You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit AscendKC.org. Good morning. My name is Chad McKinley. I am the Director of Discipleship here at Ascend, and I'm excited to be looking at just a wonderful song. So I'm filling in for Pastor Jeff today. He's actually dropping his oldest off at college for the first time. And I know for some of you who are in that season of life, understand that that's a different feeling. I have yet to go through that feeling. I'm not exactly looking forward to the day of having that feeling. But I know it's a monumental time in people's lives. And so some of you might be able to sympathize with Pastor Jeff today. Maybe you have done that right now or in this season with your kids. And so I'm just grateful we can free him up to enjoy those moments, to enjoy dropping off as much as you can, but then also to have that just sweet time with his family. So like I said before, is that today's topic or title is Wonder Prevents Wandering. Like I said too, is that wonder has many definitions. And so as we look at Psalm 139, I think it's appropriate to make sure we define wonder and the proper context and definition of what this psalm is going to declare. So there's going to be a definition that goes up behind me. It's wonder is a state caused by something unexplainably beautiful or marvelous that stirs reverence. And so many of you can kind of understand what that is. Again, you probably experienced something just unexplainably beautiful. Or maybe you've encountered something that's just so marvelous that just stirs that reverence, that awe in your heart. In fact, sometimes we put words on a page to define a word. But sometimes it's more appropriate to put a picture of what that expression looks like. So the team is going to put this behind and I think this picture personifies what wonder is, right? You can see the eyes are wide open as he views whatever's in his life. His jaw has dropped and he's just looking at this like, and everything in his face says, wow. But you know that when you're in these times, no words actually come out. And so this is what wonder looks like. And that as we embark in Psalm 139, we are going to see David put into the best way he can this wonder that he has for God. What's marvelous about this, It's not some event or experience that happened in David's life that caused him to have this wonder. It's simply reflecting on robust truths of who God is and then be able to put a bridge on that into what is occurring in his life. And so we are going to be in Psalm 139. And if you don't have a Bible with you, we have Bibles that are in front of you. And you can turn to the page 521. That's where we'll be this morning. And I would encourage you, follow along. Learn what we're going to be seeing. But actually, look at the words as we go. Because these words are going to be so important for us if we're truly going to wonder. about who God is and take that to heart. So what the big idea is today is that being in constant and focused all of God actually leads to ongoing devotion and pursuits of God. So let's start and look at Psalm 139. Starts with, to the choir master, a Psalm of David. Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways, even before a word is on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. You hem me in, behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Oh, such wonderful or such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night. Even the darkness is not to you. The night is bright as the day. For darkness is as light with you. For you have formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God. How vast is the sum of them. If I could count them, they are more than the sand. I awake and I am still with you. Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God. Oh, men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do not I loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred. I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Now, I mean, I don't even have to go any further, right? This is such a heavy, weighty song. And so we can see that as David has unpacked, there are so many heavy truths in here. The first heavy truth he really unpacks is the fact that God is incomprehensibly omniscient. You're probably looking at like, where in the world is this word omniscient? We don't even see it. Where is this word omniscient? Many of us, many of you might not understand what that word actually means. So let me put a definition up that really defines what omniscient means. See, God being omniscient means that he has exhaustive universal and infallible knowledge of everything that occurs in space and time, which includes his perfect discernment and knowledge to supply how he will perfectly act with the use of his other attributes and within his character. It's a big definition, right? And it's hard, it's hard to sum up exactly what his omniscience is, and as you look and start researching these details, even the words are big. But what I hope you see is just the depth of this, and as we embark on Psalm 139, you're gonna see how David is reflecting on this, and how we should be stirred to wonder about God because of his omniscience. And so the main characteristics, I would say, show up in Psalm 139 that are part of this definition is the fact that his omniscience is his ability to know, his ability to distinguish, his ability to discern, and then his ability to know how to personally respond. See, the first thing we notice is that God's knowledge is comprehensive. Look how David just puts that out. He says, you know when I sit down and when I rise up. That doesn't seem like a big statement, but it is. Because here David is, one man, one single man, and he's attesting that God knows every single detail of his life. And what he's putting on display is just the comprehensive knowledge of God. He has all the details. He knows everything. In fact, it's not even bound by time because he knows what's going to happen before it actually happens. He even knows the thoughts of man before they act upon him. Look at verse four. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all together. So the first thing we should be amazed by is just this comprehensiveness of God's knowledge. But it doesn't stop there. You see, God has the ability to constantly distinguish each piece of knowledge from the other piece. Notice that he says, you discern my thoughts from afar. And you're like, what does that mean? Well, think about it. Like right now, I'm in a present, in a room, and I can see all of you, right? And maybe I know or are aware of some of the details in this room, but I can't take each one of your expressions, each one of your actions, and comprehensively know to the detail what is going on. And what he's talking about is he takes all these details, all this mass information, but he can distinguish each part from each other. That's pretty amazing. And it's also really important. Because God then has the ability to constantly judge those details. And he constantly judges that in David's life. You notice that it says next, it's like, you search out my path. Am I lying down and are acquainted with all my ways? The word for search in verse three is actually a term used for winnowing. Raise your hand if you know what winnowing means. Let's see, winnowing is a farmer's term. It's a very agricultural term. And basically when they were processing their crops, processing wheat, there's one thing you have to do is first you have to thresh the grain. Because the grain has stock, it has a seed shell, it has all these things that really are not useful. The one useful thing you're after is the grain of wheat. And so what they would do is they would go through a process of threshing that would really break all this stuff apart. But then the problem is, is you have the good stuff mixed in with all the trash. So what they would do is they would actually throw it up in the air and the grains would fall down while the trash kind of blew away. And so when we look at this is that what God is doing is that he actually winnows through our thoughts. He discerns the good things. He discerns the things that are evil. He's able to pull all those apart. And just not in your life, in everyone's life, every aspect of this world, he can actually see that and he can judge that. We're just not talking about judge, like all these things are bad. We're talking about judge of like, okay, what should we do? What should he do with this knowledge? Because the next thing is that God actually moves based on his omniscience. See, when he says that God searches out his path and lying down as acquainted with his ways, he's showing God's dynamic processing ability to separate the righteousness from the evil deeds. By distinguishing, God knows exactly how to act towards each person through both blessing and discipline. And that actually shows up in verse five. Because what he says is you him me in behind and before you lay your hand upon me. What he's showing is like, hey, God has a hold of my life. That him word is like actually a besieging word. Like he's not allowing anything into David's life that doesn't go through his fingertips first. He's not going to allow David to be attacked or hurt or whatever it may be unless he has seen it and knows how this works in David's life. But then he says, then he lays your hand upon me. And it's kind of like me taking my kids through a crowded place, right? I put my hand upon them to guide them, to secure them, to keep them close. And what he's referring is that God is going to give me everything. He's going to give me the hand of blessing to actually walk through those aspects of life. And that's truly a wonderful thing. And it should truly bring us to wonder, because if you're like me, I can't comprehend that. I mean, I look around here and look at the number of people here and think that God does this in each one of your lives, and then I think, but we are just these small, small, group of people compared to the rest of this world, compared to all the other cosmic things that are happening. And our conclusion should be what verse six says. It says, such knowledge is just too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. But so many times our response is not that. A lot of times our response is the fact that when we don't understand what God is doing or what's taking place in our life, is we start to shake our fist at Him. Say, God, how dare you? Or we start blaming Him or other things like, if this wasn't part of my life, then I could live for Him. Start to question Him. Question, is God really good? Does God really care about me? Does He really love me? And we can start to complain. Complain about what we don't have. And what that oftentimes looks like is the imagery helped me remind me of kids and donuts. What? Well, when I think about kids, and you guys can witness this as you exit today, go stand by the cafe. See what happens when a kid wants to go up and get a donut. And see what happens when the parent says, Those two, that two-letter word, no. Because then you see the disappointment. What begins to happen is, like, the kid actually questions what's going on. He goes, he obviously looks at his parents and says, hey, you know I want that donut. You should give it to me. Like, that's factor in, like, if you know what I want, why aren't you giving it to me? And then it starts to factor in, like, you know where those donuts are. They're right there with this person. They might just be out of reach. You can grab that and actually give it to me. They look at their parent and start questioning them, like, what's the disconnect here? I don't understand. I have equipped you with the knowledge to know what I want. I know that you have the knowledge of how to accomplish this, and yet you don't do it. And when the parent doesn't give the donut, you see the response. Could be yelling, it could be tears, it could be a questioning of, don't you love me? Again, this is a light illustration, but we have to remember that this is often how we respond to God. And for us to have a wonder of his omniscience, we can start asking these questions, right? God, you know what I want, and you're not giving it to me. God, you know where it is, you know how to get it, and so I know you have that, why aren't you giving it to me? And we start asking the question, God, if you loved me, if you cared about me, why aren't you acting like I want you to act? But going back to the parent, the parent does possess all that knowledge, but knows what is best for his kid. And as excited as that kid's going to be to eat that donut, to take that in, the parent knows that's probably not what's best for my kid's health. That might lead to sickness in the stomach, especially if they're on their fourth donut. And so, instead of the kids, and they're like, how dare you? Why don't you love me? Instead, the kid should be at peace with the fact that his parent has what's best in mind for him. And that's the same thing with God. God has what's best in mind for us. And really, when we look at God's omniscience, you don't need to wonder that results in trust, that He knows what is best, even though it is not best in our mind. So how can we cultivate this wonder of His omniscience? I think prayer is such an important activity in our life, and prayer is just not, again, going to express all our wants before God, but it helps us to know that Jesus Christ is sitting on the throne of grace and mercy, waiting for us to come before him. The one who lived the perfect life, the one who went through the suffering that we did, the one who went beyond the suffering that we could experience and died on the cross and now is resurrected, sitting on that throne, ready to give us grace and mercy in the time of need. And what's great is just as we prayed this morning, we can express uncertainties, we can express our concerns, we can express even the things that we are not clear about. But what we need to remember is we need to actually go with those expressions with a wonder of God. Because the wonder of God's omniscience will not necessarily bring clarity. It will not end some of those trying circumstances, but what it will do is point you to the who. Who is in the midst? Who is the one who understands more fully than you? And that should bring joy and peace. So you'll become more consumed with the who in your circumstance instead of the why that this is happening. And it's important because God's not only omniscient, but he is also omnipresent. He's present with you. So believe me, God is in your circumstances because God is immeasurably omnipresent. What does that word mean? I mean, you can even see in the details and probably can start delineating even what the nuance of this word. But God's presence is so important because when we think about God's presence, I think we often have maybe an improper nuance of that. Because oftentimes when people express God's presence, his omnipresence, it's like, oh, his essence is in my life. Like there's a piece of it in my life. And to give you that analogy again of like me being present in this auditorium is sometimes how people view God's presence because I can look out on the crowd, and I can see people sleeping. I can see people talking to their neighbor. I can see people going on their phones. And what is important, though, is that I cannot actually interact with you. But I will be visiting you after the service at the info center. Just kidding. But what it shows is that even though I am present within the auditorium, I can't act specifically on those things. And that's sometimes how God's omnipresence is portrayed. But that is not actually the characteristic of God's omnipresence. In fact, I have a great definition from Wayne Grudem that will help us understand what it looks like. He defines it, the doctrine that God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being. That's something to hold on to, with his whole being. Yet God acts differently in different places. And I would add to that, concurrently, at all times. So yes, he is acting in my life right now, being present with me in his whole being, as well as your life right now in his whole being, as well as whatever person is outside of this church today in his whole being. But what he's going to do is he's actually going to act differently in each of those people's lives. And we can see just how David unpacks this, because look at verse eight, because he's really considering the spatial impossibility of escaping God's presence. He says, if I ascend to heaven, what does it say? You are there. If I descend to my bed in Sheol, meaning that's the place of death, if I go down to the deepest part of death, you are there. He's reflecting on the extent of wherever he goes, God is already there. But then he actually says, okay, well, if I can't do that, I bet I can move as fast as possible and to actually escape God's presence. But look what his conclusion is. He says, if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, what he's saying, if I can go as fast as the speed of light and make it from where I am now as fast as the speed of light to make it to the other side of the world, What's it say? Oh, even there, your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. He's like, even before I get there, you're already there. There's no escaping you, God. And then he considers even the deep, that God is in the darkest places. Remember, this is David. If you read through the accounts of David, there was a time he was running and hiding, and one of those places he was hiding was in caves. And if you've ever been in a cave, you understand the depth of that darkness. In fact, that's what he's really trying to get across when he says, surely the darkness shall cover me. Like when you're in a cave and have that level of darkness, you can't see your hand in front of your face. That's the level he's talking about. And he goes, but to you, it's like light. You see me. And it's so important that when we look at that is that God doesn't miss a detail. He's always present. He's always able to distinguish within that presence of what is going on in your life. Because it's not only the fact that we cannot escape his presence, but the fact that we cannot escape his personal activity in our life. And when we take that to heart, the wonder of his omnipresence will profoundly affect our life. Because if we take on the fact that the weight of God being in our midst, it should drastically change sometimes the things we do. It should drastically affect how we live this life. In fact, I'm reminded that there are certain people that I've had in my life that create that type of effect. And some of you might have had a teacher like that. I had one teacher. His name was Mr. Gunther. And what was interesting about Mr. Gunther, he was a teacher, he was in my sophomore year, so high school, and he taught my world history class. And the thing is, is Mr. Gunther was not a tall man. I'm guessing he was pushing it if he claimed that he was 5'4". And Mr. Gunther was so little that I actually towered over this man. But you know what? I wasn't messing with Mr. Gunther. Mr. Gunther, I'm pretty sure, was ex-Navy. I never got into the details of his life. His presence brought a stern presence. His voice had that boom, and you're like, oh, this guy means business. I actually had some friends that were pretty rowdy in my class. And they would disrupt other classes, but they weren't going to disrupt Mr. Gunther's class. And what it shows is that even though that, you know what, Mr. Gunther cared about his students, he was never mean. It wasn't like he made us scared, but we had a reverence, a respect for him. And that's how God's omnipresence should be in our life. It should command worship and reverence as we live daily for Him. And I often don't think we take enough or put enough weight into that truth. Because there's some of you, if you had the manifest presence of God, if Jesus was walking beside you, I'm betting that there was many things that you wouldn't have done this week that you did. And yes, we don't see Him, but He is there. But there's also times where we are scared and we're like, God, where are you? And it's a reminder in this truth that God is there with us. And that should be an aspect of comfort in our life. Because when we consider just the weight of God's presence, it really is going to stir in us to think about, okay, God, you're with me. How do you want me to obey you? So how do we cultivate the wonder of God's omnipresence? This one's hard. Because again, you don't see God. You don't see God in your midst. And so it's like me, like sometimes it's hard. Sometimes I feel like, man, God, you must be a far off because if you could see what's happening right now, man, you would act. And since you're not here, or perceived not here, then, man, I gotta do it on my own. I gotta do what's best for me. And that's a dangerous place. That is the wandering. Wandering off from God. Because God is in our presence, and there is no way of escaping it. So how do we actually cultivate? Well, for me, it's cultivating worship in my life. It's worship that will ultimately cultivate into not just head knowledge, but that will provoke my response in him. So one of those things I do is I actually listen to music. I'm not actually a big musical guy. My wife will attest to this. I don't have any musical talent. My taste in music, even got a no from the front row, my beautiful wife. But what it does is it stirs my heart. It stirs my heart to have those sound truths actually permeate my mind. It helps me come to him. which actually then changes my disposition oftentimes, changes my motivation, but it helps me remember the God that the scriptures talk about is the God who is with me right now. Because the weight of that, of who the God is, the fact that he is all-knowing, all-present, Even to think about that he's all powerful. It's so important. Because the other thing is, is he is a personal God. In fact, God is inexplicably personal. And what I love as we go into verses 13 through 16, we see just God, or David unpack how God is so personal to him. And really what David is taking, he's taking these great cosmic attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, to personally reflect on God forming him as a baby. You can see that, that he starts off, for you form my inward parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb. He's saying, hey, like an artist, like somebody who's doing something, assembling something together, you take all the parts and then you actually knit those together. And that's pretty incredible, especially when you consider just the human body and the intricacies that go in there. That's God knitting those things together. But then God's power is seen in the most delicate way of creating the most delicate state of human beings. He says, my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret. Basically, when no one else was aware of me even being created, you were actually framing me. You were doing a work to bring me together. And what he's looking at, that frame, is really the structure, the skeletal formula. It's more like God is an architect. And what he's doing is he's forming all that. But then it says, he intricately woven the depths of the earth. And this is him being an artist, a creative God, because it's intricately woven. It's actually a phrase that talks about dying colors that were going to be used to do a tapestry. And so what it's reflecting is just, yes, he gave us the frame, but then just the faces are the shapes of our faces. The way our bodies go through is that we are all in many ways unique. And that's because of God's specific hand. But he goes on to say that it wasn't just, hey, I did this great art piece. He goes on to say it was actually done with a distinct purpose. He says, your eyes saw my unformed substance, and your books were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. When we look at that, it's like God is sovereignly, powerfully, omnisciently working, but just not in that moment, but for what is to come. That's how detailed God is, how amazing we, how amazed we should be when we even consider our own birth. The most delicate state of any man, God was working in that. And David actually just comes and he's just astonished by that fact. Look what he says, he says, I praise you for I'm fearfully, carefully, and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. And wonder in God's personal presence with us should bring encouragement and excitement even though we are weak people. Now let's say our weakness is what often hinders us from being used by God. Our weaknesses often hinder us to look at God and think he is good or that he has done something well by creating us. We see these weaknesses and we're like, there's a shortage, God. You missed something. And those weaknesses can vary across the board. Some of you actually have some type of disability. You might have a physical disability that ails you. You might have a heart condition that continually affects you. Or maybe that it's one of those more intangible things like your IQ or how smart you are. You're like, God, if only I could be smarter, then I could do so much more in this life. Or if I could just speak clearly. Have better speech. This is coming from a guy. This is not his talent. I do not speak well. It's not natural for me. And what we have to say is like, God, you want us in these positions. You want us to do what? You want us to share gospel with others? I barely can have a conversation as it is. And that instead of having a wonder of God, it becomes so internally focused and actually keeps us from what God wants to accomplish. And I've been able to see that, and it's through a television show. It's a show called The Chosen. Some of you might be aware of this. Chosen is basically a account or really taking scripture as what truths are there, but also there's not details about everything that Jesus did. And so they're going to use artistic freedom to create scenes that maybe scripture doesn't specifically talk about, but they're trying to incorporate. what scripture would say about Jesus and how he might have acted in that situation. Those are fun for me, because I, being again, not a very creative guy, I always like to watch and I'm like, oh, that was possible. And in those fictional things, and one of those fictional scenes is actually an interaction that he has with a disciple, a character named Little James. You see, Little James is actually portrayed as having a disability, again, Not scriptural, but just helps give color of how God might interact in that situation. And little James has this disability. He's following Christ throughout these things, throughout this time. Faithful follower, a follower who's worshiping him. And so the disciples often ask little James, like, hey, Does this ever bother you? Does it ever bother you that Jesus heals so many people and yet you haven't been healed? And James really never questions it. He has appropriate responses. But then he's actually tasked with the other disciples to go out two by two to spread the gospel, to heal people, to share the gospel. And this is a conundrum for him. So what does he do? He approaches Jesus privately. He says, Jesus, come on. What is it going to say if here I am limping in and you're asking me to heal people who have the same condition as me? And Jesus goes, do you want to be healed? And James is like, of course. He goes, I know, Jesus, I know, he actually quotes, I know that I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, but this would actually give more opportunity for the gospel to spread. But throughout the conversation, Jesus goes, I'm not gonna heal you. Because by you rejoicing and giving praise in your weakness, you're gonna be a greater testimony to the people you come in contact with. The fact that you faithfully stick with me, even though I won't heal you, shows the love and it shows the impact that I am having on your life. And he finally gets to a point to say, isn't it going to be wonderful and a sight to see when you're healing people with their disabilities and you're limping around? Like, isn't that wonderful? And what it means is, what the show is trying to get to, is to show that there is not a mistake. There is the fullness of this world, there is suffering, there is sin, that's why we have weaknesses, whether it's tired, fatigued, whether it's physical disability, there are things, this is part of the fall, but it's not a mistake. Because God has intentionally given us weaknesses or that we might be able to give Him praise and follow Him and be used by Him. This is a marvelous thing. So don't let your weaknesses to keep you from being wondered by His personal involvement. And also don't let these weaknesses actually keep you from living for Him and doing the work He has called you to do. And it's going to be hard. You really do have to fight. You have to fight to look at your weaknesses and say, Oh God, you are still good. God, you do not make mistakes. God, you are perfect. But then what should drive us to with this wonder is understanding that, God, give me what's necessary. Give me what's necessary for what you have called me to do. And you got to fight to continually ask for it because it's not going to always feel like it's there. But you are going to take that step of obedience and order, even though it doesn't feel like it. And that's how your faith is going to be demonstrated, that you can take a step of faith in your weakness. Because the truth is, God is incomprehensibly omniscient. He's immeasurably omnipresent and inexplicably personal. So be inseparably devoted. That's our last point for today. So be inseparably devoted. You see David's occupation with God's attributes and how he sees God working personally in his life leads him to pursue him and remain devoted in every aspect of his life. He unpacks this and the first thing that we see is he's devoting himself to God. He looks at God just having his thoughts treasured. So devoting ourselves to God means you treasure his thoughts which sparks careful consideration of your personal behavior and actions. But it says in verse 17, oh, how precious to me are your thoughts. Oh God, how vast is the sum of them. If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake and I'm still with you. And the thoughts of God, they're right here. They're right here in Scripture. They're full of his thoughts. And yes, we can't comprehend the fullness of these as well as we can't comprehend the fullness of everything else outside of this world. But what we can look is that He has a vast sum of them, and we should count whatever we know to be precious to us. And then to think our response is going to inspire, stir on God's thoughts of us, and that should be very precious, that we would want to be righteous and right before Him. But then devotion also means, a devotion to God also means a growing hate for evil and unrighteousness. And what we're gonna find here is, you look at this passage and it's like, man, this seems out of place. 19 through 22, there's a lot of words about hate, killing, all these things, and you're like, man, this stirs anger in the David. And what I would say is, it's a righteous anger. Look at what it says. Oh, that you would slay the wicked, oh God. Oh, men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you with malicious intent. Again, speak against you. Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred. I count them my enemies. See, God, or David, is righteously angry about what God is righteously angry about. He is consumed with the wonder of God that's actually invoking anger for anything that might go against God and his purposes. And there's a lot of things in this world, alright? You start examining this world, there's a lot of things that God hates that are going on. Again, people are doing agendas, people are trying to go against his gospel, people are trying to go against his church, against his standards, whatever it may be, and there should be anger that is in our hearts directed towards that. But you notice, It's not because of what's getting done to us. David is not concerned about how that's impacting his life. He is concerned about how that's impacting God. And that's important. If you are going to have righteous anger, you are going to be zealous for what God is being done to God and how He's being offended versus how we are offended. And then comes the response. As we can see, time is running short. I can't unpack the response, but I'm gonna give you two scriptures that will. Write down 2 Timothy 2, 22 through 26. Again, 2 Timothy 2, 22 through 26. And then also 1 Peter 3, 8 through 17. I think these scriptures unpack that we are supposed to be respectable, that we are supposed to be gentle when we are confronting people and agendas that are defaming God and are going against His character. So make sure you take those in consideration before you ever do an action that would go against this. Right? And then also that what next we see is devotion to God invites God to test, convict, and refine us as he sees fit to make us like Jesus Christ. He says, search me, oh God. Know my heart. Know it all. Like he's open, like vulnerable. Like it's okay, I want you to know it all. And then try me. Test me. and know my thoughts, convict me on whatever is necessary. Because if there is any grievous way in me, please make known to me what that is, so that I, that you would lead me in the way everlasting. And I love this quote that sums this up best. He says, David sees in them, talking about the enemies of God, the danger which threatens him himself, and prays God not to give him over to the judgment of self-delusion, but to lay bare the true state of his soul. And now inviting God to examine you is a sobering request. Because what happens is if you really are ready to lay those things before God, he will convict you, he will expose you, and he will ask you to live faithfully towards him. And that means some hard, hard things in your life. That can be giving up certain things, that can be giving up certain desires, that can be giving up certain hopes and dreams, like, but that's what we were getting at. It's like, I'm willing to be examined in that way. So how can we get to a place like David is, where he's so devoted to what God thinks that actually infiltrates his life? Well, it's nothing new. I would say here at Ascend, you hold it in your hands. It's this book right here. It's to read this book. And I think a lot of times that's where people stop. Okay, I need to read faithfully this book. That's great. But that's not where it should stop. Because this truth, this book, is to not only be read and accumulate knowledge, it's also to actually discern your heart, discern your desires, discern your thoughts, your behavior, whatever it may be. It's to expose us. And so we not only have to read, but we have to actually reflect. We have to meditate and take time to do that. And then we have to take that, what we learn, and what we reflect, and what God exposes, and actually then seek to change. And that takes work. And that's going to take time. But that's what I would say is this week is like, as you're reading it, don't make this a checkmark mentality. Don't say, OK, I've read it. That's great. And then just move on. No, you need to actually meditate on this and use it to reflect. And then open up and ask God, God, Please show me any grievous way in me and then show me how I need to live for you. So I'm going to have you bow your heads and close your eyes. And I just want to remind you, like it's a constant reminder that we have to hold this truth. And that God has rightly declared who he is and how he works. We need to believe that. And what we need to do is instead of letting our circumstances interpret God, We need to take a top-down approach. Meaning, we need to reflect on his character that then will influence how we interpret and understand our circumstances. So rewind. Rewind back to that unbelief statement that I had. Whatever your struggle, what is it? What is the uncertainty? What is the unbelief that you need help with today? And then, take that and start with God's character. Because God says who he says he is, and it's all true. And God's saying, just believe it. Believe that this is true. And allow that belief to actually influence how you interpret what's going on. Because you need to start with the top. You need to go vertical before you're actually going horizontal. So whatever that may be, take time, take this moment, and then form and exhort your unbelief when it's contrary to what God says about Himself. So wherever you're at with that, that's not an easy task. And so I'm going to give you a couple opportunities. We're going to have a time of prayer, so I'd say take the time to reflect. We're also going to have a prayer team down here in front, and they would love to pray with you and help you just acknowledge God and express your doubts and your uncertainties to Him. But then, go forward today. Meditate on your scripture. Make sure that it makes that bridge. That it goes from unbelief to belief, which then actually impacts you to wonder. Have a wonder for God that leads to a full devotion to Him. Father, I'm so thankful for this one. I'm thankful for this word in Psalm 139. And Father, it's just heavy. So much rich theology is such a wonderful, amazing song. And yeah, Father, just what we even unpacked today, Father, we skim the surface. And so, Father, I would pray that this would just inspire us to dig deeper into these wonderful truths, and then provoke us to actually obey, follow you, and just give you awe in every aspect of our life. So thankful for what you are doing, what you're doing. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.