Search Me, Oh God Christian Living         Bobby Stafford

Search Me, O God

Introduction:

Very few people know us well.  Very few people can relate to what I have gone through or can understand my thoughts and feelings.  But we can be comfortable with the following words of Jeremiah:  “But you, O Lord, know me; you see me and You have tested my heart toward you.”  Jeremiah 12:3  David penned a psalm in which these same thoughts are expressed.

Text:  Psalm 139

Body:

I.  God Knows All 
Psalm 139:1-6 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.  You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.” NKJV

·  God knows everything about everyone, even our thoughts.  He has exhaustive knowledge of my soul.  (Matthew 9:4) “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?” NKJV  God is never surprised or caught off guard.  He never needs to learn anything.  He knows where we are going and where we have been.  Note Job 31:4.  “Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?” NKJV  God knows my destiny.  He knows my attitudes and motives.  God knows what we’re going to say before we ever say it.  (Jeremiah 17.10) “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” NKJV  (Hebrews 4:13) “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” NKJV  His knowledge is beyond our ability to comprehend.  (Romans 11:33-34) “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has become His counselor?’ ” NKJV 

II.  God’s Presence Is Everywhere 
Psalm 139:7-12 “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.” NKJV

·  God is everywhere at the same time.  Everywhere we go, God is already there.  He is with us at school, the grave, or the place of the dead.  (Jeremiah 23:23-24) “ ‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘And not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?’ says the Lord; ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord.” NKJV

·  “Wings of the morning”  The rays of light that come from the sun early in the morning travel 186,000 miles per second!  So wherever you find yourself, God is already there, waiting for you.  From east to west, God is with you.

·  God knows all about everything, both good and bad.  We can run, but we can’t hide.  There’s no hiding from God; no secret from God.  (Job 34:21-22) “For His eyes are on the ways of man, And He sees all his steps.  There is no darkness nor shadow of death Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” NKJV 

III.  God Made Me
Psalm 139:13-18 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest part of the earth.  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.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number that the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” NKJV

·  This reminds us that God is all-powerful.  He made us, beginning in the womb.  (Jeremiah 11:4-5) “which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers,  to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.  And I answered and said, ‘So be it, Lord.’ ” NKJV  God has ownership rights.  (Deuteronomy 32:6) “Do you thus deal with the Lord, O foolish and unwise people?  Is He not your Father, who bought you?  Has He not made you and established you?” NKJV  He gave us a unique personality and an eternal spirit.  (Job 10:12) “You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.” NKJV

·  Our bodies are truly wonderful, astonishing.  They demonstrate great skill by the maker, with intricate details.  (Job 10:11) “Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? NKJV

·  “Knit”  Intricately woven – embroidered  The parts of our bodies all work together.  We should be struck with awe.  This word also means to cover over.  The womb is to be a place of protection and shelter.

·  “Unformed body”  The Hebrew word, golem, means embryo.  The Bible emphatically teaches that life begins at conception. 

IV.  God Is Just 
Psalm 139:19-24 “On, that You would slay the wicked, O God!  Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.  For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.  Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?  And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?  I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” NKJV

·  The psalmist has just discussed that God sees all.  He now declares how he desires God to punish the wicked.  (Psalm 11:4-6) “The Lord is in His holy temple, The Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.  The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.  Upon the wicked He will rain coals, Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.” NKJV  David’s love for God filled him with zeal against God’s enemies.

·  David finishes the psalm by asking God to test his motives and attitudes.  He wants God to search him so that he can go on the way everlasting, the road to eternal life. 

Conclusion:

We truly serve an awesome God, an all-knowing and all-powerful God.  Do you have the courage to ask God to search your heart? 

Bobby Stafford 

May 20, 2018