PSALMS LESSON 141
We will begin this lesson by giving the 139th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 139
Verse 1. "Lord, thou hast searched me, and hast known My rising up
and lying down, And from afar thy searching eye Beholds my
thoughts that secret lie."
Verse 2. "Thou know'st my path and lying down, And all my ways to
thee are known; For in my tongue no word can be, But, lo, O
Lord, 'tis known to thee."
Verse 3. "Behind, before me, thou dost stand, And lay on me thy
mighty hand; Such knowledge is for me too strange, 'Tis high
beyond my utmost range."
Verse 4. "O whither shall my footsteps fly, Beyond thy Spirit's
searching eye? To what retreat shall I repair, And find not
thy dread presence there?"
Verse 5. "If I to heaven shall ascend, Thy presence there will me
attend; If in the grave I make my bed, Lo, there I find thy
presence dread."
Verse 6. "If on the morning wings I flee, And dwell in utmost parts
of sea; Even there thy hand shall guide my way, And thy
right hand shall be my stay."
Verse 7. "Or, if I say, to shun thine eye, In shades of darkness I
will lie, Around me then the very noght Will shine as shines
the moon-day light."
Verse 8. "From thee the shades can nought disguise, The night is day
before thine eyes; The darkness is to thee as bright As are
the beams of noon-day light."
Verse 9. "My very reigns belong to thee; Thou in the womb didst cover
me; And I to thee will praise proclaim, For fearful,
wondrous is my frame."
Verse 10. "Thy works are wonderful, I know; And when in depths of
earth below, This complicated frame was made, "Twas all
before thine eyes displayed."
Verse 11. "My substance yet unformed by thee, Thy searching eyes did
clearly see; My days were written every one, Within thy
books, one yet begun."
Verse 12. "Thy thoughts, O God, to me are dear, l How vast their
numbers do appear! More than the sand my rock'nings make,
I'm still with thee when I awake."
Verse 13. "Thou wilt the wicked slay, O God; Depart from me, ye men of
blood; Who speak of thee for ends profane, Thy foes who take
thy name in vain."
Verse 14. "Do not I hate thy haters, Lord? And thy assailants hold
abhorred? A pefect hatred them I show, And count each one to
me a foe."
Verse 15. "Search me, O God, my heart discorn, Try me, my very heart
to learn; See if in evil paths I stray. And guide me in
th'eternal way."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of the 139th Psalm.
Psalms 139:1 "{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} O LORD, thou
hast searched me, and known [me]."
This is speaking of the all knowing God. God's eyes can look into
our heart and read us like a book. He not only knows what we have done
and said, but he knows why we did those things. He knows whether we
really love Him or whether that to is a facade. If you truly love God,
then you are overjoyed at the fact that He has searched you and know
what you are. The world around us judges us for what they see. God
judges our heart.
Psalms 139:2 "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou
understandest my thought afar off."
He knows everything about you. Thank goodness that Satan does not
know your thoughts. Only God knows your thoughts. The wonderful thing
is that He not only knows your thoughts, but understands the reasons
behind your thoughts. He really knows us better than we know
ourselves.
Psalms 139:3 "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art
acquainted [with] all my ways."
Compassest in this verse means to toss about. Even when we are
sleeping, He knows our subconscious thought. I personally believe that
God directs us many times by our dreams.
Psalms 139:4 "For [there is] not a word in my tongue, [but], lo,
O LORD, thou knowest it altogether."
This statement {in my tongue} means that He knows the words that
we want to say that we have not said yet.
Psalms 139:5 "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid
thine hand upon me."
The psalmist, here, is speaking of a very close relationship with
the Lord. He is saying that He is going before him and clearing the
way and He is guarding the back side as well. Really if we are where
we really need to be, we are in Him and He is in us.
Psalms 139:6 "[Such] knowledge [is] too wonderful for me; it is
high, I cannot [attain] unto it."
This is so far beyond our understanding. Of course, as I have
said before, the fact that He created the earth and everything in it
is beyond my comprehension as well. When you think of someone who has
no beginning and no end is beyond our understanding as well.
Psalms 139:7 "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy presence?"
God is omnipresent, which means He is everywhere all at the same
time. You would not be able at all to get away from that. We are
looking into a mystery that is far beyond comprehension of the mortal
mind. The psalmist is comforted in knowing the presence of God.
Psalms 139:8 "If I ascend up into heaven, thou [art] there: if I
make my bed in hell, behold, thou [art there]."
One of the greatest promises to me, in all the Bible, is that He
will never leave us or forsake us. His throne is in the highest heaven
and that is home to Him, but He is also wherever His people are, even
to the depths of hell.
Psalms 139:9 "[If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea;" Psalms 139:10 "Even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."
Even if I had wings like an eagle and could fly to some remote
part of the earth where there would be a little hidden sea. The Lord
would be there. The Right Hand {Jesus} would be there to help me just
as He is here. We are His creation and He is concerned about us
wherever we are.
Psalms 139:11 "If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even
the night shall be light about me."
Have you ever been alone on a very dark night? For those who do
not know the Lord, this is a very frightening situation. For the
Christian, we are comforted in knowing, though the night be dark
around us, He is there to help us. He is the Light of the world. We
can be comforted in knowing that we have the Light with us in this
darkness.
Psalms 139:12 "Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the
night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light [are] both alike
[to thee]."
The darkness can not prevail against the Light. The Light will
always do away with darkness. It matters not whether this darkness is
spiritual or physical. The only way the darkness and light are alike
is that they both are controlled by Him.
Psalms 139:13 "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast
covered me in my mother's womb."
The psalmist is assured that God has been caring for him from the
time he was in his mothers womb. Have you ever noticed the special
care that God has taken in protecting His own even before they make a
decision to follow Him? In my own life it seems as if He has been
leading and guiding me to this very moment to do this very thing.
Psalms 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and]
wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul
knoweth right well."
Have you ever thought of what a miracle it really is for a child
to be born with 10 fingers and 10 toes and with eyes to see and a
mouth to speak? To look at all the parts in the human body and know
that God figured all of this out, is so far above what mortal man can
do. How could anyone doubt there is God. The more you learn about the
human body the more you should believe in the superiority of God.
Even the mind of man is the most intricate advanced computer in
existence. No wonder so many doctors, after beginning practice,
believe in God.
Psalms 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made
in secret, [and] curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth."
The mystery of how a human being can be formed from the sperm
planted is so far above what we know. I am still wondering how you can
plant an acorn in the ground and a great oak tree becomes. The secret
part of this is going on in the mother's womb, away from eyes of
wonder. When the baby is born, it is already developed into a living
soul.
Psalms 139:16 "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being
unperfect; and in thy book all [my members] were written, [which] in
continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of them."
This is just saying, You alone know what I was made of. God could
see man, even before he picked up the clay to make him with. We are
formed in the hands of God. He breathes life into us. If we are His,
He is still working with us, shaping us with His hands into a vessel
pleasing unto Him. To the world, I may seem as nothing but clay, but
in His eyes, He sees the finished product.
Psalms 139:17 "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them!"
What a wonderful thought to know that I am on His mind. Each
individual in all the earth is on His mind. When Jesus hung on the
cross and shed His precious blood, it was because we were on the mind
of God. He made a way for us where there seemed to be no way. When I
think upon this, it brings tears to my eyes, that He cared this much
for me and you. His thoughts are above our carnal thoughts.
Psalms 139:18 "[If] I should count them, they are more in number
than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."
If we were to compare His thoughts to ours: it would be as our
thoughts are like one grain of sand and His thoughts are like all the
grains of sands. We cannot with this small mind of ours know the mind
of God. We are promised in the Word, that we can take on the mind of
Christ if we are believers. I Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the
mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ." This is saying that we know what the Lord would have us to
do.
Psalms 139:19 "Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart
from me therefore, ye bloody men."
When God slays the wicked, I do not want to be close by. We have
discussed how we must not fellowship with evil men. It is as if you
approve of their doings when you fellowship with them. You would be
guilty by association.
Psalms 139:20 "For they speak against thee wickedly, [and] thine
enemies take [thy name] in vain."
If we are a Christian, truly, we can not bear to hear someone
talking badly about our God. Even worse than that would be to hear
them curse His holy name. Those who truly love God will not listen to
this type of degrading conversation.
Psalms 139:21 "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am
not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?"
This is righteous jealousy for the name of God. The Lord's
enemies and the enemies of the Christian should be the same. It breaks
my heart to hear someone curse the name of God.
Psalms 139:22 "I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine
enemies."
This hatred is not so much of the person as what the person is
doing. This type of hatred is not sin.
Psalms 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and
know my thoughts:"
The psalmist {probably David} is assured that when God looks into
his heart he will find nothing but love for God. Thoughts come from
the heart. If our heart is right, then the thoughts that we have will
be pure thoughts as well. One very good reason for a request like this
would be, for God to find anything that needs to be changed and help
him change.
Psalms 139:24 "And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting."
The psalmist here, is asking for a spiritual house cleaning. The
one who leads us and guides us and teaches us is the Holy Spirit of
God. Everyone of us have something in our life that could be improved
upon. WE need to join in with this psalmist and ask God to search our
innermost being and to purge out those things which be not of God. The
best way to get rid of any darkness that we might have hidden away, is
to turn the Light on it. The Light does away with all darkness.
Questions 141
1. In verse one, who had searched him and known him?
2. The world around us judges us by what they can see, God judges our
______.
3. Besides knowing your thoughts, what does God know?
4. What does compassest mean?
5. The author believes God sometimes directs us in our ________.
6. What does {in my tongue} mean?
7. What is verse 5 speaking of?
8. What are some things about God that are absolutely beyond our
understanding?
9. Why is it impossible to go where God is not?
10. From verse 8, what is the greatest promises in the Bible?
11. What are we to the Right Hand of God?
12. What comfort does the Christian have in the darkness?
13. Darkness can not prevail against the ______.
14. I will praise thee for I am ___________, and ___________ made.
15. What is the mind of man?
16. What is the secret spoken of in verse 15?
17. What is verse 16 saying, about the knowledge of God?
18. He made a way for us where there seemed to be __ ___.
19. Compare our thoughts to God's thoughts.
20. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16.
21. Since God will destroy the wicked, the psalmist tells ______
______ to depart from him?
22. When you fellowship with evil people, what is it as if you are
doing?
23. Thine enemies take thy name in _____.
24. Who is it not a sin to hate?
25. Search me O God, and know my _______.
26. Why would we want the Lord to do this?
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