Monday, July 5, 2021

Psalm 139:1-6

This week, I want to talk to you about Psalm 139, one of my favorite Psalms. It was written by King David, and today we're going to take a look at the first six verses of Psalm 139. It says, "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. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."

Let's break it down one or two verses at a time. Starting in verse one, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me." There's something comfortable right there. In that very first verse when David talks about being known by God, that's comforting, because it's comforting to be known by someone. To be known by people who know you and love you. And David says that the Lord has searched him and knows him. Think about that, for a moment: The Creator of the universe, the Giver of all life has a desire to know you firsthand. How can he possibly do this? How does God know you inside and out? It's because God is omniscient. That's a big word that basically means he is all-knowing. God is omniscient. He knows everything about you and me. He knows everything about everything. The psalmist knew this about God.

And he continues in verses two and three, when he writes, "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." See, God knows when you do things, he knows not only what you do, he knows when you do them, and he knows your thoughts. He knows where you are going, where you're coming from. You are never out of God's sight. You can try all you want, but you will never be able to be out of God's sight, because his loving eye is always on you, like a parent watching their child. I remember when I was a young dad, and I would take my kids to the playground when they were younger. They would try and hide behind the slide or one of the items on the playground, and then they would peek around the corner to see if I was still watching them. And that's how it is with God. We could try all we want to escape from God, but his eye is always on us, but not in a weird Big Brother kind of way, but in a loving way, in a caring way, because he desires to know us.

David continues. In verse four, he says, "Before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you know it completely." God knows what we're going to say. And he knows the thoughts that go into what we're about to say. He knows it completely and perfectly. He knows our motives. He knows the thoughts behind the words that we're about to speak. Verse five, "You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me." He goes ahead of you, looking out for you, looking out for pitfalls. He's behind you, guarding you, watching you. His loving hand is upon you. When he uses that word hem, think about the hem in your pants. It's the idea that God is both in front of you and behind you, hemming you in, covering you on both sides, from front and back at all times.

Verse six, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." Not only could you never fully comprehend such knowledge that God has, but it's too profound for us to handle. But here's the thing. It's true, God is madly in love with you. He wants to be a part of your life, every moment of your life every day, and not just in the good times, not just in the bad times. He wants to be in your life during the ugly and during the triumphant times. Why? Because he loves you.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for this Psalm that David wrote for us to help us to understand how you know everything about us, and you desire to know everything about us because you love us deeply and profoundly. We thank you for that encouraging thought and the fact that you're always with us, going before us and behind us, knowing everything about us. May we take comfort in that today, knowing that we are so deeply loved. Thank you, Father. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, I hope you guys found encouragement in this today. Don't forget: don't just have a great day, but go and make a great day.