Introduction: Read Psalm 139:1-18, focussing on v.13-18.
According to one report, an adult human body has 7 octillion atoms (i.e., 7 with 27 “0’s”). https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jan/27/20-human-body-facts-science In another article, I learned that “each day, about 2 billion of the body’s cells wear out and are replaced. Thus, the body is always rebuilding itself. Every 15 to 30 days, for instance, the human body replaces the outermost layer of skin.” Our nerves carry messages that travel at speeds up to 90 metres per second, and the heart beats about 100,000 times each day. Worldbook, H. p.403. Whenever I read or hear about the fascinating things that take place in the human body, I am amazed.
Transition: Psalm 139:13-18 speaks of God’s creation of a baby in a mother’s womb. As we look at this section, I want to highlight the amazing ability of our great God.
1. Psalm 139:13
a. For thou hast possessed my reins:
1) The word “reins” describes the kidneys.
2) In the mind of the ancient Hebrew, the kidneys were the seat of emotions. The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the N.T. states, “It is the innermost and most private aspect of a person.”
3) David knew that when he was a tiny new baby developing in his mother’s womb, he had the beginning of kidneys or inmost emotions. Though incredibly tiny, every infant is a person from conception.
4) Abortionists today claim that the tiny babe is just a blob of tissue. That is not true. It is a living human with feelings and emotions.
5) When David said that God possessed his reigns, what did he mean? The word “possessed” means to buy, acquire, or possess. David’s inmost person belonged to God, even when only a few cells in size. He was God’s creation.
b. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
1) The word “covered” has two meanings.
a) It generally means to hide or shield something with a covering.
b) It sometimes means to weave together.
2) Both meanings fit in this context.
a) The little baby is covered or hidden in his mother’s womb. Today we have ultrasound and x-rays that show form, but the actual babe is hidden.
b) It is also true that God weaves together every part of an infant’s body while in his mother’s womb.
2. Psalm 139:14
a. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
1) David knew that he was fearfully made by God. The idea of fearful in this context is not terror but awe. When we look at the complexity of the human body, we ought to stand in respectful awe of God’s amazing ability to create us as He did. He designed every cell to work together in harmony.
2) David also knew that he was wonderfully made. This word speaks of distinctness. You are unique. God gave you the specific characteristics that he wanted you to have.
3) I am presently listening to a book by a secular medical doctor about nutrition. Repeatedly, she describes the complexity of the human body as cells work together with others to do amazing things. Sadly, she always dismisses it as an evolutionary mystery.
4) We ought to praise God for how He made each of us. He made no mistakes. If God has given you bodily features that you wish were different, instead of complaining, ask God to help you use them for His glory.
b. Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
1) David exclaimed that God’s works or workmanship in his body is marvellous or wonderful. When we take a closer look at how each cell works and how the contents of that cell work together and in harmony with other cells, we see that we are fearfully and wonderfully designed and created.
2) This truth David’s soul knew very well.
3. Psalm 139:15
a. My substance was not hid from thee,
1) When David spoke of his “substance”, he spoke of his strength, might and particularly of his strong bones.
2) As his strong bones grew in his mother’s womb, they were not hidden from God. God sees everything.
b. When I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
1) Our bodies were made (i.e., fashioned, formed, completed) in secret. In other words, as we developed, we were hidden from view.
2) The words “curiously wrought” describe an embroidery, a weaving, or a needlework of variegated or mixed colours.
3) By the “lowest parts of the earth” David was not saying that a babe’s development takes place in the earth. Some think he is referring to the dust from which we come. Otherwise, David may be using a dark hole in the earth to picture a truly hidden secret place.
4. Psalm 139:16
a. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
1) This word “substance” is a totally different word than the word in verse 14 and is speaking of an embryo.
2) God saw him when he was yet an undeveloped embryo in his mother’s womb.
b. And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
1) Evidently, God has some kind of book about your life and mine. In that book, God recorded every detail of our bodies on the days they were formed.
2) This took place before any of them could be seen or identified by a human.
5. Psalm 139:17
a. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
1) It was precious or valuable to David to ponder God’s thoughts about his development in his mother’s womb.
2) If you and I will take the time to ponder God’s thoughts described in this Psalm, they will be precious to us as well.
b. How great is the sum of them!
1) Considering all of God’s thoughts regarding his creation as a tiny infant, David imagines stacking them in a pile.
2) If stacked up, the sum or top of them would be very high.
6. Psalm 139:18
a. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
1) Still referring to the stack of God’s thoughts about the creation of an infant, he now ponders counting all of them.
2) David concludes that if counted, they would number more than the sand. This is probably an exaggerated way of saying that God’s knowledge about my creation is totally beyond comprehension.
b. When I awake, I am still with thee.
1) David would ponder these facts as he fell asleep at night. When he awakened in the morning, his thoughts again returned to God’s amazing ability.
2) Bob Utley makes this comment, “the psalmist falling asleep while counting God’s blessings and waking again to still find Him present (because he could not finish the counting).”
Conclusion: The work God does every time he creates a human being in the womb is amazing. His thoughts about every aspect of that child’s development are incomprehensible. Truly, God’s ability is amazing!
May we never buy into Satan’s lie that abortion is not murder because the fetus is just a blob of tissue. God begins the creation of life at conception, and He oversees it until birth.
