Special sermon

January 25, 2026

Virtual sermon when the worship service was canceled due to a snowstorm

Good morning, Bethel Friends Church-

If you are watching this, it is a message for the Bethel Friends Church family. I serve as the pastor of Bethel Friends Church. We canceled services due to the snowmageddon outside. I had all intentions of going to the church for this live stream. However, after shoveling 6-7 inches off my driveway, it seemed like my road had hardly been touched. I did not want to be stuck today, so here I am. It is still snowing heavily. I seriously thought after we canceled for the day, the snow would miss us and it would be 70 degrees and sunny.

As we begin- some announcements:

Remember, we have a 24-hour prayer watch this Friday from 8 am to Saturday morning at 8 am. If you have not signed up, please call or stop by the church this week. Please pray for God’s direction for the church. Please pray for many to come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Please pray for your family, the community, and however God leads you.

Tim Keller shares:

When Sally Field won the Oscar for Places in the Heart in 1985 … Does anybody remember seeing that? She went to the microphone. Everybody was applauding. She looked and in a moment of real candor she said, “… I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” Like, after years and years it suddenly dawned on her that she was in.

When she said that, with all the radiance, it just went right through me because I began to realize I, like her, like maybe all of us, like a child, so desperately need to be let in. We spend most of our lives feeling we’re out. To be welcomed by the inner circle, to be welcomed and totally accepted by the ones who really count.^[1]

1. God knows and is in control
   1. Psalm 139:1–5 (ESV) O 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. ³  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴    Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. ⁵       You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
   2. This was a Psalm written by David.
   3. Many of the Psalms are actually Messianic. Many are actually pointing towards the Messiah. For example, Psalm 22 is the suffering Messiah; Psalm 23 the return from the dead; Psalm 24 is the reigning of the Messiah on His throne. The Psalms were put together when there was no king after the exile. Many were written before the exile but put together after the ex[2]
   4. The first four verses speak of God knowing and verse 5 speaks about God being in control.
   5. The Psalmist says: “O” Lord…
   6. He starts with “O.”
   7. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh.
   8. God knows him.
   9. There is a picture of God searching.
   10. The Hebrew verbs can be interpreted as timeless truth: “You search me and you know me.” God’s attributes are not restricted to time. The words know … understand … observe, and are aware speak of God’s omniscience. The word observe comes from the Hebrew root zarah, which means “measure.” The Hebrew word for ways does not necessarily denote literal walking but daily behavior.^[3]
   11. This is saying that God knows David.
   12. God searches… But God doesn’t really search. God is speaking on human terms.
   13. God knows David.
   14. Searched in Hebrew means “to sift.”[4]
   15. Verse 2: You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You know my thoughts from afar.
   16. In context, the Psalmist was saying the Lord searches him and knows him. Now, he knows when he sits and when he rises. Even from a distance, the Lord knows his thoughts.
   17. Verse 3: You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
   18. This is really awesome! Building on the theme of the Psalm, God is intimately acquainted with all my ways.
   19. “Scrutinize” could mean “winnow.”
   20. It has the idea of measuring up.
   21. Verse 4: Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.
   22. This verse builds on the idea of God knowing us completely.
   23. God knows all our words before we speak them.
   24. This must mean that He knows our thoughts as well.
   25. This corresponds with the previous verses about God knowing all of us. God knows all.
   26. Verse 5 speaks of God’s control.
   27. Verse 5: You hem me in, behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me.
   28. God’s omnipresence guarantees protection. The first line is literally “Back and front, you enclosed me.” Your hand on me denotes absolute control over the psalmist, who was subject to the Lord’s loving care and discipline.^[5]
   29. The Psalmist has written about God’s omniscience and now God’s boundaries and protection.
   30. It seems that the Psalmist is saying that God limits where He can go.
   31. I have a picture of a parent limiting a toddler’s space.
   32. Swindoll writes:
   33. The Lord remains in complete control of the smallest details of His creation; He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Knowing us as He does, He puts the necessary controls upon us. The fact that He “encloses” us could be misunderstood. This is the translation of a Hebrew term used for the besieging of a city in battle—closing off all escape routes. One Hebrew scholar says it means “to be hemmed in.” The idea is that God has us in inescapable situations and there steadies us, directs us, restrains us, keeps us from running and escaping from that situation. This explains why His hand is upon us. Perhaps the apostle Paul was in such a predicament when he said he and his companions were “burdened excessively, beyond our strength” (2 Cor. 1:8). The King James Version renders those words: “We were pressed out of measure, above strength.” The Greek term means “to be weighed down.” It’s the idea of intense pressure: “We were under tremendous pressure.” In pressurized situations today God shuts off all escape routes, but He stays near and steadies us with His hand so that you and I might learn valuable lessons instead of running from the difficulty. Annie Johnson Flint describes scenes familiar to all of us—times of inescapable pressure:
   34. Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;
   35. Pressed so intensely it seems beyond strength.
   36. Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul;
   37. Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll;
   38. Pressure by foes, and pressure by friends;
   39. Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.
   40. Pressed into loving the staff and the rod;
   41. Pressed into knowing no helper but God.
   42. Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
   43. Pressed into faith for impossible things.
   44. Pressed into living a life in the Lord;
   45. Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured.[6]
   46. After contemplating all these truths, David exclaims, in effect, “It blows my mind!” (v. 6). So wonderful were these proofs of God’s knowledge and control, he could not begin to contain his emotions. His problem of identity has begun to fade as the songwriter realizes God views His creatures as important and significant. He knows us. He scrutinizes our lives. He studies us and steadies us twenty-four hours a day. Although it blows our minds to comprehend it, it is true. How well does God know me? Completely![7]
2.  Applications
   1. What great applications from Psalm 139:1-5:
   2. God knows us! Wow!
   3. Tender loving care…
   4. David Jeremiah writes: This is the most important fact in your life. God loves you. The eternal, self-existent Being who created and sustains everything that exists dearly loves you. The profound thought of God’s love should begin and end your every day. It should define your every goal, your every action. And He doesn’t merely like you when you do well; He is personally and passionately committed to your good, even when you fail. God loves you. What would happen if that three-word sentence became the theme of your life—if you let it change everything about you and your world?[8]
   5. Do we trust Him?
   6. Then, can we give others the benefit of the doubt?
   7. Psalm 139:7–12 (ESV) 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 dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
   8. I am increasingly convinced that when a controversial issue happens, I do not have enough information to make a judgment. Something happens hundreds of miles away, it is politically charged, how can I possibly make a judgment? I do not know all the information.
   9. Instead, I should pray for the leaders to have integrity and wisdom. I should know that things have way more nuance than I realize. I should pray to the Lord because He knows all things. I should trust the Lord because this passage teaches He knows all things.
   10. Why do we watch the news, read the news, and get upset?
   11. Why do we make judgments before we know what is going on? Give the benefit of the doubt.
   12. Can we dig deep to trust almighty God as the rightful judge and, in doing so, try to give each side of a news situation the benefit of the doubt?
   13. Depending on who you are, one side will be easier than the other.
   14. Grace towards all,
   15. Faith towards God,
   16. Biblical Wisdom in all things.
   17. Turn it around-
   18. Biblical wisdom in all things,
   19. Then- God increase our faith,
   20. Grace towards everyone.
   21. How can we frame all of this around God knowing all things?
   22. If God knows all and He is in control, we can trust Him. This means let our words be positive, loving, and full of integrity.
   23. Can we be firm, bold, and loving? I think we can. Can we be gentle and bold at the same time? I think we can.
   24. Proverbs 18:13 (NASB95): He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.
   25. Proverbs 10:20–21 (NASB95) 20 The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver, The heart of the wicked is worth little. 21  The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of understanding. God knows it?
   26. Proverbs 16:23–24 (NASB95) 23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth, And adds persuasiveness to his lips. Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
   27. Next time you are in a discussion with someone, take the other person’s side. Say, “What I hear you saying is this…” Then strengthen their argument, then argue against it. You can stand argue your point, but try to strengthe their argument. Oftentimes what we do is we create a straw man of their argument.
   28. The fallacy of straw man is changing or exaggerating an opponent’s position to make it easier to refute.[9]
   29. Another logical fallacy is:
   30. Propaganda:
   31. An example is “Manipulative Propaganda:
   32. Manipulative propaganda is used when someone plays with our emotions in a way designed to make us agree with them without thinking through the matter carefully.[10]
   33. Look at Psalm 139:5.
   34. God set boundaries around it (Ps. 139:5). This means God is in control. We can trust Him.
   35. Every day- Read one verse; write it; make some observations; make a resolution. Then, write a prayer…

In 1862, when Lincoln was 53 years old, his 11-year-old son Willie died. Lincoln’s wife “tried to deal with her grief by searching out New Age mediums.” Lincoln turned to Phineas Gurley, pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington.

Several long talks led to what Gurley described as “a conversion to Christ.” Lincoln confided that he was “driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I have nowhere else to go.”

Similarly, the horrors of the dead and wounded soldiers assaulted him daily. There were fifty hospitals for the wounded in Washington. The rotunda of the Capitol held two thousand cots for wounded soldiers.

Typically, fifty soldiers a day died in these temporary hospitals. All of this drove Lincoln deeper into the providence of God. “We cannot but believe, that He who made the world still governs it.”

His most famous statement about the providence of God in relation to the Civil War was his Second Inaugural Address, given a month before he was assassinated. It is remarkable for not making God a simple supporter for the Union or Confederate cause. God has his own purposes and does not excuse sin on either side.

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war might speedily pass away. . . .Yet if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid with another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said, “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.”[11]

^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[2] Dr. Rydelnic; Open Line; July 6, 2019

^[3] Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 935.

[4] Swindoll; Insight for Living; 11.22.2021

^[5] Kevin R. Warstler, “Psalms,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 935.

[6] Annie Johnson Flint, “Pressed,” from Poems That Preach, compiled by John R. Rice (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1952).

[7] Charles R. Swindoll, Living the Psalms: Encouragement for the Daily Grind (New York, NY: Worthy Books, 2012), 266–267.

[8] Jeremiah, Dr. David. God Loves You (p. 3). FaithWords. Kindle Edition.

[9] Bluedorn, Nathaniel; Bluedorn, Hans. The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning (p. 84). (Function). Kindle Edition.

[10] Bluedorn, Nathaniel; Bluedorn, Hans. The Fallacy Detective: Thirty-Eight Lessons on How to Recognize Bad Reasoning (p. 254). (Function). Kindle Edition.

[11] https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lincolns-providence?utm_campaign=Daily%20Email&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=82749622&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_MxXo_YBQu18a5XSiFnsSbS0ghk8vpBG5hGNHKPvKKN1XkYQhO_FRoROANfkjmsbTn5Dxabl43TnBPlMMmYwgL3UWWuw&_hsmi=82749622