He points out that the Viking landers that put down on Mars in 1976, each had instructions in their computers amounting to a few million bits, slightly more than a bacterium, but significantly less than an alga. After presenting the sublime doctrines of God's omnipresence and omniscience, the Psalmist appeals to Him, avowing his innocence, his abhorrence of the wicked, and his ready submission to the closest scrutiny. When David says (in v. 18), âWhen I awake, I am still with You,â he may be referring to the fact that each morning the thoughts of Godâs omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence are still with him, so that he canât escape the overwhelming fact of God in relation to himself. It must be paid for through death. 139:21-22)? If you want to be holy, not just outwardly, where you can fake it, but inwardly, you must constantly confront your thought life with Godâs Word. He said weakly, âOh, hi, Momâ (Readerâs Digest [6/84], p. 32). What do we lose when we negate God as Creator? 7-12 in the larger context of the psalm as a prayer for Godâs help against enemies or persecutors. That is the message of the beautifully-crafted Psalm 139. The Bible uses the verb âto knowâ to describe the sexual relationship in marriage (Gen. 4:1). Twenty billion bits are the equivalent of about three billion letters. In the conventional understanding, the Psalm in the weekly lectionary is chosen to meditate on the First Reading and, like that reading, to anticipate the Gospel. One evening the phone rang. The more we love God the more indignant shall we grow with those who refuse him their affection (The Treasury of David [Baker], VII:229). How did it accidentally happen that your body could speed up your heart rate to the proper speed to meet increased oxygen demand when you exercise and slow it down when that need is met? We canât love God properly and be complacent about sin. Weâre continuing in our series on the greatest Psalms, and today weâre looking at Psalm 139. He knows everything about you; He is with you wherever you go; He has created you and ordained the days of your life. (v7-18) III. THE COMPLETE WORKS OF C. H. SPURGEON Within this set you can access other study helps [ bible, theology, commentary, sermons, and more ]. Heâs there, too! Of David. Bible teachers will tell you that of all the 150 Psalms, this is the one that best describes Godâs personal relationship with us. Do a careful study of vv. We have a longing to know and be known, but only within safe limits. God has already determined the day of our birth and our death and since only God is the Author of Life, only He can take it ⦠Itâs not a generic psalm; itâs intensely personal, between David and God (note the frequent âIâ & âmeâ). It showed them in a graphic way that God takes sin seriously. There is a point of contact between our knowledge and Godâs knowledge. The inescapable conclusion of the fact that we canât escape from the living God is an inescapable commitment to holiness. 8:13). Psalms 139. Does it seem like a vice rather than a virtue? 1-6); His omnipresence (vv. Is it not I, the Lord?â (Exod. With David we must exclaim, âHow precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!â (v. 17). 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. Although Psalms 139 is just one of around 80 or more psalms authored by King David, it is the most utilized by those engaging in Negative Theology. What would be its equivalent, if it were written down in an ordinary printed book in modern human language? From 1977-1992 he was the pastor of Lake Gregory Community Church in Crestline, California. You know when I leave and when I get back; Iâm never out of your sight. 3 You see me when I travel. âAnother quality eBook from Chapel library. Your first reaction to that thought is probably, âWhere can I run to hide?â It seems to have been Davidâs thought (v. 7). He is there! The psalm falls into four stanzas. However, the Lord understands perfectly how this truth fits into all other truths about the creation. 5:5-6)? I have been enjoying books by other Bible preachers of this time period and thought I would try Spurgeon, as well. David no sooner mentions the wicked and his hatred for their irreverence than he quickly realizes his own need for Godâs cleansing. 11-12). and when I rest at home. You wonât dodge God (v. 10)! You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. Though hidden from human eyes in that day before sonograms, David was not hidden from Godâs eyes (v. 16). Christianity is not following a set of rules or going through a bunch of religious rituals. David sings of the omniscience and omnipresence of God, which will overthrow the power of the wicked, dealing with them according to his justice. âSearch me, try me ....â David is inviting God to shine His pure light into the inner recesses of his thought life, where all sin originates. Yet he thinks that life on this planet evolved by chance! You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away. --Christopher Wordsworth. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.You know my sitting down and my rising up;You understand my thought afar off.You comprehend my path and my lying down,And are acquainted with all my ways.For there is not a word on my tongue,But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.You have hedged me behind and before,And laid Your hand upon me.Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;It is high, I cannot attain it.a. A psalm. The first Soviet cosmonauts irreverently joked that they didnât see God from their spaceship. But God saw them! Second, I must constantly yield my whole life to God. So whatâs the bottom line? Consider the miracle of the human body: Every second more than 100,000 chemical reactions take place in your brain. More than 500 muscles connect to these bones. Considering how fearfully and wonderfully we are made should cause us to break forth in thanksgiving to God (v. 14). You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways. So David is saying that you canât escape from God. It would be perfect to the extent that it excluded sinful attitudes of malice, envy, bitterness, and other attitudes we normally associate with human hatred. I must become a doer of the Word, not just a hearer who deludes myself (James 1:22). Altogether the system makes the equivalent of 10 billion calculations a second before an image even gets to the optic nerve. 1:18-23). Life is a process of coming to know ourselves. A motherâs presence, even over the phone, has a way of straightening out wrong behavior! Can we hide from God? How can I love them and hate them at the same time?â C. H. Spurgeon helpfully explains the balance: To love all men with benevolence is our duty; but to love any wicked man with complacency would be a crime. 19-22); and then quickly to add a prayer that the God who had searched him (v. 1) would continue the process, so that if any sin still lurked in the dark corners of his own life, David could root it out and walk in Godâs everlasting way. This little book is a nice study guide about Psalm 139. Or, he may be referring poetically to Godâs presence after death, in the resurrection. Since we cannot escape from this all-knowing, all-present, all-wise Creator, we cannot escape from the need for holiness. A great tragedy, some can spend years listening to sermons, reading the scriptures, even teaching the Bible but not enjoy a close relationship with God. Since the human race fell into sin, that kind of total intimacy has been threatening to every person. If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. 139. There has been considerable debate about the precise genre of this psalm. 23-25)! To hate a man for his own sake, or for any evil done to us, would be wrong; but to hate a man because he is the foe of all goodness and the enemy of all righteousness, is nothing more nor less than an obligation. Must we (Ps. Biblical faith boldly proclaims the inescapable presence of God in Psalm 139:7-12. JOSEPH A ALEXANDER Psalms Commentary (1864) Spurgeon had high praise for Alexander's work writing that it "Occupies a first place among expositions. Verses 1-24 One of the most notable of the sacred hymns. It contains a brief chapter or devotional on each verse in the psalm. Does God love everyone equally (Ps. 2. Augustine observed, âMen go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wonderingâ (in Readerâs Digest [1/92], p. 9). Coupled with that, your lungs automatically breathe in the right amount of life-giving oxygen (about 438 cubic feet each day), which just happens to be mixed in the right proportions (about 20% oxygen, 80% nitrogen) in our atmosphere. âThou hast explored me, as men dig in mines, and make subterranean excavations. In fact, we canât even know ourselves thoroughly. This shows us two aspects of holiness which we must develop: Does the thought of âperfect hatredâ strike you as odd? If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Once it reaches your brain, the cerebral cortex has more than a dozen separate vision centers in which to process it. This is the historical context of King Davidâs psalms. These eight Psalms are the devout Israelite's Manual of private prayer and praise. This is an excerpt from Spurgeon's Treasury of David, a classic commentary on the Psalms.âPsalm 139 is one of the most notable of the sacred hymns. Copyright 1993, Steven J. Cole, All Rights Reserved. Iâm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what Iâm thinking. He formed us even in our motherâs womb for His purpose and ordained all of our days before we ever saw the light of day. Even the closest human relationships fall short of total knowledge. Why are we afraid to be known thoroughly? If we manage to dodge Him in this life, we must still stand exposed before Him on that fearful day of judgment. ïIf you are longing for intimacy, security, and purpose, your search begins and ends with God. The first three deal with different attributes of this inescapable God as they relate to the individual: His omniscience (vv. Do you want to head east (âwings of the dawn,â v. 9) or west (âremotest part of the seaâ)? Happy New Year: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives, 4. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) provides a verse by verse commentary on this sacred hymn, Psalm 139. 19-24) sets forth the inescapable response to the inescapable God: personal holiness. You enter that relationship when you put your trust in the substitute He provided, the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for your sin with His death on the cross. You understand my thought from afar. 4:11). Who, I ask, has more faith--the creationist or the evolutionist? (Psalms 139:4 RSV) (Spurgeon, C. H. 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