Originally posted on February 26, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Scripture References;
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, LORD.
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
6 [This] extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to [reach] it.
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
9 If I live at the eastern horizon
[or] settle at the western limits,
10 even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will become night”
12 even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You,
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and I know [this] very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all [my] days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.
17 God, how difficult Your thoughts are
for me [to comprehend];
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with You.
19 God, if only You would kill the wicked&md;
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me &md;
20 who invoke You deceitfully.
Your enemies swear [by You] falsely.
21 LORD, don’t I hate those who hate You,
and detest those who rebel against You?
22 I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139 HCSB
Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ Acts 13:16-22 NIV
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13 KJV
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 KJV
32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[e] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Luke 23:32-34 NIV
54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60 NIV
1And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. Acts8:1NIV
I have always loved the 139th Psalm. Would you like to know why? Well, let me explain. King David wrote this and many of the other Psalms. It says in the Bible that David was a man after God’s own heart. However, David was also a man who committed some pretty serious sins. He lusted, committed adultery, and committed murder. You can read about it in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12 in the “Old Testament”. He was confronted by Nathan the prophet and when his heart was convicted he wrote Psalm 51. It says in Psalm 51:3 that he said, ” For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” He also had confidence in the Lord’s mercy and grace and demonstrated that when he made the request below.
“Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.” Psalm 51:9-14 KJV
There were times when David was brave, like when he was a “youth”and killed Goliath, a fierce Giant, with a stone and a sling shot. He was very confident that the Lord would guide that stone and He did. But there were other times when David was not confident, and let his fears get the best of him and made a fool out of himself. Here is an account below that always makes me laugh.
That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances: ” ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” 1 Samuel 21:10-15 NIV
I have been a Christian for many years, and I have studied the Bible for many years. There is still a lot that I have yet to learn, but it was probably about 18 or 19 years ago when I first read these things. I at that time did not understand how secure our salvation is. I was often so afraid that my continual sinning, (especially the habitual sins) would cause me to lose my salvation. Even though I did not understand the true nature of my salvation, I was so comforted when I read about David and saw that he, in spite of his terrible sins, still was confident that he could find forgiveness when he approached the Lord, and that he was actually referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.” I have often read Psalm 51 out loud prayerfully to the Lord at times that I was ashamed and afraid, and at a loss for words. What a comforting Psalm for a guilt ridden person to pray! I am so thankful that the Lord is fully acquainted with all our ways, yet He still loves us.
I really do not know exactly how to interpret the part that speaks about hate. I know that the Lord hates evil, and asks us to pray that we be delivered from it in “The Lord’s Prayer”. Satan is evil and all people, even Christians can have evil thoughts, words, and actions. We call those “sins”. When David prayed that prayer (Psalm 139) he lived in a time and place where he found himself surrounded by those who did not confess their sin to the Lord, those who did not love God. I think David also understood the same truth that the Apostle Paul(formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. see Acts:8:1 and Acts chapter9) expressed below :
“12 For our battle is not against flesh (A) and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, (B) against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil (C) in the heavens. (D)” Ephesians 6:12 HCSB
Not all of our enemies are evil people; some are evil forces. David witnessed those forces at work on King Saul, and how the evil spirit would temporarily depart when he played on the harp for the king (1 Samuel 16:14-23)
I believe that David also understood that evil could be found in himself, and that is why he cried out to the Lord with a contrite heart (see Psalm 51)… so even though David’s words in Psalm 139:19-22 were appropriate, I must confess that I still am lacking wisdom in this area. Therefore, when I pray about evil I am more apt to follow the Lord’s example and cry, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil (both the evil without and the evil within)”, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”. I also pray “If it be Thy will, deliver “them” from evil, (both the evil without and the evil within).”… of course in the Lord’s case, He was perfectly holy and in Him dwelled the fullness of the Godhead bodily, so He never needed to be delivered from evil within like we do.
Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord? Please click on “Very Important Words” on the left margin of this page and make sure.
Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just go to http://www.biblegateway.com. They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!
ORD, who am I to teach the way
Moore to Ponder 