DO YOU STILL SURRENDER TO YOUR ALL-KNOWING SAVIOR? (Examining Psalm 139)
David opens up Psalm 139 with a declaration of what the rest of the chapter/Psalm is going to cover - that which God "searches" and "knows" about him and consequently - us. David portrays God throughout as a very personal being.
David says, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me." Then he proceeds to describe how God searches and knows himself and the rest of us. The first stanza or block of verses deal with God's knowledge, omniscience or all-knowing.
- "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."(verses 2-6)
- "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." (verses 7-12)
The Third Stanza magnifies God as the Personal, All-Powerful God. David showcases God's wondrous creativeness in making him and the sheer amount of good will, intentions and plans God has for his life in this segment.
The Fourth Stanza foreshadows the switching of hating one's enemies to loving them. David says,
- "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. 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. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you." (verses 13-18)
The Fourth Stanza foreshadows the switching of hating one's enemies to loving them. David says,
- "If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies." (verses 19-22)
Another interesting observation is that David sings/prays for the "bloodthirsty" to be away from him - "Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!" - yet he was not allowed to build the Temple in Jerusalem because he was a man of blood himself. Perhaps by this time in his life he had changed.
The concluding remarks bring David and the reader full circle.
- "Search me, 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." (verses 23-24)
"Search me, God, and know....". Knowing God knows everything about him, is with him always, created even his inmost being and has great thoughts toward him - David surrenders. What does he surrender to God? David submits his "heart", mind/"thoughts" and actions/"way" for probing or evaluation and molding. David acknowledges there is not only a way, there is "the way everlasting" and our personal God is just The One who can "lead" us in it. My encouragement and challenge today is even though you might know God knows everything about you - do you still take David's example here? Do you still humble yourself before the Lord? Do You Still Surrender To Your All-Knowing Savior?
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