Psalm 139

6-2-24

Hoonah-Hadley

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

Call to Worship 2 Cor. 4:5-12

Daily Verse Psalm 139:1

It seems fitting that the best title for Psalm 139 is its namesake. Psalm 1 reminds us that blessed is the one who meditates on His word day and night. When we meditate on His word we come to know the hidden treasures within. Psalm 139 is God’s perfect knowledge of humanity and among other titles, has been called “The Crown of All Psalms”. We’ll not play favorites, surely you have yours, but we can boldly proclaim, this one is special. It settles the score on so many accounts that even “The darkness and light are both alike to You.” These 24 verses speak of God’s omniscience, He knows everything. Of His omnipresence, He is everywhere. And of His omnipotence, He is all powerful, Almighty. It settles one of the most troubling debates in history with verses 13-16 on the sanctity of life. Vs. 16 “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139 is so far reaching we cannot flee from it in thought, word or deed, nor does it bid us to.  In truth, “such knowledge is too wonderful for us; it is high, we cannot attain it.” We have here a treasure, a gem, a solid rock, a firm foundation, a place to come, a time to share, that no matter what life affords us, His hand will lead us, His right hand will hold us. This number, number 139 might become so dear to us that it is always on the tip of our tongues, written on the tablets of our hearts, stored up in the depths of our innermost being for ready access in our hour of need. 

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Verse 1 “O Lord, You have searched me and know me.” Psalm 139 teaches us enough about God that we are left with little to do than to thank Him and praise His holy name. But, there is always a “but”, but the one thing that draws us to this treasure is His concern for, His love for, His longing for, His knowledge of us. This psalm is personal, for me and for you. The penman, King David, is not concerned with God’s knowledge of other men but of himself. Our selfish nature surely plays a role in making this a favorite, nonetheless, it is as true individually as it is corporately, God knows us personally. According to the “Worldometer” the current population of planet earth is 8,110,281,466. Surely to the best of our ability this is only an estimate, but God knows exactly, how, we do not know, such knowledge is to high, we cannot attain it. The main thing that concerns us today is not a 10-digit number but a single digit, one, you and me. Not only does He know us, He searches us. Spurgeon’s take on this is almost humorous. He says it is as if He is looking for contraband goods. “You have ransacked me. You have gone down into my very heart, and have spread out every secret part of my being.” This is the good news bad news kind of thing. If we live in light of this truth, walking with Him considering every step, give serious consideration with each breath, every single word and thought, we will be left with praise and thanksgiving, we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Should we ignore, deny or flat out reject this knowledge, well, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. As Alice Williams said, “Believe and receive, doubt and do without.” To do without this knowledge, this treasure immeasurable, this love, comfort, forgiveness, sacrifice, redemption, sanctification, consecration, prosperity, abundance,

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and a trainload of other blessings, is the epitome of poverty.  Out of over 8 billion people, He wants not one to be lost. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ezekiel 33:11 “…As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die…” God searches us and knows us, He ransacks our very soul. Vs.2 “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.” God knows our idle time as well as our active, the little and the large, the quiet and the noisy, the common and the grand. God knows our lowly self-pity and the heights of our pride. He knows our thoughts from a long way off. Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard it said…’You shall not commit adultery’. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery…in his heart.” In other words, when you “think” about a thing, you have done it. Jesus gives us one example here of our thoughts, it could be just about anything, but the point here is, God knows our thoughts. He “understands” their nature, the source of them, their drift and the result of them. Proverbs 23:7 “As a man thinketh, so is he.” Our thoughts reflect our true character and intentions. This portion of verse 2 is a wake-up call to encourage us to cultivate positive, sincere thoughts that are Christ like. It is also a reminder of who God is and the authority He has in our lives.  He doesn’t need to be at the table with us to know our thoughts, no matter how far off He is, our thoughts are always near Him. Vs. 3 “You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” God knows where we’ve been, where we are going. Open or secret, good or bad, He knows our way with unerring precision.

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Vs. 4 “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”  If you can bear up the New Living Translation, it may help in certain circumstances. “You know what I’m going to say even before I say it, Lord.” We can not spell this to many different ways to express the authority words have in our life, especially with the knowledge that God knows them before we speak them. Norman Vincent Peale “The Power of Positive Thinking” is a best seller, speaking to our thoughts, God knows our thoughts, but consider this, He knows our words before we speak them. You can go to the bookstore and fill your cart with self help books on the power of the spoken word or you can bow before the Fountain and Foundation, the Author of speech, the one who spoke creation into being. Genesis 1:3 “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” We don’t have the authority God has with the spoken word, but when we speak a thing, we give it authority over our lives. When we speak a thing, our heart, mind and soul, our nature, our very being sets into motion the action the word requires that it might manifest itself in our lives.  Essentially when we speak a word we plant a seed, we proclaim the thing and it starts growing in us. You can read “What You Say Is What You Get” by Don Gossett or Joyce Meyers “Change Your Words Change Your Life”, both biblically sound, or we could consult Isaiah 53:5.  Suppose you go to the doctor, they run some test and tell you, “Your diabetic”. Now that becomes your identity, and you spend the rest of your life proclaiming it and living in light of it. Now we’re not denying that there is sickness and disease, what we are proclaiming with the words of our mouth, “By His stripes we are healed.” We’re His children, He knows our words, use His and be healed.  Amen.