139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
139:2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my
thoughts from far away.
139:3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted
with all my ways.
139:4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it
completely.
139:5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I
cannot attain it.
139:13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me
together in my mother's womb.
139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
139:15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in
secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
139:16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were
written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as
yet existed.
139:17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the
sum of them!
If any of you have the book, Living Beyond the Daily Grind by
Charles Swindoll, pg. 348f, you will find such a powerful message
using Psalm 139 to show God Being omniscient, omnipresent,and
omnipotent. He answers the questions: How well does God know me (vv.
1-6), How close is God to me (vv. 7-12), How carefully has God made
me (vv.13-18) and How much does God protect and help me (vv. 19-24)?
These questions speak to the issues of the problem of identity, the
problem of loneliness, the problem of self image and the problem of
fear and worry.
I'm going to talk about how God has called us by name and how
precious we are- Ps. 139. Then I'll talk about hearing God's call
with I SAm and the gospel. God Bless, Rev. C in Saskatoon
My emphasis in preaching this text will be on the completeness and
intimacy of God's involvement in our creation and in our lives. God
knows every last little thing about us and knows even our words
before we speak them! This can be either a very scary situation or a
very joyous situation, depending on our relationship with God and on
how we are living our lives.
This is a really great text for emphasizing both the transcendence
and the immanence (sp?) of God. God's thoughts are so vast that we
can't comprehend them, and yet God has taken concern for every last
detail of us.
My big question this week is how to turn this passage into a
challenge. Sure, there is the obvious "God is watching you, so
behave." That's a legitimate message, but I think God is moving me
to say something more. Any thoughts out there?
-- Dan in Philly
I mostly "listen" at this sight. You all inspire me with wonderful
ideas. This week I feel lead to share. We don't often think about
what Jesus knows about us, honestly. With Samuel God know he was the
one who would carry the message to Eli, even though Samuel had a
difficult time recognizing God's call. Isn't that just like God to
pick the apprentice, the lesser one, to do the job. How often does
God call us and we respond with an attitude of "It's not my job" or
"as long as I don't open my big mouth I'll get out of this one"
What did God know about the church at Corinth? They definitely don't
have a good reputation. And still God called them in the midst of
their lack of discipline and bad habits. Didn't God know what they
were like? Did he miss sexual sins or the prostitute that hung
around? Or did he call them first and them work on changing their
faults as they learned more of his love. Ever have a known
prostitute come to your worship? Were then loved in such a way that
their lives might change or were they outcast because their lives
were not yet right.
What could God have been doing calling such people to his church? He
just couldn't know much about them! And look at Nathanael. Another
Jew who didn't want to believe. Just what Jesus needed! He had one
of the original disciples tell him about Jesus and still he didn't
believe. What was God up to? Jesus had enough problems keeping the
folks who willingly followed him in line without someone like
Nathanael. Just think he had to keep an eye on Peter. Just keeping
him alive could be a full time job. He'd be living on a mountain top
or drowned in the sea if not for Jesus.
Jesus needed a good solid believer not another stubborn doubter. God
couldn't know much about Nathanael or he wouldn't have chosen him.
Right? The Psalm reading pulls it all together. God knows all about
us and still loves us enough to die for us. God knows!! Not just
thinks he knows or is a luck guesser. God knows! I think I'll use
the title "What Does Jesus Know About Us?" Thanks for the
inspiration. BY in PA
Classic one to do with being known by God. It is a powerful poem of
relationship. How many of us can say anything like this about anyone
that we have known in our entire life. No-one. And that is because
this is about our relationship with the one who created us, and from
whom our life comes. It is interesting here to reflect that The poet
doesn’t only talk about God knowing his spirit but rather he knows
him physically and fully. The poet is fully overcome by the concept
of God knowing him so fully. Imagine if you can being so fully known
that nothing about you is a secret. He is so overcome and so aware
of the presence of the divine, that he pleads with God that he be
made pure.
He asks God to lay bare his soul and to correct anything that is
unacceptable. It is unconditional surrender to the Other, to God.
Somewhere in my spiritual journey it is this very thing that I have
begun to find difficult about religion. The idea of giving oneself
fully to an outside power is a complete anathema to our modern
society. Look at so many of our modern films and TV shows. So many
of them espouse this very idea that it is patently wrong to
surrender oneself to anything else in this way. Eg? I am also so
immersed in this that I find it emotionally difficult to conceive of
doing this, yet the psalmist is adamant that this is the only
possible reaction to being known so fully. Perhaps the most
difficult part of this reading for me is in the verses that tell of
the hate that the author has for those who hate God.
But this is in the nature of a love poem to God. It is a poem of
passion and high regard. In some ways it fills me with anxiety
because it is out of words such as these that fundamentalists all
over the world throughout history (and in Ambon at the moment)
justify the murder of others who believe differently than they do.
But that is not what this is referring to. The passage also referrs
to a book of the living which is a reference to those who were
servants of God. Most often when fundamentalists refer to this sort
of thing it is as if we have some idea of who is in and who is not.
The other readings this morning reflect a very different idea of who
knows this. Samuel is called by God and in a very direct way, but
has trouble identifying that it is indeed him that is called by God.
When Jesus calls his disciples they are every bit as surprised and
they are the most unlikely bunch. At least one of them (Nathaniel)
is even cynical about Jesus himself. A challenge to let ourselves be
known and to actively engage with others in knowing them?
Gordo Melbourne Australia
The question which intrigues me with this lovely and demanding psalm
is this: Do I want to be known and loved so completely? How we run
from this type of intimacy in our daily lives and interactions! "I
come to the end and am still with you." Perhaps this is a sermon
about accepting ourselves and sitting with ourselves, knowing we are
not alone. More musings later. Thanks. SDE in PA
My guess is that at the end of my life I'm probably going to be
concerned more about who knew me, than who I knew. As well, as much
as we desire to love someone, I think the desire to be loved is
perhaps greater.
The world says: "It's who you know."
This Psalm says: "It's who knows you."
Sure being known is scary, but there is also the element of security
here. God knows me, keeps me. The One who knows me best, loves me
most.
John near Pitts.
The expressions in this psalm are very basic to faith. Every Sunday,
during the Prayers of the People, I conclude by offering up our
unspoken requests. Our most intimate and personal of prayers, things
we would never tell anyone else but God alone, are those unspoken
requests. During that portion of the prayer time, I make some
affirmation of what the psalmist says, in "O LORD, you have searched
me and known me." God knows us better than we know ourselves, and
still loves us, and works in our lives, in hears our most private of
prayers. This intimacy only can come from God "knowing" us through
the Incarnation of Christ. PTL!
AO in PO
Why in the world would the Lectionary Committee leave out the
wonderful verses7-12? "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?" Not
hither, apparently. tom in TN(USA)
I think I'm going to use the whole psalm and read it responsively
out of the back of the United Methodist Hymnal. I also think I'm
going to put a lot of the sewing ladies' materials on the altar, for
the "fearfully and wonderfully made" part. If your congregation
needs a self-esteem booster, this is the time to do it!
What does it mean to be completely, utterly, and fully known?
Especially in light of all the scriptures on the undying love of God
for us. Wow. Matt in WA
I had this heretical thought going in my mind for a while now... You
know how our reality is not the Ultimate Reality, that the Ultimate
Reality can only be grounded in God... What if the whole physical
universe we have here, was just the thoughts of God. He thought of
me, and then therefore I exist! He thought of me, before He designed
and formed me. Like a programmer programmed automatons for a virtual
world. For sure the algorithmic rules and designs were already set
for each of them. What blow my minds is the capability of God to be
able to personally related to each one of us. The "personal
relationship with God" like what evangelicals like to say. How could
that be possible? We don't know, "How weighty to me are your
thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
What's the implications for having a God who knows me personally,
who loves me deeply, and who created me wonderfully? I can rest in
my trust in Him, that even though I am still have many flaws and
issues, but He is still working on me. He will not forsake me nor
write me off. He will see to it, I am sure, that I will turn out to
be what I was supposed to be.
I can rest in my trust in Him.
Coho, Midway City.
I wish more were using this scripture. I just got back from a
Directed Spiritual Retreat and this was the scripture that God
directed me to to use. Grace kept coming and coming! Vs 17 says it
all. One time I said, "God, how much more are You going to give me?"
I just heard a chuckle. I realized that God had my undivided
attention and He was going to shove everything in He could. The
really really "God-incidence" was when I came home and checked the
lectionary for the scriptures and this was the Psalm! I have a lot
to share about this, but I am not sure anyone will be reading on
this last day. If you are out there and want some of the stuff that
God gave me, let me know and I will share.
Blessings, Also in WV
Could it be that God didn't want others, but wanted you to discover
this site by yourself? In case someone might be reading, how about
just express somethings you experienced.
Shalom
