SPIRITUAL DIARY
FOR 11/22/2012 10:42:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 139
PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 13:1-6
Message of
the verses: Today we will begin to explore Psalm 139, one
of the gems of the entire Bible. We will
look at several different Bible Commentators views on their introduction to
this psalm and then begin to look at the psalm.
“Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this
is the most excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout
meditation it is upon the doctrine of God’s omniscience, which we should
therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing this
psalm. (Matthew Henry)
“One of the most notable of the
sacred hymns. It sings the omniscience and omnipresence of God, inferring from
these the overthrow of the powers of wickedness, since he who sees and hears
the abominable deeds and words of the rebellious will surely deal with them
according to his justice. The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire
stone, or Ezekiel’s "terrible crystal"; it flames out with such
flashes of light as to turn night into day. Like a Pharos, this holy song casts
a clear light even to the uttermost parts of the sea, and warns its against
that practical atheism which ignores the presence of God, and so makes
shipwreck of the soul.
“TITLE: To the Chief Musician: The
last time this title occurred was in #Ps 109:1-31. This sacred song is worthy
of the most excellent of the singers, and is fitly dedicated to the leader of
the Temple Psalmody, that he might set it to music, and see that it was
devoutly sung in the solemn worship of the Most High. A Psalm of David: It
bears the image and superscription of King David, and could have come from no
other mint than that of the son of Jesse. Of course the critics take this
composition away from David, on account of certain Aramaic expressions in it.
We believe that upon the principles of criticism now in vogue it would be
extremely easy to prove that Milton did not write Paradise Lost. We have yet to
learn that David could not have used expressions belonging to "the
language of the patriarchal ancestral house." Who knows how much of the
antique speech may have been purposely retained among those nobler minds who
rejoiced in remembering the descent of their race? Knowing to what wild
inferences the critics have run in other matters, we have lost nearly all faith
in them, and prefer to believe David to be the author of this Psalm, from
internal evidences of style and matter, rather than to accept the determination
of men whose modes of judgment are manifestly unreliable.”
“What we think about God and our
relationship to Him determines what we think about everything else that makes
up our busy world—other people, the universe, God’s Word, God’s will, sin faith
and obedience. Wrong ideas about God
will ultimately lead to wrong ideas about who we are and what we should do, and
this leads to a wrong life on the wrong path toward the wrong destiny. In other words, theology—the right knowledge
of God—is essential to a fulfilled life in this world. David contemplated God and wrote for us a
psalm whose message can only encourage us to be in a right relationship with
Him.” (Warren Wiersbe)
“This intensely personal Davidic
psalm expresses the psalmist’s awe that God knew him, even to the minutest
detail. David might have remembered the
Lord’s words, ‘the LORD looks at the heart’ (1Sam. 16:7). The exact occasion is unknown.” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“God Knows Us Intimately—We Cannot
Deceive Him (vv. 1-6)” “1 For the choir
director. A Psalm of David: O LORD, You
have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying
down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a
word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me
behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
As I look at these verses I can see
some of the attributes that God possesses.
God is all knowing as seen in verse one.
God is present everywhere as seen in verse two. We also see God’s wisdom in verse two. Verse three shows God’s power and
knowledge. Verse four shows that God
knows everything, while verse five shows His power and omnipresence. Knowledge is seen in verse five.
Verse one contains the word
“searched,” and this verb means to “examine with great care.” I suppose the concept can be seen from the
following portion of Scripture, “8
"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin,
does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds
it? 9 “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors,
saying, ’Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’” (Luke 15:8-9)
The woman in this story looked intently for her coin. God knows us in an intimate way for David
states that God has searched him and He knows David. You can’t, so to say, “pull the wool over”
God, for He knows all things. Adam and
Eve tried to do this, Cain tried to do this, and we even see from the story of
David and Bathsheba that David tried to do this. They all failed because God knows all things
and He knows all people. Some people do
not have enough faith to believe this, but for God this is no problem. Look at how God created the earth and the
rest of the universe; He did it by His Word, so how big of a problem is it for
God to know all people?
We see the word “understand” in
verse two and Dr. Wiersbe states that this word “means ‘to distinguish and
discern with insight’ and not just gather raw data.”
In verse three (NASB) we see the
word “scrutinize,” and this word means to winnow grain, you have to look
carefully to make sure there is none of the straw in the wheat. One more word to look at from verse 23, “23 Search me, O God, and
know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”
Search means to test metal. When
I worked at my job in the foundry of an Automobile company it was my job to
make sure that the metal that was produced was in proper specification and so
we would takes samples to test the metal and make sure it is the proper
specification. There were different
processes to check the metal, some took a bit longer than others. The best way was to use a spectrometer, and
this would take a small sample and burn it and then the spectrometer would use
light to see what the metal contained.
God does not need a spectrometer to search our hearts for He knows all
things. We can see that God knows us
intimately by looking at verses 1, 2, 4, and 23. The writer to the Hebrews states, “And there
is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (NASB)
No creature has any cover from the sight of God; everything lies naked
and exposed before the eyes of him with whom we have to deal.” (Philips)
Not only does God know all of us but
He knows what is best for all of us too, and He can guide us, but we must be
willing to let Him do this, we must understand that our ways are not God’s ways
unless we submit to God so that He will show us His perfect way. I know that as a believer that I fail at this
but then I remember the saying of the old Scottish preacher who said, “The
successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.” Verse five says that God enclosed us from the
front and behind and this word means that God is guarding us like a valuable
possession, for we are valuable to Him.
Just as David was overwhelmed over
how God knows and cares for us, we to should be and praise Him because of this.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have
often quoted verses 23-24 in my Spiritual Diaries because I desire to have the
Holy Spirit search my heart to make sure that there are no sinful ways in my
heart, so that I can have sweet fellowship with my Heavenly Father. Our family read this psalm to our dying
mother close to when the Lord transported her spirit to heaven. I asked to have verse 16b at my father’s
funeral, “And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Praise the
Lord for His watch care over me as seen in this section of Psalm 139, and
praise Him for His wonderful knowledge, as He intimately knows and cares, and
guides me all of the time.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-5
1 Out of the debts I cried to You, O
LORD. 2 Lord hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should
mark iniquities, O Lord who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, My soul does
wait, and in His Word do I hope.
11/22/2012 12:08:36
PM
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