He says, O Lord, Thou hast searched
me and known me. Every believer rejoices. I thought
about this. Every believer rejoices to be
able to say with the Apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed. I know whom I have believed. I rejoice that I can say that. I rejoice that I can say with
John, the Son of God hath come. The Son of God is coming to this
world and has given us an understanding that we may know Him, the true
God, that we may know Him, the true God. This is eternal life. This is the true God. And Paul
prayed, O that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.
But here's the greatest joy. That's not what David's saying
here. He's not saying, I know Him, though he did. He's saying,
He knows me. That's different. O Lord, Thou
hast searched me and known Me. You know Me. He foreknew Me. He knew Me before He revealed
Himself to me. Whom the Lord foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated,
He called. And whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He glorified. But He foreknew us. Hagar. when she ran from her
mistress, Sarah, afflicted in heart and soul, trouble, out
in the wilderness. And God spoke to her. And you
know what she said? She didn't say, I saw the Lord.
What did she say? She said, thou God seest me. That's different. He sees me. He sees me. Peter said, and took
great joy in this, he said when the Lord asked him, do you love
me? He said, you know. You know me. And therefore you
know I love you. You know me. John wrote our Lord's
words when he said, I know my sheep. And because I know my
sheep, they know me. So this is what David is saying
here, and this is the first thing that made my heart to rejoice
and be glad. O Lord, thou hast searched me,
and you know me. I call them, he said, by name.
All of those planets out there, how many billions are there? But he calls them all by name
too, and all of his people. And David, when he thought about
the magnificence of God's wisdom, he said, when I consider the
heavens, the work of thy hands, the sun, the moon, the stars,
the things which thou hast made, what am I? What is man that thou
art mindful of him? But you know me. Read on. And in Psalm 44, don't turn to
this, but he said, you know the secrets of my heart. You know
me and you know the secrets of my heart. And here are four things
here. He said, thou knowest my down
sittings and my uprisings. That's my movements. You know
when I sit down, when I read, what I read. You know when I
rise to walk. You know my sleeping time and
my time to arise from sleeping. You know my down sittings and
my uprisings. And you understand my thoughts
are far off before I think them. That's what he's saying. You
know my thoughts. You know what my thoughts have
been. You know what my thoughts are.
You know what they will be. That's the extent of our God's
knowledge. You know my down sittings, my
uprisings, you know my thoughts, what they have been, what they
are, and what they will be. You know, listen, my compass
is my path, my lying down, you're acquainted with all my ways,
my activities. You know what I do and why I
do it. You know my motives and my purposes. You know all my ways." My ways. And then the fourth thing, and
there's not a word in my tongue that I've ever spoken or ever
will speak. But lo, O Lord, thou knowest
it. How well does he know it? Altogether. You know, he uses that word altogether
about Christ. He's altogether lovely. How lovely
is He? Altogether lovely. Beyond expression,
beyond description. And that's how He knows my words,
altogether. The source of them, the reason
for them, and too often the results of them, for good or bad. But
what are these four things? I looked at that. What are these
for? My movements, my thoughts, my ways, my walk,
my words, my talk. These are all the most common
acts and everyday functions of life. Movement, thoughts, ways, and words. And yet each
has a degree of importance to me. And each has a degree of importance
to the purpose of God for me and for all with whom I am associated. And there are two responses to
this. I thought about, well, how does
this affect us? I read some of the old writers
and honestly, most of them had a sort of a a one-sided way of presenting
it. Well, since God knows my movements, my sitting down, my
rising up, and God knows my thoughts from afar off, and God knows
my ways, and God knows my words, then
I better be careful what I say and what I do and what I think
and where I go And I need to be fearful about this. And there's
a sense in which that has some value. David said, Oh Lord, let
the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable
in thy sight. Since you know and know so well
every movement, every activity, every word, every thought, every
deed, every motive, every purpose, altogether that I need to walk
the walk and talk the walk, talk and live the life that will be
pleasing to Him and glorifying to Him and a blessing to others. But then that scares me if I
just look from that aspect and from that side and dwell on that
in fear and trembling because try as I might, my words and
my thoughts and my motives can't be pleasing to God because they
don't please me. So if I just dwell on that, but
here's the second thing, that second response. But I rejoice
that He sees and knows us and regards us in respect to these
things in Christ. Isn't that sweet? In Christ. That's, oh, my, under the blood. And when he sees me, what's that
Mike sings? I tried to jot it down there.
Well, I got the word. And when he sees me, thank God
he sees the blood of the Lamb. He sees me as worthy and not
as I am. He sees me in garments as white
as the snow. For the Lamb of God is worthy,
and He loves me. This I know. Psalm 103 says,
He knows I refrain. He knows my thoughts from afar
off. He knows my down sittings and
uprisings. He knows my ways. He knows my
words altogether. But He knows our frame and remembers
that we are dust. Isn't that what it says? He remembers
that we are dust. But Christ is not dust. Christ
is my Advocate. Christ is my High Priest. Christ
is my Intercessor. And in Christ, actually, even
in these normal activities Downsittings and uprisings and thoughts and
ways and words, even in them, I am holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in His sight. And I found this hymn. And this has the two ways that
I choose to look at this. O Lord, Thou hast searched me
and You know me with such indescribable perfect knowledge. You know me,
my down-sitting, my uprising, my thoughts, my ways, my words.
And yet I rejoice that you do. You haven't left me alone, you
haven't passed me by, you haven't reprobated me, you haven't cast
me off, you've accepted me in the Beloved. And I regard that knowledge in
this way, two-fold, like I said. Now listen, here's the psalm,
Think and be careful what you are within, for there's sin in
the desire of sin. But think and be thankful in
a different case, for there's grace in the desire for grace. Isn't that beautiful? Think and
be careful what you are within. But remember, there's sin even
in the desire for sin. And that just kills you, doesn't
it? But think and be thankful in a different case. There's
grace in the desire for grace. And we do desire grace, don't
we? And if we desire grace, there's grace. If we desire Him, He gave
us that desire. That's right, all right, that's
so beautiful there. Verse 5, and not only this knowledge
in regard to these four things he's mentioned, but listen to
verse 5, Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand
upon me. Now you're God's elect. I'm God's
elect. And my Father not only knows
and beholds me and loves me, but He's beset me. What's the
word beset mean? Surrounded me. As Satan said about Job, hedged
him about. You beset me behind and before. Behind, way back there, before
the foundations of the world. You beset me behind. You love
me in Christ. Chose me in Christ before the
foundation of the world. He surrounded me then. He heads
me about then. He chose me. Singled me out in
Christ. Behind. He redeemed me. Came into this world. Took my
sins in His body on the tree and paid for them. Put my sins
away. Call me one day. He beset me
behind and before. He knows the way I take. He's
mapped out the path I walk, the steps of a good man ordered by
the Lord. He knows the way I take, and
when He has tried me, I'll come forth like gold. He's beset me
behind and before and laid His hand on me. Now
this is serious. God has laid his hand, David
said, upon me. This is no light matter, because
God never lays hand on a man except for one or two reasons,
to bless him or destroy him. He laid his hand on Pharaoh,
and he said, for this same purpose I will raise you up, that I might
get glory in you. And he laid his hand on Paul
and said to Ananias, go take the gospel to him. He's a chosen
vessel unto me. He set me behind and before and
laid his hand on me. He laid his hand on me not to
damn me, but to redeem me. Not to condemn me, but to use
me for his glory. Not to judge me, but to bless
me. Not to let me go, and desert
me but to keep me and to make me like Christ." Every one of
his people can say this, he has beset me behind and before and
he laid his hand on me, set me apart, sanctified me. Abraham may wander in the wilderness
never owning a plot of land and live in tents with Isaac and
Jacob in a strange country where he belongs to the Lord, because
the Lord laid his hand on him. Moses may be born to a slave
woman and she shielded in a bucket and basket and raised in a palace
and run out of town and lived in the backside of a desert for
40 years until he was 80 years old. But the Lord knows him and
knew every step he took, every path he walked, every trouble
and trial he encountered because he had laid his hand on him.
Jacob, bad start, bad middle. Years in a foreign country, running
from those he loved the most. But God said, go back home. I've
laid my hand on you. Lot may go to Sodom and the well-watered
plains and be surrounded by the worst kind of environment. But literally and actually, the
angel of the Lord came to that place and it said, he took him
by the hand. That's right, literally, literally
took him by the hand, laid his hand on him, and let him out. Peter may go fishing, but God
laid his hand on him. So, so I persecutest thou me. Forty years of Pharisee, proud,
arrogant, worthless, but God laid his hand on him. And that's true of every belief.
Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me, and oh, your knowledge
is indescribable. The extent of it, you've beset
me behind and before you laid your hand on me. And verse 6,
listen, such knowledge is too much for me. It's too wonderful. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. What knowledge? My knowledge
of Him? No. His knowledge of me. That's what's too wonderful.
His name's wonderful. His knowledge is wonderful. His
grace is wonderful. His Son is wonderful. And this
is the mystery of mysteries. He's God. and so wonderful, but
that he should be my God. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. He's the shepherd, the chief
shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd, but to be
my shepherd, that's too much. He's the Savior. He's a just
God and a Savior, but He's my Savior. That's too wonderful. That's just too much for me. He's the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And Christ said to his disciples,
I go to my Father and your Father. Such knowledge. I tell you, my generation of
preachers of what this world is having to put up with today
called preachers. They're not preaching this knowledge.
Here's knowledge of us. Here's care of us. Here's love
for us. That's what's too wonderful,
indescribable. The attributes of God, His holiness,
His majesty, His justice, His righteousness, His love, His
mercy, make sure His promises, but they are too high for me,
too high, too mysterious. Thy ways are past finding out.
Can you by searching find out God? The incarnation of Christ
for us, the full revelation of the Father, he that has seen
me has seen God. That is unspeakable, that is
unexplainable. To try to reduce that to words
is impossible. The redemption of His people
by the death of Himself, by the blood of the Son of God is our
hope and confidence but beyond our understanding. Too wonderful.
The resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ and
His exaltation above all exaltation means my resurrection and my
glory Glorify them with the glory which you've given me. That's
too much for me. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. How can I tell you? The power
of His gospel, this gospel that we preach, and the power of His
Spirit, it can take a man's heart and change it. Life and change
it. Direction and change it. Make
him love what he hated and hated what he loved. Who can understand
that? Who can explain that? Words give
him life. But they're God's words. He's
so wonderful that he doesn't have to do anything but speak. The heavens were formed by the
Word of God. That's all. And so when a man
And the power of God's Spirit actually preaches this gospel. It's the power of God to salvation. These preachers may tell you
to do something, but there's nothing you can do to save yourself
or anybody else. There's nothing you can do to
change a wicked heart. There's nothing you can do to
give life. There's something he can do.
And he does it by speaking. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath life. That's more than I
can understand. That's too wonderful for me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's too high I can't
attain unto it. And then he says in verse 7,
this being so, Thou searchest to know me, know my down sittings,
thoughts and ways and words, beset me behind and before, love
me for all eternity. Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Not that I desire to,
not at all, but how could I? Not that I want to, but how could
I? From that God. Oh, the lesser God and the God
of men's imaginations. But not this one. God is. And all that God is in one place,
He is in every place. God is Spirit. His presence has
no dependence on space or matter. His eternal presence and power
is the same if all matter were blotted out. Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou
art there. But heaven is created by God.
If I make my bed in hell or the grave, behold, thou art there.
But He created that too. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, but He spread the
sea, His presence doesn't depend on matter or space. His presence and power is the
same if all these things didn't exist. They say God's in this
universe. That's a figure of speech. This
universe is in God. In other words, David's saying,
He is wherever I am. I fill a very small part of space. He fills all space because space
is in Him. He said where two or three are
gathered in My name, I'll be in their midst. He'll be in their
midst whether they gather in His name or not. But what he's saying, if they
gather in my name, I'll be in their midst to bless them and
not to harm them. But he's there. Whither shall
I flee from thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in the grave, thou art there. If
I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, thou art there. If
I take the wings of the morning, he's wherever I am. He's already where I shall be. He doesn't move with me. I live
and move in Him. God go with us, Moses said. Go with us to bless us, but He's
going with you wherever you go. You go in Him. You go in Him. See that? That's what David's
saying here, the greatness of my God. He's where I am, He's
where I shall be, He's where I could be. In heaven, Spurgeon said, He's the glory
of heaven. But even if this word is not
the grave, if I make my bed in hell, if that is the word hell, He's the terror of hell. He's the glory of heaven. But
he's the terror of hell, without God. Their name. It's him, Paul said, with whom
we have to do. No people in our day who say,
I'm just not fooling with religion. No, but you will with God. Because
he's the one with whom we have to do. I wish I could, but it's just
too great. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. Where shall I go? From thy presence. He's the one with whom we have
to do it. And oh, how I rejoice that he knows me. He laid his
hand on me. Aren't you so thrilled? Unspeakable
gift of God. He says in verse 11, If I say, surely the darkness
will cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Darkness
and light are alike to God. Verse 12, Yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness
and light are both alike to thee. If you speak naturally, naturally,
darkness and light, He separated the darkness from the light and
said, let the moon rule by night and the sun by day and so forth.
He said, I create light and I create darkness. I form the light and
I create darkness. So naturally, the light and the
darkness are alike. Providentially, trials are darkness
to me. I don't understand them. I can't
see the purpose for them. But they're
light to Him. Everything He does in providence,
He does wisely on purpose for His glory and our good to accomplish
His purpose. So that darkness naturally alike,
darkness and light providentially alike, and spiritually. Though I walk in the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Thou art with me." Darkness
hides from men, but not from God. I'll never leave you, never
forsake you. Israel traveled by day with that
cloud leading them, and by night, the pillar of fire. So, look
at verse 13. He says in verse 13, "...and
thou hast possessed my reins." You see where I'm coming from
on this? I believe where David is. This is the exclamation and
rejoicing and heart praising of God for His
knowledge of His elect. His people, royal priesthood,
holy nation of peculiar people. And these people are seeing God's
omniscience and omnipresence and omnipotence, all power, all
knowledge and omnipresence always there. This is the wonderful
Lord. Wonderful. Marvelous are thy
works, and that my soul knoweth right well. That's what he's
doing there. And he says in verse 13, For you possess my reins. What are your reins? The old
Jews used to talk about it being the kidneys. They felt like that's
where everything went on, you know. But the reins are the innermost
parts. Paul uses the word bowels, the
innermost parts, the inward soul, not the body. It's the person. Thou hast possessed me. I give
the Lord my talents and my time. No, that's not it at all. My
son, give me your heart. Thou hast possessed my heart. In other words, David is saying
here that he owns me. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. He owns me. He possesses me. He's my God. I'm His servant,
bond slave. He owns me from the sole of my
feet to the top of my head, and my innermost being belongs to
Him. For He possessed my reins, He
possessed my soul, my heart, and He covered me in my mother's
womb. When I lay in my mother's womb, unseen, unknown, unnamed, hidden from all, I wasn't hidden
from Him. I was covered by Him. Formed
by Him. Personality. Everything. Seen by Him. Owned by Him. Covered by Him. He covered me
in my mother's womb. He possessed my secret part,
my reins. And in my most secret condition,
yet unborn, I was His. You mean God chose you before
you was born? Before I was born. When I was a seed in my mother's
womb, He owned me and possessed me and covered me. I've never taken a step. You
haven't either. I've never walked a walk or taken
a step or made a move except by His permissive will. in Christ
Jesus. From the time I was formed in
my mother's womb. What he said to Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, before you came out of your mother's
womb, I sanctified you and set you apart. He said, Jeremiah,
and everybody in this world can't say that. Just his leg. That's so. Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. And such knowledge, such wonderful
knowledge can only be contained in Him who is wonderful. That's what the Prophet said.
Unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given, and His name is wonderful. Just wonderful. Just wonderful. So what's my
response to all this? Well, verse 14, I will praise
Thee. I will praise Thee. What's my
response to all these things that we've read here and studied?
His omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresence, His knowledge
of us His grace, His love, His redemptive mercies in Christ.
I'm going to give Him all the glory and all the praise, all the credit. I'll praise Him. I'm going to praise my Lord.
I'm going to praise my Creator. Men generally do that, don't
they? If they are self-made man, they praise themselves. They
praise the one who did the work. The one who did the work is worthy
of the praise. Is that right? The one who did
all the work is worthy of the praise. So, when David comes
down to the end of this exhortation, he says, so I'll
praise thee. I'll praise Thee. For He says,
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Who made me? He made me. He made me. And not we ourselves. Isn't that Psalm 100? He made
us and not we ourselves. Man's whole fourfold state. Listen
to this. Back many years ago, Thomas Boston
wrote a book on the fourfold state of man. Man in his four-fold
state, Adam in innocence. Who made him? God made him. God made him. Adam didn't have
one single thing to do with who he was or what he was. God made
him in the image of God. God made him. Alright, he fell. God permitted him to fall. And
in that state of depravity, what sin had done to Adam in his posterity,
Almighty God permitted that fall. Could God have stopped the fall?
Of course He could have. But for His own glory and purpose,
He permitted man to fall. If there had been no fall, there
would have been no restoration. If there had been no fall, At
that time, there'd have been one sooner or later. If there'd
been no fall, there'd have been no Savior, and no everlasting
kingdom without the possibility of a fall. If there'd been no
fall, there'd have been no cross, and no resurrection, and no people
made like Christ. So God had a purpose in the fall. In our state of depravity, God
made us. And then our state of grace,
one day like Saul of Tarsus on that road to ruin, Damascus,
God stopped us, arrested us, broke us, gave us life, grace,
new heart, new nature, and brought us into a state of grace from
a state of innocence to depravity, to the state of grace. Who did
that work? With his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. The new creation. If any man
be in Christ, he's a new creature. Who made him? Christ made him. And one day, after we're buried
in the ground, planted in the ground, God's going to raise
us. There's going to be a new heaven and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness and a people perfectly conformed to the image
of His Son. And in that day, every one of
us will say, Thou hast washed us from our sins in Your own
blood and made us, and made us kings and priests under God.
So, verse 14, I'll praise Thee for I'm fearfully, fearfully
and wonderfully Made. Who made you? Brother, preacher, I'm just thankful
you saved me. Mama, I'm so thankful you helped
save me. Myself, I accepted Jesus. I did. You're praising who made
you. I'm praising who made me. David's
praising who made him. I'm fearfully, wonderfully made. Read on. Marvelous are thy works,
and that my soul. This fellow's soul knows right
well. I tell you, the first time I
heard this gospel in 1950, I recognized it as being the gospel of God. First time I heard this gospel,
I recognized it as giving God all the glory and all the praise. And it's the only gospel that
does. He says in closing, my substance
was not hid from thee when I was made in secret. I was made in
secret, 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,
my future, what you are going to make of me, what I will be,
yet being unperfect. In thy book all my names were
written. which in continuous were fashioned, when as yet there
was none of them." What's this talking about? Let me tell you
an illustration I saw. A great artist, a great artist, working on his
life's masterpiece, will work alone in his studio.
And he won't allow anyone to see what he's doing. Months and
months and months and months. But He'll keep it covered. He's
working in secret. In secret. Curiously wrought
in secret. It's unperfect. The picture's
not perfect. It's being painted. It's being
made. It's being drawn. The sculpture's being formed.
But nobody sees it, but He has it in His purpose. In his mind,
he sees it yet unperfect, he sees the finished product. And when it's all finished, he'll
call his friends and neighbors, and he'll uncover it. So that's
what you were doing. So that's what you were doing. And the true church is being
made by God, fashioned in secret, hid from the eyes of men. The
people are being made like Christ, but it's hid from human eyes,
and no one can say, hey, here's the right church, here it is,
there it is, yonder it is, these are the people, they're saved,
they're not. The master doesn't give account
of his matters to anyone. With whom does He take counsel?
Who aided Him in His work? He works alone. And I'll tell
you, when it's all finished and done, in the ages to come, He's going
to draw back the curtain. And He's going to reveal the
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus,
the work that He did. It's finished. Yes, it is. It's
finished in purpose, in payment, in the mind of God, in the will
of God, but not yet for our revelation. The revelation of the sons of
God. The whole creation is waiting on that. The whole creation travaileth
in pain until now, waiting for the revelation of His masterpiece. And there will be a new heaven
and a new earth. wherein dwelleth righteousness. And the song of
the ages will be unto him who loved us
and washed us from our sins.