Psalm 139:1-6; 23-24

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139 ends with a plea, a call for God to search us and show us our hearts, to point out the putrid and lead us to purity. But we will never ask the Almighty to search and show us our hearts if we don’t trust Him. That’s why David starts by reminding us that:

• God knows us completely (1-6)

When you think about being loved there are always two things present. Right now I want you to take a moment and think about a time in your life when you felt truly loved. May be by a parent, a friend, your spouse or a time when you felt truly loved by God. Whatever it was as you think back on that time you when you were loved what do you see, what made you feel loved? While the circumstances in these love moments differ for each of us there are at least two common and cherished golden threads woven into the fabric of each one. We were known, more than just on a surface level but on a deeper level and second we were accepted. Despite what they knew they still chose to love us and remain committed to us. In order for love to be complete we must be both known and accepted. Because to be accepted without being known is foolish, while to be known but not be accepted is fearful. When it comes to being known and accepted there is no one who knows us more thoroughly and accepts us more completely than our Creator. Psalm 139:1-6 tells us that God knows us completely, all of our actions, words, and thoughts. Not only does God know what we have done but He knows why we did it. The sad reality is that while most of us say we believe that God knows for many this is just a head knowledge not a heart knowing. As a result we end up operating on two levels. While we say that we believe that God knows everything about us, on a practical day-to-day level we actually live as if we can keep secrets from God. This is probably because we are fearful that if God really knew everything about us, He would reject not receive us. When it comes to God many of us have an intellectual understanding instead of an interpersonal one, head knowledge not a heart knowing. Verse 1 reminds us that God knows us because He searches us: “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me” The Hebrew here means to carefully examine or explore. It carries the idea of digging into the details and uncovering what is unseen. God is not satisfied with a surface knowing He searches deeper to discover what is below the surface. David is saying that God knows him penetratingly because He has peered deep into his life. Verses 2-5 tell us exactly what God knows about us:

1. He knows what we do

Verse 2 says: “You know when I sit and when I rise…” God knows not only when we sit down but also when we stand up. These two opposites of sitting and standing represent all of our actions throughout the day. In other words God knows all of our actions as Proverbs 5:21 says: “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths.” We have a God who knows every move that we make. Not only does He know what we do but:

2. He knows what we think

Verse 2 continues by saying: “You perceive my thoughts from afar.” This means that God knows what we think even before we think it! Just as Jeremiah 17:10 says: “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind…” God knows what we are thinking, He doesn’t just search He sees and yet He still loves us anyway. Not only does He know what we do and think but:

3. He knows where we go

Verse 3 says: “You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” This word “discern” means to sift as one would do to get the grain. We have a God knows where we go because He can sift and see what is really going on. As God sifts through the sand of our life He knows the good and the bad. He sees it all even those things we think are done in secrete. Not only does God know what we do, what we think and where we go but:

4. He knows what we say

Verse 4 says: “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” We have a God who not only hears everything that we say but He also knows what we’re going to say before we can even form the words with our tongue. Sometimes we don’t even know what is going to come out of our mouth until we say it, but God knows. Not only does God know what we do, what we think, where we go and what we say but:

5. He knows what we need

Verse 5 says: “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” It’s here as David describes God’s powerful hand of protection that he uses some imagery from war. David was a warrior and he knew all about strategic battle plans and how to surround a city. David understood that he was surrounded by God’s secure knowledge and understanding. Instead of feeling trapped by God’s knowledge of his every thought, word, and deed David felt secure. He knew that God surrounded, that God went before and behind and it was God’s hand that kept him from harm. The same is true for us God’s pervasive presence serves to protect and provide not inhibit our lives. David also finds the truth that God knows him intimately incomprehensible as he says in verse 6: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” David struggles to comprehend God’s understanding let alone describe the depth of God’s personal knowledge of every area of his life: His every action, every thought, every trip, every word, and every need. When we ponder the greatness of God’s knowledge, like David we too will become overwhelmed. Wonder and worship go hand in hand, for they are the proper response to God’s glory and greatness. Amazement should lead us to awe, which should draw us to adoration. This was Paul’s response in Romans 11:33-36: “Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Take some time today to ponder the greatness of God, and then take time to thank Him for His lavish love. Instead of being worried and concerned over God’s omniscience be comforted, because you have a God who not only knows you but loves you.

Isaiah 1:18-20

18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

It’s here in Isaiah 1 that we discover the radical transformation that takes place for those that are forgiven: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” God not only invites us to come to Him but to come and be cleansed. One would think that mankind would be knocking on God’s door but we are reminded here that it is God who seeks us first. As Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to SEEK and save those who are lost.” We are lost and need to be sought because of our sin. It is our sin that blinds us to our need for God, so God has to seek man because man will not seek God. The call here is for us to come and be clean. This is not only the grace of God it is the gift of God, that we can be forgiven of our sins and have fellowship with Him. It is the greatest invitation ever to be extended for it costs us nothing while it cost Him everything. It is an invitation to:

• Reason at an unreasonable time.

The nation of Israel was in deep trouble during Isaiah’s time for the people had rebelled against God, as verses 2-4 reveal: “Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the Lord says: The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against me. 3 Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize my care for them. Oh, what a sinful nation they are— loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” Like the nations of today they chose to ignore God, turning instead to trusting in self and trying to find their satisfaction in sin. They had become a culture of corruption, a society living in the sewer and stinking of sin. This also was not God’s first call for the people to repent and return to Him. God had already attempted to get their attention by chastening, but they stubbornly refused to turn from their sin. Isaiah describes them as a sin sick people where crime and violence characterized the age. So as we come to God’s invitation to “come and reason together” we see the grace of God displayed. This is the miracle of His mercy that He would invite a sinner like me to come and be clean. We have a God who goes beyond all reason and invites us to run to Him and be redeemed. Its only when we respond to His call to be cleansed that we can deal with the disease of our sin. But too often Christians end up dealing with symptoms and not causes. We keep confessing the same sins because we have not gotten to the root of the sin. It’s like the story of the pious hypocrite who loved to pray long public prayers in church, which he often closed with these words, “And, Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life!” One day one of the godly elders of the church became tired of hearing this empty ritual week after week. So one evening, after the man had concluded his long routine prayer and had mentioned the cobwebs, the elder stood up and prayed, “And, Lord, while You’re at it, kill the spider!” It was the spider that Paul had in mind when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.” Instead of tolerating sin we need to terminate it. Are you putting to death in your life the things that defile? Whether it is a sinful action or an attitude we need to eliminate it from our lives. Not only is this a call to reason at an unreasonable time but it is an invitation:

• From God at an ungodly time.

The people were so wicked that verses 9-10 say they reminded Isaiah of Sodom and Gomorrah: “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom,     destroyed like Gomorrah. 10 Listen to the Lord, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” These were a people who had rejected God’s way and God’s Word. It was only because of a few righteous that the majority were kept from destruction. Today we too live in an ungodly time where people worship self and rejoice in sin instead of repenting from it. And just as God called those who had forsaken Him to come and find forgiveness so He also calls us to come and be clean. To go from being scarlet red to white as snow, from crimson red to white as wool. God still meets sinners where they are and has the power to cleanse them of their sin. This was the desire of David’s heart after he had sinned in Psalm 51:7, “Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Because of Christ’s death on the cross we can be clean, because of His blood we can be born again.  You see the legacy of Jesus Christ is by far the most profound and planet transforming legacy of anyone in all of human history. Human history was literally divided in time at His birth, into BC, Before Christ, and AD, Anno Domini, Latin for “in the year of our Lord.” Even atheists who refuse to acknowledge Him have to tell time by Him. When it comes to Christ more songs have been written and sung, more books written, and more art work commissioned than anyone who has ever lived. Today millions gather around the world to worship and celebrate Christ and respond to His call to come and be clean. Today God calls you to come and reason with Him, you have a choice, you can confess and be cleaned or you can experience the crushing consequence of your sin. Are you going to come and reason or continue in your rebellion?