Psalms 139:1-6 - Homiletics

God's knowledge of us.

1. We sometimes say that "we know" a certain man who is a neighbor. By this we may mean nothing more than that we can distinguish him from his fellows, and give him his proper name. That is a slight acquaintance indeed.

2. Sometimes when we make such an affirmation we mean that we have a general knowledge of his occupation and his more outward and formal habits. That goes a very little way.

3. Sometimes we mean more than this—we intimate that we know what a man's principles are, what he believes, after what manner he worships, what are his tastes and his companionships. Here we may think that we have arrived at something very definite and solid.

4. We do not really know what a man's spirit is, and what is his real character, until we have seen him (as the apostles saw our Lord) both in public and in private—at those times when he is conscious of our observation, and when he is perfectly unrestrained, and expresses himself with unchecked freedom.

5. Even then, how imperfect is our knowledge of one another! how often and how greatly we mistake one another! how frequently we ascribe to one another deeds that were not done, or words that were not spoken, or feelings that were not cherished! how different we know ourselves to be—in character, in spirit, in motive—from the conception of ourselves which our neighbor has formed of us!

6. And, yet again, how far from being absolutely true is the estimate we form of ourselves! how possible and how practicable it is for us to over-estimate our virtues and under-estimate our weaknesses, our follies, our guilt! So much so that it is a question whether a man knows himself as well as his discerning neighbor does. We are convinced that it is often the case that the verdict of a man's intimate friend is much nearer the mark of truth than is his own.

7. The conclusion to which we are driven is that One, and only one, "knows us altogether." Only God knows us as we are. Guided by the text, we think of God's knowledge of us thus.

I. ALL THINGS ARE OPEN TO HIS VIEW . ( Psalms 139:1 .) He "searches "us through and through. There are inward recesses and remote points that escape our eye, but not one that escapes his penetrating, his far-reaching glance. We may conceal some things from man and elude his keenest search; we can hide nothing from God; he searches and knows all things, even the most secret chambers of the soul.

II. HE OBSERVES ALL OUR WAYS . ( Psalms 139:2 , Psalms 139:3 .) From morning till evening, from evening till morning, everything is done before him. He is the Lord "before whom we stand," as the old prophets used to say. There is no action of ours that is too slight for his notice; he is the Infinite One, and infinity reaches downwards as well as upwards.

III. HE IS FAMILIAR WITH EVERY UTTERED WORD AND UNUTTERED THOUGHT . ( Psalms 139:2 , latter part, and 4.) It is not difficult to think of our shouted sentences or of our formal addresses being heard and noticed by God; it requires some effort of thought to realize that the casual conversation, the interjected remark, the whispered secret,—that these are heard and heeded by him. Yet it becomes us to remember that they are. This is the thought of Christ when he said, "Of every idle [casual] word shall men give account," etc. ( Matthew 12:36 , Matthew 12:37 ). Nay, the unspoken sentence, the half-formed thought, the rising feeling, that has not found expression, the "thought afar off," is understood by that omniscient Spirit! What reason here for purity of mind, for the "clean heart and the right spirit!"

IV. HE TOUCHES US AT EVERY POINT , "Thou hast laid thine hand upon me." It has been the unseen and unfelt touch of the Divine hand that has:

1. Preserved our spirit in being from moment to moment; for all earthly forces have been the working of his power.

2. Restored us every night, and renewed to us the vigor of body and mind we have needed for the labor and endurance of another day.

3. Quickened our mind and enabled us to think, to reason, to reply, to invent, to devise, to direct.

4. Brought us back from sickness and the shadow of death to life and health again.

5. Made our souls to be refilled with love and hope and sacred joy, so that we have lived the life of holy service and of spiritual growth. The explanation of all our power, our excellency, our success , is found in the simple words, "Thou hast laid thine hand upon me."