Lord, You know me well

Psalm 139:1-12

¹ O Lord, you have searched me
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you know it completely, O Lord.

⁵ You hem me in —behind and before;
    you have laid your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

If you haven't noticed, I love the Psalms. I enjoy reading them again and again, especially to see their application for mankind in the days they were written, as well as their meaningfulness to us today. 

This section of Psalm 139 gives us the lesson of how near God is to us at all times. Of course the implication is that our God is near and therefore we could conduct ourselves at all times, knowing we are in his presence.  David said it well, "Lord you have searched me and you know me."

Is that a thought that causes alarm?  Learning that God knows us well and knows everything about us? If our lives are motivated by the things of the world, then it probably is an alarming thought. If our hearts are set on the things of God, it is a welcoming thought. 

I like the part where David asks, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I go from your presence?" The obvious answer is "nowhere!"  God is always there, anywhere we are. And why do you suppose anyone would prefer hiding from the Spirit of God, when he has assured us he wants to live inside us? 

I agree with David, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."  Then later in the Psalm, verse 17, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!"

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