169. Big Words, Bigger Meaning

Show Notes

Omniscience, Omnipresent, Omnipotence. These are big words that describe three characteristics of God.  He is omniscient.  He is omnipresent.  He is omnipotent.  But do we actually know what these words mean?  Moreover, where do we find these specific words in the Bible?  Truth is, the terms "omniscient", "omnipresent", and "omnipotent" don't actually occur anywhere in the Bible, yet we know that God is all three.  The Bible DOES describe these three terms, even if it doesn't use them specifically.  John is flying solo this week to show us where these characteristics of God show up in Scripture, and how we can lead our mentees into understanding both the concept, and the significance of these three characteristics in their lives.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Zachary Garza

Founder of Forerunner Mentoring & You Can Mentor // Father to the Fatherless // Author

What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?

You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.

We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to [e-mail], and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.

Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.

Speaker 1: 00:02

You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.

Speaker 2: 00:37

Hey, mentors. Just a reminder about the You Can Mentor book. It's titled You Can Mentor, How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Crisis. The whole point of this book is to equip and encourage mentors with new tools and ideas on how to make the most of their mentor mentee relationship. If you're a mentor, hey, go pick it up.

Speaker 2: 00:58

And if you're a mentoring organization, pick some up for all of your mentors. If you would like to order mass copies, like more than 20, send an email to me, [e-mail], and we will get you guys a special price. But go and pick up that book. It's good. You can mentor.

Speaker 3: 01:17

Hi, friends. Today, we're gonna talk about something really special and cool. We're gonna look at scripture, and the hope is, you guys, that from time to time we just wanna share a passage or a chapter because at times you're gonna be meeting with your mentor, and your or your mentee rather, maybe even your mentor actually, and you really may not have anything planned, anything scheduled. And so besides kinda getting through some conversational stuff, asking them how they're doing, maybe sharing stories about how what what life is like for you, you may just kinda think, you know what? I really wish that I just had something I could go to in order to strike up a conversation, open God's word with my mentee, and just really kind of share, you know, from the Lord's word truth of scripture and how that kind of shapes us and how that directs us.

Speaker 3: 02:00

And so with that in mind, today I want us to look at a passage that is going to inform our theology and influence our actions, right? Because that's what scripture does as well. It informs our understanding of who God is and it also helps to influence how we live our life practically speaking. So today let's look at one of my favorite chapters and I'm sure it's one of yours too, Psalm 139. Is that not just one of the best?

Speaker 3: 02:25

Like, if you were to go on Spotify and, you know, search the Bible and look at the very top, you know, song, most downloaded, most popular. Don't you think Psalm 139 would at least be in the top 5? Yeah. I think so too. Alright.

Speaker 3: 02:39

So today's title is big words, bigger meaning. Psalm 139. Big words, bigger meaning. What are those big words? Well, let me tell you.

Speaker 3: 02:48

I'm gonna add 3 to your vocabulary if these aren't already being used on the regular. 1st is omniscience omniscience. That is the state of knowing everything, and that is something that describes who God is. God is omniscient. He knows all, right?

Speaker 3: 03:07

2nd word is omnipresence. That's the state of being widespread or constantly encountered. God is omnipresent, right? He is everywhere at all times and also omnipotence. Omnipotence.

Speaker 3: 03:21

God is omnipotent as He has unlimited power and he is able to do anything. And so something that I love about Psalm 139 is it really shows us God's omniscience, his omnipresence, and his omnipotence. And so these are words that you can share with your mentee. These are all from the word, the prefix there of omni, which is Latin for all. And so what better way to describe and try to understand God as all everything.

Speaker 3: 03:47

Right? He tells Moses, hey, my name, I'll tell you what it is. It's I am. I am all. Right?

Speaker 3: 03:53

There is nothing without Me. Scripture says that there was nothing made without Christ there in John. And so again, we have this understanding that God is in all and through all. And so let's read this Psalm chapter 139 together as we meet and think about God's omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. So Psalm 139 is for the director of music.

Speaker 3: 04:16

As it says, it's of David, so it's a David psalm. And, dude, I love David Psalms. Alright? I love how he communicates. I I love so often in the Psalm that he is worshiping the Lord, and then he questions God, and he's wondering why he's kind of hanging out in this cave, and he's he's thinking about his enemies, and then he finally gets resolved again to say, but listen, even though I don't have all the answers right now, even though things haven't been revealed to me, God, I trust you.

Speaker 3: 04:42

And so we kind of get some of that flavor in Psalm 139 as he begins to say, You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways.

Speaker 3: 05:02

Before a word is on my tongue, You, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before. You lay Your head upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's too lofty for me to attain.

Speaker 3: 05:16

So these first six verses shows us and speaks to the omniscience of God. Right? God is all knowing. He knows everything just as David mentioned several times as he said, you know these things. You know when I sit down.

Speaker 3: 05:29

You know when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You are you are near to me, and also, God, you are far from me. And so your perspective is that of being an inch away and also very far away. We think about that maybe even in the timeline of our lives.

Speaker 3: 05:44

Right? God is with us in the moment. He is here and present right here and now. He knows what's going on, but He also has that vantage point of as if watching the parade of our lives not only from the street level but also high above, right? Being able to know our days and having them counted and knowing our past and knowing our present, knowing our future.

Speaker 3: 06:04

So when David says, man, you hem me in behind and before, you lay your hand upon me. Right? Isn't this beautiful imagery? You guys, Psalm 139 is just such a poetic and such a visual and kind of metaphorical, but also very literal chapter. I think that's why I love it so much.

Speaker 3: 06:20

You know, we have other passages of scripture that speak so directly and so quickly, right? We have verses that are just so comprehensive like what Hebrews 138, I think it is, when it says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We have great verses like Micah 6 that say, man, to please God, you know what you do? Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. So we have some of these very simply put, very potent verses and passages of scripture, and then we have chapters like Psalm 139 that allow us to really just kind of think about every line, every word, saying so much and saying it in such a really beautiful way.

Speaker 3: 06:57

And, again, this speaks to the beauty of scripture that it's not only practical, but it's also just so poetic. And that's something that we can really meditate on as we're supposed to with meditating on scripture, Old and New Testament. Right? So again, he says, Lord, you've searched me and you know me. And, God, you know all things.

Speaker 3: 07:16

And so this is a wonderful thing to say, man, you are in charge of everything. You're knowing what's going on in existence, but also you're knowing me. You're hemming me in behind than before. You just think about even today, we've got this incredibly cold weather in Waco today, and so it keeps me from going into our shop downtown. And so I'm actually recording this episode from my home shop in the backyard.

Speaker 3: 07:37

So I'm looking out the door and I see my youngest, my 10 year old who is looks like she is actually as we speak, she is with her friend breaking off some ice off the trampoline and actually eating it. So that's exciting. Alright. Let's keep moving forward with chapter 139 verse 7. Where can I go from your spirit?

Speaker 3: 08:00

Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I ride on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you.

Speaker 3: 08:24

The night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you. And so in this passage we see from 7 to 12, We're seeing God's omnipresence, right, him being everywhere at all times. I was talking about this passage with my wife just earlier before coming in to record, and it's just such an amazing wonderful thing to consider that we know God as Pursuer, right? Like He is chasing after us and yet as we go, you know, He's already at the destination that we're traveling to, right? Isn't that an incredible component of God's reality that He is omnipresent so He is not only where we've been but He's also where we're going?

Speaker 3: 09:04

And so as David considers, man, where can I even, you know, flee from your presence? Where are you not, Lord? Because, look, if I go up to the heavens, you're there. If I make my bed in the depths, well, you're there. If I rise to the on the wings of the dawn, well, you're there.

Speaker 3: 09:20

And if I settle on the far side of the sea, you're there as well. Verse 8 and 9 are really incredible, you guys, because not only do we get this cool imagery, but we also get the sense of direction because think about it. If I go up to the heavens, just think about that being north, he is there. If I make my bed in the depths, okay, south, he's there. It talks about rising on the wings of the dawn as the sun comes up on the east, he's there.

Speaker 3: 09:45

And if I settle on the far side of the sea so from the writer's perspective, the sea would be on the west, and guess what? He's there north, south, east, and west. It doesn't matter which direction that you head, the Lord is there. Your hand will guide me and your right hand will hold me fast. And even if I say, well surely the darkness will hide me, right?

Speaker 3: 10:04

I can be unseen in the darkness. It says even the darkness is light to you. And so, God is omnipresent. Not only does he know everything, he sees everything. Verse 13, it says, for you created my inmost being.

Speaker 3: 10:18

You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you.

Speaker 3: 10:28

When I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, oh God! How vast is the sum of them! Where I'd account them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

Speaker 3: 10:47

When I awake, I'm still with you. Man, this passage continues just to deliver these really great metaphors and and this wonderful poetic language. Right? And in this, we see God's omnipotence, okay, his power, his ability. He can do all things.

Speaker 3: 11:02

He does do all things. He has unlimited power. And so we see, man, I was created in my inmost being. You created me. You knit me together in my mother's womb, and I'm fearfully and I'm wonderfully made.

Speaker 3: 11:17

And you know that full well because my frame was not hidden from you. You saw my unformed body. And then the writer begins to say, man, how precious are your thoughts? How vast is the sum of them? Okay?

Speaker 3: 11:29

Even relating them to the grains of sand, if I were to try to count them it would just be a fool's errand. There's no way, God, that I can understand you. And this really kind of shows when we think about God's omnipresence, His omnipotence, and His omniscience, we consider to think, man, there's just no way to comprehend it. He says, I would go crazy to try to think and try to fully comprehend, God, the fact that you are everywhere, that you know everything, that you see everything. And yet, this is really incredible and something that I think that we should consider always sharing with our mentees, and that is the fact that we don't have to know God comprehensively.

Speaker 3: 12:04

We don't have to understand him omni, right, in all things to enjoy Him in all ways. You got that? Because even David says, How precious to me are Your thoughts, God? How vast is the sum of them? If I were even to try to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

Speaker 3: 12:21

And he says this too: When I awake, I'm still with you. And so, this is really incredible just because it gives us some imagery of we picture David dreaming about God, right? Enjoying him in his dreams and when he awakes from his dreams when he awakes from his sleep as he's been enjoying God in that state, guess what? God is still with him. God does not leave him.

Speaker 3: 12:45

God is not only with him temporarily at certain times when everything is optimal. Right? But yet you are still with me at at all times and so able to do all things. So verse 19, this is an interesting passage, 4 verses, and I want you to kinda get this. Right?

Speaker 3: 13:01

God excuse me. David has been celebrating God's omniscience, his omnipresence, and his omni omnipotence up to this point. But then look in verse 19. He says, if only you, God, would slay the wicked. Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty.

Speaker 3: 13:19

They speak of you with evil intent. Your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them my enemies.

Speaker 3: 13:32

I always think it's interesting that David here has spent 18 verses just singing the praises of God. Right? I mean, it almost sounds flowery. Right? Right?

Speaker 3: 13:40

Like picking petals and saying, he loves me. He loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, thinking about the grains of sand and thinking about being hemmed in, thinking about God knitting him together in his mother's womb. But what does he do in verse 19? He says, now, God, if only you would slay everybody, okay, who is against you.

Speaker 3: 13:58

He says, to think about those with evil intent who are not on your side, man, I hate them, Lord. I hate those who hate you. Okay? I am against those who are in rebellion against you, and I have nothing for hate but hatred for them. I think that this is an interesting passage, you guys, just to consider that David almost shows his flesh in this moment, I think, because he goes from this full focus of who God is and saying, oh, God.

Speaker 3: 14:25

I I can't even I can't even begin to understand all of these wonderful things that I enjoy about you. And then he says, and now I want everyone dead who who doesn't wanna have anything to do with you. So just think about that for a moment. What if that was the reality? What if what if God was to honor that?

Speaker 3: 14:41

I've always liked to communicate it in such a way to say, you know, if that was true, you and I wouldn't be here, would we? In fact, ministry is not about us being so in love with God that we want to destroy those who are against him, but instead, what do we do? We take compassion on them and realize that those that are against the Lord have yet to understand his grace and mercy, and so that's something that we can model to say God loves you. He loves you so much that he gave his one and only son that instead of dying, that you'd live in him. And so we think about that humanity, that component of sometimes we can be so in love with God, and then if we try to exercise this desire to do away with everything that is not of God, well, it wouldn't be very good ministry, I don't think.

Speaker 3: 15:29

It would be in fact, the scripture says that we we at one time were all against God. We were all enemies of him, and yet when we heard truth and when we responded to grace, we became family members of him. So anyway, David begins 18 verses of this love letter to God, but then he goes into 4 verses of saying, I want to kill everything that is against you, God. That's how much I love you. But then again, we see this pause in verse 23 again as he says, Search me, God, and know my heart.

Speaker 3: 16:00

Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. And so again, we think about this interesting chapter that really shows a lot of humanity. And I think this is something that we can communicate to our mentee to say, you know what? We can have access to God, and and we can meditate on his word, and we can enjoy him.

Speaker 3: 16:26

We can realize that he is everything, right? That he knows me, that he sees me, that he works in me. Right? He knows everything. He sees everything, and he is at work everywhere.

Speaker 3: 16:38

And that may cause an opportunity for us to maybe be a little bit misguided. Right? To maybe even be a little bit judgy when it comes to if we are living our life in such a way where we're making the right decisions, we, in our humanity, sometimes have an interesting way of kind of judging others or maybe sometimes taking it too far and looking at others and thinking, well, you know what? I'm getting it right. They're not getting it right.

Speaker 3: 17:03

God, I'm gonna pray for them in hopes that they would get it right because I'm I'm where I need to be, but they're not where they need to be. Again, David kinda shows us that may not be the very best way to live our life, but such is the case because we're human and we make mistakes even when it comes to worshiping God. But the resolve here are these wonderful two verses of 23 and 24. Right? Search me, God.

Speaker 3: 17:27

He ends with saying, I want you to know me, God. I want you to test me. I want you to see if there's anything anxious in me. I want I want you to find anything kind of temporary about my thinking or about my mind's state right now. And, Lord, if there's anything that's offensive in me, I want you to remove that, and I want you to lead me in the way everlasting.

Speaker 3: 17:47

So, God, change my perspective on the temporal and make it eternal. Isn't that cool? So what do we do with this incredible passage that talks about God knowing me, seeing me, and working in me? You know, every time we look at scripture again, it informs our theology, it influences our actions or it should, and this also gives us an opportunity to really read this passage of scripture with which hopefully your mentee will still be hanging in there with you if there's a lot to read there. Right?

Speaker 3: 18:16

And you can say, okay. Now what? What do we do with with this because we know God knows everything, sees everything, and works in in all ways? Well, the cool thing is that he knows the best and worst of us. Right?

Speaker 3: 18:29

You might wanna ask your mentee, hey. How does it make you feel to know that God sees everything that you've ever done, that God knows the words of your mouth before they're even said. Like, he he knows you at the at the mind level. He knows what you're thinking at all times. For some, they might kinda feel uncomfortable with that.

Speaker 3: 18:46

Right? So this is a really good opportunity to be able to say, hey. Even though God knows you at your best and your worst, he continues to love you unconditionally. Right? And because of that, we can trust him because there's nobody on earth who knows us that way as God does, and so we can trust him in a way like we can trust him in such a great way, unlike folks who may fail us at times, and we realize that that only God is perfect, that amount of trust should also be just as high.

Speaker 3: 19:15

It impacts our prayer life, doesn't it? And so another way to maybe land the plane when we're talking to our mentee over Psalm 139 is just to say, hey. Let's thank God, like, for the huge things in life. Right? We talk about God being everywhere, north, south, east, and west, the mountain ranges, and the setting suns, and the the seas, and everything.

Speaker 3: 19:34

Man, let's thank God for the hugeness. What are we thankful to him for making in this really beautiful big world? But, also, let's thank him for the small when we think about the fact that he hems us in. Right? And that when we were being knit together in our mother's womb, that's when the Lord also saw us.

Speaker 3: 19:50

And so he knows us in the small things. What small things can we be thankful for? Is there something that we just enjoy about life? I mean, man, a good donut. You know what I mean?

Speaker 3: 19:57

Thank you, Lord, for for giving us things that are huge, but also just for giving us things that are that are small. And we can thank God in the large and in the small. So, again, you guys take that passage and just really make it shine for your mentee, understanding that we want to inform our theology and influence our actions, and we want to do the same for our our mentee. And, hopefully, every time we look at scripture, we're doing that. What a beautiful chapter.

Speaker 3: 20:22

Big words, even bigger meaning, and so hope that that will bless you. Hope that you're enjoying your time with your Mint team, that you're feeling equipped and encouraged. We hope that you also remember that you can mentor.