Psalm 139 Introduction: Theme: The comfort in right thinking concerning God. I. It is comforting to realize God thoroughly understands us! God s omniscience considered. Psalm 139:1 (ESV) O LORD, you have searched me and known me! A. God knows all that we are experiencing in life. Psalm 139:2 (ESV) You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:3 (ESV) You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. B. God understands our responses.. Psalm 139:2 (ESV) You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. C. God understands us better than we understand ourselves. Psalm 139:4 (ESV) Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. D. God not only understands us but He protects us as well. Psalm 139:5 (ESV) You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Illustration of a fenced in yard. E. God s understanding and care for us is unfathomable. 1
Psalm 139:6 (ESV) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. F. Application: 1. No one will ever understand us in the way that God does. 2. Illustration of sitting on my mother s lap. II. It is comforting to understand that God is with us no matter what it Is that we are going through. God s omnipresence considered. A. God is with us wherever we go. Psalm 139:7 (ESV) Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 1. God s knowledge of us is a first hand knowledge. 2. God knows all about us because He is right here with us. 3. God s knowledge is not a second hand knowledge. 4. God s knowledge is not gained through reports. 5. God s knowledge is not obtained through surveillance cameras. B. God directs us wherever we are. Psalm 139:9 (ESV) If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Psalm 139:10 (ESV) even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 1. A cell phone is a wonderful device. 2. However there are still places where there is no coverage. C. God is with us wherever we are. 2
Psalm 139:8 (ESV) If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 1. We live in wonderful technological age in which many automobiles have On Star or a similar service. If an air bag is deployed, it is reported automatically to a dispatcher that will send help. 2. God never needs to send help. He is there to help us. III. It is comforting to know that God is at work in our lives from the beginning to the end. God s providence considered, A. God was at work in our lives before we are even born. Psalm 139:13 (ESV) For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother s womb. Psalm 139:14 (ESV) I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. B. God was at work even in the planning of our death. Psalm 139:16 (ESV) Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. C. God has made us capable to achieve His purpose in our lives. Exodus 4:10 (ESV) But Moses said to the LORD, Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue. Exodus 4:11 (ESV) Then the LORD said to him, Who has made man s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Exodus 4:12 (ESV) Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. Exodus 4:13 (ESV) But he said, Oh, my Lord, please send someone else. 3
Exodus 4:14 (ESV) Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. IV. It is comforting to know that God s care for us is eternal. God s faithfulness considered. A. It is comforting to know that people have us in their thoughts and prayers. 1. You may have seen or even received a sympathy card with the words Thinking of You. 2. Some people when they are in the hospital, put the get well cards on the window sill. 3. Others keep track of the number of visitors that they have received, and may even keep track how often it is that people visited them. 4. God s thoughts concerning us. B. The Psalmist said that it is of great value and comfort to know that God was thinking of him. Psalm 139:17 (ESV) How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! C. One could not possibly count all the times that God is thinking about us. Psalm 139:18 (ESV) If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. D. When we open our eyes God is there. Psalm 139:18 (ESV) If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. 4
1. God is there when we open our eyes from sleep. Psa 121:2 (NASB) My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Psa 121:3 (NASB) He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Psa 121:4 (NASB) Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. Psa 4:8 (NASB) In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For Thou alone, O LORD, dost make me to dwell in safety. 2. God is there when we open our eyes in death. 2 Cor 5:8 (NASB) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. V. The response of the Psalmist s reflection upon God is to renew his commitment to the Lord. A. The Psalmist invites God to explore his heart - to perform a spiritual heart catheterization. Psalm 139:23 (ESV) Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:10 (ESV) I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. B. The Psalmist wants God to heal him of whatever God may find spiritually wrong with him. Psalm 139:24 (ESV) And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! VI. Conclusion: 5