There is a calm assurance that comes over us when we realize that God Almighty knows us.
Listen to this Psalm of David.
Psalm 139:1-2 NKJV O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:3-4 NKJV 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.
Psalm 139:5-6 NKJV 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.
Psalm 139:7-8 NKJV 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.
Psalm 139:9-10 NKJV 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.
Psalm 139:11 NKJV If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me;
Psalm 139:12 NKJV 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.
Psalm 139:13 NKJV For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:14 NKJV I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Psalm 139:15 NKJV My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psalm 139:16 NKJV 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 139:17-18 NKJV 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 than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV 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.
David was acknowledging God’s intimate and detailed knowledge of the depths of his life.He said: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?”The language sounds like he was trying to get away from God. He was saying, “I find in God all of the help that I need.” God knows my rising up and my sitting down. Everywhere he went he found God.
David knew that God was a present help in times of need.He knew there was no hiding from God. Darkness and light are the same to Him. He knew that the greatest celestial height or the deepest depth could not escape God’s observation.
The Lord our God is Omniscient and Omnipresent. That means that Jehovah Jireh is not only present to help, He knows exactly what we need.
David knew that nothing is secret before God. God knows our getting up in the morning, our sitting and our lying down. He knows our thoughts, motivations and every daily activity. He knows everything about our attitudes and constitution. He knows our frame. God knows every detail of every part of your life.
Psalm 139:13-14 NIV84 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
David was not the only one who made this declaration.
- Job said, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me.” Then he said, “You clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews, You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit,” (Job 10).
- God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
- In Galatians 1:15, the Apostle Paul said, “It pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace.”
This gets down to the molecular structure of our being. God is involved in our DNA . The Lord God Almighty knows every structure and substructure of our being. He knows every polymer, chromosome, and hydrogen bond that forms our individual identity. He knows our most intricate and hidden parts. Much more is being stated here than what is initially visible.
These people knew something that each of us need to have settled deeply in our faith. God is so close and intimately aware of every detail of our life, that we can trust Him. Throughout every area and facet of your life, you can trust in God’s personal care.
David, Job, Jeremiah, and the Apostle Paul knew that God was involved in their lives and was working in them. This is good news for each of us. He has formed our frame and knows our bones. He not only knows our inmost being, He is the One who knit us together.
Think about this. Trillions of synapses in the brain process thought and sensory perception throughout the nervous system. Before David could have known about DNA or our human genomes, God let him know that He was involved there. God our maker is involved in the most minute parts of our spirit, mind and body.
Psalm 139:17-18 NIV84 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
God is not mindless or thoughtless toward us. Start counting the ways God has been watching over you! Every day we should live mindful of the things God is doing for us and in us. Someone said, “He woke me up this morning and started me on my way.” There may be trouble on the left and on the right, but our focus is on Jesus and what He is d oing in our lives. He put food on our table and brought joy to our day. His love has never changed and God has never failed. He is consistently the same in His dealings with us.
His Name is Wonderful. I have never seen the righteous forsaken because the Lord our God is faithful.
Instead of running from God, David found God’s presence to be the comfort and guide for his life. This is why we are declaring that we want more of Jesus in our lives.
David said: “The hand of the Lord would lead and comfort him.” We all need to know this place of safety and help that comes from the Lord our God. Do you have that deep assurance in your soul that the Lord is with you and will never forsake you? Are you assured that He is keeping and protecting? Do you know that He is guiding and comforting your life?
To face the challenge and trial of this life, we must have that perfect assurance that God is innately involved in our lives. He has known us and has been involved in every minute detail of our lives. It is important for us to realize that God has been involved before we ever knew Him.
The closing of this chapter is critical for each of us when we pray.
Psalm 139:23-24 NIV84 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
After David acknowledged God’s intimate care in forming and making him, he testified of God’s constant care over his life. Then he opened up for God to thoroughly search and test his thoughts. He was not willing to hold anything back from God. He wanted everything to be open before the Lord. He wanted to be as close as he could get to God Almighty. He wanted God’s cleansing over everything that was wrong so that he could come close without condemnation.
You need to know it is well with your soul. You can know this because God is deeply involved in your life.
This is why David prayed: “Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” Personally, he wanted God His maker to be deeply involved in every aspect of his life. He needed to have more. He wanted to be so close to God that every doubt and fear was removed. It is out of utter necessity that we cry out, “Search me, O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts.” It is in the quiet peace of God’s presence that we can really know that it is well with our soul.
- Are you willing to open every level of your being to the Lord?
- Will you let Him search every thought and way?
- Will you surrender to His will and work?
- Is there anything in your life that should be presented to Him for cleansing or removal?
Right now, invite Him to come and calm the troubled waters of your life and bring you peace. After thorough consideration of what was happening in his life, David knew that the only help for his soul was with God.
Often he came back to God, asking for more.
- More of God’s help…
- More of God’s mercy…
- More of God’s presence and power…
I find we are in that same place today. We need His help and we need His cleansing. We need to know that God is near.
