GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ME!

God’s knowledge surrounds us on every side, 

God is never unaware, 

He is never distracted, 

He never overlooks, 

He never forgets.

Psalm 139:1

                O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

This is certainly one of the most well-loved and better-known psalms by David. As I read this psalm, there are several reactions that come to my mind. First of all, we notice that David addressed God as LORD. The self-existent and self-sustaining One, the ‘I AM’, is interested in man - in me!  David has expressed the same idea in another psalm.

Psalm 8:4
                what is man that you are mindful of him,
                                and the son of man that you care for him?

Does this thought become “normal”? Certainly, when we stop to concentrate on it, we are surprised, amazed, humbled, and overwhelmed by this truth, but how does it flesh out in our daily attitude, in our expectations, in our prayer life, in our service, in our relationships, in our purity, in our sanctification? In other words, how does it impact every aspect of our lives?

This first reaction is followed by emotions of both joy and fear. I cannot hide in the masses of humanity, for God is carefully scrutinizing my life, and this produces the fear of God. All of our thoughts and actions those things that we assume no one notices are not only noticed by God, but evaluated and weighed by Him. At the same time, in a world where we are often misunderstood, where people around us do not seem to be able to really know how we feel and what we are going through, we are overwhelmed by the fact that God knows us.

God’s knowledge of us began before the foundation of the world, and continues every day of our life and for eternity. God’s searching and knowledge is careful, complete, thorough, constant.  Are these thoughts producing reactions in your life? We should be quick to obey, quick to repent, quick to trust, quick to rejoice. We should be quick in all our reactions to this realization.

David goes on to describe four attributes of God that express the quality of God’s search and knowledge of us and expresses some of His reactions.

Psalm 139:2-6
                You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
                                you discern my thoughts from afar.
                You search out my path and my lying down
                                and are acquainted with all my ways.
                Even before a word is on my tongue,
                                behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
                You hem me in, behind and before,
                                and lay your hand upon me.
                Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
                                it is high; I cannot attain it.

The first attribute that David mentions is God’s omniscience. The all-knowing God is searching me and knowing me!

God is aware of every movement in my life. In fact, He is aware of the thoughts that precede and produce my actions. God is totally aware of the reasons I do the things I do! This complete knowledge is the result of careful scrutiny of man’s actions and habits. Nothing surprises God about our lives. He knows the history, the patterns, the habits, the decisions that accompany our every action. When we speak , God knows exactly why we said the things we did. He is intimate with the causes of our words, for our words express our hearts, which God knows intimately.

God’s knowledge surrounds us on every side, God is never unaware, He is never distracted, He never overlooks, He never forgets.

We can meditate on these truths, but understanding them completely is impossible. David expressed this clearly, when he said that “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

It is a wonderful truth. We cannot remain unchanged, even though our human understanding of it is so limited.

If I would only be more aware that God continually searches me and knows me, I would weigh my actions more carefully, my attitudes would be so different, my plans would be more thought- out. In other words, my life would be very different.

I think that we need to take time to pray and ask God to help us live our lives with a greater awareness of His omniscience. Even our approach to the Word of God and to God’s instructions should be affected deeply by this truth!

May our lives be different today, in view of the fact that we are under the careful and loving scrutiny of our all-knowing God.

WHERE ARE YOU, O GOD?

A godless world, with enemies of God seeming to have control, is not new. 

It was a problem thousands of years ago, just as it is today.

Psalm 10:1

                Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?
                                Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

I am in Italy right now, where elections were held on Sunday. Watching the empty promises of men, the total disarray of the country, the lack of direction, the financial difficulties of people, the emptiness of the voters’ lives, the triumph of the atheists, and the wickedness of the ones who have governed for the past 50 years, made these verses seem very timely.

In a couple of days, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church will leave his post and the procedure for the election of a new pope will go into effect. The confusion and the questions surrounding this decision have caused many to question what the religion of the state actually is.

The past elections of the president of the United States have caused many to wonder what direction our country is taking.

A godless world, with enemies of God seeming to have control, is not new. It was a problem thousands of years ago, just as it is today. The psalmist describes a world where the wicked oppress the poor, the powerful rule over the weak, men live to satisfy their own lusts, men boast of their wicked deeds, and, in their arrogance, they assert that there is no God.

So many today are careless about God’s commands, and act as if they are in total control of their own lives.

Watching the world superficially, one can see scarce cause for hope. The weak and the needy are severely oppressed, and are then tempted to wonder if God even cares or if He is really in control.

Have you ever wondered where God is? Have you questioned if He really cares? There is so much evil in the world. Animals are protected more fervently than unborn humans. The wicked get richer, while the ones who are honest seem to be in continuous need. Families are victims of the behavior of the ungodly. Deranged people walk into schools and kill innocent people. Diseases are causing young and old to suffer. Has God turned His face away? Has God forgotten His own?

The psalmist cries out to God for relief.

Psalm 10:12

                Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand;

                                forget not the afflicted.

As I read this psalm, I cannot overlook the pain of some dear loved ones who are suffering right now. What is God doing? What does He want from us? What is our hope?

My first thought is that God wants us to focus our trust upon His kingship and will, rather than upon the pursuits of this passing world. He wants us to trust Him to deal justly with the wicked, who despise both the afflicted and God, Himself. (Psalm 10:3-11)

1 John 2:15-17 

                Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

               

God wants our grip on the things of the world to be loosened. He wants us to desire Him more than anything else. He wants us to desire what is eternal. I know for sure that an easy life can be much more spiritually dangerous for us than injustice or material needs are.

What a wonderful gift, to have our attention redirected to Him and become more and more able to see our dependence upon Him.

Believers have nothing to fear:

1 Corinthians 15:54-55

                When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

                “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

                “O death, where is your victory?

                                O death, where is your sting?”

Paul had the right focus: an eternal perspective on both the present and the future.

Philippians 1:21-26

                For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Paul knew that, as long as he was alive, he was to live for Christ.  He lived for the progress of the Gospel in the world and for the spiritual progress of believers. His comfort or safety was not what produced joy in him.

The psalmist, in his cry to the LORD, did not lose faith, but was secure in God’s care.

Psalm 10:16-18

                The LORD is king forever and ever;

                                the nations perish from his land.

                O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

                                you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear

                to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

                                so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

The LORD is sovereign; He will take care of His own. He is totally aware of the needs of those who depend on Him. He will answer their cries in due time and during the hardships, He will fortify their hearts. I have watched suffering believers grow closer to God and find in Him strength that was very surprising to the unbelievers who knew them. God is carefully involved in our lives; He is active in bringing us closer to Him. His work is to produce sanctification in us. He never stops, He is always timely, and He is always caring.

May we, too, be totally aware of these truths, as we live in this world where the wicked seem to be prospering. May we never envy those who do not know the loving care of our heavenly Father.  May we grasp every opportunity to point men toward God and glorify our loving Shepherd.

OUR FRUITS EXPOSE OUR DIRECTION!

We are so quick to lose sight of the fact that God knows about every thought, 

every action we make. 

He will judge us.

Psalm 1

            Blessed is the man

                        who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

            nor stands in the way of sinners,

                        nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

            but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

                        and on his law he meditates day and night.

            He is like a tree

                        planted by streams of water

            that yields its fruit in its season,

                        and its leaf does not wither.

            In all that he does, he prospers.

            The wicked are not so,

                        but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

            Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

                        nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

            for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

                        but the way of the wicked will perish.

So much has been written on this psalm and, I am sure, we are all very familiar with its content: two men, two patterns of life, two results, and two destinies. Every man left to himself will always live according to wickedness; he will be in the way of the sinners, and will surely be one of the scoffers.

Only Christ lived perfectly the manner of  life described in the first sentence; so He is the only one Who could take our place. Only He could provide a way for us to be able to enjoy both the grace of God and the power of His Spirit that cause us to be truly blessed.

Such blessing is not the product of our own merit, yet our lives are, none-the-less, made up of daily choices. Every day, every hour, every minute we are confronted with decisions that will place us on the path of blessedness, or the path of destruction.

These verses clearly indicate that if one is not following the way of the Lord, he will not love the word and will not meditate it. A person who has not been transformed by the word of God will not have fruits that please God. He will not desire to spend time with the followers of Christ.

There will be a judgment day, when even those who have become children of God will have all their actions judged, and all that were not godly will be exposed and destroyed.

1 Corinthians 3:14-15

            If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

No true believer can approach this truth and be superficial in evaluating his own life. We are so quick, many times, to rationalize or try to justify our sins. But there are no valid excuses, and our lives suffer because of the wrong decisions we make. God’s careful evaluation will expose our works.

We are so quick to lose sight of the fact that God knows about every thought, every action we make. He will judge us.

These verses are a real blessing for us, because they warn us and give us a standard by which to measure our lives. As I read them I also realize that, even though we might have fallen, we can start afresh and walk correctly and love the word of God, and God will prosper our lives according to His word.

As human beings who live each day by grace, we are rooted in the promises of God. We begin our relationship with God by grace and we live it each day, needing His grace in order to make any degree of progress spiritually. If it were not for grace, we would be completely hopeless.

So as you read this psalm today, allow God to expose your life, allow God to direct your path, be committed to obedience, and live by grace in the blessings of God.

May God work in us a desire that grows into a strong resolve to please Him with our lives.