A very good morning to you my precious family
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Part of His creation is you and me. Because God made us, God knows us. Listen to these words from Psalm 139:1-6:
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up even from far away You understand my motives. You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of everything I do. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You squeeze me in from behind and in front; You lay Your hand upon me. Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.”
Do you ever wonder if anyone would ever love you if they really knew what went on inside you?
God knows what people are like. He knows that we have these feelings. He knows about our habits and quirks. We don’t need to pretend that we are perfect because God knows what we are really like. He loves us completely, including all of the not-so-perfect stuff inside us.
If God really knows us, all of us, how can He still love us? This is a great mystery. His love is unconditional! We don’t have to wait until we are better or older or thinner or smarter to talk to God. God knows us today. Isn’t that great?
Verses 13-16: 13 For you created my inmost being; You knitted 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.
As parents Margaret and I didn’t know our children before they were born, but God did. He knew you and I as well. God doesn’t have any family pictures without you in them. He knows us because He made us—He knows every part of you and I. God not only knows us today, He knew us yesterday and He will know us tomorrow. He won’t forget who we are because we’re His family
The words of this Psalm is such a powerful testimony of God’s love for us. That He knows when we get up in the morning, how we spend our days, what we think about, and even what motivates our actions speaks volumes of how important each of us is to Him. Like the author David, it’s hard for us to wrap our minds around how much interest God takes in our lives. So often we fall into the trap of thinking that God has bigger things to worry about. With things like COVID 19, wars and famine going on, why should we bother Him with our petty problems? And while He never neglects the big things, here we clearly see that He also cares enough to note even the smallest details of our days.
Knowing everything He knows about us—our quirky personalities, our struggles, our sin, our shame—God still loves us enough to die for us. There is no better feeling in the world than to know you are completely known and completely loved. God already knows every horrible thing we’ve ever done or will do and yet still He loves us more than we will ever understand.
We must not be tempted to fight Him on that. Sometimes it’s easier to believe that we aren’t good enough for God than it is to accept the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. But God loved us before we knew Him, and had a plan to save us before we realized we needed saving. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
What an awesome Heavenly Father we have. He is The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, who knows how many hairs are on our heads right now (or that there are not that many as the case may be for some of us), the unconfessed sins in our hearts, and He loves us all the same. Secure in that, how can we not give our best for Him who has done so much for us?
By reading through the Bible, it’s easy to see how much God loves us. But head knowledge and heart knowledge don’t always agree. The challenge to ask is “Do you and I really believe God knows us and loves us as much as Psalm 139 says? Do we live like God loves us that much?
Everywhere today one hears of those who are passing through an identity crisis., That is a fancy way of saying what people have been asking for a long time, "Who am I?" Many people feel insignificant. But this contrasts sharply with the biblical view of man and especially the view which deals with man in relationship to God.
Psalm 139 describes a man who is thinking about himself and his relationship to God. If you are struggling with an identity crisis and you are not sure just who you are then why don’t we read this Psalm carefully as you grasp the wonderful truths of it and how the psalmist faces a question about himself in relationship to God.
In the first paragraph he asks, "How well does God know me?" The first verse gives us his answer: O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!
The Hebrew word for "searched" are the words, "to dig." Literally what this man is saying is, "O Lord, you dig me!" Now that is how up-to-date the Bible is! The word means, "You dig into me and therefore you know me." It is not surprising that the word dig has come to mean in English, "to know or to understand." This is the way the psalmist begins, "Lord, you dig me!"
In what way does God understand us? You know when I sit down and when I get up even from far away You understand my motives.
That is, "Lord, you understand and know me in my conscious life. You know when I sit down (my passive life) and when I rise up (my active life). When I am resting or when I am acting, you know me. And you know me also in my subconscious life -- that level of life from which my thoughts arise. You understand them even before they get to the surface. You know how I think and what I think about. You even understand the thoughts which are unbidden, in a constant flow to my mind."
Then there follows the awareness of God's knowledge of our habits and choices. You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of everything I do. You know the way I choose to go, and you know the habits of my life. "You know me, Lord," says this man, "intimately -- inside and out."
Then in verses 4 and 5 he contemplates the fact that God is concerned about him. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. That is, "Lord You understand my language. Every word that I utter You know and understand." Our God knows English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, and all other languages of earth. That is what impresses the psalmist: "Even before I utter a word, Lord, you know it. You understand my language; you communicate with me."
Then the psalmist discovers that God is active, in his past, his present, and in his future.
You squeeze me in from behind and in front; You lay Your hand upon me. Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me; I am unable to fathom it.”
He is overwhelmed that God knows him better than he knows himself, better than anyone else knows him. Isn’t that amazing? God knows me better than I know anyone else.
The Psalmist ends with the words “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
He says "Lord, I don't understand this problem of evil. It appears to me the easiest way is for You to eliminate the evil man. But Lord, I also know that I don't think very clearly, and I don't often have the right answers. In me is so much wickedness. I have often found, Lord, that my thoughts are not right. So, Lord, in case I don't have the right remedy for this problem, let me add this prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! See if there be any wickedness in me, and lead me in the truth, the way that leads to eternal life!"
What a wonderful prayer. How often should we pray like this? "Lord, I don't understand what's going on around me, and my solutions may be quite inferior -- may even be wrong. But, Lord, I'll trust you to lead me. Reveal the wickedness that may lie undetected in my own heart, and guide me in the way that leads to fullness of life."
Each of us believers should often be spending time asking the Holy Spirit to reveal any sin in our hearts that may be keeping us from a fully restored relationship with the God of the universe. Ask Him to help us to trust His love for each of us so that we you can boldly obey where He leads us.
Let us pray
Our loving Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you for these wonderful truths of this Psalm. Help us to be willing to let you work out Your own purposes in our lives, knowing that You have taken all the factors into consideration for You know us so intimately. Thank You that we will never be too far from Your reach. There will never be any circumstance where I am too far from You to be able to receive Your help. No matter how dark, scary, or hopeless a situation is You are with us and we thank You Lord. Of the billions and billions of people on the planet, You care enough to know my heart. As the Psalmist says “it’s too much to fully comprehend!” Help me to always be in awe of You and to remember who You are and what You have and are doing in our lives. We love you and we thank you in Jesus' mighty name, Amen.
Much love from Maurice and Margaret
