GOD KNOWS MEWhat we think about God and our relationship to Him determines what we think about everything else that makes up our busy world–other people, the universe, God’s Word, God’s will, sin, faith, and obedience.
Wrong ideas about God will ultimately lead to wrong ideas about who we are and what we should do, and this leads to a wrong life on the wrong path toward the wrong destiny. In other words, theology–the right knowledge of God–is essential to a fulfilled life in this world. David contemplated God and wrote for us a psalm whose message can only encourage us to be in a right relationship with Him.
Psalm 139For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
WHAT WE LEARN…
GOD KNOWS US INSIDE AND OUT
Our friends see the outside, but God sees the heart, and we cannot deceive Him. Adam and Eve tried it (Gen. 3:7-24), Cain tried it (Gen. 4:1-15), and even David tried it (2 Sam. 11–12), and all of them discovered that God knew all about them.
The fact that God knows us intimately and exhaustively is asserted in verses 1, 2, 4, 14, and 23. He knows our actions, our locations, our thoughts and words, our ways, and our motives.
But even more, He knows what is best for us and does all He can to guide us that way. He hems us in behind and before and puts His hand on us to steady us and direct us.
What should be our response to this? We should be overwhelmed by the height and depth of God’s knowledge and be thankful that He knows us perfectly.
We need God’s presence with us if we want to enjoy His love and fulfill His purposes.
GOD MADE USWe cannot ignore Him. This is one of the greatest passages in literature about the miracle of human conception and birth. “In the presence of birth,” said Eugene Peterson, “we don’t calculate–we marvel.”
David declared that God is present at conception and birth, because we are made in the image of God and God has a special purpose for each person who is born.
In the mother’s womb, the Lord weaves and embroiders a human being, and abortion interrupts this miracle. What a tragedy!
But the Lord did more than design and form our bodies; He also planned and determined our days (v. 16).
GOD HAS A PERFECTLY PURPOSED PLAN FOR USThis probably includes the length of life (Job 14:5) and the tasks He wants us to perform (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12-13). This is not some form of fatalism or heartless predestination, for what we are and what He plans for us come from God’s loving heart (Ps 33:11) and are the very best He has for us (Rom. 12:2).
How can we ignore God when He has given us such a marvelous body and planned for us a wonderful life? Life is not a prison, it is an exciting pilgrimage, and the Lord has prepared us for what He prepared for us. Our responsibility is to yield ourselves to Him daily, ponder His thoughts found in His Word, and walk in the Spirit. God thinks of us (Jer. 29:11)! Should we not think about Him?
If we cannot deceive God, escape God, or ignore God, is it not sensible to obey God?
It is best to open the Word and let the Spirit search us and speak to us, for then we discover the truth. We must never dispute with God, for He loves us and wants only the very best for us.
HOLY PAUSE
How does the fact that God knows you intimately affect you?
How does this psalm ask you to see your body and other people’s bodies?
Why does it make no sense to try to run from God but perfect sense to run to God?
Ask God to search you and know your heart.
What is in your heart that He will see?
Dear Father in Heaven,
You are holy. Your Name is to be honored and praised. You know us, you love us, still and you have a plan for each of us. Make your plan known to us as you prepare us to complete your plan for us for our best and for your glory. Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do in my life.
In Jesus Name, Amen
