, it has the potential to hinder you from achieving your God given-potential in life.
Every sin we hide or justify becomes a hinderance to a vibrant relationship with Jesus. Baggage can begin to pile up like a wall between us and the joy and favor the Lord wants to bestow upon us.
Our baggage must be released if we are to walk freely in the blessings of the Lord. But some times we are hesitant to release it to the Lord because we think He’s going to condemn us for having it.
Yet, what we often fail to recognize is that Jesus didn’t come from heaven to earth to condemn us — but to save us.
He condescended from heaven to earth to set you free from being a life-time baggage handler. And, while our baggage may often be a private frustration — like a wound that seems like it will never heal, it’s often in that place of your greatest frustration that God will reveal his greatest glory — and his most powerful work in your life.
But the first step in ridding our lives of baggage is to be honest with ourselves.
Everyone has baggage — the real question is:
WHAT BAGGAGE ARE YOU CARRYING?
When we acknowledge the truth that we are not perfect people — and that we have baggage in our lives, then we are positioned to be freed from all that weighs us down.
In John 8:32, Jesus said,
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32 (NIV)
When we’re honest about our baggage, we are positioned to be freed from it.
If you’re going to become free of your baggage, then you have to begin by admitting your need.
In the very first beatitude, Jesus said,
“God blesses those who realize their need for him.”
Matthew 5:3 (NLT)
What Jesus was stressing in this passage is the fact that you need more than you to fix your problems and lighten your load.
Too often, we try to fix problems, and in our attempt to fix them — we only make them worse. And that’s because our approach is human — but God’s approach is divine.
Did you know, the Bible says,
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
We simply can’t trust ourselves to figure it all out. Left to ourselfes, our human nature will tend to do wrong — and go about things the wrong way. And that’s because our human nature is still “tainted by sin”.
But, when we reach the end of our rope and give up our self-sufficiency, God can move into our lives with healing and growth.
This was the mission that Jesus came to accomplish. He speaks of this in Luke 4. Here he stated that His mission was to claim the baggage that holds us back and ultimately, set us free.
Listen to how He put it in Luke 4:18. Quoting from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus defined His own mission in this way. He said:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
Jesus’ mission on this earth was to claim your baggage!
So, as we embark on this 5 week expedition through the cluttered corners of our lives, let’s agree to do so in truth. Because there’s no place for denial in the throne room of God (only truth and transparency).
And here’s what you need to know — even if you’re life is weighed down with heavy baggage:
1. God still loves you.
So, while you might be tempted to deny the existence of your baggage or even hide it — there’s really no point in doing so, because God knows all things! He sees all things. He is above all things. And even still, He loves you.
The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 4:13,
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
His point is that God knows all, sees all, and perceives all things — even your weightiest of baggage.
He even knows those deep inner thoughts that we have, before any of them are spoken from our mouths. And if this is the case, then why would we act as though we are free when we are really weighed down by something in this life.
It makes so much more sense just to admit our need for God’s help.
As scripture attests, He is clearly aware of each and every aspect of our lives! He has been from the start — and the good news is that He will not abandon you in the midst of this trial.
You know, according to John 3:16-17 (Message), God’s love exceeds our greatest need. As Jesus put it,
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help.”
And so, even if you’re life is scattered with heavy baggage . . . God still loves you.
But that’s not all, because the Bible says — if your life is weighed down with baggage . . .
2. God can free you.
While you may be powerless on your own to rid yourself of the weighty things of this life — God is not! The Bible tells us in Luke 18:27 that Jesus, referring to salvation (and His ability to remove the guilt and shame of sin from our lives), told those who questioned him that:
“What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Luke 18:27
The situation you are in right now may seem hard, or even hopeless — but not with God! God is able to set you free from the baggage that holds you back.
Sometimes this happens by God changing you — and sometimes it happens by God changing your situation. But the important thing to remember is that He has the power to do both.
When it comes to God’s great power — we must recognize the fact that it is without limit!
In fact, the whole of Christianity is one continuous work of God’s omnipotence.
- Consider the birth of Jesus — it was a miracle of divine power. That’s why the angel said to Mary: “With God nothing shall be impossible.”
- Or consider the resurrection of Jesus — it too was a testimony to God’s omnipotence. The Bible describes that miraculous act as being done by the exceeding greatness of God’s mighty power.
- Consider your salvation — yet again an act of God’s divine power, releasing you from the bondage of sin.
- And consider the ongoing act of God’s work to make you like Him — to make you holy. Even this is a testimony of His unlimited power, which stands triumphantly above all things.
So, when it comes to your baggage and the battles that accompany it, God is able to deliver you!
Along with freeing you from the baggage that weighs you down — Christ is also able to free you from the guilt and shame that tags along and often follows discarded baggage. It was this message that the apostle Paul gave us when he wrote the words of Romans 8:1-2. Listen to it in The Message translation.Here Paul writes,
“(You) no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.”
Romans 8:1-2 (MSG)
One author refers to this as the great heist of grace. As he puts it, the grace of God actually robs us of our shame — removing it from our lives for good!
By removing shame and blotting out our sin, God gives us the freedom we need to gain a new perspective on our lives, to see the value we have in His eyes and to discover His great plans for our lives.
So today, we can either choose to live defeated or live delivered — but the work of Christ through the cross was to completely set us free!
And so, even if you’re life is scattered with heavy baggage, know this . . . God still loves you and He can free you.
But that’s not all, because the Bible says — if your life is weighed down with baggage . . .
3. God will restore you.
That’s a promise!
It was the psalmist who penned these words in Psalm 71:20 (NIV). He wrote,
“Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.”
God will restore you, but, only to the point that you are willing to be honest with yourself and honest with Him.
What’s more, is that He isn’t going to force upon you the blessings that you don’t want to receive. While He has made salvation available, only those who welcome it receive it.
Likewise, while He has made your deliverance and restoration in this life available to all, only those who are willing to invite Him into their lives to do His will and to accomplish His work are ever going to experience it personally.
What I’m saying is that — like the psalmist David, we need to come to that place where we recognize God’s power and invite His work in us.
And that’s just what He does in Psalm 139. He welcomes the presence of Christ into all the deep down dark corners of his life. It’s like he opens the doors of his heart and mind to God and says, “You’re free to search and seize” all the baggage that weighs me down.
And this isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s something that great men and women of God have done for ages.
In verse 13-16 of Psalm 139, David says to God,
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 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. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
David understood that God had always been actively working in His life. And the same is true for you and me as well.
And He hasn’t stopped. From your conception to your death, God has been and will continue to be working on you. And that’s because He has a distinctly divine plan for your life.
Your life is not some random, godless-game of chance. You were designed with purpose, and distinction, and destiny! God has you here for a purpose — and that is to know him, to honor him, and to steward everything He’s placed in your hands for His glory!
And so, He is on your trail. In fact, God has been pursuing you for your entire life.
Here’s the painful reality of our lives…We all have this baggage of guilt and shame and sin that we carry around with us — and it’s not a laughing matter. It’s no joke — its a serious problem.
And the reason its such a problem is because it seeks to hold us back and deter us from fully serving Christ.
If it’s fear — it tells us that God’s not trustworthy.
If it’s guilt — it tells us that God’s not kind.
If it’s brokenness — it tells us that God doesn’t care about us.
If it’s anger — it tells us that God’s not good.
Every piece of destructive baggage in your life is something
that seeks to deter you from trusting God fully!
At it’s core—it seeks to separate you from God and
deter you for experiencing His best in your life.
But that’s why Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is so important, because through it we discover God’s perfect plan to love us, to free us, and to restore us to Himself.
And so, if you have experienced the gift of salvation, then celebrate God’s continual work in your life!
Listen, salvation isn’t the end — it’s just the beginning. So give Him access to ‘ALL OF YOU’. And experience His deliverance from the weighty things you’ve been carrying around.
So, how do we respond to this message?
We do as David did — and we pray as he prayed. Look at it with me. In verse 23-24 he prayed;
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
It’s clear…David wants to be free of anything that would weigh him down, anything that would prevent him from reaching his full potential in God.
Why not pray David’s prayer and make it your own. Ask God to search you and lead you in the way of righteousness. And over these next 5 weeks, as God shows you some things that you need to “lay down”, be obedient to the leading of His Spirit and “lay it down”!
CONCLUSION
The good news is that the God who is your creator is also you redeemer. So when we welcome Him into our lives to SEARCH US, He won’t destroy us — He will make us right! So, let’s give Him full access! Let’s Pray!
CLOSING PRAYER