The psalmist has written a wonderful
thing here in verse 1 through 6. Oh Lord, thou hast searched
me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine up-rising. Thou understand'st my thought
afar off. Thou compass'st my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all of my ways. For there's
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all
together. Thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. Hold your place. We'll be back
there. But the last three verses of John chapter 2 now give us
much the same thought, but in another vein. John 2, 23, 24,
and 25. Now, when He was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name
when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not
that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. All right, if you want to go
back to Psalm 139, here we begin, here we spend the first part
of our time on this subject of the morning. Now as we look at
Psalm 139, we are immediately made aware that there are three
of the great and outstanding attributes of God that are set
forth in this passage of the scripture. We might call them
holy triplets as far as the attributes of God are concerned because
they are so closely related one under the other and how they
beautifully blend together and they work together in the purpose
and the work of God. They have so much in common,
one with the other, that one is actually indispensable to
a proper view of God. Now I said three attributes. Those three attributes are in
Psalm 139. Number one, the omnipresence
of God. God is everywhere present. And the second one is the omniscience
or omniscience of God, if you prefer, that God knows all, that
He sees all, that He is aware of all. And the third one is
the great omnipotence of God, that He has all power in heaven
and in earth over all creature and all things which His hand
have made. Now these are part of the attributes
of God that are exercised toward the human family. By attributes
now, if you do not understand, we mean the inherent characteristics
that are in God, the qualities that God possesses and that make
up his being and that are exercised according to his good pleasure
towards his creature. Owens called God's attribute,
and I quote, his infinite perfections in being and in working, unquote. The excellent perfect, the excellent
perfections or attributes of God, not only in His being, but
also sent forth in His working. And we use the word or the prefix
here, omni, or omni, as we describe these three attributes. It is
probably that word that is derived from the Latin word that means,
or that is, omnis, which means all or completely, are fully
or to the greatest extent. Omni. Thus, he is omnipotent. Or rather, he is omnipresent,
which means that he is present in every place, in everywhere
that there is somewhere, God is there present. Not only that,
but it's not a fleeting or coming or going. It is in every place
at one and the same time. God is everywhere present. Secondly, we notice that God
is everywhere omniscient. That is, He knows all. He is
aware of all. Nothing is hid from His knowledge. Nothing past or present or future
escapes the knowledge or the knowing of God. Then he is omnipotent. He has all power. And that power
is limited only by his goodwill and pleasure and the exercise
of it. His power is sovereign over such
things as creation, Providence, how he guides things, and the
salvation of the elect. So, in fact, all three of these
great attributes are present and they work together in the
same three things. creation, providence, and salvation. That God is guiding creation,
God is guiding all things by his providence, and it works
and shines its brightest in the salvation of the elect. Now, what do we find in that
chapter that we have read from, Psalm 139? What does it emphasize? We might find all three aforementioned
attributes in this very notable psalm or song that is addressed
to the chief musician and is called A Psalm of David. Spurgeon, of course, I had to
read him. Spurgeon said of the psalm, it
sings the omniscience and the omnipresence of God. Unquote. As they sang, they were
exalting, extolling, and sending forth the omniscience and the
omnipresence of God. So let's see that, if we might,
looking at the psalm in more detail. First of all, In verse
1 through verse 6 that we read, the subject is the omniscience
of God, that God is all-knowing. Now, omniscience is the combination
of two words when we use it in theology, that word omni meaning
all or full or complete and scientia meaning knowledge. So that omniscience
is a knowledge that God has of everything that there is to know. an infinite and unlimited knowledge
that God possesses. So we say that God is omniscient. That is, He knows all. Nothing
whatsoever is hidden from His eye or His ear or His thought
or His observation. Hear what the song said about
this knowledge of God again. In verse 1, you have searched
me and known me. You have looked intensely at
me and in me and through me and know my every being. everything about me. Verse 2,
he carries it further. You know my down sitting and
my uprising, and you know my thought, even afar off. What that means, we'll try to
figure out a little bit later. Look at verse 3 again. You are
acquainted with all of my ways. Not a thing, O Lord, but that
you know it. Verse 4. He carries it on. There is not a word in my tongue,
O Lord, but you know it all together. And we'll come back to this subject
a little bit later. But first of all, now let's look
at verse 7 through verse 12 of this great psalm. And here, the
subject is more omnipresent. It is open with a powerful, a
couple of very powerful questions. In verse 7, Whither shall I go
from your spirit? whether shall I flee from your
presence, to be out of your presence. Then the psalmist gives us some
scenarios about that and the omnipresence of God. He said, in heaven, you are there. In hell, or Sheol, there you
are as well. Shall I go to the remotest part
of the sea and flee over and beyond the horizon? Even there
would your hand take hold upon me." And then he said, suppose
I hide under the darkest night, the darkest night that one can
find or imagine. But with God, he said, the darkness
and the light are just alike. In other words, God sees and
knows as well in the darkness as he does in the brightest day. A man named William Seeker once
wrote these words, and I quote, though the place where we sin
be as dark as Egypt, in Exodus 10, 21. Yet to God it is as light
as Goshen, unquote. Dark in Egypt, light in Goshen
where the Jews were dwelling. Consider what is said in Jeremiah
23 and verse 23. and 24, where God says, Am I
a prophet near at hand and not a god afar off? Can any hide
himself in secret places that I should not see him? Do not
I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord God? Now, none can play
hide-and-seek with God. He sees here, he sees there,
every place. Now, actually, these two attributes,
omnious and omnipresent, work together. They complement each
other in the work and the purpose of God. For example, in Proverbs
chapter 15 and verse 3, it says this, The eyes of the Lord are
in every place, beholding the good and the evil." So that both
of them are there. The eyes of the Lord are there.
They behold the good and the evil. They know one and the other. But let's settle in on our present
subject and this first text, which is the knowledge of God. That is, God's knowledge of man. How much God knows about humans. how much God knows about the
human family, and how much he knows about each and every individual. And I'm not talking about just
a general knowledge as we might think of it, but I'm thinking
about an extensive all-inclusive knowing of each and every individual
in the world, and may I say again, at one and the same time. God does not observe this one
now and that one later and that one and so on, but at one and
the same time and all of the time, God has a perfect knowledge
of each and every one. So we begin here with some 139
and what the psalmist said about himself. Now he's speaking, not
of others at this time, but using himself as the model or the object
of the omniscience of God. In verse 1 he said, Thou, you,
O Lord, you and you alone have searched me. You have looked
into me. You have Known me and that's
you Oh Lord and not another verse 2 my Downsitting my uprising
my thoughts, you know them all together verse 3 my past where
I go, where I walk, this way or that way, my lying down, all
of my ways. Thou knowest them, Lord, unto
absolute perfection and knowledge." And then again, the fourth verse,
you know, every word that there is in my tongue. so that the
psalmist here does not speak of an intimate or a best friend
or a wife or a family or a close confidant or an advisor knowing
him. You know, sometimes we hear people
say this, I know that person as well as any person in the
world can know them. That's how close they are, how
much they think they know about them. But this is not the case
here. It is God. And He does not drop
the subject there, nor does He speak only in general terms,
but He speaks of the extent of the knowledge which God had of
him, describing it as all-inclusive, as all-knowing, that God knows
all there is to know about him as a man. Nor is this because
the psalmist has revealed or opened or confessed the deepest
secret and the deepest feelings of his heart or of his innermost
being. It's not that God knows them
because the psalmist has confessed them unto God or laid them before
him. God knows what is in man because
he is the all-knowing God, and it cannot be any other way. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows the beginning, the middle,
and the end. Now, to sum up that knowledge,
which the author of this psalm acknowledges that God has of
him and his ways, that God not only sees and knows, his action,
and that is his outward acts, what he might do with his members,
what he might do with his body, but even his innermost thoughts. Yes, he knows the outward action,
every step, every word, every reaching of the hand, every step
of the foot. but even the innermost thoughts."
And get this, he knows them while still in their embryonic stage,
if I may use that expression. That is, before they are ever
brought forth in words or in deeds manifested. In fact, if
we want to get very technical, God already knows every thought
that will ever enter into our heart and mind. Think about that. I think we have to admit it.
God knows every thought that has not yet come, but will at
one time enter into our heart or mind. Though I'm not sure
this is what he means by a far off, It's kind of mysterious
unto me. But we have to confess that God
even knows what thoughts will come into the mind. And I think I can prove that
unto you by scripture. Consider, if you will, a passage
from Deuteronomy. chapter 31 verse 21 in getting
the people of Israel ready to enter into the land of Canaan
God foretells Moses and Joshua that when the people are settled
safely in the new land when they have waxen fat and when they
are at ease and they're doing well, and they will wax fat and
they will embrace heathen gods. God said that, God predicted
that, God foretold that, Deuteronomy 31 and verse 20. And he said
also, they will break my covenant. They will espouse false God. They will break my covenant and
in verse 21 of that chapter for I know Their imagination which
they go about even that Before I have brought them into the
land which I swear unto them unquote and they will break the
covenant and Break it they did and over and over again now those
words are far off Thou knowest my thought afar off. Is this a reference to time or
is it a reference to space? Thou knowest my thoughts afar
off, or is it a reference not necessarily unto either? But
one thing is certain, that God is the searcher of the hearts
of men. He knew before they left Egypt
that in Canaan they would be inclined toward the idolatry
of the inhabitants that were there, that it would enter into
their imagination. that they would give it a second
thought and a third thought and eventually become guilty of it. That Gil phrased it like this,
God knew full well that in the process of time, this evil imagination
would break forth in them once they were in Canaan. Just think,
just think, like the psalmist, it's more than I can take in,
but just think how many thoughts pass through the mind, how many
thoughts pass in and out in a day or an hour, let alone a lifetime,
and God knows them all, each and every one. Charnock pointed
out, not without reason, is God called in Hebrew chapter 4 and
verse 12, a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the
heart of man, so that indeed he knows what is in man. Or can that expression of far
off mean that by God's omniscience, by his all knowledge, It can
span the distance between heaven and earth. That though God dwells
principally in heaven, yet he knows the thoughts of earth.
In Job chapter 22, 12 through 14, he said, he dwells far above
all heaven, and yet he knows the thoughts of men and women
on the earth. In Ephesians 4 and verse 10,
he sees the wicked. the wicked commit their sin.
And because God does not act then and there against them,
they form the opinion that He is not a wrathful God or that
He is a God like unto themselves. Psalm 50 and verse 16 through
21. Now, we need to realize something
that a lot of people in Christendom don't confess, and that is that
thoughts are sins, that thoughts are sinful, and God accounts
them to be so. Else why did Peter say, pray
the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee in Acts chapter
8? But the psalmist speaks of another
aspect of of God's knowledge of him in verse 3 and the last
part. You are acquainted with all of
my ways. In verse 4, not a word in my
tongue, but O Lord, you know it all together. First is thoughts,
then is words. His thoughts and also His words,
or His words but also His thoughts. And as the Lord knows our thoughts
before we even think them, so says the psalmist, He knows our
words before we even express them or bring them forth orally. Of course He hears our actual
words, which may consist in prayer or praise, truth, wisdom, but
it may also consist in lies, deceit, slander, gossip, heresy,
profanity, blasphemy, and on and on. But he hears and knows
every word in the tongue. He of course hears all that is
said by all. For surely at any time of the
day, let me give you an example, at any time of the day, right
now, church day, on a Sunday, there must be thousands upon
thousands who are sending up their prayers unto God in heaven,
to the throne of grace. At the same time, thousands are
praying, whether silently like Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, and verse
13, are orally like Solomon when he stood at the temple dedication
and lifted his hand and prayed to God a long prayer into God
in heaven. Yet God hears them all. They're not garbled and run together. God distinctly knows and hears
each and every one of them, and that without any confusion, as
if each were the only created one in existence. But be that
as it may, let's take another look at this great psalm and
keep it in balance. Let's consider this in line with
the words of the psalm. Did we, at first hearing these
things, when we read what David said and how he felt, when he
expressed himself in this way, of the omniscience of God and
of the omnipresence of God, Do we think that the psalmist, as
he wrote that, was cast under some sort of deep conviction
or a sense of sin and of guilt, to be guilty of the vilest behavior
upon the face of the earth? And do we think of this psalmist
as being terrorized by the realization of the perfect omnipresence that
God had of him? Do we think of him as unsettled
in his thoughts and worried about such things? Does this disturb
him when he thinks upon these matters and expresses them? Well, I want to say this does
not. seem to be the drift of this
psalm and the words that are here because it is a song, a
psalm of David. Hear his reaction to such meditation,
and I think that'll go far in helping us to understand that
David is not fearful, but is rejoicing in these great works
and knowledge that God has of him. Let's read verse 6 again. Look at it and hear it. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain
unto it. Then let's look at verse 14,
I will praise thee for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. He rejoices. He finds joy and comfort in these
great attributes exercised towards him. Then look at verse 17 and
verse 18. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they're
more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with
thee. Now, look at verse 23 and 24. He invites, search me, oh God,
know my thought, try me, and know my heart, try me, and know
my thought, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting. So the psalmist attitude. I'm going to flip to Psalm 17.
If you want to go there, it's verses 1 through 3. This is an
amazing thing. I read it before, but not with
the effect that it had on me. See if you think this sounds
presumptuous or if it is a jubilant act of worship. Psalm 17, verses
1 through 3. Hear the right, O Lord, attend
unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer that goeth out of feigned
lips. Goeth not, excuse me, goeth not
out of feigned lips. These are not hypocritical words.
Verse 2, let my sinners come forth from thy presence, that
thine eyes behold the things that are equal. Thou hast proved
mine heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me and shall
find nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress." Isn't that a passage of Scripture? Is that presumptuous
or is that a spiritual-minded man? I think likely David is
responding to the attacks of his enemies that they had brought
against him. And so as Matthew Henry put it
here, he appeals to God concerning his integrity, unquote, that
it had been questioned and impugned by those around him. And he invites
none other than God to be the judge and the searcher of him. In Psalm 44, verse 20 and 21. In a time when it seemed that
God had forsaken the people, verse 9 through 26, we read in
verse 20 and verse 21, if we have forgotten the name of our
God or stretched out our hands to a strange God, shall not God
search this out? For he knows the secrets of the
heart." That is, God would know it. God would be aware of it
if it had happened. For he knows all things, even
the secret of the heart, so that there is nothing that is secret
or hidden from God. There's one more. I'd like to
read it, too, found in Jeremiah chapter 12, if you'd like to
turn there and follow along. And it, too, is verse 1 through
verse 3, Jeremiah the prophet, chapter 12, 1 through 3. Righteous
art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with
thee of thy judgment. Wherefore doth the way of the
wicked prosper? Wherefore are they happy that
deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea,
they have taken root, they grow, Yea, they bring forth fruit,
thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. That is, they speak religiously,
but inside, in their reins, they're full of sin. But now look at
verse 3. Thou, O Lord, knowest me. Thou hast seen me. Thou hast
tried my heart toward thee. pull them out like sheep for
the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter." Now
look at what it said, you've seen me, you've known me, and
you have searched me. Psalm 24 and verse 4, 1 Timothy
chapter 1, And verse 5, an unfeigned heart out of faith, unfeigned,
is the condition of the children of God. Remember when God tempted
Abraham, Genesis chapter 22, attempted or tried or tested
Abraham when he commanded him to take his beloved son Isaac
to a mountain and there sacrifice him in a place that God would
lead and would show and Abraham was obedient and did not sacrifice
his son but in Genesis 22 and verse 12. God says, now I know
that you fear me in that you would not behold your only and
beloved son. So I stipulate that the omniscience
of God, the fact that he is acquainted with all of our ways in verse
3 of our text can have opposite effects on people depending on
their state at the time that they are hearing this. Or, depending
on their relationship unto God, these things will affect them
in relation to their state. Number one, let's consider, to
the natural man. Tell the natural man these things,
the whirling. It can be a very disturbing thought. for him to hear that God sees
and hears and knows all that they see and all that they do. For to the wicked we must understand
that God sees the thief in the darkest night. He sees the bed
of adultery. He sees the drunk in the tavern. He sees the hypocrite in the
church pretending that he is some great one, making a mockery
of Christianity and of the Bible. Zechariah chapter 4 and verse
10, the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout all
of the earth." Also 2 Chronicles 16 and verse 9, beholding the
evil and the good, Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 3, the Lord said,
God sees every sparrow that falls to the ground. A little worthless
bird, not worth very much, Matthew 10 and verse 29, but God's eye
observes every sparrow that falls to the ground. He said the very
hair of our head are numbered in Luke 12 and verse 7. And with
me he has to revise the count every day. But the hair of our
head are numbered. Job 14 and 16. You number my steps, O God. He knows the span of our life. He knows the number of months
are with him. Job 14 and verse 5. Proverbs 5 and verse 21. The
ways of man are open before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders
all of their going." But secondly, the child of God. When the child
of God hears these things, what is his view of the omniscience
of the Almighty God? Psalm 139 and verse 6, it overwhelms
them It is more than they can take
in, and yet such thoughts are wonderful unto me. Such thoughts
are wonderful. Your perpetual attention unto
me is what the psalmist seems to be saying. I lean back in
my chair so that I could think for a while how I might be able
to put into word and to express the words Then I came across
the article by Henry Duncan, written around 1800, when we
find God to be incomprehensible, and His judgments unsearchable,
and His ways past finding out. Romans 11 and verse 33. Now, I gleaned these thoughts
from Brother Duncan's writing. His eye at the same time and
instant surveys all the immeasurable reach of creation and the slightest
motion of the most microscopic insect on the earth. Again, at
this moment, he is listening to the praises breathed by grateful
hearts in distant land, and at the same time reading every groveling
thought which passes through the polluted minds of depraved
men." And consider this, at one view and thought, the Almighty
God surveys the past, the present, and the future. What was, what
is, and what is to be is perfectly and fully known unto God. Every
event in history, is stored up in his infinite memory, in his
book of remembrance, in his infinite mind, already knows every person
still to be born into this world. He knows the date of their birth,
the length of their life, and the day of their death. He knows
their gender. He knows their nationality. He
knows whether they will be saved or whether they will be lost.
and they're not even born into the world yet. Now consider,
if these thoughts strain our understanding, if these things
are hard and deep to take in and to be understood, let us
then know, if God is God, then he must be incomprehensible. We cannot understand fully the
way and the being of our God. He's past finding out. Is that not what the scripture
said? He's past finding out unto perfection. If God be God, then
he must have infinite knowledge. If he is God, then he knows everything. If he created all things, and
he did, then he must have a full knowledge of what he has made,
of its purpose, and of its operation. So let's close now by flipping
to that passage in the second chapter of the Gospel of John. A few minutes and a few thoughts
about that. Again, verse 24. Jesus did not
commit himself to some because he knew what was in man. Verse 25. He needed not to be
informed about any man or that any man should testify of man,
for he knew what was in man." Now, in the context, in John
chapter 2, we need to be careful and rightly interpret. Many,
it said, believed on him for the miracles which he did. One
of them would be Nicodemus in the next chapter, chapter 3 and
verse 2. We know Thou art a teacher come
from God. No man can do these miracles
except God be with him. But these were not true believers. They believed because of the
miracles. Because of the miracles. And he knew their heart. That's
why John has given this. He knew their heart as he knows
every heart. No one needed to tell him. No
one needed to bring it to his attention. He knew what was in
man. In John 1.42, without any prior
meeting or introduction, The Lord sees Simon Peter coming
to him, and he says, you are Simon, the son of John. You're going to be called Cephas,
without ever having seen him. John 147, the Lord saw Nathaniel
approaching, and he said, behold, an Israelite in whom there is
no guide. And Nathanael says, how is it
that you know me? And the Lord says, well, before,
when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. John 4, 29. Jesus
tells the woman of Samaria, all things that ever I did, she said. After her meeting with the Lord,
she runs back to town, says, come meet a man who told me all
things that Ever I did he knew all about her and he never met
her and she'd never seen him before in the flesh He told her
of having five husbands The one you have now is not your husband
told her of the era of her worship that true worship would be in
spirit and in truth he told her of the water of life and that
she might never thirst again. Now, there's something amazing
about this woman's encounter with the Lord and her view of
Him as we trace through it. Brother Baker was here last Sunday,
and I thought about this as I looked over the text. This woman, there's
something very amazing about it. The first time he speaks
to her, the first time they have a discourse, He takes her she
takes him to be a Jew verse 9 you a Jew You don't have any dealings
with the Samaritan. How is it you're asking me for
a drink of water? Then, after hearing him speak
in a religious way, she's more reverent. She calls him Sir,
from Jew to Sir, in verse 11. And after he accurately revealed
unto her her personal life, she says in verse 19, I perceive
you to be a prophet. He told her the very secret,
the very thoughts of her heart. Finally, she confesses Him to
be the Christ. In verse 29, a Jew, Sir, a prophet,
and Christ. How often do we read of the Holy
Christ reading the thoughts of mortals? John 6.61, knew in Himself
that His disciples murmured. didn't have to hear it, he knew
in himself of their murmuring. John 6, 64, knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray him. Before
Judas was ever born and ever brought into that circle, the
Lord knew, here's the one that should betray him. John 13 and
11, in the upper room, he knows and exposes the one that should
betray him. Now, let's use Hebrews 4, 12,
and 13 for our last text or scripture of the day. In case you would
like to turn there when I find it, Hebrews chapter 4, In verse
12 and verse 13, here's an amazing passage of the scripture, I think
sometimes taken wrongly too. For the word of God is quick
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and
the mara, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart, neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do." Now, I'm with the two Johns on
this, Owen and Gill. that this refers to Christ, the
Word of God, is the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest,
and the discerning of every thought of the heart is known by Him. Would you want a high priest
that didn't know that? A heavenly high priest that could
not be touched with a feeling of our infirmities? But look
what he said in closing. is a discerner of the thought
and intent of the heart. Neither is there any creature
not manifest. All things are open and naked before the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do." It's a person, I believe, and
I believe with them that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is
the Word of God, particularly in the writing of John. So, it's
too wonderful for me. I cannot take it in. It overwhelms
me to think about that as it does all of the children of God. When we think about it, it's
more. It's more than we can actually
comprehend, fully understand, and apply unto our life. But thank God it is true, and
that is God's knowledge of man.