Dr. Richard L. Strauss
January 1, 1992
We live in a day of proliferating knowledge. The fund of information that makes up human knowledge, they tell us, has doubled every two years since 1960. Amazing fact. And is doubling now at a rate at least every six months or less. Doubling every six months. And did you know that a lot of that information is about you?
George Barna, who has become one of the leaders in polling and research and statistics, in his book entitled The Frog and the Kettle, says organizations such as Donnelly Marketing can now make available detailed information about more than 85 million of the 92 million households in America. Based upon combined databases and statistical modeling techniques, these systems can describe with great accuracy your television viewing patterns, your radio listening habits, your magazine and newspaper reading preferences, your product purchasing by brand, household demographics, and key attitudes and values. That's scary, isn't it, that people out there know that much about us? It’s far more than we ever imagined they could know.
And we haven't seen the end of it. Futurist Roger Selbert has stated that although we have an incredible amount of information available already, the volume is just 3% of what we will have at our fingertips by the year 2010. Less than 20 years away. We will have so much information that now, by comparison, we know 3% of what we will know then.
But let me tell you something that's even more shocking: With all that knowledge that's growing by leaps and bounds every day, knowledge about you and me, those people out there don't even know a fraction of what somebody else knows. And I'm talking about our omniscient God. And that's a major theme in Psalm 139.
Psalm 139 is all about God. The title tells us that David wrote it. That's an inspired title: for the chief musician, A Psalm of David. It's part of the text. David wrote it. And since it's for the chief musician, it was written to be sung in temple worship to the accompaniment of musical instruments.
In it, David exalts the majesty of God. Our great God, who is all knowing, who is present everywhere, who is all powerful, who is infinitely holy. They are the four subjects of the four stanzas of this poem. And it is a poem. The psalms are poems.
The first word in the Hebrew text is the word Yahweh or Jehovah, which means "I am." The great I am. The great covenant keeping God of Israel. That's the implication of the name Jehovah, that God is a God of His word. He's present with His people and He keeps His word to them. This psalm is about God.
But David does more than just teach us great doctrines about God. He shows us how these truths relate to our lives. And we need to know that. Psalm 139 is something we desperately need in our day. We need to know God more intimately than we've ever known Him before. Actually, knowing God better can accomplish some wonderful things in our lives. It's the solution to most of our problems. And if it doesn't solve them, it will at least help us handle them. Every problem.
For example, knowing God better can make us more loving people. And that would help us get along with people around us better, would solve a lot of our marital problems and other interpersonal relationship tensions. Knowing God can do that for us.
Knowing God can fill us with joy. And I think most people need to have a little more of the Lord's joy in their hearts. Knowing God better can relieve our worries. Knowing God better can take away our fears. Knowing God better can provide us with abundant life. So let's spend a few weeks in Psalm 139 and get to know God better. It would be well worth our time.
The psalm was written in four stanzas of six verses each. So it breaks down very nicely into even parts. And the subject of the first stanza, the first six verses, is God's omniscience. He knows everything. But more importantly, he knows me and he knows you. He knows us completely and thoroughly, intimately.
During the last census, a mother was asked by a census taker how many children she had. She had a very large family and so she started to go through and, "Well, there's Billy and there's Harry and there's Martha." And the guy got a little impatient. He says, "Never mind their names. Just give me the number." And she got very indignant. She says, "They don't have numbers. They all have names." And that's the way it is in our relationship with the Lord. You may be a number to the census taker or to the IRS, but with Him you're a name. You're a person. He knows you personally and individually by name. And He knows everything about you.
Paul taught that same truth in his letter to Timothy.
"The Lord knows those who are His" (2 Timothy 2:19).
He knows who in this room are His and who are not. And He knows all about those who are His. He knows those who are His. And what an encouragement that can be to us.
So let's accompany David on his journey into a more intimate knowledge of God. And let's begin with this truth of His omniscience. God is all knowing and He knows us.
"O Lord, You have searched me and known me" (Psalm 139:1).
The Scope of God’s Knowledge
Let's talk first of all about the scope of His knowledge. Because there's something we learn about it right there in that first statement: "Oh, Lord, you've searched me and known me."
The word search literally means "to dig." It was often applied to the search for precious metals. While I've never panned for gold, you can imagine what somebody would do if they did. Well, except at Knott's Berry Farm; I guess I did pan for gold there once. But a little different, you know, than if you really were out there looking for it in the wild. I mean, you're going to go through every inch of dirt, sifting through all the dirt and rocks bit by bit.
You know, we might illustrate it by an archaeological dig. You ever see films of an archaeological dig? These folks, the archaeologists and their helpers, remove the dirt and the rocks ever so carefully, examining and scrutinizing every spadeful. And whenever they come upon something they think may be of value, they handle it very gently. And they have a brush—they don't put water on it that may destroy it. They brush all the dirt off very carefully, clean it very carefully, catalog it accurately. And they do that over the entire area that they're investigating until they know every inch of it. And they leave no stone unturned.
That's the way God knows us. That's a picture of how thoroughly God knows us. Now, that doesn't mean that God was ignorant of us and had to launch this full scale investigating process and examination process to get to know us. Not at all. He doesn't need to investigate us or to search us out. There never was a time when He didn't know us. His knowledge of us is innate and inherent. He simply knows us because of who He is, because He's God.
Some people don't understand it. They don't know God. They don't understand it. In fact, the psalmist back in Psalm 73 is dealing with some people who don't know God and don't understand it. And they're saying, how does God know? As if they got some question that nobody can answer. How does God know? Well, that shouldn't really be too hard for us to figure out. I mean, if finite human beings can know as much as they do, certainly God can know everything. He wouldn't be God if He didn't.
I've read where the United States has sophisticated satellites in the sky that monitor military activity on every part of the Earth. They can identify objects as small as 2 ft long from 100 miles out in space, and they know everything that's happening. It's incredible. I mean, if men can know that much, certainly God can know what's in our hearts. And He didn't have to go to school to learn it, and nobody taught it to Him. He knows it simply because He's God and He knows us as thoroughly as if He had taken us apart, bit by bit, inch by inch, atom by atom, including our brain cells, and then put us back together again, having examined every part carefully. He knows us that thoroughly.
And that's why David used that word search or dig, just to help us understand how thoroughly and completely God knows us. He knows us inside out. He knows us through and through. He knows us fully and completely as an infinite being, all knowing, His knowledge could not be anything less than absolutely perfect and totally complete. He knows us. That's the scope of His knowledge.
The Details of God’s Knowledge
I want you to see secondly the details of his knowledge, because in the next several verses, he describes some of the specific areas which His perfect knowledge of us includes. And it just about covers the gamut.
God Knows What We Do
Everything begins with what we do. He knows what we do.
"You know my sitting down and my rising up" (Psalm 139:2a).
Well, that doesn't seem too profound. Sitting down refers to reclining or resting. Rising up indicates activity. And if you think about it for a moment, you realize that that just about covers every possible posture, waking or sleeping. Everything we would do would fit into one of those two categories. And that's why he gives us those two categories. He wants us to know God knows everything we do.
Drop down to verse 3.
"You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 139:3).
That's really a repeat of verse 2. The Bible often likens life to a journey. And our path is the way we travel. When we're up and active, that would answer to rising up. And then the psalmist adds, you know, my lying down, that would parallel our sitting down. See, we've got the same thing here. It covers all of life.
God sees and knows it all. You are acquainted with all my ways, he says. You comprehend my path. I need to say a word about that word, comprehend. It’s scrutinize in the New American Standard, discern in the NIV. Doesn't matter which one you use, they're all as good as the other. But the word literally means "to winnow."
See, David draws a picture from everyday life in Israel. Farmers winnowing their grain would be a very common sight in ancient Israel. They would throw the grain high in the air, and then the breeze would carry the chaff away and the good grain would fall back down to the ground. In other words, it would sort it all out so that he knows that he has left their good grain. And just so, God winnows our lives. He comprehends our path. He sorts everything out so that every detail of life is fully known to Him, whether we're asleep or awake, whether we're resting or whether we're working, whether we're sitting or whether we're standing, whether we're dozing or whether we're playing. He knows everything that we do. He is intimately acquainted with all our ways.
It might be a good idea to underline those last three words of verse 3, just so that the impact of it doesn't escape us when we go back and read over the psalm. He is acquainted with all of our ways. So He's watching us when we're working, working through some difficult problem in our lives, possibly, as some of you are right here this morning. He's watching us if we're sailing along without a hitch, and there may be one or two of you who are sailing along without a problem in the world here this morning. He knows what's going on in our lives in both cases, and he cares about it just as much in either case, whether you're weighed down with burdens this morning or whether you're sailing along without a problem. God knows and He cares. He cares about everything, every detail of life. He's acquainted with all my ways. He cares about finding a parking place when I'm in a hurry. He cares about finding my wallet that has all my credit cards in it when I've lost it. He cares about what to do with the tension we may be experiencing on the job. He cares about how to handle neighbors that are hard to get along with, whose dogs bark or whose kids trample flowers or whatever. He knows all that.
Jesus taught us in Matthew 10, that he even knows how many hairs we have on our head. Now that's getting about as insignificant as you can imagine. And if He knows how many, He cares whether they fall out or not. Cares about that just as much as you do. That may surprise you, but He does. He cares. He's not going to necessarily stop them from falling out, but He cares. He's watching over us all the time. He knows and cares about everything we do.
He's watching us when we travel. He's watching us when we stop to rest. He's watching us while we do our jobs. He's watching us when we're driving home on the freeway. He's watching us when we're working in the yard. He's watching us when we're relaxing in front of the TV.
He's watching us as we sit here in this sanctuary of worship. He's watching us when we use some feeble excuse to stay home. Aren't you glad you didn't let the rain keep you home this morning? I don't like to talk about people when they're not here!
He's watching us when we're reading our Bibles. And I hope you did some of that this week. He's also watching us when we're lusting over some lewd magazine or movie, much to His grief and heartbreak. He's fully aware of everything we do. Nothing escapes Him. He's acquainted with all my ways, all of them.
I read a cute little story about a farmer whose corn crop hadn't done very well. Wasn't very large piece of ground anyway, and he struggled along with it. Decided he was going to borrow some corn from his much more prosperous neighbor. Borrow. So with a large sack tucked under his arm and his little son tagging along behind him, he climbed the fence and kind of made his way very quietly and inconspicuously to a far corner of the field, well concealed. Then he looked carefully to the right, and he looked carefully to the left. And he looked ahead and he looked behind. And he was reaching out to pick that first ear of corn and his little son said, "Daddy, you forgot to look up."
And I wonder how often this week we've forgotten to look up. I mean, it has slipped our minds that God's aware of what we're doing, what we're looking at, what we're saying, where we're going. We’ve forgotten that He knows, He's acquainted with all of our ways. Not one thing is hidden from Him, and it all affects Him. In some cases, He takes great joy in what He sees. In other cases, He feels great grief over what He sees. Because it is possible to grieve the Spirit of God. Paul taught us that:
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30).
He's acquainted with all our ways. God knows what we do.
God Knows What We Think
Secondly, I want you to see that He knows what we think. God knows what we think. Go back to verse 2, the end of the verse. I skipped over that because it gets us into the next subject.
"You understand my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:2b).
Now, the word thought refers not only to what we think, but also to why we think it. Our purposes, our aims, our intentions, our motives. The word includes all those ideas. See, we don't always understand our own intentions, but God does. And He's the only one who does. And He not only knows them, but He fully understands them. That's a very strong word. You understand my thought. He knows all about my thoughts, where they come from, why they're there, how they affect me. God knows all of that. Our most secret thoughts are never hidden from Him. In fact, He knows them even before we think them. That may be the idea in the words "afar off."
Actually, commentators have different ideas. But I also want you to know that "afar off" may mean that He knows us, even though He is a transcendent God who lives afar off in the heavens. That could be the meaning, but it also could mean He knows our thoughts even when those thoughts are afar off from us. In other words, before we ever think them. And a number of commentators feel that that's what it means. And that's a very, very penetrating idea, isn't it? That God knows our thoughts even before we think them. And He understands them fully. Even though we don't understand why we think the things we do. God does.
Dr. Edward J. Young, great Hebrew scholar, makes this comment about this passage, and I quote. He says, "Man at best, seems to be a bundle of contradictions. He does not know himself as he should. He's not always sure of himself. He cannot in every instant tell why he acts as he does. He's unaware of the thousands of influences that, for good or evil, affect his actions. God, on the other hand, possesses an intimate knowledge and understanding of man which extends to every detail of his life."
I read that to you because I think we need to know that we don't fully understand ourselves. You should know that. I mean, you ought to know that there are things going on deep down inside of you that you don't understand. The Apostle Paul said that very same thing. He admitted that he doesn't know everything about himself. He says, for what I am doing, I do not understand. He does things that he can't find any logical explanation for. He doesn't want to do them, but he does them. There's something down there that he doesn't understand (see Romans 7:15-19). But God understands. That's the point of this psalm.
God knows everything about us. He understands. He knows why we get angry. We may not even understand it ourselves. We get angry at people. We say, "Why did I do that? It’s so ridiculous. I don't know why I got so angry." God knows. He understands sometimes we feel hostile towards certain people, and we can't even figure it out. We don't know why we do. God knows. He understands. He knows why we struggle with nasty thoughts and lustful thoughts and jealous thoughts. We try to overcome them and we can't. We don't understand why they keep coming into our mind. God understands.
God knows our thoughts. Since He's the only one who understands all about them, the best way to grow in an understanding of ourselves is to get to know God.
Counselors may help. That's what counselors often do: try to help us understand why we are the way we are and do the things we do. And they may be able to share some insight into it. But I tell you, they can't even begin to help us as much as God can, because they don't know us fully and completely as God does. He understands us. He's acquainted with all our ways and understands thoroughly our thoughts even before they come into our mind.
Socrates offered some interesting advice 400 years before Jesus was born. He said, "Know thyself." And people have been trying to do that ever since. But the only way we shall ever truly know ourselves is to know God because He's the only one who fully understands us. And He's willing to share His knowledge with us if we're open to it.
God knows what we do. God knows what we think and why we think it.
God Knows What We Say
Thirdly, God knows what we say.
"For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether" (Psalm 139:4).
The word being "on my tongue" would indicate that the word is about to be spoken. Like I would say, "It's on the tip of my tongue." It hasn't actually come out yet, but it's about to. And God knows what it is before it ever comes out. Amazing, isn't it?
I don't always know what I'm going to say. I've said some things I wish had never come out of my mouth. I'm sure you have, too. When I think back on them, I say, "What a stupid thing to say. How I wish I could take that back. If I just thought a little bit more carefully, I would have never said those things." But not one of those words ever caught God by surprise. Not one. He knew what was coming before I ever said it. He probably cringed. He wanted to hold his ears. "Oh, no, that's coming next," you know.
But you know what? He never stopped loving me, even though He knew what was coming. Because He's Jehovah, you see. Don't forget that. He's Jehovah, the covenant keeping God. He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world and He will never let go of me. What a wonderful Lord!
Just think about that for a few minutes. He knew you were about to scream at the kids before the words ever came out of your mouth. He knew what was coming. He also knew that you were about to reassure them of your love and encourage them and affirm them, and that pleased Him. But He knew it was going to happen before it ever came out of your mouth.
God also knew about those selfish and insensitive words you spoke to your wife before they ever came pouring off your tongue. Or He knew those sarcastic words that you were about to say to your husband and that finally did come out. And yet He keeps loving us; He still loves us.
Unconditional love and acceptance like that should be a powerful incentive to speak the kind of words that bring joy to His ears—figuratively, God doesn't have literal ears—but brings joy to Him and blessing to other people. That should be the motivation we need to speak words that build up and encourage and edify, not tear down and destroy. His unconditional love and acceptance, in spite of the fact that there isn't a word on my tongue "but behold, O Lord, you know it altogether."
God knows what we do. He knows what we think. He knows what we say.
God Knows What We Need
Fourth, I want you to see that God knows what we need.
He knows what we need. It's in verse 5, and it starts like this:
"You have hedged me behind and before" (Psalm 139:5a).
That actually introduces the subject of the next stanza, which the Lord willing, we'll deal with next Sunday: God's omnipresence.
"He hedges us in, behind and before." Wherever we turn, God is there. He's got us surrounded. There's no way to escape His watchful eye. But let's hold our discussion of that great truth until next time.
Let's go on. I want you to see the last clause in that verse 5.
"And laid Your hand upon me" (Psalm 139:5b).
Now, that may not sound very significant to you, but that is a wonderful truth. Because, you see, to lay your hand on someone in the Old Testament meant to bestow on them your blessing and offer them your protection. Bestow your blessing and offer your protection. And that's exactly what God does to us.
This laying Hhis hand on us is like God saying, "I'm here with you, I know what you need and I'm ready to help you."
What a tremendous comfort and encouragement that can be. It's like a mother going to a crying baby and laying her hand gently on him, because oftentimes she knows what he needs. And just that hand will sometimes quiet him down. He knows Mom's here. He's learned that through experience in the days and weeks that preceded. Mom's here. She knows what I need. She's going to help me.
He laid His hand upon us. He knows everything. And he's there to help us. He knows, for instance, when Satan is about to attack us. He knows what strategy he's going to use. And God is right there with the help we need, if we're willing to take it. Oftentimes we don't. We turn our backs on Him and the help He offers and go our own way. But it's there. It's available if we'll lay hold of it.
I think back to the last night of our Lord's earthly ministry. He said to Peter, you remember:
"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat" (Luke 22:31).
See, Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to Peter. He knew that Satan was after him; He knew exactly what temptation he was about to face. But Jesus went on to say:
"But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail" (Luke 22:32a).
And it didn't. Oh, he did sin, he did deny his Lord, but Peter’s faith didn't fail. He was restored to fellowship with his Lord. But what a beautiful illustration of His knowledge of even what Satan is about to do, and His presence with us and His willingness to help us and provide whatever it is we need. He's laid his hand upon us.
He knows when we're burdened with sorrow and grief. And He's right there with His comfort. Right there. He knows when our bodies are racked with pain. And He's right there with His grace to be able to bear it. He knows when the agony of loneliness is so intense we're not even sure we can stand it for another minute, and He's right there with His companionship.
Think of it. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whatever circumstances have invaded your life, your all seeing, all knowing, Heavenly Father is aware of it. And His comforting and strengthening and protecting hand is upon you.
It’s a great truth: "You've laid Your hand upon me." God is so great and so good that He knows every one of us better than we know ourselves. And He can do whatever needs to be done for every one of His children throughout the whole world at the very same time.
It’s more than David's finite mind can grasp. And so he concludes this first stanza with a word about the wonder of God's knowledge.
The Wonder of God’s Knowledge
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (Psalm 139:6).
That degree of knowledge is so far above us, we can't even begin to take it all in. Today we'd say it blows our minds. It's more than we can grasp. The Apostle Paul said much the same thing in Romans 11.
"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).
Oh, the depth of the knowledge of God. He knows us.
We can't grasp it. But you know, if we just look around us, and even in nature, we see knowledge that almost defies our imagination. Just in the animal kingdom. For instance, I read an interesting little illustration about a tiny Arctic sea bird that lives in the rocky cliffs of northern coastal regions, called the guillemot. And they flock together. I guess they're so small and it's so cold that that's part of their inbred characteristics. They just flock together. And thousands of them flock into comparatively small places. And because of the crowded conditions, hundreds of females lay their pear-shaped eggs side by side on a narrow ledge in a long row. And since the eggs all look alike, it would be incredible for a mother bird to identify those that belong to her. But she can. Studies have shown that if one of those little eggs were to taken out and moved somewhere else, she can find it. She knows which ones are hers and she returns it to its original position. Amazing knowledge. And that's just one of thousands upon thousands of illustrations of knowledge in the animal kingdom. I mean, if God could make animals that know that much, His knowledge has to be a whole lot more thorough than that.
That's what the psalmist wants us to understand today: God knows us. He knows every thought. He knows every deed. He knows every word. He knows every need. He knows every emotion. He knows every motive. He knows every intention. He knows every desire. He knows every decision we face. He knows every trial we suffer. He knows everything!
That can be a convicting truth. We've already seen that this morning. I would assume that some of you have already experienced some conviction as I have just talking about this truth. I mean, we can sneak around and hide things from each other. We can pretend and put on airs and fool one another. Husbands can fool wives and wives can fool husbands. But you can't fool God, folks. He knows everything.
And to remember that, to hide these words in our hearts and rehearse them and meditate on them, can help to keep us from sin. God knows.
It can also be a comforting truth, however. To think that He knows us and understands everything about us, even when we don't understand ourselves, can be a great encouragement. He even knows when our motives are pure, when other people are questioning them or misjudging us or misrepresenting us. He knows.
He knows every sincere effort we make to please Him and to praise Him and to glorify Him, even when others may not and may be ignoring us or belittling us or misunderstanding us or criticizing us. God knows. And if our hearts are right with Him and our desire is to please Him, He will reward us even if others don't. He knows us.
Trusting Jesus As Your Savior
God obviously knows whether or not we're His children. He knows whether we fulfill the one condition that the Bible lays down for entrance into His family. He knows that about every person in this room, every person listening to this message. He knows. He knows whether or not you have turned from your sin and faith to Jesus Christ—and that is the one condition for salvation:
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31a).
You'll be saved, delivered from the eternal consequences and condemnation and penalty of sin. God knows whether you've done that or not, or whether you're putting your trust in your good deeds. He knows that some here this morning may be thinking, "Well, listen, I'm better than the average. My life is OK. Certainly God can't refuse me entrance into His heaven. Why think of all the good things I've done." He knows if you're thinking that way.
His Word deals with that, you know:
"And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6b).
All of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags compared to God's infinite holiness.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
He says if we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we won't perish, but we'll have everlasting life (see John 3:16).
So that's the question: Have you acknowledged your sinfulness and your need of a savior and put your trust in Jesus Christ? Have you believed in Him? God knows whether you've done that or not. And you know if you've not, would you settle it today? Would you make that decision right here and now? Before we leave this morning?
Let's bow together in His presence.
With our heads bowed, quietly, prayerfully, let's talk about this issue. It's so very important. It's the major theme of the Bible, beginning to end: how man can be rightly related to God. In spite of what the Bible says about it, so many people misunderstand. I guess we misunderstand because we don't want to admit that we're unworthy of God's favor and of His salvation. We want to believe that we can be good enough and do enough good things to earn heaven. But the Bible makes it very clear that's not possible. That's why Jesus had to come. That's why He had to die, and in that death bear in His own body all the punishment that our sin deserved. That's why He did it.
And because He did it, He offers us forgiveness and eternal salvation. And if you've never put your faith in Him alone for your salvation, we invite you to do it right now. Just settle it in prayer in the quiet of your own heart and mind and soul, right where you sit.
Lord, I'm a sinner. I admit that I don't deserve to enter Your heaven. I acknowledge that. I believe that Jesus died in my place and paid for my sin. And I'm putting my faith in You right now. Lord, come into my heart and save me from sin.
Are you willing to do that?
Closing Prayer
Father, I pray that those who have come to our service this morning without the assurance of eternal salvation will put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be born anew, saved for eternity. And I pray that those of us who have made that decision will live with a greater consciousness of Your presence with us and Your infinite supernatural knowledge of every detail of our lives. Lord, help us to take great comfort in it, knowing that whatever it is that has come into our lives, You're aware of it and You care. And then, Lord, help us to recognize the challenge of it and allow these great truths to take root and bring forth fruit—the fruit of obedience in our lives—to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ. For it's in His name we ask it. Amen.
Continue to PS-139-2: He Is with Us (God's Omnipresence)