God Who Examines and Knows Me
[Psalm 139]
On Monday evening, before going to bed, I went to check on my children. All three of them were reading books, but particularly my youngest, Ye-eun, was lying in bed, reading her book with great enthusiasm and making some noise while doing so. I first went to Ye-ri, patted her on the head, told her she was a good girl, and encouraged her to keep reading diligently. She didn't even look at me and kept her focus on the book, reading intently. Next, I went to Ye-eun, patted her on the head, told her she was good, and asked her to read her book with effort. But just like her sister, Ye-eun didn’t look at me either.
I thought, "Well, that’s fine," and went back to my room to read my Bible. A little while later, Ye-eun came into my room with a bottle in her mouth, and she noticed a Christian book on the desk beside my bed. She asked me if I was reading that book. I told her that I sometimes read it, but right now I was reading my Bible. Then Ye-eun opened the Christian book, saw some underlined lines, and asked me why I had marked lines in the book. I explained that I underline parts that I think are important. I then showed her my own Bible and told her that I also underline what I consider important in it.
Ye-eun then pointed to my Bible and said that it's okay to underline in the Christian book, but I shouldn’t underline in the Bible. At that moment, I wasn’t sure how to explain to her, but I knew I needed to teach her not to scribble in the Bible… After thinking for a moment, I told her to sit next to me, and I asked her to read Isaiah 8:17, which I had underlined in my Bible. The reason I asked her to read this verse was because it had a line underlined: “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.”
When Ye-eun read it, she noticed the word "Lord" and said it was okay to underline it because it's an important word. Haha. So, I asked Ye-eun, just as it was written in the English version of the verse: “Do you trust in the Lord?” She answered, “Yes.”
Now, I want to ask all of you the same question: Do you trust in the Lord? If you answered “Yes,” then why do you trust in the Lord? As we meditate on today’s passage from Psalm 139, I hope that as we learn more about the God in whom we trust, we will grow to rely on and trust in Him more deeply.
In Psalm 139:1, the psalmist David confesses: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.” In other words, the God we rely on and trust is the God who examines and knows us. As we come to know more about this God who examines and knows us, I pray that all of us will continue to rely on Him, trust in Him, and live by faith.
First, the God who examines and knows me knows all of my actions and existence (verses 1-4).
In Psalm 139:1-4, David confesses that God knows when he sits and rises, and also knows his thoughts (v. 2), all his actions (v. 3), and that there is nothing about the words on his tongue that God does not know (v. 4). In other words, David is acknowledging that God is omniscient. But how can the omniscient God know all of David's speech, thoughts, and feelings? The reason is that God created him. In other words, the Creator knows everything about David because He made him. Look at verse 13: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." Therefore, David thanked God (v. 14). The reason for his gratitude was that God’s creation of him was wonderfully and fearfully complex (v. 14). In other words, David thanked God because the way God created him was so mysterious and marvelous that it could not be fully understood.
Yesterday, while reading the book of Job, I paused to meditate on Job 7:17-20 because I felt it was deeply connected to today's passage: "What is man that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment? Will you not look away from me for a while, let me alone until I swallow my spit? Have I not laid waste to myself? Why then have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you?" Job wonders why God cares so much about humans and pays such close attention to us, never turning away, even for a moment. Job refers to God as “the one who examines mankind”, acknowledging that God observes and knows everything about us. This same God knows not just when we sit or rise, but He also knows our thoughts and every action. He even knows what we will say before we say it. Why? Because the Creator made us. God created us in such a marvelous and intricate way that He knows everything about us.
We should trust this omniscient God, the One who examines and knows all our actions and existence.
Second, we cannot hide from the God who examines and knows us (verses 5-12).
Look at Psalm 139:7: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Here, David speaks of God's omnipresence. In other words, God is not bound by time or space, but can be present everywhere at the same time. This God, who knows us better than anyone, is with us wherever we are. Therefore, we cannot escape from God (Jeremiah 23:23-24, Amos 9:2). We cannot escape God's surveillance. As David says, God surrounds both him and us, and we cannot escape His watchful eyes. Since God's hand is always holding us, we cannot slip out of His care either (v. 5, Park Yun-sun). David, knowing this even in a small way, confesses, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (v. 6). He acknowledges that no matter where he is—whether in the heavens, in the depths of the earth, at the ends of the sea, or in darkness—he cannot escape from God's presence (vv. 8-12). This is why David says, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7).
We should pay attention to the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” (Isaiah 29:15). If we, like the people of Israel, honor God with our lips but distance our hearts from Him (v. 13), and we sin in the darkness, thinking, “Who sees us? Who will know us?”, the Bible says that woe will be upon us. We cannot hide or escape from God’s omniscience and omnipresence. God knows everything we do, and no matter where we are, He is with us. This God becomes our Emmanuel—God with us. The God who is always with us, the God who is with us no matter where we are, and the God who exists in His omnipresence, is the source of our true blessing. As it says in Psalm 121, God neither slumbers nor sleeps but watches over and protects us. God will never allow us to stumble or fall (v. 3). Therefore, we must rely on and trust in this God.
Finally, thirdly, the God who examines and knows me gives me His utmost attention (vv. 17-18).
Look at Psalm 139:17-18: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.” David, recognizing that the all-knowing God, who knows him better than anyone else, also loves him deeply, marvels at how God's thoughts towards him are more numerous than the sand. In response, David says, “How precious to me are your thoughts!” Additionally, when David wakes up, he is aware that the omnipresent God is with him, and he realizes that God’s thoughts towards him are countless. Recognizing that all of God’s attention and focus is on him, David’s heart cannot help but overflow with gratitude. David was so grateful for God’s precious love (v. 14). In this gratitude, David had a certainty. That certainty was that God, who loved him most, would destroy his enemies, the adversaries of God. Along with this certainty, he was confident that God would save him by judging the wicked. And this certainty was rooted in God’s omniscience, omnipresence, and especially His mercy. In other words, David knew that God knew him best and loved him most, and because of that, David was confident that God would save him by judging the wicked.
Personally, I really love this passage from Psalm 139. The reason is that, even with all my shortcomings, I can still feel God’s love toward me. The fact that God's thoughts towards someone like me are as countless as the grains of sand on a beach gives me strength, and I can only be thankful. No matter how I think about it, I am unworthy of receiving God’s love, yet God, in His greatness, considers me with an unfathomable number of thoughts and cares deeply about me. I can only be grateful for God’s immense love. We must trust in this God.
The God who knows us best and loves us most, we cannot hide from Him. Therefore, just as David prayed, we must pray this prayer to God: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24). You and I, who experience and live in God’s great love, must pray, like David, that the all-knowing God will search and know our hearts. We must also pray that God will test us and know our thoughts. Like David, we should pray that our hearts and intentions may be pleasing to God, the God who is omniscient, omnipresent, and full of love. Let us all pray earnestly that there may be no wickedness in our lives.
With a heart full of gratitude for the God who examines me, knows me best, and loves me most,
Pastor James Kim
(Looking to God the Father, who has the greatest concern for a sinner like me)