Friday, January 5, 2018

THE ALL KNOWING GOD- : PSALM 139: VERSES 1-6


ATTRIBUTE #1 - THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD
1  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.......(Psalm 139:1-6)

The Theory of Life and Life in the Lord is not only much simple to comprehend and explain. It has been confirmed as true, by the Spirit of the Living God. This is difficult for those who  live in abject mindlessness over evolution and the so-called Big Bang, to get this Truth. It is not only because of the lies they have bought but because their worldly knowledge has overruled their capacity to grasp the Simplicity and Truth of the Gospel

We, who are saved, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God and all Truth. He is the same Spirit Who hovered over the face of the Earth in Genesis 1:1. He is the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the Dead on the Third Day. He is the same Spirit Who enabled Apostles Peter and Paul – ordinary men – to raise people from the dead, themselves. He is the Same Spirit of God Who breathed the Oracles of God into forty ordinary men from different places and backgrounds, over 1500 years who wrote down the same narrative – the God’s Plan of Redemption through one Person – the Man Christ Jesus. He is the same Spirit Who gave us the Bible!

It is this God…it is this Creator…it is this Sustainer….it is He – mighty and lifted up….seated High Upon The Throne….it is He, Worthy and in unapproachable Light, Who designed, ordained, created and purposed us in His unfathomable amazing mind, even BEFORE His Spirit  hovered over the earth in Genesis 1:1! It is He! It is Abba Father – our Father Who art in Heaven of Whom Psalm 139 so wonderfully describes in His incredible ways, nay, His Attributes!

Listen to how the Spirit enables King David to being Psalm 139 “O LORD, You have searched me and known. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought from afar” (verses 1 and 2).

In this Psalm, the very Attributes of God are not only evident, but the words of this Psalm screams out loud about Who He is and How He knows us. We begin by looking at the first six verses of Psalm 139 and all about:

THE ALL-KNOWING GOD:
Verse 1: He searches AND knows us. The word for searching is the same one used when Joshua and Caleb "explored" the Promised Land and found it good. For reasons of Grace known only to Him, though we are sinners, when He examines every sinful corner of our being, He finds every small detail of our second by second existence, yet, He still loves us! This is the very definition of Grace and compassion to those of us who were once rebels, yet still need some refining into the very character God requires of us.

Verse 2: He knows our "sitting down" (or when we lay down to rest) and wakes us up in the morning. He doesn't have to. We get to wake up to a new day in our own beds, in our own homes, with our own family into which God in His wisdom and love has placed us. Not just that, but Scripture tells us that God gives to His beloved in their (our) sleep. Therefore sometimes we awake in joy and gladness to take on the day, knowing the problems of the day will be solved, because He has given us the peace and insight to do the right thing with confidence! In addition, He sits in the Heavenly throne, with over 7 billion people at any one time on earth....AND KNOWS WHAT I AM THINKING! Can you dig that, my friends?! It is absolutely incredible.

Verse 3: Notice that the Bible uses the word "intimately" in verse 3 as our Creator, the all-knowing God, is well acquainted not just with WHAT we think, do and say, but WHY we are bent in such a way. He created us with different personalities yet allows them to develop on its own, according to physical, social and other environmental conditions and He is well acquainted with all these circumstances. Being a God Who does not force Himself on someone who does not want to be in fellowship with Him, He allows these personality traits to continue until we come to the realization that we are not in right alignment or on the same page as Abba Father. God once prophesied, by name, over 150 years before, about the appearance on the scene of the great Persian King Cyrus who was going to be the second great emancipator of Israel from Babylonian Captivity (Isaiah 44:28). But Isaiah 45:1-7 shows that even though God had chosen and appointed Cyrus to be this great king and religious tolerance guy, we find out he did not worship the one true God of heaven who set him up as victorious, but bowed down to the various pagan idols of Persia and the Middle East. This is confirmed in a book I read at one time, called Persia and The Bible. God even knows the intimate details of our spiritual thoughts and actions...as well as who will reject Him. He still wishes all will come to repentance and be saved.

Verse 4:  The Lord knows we are either going to loudly swear when dropping a hammer on our foot, or speak kind words of encouragement and hope and love to someone who needs to hear these life-giving exhortations. The power to lift up and/or cut down are in the Power of the tongue and we are warned about these things in the Book of Proverbs and James. Knowing that God knows what we are going to say at any given time, should spur us to be a little more circumspect in our speech and hearts. This is goes for both believers in Yahweh as well as non-believers.

Verse 5: You always hear people praying for a "hedge of protection" from the Lord for either someone they know or themselves. This is not too far off what Verse 5 means. The hedge or Hand of protection includes the Hand of Provision! Our heavenly Father provides for those whom He protects. This is natural and par for the course. The phrase "laid Your Hand upon me" is a good thing! Only a fool or one who is lost (one and the same) would reject the loving Powerful, Providing, Protecting Hand of God guiding every aspect of their lives. In a nutshell,  this is what is meant by living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ!

Verse 6:  In light of EVERYTHING just briefly discussed in the previous five verse about the Omniscience of God, what should our response be, in return? Well, our main response, after gratitude, should be AWE! We must, in our love for our Creator and Lord, stand in awe and amazement at all we have just spoken about above and the so many more things about our All-Knowing God which could fill numerous books across the spectrum of history. King David, who wrote this psalm under divine inspiration, says the very things we should say in humility "such knowledge is too wonderful for me". 

If we are wise, we would say this same thing as we should never lose this child-like faith and the wonder of the Christian life, even with the corrupt distracting world out there. We should realize, unlike biblical characters like Nimrod and others, that we really cannot even grasp 1/1000th the power, wisdom and knowledge which resides on the Throne of Heaven. How could we know these things when He is God and he are puny little creatures? Oh, all glory, praise and honor to Him Who sits on the Throne, yet knows little old me. Amen.

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