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 to 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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