God Knows And Still

Psalm 139 brings hearts back to the shock and awe of a great God who knows everything and is still full of love. The Psalms meet people in the real stuff of life, in worry, anger, failure, fear, opposition, and those seasons when life comes at them ninety miles an hour. Psalm 1 gives wisdom, Psalm 23 gives comfort, Psalm 51 gives restoration, and Psalm 90 calls God’s people to number their days because how they live here and now affects then and there.

God’s Word is not given for academics or just so somebody can quote a verse. The truths of God are like soap. They must be picked up and applied, or hearts stay greasy, dirty, and unchanged. Psalm 139 presses three questions into the soul: Does God still shock and awe His people? Do they take His truth to heart? Have they applied it to their lives?

David begins with the mind blowing reality that God knows. God knows every sitting down, every rising up, every path, every word before it comes out, and every thought afar off. God sees the real person, not merely the outward appearance. God knows the good, the bad, and the ugly, including the second look, hidden motives behind service, gossip dressed up as a prayer request, and even the mouse clicks made in secret. Yet God’s knowledge is not meant to make His children shrink back. God hedges them behind and before, lays His hand upon them, keeps them from things that would harm them, and leads them into places they may never have gone without Him.

David then marvels that God is there. Heaven, hell, the uttermost parts of the sea, light, darkness, highways, and byways cannot put anyone outside God’s presence. God is always everywhere, and no scheme hidden under cover of night escapes His sight. God’s omnipresence brings comfort, not panic, because His hand leads and His right hand holds. Stockpiles and fearful headlines cannot provide the security that belongs to the God who never leaves His people flat, busted, or disgusted.

God also forms and knows each life in the womb. David praises God because every person is fearfully and wonderfully made, a masterpiece of the Master Craftsman, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand. God’s precious thoughts toward His children outnumber the sand, and His presence will remain even when they awake into resurrection life.

David’s hatred of evil finally turns inward: “Search me, O God.” God’s holiness calls His people not toward condemnation, which drives a wedge and pushes hearts away, but toward conviction, which draws them near for restoration. Christ knew every heart and still died to forgive, restore, and make sons and daughters of God. Psalm 139 therefore calls hearts to lean in, invite God’s searching gaze, and walk in the way everlasting.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God knows the real heart. God does not merely see outward behavior, religious activity, or carefully managed appearances. God knows the thought before it forms, the word before it is spoken, and the motive behind every act of service. This truth cuts through pretending, yet it also gives deep comfort because God’s full knowledge does not cancel His love. [33:52]
• 2. God’s presence holds His people. God is not absent in dark seasons, unfamiliar roads, or places where hearts feel overwhelmed. His hand leads, and His right hand holds, even when circumstances give no easy explanation. Fear may plan for every possible disaster, but God’s presence gives a steadiness that stockpiles cannot provide. [40:50]
• 3. Every life bears God’s craftsmanship. God forms inward parts and knits a person together in the womb with care, purpose, and glory. Human life is never a disposable clump or an accidental interruption, because God’s creative work is taking place. Identity finds its truest footing in being known and made by the Master Craftsman. [45:49]
• 4. Conviction calls hearts to lean in. Condemnation says a person is worthless and should hide from God, but conviction calls that person back into the light. David does not run from the God who knows him completely. David invites God to search, try, expose, and lead him in the way everlasting. [53:52]
• 5. Christ died knowing everything. God did not send Jesus because humanity was better than He knew. Christ died with full knowledge of every failure, every detour, and every wicked way in the heart. The cross therefore reveals a love that is not naive, but holy, costly, and able to restore.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [16:37] - The Church of the Living God
• [18:43] - Opening Psalm 139
• [20:14] - Why Hearts Love the Psalms
• [23:44] - Numbering Days and Eternal Ripples
• [26:13] - Truths Must Be Applied
• [29:03] - God Knows Everything
• [31:46] - God Looks at the Heart
• [34:31] - Hedged In for Good
• [37:01] - God Is Always Everywhere
• [40:50] - His Hand Leads and Holds
• [44:11] - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
• [49:35] - Hating Evil and Choosing God’s Side
• [51:28] - He Knew and Still Sent Jesus
• [53:52] - Conviction, Not Condemnation
• [56:03] - Children of God and Purity

Bible Reading

Psalm 139
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” [29:03]

1 Samuel 16:7
“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.’” [31:46]

Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [45:49]

Hebrews 4:13
“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” [43:11]

1 John 3:1-3
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” [56:03]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 139:1-6, what ordinary parts of David’s life does he say God knows, and how far does God’s knowledge reach?
2. What does Psalm 139 say God does for David even in the farthest place or darkest place he could imagine? [40:50]
3. According to Psalm 139:13-18, what words describe God’s involvement in a person’s life before birth?
4. What does David ask God to do in Psalm 139:23-24, and what does he ask God to show him? [55:01]

Interpretation questions

1. Since God looks at the heart rather than outward appearance, what does that reveal about religious activity, serving others, or saying the right words while carrying wrong motives inside? [32:16]
2. Psalm 139 says God both knows everything about His people and hems them in behind and before. How can God’s complete knowledge be both sobering and comforting to a believer? [34:51]
3. David responds to God’s presence with confidence that God’s hand will lead and hold him. How does that truth reshape the way a believer faces an uncertain future without pretending that hard circumstances are easy? [41:28]
4. David does not hide from God after recognizing that God sees every grievous way; he asks God to search him. What is the difference between conviction that brings a person toward restoration and condemnation that drives a person away? [53:52]

Application questions

1. God knows the real person, including the thoughts, words, motives, and private choices that no one else sees. Is there an area of life where it is easy to manage appearances while avoiding honesty before God? What would it look like to bring that area into His light this week? [33:16]
2. God’s knowledge of His people does not cancel His love. When failure or shame makes you want to pull away from God, what helps you remember that Christ already knew and still died to forgive and restore? [51:47]
3. God may sometimes keep His children from something they strongly want because He sees what they cannot see. Can you identify a closed door, delay, or disappointment that you need to place back in God’s hands? [35:17]
4. God is present on every road, including difficult highways and byways. Where are you presently feeling anxious, alone, or overwhelmed, and how could Psalm 139:10 become a specific prayer in that situation? [52:16]
5. Fear can tempt people to place their security in plans, possessions, savings, or “what if” preparations. What practical planning is wise, and where might worry be trying to replace trust in the God who leads and holds His people? [41:51]
6. Every person is fearfully and wonderfully made and is God’s workmanship. How might this truth change the way you speak about yourself, treat another person, or respond to someone who feels unseen or without worth? [45:49]
7. David prayed, “Search me, O God.” What is one specific habit, relationship, conversation, or hidden attitude you would be willing to ask God to search? If He reveals something, what could repentance and a step toward the “way everlasting” look like? [55:20]