Search Me, O God
It is widely held that Psalm 139 is the most excellent of all the psalms of David - it is a very pious devout meditation upon the doctrine of God's omniscience. It is one of my most favorites for the comfort I gain in knowing and meditating upon God's knowledge of me and presence with me.
Psalm 139 makes 2 confirmations:
- God is everywhere present, therefore He knows all
- God made us, therefore He knows us. This is a beautiful truth expressed in verse 1 - God's knowledge, while vast & comprehensive, is personal.
God has a perfect knowledge of us, and all the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are open before Him. ~ M. Henry
When my boys were small, we had a bedtime story I would read to them entitled My God is Always With Me. It is Psalm 139 put into childlike language and pictures. I still remember reading over and over to them these words, "When I go up, He is with me; when I go down, He is with me. My God is always with me." I can still see in my mind the pictures in the book of a small child being lifted by balloons, and then a picture of small child on the ocean floor. A perfect reminder to any child of God at any age that His Presence is always with us!
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
My frame was not hidden from You,
when I was made in secret.
~ Ps. 139:13, 15
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You 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.~ Ps. 139:16 |
How satisfied are you with your body? Your physical attributes? Psalm 139 reminds us that we are made exactly as God would have us to be!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.
~ Ps. 139:5-6
Don't you love the thought of verse 5! I pray this verse frequently for my children - that the Lord would hedge (surround) them with His protection, and lay His hand upon them. A good prayer for those we love
. . . and for ourselves too!
There is so much rich, glorious truth in Psalm 139 - another one of my favorite Bible verses is Ps. 139:23:
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.
~ Ps. 139:23
Do you struggle with anxious thoughts? Ever felt overwhelmed with anxiety? God knows your anxieties . . . He knows your heart and your struggles. May we give them over to Him and find rest in our souls!
Biblical scholars claim that, of all David's courageous acts: when he slew the lion, successfully encountered a bear, when he went out to meet the giant Goliath, David was most a man of courage because he was determined to explore the recesses of his own heart. May we follow David's example and seek to know - and turn from - our own sin.
When holy men perused themselves in God's light, they saw their sins of omission and commission, and prayed earnestly to be delivered from all.
—William Howels, 1832
WHAT CAN I LEARN ABOUT GOD THROUGH THIS PSALM:- God is omniscient
- God is omnipresent
- God knows everything about me!
- God formed me and fashioned me to His exact specifications
- My days are written in God's book
- There is praise for God in each verse of Psalm 139! I praise Him for His omniscience and omnipresence in my life, that I can never escape His presence, that He knows me to the depth of my soul, that I am fearfully & wonderfully made, that my days are written in His book, and that God will lead me in the way everlasting.
- I praise God for His hedge of protection around me and those I love
Father and Lover of life,
You know the depths of my innermost self,
And You understand me.
You protect me on every side,
Shielding me from all harm.
When You put me together
In my mother’s womb,
You knew all about me.
I thank You for the wonder of myself,
And I stand in awe
At all You have made.
As You know and love me,
So may I come to know and love You.
Guide me in Your ways ~ Amen
-unknown
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