TRUST

 Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

²     You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought 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.

⁵     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.

⁷     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.

¹⁴   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.

 

 

I.               JESUS ASKS US TO FOLLOW HIM

 

Matthew 4:18-19

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. ¹⁹ And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

 

Matthew 8:19-22

¹⁹ And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow you wherever you go. ²⁰ And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. ²¹ And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. ²² But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

 

Matthew 16:24-26

²⁴ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. ²⁶ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

II.             FOLLOWING IS AN ASPECT OF TRUST

 

Ex. Illustration of various paths

 

Ex. My Example – College

 

Ex. Severe Test before promotion   -  Jesus on Mount Matthew 4:1-

 

Ex. King David same test

            Acts 13:22

²² And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

 

a.     Tested and found faithful in small things

b.     Tested with early success

c.     Tested with hardship and difficulty

d.     Tested 1/12^th of his promise

e.     Zion – full release of His promise

 

1. Can’t please Him without it

Heb 11:6

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

 

2. We must live by it  

Rom 1:17

3. Our Eternal Salvation Depends on it
4. Our quality of life depends on it.

Mark 11:22-24

²² And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. ²³ For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. ²⁴ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 

 

5. Fulfilling our Destiny Depends on it

Numbers 13:32 – 14:14

 

ALL WHO MESSED UP BIBLICALLY IT WAS BECAUSE A LAPSE OF TRUST

 

1. Adam and Eve eating fruit. Gen 3:6

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make onewise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

2. Abraham with Hagar

Genesis 16:1-4

Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ² And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. ³ And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. ⁴ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

 

3. Israel rejecting the promised land

 

4. Israel in choosing a King.

 

1 Samuel 8:4-9

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, ⁵ And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. ⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. ⁹ Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

 

 

HOW

 

1.     Learn how intimately Acquainted with us He is

 

Searched me – Searched me out

 

Known me – Come to full intimate conclusions about me

 

You – Emphatic in Hebrew

 

Downsitting and Uprising -  Actions

 

Thoughts – Motivations

 

Thoughts - Long before forming and while in the developmental stage of forming

 

Compassest – sifted

 

Hand upon me – To uphold me and restrain me

 

Afar -  refers to time not to space

            

Covered in Mothers Womb -  woven, knitted

 

Path and Lying Down - Daily Activities –

 

Word in my tongue – (Millah) What I am about to say

 

Altogether (completely)

 

Thine eyes did see my substance - Embryo

 

2.     How much He likes us

 

All Gods dealings with us are voluntary