We’re in a series called Psalms and we’re going through different Psalms throughout this entire series. And there are some passages of Scripture when you read them, and maybe some Psalms when when you read them, they’re deeply personal to you. Psalm 139 is that for me. I mean when I read it, it’s a deeply personal. In fact multiple times in my life God has spoken to me through this passage, worked in my heart, changed my heart through this passage.

This passage, when David is writing, David isn’t writing a theological dissertation for a classroom. David’s writing from a place of standing in awe of God. He’s reflecting on who God is, and as he’s reflecting on who God is he becomes overwhelmed by a simple reality that God, God in heaven knows everything about me. God knows everything about me, and that kind of seems normal to you and I because we know God knows everything. But the whole thought is this: God knows everything about me, and somehow, somehow he still wants me. Somehow he still loves me. Somehow he still desires me. And David is writing out of this all of God that God knows me, but he loves me and he desires me.

So 139 is one of the most comforting chapters in the Bible. But if we’re honest, it’s also one of the most convicting. Because David reminds us that God isn’t distant. God isn’t distant. He’s not detached. He’s not distracted. He’s not uninvolved in your life or in my life. In fact, God made you, God knows you. He knows you to your core and knows you better than you know yourself. God is with you. That God thinks about you, that he thinks about me, that God sees us.

And the psalmist here, David, unfolds five different movements, five different truths for you and I to understand out of this passage of Scripture. I’m gonna read them for you real quick, but you won’t see them on the screen. Five different things are this: God knows me, God holds me, God made me, God thinks of me, God searches me. And every one of those truths ought to lead us to a place of worship.

Psalm 139 verse number one says this: Lord you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up, you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest, you’re aware of all of my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord. You’ve encircled me and you’ve placed your hand on me. This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I’m unable to reach it.

This time begins with this truth. It’s both comforting and terrifying that God knows everything about you. Did you catch that? He knows everything, not some things. Not most things. He knows everything. Before you think it, he knows it. Before you feel it, he knows it. David says that God knows, that God knows when he sits down, when he stands up. He knows his thoughts before he thinks them. He knows his words before he speaks them. That every path that he walks, every habit, every motive, every fear, every struggle, every failure, that nothing, nothing is hidden from God.

That God sees what no one else sees. Did you know that about God? That God sees in your life what no one else sees. That means he sees the tears that you hide. That means he knows and sees the anxiety that you carry, that you wrestle with, that you try to keep hidden from the rest of the world. It means he knows the temptations that you fight, knows the battles that you struggle with, knows the sin that you and I both excuse. He knows the wounds of your heart that haven’t quite healed yet. Hear me, he sees it, he sees it and knows it all.

And so David says, David’s response is he’s fascinated with this. He doesn’t panic. Because I’m gonna be honest, if some of us the fact that we start talking about that God knows us, knows our thoughts, knows the things that no one else knows about us, I’m gonna be honest with you, there’s a little bit of panic that sits in my heart. There’s a little bit of like, oh, no, God knows that, because the reality is I’m so glad that you don’t know me the way that God knows me. The flip side of that is you’re really glad I don’t know you the way that God knows you. But he knows it.

And notice what David does, he doesn’t panic like you and I would. Instead of panic David worships. Look at verse number six. He says this wondrous knowledge is beyond me. Why? Because the God who knows everything about him, he just doesn’t know the information. He knows it and loves David anyway. He doesn’t reject him.

I want you to think about that. Most of us, we spend our lives carefully managing what other people see, carefully managing what other people know about us. And you say, well, I don’t do that, I’m just you know an open book in my life. Yes, that’s why you take 37 selfies before you post one of them. You have 18 different filters from Snapchat that then you save and you post to Instagram. Say, how do you know that? Because you can see all the filters on top. Some of you, your favorite function of AI is putting the picture in there so it makes you look better. Say, how do you know that? Because I tried it and it didn’t work.

Well, but most of us we want to manage what other people see of us, what other people know about us. Because we’re afraid that if people actually knew us for what we were, for what we are, that they wouldn’t stay. That they would leave. That they would reject us. That they would be disappointed, that we would be judged unfairly. That we would be seen for what we really truly are.

But here’s the thing I want you to catch in all of this. God sees everything. He sees everything, knows everything, and stays with us. Accepts us. Loves us. Forgives us. Sees us for what we are, and desires to mold us and shape us and change us and to something that he wills for us. Hear me, the God that knows you completely, he doesn’t love you less. He loves you fully.

Thinking about all of that, David’s next thought is just, it’s natural. That if God knows me in this complete way, can I ever get away from that knowledge? I mean, can I ever get away from that presence? Can I ever get away and hide myself where there’s some part of me where I can just relax and know that God doesn’t know that part? And the answer to that is no.

Look in verse number seven. The Bible says this: Where can I go to escape your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven you’re there. If I make my bed in Sheol you were there. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the horizon, on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me, your right hand will hold on to me. If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light around me will be night, even the darkness isn’t dark to you. The night shines like day. Darkness and light are alike to you.

Say, can I ever get away from his presence? No. Not because God is chasing after David, and not because God is chasing after you, because God holds you. Just like he held David. And he said, well, where can I go? Will God ever abandon me? Will God ever not hold on to me? It says if I ascend to heaven, if I descend to the grave, if I go to the farthest corner of the earth, if darkness surrounds me, David says again and again, you are there, you are there. And notice David doesn’t say that your eye just watches me. David says your hand. Your hand will lead me. It holds me. This is shepherding. The God is leading David like a shepherd.

Some of you, you need to hear this today. Because your life’s gotten dark. Your life’s gotten dark and you can’t see what God is doing, and somewhere in not understanding his plan, and maybe not understanding what he’s doing, or maybe as you’re walking through life here, you’re not feeling his presence. Can I tell you something this morning? Your inability to feel God doesn’t mean that God has left you. The truth is this, he is never for a moment left you, he has never been absent in your life. Not in the hospital room. Not if you’re home. Not in divorce. Depression. Having a diagnosis. Not an uncertainty. Hey, hear me, you may feel alone, but you’re not alone. God is with you.

And I love the verse, verse number 12, because there’s times where everybody’s walked through some dark valleys. You’ve walked through some dark valleys. You know the scariest part about walking through a dark valley is you feel like no one’s with you. You feel like you can’t be found, like you don’t know which way to go, like you can’t be led, like you can’t navigate yourself, and you just feel alone and isolated. And I love what the verse says: even the darkness is not dark to you. Hey, the same hand that formed you, the same hand that created you, the same hand that created me, is the hand that holds us.

Look at verse number 13. For it was you who created my inward parts. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I’ve been remarkably and wonderously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 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.

And David in this, in all of who God is, starts to move backwards. Back in time. Not to yesterday, not to, not to childhood, but to the womb. You created my inward parts, you knit me together in my, my mother’s womb, and picture, the picture is breathtaking. Because God is personally involved in David’s creation. That God is personally involved in your creation and my creation, and I want you to catch this: not casually, not accidentally, but carefully. Intentionally, purposefully involved. And David says I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.

Before your parents knew your name, God dear name. Before anyone held you, God formed you. Before anyone saw your face, God saw your whole life, beginning to end. In verse 16, says all of David’s days were known before God. They’re known before God before any of them came to be.

So that ought to mean that life is, is easy right now. If you’ve lived a day on this earth, you know life isn’t easy. Doesn’t mean that life’s easy. Here’s what it means: it means life is intentional. That God’s work in your life, the way he formed you, the way he made you, it’s intentional. It’s intentional that God is never surprised by what we are surprised with.

And in a culture obsessed with appearance, with comparison, with achievement, with self-worth, we all need this reminder that your value is not determined by what you do, what you own, what others think of you, what your latest post was on social media, your latest promotion, your raise, your vacation that you went on, how your kids turn out. It’s none of those things. Your value is not determined by a bunch of stuff in this life. Your value is determined by the God who made you and formed you. Because you matter to God your creator.

Verse 17 says this: God, how precious your thoughts are to me. How vast their sum is. If I counted them they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I wake up I’m still with you.

David stays in this place of being overwhelmed, but he moves from God’s work to God’s thoughts. He says how precious your thoughts are to me. David can’t comprehend it. The God that rules galaxies, sustains creation, holds everything in the palm of his hands, the God who governs history, thinks about him. Let’s switch that around. The God that rules galaxies, the governance history, that holds everything together, thinks about you. He thinks about you. He thinks about me. Not occasionally, but continually.

I want you to catch that, not occasionally, because you and I think about a lot of people, we think about them occasionally. Oh, I wonder how they’re doing. I hope everything as well. And we try to give them some best wishes, or or just a thought or remembrance. No, God thinks about you continually. I want you to catch this: he delights in you. He delights in me. You’re enough for him. And not only are you enough for him, but he has plans for you.

And the God in heaven who spoke everything into existence, not only does he delight in you, but his thoughts are drawn towards you. David says his thoughts outnumber the grain, the grains of sand. This isn’t poetic exaggeration. Here’s what’s happening, David, David is running out of language. He’s saying I can’t count how often God thinks about me.

Maybe that’s what you need today. Because you feel forgotten. Everywhere you go you feel forgotten, you feel overlooked, you feel invisible, unnoticed. See sometimes when I say that out loud, that sounds kind of relieving to me, because sometimes I want to go someplace and just be overlooked.

When I go shopping with my wife, it seems like every sales attendant wants to find me and ask me if they can help me. Do you need help with anything? No, I don’t need help with anything. Are you looking for something in particular? No, because if I was looking for something I would have found it by now and I’d be at the register and you wouldn’t be there. Like I’m a dude, when I go shopping I know what I want, I know where it’s at, I know how much it costs, and I do not need to compare it to anything else. I walk in the store, I get the thing, I go to the register, I buy it, I leave. Success. This is it. You say, well, you didn’t, you want to compare the fabrics of it? No, I just want to go home. But the reality is is that some people, they go and they want help. They want help, but they can’t seem to ask for help. Another problem I do not have.

But here’s why I said all of that. You see, it’s one thing when we’re overlooked by someone that doesn’t matter, when we’re not noticed and we really want to stay unnoticed. When someone has a value in our life, it crushes all of us when we’re overlooked, when we’re invisible, when we’re forgotten.

David is saying, listen, you, to himself, I’m never overlooked. I’m never invisible. I’m never forgotten when it comes to God. And so you, you might live life and you might say, well, I feel overlooked, I feel invisible, I feel forgotten everywhere I go. Hey, you’ve never been forgotten by God. Not one prayer. Not one burden. Not one tear. Not one sleepless night. Not one struggle. Not one fear. God sees it, God knows it, God remembers it. Hey, you may have been forgotten by people, but you have never been forgotten by Almighty God. He knows you. He’s always known you.

Now the next part of this verse, it might feel out of place. It might feel like we’re really taking a weird side step, but here’s what happened, is happening, David, David is recognizing who God is and he’s saying, Lord, because you know me, because you hold me, be because you think about me constantly, because I’m valuable to you, God, I want to be on your side. I want to be where you are.

It says in verse number 19: God, if only you would kill the wicked. You bloodthirsty men stay away from me, who invoke you deceitfully, your enemies swear by you falsely, Lord. Don’t I hate those who hate you? I detest those who rebel against you. I hate them with extreme hatred. I consider them my enemies.

David is declaring his loyalty to God. God, I want to be on your side. God, I want to align with you. I don’t want to be like those who are against you. God, I want to be with you. I see you for who you are in the best way that I can with my finite mind. God, I see you for who you are, and Lord, I want to be positioned with you.

And all of that leads us to a couple of verses. Because something happens. David realizes something that that you and I need to realize this morning. The greatest threat to his walk with God isn’t necessarily out there. It’s in here.

Look what he says next in verse number 23 and 24: search me God, and know my heart. And test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

David invites God to examine him. The pride. His pride, his bitterness, his jealousy, his motives, his anger, his lust. His selfishness, his anxiety, his idols. David says, God would, would you just search me? God search me, I want to know about me what you already know. He’s asking God to search him. For us this morning, asking God to search us, it feels terrifying. If it feels terrifying it’s because we don’t understand who God is.

David realized that God already knows everything about him, and David, David’s not asking God to find stuff out about him. David is asking God to show David what God already knows about him. David isn’t asking for information. David’s asking for transformation. Hey, show me what I can’t see. Reveal what I can’t acknowledge, what I refuse to acknowledge. Point out what what doesn’t belong.

So I want to look at three phrases in this, in this verse. The first one’s this: search me. Search me God and know my heart. Think about how remarkable this prayer is. David, again, David isn’t asking God to learn something new. God already knows every thought, he already knows every motive, he already knows every struggle. God already knows everything, nothing is hidden from him, and David isn’t asking God to find something out. David is asking God to reveal something to David that he doesn’t know about himself. He’s asking God to dig out what’s hidden beneath.

Hey, because in our eyes, in our lives, what stays hidden stays powerful. So, I don’t know how these people, they just keep falling into sin. I was on social media and I saw, saw a guy I went to college with, and he’s not in ministry anymore. And my heart just hurt. So I was talking to my wife about it and she said, well, how does that make you feel? And I was just kind of blunt in that moment because that’s, that’s how I am. And I just said terrified. If there’s any one thing in my life I want, that, I want more than anything, I want to finish well.

You know something I learned, the things that stay hidden in my life or the things that stay powerful in my life. There’s some sin in my life that I don’t think is a big deal and I think I can just cover it, and I think I can just deal with it, and hey, you know, my my good actions outweigh my bad actions. Which doesn’t work for salvation and it doesn’t work for sanctification. When I start thinking that way, that sin stays powerful in my life. Hey, the sin that we conceal becomes the sin that controls us.

And David says, Lord shine your light into every corner of my heart. Not because he wants to be condemned, because David desires to be free. Hey, what if you and I said, Lord shine your light in every corner of my heart? Not because we want to be beat up and not because we just want to be afflicted by God, but because we say, God I want to be free from the things that I hide. I want to be free from the things that, that I go to when I think no one’s looking.

I want you to catch this, this is so important: God doesn’t reveal sin to shame us. He reveals sin to change us. The most dangerous sin in your life, they’re usually the sins, they’re not usually the sins you fight. They’re the sins that you’ve learned to live with.

So David prays search me. Look at what he says next. He says this: show me. See if there’d be any offensive way in me. In the prayer it just goes deeper. David isn’t asking God to expose sin. He’s asking God to identify it, to name it, to confront it. Because we’ve all got blind spots.

Let me tell you how our blind spots really catch us. We rename sin so that we don’t have to repent from it. We rename sin so that we feel better about it. We call pride confidence. We call bitterness discernment. You see that’s kind of silly. Yeah, I know. It gets very irrational when we start to cover our sin. We call greed wisdom, we call selfishness self-care. And David says, God would you reveal in me all the things that I’ve renamed, all the things that I’ve hidden, because I want you more than I want my way.

David saying, Lord don’t let me lie to myself. Show me what I can’t see. I want to read you this, this is so good for us: confession isn’t about informing God of something that he doesn’t know. It’s agreeing with God about what he already knows.

We get to the third thing in this verse: lead me. Lead me in the everlasting way. This is where everything has been leading this entire time. David is saying, Lord whatever you find, Lord whatever you show me, change me. Lead me, shape me, mold me, make me more like Jesus.

I’m gunna be honest with you, this might be one of the hardest prayers of all. Because everybody wants Jesus as Savior. Everybody wants eternal life. We want Jesus as Savior, hear me. We rarely want him as shepherd. Because if we wanted him as shepherd we would be praying just like David is praying: Lord lead me, Lord show me what’s in here, and Lord whatever you find in here reveal it to me. Because Lord I don’t want it to be that way.

See, it’s our natural desire to want God to be close enough to rescue us, but not always close enough to lead us. See, the greatest evidence of God leading in your life isn’t that he takes you where you want to go. It’s that you’re willing to follow him where you never plan to go. That you’re willing to follow him where you don’t want to go.

So David praise search me, show me, lead me. Hey, we’re really good praying God bless me. We’re really good at praying God protect me. We’re good at praying God heal me, God give me. Hey church, when’s the last time you and I prayed God search me, God show me, God lead me? Because I’m telling you, it’s not a scary prayer. That’s a prayer that someone prays who just doesn’t want information about God, they want the transformation of God.

If you’ve been saved this morning, if you know Jesus as your Savior, he’s your Savior. If he saved you, if he redeemed you, if he changed you, if he gave you a new nature, why wouldn’t we want him as Shepherd?

See, the reason that David can pray without fear, the reason that David can pray, is because he knows God already knows everything about him. See, God searching you is, is the God that formed you. God searching you is the God that thinks about you. The God searching you is the God who never leaves you. God searching you is the God who sent his son to die for you.

I want you to put that in perspective for a moment. The God searching you is the God who sent his son to die for you. Hey, he knows your sin. He knows all of it. Past, present, future. The reason we know this is because he sent his only son to die on the cross for that sin, past, present, future.

So God searching you, and God convicting you, and God leading you, it should never be a scary thing for us, because he already knows it all. If you’re believer, he’s already paid for it your life, so why wouldn’t we pray? Why wouldn’t we come to him just knowing, Lord you’ve already said it’s covered, it’s under the blood, I don’t have to be in fear of it anymore. Why wouldn’t we just come to him and say, Lord search me, Lord show me, Lord lead me.

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