All right, turn with me back to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. A man made the statement one time, that it is vital that we know the God that knows us. It's vital that we know the God that knows us. Our Lord said in John 17, this is life eternal, they might know thee, really know thee. It's critical. It is eternal life critical. Eternal life depends on us knowing God. Why? Because He knows us. He knows us.

I've titled this message, Comfort in Fear. Comfort and fear. Hearing what is written in this Psalm, it ought to bring fear to us. But if our Lord will really open our ear to what's being said, it'll bring comfort. Comfort in that fear.

Verse one says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Men and women love to believe that because other men and women cannot see the depth of who we really are, all right? I can't see you. I mean, I know I see you're sitting there, I understand that. I can see what you're wearing and all those things, but I can't see you. I mean, the depth of you. And thank goodness you can't see me. And men and women love to believe that because we cannot see the depth of each other, because other men and women can't truly see the depth of who we are. Men and women love to believe that God can't see the depth of who we are. That's men and women in false religion. That's what false religion tells people. No, God's happy with you. Yeah, you're doing good. Because other men and women can't see the depth of who we are. People love to believe that God cannot see the depth of our sin because other people can't see our sin. Men and women love to believe that God can't see the depth of our sin. God can't see the depth of our depravity. God cannot see the depth of our wickedness and vileness. Because we have it hidden from men. People love to believe it's hidden from God, but it's not. It's not. God sees it all. And not only does God see it all, to put that more clearly, God sees more of us than we see. God sees more of us than we see. God sees all of us. He sees all of us. He sees everybody. But he sees everything about everybody.

Hebrews 4 verse 13 says, There is not one creature that is not manifest in God's sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. All things, everything. That ought to strike fear in a sinner against God. And it does strike fear in every soul that God reveals this to, really reveals this to. It does strike fear in them.

Verse one says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. You're watching everything that I do at all times. Verse two, thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. You know every thought that I have thought in the past. You know every thought that I'm thinking in the present. You know every thought that I will think in the future. You talk about a scary thought. He already knows, and that's true. We want to learn a little something about God. He already knows every thought that you will think in the future. That's amazing, isn't it? Thou understandest my thought afar off.

Verse three, thou compassest my path afar off. and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. Compassist, that word means winnowist. That means to sift or, you know, like fan, to clean up, to expose, that's what it means. What he's saying is you sift me. You sift my path. Verse three, thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together." There has never been a word formed from this tongue that is not registered and recorded in the mind of God. Everything we've ever said, every idle word.

Verse 5 says, thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. That means he sees us from all sides, all angles. You know, people like to put their best side forward. Well, he sees us from all sides. And he judges us according to his purpose concerning us.

David said in Psalm 51, against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. It's all in your eyes and it's all in your hands. Now this is where we are before God. This is where we stand before God. This is where everybody stands before God.

Verse six says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. The fact that God sees everything by everyone. It's just overwhelming. It's overwhelming. The fact that God knows everything inside and out. Everything about everyone because he's everywhere always. And therefore he sees and knows all sides of everything, everywhere.

David said that knowledge is just too wonderful to me. To know something about this God, to know something about his knowledge, to know something about his all seeing eye. the mind of this God, the knowledge, the wisdom, the glory of this God.

Hold your place right here and go over to Romans 11. Romans 11 verse 33, it says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor?

That's what everybody wants to stand in pulpits telling people they know. They know the mind of the Lord. Now, God has a wonderful plan for your life, and I'm going to tell you what it is. And they all want to be his counselor, that, Lord, I need you to do this, and I need you to do that. And if it wouldn't be too much, do this.

Verse 35, or who have first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him and through him and to him are all things. to whom be glory forever, amen.

Job 11 says, canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven. What canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

If he cut off and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him? He's gonna do what he's gonna do, and who's gonna stop him? It goes on to say, for he knoweth vain men, He seeth wickedness also, will he not then consider it? Is there anything outside of his knowledge or his control?

David said, thinking about this is just too high for me to understand. It's just too high. This knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's too full of wonder for me. Everything concerning God is beyond comprehension.

Think about this. Every will, every purpose, every promise of His will come to pass. Every one of them. No buts about it, no exceptions, no alterations, no changes. The way he set it in order from the beginning, that's how it's gonna be. Now that's just bigger than me. That's bigger than me.

We worry about so much stuff. And he's already set it in perfect order, in perfect place, nothing's gonna change. Think about this. God Almighty, people talk about God. They think about God and they, you know, they look up at the clouds and, you know, they talk, they think about God, all right? God Almighty was manifest in the flesh. God is a man. God is a man. So much so, he's not half God and half man. He's 100% God and 100% man. I am literally looking at 100% men, men and women. God is a man. God is a spirit. God is a man. God is a man and God is everywhere at all times. That's just bigger than me.

Think about this. God died. That's amazing to say. The ever living one died. Bearing the sin of his people, the spotless one, the sinless one, the one who cannot sin was made sin. Think about that. What do you mean by that? Exactly what I just said. Exactly what God said. Who cares if I said it? The sins of His elect people were not just handed to Him for Him to pay for. Here, I tell you what, why don't you take care of these? He was made to be guilty in those sins. The sins we committed He took the ownership of those sins. They were applied to his account. The Father applied them to his account. They were made to be his record before the Father on the cross of Calvary. He had to hold up that record of deeds. My record, your record. Not just in principle or in theory, but in actuality to the point that the father was just and right in condemning and punishing and killing Christ for those sins. God turned his back on God. That's just bigger than me. It's just bigger than me.

Spotless blood was shed for the vile sins of vile sinners, and it was done in a way that was just and right in God's eyes. That's just too wonderful. All of God's people, the scripture says it's a number that no man can number, which that's bigger than me. But all of God's chosen before the foundation of the world elect people, a number that no man can number, each one of them individually committing a number of sins that no man could ever number. You could never number my sins. My sins are so great. They are so many. They are so continual. You can never number them by one sacrifice. Just one. You think about that. By one sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt and put it all away forever. You're telling me by him just dying and shedding his blood, it paid for all of this, a lifetime of this, and a lifetime of that? In a lifetime of that, if God says it did, it did. That's just too much. That's just too much for me to understand. By the death of one, all of that was taken care of.

Brother Darwin Pruitt is the one who I heard this from a long time ago, but he told the story of a family who lived in a town and could walk to church. And they were walking to church one Sunday morning. On the way, as usual, the little boy was just bouncing all over the place. He was just, you know, the family's walking down the sidewalk and the little boy just everywhere.

And they made it to the service and sat down and the preacher started preaching and the Lord really blessed the message of Jesus Christ crucified. Truly blessed the message in an extraordinary way. The Lord sent his spirit and they heard the message of the cross. They heard the message of substitution and it truly reached the hearts of the people. They entered in to the substitution and satisfaction of the Lord Jesus Christ for his people. The Lord Jesus Christ in the stead of all of his people, putting away all the sin of all of his people by the one sacrifice of himself. Finished, paid in full, one sacrifice for all of them.

On the way home, the little boy was quiet and just walking, just kind of walking with his head down. And his dad noticed it and he said, son, do you feel okay? I said, yes, sir. He said, well, is anything wrong? No, sir. I'm just thinking about what the preacher said. He said, really, what's that? He said, well, I was just thinking, I can't understand how the death of one man could put away so much sin. He said, the preacher said that because of our sin, we all have to die. How could the death of one man be enough for all of us?

Have you ever wondered that? I have. If we all have to die, how could one man die for all of us?

His dad said, hmm. Didn't know what to say. So they kept on walking. And all of a sudden, the dad stopped, tapped his son, and said, look right there. Right by the sidewalk, there was a grasshopper eating grass. And he stooped down with his son and he said, how many grasshoppers do you think it would take to equal the life of one little boy? And the little boy said, I don't think all the grasshoppers in the world would equal the life of one little boy. And his dad opened his Bible to Isaiah 40 verse 22 and he said, son, The God who sits on the circle of the earth is the very one who came down. And it says that all of the inhabitants of the earth are counted as grasshoppers. And by the sacrifice of this one glorious man, all of his chosen grasshoppers are saved. There was so much value in that one man.

I ask you, how many grasshoppers would it take to equal the value of one man, the life of one man? How many grasshoppers would it take to come up to the value where we're going to have to kill this man? That's just too many grasshoppers. How many? He said, son, there was so much value in that one man. It was easy. All of his chosen grasshoppers are saved. I'm just going to tell you this is bigger than me. That God Almighty would do that for grasshoppers. That he would do that for grasshoppers. Or if you want to take it down to the word worms. That he would do that for worms. that God almighty would give his own life for rebellious, sinful grasshoppers and worms. That's just too wonderful.

Go back to Psalm 139. Let's read this now in light of the redemption of Christ for his people. Okay. Psalm 139 verse one, it says,

O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me.
Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising.
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down
and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before
and laid thine hand upon me.
You chose me.
You reached way down for me.
You keep me.
You protect me.
You've chosen to lay your hand on me.
You chose, why me?
Verse six, such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there shall thy hand lead me.
and thy right hand shall hold me?
If I say surely the darkness shall cover me,
even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee,
but the night shineth as the day.
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

What is such bad news in the flesh is such good news in Christ. You know, while the flesh is saying, I'm exposed, I'm exposed. In Christ, the promise is, your covering is never going to leave you. David's saying right here, thank God, I cannot get away from your all seeing eye. In the flesh, we're crying, there's an all seeing eye watching us. In Christ, we're crying, thank God, there's an all seeing eye watching us. In Christ there's no rebellious sinful thing that I can do to leave his watchful eye and his watchful care over me.

Verse 13 says, for thou has possessed my reins. You're the controller of me. You have hold of me. You're the owner of me. Because you're the maker of me in my mother's womb. Verse 13, thou has possessed my reins, thou has covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. Marvelous are thy works. Lord, you get all the glory because you did all the work. in creation, in salvation, in regeneration, all the way to glorification. You've done it all. You've done it all.

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. What he's saying is, you've loved me with an everlasting love. Before you formed me in the belly, you knew me. Before I was even formed.

Verse 17 says, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. Oh, how precious. The Lord God thinks on men and women one of two ways. He thinks on all men and women one of two ways, in Christ or out of Christ. Outside of Christ, it's not good. It's thoughts of wrath and hate and war and judgment. People say, well, that's not God. Yes, it is. We need to know the God who knows us. Outside of Christ, it's wrath and hate and war and judgment. But in Christ, it's thoughts of peace. Peace through the blood. In Christ, we have peace with God through his blood. And therefore, all of his thoughts toward us are thoughts of peace. In Christ, it's thoughts of blessing. It's thoughts of help, thoughts of love, thoughts of mercy, thoughts of grace.

Verse 17, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake, I'm still with thee. One man said, it is marvelous that God should even think upon us. It is marvelous that his thoughts are not evil toward us. It is more marvelous and precious that his thoughts toward us are more than the sand in the desert. and on the ocean floor.

You know, every time I think about sand, I think about the beach, this one strip that goes around all of these oceans. Do you know from one side of the ocean to the other side of the ocean, it's connected on the bottom of the ocean floor by sand? Scrape the top. I should have Googled it. How deep do you have to go to break through the sand? So much sand, we have deserts, we have a desert in this country, there's a desert in Africa, there's a desert in the Middle East, there's so much sand. There's just so much sand.

We're here tonight because a brother read this chapter in my study about a month ago. I don't know those of you who meet with us beforehand, you might remember this, but he said this scripture came to his mind to read in my study because his family had just come back from the beach. And, um, All that sand just reminded him of this particular verse of scripture. And this is what he said, he said, you know how you can't get away from sand? Think about this, okay? He said, you know how you can't get away from sand? He said, it gets on you, it gets in your shoes, it gets in your car, it gets everywhere. Have you ever been to the beach? That's true. It gets on you, it gets in your shoes, it gets in your car, It's everywhere, it's everywhere.

As soon as he said that, I thought, my goodness, what a blessing. In Christ, you could not get away from God's thoughts toward you if you tried. Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go? You gonna get in your car? But his thoughts are in there too. You gonna put your shoes on and run away? His thoughts are in there too. In Christ, God's thoughts toward you are everywhere. Because Christ is everywhere and you're everywhere in him.

Every time you see a grain of sand from here on out, every time you see a grain of sand. And if you see, you know, next time you leave the beach and you pull that floor mat out of your car, you see a lot of sand. Every time you see a grain of sand, you remember the Lord is thinking on me, in Christ. In Christ, God Almighty is thinking on me.

Verse 19 says, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Please let that be me, Lord. O God, depart. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, you bloody men. I'm ready to be done with me. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. That's this tongue right here, but for the grace of God and the work and mercy of God.

Do not I hate them, Lord, that hate thee? Who are you talking about? I'm talking about me. And am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. I'm my own worst enemy.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in Christ. Lead me in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lead me in the way everlasting God's wicked vain but elect people. They were searched and tried in Christ on the cross of Calvary. They were searched and they were tried in him. And they were dealt with. They were put away. They were punished in him.

All of our wicked ways were punished in Him, and we were led right there on the cross of Calvary in the way everlasting. And that knowledge is just too wonderful for me. It's just too wonderful. I cannot attain to it. It's too wonderful, but I sure am thankful for it. I find great comfort in it. I know you do, too.

All right.