I feel like I'm gonna have to
learn everybody's faces and names. It's been so long since I've
been here. This word is all we have. What God says in this word is
true. Whether we believe it, whether
we know it, whether we understand it, we're not. My title to my message today
is, Thou Art There. And if you would, turn with me
to Psalm 139. Have you ever felt or had a thought
that God is far from me? Have you ever had a thought when
reading God's word that all it is is ink on a page? Have you
ever had a thought that you just don't seem to be thinking of
God? And if I do, it is so fleeting. Have you ever had a thought,
do I believe or am I deceived? Not only is God vast, but God's
word is vast as well. Simply because his word comes
from him, it is far beyond any of my understanding. I have read
some passage and thought, how can I even understand what God
is saying? I'm too ignorant to even grasp
what he's trying to tell me. So many times I am laid low,
as if I belonged anywhere else. God is, God as he is toward his
people is never like me. So much wavering and wanting.
He never wants and he is never wavering. He is always faithful
to his people, even if we cannot see it. He tells us in his word
that when we are weak, then we are strong. Isn't that what scripture
says? You want to know where God is
for his people? Well, I think if you can follow
along in this passage, he tells us where he is for his people,
no matter where they are. I want to try to go through this
Psalm to point out a few highlights. This has been done here before,
and it was done quite well, I might say. What I hope to do is just
remind us of this passage once again. Of course, some of us
may have not been here and may have not heard that message before,
but this passage has stuck with me since God rebuilt it to me
when the message was preached from this passage, and it just
stuck to me, stuck with me by His grace. And it's just, it's
weighed on my mind, and I just wanted to preach on this passage.
I believe there are certainly some people who are men and women
just like me, where flesh takes hold of them just like it does
me, and at times seems to have total control. We should ever
be mindful of the one who is always there for us. He is ever
there for us because it is his purpose to do so. I believe God
put these things in our mind, puts these things in our minds
at time to force us to him. He causes us to be weak so that
we see our strength is all in him. So let's go through this
passage and just glean some things that have been taught here before.
And God sealed them to my heart by His Spirit. But let's look
at it, and I'm not going to cover every single verse or word necessarily. I just want to glean some things
from this passage. The comfort that can be found
in knowing who God is to His people. I do want to point this out before
I begin. God has shown me something in this passage that I did not
see before. I'm sure those who spoke on this before tried to
tell me these things and it just did not stick. You know, God
didn't teach it, He didn't reveal it to me. And that was because
He was not pleased to do so at that time. But when reading through
this, please keep in mind, when it talks about God searching
me and knowing me, notice that it never speaks anywhere in the
negative about the one being searched out and known. I think
this is an important thing to note. Don't get me wrong, there
is nothing in me as I am born in Adam that would give God Almighty
cause to be satisfied in me, nothing. We know from scripture
that there is none good, none righteous, none that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God. All are gone out of the way.
All are together become unprofitable. None that doeth good know not
one. You can read this in Romans 3.
There's not one person as they are born in Adam that has any
worth to God. Nor can they get to God because
we are all by nature unrighteous. But this passage is not really
about what I have done or not done. This passage is about what
God, about God and what He has done. And take notice of this
as we go through this passage, keeping in mind we are talking
about what God does. Now, the way I'm going to do
this, I'm going to read some verses, and then I want to give you my
paraphrase of those verses, because I went through and I looked up
the meanings of all these words, and I just did a paraphrase,
and we'll see how it works out. So, beginning in verse 1 through
7, O Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my up-rising. 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. 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? Now I want to give
you the paraphrase. O self-existent one, thou hast
penetrated and examined me intimately, and known me with care. Thou
knowest when I sit down to contemplate and when I rise to carry out
my contemplation. You distinguish what I think
even before the thought comes to me. You have surrounded everything
about me, my way of going back and forth, and also where I rest. You know everything about me.
For a word does not exist on my tongue without you knowing
it completely. You have hedged me in and put
your hand on me for safety. Your knowledge is too lofty and
inaccessible to me. I cannot attain your knowledge.
Is there any time or place that I can flee suddenly from the
presence of your face?" Can you imagine that? There's a part
of me that trembles at the thought that God Almighty has searched
me out, and I know a little bit about what I am, but He knows
what I am to the T, you might say. Because it says here that
He has searched me out and known me. Man may try to search me
out, but they will never really know me. I don't even hardly
know myself. Man by nature is an offense to
God, as we are all born in Adam. We do this because it is who
we are. In our flesh, we offend God every
minute. But this is an examination and
a knowing that is real and true, but is not, as I see it said
here, a knowing of us a knowing of us as we are born in Adam.
As we will see a little later, his examination takes into account
all his purpose. There is something there he sees
that is not what I see or others may see. Keep in mind, God's
people were never under his wrath because we were his from before
the foundation of the world. And in Romans 9, we read where
it says that some are vessels of mercy. and they were aforeprepared
unto glory. He knows when I am contemplating
to do something, and he knows when I move about to try to accomplish
those contemplations. Even if I am doing nothing, for
each and every thought I have, he knows it before the thought
even comes to my mind. He knows all of my thoughts because
he gives them to me. He has his hand on me. He is
ever before me and has me surrounded. No matter whether I am going
back and forth, doing this and doing that, He has me surrounded. It is not just what I do or what
I do not do. He knows every word I utter,
even before I utter it. He knows your speech and words
before you even say them. Oh, what an awesome God that
is. And I mean I am awestruck by
such a mighty God as this. So much so that it causes me
to fear Him. A God who has interrogated my
very words before I even say them because He knows them. He knows them because He has
purposed the very words I utter. Oh, but listen to these words.
You have hemmed me in, beset me behind and before, I cannot
go back and I cannot go forward without Him knowing and causing
it to happen. He has me hemmed in by His might,
power, and grace, if you're one of His. I am protected by Him,
and if something happens to me, it is because He permitted it
and even caused it to happen. How can we even imagine such
a thing as that? He knows and controls my every
move. He knows and controls my every
thought. He has me hemmed in so that everything I am involved
in, I am right where He wants me to be. This is a good place
to be, right? Where are you going to get away
from a God like this? The answer is nowhere. Who would
want to be? If He has known you, as we read
in verse one, you don't want to get away from a God like that.
You are glad that he has you hemmed in. He has you so hemmed
in that it does not matter where you go. You are in his arms. That is why it says what it says
in the following verses. You can not get away from him
and no one else can get to you. Let's read verses 8 through 10. If I ascend into heaven, thou
wert there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou wert 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. Here's the
paraphrase. If I ascend to lofty heights,
you were there. If I lay down in the pit of hell,
behold, you were there. If I start early in the morning
and go as far as I can go, where no one stays or knows about,
even there you will lead me in the way I should go, and your
strength holds me. I think of this work verse this
way, no matter if I'm on cloud nine, or as they say, or if I
feel I'm in the pit of hell for whatever reason, he is there. We cannot get away from Him if
He has searched us out and known us. Oh, how safe of a place do
you think that is? If I start early and go as hard
as I can to end up where no one else is around, if I am in the
mass of utter helplessness and think there is no one there that
can help me, He is there. Even there, He will take me by
the hand and lead me. Do you think you can go too far
for Him? He knows your thoughts because
He has ordered them and He has ordered them and purposed all
of them for and by the death of His Son. If you have a mindset
that you can do anything you want and go wherever you want
and it does not matter, God will be there, then I have my doubts
that He has searched you out in this way. God's people should
never presume anything from God. But we should be comforted in
knowing that he has purposed all things and is right where
we need him if we are one of his. He is right where we need
him because he has us hemmed in. Now let's look at verses
11 and 12. 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 a light to thee. Here's the paraphrase. If I say
assuredly, death and destruction will overwhelm me. Even the night
will illuminate me. Yes, death and darkness does
not hide from you. Death and darkness shine as light
to you. Light and darkness are both the
same to you. Here it says, if I say that darkness
shall surely cover me, if I think there is no way I could be a
child of God because of my thoughts or my deeds, it says the night
shall be light about me. God Almighty is light and he
swallows up darkness. A child of God does not have
the attitude that I cannot go too far, but the child of God
knows that no matter how far he has went, that God has him
in his hand holding him up. He knows this by it being revealed
to him by the Spirit of God when scriptures such as this are heard. Because what it says in verse
12, the darkness does not hide from God. He is light and both
darkness and light are a light to God. He is everything to the
believer. Now let's read verses 13 through
16. For 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. 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 imperfect, and in thy book all my members were written. which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. Now the paraphrase. For thou, the self-existent one,
has purchased me. You have protected me even from
my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for you made
me and put a difference to me. Marvelous, distinguishing, great
are your works. My soul knows this vehemently. What I am was not hid from you
when you made me in secret and made me what I am, even in the
lowest parts of the earth. You've seen what I was from my
mother's womb, even not yet being complete. But even then, you
had my name written in your book. During the day, you molded me
even though I did not exist. Everything about a believer,
to a believer, for a believer that is done was purposed by
God from before the foundation of the world. And in time, God
carries out that purpose. God has created and ordered our
mind, our thoughts, our actions. He has done this through the
death of His Son for us and with His glorious gospel that because
of His death and being made sin for us, He has purposed all things
for the good of His people. Now let's read verses 17 and
18. How precious 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 awake, I am still with
thee. Now the paraphrase. How rare
and precious are your thoughts to me, oh self-existent one. How great and powerful are they
from the beginning to the accomplishment of them. If I were to record
them, they are innumerable as the sand. When I wake abruptly,
I am still with thee. The thoughts of God are to his
son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and to the people given to Christ
as his bride. We can see throughout scripture
that everything was and is done to the glory and praise of Jesus
Christ, the Lord. The sum of God's thoughts are
this. Jesus Christ is all. Now let's
read verses 19 through 24. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked,
O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye
bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly,
and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them,
O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I greed with those
that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them mine enemies. 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 the
way everlasting. Here's the paraphrase. Behold,
you will cut off the wicked, O self-existent one. Get away
from me, those who shed blood to death and damnation, for they
have witty inventions against thee. Your enemies desolate your
name. Those that hate you, oh self-existent
one, I hate. I detest those who rise up against
you. I hate them perfectly with exceeding
hate and count them as my foes. Penetrate and examine intimately
and find me out. O self-existent one, know my
heart and prove me. Acknowledge my cogitations. Advise
me if there is any idle course of life or action in me. Guide me in the course of life
for eternity. God is against those who seek
to shed blood and this seeking of blood is the seeking unto
death. He will cut them off. They invent things which are
totally opposed to God and who He says He is, and they blaspheme
God. God's enemies are my enemies.
I don't have to find them out. God will prove them out for me. I want to be examined by God
so that when He sees me, He sees His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord. I want Him to see that new heart
given by Him where Christ dwells and for Him to guide me or lead
me forevermore. God certainly does know all about
me and He certainly knows all about you. But if all He knows
about me is what I am in the flesh, I have no hope. My hope is that God Almighty's
inspection of me finds me in His Son. Walter, I hope he smells
his son when he smells me. I'm not and I never want to plead
my own righteousness. I have none. My righteousness
are as filthy rags in God's sight. I'm pleading Christ's righteousness
because he is the only one that has any righteousness. Oh, that
I might be found in him. My hope is that the self-existent
one, Jehovah, Jesus Christ my Lord, has searched me out and
found the righteousness of Him on me. If not, I will be found
wanting and will be consumed. But if I am in Christ, He has
so purposed things from before the foundation of the world that
no matter where I am, He is right there with me. in the high places
and in the low places, in the light times and in the heavy
times, in the easy times and in the hard times. He has so
worked everything out that I will follow His way. He has hedged
me in and has His hand on me. Is that you? If only I could
not fight against this, I might find a little more joy as I sojourn
in this world. thinking and pondering on his
works. When we read Romans 8 and 28,
with this passage here, it kind of just makes it more full. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Help me to ever see and know
that. Keep my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ until He returns so that
I will be like Him when I see Him as He is. Mack, will you
lead us in prayer, please? Father, we thank You for the
time that You have given us to come and worship Thee in fellowship
with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank
You, Lord, for the word we've just heard. We realize And know,
without Thee, we're nothing. We're as the dust to the earth.
And Heavenly Father, because of the love You extend to us
through Your Son, Jesus Christ, we realize and know that all
things work together for them that love God. Heavenly Father,
we ask Thee to bless our church, those that are ill and ones that
are sick. We ask Thee, Father, to give
them strength that they might continue to come worship with
us, because we realize and know without one another, we're wandering
the world looking for something to hold on to. Heavenly Father,
we ask thee to be with Joe and Walter who stand before us. May
they preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, that
we might understand it more in these things we ask in his name.
Amen.