Oftentimes I'd sit up here and
I wish there were more verses that I could just sit and listen
longer. Open your Bibles with me to Psalm
139. Psalm 139. Some of the old writers believed that this particular
psalm was written after that occasion we read about there
where Shimei came and cursed David. Often think about that, things
that occur in our life that Gosh, we just wonder. I mean, can you
imagine? This is the king. This is David, and he's surrounded
by, it says, all of his mighty men on the right and left. And
here comes this fella out, and he's throwing rocks, and he's
cursing the king. And one of David's servants said,
just let me, just say the word, let me go over there. I'll take
off his head. David said, no, no. The Lord
sent him to do this. It may be that he'll do
me good from this, from this cursing. Well, let's look at
this. Let's look at this passage together
this morning. There's much here, but I hope
we can just see two or three things. We'll be doing well.
And the first one is this. Look at verse one. David says,
oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Now truly God knows all things. He knows all things and he knows
all people. Peter said that, Peter said,
Lord, thou knowest all things. But there's not anything that
almighty God does not know. But he knows his people in a
special way. I think that's pretty clear in
scripture. He knows his elect. He knows
his children, just like you that have children. You know your
children. You know pretty much everything
about them. You know the things that they
do that make you happy. You know their faults. You know
all things about your kids. And I can, foolishly as a child,
I used to think my parents only knew the good things about me,
but we know everything. Pretty much everything there
is to know about our children. Almighty God knows His children. He knows His children. elect,
he searches and he finds them. He knows where they are. He knows when he'll cross their
path. Might be at an early age, it
might be at an old age, but he knows when he'll cross their
path. Think about Zacchaeus back there in scripture. It says that
when he came to the place. That was a particular place. That was no accident that he
wandered upon a sycamore tree. It was not an accident that he
was a small fella and he couldn't see over the crowd. That tree
was there, determined to be there from all eternity. He came to
the place. How about that eunuch? That eunuch
had went off to some religious meeting. He'd taken a trip over
to the Holy Land, and he was coming back, and he was sitting
there in his chariot, and he was reading from Isaiah the prophet. He didn't have a clue what he
was reading. Philip was sent to him. Remember that? And he
asked, he said, do you understand what you're reading? Not only did the Lord put him
there at that particular place, at that particular time, with
that scripture in his hand, he gave him a teachable spirit. How often has somebody tried
to teach us something, we say, listen, I don't need to be told
that. I'm not a child. What was his
reply? How can I accept some man should
guide me? How can I accept some man should
teach me? And you know, we could go all
through the scriptures and see examples time and time again
of God saving his people. In John chapter 10, verse 14,
our Lord said this. He said, I am the good shepherd
and I know my sheep. And listen, not only do I know
my sheep, I'm known of mine. He knows his sheep. Isn't that
encouraging that he knows every last one of his sheep? There
he is. And he calls them, not only does
he know, he knows them by name. He calls them by name. And he knows them in the sense that they're one. Think about that. We're one.
We're made one. He is one with us. He's one with
his people. He knows them with a perfect
and eternal love. Scripture says this, he laid,
listen, this is how much he loved them. He laid down his life.
He laid down his life for his sheep, for the redemption of
his sheep. And not only does he know his
sheep, We know him. He's pleased to reveal himself
to his people. We love him and we'll commit
all to him. Paul writing to Timothy, he said,
I'm not ashamed for I know whom I believe. I know him. That's
what he's saying. And I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Can we say what David said here?
in the Psalm, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Not everyone can. Not everyone
can say that. You know, there are some who,
in a sense, he doesn't know. over in Matthew chapter seven.
Turn there with me, Matthew chapter seven. Look at verse 21. Beginning with verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto
me Lord, Lord. There's a lot of religious talk
in our time. A lot of use of the Lord's name. Look what he
says. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils?
And in thy name done many wonderful works. How we built buildings
and we dedicated things to you, many wonderful works. Verse 23. Then will I profess unto them,
oh, this is a bit of a terrible thing
to do. I never leave you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Paul, writing to Timothy in 2
Timothy 2, he said this. He said, the foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knowing them that are
his. He chose them. He died for them. They'll never
perish. They're his. Back to our text,
back here in Psalm 139. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Verse two. Thou knowest my down
sitting and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Consider his care for his people. He said, when I set a simple
task, when I sit down, he's there. When I rise up, he's
there. Now understand this, my thought for all. I'll tell you, I'm thankful.
I'm thankful you don't know my thoughts. I can say that on many
occasions. You know, a lot of times we just
fly off the mouth and say things that we wish we'd never said. But more often, we fly off and
say things that never come out of our mouth. Aren't we thankful
that people don't know our thoughts? I'm thankful right now that I
don't know your thoughts. I wouldn't want to know your
thoughts. But you know what? That doesn't
change the fact that Almighty God does. He knows. He knows our thoughts. He knows
them before we even think of them. Nothing, absolutely nothing,
is hid from Almighty God. Hebrews 4, verse 12, we read,
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 marrow, and is a discerner. thoughts and intents
of the heart. A discerner of the thoughts and
intents. Listen, and not just my thoughts, not just our thoughts. He knows our heart. Christ knows our heart. God told
Samuel back there in the Old Testament, before he had him
anoint David as king, and remember Jesse's sons were passing before
him. And the Lord said to Samuel,
Because we'd pick the tallest one, right? We'd pick the one
with the broadest shoulders. He said, he said, look not on
his countenance or on the height of his stature. The Lord seeth
not as man seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance,
but God looks on the heart. He knows our heart, all things. Scripture says that all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Adam and Eve learned that, didn't
they? They learned that pretty quick there in the garden. They
tried to, well, first they tried to hide from God after they had
disobeyed Him after the fall. They tried to hide from, you
know, whether we know it or not, We're
sinners. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. And there's nothing we can do
to cover that. We can knit all those fig leaf
aprons together like Adam and Eve did and try to cover our
nakedness, but it will not do. And there is nothing we can do
to cover our sin. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. David tried that. David kind
of learned that the hard way. Remember that he had, remember
that when he'd committed adultery with Bathsheba? And then he come
up with a plan. He said, well, I'll have Uriah
come home from the battle and nobody will know about this.
And Uriah slept out, he wouldn't even go in the house. He slept
out on his front porch. And then what did David do? He
said, you send him out into the heat of the battle. He said,
you take Uriah and send him out in the hottest part of the battle
and withdraw from him. He thought he'd taken care of
this. Uriah died out there on the battlefield. A little bit later on, the Lord
sent Nathan to David. He sent a messenger to him. there
in 2 Samuel 12, and he told him that story. He said there was
a rich man that had exceeding great herds. This rich man, he
had everything. And he said there was a poor
man. He didn't have much. He had this little ewe lamb that
he kept in his house, and he kept it like one of his own children. It was like a child to him. And
then he said there was a rich man that came. And he said, wealthy man traveling
through town, a traveler. And instead of that rich man
taking from his own herd and preparing a meal for him, he
took this poor man's one little ewe lamb and he slayed it. And
that's what he fed to that traveler. And when David heard that story,
he was furious. He flew into a rage, it says
his anger was kindled, and he said, as the Lord liveth, the
man that hath done this thing shall surely die. You ever notice that it's a whole
lot easier to see someone else's sin than it is to see our own? It's easy to see the sins of
another, but listen, that's not the problem. The problem is I'm
the sinner. David, there he is standing there,
he's flying into that rage, and Nathan looks at him and he said
to David, David, you're the man. Thou art the man. He'd searched him, hadn't he?
He knew him, he knew David. Nothing is hid from God. David said this. He said, I've
sinned against God. I have sinned against God. And
Nathan said to David, what a relief this must have
been. Nathan said, first he said, you're
the man. You're the sinner. But then he
said this, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. Now were there consequences of
David's sin? Absolutely. David reaped what
he'd sowed for sure. The sword never departed from
his house. Evil was raised up against him
from within, from within his own house. It gave occasion to
the enemies to blaspheme David's God. And that child born to David
and Bathsheba, it died. Shimei would later curse him
and throw rocks at him, but listen, listen to this. The Lord hath
also put away thy sin. That can only happen in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He took our sin upon himself. He bore our sin in his body on
the tree. Scripture declares this. The
blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Turn back to to Psalm 139 here
again. Look at verse 20, 23. David says, search me, search
me, know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there
be any wicked way in me. He knows that he can number our
hairs. That's how intimately he knows
every hair in our head. How could David say this? How
could David say, search me and let me know if there be any wicked
way in me? Again, there's only one way.
And that's because the Lord Jesus Christ put away his sin. And
if the Lord Jesus Christ put away my sin, I have no sin. I'm
sinless, and I have to be sinless. Scripture declares it must be
perfect to be accepted. Go back to verse three of our
text here. He said, thou compass my path,
my line down, and are acquainted with all my ways. He surrounds us. and though we lie down at night
and rest and sleep, he ever cares for us. He never slumbers in our sleeps. Andrew Jackson, I've seen this
coming out of the Don Fortner study one time, little sign he
had up here, but Andrew Jackson said this. He was once asked
how he could be so calm in battle. And this was his reply. He said,
my beliefs teach me to feel as safe on the battlefield as I
do in my own bed. The Lord protects, the Lord keeps
his people. You know, our pastor brought
a message from this last Sunday there in 2 Kings 6. Remember
the king of Syria had sent a big army to capture Elisha. And he'd sent his horses and
his chariots and a large army. I always found that very interesting
that he sent such a large group just for one fellow. And Elisha's servant walked out
at night and he looked up and he saw they were surrounded.
And when he saw this great army, he cried unto Elisha, what shall
we do? What are we gonna do? We're just two men down here. And Elisha replied, this was
his reply. Don't be afraid. How can I not
be afraid? How can I not be scared to death? Don't be afraid. They that be
with us are more than they that be against us. King Hezekiah
told the people of Judah, when the king of Syria came against
them, he said, with them, it's an arm of flesh. That's all it
is. It's an arm of flesh. But with
us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. Well, again, he knows us, and
he keeps us, and he protects his people. Verse four, again
of our text here. There's not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. He knows our
words before they even come off our tongue. When I'm sitting
there thinking, what am I gonna say? He already knows it. He's all-knowing, he's all-seeing,
Let's read on here, I wanna get to verse 10. Verse five, thou
hast beset me behind and before, lay thy hand upon me. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. It's high, I cannot attain 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, he's still there. He's still there. And listen,
I was thinking about that, going
into the uttermost part of the sea, however far that is. You know, there's parts of the
sea that we can't even, we don't even know how deep it is or where
it is. That seems very unattainable,
doesn't it? But the uttermost. Yet scripture says he's able
to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him. Now verse 10, I want to spend
just a little bit of time here. Two more points. Even there,
even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold
me. He knows me, he knows his people. He leads his people and he holds,
he holds his people. Now this is, think about who's
speaking here. This isn't just anyone, this
is David. This is King David, David who
went out one morning and slew Goliath. That giant that came
out and cursed the people every morning, this is David that went
out and slew him. David, who was, as a young man,
he was anointed to be king. David, the son of Jesse, of whom
scriptures declare that he was a man after God's own heart. This is, amongst men, this is
somebody, right? And he says, David says this, you know me. You know me. And here we read, thy hand shall
lead me. Thy hand shall lead me. Lord, lead me. Don't just, just
don't, I need more than just being told. I need more than
just being showed the way. I need more than just being pointed
in the right direction. Lead me. And then he says, hold,
hold me. I just pictured David, he was
a man's man. Yet he says, I need to be led. Lord, I need you to hold me.
I need to be kept. As great as he was, as great
a man as David was, he was a great sinner. That's pretty clear in
scripture too, that a great sinner. We read that earlier. He committed
adultery with Bathsheba. He murdered Uriah. He numbered
Israel. He did all these things. He was
a great sinner. But a great sinner, must have
a great savior. Psalm 139 10, even there, and
this is the second point, thy hand shall lead me. Lead me. Look at verse 24 of
Psalm 139. David makes this request, he
says, lead me This is where I want you, lead me in the way everlasting. You know, throughout God's word,
we read of many ways in which men are prone to go. In Psalm
146, look over just a page or two. Psalm 146, verse nine. Here's one of those ways, the
way of the wicked. It says here, the Lord preserveth the strangers.
He relieveth the fatherless and the widow, but the way of the
wicked. The way of the wicked he turneth
upside down. Another place in scripture we
read, there's a way that seems right to a man. Now think about
that. It seems right on everything
about it. It seems right. But the end thereof
are the ways of death. In Proverbs 4, verse 14, we read
about the path of the wicked, the way of evil men, the broad
way. Scripture says there's a broad
way which leadeth to death and destruction. David knew of that way, didn't
he? David was very familiar with that way. That was a path that
he had traveled on more than one occasion. You know, I remember Bob Coffey
teaching some of our young kids, and this was probably 20 years
ago, and he was looking at this passage. The way of the wicked. We should
be very thankful for this. The way of the wicked, because
that's the way we go. It says this. he turneth upside down. He doesn't leave his people on
that path. The way of the wicked, he turneth upside down. David makes this request. He
says, lead me in the way everlasting. The everlasting way. That's an
old way. That's an old way in scripture.
Turn to Jeremiah chapter six. Jeremiah chapter six, look at
verse 16. Jeremiah 6, 16. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see,
and ask for the old paths. wherein is the good way, and
walk therein, ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. We'll not have this man reign
over us. That's the way we need, we need
the old path. That way which was from the beginning. In John 1 verse 1 it says, in
the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the
word was God. That's the old path. The Lord
Jesus Christ in John 14 verse 5, Thomas speaking to the Lord,
he said, we know not whither thou goest, And how can we know
the way? What was our Lord's reply to
him? I am the way. I am the way, the truth, and
the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by me. Oh, that the Lord would give
us that prayer, Lord, Lead me, lead me in the way everlasting. That's Christ. He is, he is the
way. Not just, listen, not just the
way by example, not just a prophet to teach the way, not just a
guy. He himself is the way. That's what scripture declares.
He's the way from God to man, huh? All those blessings that flow
from God to man flow through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's the way from man to
God. He's our righteousness. He's
our high priest. He's our sin offering. By his life, he honored the law
of God in every jot and tittle, perfectly obeyed God's law. By
his death, he enables God to be both just and justify sinners
like us. Moses prayed back there in Exodus
33. He said the same thing. Show me thy way. Show me thy way. And he went
on, he said, that I might know him, that I might find grace in his
sight. Lead me in the way everlasting. Well, turn back again to our
text, Psalm 139. He says, you've known me, you've
led me, Verse 10, ever there shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me. You've searched me and you've
known me. You've led me in the way everlasting. Thy right hand
shall hold me. That word hold, sometimes we
just skip over these words, but that word hold, it means more
than just to just, I'm holding this glass. It means to take
possession of. Now, if you take possession of
something, it's yours. We're his. He said, you, you
hold me. If I'm in his hands, I'm his. Abigail reminded David of that.
You all remember that story when David sought to kill Nabal because
he had treated his servants poorly? And Abigail said this, she said,
the soul of my Lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life
with the Lord thy God. Dear in the Lord, precious, in
his sight, carefully preserved, just like all of his sheep are,
every last one of them, safe in his hands and under his care
and keeping. Isaiah wrote this, he said, he'll
feed his flock like a shepherd. He'll gather the lambs with his
arms and he'll carry them in his bosom. I think about these little ones.
You think, is there any safer place that appears to be safer
than when their mother's just holding them, held and kept? He says, thy right hand, thy
strength, thy right hand shall hold me. Well, turn with me to
just another scripture here. Look at John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Our Lord had walked into the
temple in Jerusalem, and it was during the Feast of the Dedication. And a group of Jews, a group
of religious fellows came round about Him, and they said, how
long are you going to make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ,
tell us plainly. Do you have John 10? Look at
verse 25. Jesus answered them, and he said,
I told you, and you believe not, the works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. Verse 29, my father which gave
them me is greater than all. Listen, not only are you never
gonna be plucked out of his hand, No man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Can we take comfort in that,
knowing that we're safe and secure in his hand? Well, one last time,
look back here to Psalm 139. Psalm 139, look at verse 23. Search me, O God. Know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and
see if there'll be any wicked way in me. Lead me in the way
everlasting. He knows his people. He leads
his people. And he holds his people. Makes
sense, doesn't it? I mean, there he is. Why wouldn't
he hold her? Keeps him. We opened the service,
that parable our Lord spoke. He said, what man of you, if
he had a hundred sheep, if he loses one, does he not leave
the 99 and go out into the wilderness and search until he finds it? When he finds it, picks it up, lays it on his shoulder,
and he carries it home. He knows his sheep. He knows them by name. They're
his. He knows our condition. He knows where we are. He knows
everything about his sheep. He leads his sheep through times
of trouble, times of good times. He always needs his sheep. And
he holds. He holds his sheep. Keeps them near him. Listen,
it says he put him on his shoulder and he carried him on. I don't know a lot, but I know
this. Sometimes when you put a wild animal up on your shoulder,
It'll kick and make a mess on you and try to get away, even
when you're trying to do it right. Isn't that true of us? We kick and carry on. But listen, if we're His, He'll
never let go. God's people were known, led,
and held. I pray that He would reveal that
to us and give us comfort and hope and rest, not in anything
in us, but in Him. Rest in Him. All right.