Why Do I Exist

Why Do You Exist?

This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, Why Do I Exist?.

Psalm 139


This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, Why Do I Exist?.


Why do you exist? What’s the purpose of your life? Why are you here? It’s vital you find out. If a pen doesn’t write, if a plane can’t fly, they’ve failed. Anything that doesn’t fulfill its purpose, like an arrow not hitting the target, is a failure, no matter what it is. 

You must know why you exist.

God has a plan for your life, and no matter what else you do, if you don’t do what you were designed for, you will never be fulfilled. One definition for failure is succeeding at the wrong thing. You’re successful when you do what God created you for.

If you’re an evolutionist or an atheist and don’t believe in God, then you’ll see yourself as an orphan of the apes. But if you see yourself as Almighty God’s creation—with a purpose—it changes everything.

Before we know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, basically, we’re wrecks. God hauls us into His garage and restores us, but not just to sit in the driveway. Some people are satisfied with “I’ve been saved, hallelujah—the wreck’s been repaired!” But God saved you for a purpose.

In Psalm 139, tells you not only that God created you, but also why you exist. Here’s what we find out in this Psalm:

1. God knows everything about you (Psalm 139:1-2).

  • Your character. “O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.” God not only sees you, He sees through you. He knows you inside and out.
  • Your conduct. “Thou knowest my downsitting and my uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compasseth my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.” God sees every move you make.
  • Your contemplations. “…my thoughts afar off.” God knows what you’re thinking this very moment, whether it be hate, lust, or murder. Or you may be full of praise.
  • Your conversation. “There’s not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.” God hears every word, every prayer, and every tear.

2. God is always with you (Psalm 139:5-12).

“Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it,” meaning “This is so great I cannot take it in.” People say, “Where is God when I really need Him?” You may be far from God, but God is always with you. “...Do I not fill Heaven and earth?’ saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:24).

Death cannot hide us. 

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in Hell, behold, Thou art there” (Psalm 139:7-8). Have you ever tried to run from God? What a waste of energy. God reigns over Earth, Heaven, and even Hell. When you die, God is still there. If you die without Jesus, you will waken in judgment to face the God you spurned. If you die in the Lord, what a joy to close your eyes in this world and open them face to face with Jesus. Either way, you can’t hide from God.

Distance cannot hide us. 

“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9-10). The wings of the morning are the rays of the sun. David, the psalmist, is saying, “If I could highjack a light beam and go as far as it would take me, there God would be. I still couldn’t escape Him.” Wherever you go, God will be there before you. He never “goes” anywhere because He’s already there. When you finish running, He’ll be there waiting for you, wherever it is.

Darkness cannot hide us. 

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee’” (Psalm 139:11-12).

Evil people love darkness and hate light; but you can’t use shades of darkness to hide from God. He has night vision. You cannot out-run, outwit, or out-distance Almighty God.

3. God has a wonderful purpose for you (Psalm 139:13-16).

“For Thou hast possessed my reins.” The reins of a horse guide it. “Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect” [that is, God watched the embryo developing] “and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them.”

King David didn’t know anything about embryology, but he stood in awe of how a little baby is formed in its mother’s womb: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Every cell in our body is a little micro-universe. No wonder the Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God” (Psalm 14:1). You’re not an accident. You didn’t evolve from pond scum. God made you. And He made you for a purpose, forming you in your mother’s womb. You are special. There’s no sin He can’t forgive, no prayer He can’t answer, no soul He can’t save, no problem He can’t solve. He has a wonderful plan for you.

4. God has me constantly in His heart (Psalm 139:17-18).

“How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.” God’s thoughts toward you are greater than all the grains of sand in all the oceans and fields of Earth.

Why do people run from God? Because Satan wants them to think negatively about Him. But God wants to bless you. “The Lord thy God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). God loves us, each, one by one.

Why do I exist? What’s my purpose?

God created you to be someone He can love and who will love Him. Do you think God created us to serve Him? Friend, He could get angels to do a better job than we do. No, God made us in His image

  • to know Him
  • to love Him
  • to have fellowship—a relationship with Him.

That’s why you exist. He knows all about you. He is forever with you. And He loves you so much.