Today you should read: Psalm 139
The Psalm we are reading today is a beautiful meditation on God—namely God’s intimate knowledge of us. It shows us that God knows us personally (v. 1-6), is everpresnt with us (v. 7-12), and He created us (13-16).
Verse 1 begins by saying: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” (ESV) This is both an amazingly intimate and frightening truth! To know that the God of the universe cares for us and is powerful enough to know and discern our every thought exceeds comprehension. To know that He goes to such lengths to know us should lead us to our knees in adoration! But think about it another way: how often do thoughts come into our minds that we wouldn’t want other people to know, let alone God? How often do you seek to get to know God as personally as He seeks to know you? He knows our every thought; he knows the words we are going to say before they leave our tongue. This should cause us to fear God, but also to worship Him, like the Psalmist does in verse 6: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” (ESV) Thanks be to God, that He has sent Jesus, who redeems our minds and our hearts, so whenever the Father looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Jesus.
Verses 7-12 show that this intimate knowledge God has for us reaches so far that there is nowhere we can go to escape His reach. When we think about our sin, we might have the propensity to wish that we could hide from God because of our shame. But the beauty of the gospel is that God knows our sin and our shame in ways we can’t even imagine, and still wants us anyway because of Jesus!
This Psalm ends in a similar way as it begins. It begins with David recognizing the truth that God searches and knows the heart; it ends with David asking God to keep searching and knowing His heart. Our response is to ask God to search us and know us. The truth is that He already does. When we ask God to search us and know us, it is a purifying request that draws us closer to God. My challenge for us is that we would take a few minutes right now and ask God to search us and know us.
What is God saying to you from this passage?
By: Graham Withers — Pastoral Ministry Apprentice
JumpstartCPC.com 