In Psalm 139, David revealed the magnitude of God’s presence in our lives. He said God examines the depth of our hearts and knows everything about you and me.
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. Psalm 139:1
I’m sure you have people in your life who feel they know everything about you. They may try to predict your actions, but nobody knows you like God does.
Those closest to you may take an educated guess of how you might handle a situation. David, though, said God doesn’t guess. He knows you in and out.
You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. Psalm 139:2-4
I used the word magnitude earlier to describe God. Since creation, think about the billions of people who have lived on this earth. God knew everything about each of them.
That blows my mind. When people want to know everything about us, we often refer to them as busybodies. God has a different purpose, though, in knowing everything about us.
You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Psalm 139:5
God knows every move you and I make. According to what David wrote, God gets to our destination before we do. Yet, He brings up the rear as we make our way there.
God is Too Great to Understand
I don’t know about you, but that surpasses my understanding. Fortunately, I’m not alone in my thinking. Look what David wrote in the next verse.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! Psalm 139:6
God knows your every move, no matter where you go or what you do. Which means you can’t hide anything or keep secrets from Him.
I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there, if I go down to the grave, you are there. Psalm 139:7-8
Of course, we can’t go up to heaven or down to the grave, but God cares for us as we live between the two.
David earlier said that God blesses us. In the next verse, His presence in our lives guides and supports us. Aren’t you glad no matter where we go, God is there?
If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. Psalm 139:9-10
I found the next couple of verses regarding darkness and light very interesting. People try to get away with things in the darkness so no one can see them do it.
You can’t hide from God in the darkness because even then, He knows your every move. God can see through the darkest of nights, the same as the light of day.
I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:11-12
God Knows You Better than Anyone Else Does
Have you ever heard someone say, “I knew you from when you were knee-high to a grasshopper?” It means they knew you from early in your life.
Today, God knows you. But He has known you from before your birth. Using poetic phrases, David described how the Lord put all our parts together in the womb.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. Psalm 139:13-15
As we continue reading this Psalm, God’s plans for us didn’t start in the womb. That process only began our physical formation. He had us in mind well before that.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:16
Every person needs to understand the impact of what David wrote in this Psalm. God has never made a mistake. He has created every person on the face of the earth.
Some people feel their birth was a mistake. Maybe you know someone who feels that way, or perhaps you feel that way.
The circumstance of your conception doesn’t diminish God’s love for you. He knew you before your conception, and He knows you now. Plus, He loves and cares for each of us.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! Psalm 139:17-18
Let God Help You Search Your Heart
Because God knows you, He promises in His Word that He will never leave or forsake you. But He also wants to help us look deep into our hearts so we can love Him back.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24
So, God knows you. He loves you. And He wants you to spend eternity with Him! That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for your sins.
Lord, there is absolutely nowhere we can go that you aren’t already there. Thank you for placing your hand of blessing on our lives.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Perspectives
Featured Image by Janosch Diggelmann on Unsplash
