KNOWING GOD
Psalm 139
Psalm 139 is one of the most powerful psalms in all of the Bible. From the poetic language to the grand descriptions of God. But more than just the beauty and the creativity of the psalm — is the message of this psalm.
But more than just its creativity…this psalm also reveals who God is. It tells us how vast his knowledge, how expansive is his presence, and how mighty is his power.
This psalm comes from King David, and it shows us that before we ever began to pursue God, He was pursuing us.
Moreover, before we ever knew God — He knew us.
And there are a few very important truths packaged within this psalm. This morning I want to invite my son Carson to join me in order to help us become familiar with the details of this passage. I’ve asked him to quote this lengthy psalm to us. So if you would, out of reverence for God’s Word — stand with us…and listen as Carson shares these beautiful words with us.
Carson (10 yrs. old) quoted the entirety of Psalm 139
Thank you son for working so hard to memorize this psalm and for sharing it with us. You did a great job and I’m so very proud of you!
Well. As your seated I want to direct you again to your copy of God’s Word.
There are really three things that David tells us about God and the first thing he mentions is this:
1. God knows the real you!
The beginning of this psalm makes it clear that God knows us even better that we know ourselves. You may think that you know who you are and how you think and what you desire and what you do, but not even you know yourself as well as God does.
The one who knows you best is God Himself.
God knows us inside and out.
David begins by acknowledging that God knows us better than we know ourselves. He is aware of every action and anticipates our innermost thoughts. What is more, David describes this as an active, rather than a passive, knowledge.
See how this plays out in this psalm. David writes in Verse 1,
1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
I think it’s important to note that David isn’t addressing us. He is addressing God.
This is David’s way of saying that he knows that God knows him. As David continues, he describes the extent of God’s knowledge. He points out that God’s knowledge of him is expansive.
In this psalm we gain a picture of God’s knowledge. And its pretty amazing. He knows everything about us.
Theologians have a word that describes this and it’s the word OMNISCIENCE. This means that God knows everything, including the past, present, and future.
▪ His Knowledge, or His Omniscience. Meaning — He is the One who knows all things. Nothing past, present or future is hidden from Him.
Certainly, Psalm 139 affirms God’s omniscience, but it seems like something deeper than omniscience is being talked about in this passage.
More than God just knowing everything — this passage reveals to us that God knows us.
More than God just possessing the knowledge of us in an expansive way, He also possesses a knowledge of us in a deeply personal way.
David describes God as seeing us from afar, but that doesn’t mean that he thinks that God is far off. This God who knows us knows us from the inside. David uses the language of “perception” and “discernment” to characterize God’s knowledge of him. “You perceive my thoughts,” he says. “You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with my ways.”
God knows everything about you. He knows what your inner fears are, your greatest dreams, your deepest desires…and everything else.
He knows you…Personally. Intimately. Deeply. God knows you for who you are. He knows you better than you know yourself. And although He knows us so well — He still loves us and does not reject us.
You can’t fake God out. No mask will cover the truth of who you are (before God).
God truly understands you. He knows all your thoughts, all your history, all your fears, all your joys, and all your sorrows.
This leads us to the second important fact that David unveils to us. And it’s this…
2. God is closer to you than you realize!
God is close. In fact He’s closer than you might think.
How do feel about that? Does that comfort you or scare you?
David tells us in this psalm that God is always around us and is very close at hand.
Moreover, God is also with us. He is both pursuing us…and surrounding us. He goes before us — He stands with us — and He follows after us. Everywhere we are, He is. Everywhere we go — He’s already there.
He is not residing in the Heavens — just sitting on a throne or secluded away from His creation and His people (like an earthly King may be).
Here David shifts his focus from God’s knowledge to God’s presence, and in a sense he changes his perspective.
This psalm also shows us that wherever we are, God is there.
Look at how this reality is shown to us through this psalm. David writes in verse 7,
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
David teaches us that of God’s powerful presence — and the fact that He is closer than we realize.
No matter where we are, in life or death, God is there. The psalmist says that we could travel to the other side of the earth, to the farthest oceans, but God would still be present.
Theologians have a word that describes this and it’s the word OMNIPRESENCE. (Now you’ve got another big word to use in describing God). He is everywhere!
▪ His Omnipresence – another powerful characteristic of God’s nature.
This means that, He can be experienced in any place by those who want to know Him.
God doesn’t have a physical body like you and me — and so he isn’t limited to one place in time. In fact, he’s above time and space.
God exists everywhere at once. Look with me at verses 9-12. Here David writes,
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
David makes a further point: not only is God with him wherever he goes, but God is also guiding him. Verse 10 says:
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Yet, as with omniscience, something more than a theological doctrine is discussed in these verses. It can be frightening to realize that we can’t ever get away from God.
David alludes to the reality that even if we wanted to shun God, hide from God, or run from God — it’s impossible. God always sees us and is close to us.
Now, sin always leads us to try this futile act. It tries to convince us that we can hide from God’s holiness…but we can’t. Even more important is that God doesn’t want us to avoid or hide from Him. He actually wants us to draw close to Him to find forgiveness, love, strength, and hope.
God is always near us and more importantly, because of His character and His love for you and me (His creation) — God always wants to help us (Psalm 129:9-12).
You don’t just find shod or feel God in church or in a small group. God is with you and for you — everywhere and always. At home at work at school…everywhere!
God is there to strengthen you and care for you. He is there to help you!
Don’t be terrified by God’s nearness — be encouraged by it!
3. God has always been at work in your life
God and his pursuit of you might be a new idea. It might be a new thing for you to think about God working in your life, but this is nothing new. He’s a;ways been working on you.
The bible tells us that God is your creator. And he has been involved in your life from the very beginning.
Did you know, that all human beings contain 99.9% of the same DNA. The remaining one tenth of a percent is what makes us unique. But that one-tenth of a percent is so important, as well as distinctly different from everyone else. And it is the way it is, because God designed us just the way we are.
He has been at work within us from the very beginning our existence.
If you have just started to pursue God, it might feel like God is a new part of your life. In reality, however, the Bible makes it clear that God has been at work in your life before you were born.
Did you know, If all the DNA in the human body were unwound, it would stretch to the moon and back six thousand times.
It was Augustine, the 4th century church leader once said, “People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”
This is the majestic work of God’s hand. His power displayed.
Theologians have a word that describes this and it’s the word OMNIPOTENCE.
▪ IT MEANS HIS UNLIMITED AND UNMATCHED power. He is the God who can do all things that are in ALIGN with His DIVINE purpose.
David describes it in this way. In verse 13-16 he says,
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God has always been recording every moment of your life.
He has been putting you together…assembling you (like a Lego build). And his work on you has not ceased.
From conception to death, God has a plan for your life. God has put you on this earth to know him, to honor him, and to help others. And God has been pursuing you for your entire life. The clearest evidence is that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for your sins on the cross. He did this so you would truly know him.
From the beginning until now God has been working on you. And there is a great purpose and plan for you that God wants to bring about…in you and for you! And ultimately for his glory! And all of this is because God loves you so much.
But here’s the painful reality of our lives…We all have this guilt and shame we carry around with us — and we have from the very beginning of our days. And we call this sin.
Sign is a problem — because it separates us from God. But God did something about this…and he came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life and endured the cross for our benefit to take away our sin. He shed his blood and died in our place.
And so, if you have experienced the forgiveness of your sin, then celebrate the work of God in your life. Welcome his work. And allow him to fulfill his purposes and plans through you.
Listen, I see this at work in my life in many ways…the way God was pursuing me thought out my life. One ways is through the his preparation of me for ministry.
I can see how God has engineered my life in ministry from the very beginning. From having a daddy and momma who loved the lord, to being reared in a church with great leaders and great pastors, to being surrounded by a very loving and supportive church family with a ministry and sending mindset, to growing up in an older and more mature congregation with many retired ministers, to the opportunities I had in high school and college to travel in ministry and go oversees for missions trips. All the time, God was shaping me and developing me for the purpose of ministry.
Maybe your experiences are different — but still God has been working in you as he has been pursuing you to shape you to fulfill his purposes and plans.
In verses 17-18 David recalls,
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
The NLT says, “…and when I awake, YOU ARE STILL WITH ME.”
He has been working in you and me from the very beginning of our existence.
Let’s celebrate this fact, and let’s determine to get to know this wonderful God, and experience more of his divine presence in our lives.
Don’t overlook the fact that HE PURSUES YOU!
So, how do we respond to so wonderful a message?
He is our Creator. He made us for Himself. He made us for a purpose. In the light of this great love, what should our response to Him?
For David, the experience of God’s love drove him commit himself to serve God throughout His life.
After spending 22 verses reflecting on God’s greatness, David ends this Psalm with a great prayer in which he invites this all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful God to search him so that he can be aware of the areas of his life that need change or attention.
His prayer is based upon his understanding of God. It reminds us that all prayer needs to be based on the character of God as He has revealed Himself in the Bible.
Listen to how he chose to respond to Gods great, knowledge, presence and power. In verse 23-24 he prayed;
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Nothing is hidden from God. He knows all the things that have made us what we are.
He knows the damage others have caused us by their words and deeds.
He knows the things we have said and done, that have harmed us and others.
He knows the secret attitudes and unholy thoughts that we have, which are destructive to our faith and our relationships.
And though it all, David says — come and search me God. With an openness to God David bares all…and invites God to come close in his pursuit of Him.
And then David prays,
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
It’s clear…David wants to be free of anything that would mar his relationship with God, and prevent him from reaching his potential before God.
And that should be our response to God as well.
Is that what you and I want? God knows it all already, so why not pray David’s prayer and make it your own. Ask God to search you and lead you in the way of righteousness.
Just see what God will do in your life, to your benefit you and to bring Him glory!
Conclusion
May we like David learn to love Him more, worship Him more, and pursue Him as much as He is pursuing us.
PRAYER FOR SALVATION:
And now, just one more thing: If you’re here this morning, and you’ve listened to everything we’ve said toady — from the opening thoughts, the prayers we’ve prayed, our time of worship, and the preaching of the word — if through it all, you’ve sensed God stirring your heart, prompting you to trust in Him. Would you respond by praying with me? Maybe you’d say something like this:
Heavenly Father, I admit that I am a sinner and I’ve chosen my way over yours too often. But all that changes today. Because, I believe in Your Son, Jesus. I believe that He came from Heaven to earth to pay for my sin. I believe He died on the cross, shed His blood, was put in a grave — and rose again. So, today — I put my faith in Jesus. Forgive me of my sin. Save me and give me new life in you forever. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
If you prayed today and made a decision to follow Jesus — would you let us know? We are so proud of you.This is the greatest decision you’ll ever make.