The Search Party

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by elizabethaudet

by elizabethaudet

Psalm 139:1-24

Are you free to pick and choose what you want to hear or read from God's Word or does this dishonor God by presuming you know better than He? Perhaps some of the scriptures are offensive to you. Does this mean you should not read them? Perhaps, your choice would eliminate much of God's Word which reveals the work of Satan and the wrongs of God's followers. But you need to digest it all to see the TRUE GOD OF LOVE AND JUSTICE! This is why I write about the Psalms which are uplifting and full of high praises, as well as, the ones which show grief, sorrow and the weakness in the lives of the greatest heroes in the Psalms. David felt both in many varied degrees, yet through it all his message rings clear to our own hearts-THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT. "-Psalm 23:1. When you read it all you may see those who pass through the "VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH," but they still feel His loving care of providing "STILL WATERS" to quench their thirst, and God "LEAD (them) THROUGH GREEN PASTURES" for the nourishment of their body and soul. The ungodly did not feel this trusting love through all their circumstances of life as David did. The Word of God is not the historical world of pure ideals-but the scenes of struggles, changes, and sufferings, where God has brought us "THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH" while you "FEAR NO EVIL FOR GOD IS WITH..." you! "HIS ROD AND HIS STAFF THEY COMFORT" you. He "PREPARES A TABLE BEFORE" (you) "IN THE PRESENCE OF" (your) "ENEMIES." But regardless of these adverse circumstances, "I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, FOREVER,"! David is looking back victoriously now over his past! He found God was all he needed!

David began Psalm 139:1-6 (CEB)-"Lord, You have examined me. You know me." Time to shout, "Hallelujah"! God has His telescope on us and sees us all the time. Nothing escapes His knowledge of us! He searches me out. He knows me! My Boss is always in and what I do affects His business. (Read Psalm 17:3). "You know me" :

1. "You know when I sit down...". (2 Kings 19:27)

2. "And when I stand up." (Ezra 10:14; Job 19:25. Jesus stands for us; Romans 14:14)

3. "Even from far away, You comprehend my plans." (Matthew 9:4-Jesus knows our thoughts)

4. " You study my traveling and resting." (Psalm 3:5)

5. "You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways." (Job 14:16; 31:4; 17:9; 1 Samuel 16:7)

6. "There is not a word on my tongue, Lord, that You don't know completely." (Hebrews 4: 13-16)

7. "You surround me-front and back." (God's X-ray vision sees inside and outside-nothing is hidden from Him.)

8. "You put your hand on me." (Job 10:8; Luke 23:46-this should be our prayer! )

David summed up this section in verse 6-"That kind of knowledge is too much for me; it's so high above me that I can't fathom it." (Job 42:3) We are in a Goldfish bowl and nothing is hidden from God. Time to look in the mirror and see who God loves most- YOU!

Because of God's abilities to see, comprehend and put His hand on us at any time, David made a list of places in which God can find us. God is Omnipresent! Psalm 139:7-12-(NKJV)-"Where can I go from Your Spirit or where can I flee from Your Presence.":

1. "If I ascend into heaven, You are there;".

2. "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." (Amos 9:2-4; Job 26:5-7; Psalm 16:10-11)

3. "If I take the wings of the morning." (Psalm 139:10-"Even there Your Hand shall lead me," You cannot fly away from God!)

4. "And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea," ("Your hand shall lead me." Deep sea diving? Jonah's story in the whale's belly-Jonah 2:2-10. God was there. Isaiah 43:2)

5. "Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me."

6. "If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall fall on me." ("Even the night shall be bright about me,"-Job 34:21-22)

7. "Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You. But the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You." (Nothing can separate us from God! Read Romans 8:35-39; Hebrews 13:5; Psalm 18:7-12)

David went on to explain why God knows so much about us. All these were established before we were made by God in the beginning. David recalls in Psalm 139:13-18-(CEB)-"You are the One who created my innermost parts; You knit me together while I was still in my mother's womb. I give thanks to You that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful. I know that very well." (Read Psalm 8). Long before we knew God, He already knew and loved us. We are His Pride and Joy! Just as a parent oohs and aahs over a newborn baby, God rejoices when we are born and then born-again. He oohs and aahs over us. Also just like a child grows up and disappoints or grieves his parents, so we sometimes disappoint and grieve God by our action after we are born-again! David said "My bones weren't hidden from You when I was being put together in the deep parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my embryo, and on Your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me before one of them had yet happened." All this before we were born!

David sums up this section of Psalm 139:17-18-(TLB)-"How precious it is, Lord, to realize that You are thinking about me constantly! I can't even count how many times a day Your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, You are still thinking of me!" (Read Psalm 40:5) (CEB)-"God, Your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless." (I only wrote a list of them, but that is only the beginning. There is no end in our counting process.). "If I tried to count them-they outnumber grains of sand! (Even if you sat down and counted the sand granules, I doubt you would know the number as you would be there till death and still find it unfinished. So it is impossible to find the sum of God's plans for you!). David said, "If I came to the very end-I'd still be with You." (Lord, it is way beyond me, so I will rest in You and relax my mind. I'll coast on Your love for me! "I'd still be with You!")

David vented his feelings about the enemy next. When he became overwhelmed with God he resents those who do not see God's Love, mercy, and power as he does. Psalm 139:19-22-(TEV)-"God, I wish You would kill the wicked!" (Read Isaiah 11:4; Psalms 119:115; and 97:10). "How I wish violent men would leave me alone! They say wicked things about You; they speak evil things against Your Name,"(Read Jude 1:5). "Lord, how I hate those who hate You! How I despise those who rebel against You! (Romans 1:28-32). God's Judgment is ultimately the final word.

David concludes this Psalm 139:23-24 with the thought, (TLB)-"Search ME, O God, and know MY heart;" David began this Psalm by saying, (NKJV)-"O Lord, You have searched me and known me." This was a statement of God's Personal Searching Party. He knows because He has searched us, inside and out! Now David returned to the Search, but this time he is requesting it. So he said, (TLB)-"Search me, O God and know my heart; test my thoughts." Gun-Ho, Lord! Go ahead and search me out. Put my thoughts to the test and, oh yes, Lord, "Point out anything You find in me that makes You sad. " We all have things at times that makes God sad! Better commit them to Him. Clean my Mind House and sweep out all that is unlike You, Lord! "And lead me on the path of everlasting life." This is not a wide road but only a path. (Matthew 7:13-14-"Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and few who find it." Paths are not always easy to follow as they are not clearly seen. Sometimes only a sign or a guide is needed. GOD IS OUR GUIDE AND HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FOSAKE US SO FOLLOW HIM AND YOU CAN'T GO WRONG!

Next time...