Before I Was Born

Psalm 139:13-16

Before I Was Born

You 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 were none of them.[1]

January 22, 2003, will mark the thirtieth anniversary of Roe verses Wade in the United States. The founding fathers of that nation could not have anticipated that learned judges would one day discover in the American Constitution a guarantee of privacy in matters of abortion. I suggest that the founders of that republic would have found the arguments justifying infanticide abhorrent. Those wise men could not have foreseen the flood of wickedness which would advocate treating the unborn as so much garbage, readily disposable if the presence of that life were considered inconvenient to the mother. Thirty years ago, a grave sin was condoned in my native land.

Each year, on the Sunday nearest that infamous date, churches throughout the world, and especially churches in North America, mark the tragedy by observing Sanctity of Life Sunday. It is appropriate that our own congregation should seize this opportunity to observe this date to remind each member and each guest of God’s view of human life.

Whenever I address the issue of abortion, I realise that I am possibly, even likely, speaking to some women who chose to abort their child. Such women often struggle for years with feelings of guilt and remorse for years following their abortions.

Most women who have had abortions didn’t realise that they were taking a human life at the time they aborted. They listened to so-called “abortion counsellors” who presented themselves as “pro-choice.” But they soon learned that while there were choices, every choice ultimately led to “termination” of the pregnancy. Many abortions were not premeditated—at least not by the women who had them.

Ruthless abortuary employees convinced them that this was just a surgical procedure, or a selfish boyfriend convinced them that they would be left alone if they did not choose to abort, or perhaps even self-serving parents insisted that they would have to face the future alone. Most women feel backed into a corner, or they would never agree to take the life of their unborn child. After the deed, they grieve.

The Texas Justice Foundation has received thousands of affidavits from women who have had abortions. Attorney Kathleen Cassidy reports that in 85 to 90 percent of them, the woman states that she “was either coerced by a person or by her circumstances into having an abortion.” The person was a boyfriend or a husband threatening to leave, or a parent telling her that if she keeps the baby, she’ll be on her own. The coercive circumstance may simply be confusion and panic. And coercion is not choice.

An estimated 30 to 40 million women have had abortions during the thirty years since the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions. When women, especially those who have been coerced, realise that they have ended a life, many become depressed, immersing themselves in alcohol, drugs, or promiscuity. Some even contemplate suicide.[2]

If you feel guilt and remorse over what you’ve done, there is a way to be set at liberty and to enter into the light which accompanies God’s forgiveness. The way to deal with that guilt is to seek Jesus Christ’s forgiveness. On the authority of His Holy Word, I assure you that you can be forgiven. I remind you of the words recorded in 1 John 1:9. These are indeed words that form a soft pillow for weary heads. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It will take but a moment longer, and the need is sufficiently great that I must point you to an incident in the days when Jesus walked among men. Listen to this rather extended account of Jesus as He dealt with a sinful woman.

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” [Luke 7:36-50].

I must believe that the same one who forgave that woman so many years ago is both able and ready to forgive you today. In His forgiveness is freedom from condemnation. This is the promise of Romans 8:1-4.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Now, join me in considering life before birth. In doing this, we will rely upon the Word of God, and we will take special notice of one of the Psalms which was given through the Psalmist David. Focus on the 139th Psalm with me, and in particular, take note of verses thirteen through sixteen.

When Does Life Begin? Life begins at forty—at least in the view of some among us. Other individuals who are have yet to see such advanced age may question the veracity of a statement such as that. Perhaps they think that life begins at thirty, or at twenty. Others, who busted forty some years back, would lead us to believe that life begins quite well down the pike. However, life does not begin at forty; rather it begins even before we are born. This is the assertion of our text and of other texts in the Word of God.

In our culture, we mark the beginning of life with birth. Certainly, there is some precedence for this even in the Word of God. Job laments his life, wondering why he was not stillborn [Job 3:16]. It is as though he recognises the beginning of being as birth. David, grappling with the presence of the wicked, pronounces a curse, praying that God will make them as the stillborn child who never sees the sun [Psalm 58:8b]. Likewise, Solomon, avers that a stillborn child is better off than a man who has no ability to enjoy what God delivers into his hands [Ecclesiastes 6:3]. In each of these instances, the Word of God acknowledges the popularly held belief that life begins with birth.

However, clarifying that concept of life’s initiation are other passages. As one example, consider the fact that Jeremiah received a commission from God when he was but a young man. In his commissioning, God informed him that it was God Himself who formed him in the womb, but that before ever he was formed, God knew him. He was consecrated before birth. Likewise, he was appointed to the prophetic office before birth [Jeremiah 1:5].

When Manoah and his wife were told of the birth of a deliverer for all Israel, they were told that the child would be a Nazirite to God from the womb [Judges 13:5, 7]. Samson affirmed this truth to Delilah, which brought about his disgrace and capture by the enemies of God [Judges 16:17].

John the Baptist was prophesied to be filled with the Holy Spirit, even in his mother’s womb [Luke 1:15]. Elizabeth, mother of John, spoke of this when Mary came to stay with her for a period prior to her own delivery of Jesus the Messiah. Recall the passage which is so often read during the Christmas Season.

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” [Luke 1:39-45].

You will notice that in each of these instances—Jeremiah, Samson, and John—God spoke of them as being spiritual beings well before birth. From the womb, each was known to God, each was called of God, each was appointed to specific purpose by God. It would be easy to dismiss the argument of life drawn from these anecdotal accounts by appealing to God’s foreknowledge, especially as foreknowledge is commonly understood. Nevertheless, we cannot quite get around the fact that God inspired the writers of Holy Writ to treat each of these individuals as possessing life before birth.

From a pragmatic point of view, the child developing in the womb must be human. There is no instance of a woman giving birth to a monkey, or a puppy, or a bird. From the Creation, all living forms reproduce after their kind [cf. Genesis 1:21, 24, 25]. While it is true that a child may be deformed at birth or suffer from somatic mutations of one type or another, that child is nothing less than human. Modern society has reverted to the ancient concept of personal desire as the criteria for determining the worth of the neonatal child. However, the new-born child is human.

I still remember the arguments I presented in a position paper drafted immediately after the decision of the learned judges of the American Supreme Court. About that time, there appeared a headline in a number of American newspapers proclaiming the creation of life in a test-tube. What had actually been accomplished was the initial steps which would ultimately lead to in vitro fertilisation of the ovum. Therefore, I commented that it was both illogical and unreasonable to call that which was produced in the test-tube “life” while denying that what was created in the womb was “life.” If that which was produced in the test-tube was to be called “life,” then logic compels us to acknowledge that that which is produced in the womb is also “life.”

The developing child, in utero, is potentially human in the fullest sense of the word. Left to come to the point of birth, that child is capable of learning, of loving and being loved, of growing and ultimately becoming a productive member of society. Should it be objected that genetic tests demonstrate that the child suffers from some genetic lesion, let it be stated that there are none among us who are genetically complete. Even were we genetically perfect at birth, we yet face the risk of somatic mutations resulting in cancer, coronary disease, or other physical anomalies. We do not kill an individual simply because she has breast cancer, do we? We do not dismember an individual because he suffers a stroke, do we? We do not slaughter an individual because he weakens and grows progressively stooped, do we? Then, why should we consider dismembering and slaughtering the unborn because we are uncertain of their genetic integrity? Such reasoning is illogical and utterly devoid of human reason.

That same unborn child is genetically human, even though the child may be malformed or misshapened or genetically injured. From the child’s DNA, human life can be formed. The DNA is recognised as human, and not as simian or marsupial. At every stage of embryonic development, the growing child is genetically human. Though discredited arguments are still advanced that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, at every stage the developing embryo is genetically human—even from the fertilised ovum.

Have we actually arrived at the stage of social consciousness that we will slaughter all who differ from ourselves? How great must physical differences be before they trigger the need to kill? Is skin colour sufficient to demand death? Is hirsutism a reason to kill? Perhaps stature or physical strength is a good reason to dismember individuals? Reasonable people are disgusted by such arguments.

Brilliant individuals are sometimes trapped in weak bodies. Professor Stephen Hawking is trapped in a body racked with the genetic anomaly known as ALS. We would certainly be poorer without his intellectual considerations. Woody Guthrie suffered from Huntingdon’s Chorea, a genetic illness. How much poorer would we be musically without the compositions of the deaf Beethoven! The blind poet Milton has ensured that English literature is richer for his visions of God.

Shall we say that life begins when an individual is wanted? Then we are constrained to say that life must end when an individual is no longer wanted. Whose desire prevails in determining whether life continues? The slippery slope argument has proven to be true. Those individuals who inconvenience our lives are increasingly seen as disposable. The elderly can be jettisoned with barely a second thought. The weak and the injured no longer require our compassion or protection. Consequently, life will be determined to have value only when a strong advocate says that life has value.

Either human life has intrinsic value, or worth is conferred by Him who gives life. In the former instance, we testify that life begins at the point that an individual is declared to be human. In the latter instance, we affirm that He who gives life determines human worth and value. We do well to err on the side of caution, treating all life—especially that life which is still developing in the womb, as precious because it is given by God.

The Fact That God Created Us Confers Meaning on Our Life. In our text, the Psalmist states that it was God who formed his inward parts. He affirms that God knitted him together in his mother’s womb. Perhaps one grave deficit of the modern condition is that we imagine modern science has stripped away the mystery of embryonic development. David was not wrong in saying that God gave him his form and that God gave him being. David was not the mere sum of biological forces set in motion at some point prior to the Creation and continuing blindly to this day.

In stating his position as he does, David says his life has meaning and purpose. Tragically, too many, even among the faithful, consider that they have no purpose in life and that their existence is without meaning. Nothing could be further from the truth. David knew that his purpose was to know God and to enjoy Him forever.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you…

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

[Psalm 139:17, 18, 23, 24]

Child of God, though I haven’t time to give to this as its importance demands, do not imagine that your life has neither meaning nor purpose. God Himself has given you life. He considers you to be precious in His sight. How often I have drawn comfort from the words of the Living God which He delivered through His servant Isaiah.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

for the Lord has comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

yet I will not forget you.

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me.”

[Isaiah 49:13-16]

The child of God cannot be forgotten by God His Maker. Neither does the child exist that has no purpose. God created each child for a purpose. It is only when man exalts himself that God is displaced and man becomes the one to determine who shall live and who shall die. And if, as a society we condone slaughter of the unborn, what restraint shall keep us from ridding ourselves of the inconvenience of the sick, the elderly, the needy or simply those whom we determine that we will hate. In fact, if we no longer value human life, what shall keep us from becoming a people utterly focused on exaltation of self? Perhaps that exaltation of man has already begun.

I have focused on the mystery of life as related to meaning and purpose. I could just as easily have focused on the mystery of life as it develops in the womb. Though I will not engage in a lesson in developmental biology, I do want to emphasise for the sake of the text the fact that it is God who gives us both our form and our being.

I know some among us struggle with their form and their shape. Women, especially, seem so often to react angrily toward the form they received. I dare not ask how many among us made New Year resolutions to lose weight. However, were I to inquire, I would suppose that a majority of women made some such resolution. Somehow, a decided dissatisfaction with form is instilled in contemporary women.

A man sees himself in the mirror as he steps out of the shower and he thinks, “Hey, not bad for a guy my age.” Women, stealing a glance at themselves in that same mirror think, “Oh, I just hate the way I look.” It doesn’t matter that their husbands look at them and think, “Oh, wow! Is she ever gorgeous!”

If I could only speak to our young ladies at this moment, it would be to say that God has made you as you are. He makes no mistakes. To our young men, I would say, God has given you the form that pleased Him. He makes no mistakes. Rejoice in the gift he gave to each of us, your presence among us. Be content with who you are and rejoice that God Himself gave you your form. Determine that you will become a woman of character, or a man of character. That is a sobering word which the Apostle has penned in the letter to the Romans. Though the context demands that an alternate application be applied primarily, it nevertheless applies in this instance.

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is moulded say to its moulder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honoured use and another for dishonourable use [Romans 9:20, 21]?

Be at peace with yourselves, knowing that God has given you your form and that His hand has given you life. Serve Him and rejoice in His goodness.

God, Alone, is the Giver of Life. There is another of the Psalms which is a favourite for me. In the midst of that Psalm is a statement of confidence which has often sustained me in time of trial. It is the 31st Psalm. Listen to the Psalmist.

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

my eye is wasted from grief;

my soul and my body also.

For my life is spent with sorrow,

and my years with sighing;

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

and my bones waste away.

Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbours,

and an object of dread to my acquaintances;

those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have been forgotten like one who is dead;

I have become like a broken vessel.

For I hear the whispering of many—

terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

as they plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in your hand;

rescue me from the hand of my

enemies and from my persecutors!

[Psalm 31:9-15]

God alone gives life. God alone sustains life. Man can only provide a pale imitation of God. Perhaps you have heard the story about a group of arrogant scientists who announced by way of that glorious scientific journal, the Daily Bugle, that they could now create life from dirt. Man had at last become god-like. God, hearing of this announcement, challenged man to a contest to see if man could actually create life de novo. The scientists accepted the divine challenge. As the scientists stooped to scoop a handful of dirt, God said, “Ah, Ah, Ah! Get your own dirt.”

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Indeed, God is worthy of my praise, for God saw me as I was being formed—saw my unformed substance. He has determined the number of days that I shall live. Do you understand the importance of that statement? Child of God, you are immortal until the Lord your God determines that you are free. God gives you sufficient time to accomplish all that He wills for you. He will ensure that your work is not hindered by lack of days. No man can harm you, until God permits you to leave this life. Why, then, do the people of God live in such fear of what someone else may think of them? Why do the children of the Most High God fear what man can do to them? You are immortal until God determines life shall end.

I marvel at this affirmation which is made here in the sixteenth verse of our text. In Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. The Psalmist refers to a divine book. This book, what does it tell? Where can I find a copy? Would I understand the meaning, even were I able to read it?

Perhaps we know more about that book than we might imagine. According to Psalm 56:8, every tear which drops from my eyes is noted by God and recorded in His book. According to Malachi 3:16, every good word which I have ever spoken concerning the Lord my God has been recorded in what God refers to as a Book of Remembrance.

Child of God, the days of your life were written before ever you saw light. God determined the days allotted to you. He is sovereign and He rules over all, calling you to attempt some great feat in His Name, knowing that you were prepared for this time and for a specific purpose. God knows what you will accomplish. Therefore, live up to the high calling you have received.

Know that your God sees the tears which spill unbidden from your eyes. He knows the sorrow you feel because man rejects His law, and He knows the injuries you have sustained because of His Name. He has kept those tears in His divine lachcrymatory—He will remember your sorrows. You have not wept in vain, for the Lord your God grieves with you. Have you not heard the promise of our God?

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful head-dress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

[Isaiah 61:1-3]

Your God has kept a record of your witness, and all that honours Him has been noted eternally. God has maintained that excellent record forever in His glorious presence. You, child of God, when you cried out for strength, glorified Him who gives strength. You, child of the Most High, honoured Him who gives us relief, when you sought relief for your heavy sorrow. As you struggled to find what would please Him in the midst of this hostile world, God took note and He was honoured. Thus glorified, He recorded your witness in His book. Though you thought you but cried out, you did cry out to Him who hears and answers prayer, and He was pleased.

Tommy Walker has written a beautiful song which speaks to this precise point. Perhaps you have heard the song at some point. It has been recorded by a number of artists and groups, entering into the modern hymnody. Listen, once again to the beautiful words of “He Knows My Name.”.

I have a Maker,

He formed my heart.

Before even time began

My life was in His hands.

He knows my name.

He knows my every thought.

He sees each tear that falls.

And He hears me when I call.

I have a Father,

He calls me His own.

He never leaves me,

No matter where I go.

He knows my name.

He knows my every thought.

He sees each tear that falls.

And He hears me when I call.

He knows your name.

He knows your every thought.

He sees each tear that falls.

And He hears you when you call.[3]

Because He gives life to all, God is able to make me alive in Christ the Lord. This is the Good News which all Christians announce wherever they are. Woe to those who are even now dead in trespasses and sins. They are by nature children of wrath. The distinction shall be settled eternally if you should exit this life and stand before Holy God without knowing the second birth. That awful scene is described in the Apocalypse.

I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire [Revelation 20:11-15].

If you insist upon being judged by your own efforts, the results are disastrous. Woe to you if you face the second death. Those who have never known the second birth must assuredly face the second death. There is no hope for those who leave this life without hope and without God. But I would spare you that awful fate. Even now, you can receive the second birth by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus the Son of God as having been provided in your place. You need not continue under sentence of death. You can be alive in Christ the Lord.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favourable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation [2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2].

----

[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Charles Colson, BreakPoint: Operation Outcry, Jan. 16, 2003, http://link.crosswalk.com/UM/T.asp?A1.25.9785.1.12078