Thursday, July 6, 2017, 6:06 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Search Me, O God.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Psalm 139
(Select vv. ESV).
He Knows Me
(vv. 1-7)
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern
my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are
acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O
Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your
hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high;
I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where
shall I flee from your presence?
Our God and Lord knows us,
the end from the beginning, inside and out, thoroughly and completely, because
he is the one who made us. He knows everything we do. We cannot hide from God.
Nothing we do is hidden from his sight. Even if we go into a dark place, he still
sees and knows everything we are doing. Nothing escapes his notice! He is
acquainted with all of our ways. We may be able to fool people, but we can’t
fool God. He knows. He sees. So, if we are doing wrong, and we are trying to
look good on the outside, while inside, when we are alone in the darkness, we
are doing what is wicked, although humans may not see and may not know, God
knows. And, what he says he will do will be fulfilled. We can count on it!
Yet, if we are doing what is
right, this should serve to be a comfort and an encouragement to us that God
knows us completely. Because he does, even if others misjudge us or reject us
based on a misconception or on their own prejudice, God knows the truth. He
knows our hearts, who we are, and what we do, and the reasons we do it, even if
no one else does. And, he will comfort us with that knowledge, fill us with his
peace, and assure us of his grace, strength, and the knowledge of his will for
our lives. Even before we utter a word in prayer to him, he knows what we are
going to say, and he may even begin to answer us or counsel us in our minds
before we even vocalize our requests to him, or even before we even know what
to ask.
In My Mother’s Womb (vv. 13-16)
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted
me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul
knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately
woven in the depths of the earth.
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.
None of us are here on this
earth by chance or by mistake. God formed us in the wombs of our mothers. What this
means is that he placed us in the families we were born into, even knowing what
would happen to us – good or bad. He didn’t cause evil, but he allows evil to
exist for his purposes. He doesn’t always protect us from harm, but he protects
us emotionally and spiritually through the storms of life, if we trust him. He
didn’t promise us we would never face adversity. In fact, he said the opposite.
He said that, as his followers, we would be treated like he was treated. He
uses our life experiences to mold us and to shape us into the people he created
us to be. And, he is quite capable of seeing us through any and all circumstances,
no matter how difficult, and to give us the wisdom and strength we need to
endure, to persevere, and to “come out shining like gold” (1).
For those of us who know God,
and who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of our lives, we must
know that even before God created the world, he chose us, that we should be
holy and blameless before him. He predestined us to be conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. And, he called us to a holy calling in Christ Jesus, our Lord
(See: Ro. 8:29; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Eph. 1:3-4). He has something for each of us to
do. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. He didn’t save us so we could
live however we want, and so we could plan out our own lives. He has given us
spiritual gifts and he has given us each assignments within the body of Christ
which we are to fulfill for his purposes and for his glory (See: Jer. 1). This
is my assignment, to write out what he teaches me each day, and to post it on
the internet.
Lead Me, I Pray
(vv. 17-18, 23-24)
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is
the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and
I am still with you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and
know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me
in the way everlasting!
God doesn’t think like we do,
as humans. His ways are higher than our ways. What might not make sense to us
makes perfect sense to God, because he knows the end from the beginning. He
knows what lies ahead for us. Sometimes he allows delays and roadblocks because
he has a plan that is greater than our understanding. So, what might seem like
a failure to us may not be that at all. We need to learn to trust God and not
lean on our own understanding, for our understanding is flawed (imperfect),
whereas his is absolutely perfect. We also need to understand that God’s timing
is not the same as ours. I think that in today’s culture, particularly here in
America, we want everything fast, and we have lost the art of patience. But,
God is very patient, and he is willing that none should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. So, we need to wait on God’s timing.
God knows our hearts and our
minds. We sometimes think we know like God knows, but we don’t always, although
we do have the mind of Christ (See: 1 Co. 2:16). Sometimes we even misjudge ourselves
or we are self-deceived into thinking thoughts about ourselves which are not
true. So, it is good for us to have God search our minds and hearts and to show
us what we are not able to see about ourselves, so that we can be changed in
heart and mind in conformity to Christ and to his will for our lives. We might
think we are serving the Lord, and that he is pleased with us, but we might be
missing the mark. So, it is good to have those soul-searching times alone with
God where we pray and we ask him to reveal to us any sins or if we are going
the wrong direction, and for him to guide us and to lead us in the way he would
have us to go, because, again, he has a very specific assignment for each one
of us which he wants us to fulfill, and so we need to fulfill it.
Search Me, O God / An
Original Work / July 12, 2012
Based off Psalm 139
O Lord, You search and know me.
You know all that I do.
O Lord, You discern my ways.
I put my trust in You.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
Where’er I am, You are with me,
Guiding me in love.
O Lord, You search and know me.
You know all that I do.
O Lord, You discern my ways.
I put my trust in You.
O Lord, You made and formed me
In my own mother’s womb.
Your hands beautif’ly made me.
I give my praise to You.
My frame was not hidden from You
When I was made in the dark place.
All the days ordained for me
Were written in Your book.
O Lord, You made and formed me
In my own mother’s womb.
Your hands beautif’ly made me.
I give my praise to You.
O Lord, how precious to me
Are Your thoughts, O my God.
When I wake in the morning,
You are still here with me.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offense.
Lead me in Your truth.
O Lord, how precious to me
Are Your thoughts, O my God.
When I wake in the morning,
You are still here with me.
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