WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.940 Psalm 139 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:59.980 Psalm 139 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:29.980 Psalm 139 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:59.980 Psalm 139 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.640 Your enemies take your name in vain. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:03.760 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:06.760 And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:08.740 I hate them with complete hatred. 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:10.400 I count them my enemies. 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:13.280 Search me, O God, and know my heart. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.080 Try me and know my thoughts. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.340 And see if there be any grievous way in me. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:22.280 And lead me in the way everlasting. 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:30.539 So in the song that you guys might know by Casting Crowns called, Does Anybody Hear Her? 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:38.739 There's a chorus that laments how the church is oblivious to the struggles of a hypothetical woman. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:40.459 And the chorus says, 00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:41.700 Does anybody hear her? 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:43.540 Can anybody see? 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:46.640 Or does anybody even know she's going down today? 00:02:47.480 --> 00:02:50.620 Under the shadow of our steeple with all the lost and lonely people. 00:02:51.100 --> 00:02:53.719 Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me. 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:55.560 Does anybody hear her? 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:56.719 Can anybody see? 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:03.939 And every human being wants to be known and wants to be understood, to be loved, to be seen. 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:08.819 And Psalm 139 assures us about the God who knows. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:10.319 God who knows us. 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.800 And teaches us that no matter what the situation we might be in, 00:03:14.360 --> 00:03:16.599 we can trust Him because He knows. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.759 And the word know is a key word that occurs throughout the Psalm. 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:22.659 So it's six times throughout the Psalm. 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:25.819 And so what exactly does God know? 00:03:25.819 --> 00:03:29.259 So first we see God's omniscience in verses 1 to 6. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.620 Then God's omnipresence in verses 7 to 12. 00:03:33.019 --> 00:03:35.699 And then God's providence in verses 13 to 18. 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:39.560 And then David's innocence in verses 19 to 24. 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:45.000 So first, David speaks of God's omniscience in verses 1 to 6. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:48.740 It's not immediately apparent when you first read the Psalm. 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:55.359 But this Psalm is actually kind of a protestation of innocence on David's part. 00:03:55.819 --> 00:04:01.340 He is appealing to God for vengeance, saying that he is on his side. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:04.819 He has been faithful to him and calling on God to deliver him. 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:09.859 And that comes out clearly later in verses 19 to 20 when he asks God to slay the wicked 00:04:09.859 --> 00:04:13.240 and talks about how he has hated his enemies, God's enemies. 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:18.319 And so this context is really very similar to Jeremiah 12, 1 to 4, 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:24.300 where Jeremiah decries the flourishing of the wicked and asks God to judge them. 00:04:24.780 --> 00:04:28.079 So why does the way of the wicked prosper, he asks God? 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:30.680 Why do all who are treacherous thrive? 00:04:30.960 --> 00:04:32.639 You plant them and they take root. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:34.000 They grow and produce fruit. 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.480 You are near in their mouth and far from their heart. 00:04:37.480 --> 00:04:43.180 But you, O Lord, know me, you see me, and test my heart toward you. 00:04:43.660 --> 00:04:47.500 Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter and set them apart for the day of slaughter. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.780 So Jeremiah's reasoning in that chapter, chapter 12, is basically this, 00:04:51.900 --> 00:04:53.160 that God, you know me. 00:04:53.819 --> 00:04:55.259 You know my heart toward you. 00:04:55.780 --> 00:04:58.560 So deliver me and punish the wicked who oppose me, right? 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.020 And that's David's point too. 00:05:01.080 --> 00:05:03.620 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:06.740 O Lord, you of all people know me inside and out. 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:08.160 You know what I stand for. 00:05:08.340 --> 00:05:09.579 You know that I'm loyal to you. 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:10.600 So come to my aid. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.319 Defend me and vindicate me. 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:18.060 And then in verses 2 to 6, David marvels at God's omniscience, his all-knowingness. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:19.560 God knows all things. 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:19.840 It says, 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.399 You know when I sit down and when I rise up, 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:24.060 you discern my thoughts from afar. 00:05:24.699 --> 00:05:28.620 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:30.939 Even before a word is on my tongue, 00:05:30.939 --> 00:05:32.959 behold, O Lord, you know it all together. 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:36.600 You hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me. 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.100 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:39.759 It is high. 00:05:39.840 --> 00:05:40.939 I cannot attain it. 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.639 So using pairs of opposite acts, 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:47.959 sitting and rising, lying down and walking about, 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:50.740 David conveys the truth that God knows all of our thoughts, 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:53.300 all of our ways, no matter what we're doing. 00:05:54.100 --> 00:05:55.519 So God goes before us. 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:56.740 He comes after us. 00:05:56.819 --> 00:05:59.379 And his providential hand is always on us. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.279 And for that reason, God has complete, exhaustive knowledge of us. 00:06:04.379 --> 00:06:05.659 He intimately knows us. 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:10.139 And even though we ourselves cannot begin to fathom the depth of God's knowledge. 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:13.339 And this was, for David, a source of comfort. 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:18.279 So likewise, when you feel like no one understands you, 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:19.719 when you feel lonely, 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.379 when you feel like no one truly knows you, 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:24.480 that no one really is listening to you, 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.660 you can know this, that God knows. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:30.340 And then in verses 7 to 12, 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:32.360 David speaks of God's omnipresence, 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:34.640 how he is everywhere, all presentness. 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:36.960 Where shall I go from your spirit? 00:06:37.140 --> 00:06:38.819 Where shall I flee from your presence? 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:41.080 If I ascend to heaven, you are there. 00:06:41.280 --> 00:06:43.340 If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 00:06:43.700 --> 00:06:45.620 If I take the wings of the morning 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:47.759 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 00:06:48.200 --> 00:06:50.180 even there your hand shall lead me 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:51.780 and your right hand shall hold me. 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:54.759 If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:56.239 and the light about me be night. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.679 Even the darkness is not dark to you. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:00.619 The night is bright as the day, 00:07:00.719 --> 00:07:02.419 for darkness is as light with you. 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:07.279 Once again, David's using here the extremes of heaven and Sheol, 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.359 the under-earth realm of the dead, 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:12.500 and the uttermost parts of the sea, 00:07:12.679 --> 00:07:14.819 these expressions to communicate the truth 00:07:14.819 --> 00:07:16.819 that there is no place in the cosmos 00:07:16.819 --> 00:07:18.619 where God is not present. 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:21.920 There is no place that is not known to God 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:22.699 where we can hide. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.060 It's the same sentiment that Jeremiah 23, 24 expresses. 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:29.379 Can a man hide himself in secret places 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:31.680 so that I cannot see him, declares the Lord? 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.879 Do I not fill heaven and earth, declares the Lord. 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.160 So because God fills the heaven and earth, 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:41.660 even Sheol, the mysterious realm of the dead, 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:42.480 is known to God, 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:44.980 then how much more is everywhere else, 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:47.540 every other place known completely to God? 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:50.700 Even the cover of darkness cannot hide us 00:07:50.700 --> 00:07:53.600 because even the darkness will be like light to God. 00:07:54.620 --> 00:07:57.960 And this is supposed to be a source of comfort for us as well, right? 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.060 When you are studying abroad 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:01.879 and you don't know anyone 00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:03.720 and feel isolated in a foreign culture, 00:08:04.100 --> 00:08:06.439 when you are sitting in the dark 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.759 and feeling lonely in a room alone, 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.620 when you feel like running away from everyone, 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:18.160 when you feel like hiding out of guilt and shame, 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.699 when you contemplate maybe even taking your own life 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:23.159 as a way of escape, right? 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:24.399 God knows. 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:26.899 There is no place where God is not. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.720 There is no place where He does not see you, 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:31.659 knows you, and loves you, 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:34.120 and He will never let you run from Him, right? 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:37.379 And David uses God's omnipresence 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:40.560 as kind of an alibi for himself 00:08:40.560 --> 00:08:41.860 to prove his innocence. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:43.100 So he's saying, 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:44.279 God, you know where I've been. 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:45.580 You know everywhere I've been. 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:46.920 You know all my thoughts. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:48.200 My heart is laid before you. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.300 You know that I have never denied you. 00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:52.259 You know that I have been faithful to you. 00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:53.259 So that's David's plea. 00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:56.360 But not only is God everywhere, 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:58.800 He's also been with David throughout his entire life 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:00.559 and eternity beyond that. 00:09:00.839 --> 00:09:03.979 And so verses 13 to 18 is about God's providence. 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:05.399 It says, 00:09:05.479 --> 00:09:07.579 For you formed my inward parts. 00:09:07.879 --> 00:09:10.179 You knitted me together in my mother's womb. 00:09:10.339 --> 00:09:11.179 I praise you, 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:13.000 for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:15.099 Wonderful are your works. 00:09:15.199 --> 00:09:16.819 My soul knows it very well. 00:09:17.299 --> 00:09:19.159 My frame was not hidden from you 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:20.819 when I was being made in secret, 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:23.599 intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 00:09:24.259 --> 00:09:26.439 Your eyes saw my unformed substance. 00:09:26.579 --> 00:09:27.579 In your book were written, 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:28.520 In every one of them, 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:30.060 the days that were formed for me, 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:32.060 when as yet there was none of them. 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:34.720 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:36.300 How vast is the sum of them! 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:37.600 If I would count them, 00:09:37.660 --> 00:09:38.800 they are more than the sand. 00:09:38.920 --> 00:09:40.639 I awake and I am still with you. 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.200 So David's exclaiming 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.300 that he is God's handiwork. 00:09:46.420 --> 00:09:48.160 He is God's personal handiwork. 00:09:48.660 --> 00:09:49.840 And the metaphor of knitting 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:51.480 really conveys kind of how intimately 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.020 God is involved in our creation. 00:09:53.580 --> 00:09:54.920 And David praises God, 00:09:54.920 --> 00:09:55.140 saying, 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:59.100 What does that mean? 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:00.360 Fearfully and wonderfully, 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:01.460 meaning in a manner, 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:02.679 God created us in a manner 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:04.939 that inspires awe and fear, 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:05.919 reverence, 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.559 wonder, right? 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:10.919 I don't know if you guys have ever seen, 00:10:11.839 --> 00:10:12.119 I mean, 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:13.339 I guess we all probably have. 00:10:13.439 --> 00:10:14.779 You've probably seen one of those 00:10:14.779 --> 00:10:16.639 Apple marketing videos 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:18.559 with Johnny Ives, 00:10:18.699 --> 00:10:20.099 Johnny Ives, 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:21.399 you guys know what I'm talking about? 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:24.199 So he used to be the chief design officer at Apple. 00:10:24.479 --> 00:10:25.199 He has this, 00:10:25.199 --> 00:10:25.859 you know, 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.299 smooth voice 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:30.879 and this sophisticated British accent. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:34.539 And he talks in these Apple marketing videos 00:10:34.539 --> 00:10:37.000 about this painstaking detail 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:38.279 that they paid attention to 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.399 and the premium materials that they used 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:41.179 and all the stuff, 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:42.779 the rigorous process that they went through 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:44.500 to create this Apple product. 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:46.500 And then by the end of the video, 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.100 most people watching it are salivating. 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:52.179 And when you look at the way he describes 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.159 how they made those Apple products, 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.120 really the best way to describe it 00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:59.019 is the tone is really almost reverential. 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:00.159 You know, 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:03.379 they talk about how fearfully they made it. 00:11:03.439 --> 00:11:03.899 You know what I mean? 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:05.960 And so in that sense, 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.019 in a much greater sense, 00:11:07.079 --> 00:11:07.819 it's true of us. 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:08.079 You know, 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:10.500 God fearfully and wonderfully made us. 00:11:11.699 --> 00:11:14.720 And it says in verse 15, 00:11:14.819 --> 00:11:16.759 My frame was not hidden from you 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:18.579 when I was being made in secret, 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:20.519 intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:21.259 Our frame, 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:23.019 however strong we think we might be, 00:11:23.100 --> 00:11:25.079 however weak we think we might be, 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:26.720 however healthy we might be, 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:28.120 however frail, 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:29.580 and we might be, 00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:32.320 it's not unknown to God. 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:33.259 He made us, right? 00:11:33.299 --> 00:11:34.659 He knows our every cell. 00:11:35.299 --> 00:11:37.820 He knows every organ in our body, 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:38.560 every muscle, 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:39.759 every vessel. 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:41.919 He knows our every DNA. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:45.200 And He made us fearfully and wonderfully. 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:48.980 And He didn't just create us 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:50.639 just to leave us to run on our own, 00:11:50.700 --> 00:11:52.340 like a watchmaker who makes a watch 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:53.779 and lets it run by itself, right? 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:55.699 He providentially guides 00:11:55.699 --> 00:11:58.459 every single day of our lives, right? 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.919 And it says in verse 16, 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:03.319 Your eyes saw my unformed substance. 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:05.259 In your book were written 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:06.139 every one of them, 00:12:06.199 --> 00:12:07.720 the days that were formed for me, 00:12:07.839 --> 00:12:09.379 when as yet there was none of them. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:11.919 So before we took our first breath, 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:12.240 right, 00:12:12.299 --> 00:12:13.579 before we were conceived, 00:12:13.839 --> 00:12:15.480 before even the foundation of the world, 00:12:16.199 --> 00:12:17.459 as it says in Ephesians 1, 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:17.759 4, 00:12:17.860 --> 00:12:19.439 every single one of our days 00:12:19.439 --> 00:12:21.000 was written in God's book. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.379 So that means the biggest surprises 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:24.500 of your life, 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:26.580 your highest triumphs 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:28.120 and your lowest setbacks 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:29.179 and disappointments 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:31.340 didn't surprise God, right? 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:32.259 When you were diagnosed 00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:34.379 with that illness, right? 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:36.600 When you were abused by that person, 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:38.179 when you married that man or woman 00:12:38.179 --> 00:12:39.019 and met that person, 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:41.519 nothing has ever caught God by surprise. 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:43.379 And nothing has ever happened 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:44.679 outside of His perfect, 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:45.960 sovereign will. 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:48.539 And even though we might not understand 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:50.200 why some of these things have happened, 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:51.860 we can't understand the who 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:53.640 and that is that God 00:12:53.640 --> 00:12:55.300 who loves us and cares for us 00:12:55.300 --> 00:12:56.580 and who is sovereign over us 00:12:56.580 --> 00:12:58.540 has always been there for us 00:12:58.540 --> 00:12:59.379 and has been guiding us 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:00.460 and overseeing our lives. 00:13:00.560 --> 00:13:01.220 God knows. 00:13:01.900 --> 00:13:03.160 And that's what's so precious. 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:04.980 That's a precious thought to us 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:06.960 and it was precious to David. 00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:08.440 It says in verses 17 and 18, 00:13:08.540 --> 00:13:10.440 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:12.500 How vast is the sum of them! 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:14.000 If I would count them, 00:13:14.060 --> 00:13:15.240 they are more than the sand. 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:16.980 I awake and I am still with you. 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:19.980 So that no matter what the situation is, 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:21.720 we can trust God because He knows. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.840 And it's that knowledge of God's knowledge 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:27.460 that enables David 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:31.460 or motivates David to plead his innocence before God 00:13:31.460 --> 00:13:33.440 and to call for the judgment of his enemies 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:34.720 in that last section, 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:36.060 verses 19 to 24. 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:37.620 He says, 00:13:37.620 --> 00:14:06.639 So David knows that he has not sided with the enemies of God. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:07.319 He, 00:14:07.899 --> 00:14:11.439 this doesn't contradict Jesus' teaching to love your enemies 00:14:11.439 --> 00:14:14.480 because these are not David's personal enemies. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:16.019 These are God's enemies 00:14:16.019 --> 00:14:18.620 and it's precisely because they are God's enemies 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:20.120 that people who oppose God 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:21.720 that David counts them as his enemies. 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:25.199 And it's not a virtue to be indifferent toward evil. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.179 Loving what God loves 00:14:27.179 --> 00:14:28.500 and hating what God hates 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:30.340 is what godliness is, right? 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:34.160 And so David is attesting to his innocence, 00:14:34.160 --> 00:14:35.879 but he's not claiming to be sinless. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.720 He acknowledges his sins freely in other places like Psalm 51, 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:41.460 but he's making the case 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:44.360 that he has never turned decisively away from God. 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:45.840 He has always worshipped God 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:46.960 and in that sense 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.680 and never betrayed Him. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.379 And so he asks God, 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:54.259 he began the psalm by praying, 00:14:54.359 --> 00:14:54.699 O Lord, 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:56.159 you have searched me and known me. 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:58.759 And he ends in verses 23 and 24 00:14:58.759 --> 00:14:59.679 with the same thought, 00:14:59.819 --> 00:15:00.979 Search me, O God, 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:02.239 and know my heart. 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:04.379 Try me and know my thoughts. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:07.019 So consistent with the rest of the psalm, 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.379 David's not asking God to identify 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:10.779 kind of the grievous way, 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:12.019 sinful ways in him 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:13.539 and then to correct him. 00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:16.379 Rather, he's asking God to search him and test him 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:18.120 knowing that when God does that, 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:19.139 he will be vindicated. 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:22.179 Knowing that God will then come to his aid 00:15:22.179 --> 00:15:22.879 and deliver him 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:24.419 and lead him in the way everlasting. 00:15:25.439 --> 00:15:27.279 And we as God's people 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.320 can also lay hold of this promise 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:30.200 as David did. 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:33.759 And this is actually, 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.059 we were just singing about this. 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:35.879 We sang the song, 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:36.939 His Mercy is More. 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:39.080 We said, 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:40.860 What love could remember 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:42.299 no wrongs we have done. 00:15:43.220 --> 00:15:44.679 Omniscient all-knowing, 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:46.720 He counts not their sum. 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:49.980 Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore. 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:51.740 Our sins they are many, 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:52.919 His mercy is more. 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.299 And that's what's amazing about this 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:56.740 is God is omniscient. 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:58.220 He knows all things. 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.799 He knows all the secret lusts of our hearts, 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:02.419 the sacred, 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:03.059 you know, 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:05.099 the sins, 00:16:05.719 --> 00:16:07.459 our grumbling of our hearts. 00:16:07.979 --> 00:16:09.500 He knows where we have been, 00:16:09.579 --> 00:16:09.979 everywhere. 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:12.500 He knows every single one of our days 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:14.079 like an open book before Him. 00:16:14.819 --> 00:16:16.639 And if we are honest with ourselves, 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:18.659 this is something that should make us tremble. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:19.979 And yet, 00:16:20.099 --> 00:16:20.339 God, 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.199 who is omniscient, 00:16:21.599 --> 00:16:23.139 chose not to remember 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:24.519 our sins against us. 00:16:24.839 --> 00:16:27.099 He chose not to count the sum of our sins, 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:28.920 and that's because of what Jesus has done. 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:31.680 Because another David came, 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:32.120 Jesus, 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:33.800 the new David, 00:16:33.920 --> 00:16:34.720 the better David, 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:37.240 of whom the Father said, 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:38.200 My beloved Son, 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:39.620 with whom I am well pleased. 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:41.860 The Father searched Jesus 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:42.680 and knew Jesus 00:16:42.680 --> 00:16:44.460 and there was no blemish in Him. 00:16:44.540 --> 00:16:44.920 And yet, 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:47.399 Jesus died on the cross. 00:16:47.800 --> 00:16:49.420 He was punished for sinners, 00:16:49.560 --> 00:16:50.180 for sins, 00:16:50.820 --> 00:16:52.820 because He was carrying our sins. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.860 And it's only when we put our faith in Jesus, 00:16:56.400 --> 00:17:00.820 it's only when we have been declared innocent, 00:17:01.280 --> 00:17:01.960 justified, 00:17:02.680 --> 00:17:04.380 declared righteous by God, 00:17:04.460 --> 00:17:06.200 that we can really pray this, 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:07.700 as David did, 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:09.039 just pray this psalm.