When I was reading this 139th
Psalm, verses 23 and 24 spoke so powerfully to me when David
said, search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And there the word thoughts is
anxious thoughts. and see if there be any wicked
way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. And I thought, I want to preach
on those two verses, but how do you preach out of Psalm 139
without preaching the whole thing? This is such a beautiful, glorious
psalm, where David begins with, O Lord, thou has searched me
and known me. I've entitled this message, The
Personal God. The holy, incomprehensible, Somebody
might want to turn that off, Mitch. The holy incomprehensible, and
he is, isn't he, can sail by searching and find out God. The
sovereign, the triune, the eternal, he never had a beginning. The
immutable, he never changes. The omniscient, he knows everything. He never learns anything. The
omnipresent, you can't go anywhere where he's not. The omnipotent,
the all-powerful God is a personal God. Now, what do I mean by that?
You know, I very much dislike to hear people speak of Christ
like this. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I just
don't like that kind of speech. You see, he's the Savior, whether
he's your personal Savior or not, he's still the Savior. And I don't like this idea of
men accepting Christ as if he was up for man's acceptance or
rejection and he's up for your vote, your eternal destiny will
be dependent upon whether you accept him or whether you reject
him. There's just no truth to anything
like that. It's not real. The issue is not Will you accept
him? The issue is, will he accept
you? The leper understood that, didn't he? When he came into
God's presence, he knew who Christ was. And he said, Lord, if you
will, he knew it was totally up to Christ. If you will, you
can make me clean. So this title has nothing to
do with that kind of thinking when I talk about the personal
God. But the gospel of Christ gives
us a relationship with God. A relationship where he knows
me intimately. That's what Psalm 139's about.
He knows me intimately. And I know Him. When I speak of His name, I'm
not name dropping. I know Him. He knows me and I
know Him. He's not a God far off, but a
God who knows us all together, is always with us, and always
loves us if we're in him. Now what a blessing that is.
Now somebody says, well, is he with us if we're walking contrary
to him and disobedient to him? Ask Jonah. Ask Jonah. Jonah went the opposite direction
that the Lord told him to go, didn't he? But you know what?
The Lord was with him all that time. And the Lord was with him
in the whale's belly. And the Lord was with him when
he spit him out. And the Lord was with him When he preached
to Nineveh, the Lord is always with his people. Whether they're aware of it or
not, whether they feel it or not, the Lord is always there. He's a person. He's a person
we know. He's a person we love. He's a
person we have a relationship with, just like David says in
this 139th Psalm. And you know what? When I talk
about this relationship, here's what I'm counting on. I'm counting
on his knowledge of me. When I start talking about how
much I know him, you feel that way too. You feel
that way too, but I love what Paul said in Galatians chapter
four, verse nine. He said, now that you've known
God, or rather, he said, scratch that. This is a better thing
to say. Now that you've known God or rather are known of God. Now that's what I'm hoping in.
His knowledge of me. Thou, oh Lord, seest me. Now, in verses 1 through 6, David
speaks of the Lord's omniscience. And in verses 7 through 12, he
talks about his omnipresence. And in verses 13 through 18,
he talks about his omnipotence and his love. And verses 19 through
24 is our response to this. Now, when we read this psalm,
first of all, I always read the psalms, every psalm I read first
is the words of Christ, because that's the first application.
And you can see the Lord speaking in this psalm particularly. When
he says in verse 13, for thou has possessed my reins, thou
has covered me in my mother's womb, I will praise thee for
I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. He's talking about his
incarnation. 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, which is a euphemism for the womb. He said, Thine eyes did see my
substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members
were written. Remember what he said in the
volume of the book? It's written of me. I delight
to do thy will, O God. That's the book he's speaking
of, the book of God's decrees. And if you look at all this psalm,
you can see this as the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking to his Father when he says, Thou hast known me. You
know, no man knows the Son, but the Father. Neither knows any
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him." You see, the Lord is so glorious, the Father
is so incomprehensible, that the only one who can know Him
is the Son, and the only one who can know the Son, truly know
Him, altogether know Him, is the Father. Now, look what He
says in verse 1. He says, O Lord, Thou hast searched
Me, and thou hast known me. Now, not everybody can say this.
Not everybody can say this. There's a very large crowd that
the Lord describes as many who will say unto me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name, in your name? Have
we not cast out demons in your name? Have we not done many wonderful
works? And he shall say to them, depart
from me Ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. I don't know of any words that
terrify me more than those words. Every time I hear them, I think,
I don't think I could bear to hear those words said to me,
Lord, don't let me be one of those people. So not everybody
can say what David says in this first verse, when he says, oh
Lord, thou has searched me and known me. Now to think that the
living God searches me and knows me. And you know, really, He's
the only one who knows me. I don't even know me. He knows
me. And he knows me all together. And he loves me. He's always known me. There's
never been a time that he didn't know me. He knows me as I am
united to his son. First John 4, 17 says, as he
is, so are we in this world. Now, how is he? The father knows
him altogether. The father loves him. The father
delights in him. Oh, he's so lovely to the father. And that is said of every believer,
every believer united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou search
me and thou hast known me. Verse two, thou knowest my down
sitting and my up rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. You know me. You know everything
about me. I can't inform you of anything that you don't already
know. You know, when you go to the Lord in prayer and say things
to Him, He already knew it. He already knows it because He
knows everything. He knows you're down sitting.
He knows when you're down. He knows you're up rising. He
knows when you're up. He knows everything about you
all together, and He understands your thought afar off. You don't
even understand it. You don't know why you're thinking
this. You don't know why you're reacting this way, but He does. And I
think of his understanding, how many times have you been misunderstood? You said something, somebody
took it in a way you didn't mean for it to come out, and there
you have this conflict and so on. Or how many times have you
misunderstood somebody? Something they said to you, you
took it the wrong way, it seems something different to you. Do
you know he never does that? He understands us all together. He takes everything the right
way. And actually, he put the word and the thought in our mouth
in the first place. That's how much he knows us. He put the
thoughts, the words in our mind and mouth in the first place.
He knows us when we're sitting or standing. He knows what it
is we are doing. He says in verse three, this
is still talking about his omniscience. Thou compassest my path when
I'm up, active, and my lying down, and you're acquainted with
all my ways. Now, you envelop my path. I've got to walk. You know what
the scripture says? The steps of a good man, and
that's describing every believer, are ordered by the Lord. Every step I take, He is in control
of. Isn't that wonderful? Every step
I take, He's in control of. He envelops my very path. He's acquainted with all my ways. He knows my sinful ways. There's
no point in hiding. There's no point in trying to
come into His presence like they aren't happening. He knows every
single thing about me. And you know, that's comforting. I don't have
to pretend. He knows. He knows what I am.
He's acquainted with all my ways. He's also acquainted with my
ways of grace that He has given me. You know, I love the way
Peter appealed to the omniscience of Christ when he said, Lord,
you know all things. And he wasn't saying this in
a boastful way. He just denied the Lord. was so ashamed of himself. And he said, Lord, when the Lord
said three times, Peter, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know
all things. He appealed to the very omniscience
of Christ, knowing he knew all things. And he said, you know,
I love your person. I love everything about you.
Now quit thinking about your love for just a moment and think
about him. You think about his attributes.
You think about his character. You think about his mercy. You
think about his grace. You think about his humility.
You think about his lowliness and heart. You think about his
high, holy sovereignty, everything about him. You love, don't you? You love him. He's altogether
lovely to you. You say with the Shulamite woman,
when they said, what's your love above other loves? She said,
he's altogether lovely. all together. And that's the
way everybody, he's acquainted with all my ways. I can't fool
him. Like I said, he knows exactly
what I am. He knows every bad thing about
me. And you know, he knew it all before I ever was that way,
as far as my experience goes. He saw this before I was ever
born. Nothing new. He's not surprised by anything.
He knows it all. And listen to this. He loves
me. He accepts me in Christ and he loves me better than anybody
else could. If anybody saw the things he
saw or sees, they wouldn't love me. They wouldn't love me, but
he sees every bit of it. And he does. He's acquainted
with all my ways. Verse four. For there's not a
word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together.
The Lord knows me completely. That's so comforting. Every word
in my tongue, he knows. You know, there's no skeletons
in the closet that's gonna come out and make him stop loving
me. He knows me all together. No surprises with him. You know,
I was thinking about this. People have genuinely fallen
in love. and they love each other. And
then the more they get to know each other, the less they love
each other, and it sometimes gets to the point where they
don't love each other anymore. Not the Lord. Not the Lord. There's not a word in my tongue,
but O Lord, thou knowest it all together. He knows. He knows. Verse five, thou hast
beset me. behind all my past, my back,
you're in control of, you've beset me before, that's grace
beforehand, grace afterward, and you've laid your hand on
me. That's saving grace. Such knowledge,
David says, I love the way David says this, such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. It's high. I can't attain to
this. I can't grasp this. That the
Lord knows me. He knows me all together. He
knows everything about me. He knows my person. He knows
my character. And He loves me. He understands me infinitely
more than I understand myself. And He loves me. And desires
fellowship with me. He says, such knowledge is too
wonderful for me, it's high, I can't attain to it. The fact
that the living God desires fellowship and communion with me. Verse
seven, now David speaks of God's omnipresence. The fact that he's
everywhere, that we can't be anywhere where he's not with
us. Verse seven, he says, whither
shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? He's always present. He's a very
present help in time of trouble. The universe is in the hollow
of his hand and he is in every atom. You can't go anywhere where
he's not. I don't care where you're at.
He's there. and he's there with you in grace.
He's with you there in his presence. This is a rhetoric, rhetorical
question. Whether shall I go from thy spirit?
Well, nowhere. Whether shall I flee from thy
presence? Nowhere. Verse eight, if I send 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, that's as far away
as you can imagine being. Even there shall thy hand lead
me and thy right hand shall hold me. Now that's what's called
grace. Anywhere I go, everywhere I go,
He's leading me. I love that hymn. As a matter
of fact, Paul is singing that at the end. He leadeth me, O
blessed thought, what words with heavenly comfort wrought. Where'er
I go, where'er I be, still it is His hand that leadeth me. He's leading me right now. And
you know, there's all kinds of times when I don't feel like
he's leading me. There's all kinds of times when I don't feel like
he's got me by the right hand, but you know, he always does.
He always does. Look what David says next, verse
11. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me. Now that's talking not simply about
physical darkness. Talking about darkness. Darkness. Is there a dark place in your
life? Have you gone into darkness? That's what this is talking about.
Darkness. Not just physical darkness. If
I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, I'll be swallowed up
in it. Even the night shall be light
about me. You see, the Lord is the light. of how he could look at that
woman in that dark, dark place and say, woman, where are those
thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, they were gone. No man, Lord. He said, neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Now, even the night shall be
light about me. Verse 12, Yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee, but the night shineth as the day, the darkness
and the light are both alike to thee. Now, that's not simply
saying God sees me when I sin in the dark. He sees it. He does. He does. There's no doubt about
that. You know, darkness is a metaphor for men thinking they can sin
without God seeing it. No, He sees. But what that's
talking about is even in my darkness. And I got darkness and you got
darkness. He's light. And the light of
the gospel shines around about me. Aren't you thankful for that? He said, they're both alike to
thee. Then he says in verse 13, I love
this. For thou hast possessed my reins." Now, his reins is
another word for kidneys. And in the scriptures, the kidneys
signify the inmost, deepest affections. Thou hast possessed my reins,
my inmost, deepest affections. They belong to him. Now, once
again, Every believer, when they think
about their love to Christ, they think it's so cold compared to
what it ought to be. It's nowhere near as fervent
and vibrant as it should be. Every believer feels that way.
I don't love Christ the way I want to, the way I ought to. So let's
forget about your love to the Lord. And let's think about the
Lord himself. Just forget about yourself. Forget
about yourself. He's absolutely in control of
everything. Does that make you happy? Do
you love that? He's without sin, absolutely
just. Are you glad it's that way? Do
you respect him for that? He's gracious. He delights in
mercy. He's all-powerful. Anything He
wants, He has the power to accomplish. He's immutable. He never changes. You can completely count on Him. He's utterly faithful. He's God. You think of the Redeemer,
His Son, equal with the Father. Oh, don't you love His salvation? Don't you love being saved by
His righteousness? Don't you love the power of His
blood? You love Him? He's overtaken
your affections. You admire Him. You esteem Him. You love Him. I love what Peter
said, whom having not seen you love. In whom though now you
see him not, we love somebody better than anybody else that
we've never seen. Isn't that amazing? And this
is, if Lynn loved some man in this
church more than she did me, I'd have a problem. And you feel
that way about your spouse too. But if Lynn loves Christ more
than she does me, that makes me happy. I want it to be that
way. And that's the way every believer
feels. He's our best beloved in that sense. Thou has possessed
my reins. And this is a way you could see.
Would you love it if somebody you love loved Christ better
than they loved you? Well, if you love Christ, you would. It'd
make you happy. You'd be glad. You wouldn't want
it to be any other way. Thou has possessed my reins. Look what he says next in verse
13. Thou has covered me in my mother's
womb. Do you know I've always been
covered in the blood of Christ? When I was in the womb, I was
covered. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. You want
to talk about secure? I was completely secure before
I was ever born. And it's never going to change. And David is
praising the Lord for this. He's so amazed. Look in verse
14. He stops. He says, I'll praise thee. I'll
praise Thee. Oh, there ought to be a whole
lot of praise coming out of our hearts, shouldn't there? Praise
Him for who He is, for what He's done for us. He says, I'll praise
Thee. Now, He speaks of God's omnipotence in making Him. He says, I'll praise Thee, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You're just the human body. Tells you God is, doesn't it?
I mean, you can't even think of the human body and think,
well, there's no God. That just happened. No, you can't even
think anything like that. And the way you are is the way
He made you. You have certain characteristics,
certain things. Well, that's the way He made
you. The way you look, that's the way He made you. Everything
about you, that's the way He made you. He says, I praise thee
because I'm 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, which I said, like I said, was
a euphemism for the womb. He's not saying he was forged
down in the middle of the earth. It's just another title for the
womb. He said, thine eyes did see my
substance, yet being unperfect, not even made, and in thy book. And that's the same book spoken
of in Revelation chapter 5, where remember when the angel said,
who's worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?
And no man was found worthy. And then the Lord Jesus Christ
came and took the book. I love the language of that.
He didn't ask for it. He took it as the Father's equal, and
he opened it up, and everything God does, all of the decrees
of God, the Lamb's Book of Life, every purpose of God is found
in that book. And this is the book David's
referring to when he says, Thine eye 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." You know, the Lord's always known me. I've
always had personality before God because I've always been
united to Christ. Do I understand that? No. Do I believe it with
all my heart? There's never been a time in
God's mind when I've not been. He knew me before I was ever
made. He said, before I formed thee in the belly, I what? I knew thee. Now 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're more in number than the sand.
When I wake, I'm still with thee. The thoughts of the Lord toward
his people. You know, the Lord's thought
about you today. And there hadn't been a time when he wasn't thinking
about you today. And he had specific thoughts
toward you today. And God is infinite so that it's
just like you're the only person for him to think about. That's
how infinite God is. And David said, how precious
are your thoughts toward me? Now, I know the thoughts we think
he has toward us. We think he's mad at us. Most
of the time, we think he's mad at us. His thoughts are, first of all,
eternal thoughts. Whatever they were in eternity,
they still are now. And they will never change. They're immutable. Now we have
so many different thoughts toward people. We love them, we're mad
at them, we're cool toward them, we're zealous for them. Same
person, depending on what day it is. But not him. His thoughts
are eternal. And they're thoughts of love.
Jeremiah 31.3 says, Behold, I have loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And they're thoughts of peace.
He said in Jeremiah 29, I know the thoughts that I have of you,
thoughts of peace, not of evil to bring you. to an expected
end. You know, the Lord knows He's
going to bring you to this end. He's going to bring you to perfect
conformity to the likeness of Christ, where He's the firstborn
among many brethren, and He's going to spend eternity fellowshipping
with you as you are in His Son. They're thoughts of joy. Scripture
says the Lord will joy over you with singing. Their thoughts of brotherhood. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. The thoughts of pleasure. The
Lord taketh pleasure in his people. Now I want you to think about
the thoughts the Lord has of you. And he has them all the
time and they never change. And you know, here's the thing
about his thoughts. His thoughts are his actions. When he thinks it, it's done,
isn't it? Aren't you glad he said, my thoughts
are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways.
I sure am glad. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. If I should count them, they're
more in number than the sand. When I wake, I'm still with thee. Everything in your life has been
thought out beforehand." Everything. He's already thought it out,
purposed it, and ordained it. Do you say, why me? Why me? Why would the Lord look this
way in mercy upon me? Now let's go on reading. Look
what David says now. After saying all these glorious
things, he says, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. That seems kind of abrupt, doesn't
it? It almost seems out of place. He's talking in this sublime
praise concerning God, and then all of a sudden he says, Surely
thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye
bloody men. Now, here's what's going on. When you think of the Lord in
all of His beauty and all of His glory, and you think of somebody
who doesn't love Him, who, as a matter of fact, they hate Him,
you have the same response Paul did in 1 Corinthians 16, 22.
If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maranatha. Let him be damned upon the return
of the Lord. And if somebody doesn't love
Jesus Christ the Lord, they ought to be damned, because He is altogether
lovely. So when He's giving this strain
of sublime praise, He says, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Depart
from Me therefore, ye bloody men. And here's why, verse 20,
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name
in vain. Now look what he says in verse
21. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee? And am not I
grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them
with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. These
are clearly the words of the Lord Jesus, and He's the one
who has the perfect hatred, but these are also the words of David.
And here's the issue. I hate those who hate Thee. Those who hate Jesus Christ are
the enemies of the believer. Now, whatever somebody does to
me, by God's grace, I can forgive them. And I can love them. By grace. And you know the only
way you can do that is by grace. But whatever anybody does to
me, I can forgive them. When I think of the way the Lord
has forgiven me, it's not hard to forgive somebody. And I can
love them. I think of the way the Lord loves
me. But the man who preaches another
gospel is my enemy. Notice David said, I hate them
with a perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. Charles
Spurgeon made this comment on this verse, and I thought it
was so good. He that doesn't hate the false really doesn't
love the true. And that's so. And David was
saying this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he said
this. Now verses 23 and 24, he says
the same thing he did in verse one. Notice he said in verse 1, O
Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. And then he says, O
Lord, search me and know me. Now, I don't want to presume
on the Lord, do you? I don't want to presume. He's searched
me. Lord, search me. He's known me. Lord, know me. Know me. Love me. You know that word know
means a whole lot more than know who I am. When he's saying, Lord,
know me, he's saying, Lord, love me. Love me. Love me. Be gracious toward me. Be merciful
toward me. Search me. Put me to the test.
Show me whether or not I'm real. I want to know if I'm not. Search
me and know me. Try me and know my anxious thoughts. I have so many thoughts that
cause so many problems, so many anxious thoughts. worrisome thoughts. Lord, know them and give me the
grace to hear the gospel. Do you know there is nothing
more therapeutic than hearing the gospel? That's the most therapeutic
thing in the world. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Try me, know my thoughts, and
see if there be any wicked way in me. Now, I know what I think
when I read that verse. I think, well, there he is. There he is. And any believer
knows his sin. Any believer knows, as the scripture
says, the plague of his own heart. But when he's talking about this
wicked way, he's talking about the way of salvation by works. I want the Lord to show me If
I'm not really believing the gospel, if I've got some wicked
way, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous his thoughts
and let him return to me. I want to make sure that I'm
on the way, the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, where He said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. I want, see if there
be any wicked way in me. Deliver me from my own, I'm by
nature a Pharisee. It's in me, it's in my blood,
it's in my heart, scares me to death. I think of how harsh I
can be toward other people, how judgmental. And Lord, deliver
me from that. See if there be any wicked way
in me. And I love what he says last.
And lead me. Lord, I'm so weak. I'm so sinful. I go astray so easily. Like David said, I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. Lord, lead
me. I need to be led. I need to be
led of God. I need him to lead me every way
I go. I don't want to be on my own.
I don't want to take one step without him leading me. I love
what David said, order my steps in thy word and let no iniquity
have dominion over me. Lead me in the way everlasting. You see he, and I want to say
this reverently, he really is a personal God, isn't he? not just to God afar off. He's
the personal God to all his people. Let's pray together. Lord, we are amazed and grateful that you know us all together. You know our down sitting and
uprising. You understand our thoughts of
far off. You lied about us when we feel
ourselves to be in the darkness. You compassed our path. You're acquainted with all our
ways and we can't go anywhere where you're not at any time.
And Lord, we give thanks. Lord, give us the grace to simply
believe your word and believe what you tell us. And Lord, we
ask that you would search us and know us. and try our anxious thoughts. Lord, we have so many of them,
so many thoughts that confuse. We ask for forgiveness and grace
to simply believe your gospel. And Lord, we ask that you would
lead us in the way everlasting. Lord, we ask that you would keep
us sitting at the feet of thy son. In His blessed name we pray,
amen.