PSALM 139

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts![c]24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting![d]

THE PRAYER OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN

How should we pray?

Here is a good way?

All through the psalm, we have seen that God knows all about us, but still the psalmist prays like this:Search me.. look into every are of my life, all areas of my life are open to youTry me.. put all my motives to the test, and the tests are your holiness and your word.

We are to take into captivity every thought that is against the Lord.See if any grievous way in in me. Look at the whole direction of my lifeLead me.. a humble cry of the believer, he wants to be lead in the right wayThe true believer is completely open and honest with God, he leaves no area of his life closed, because he/she knows that nothing is hid from the Lord.Lord look into every area of my life, you know my sitting down, you know my rising up.

I thank you know all about me as you created me, you made me wonderfully in my mother’s womb.Again the last word is from Matthew Henry：(1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life. It is the way of antiquity (so some), the good old way. (2.) All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, nor tire in it.

GOD BLESS YOUkk

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

    O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies take your name in vain.[b]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

TRUE HATRED

Not all people will have the same attitude to God as we do. Indeed, there are many people who hate God, yes hate God.

Surely people don’t hate God, people are just not interested. When we share the gospel, the reaction from people is just to refuse, surely, they are just busy. No, they are against God, they hate him. 

Before we were saved, we were haters of God, we shook our fists at God in rebellion.

People fight against God, they speak against God with malicious intent, they curse God, they revile God.

Remember this, that anyone who is outside of Christ is God’s enemy, but this is the wonder of salvation, when salvation happens, we who were once enemies became his friends, and yes his sons and daughters.

These people are atheists, they don’t believe what the psalmist believes, they don’t believe that God has created them. They believe that we came from some process, they rage at God, people like Richard Dawkins rage at God, they say that God hates people, when they hate God.

These people are to be pitied, hell awaits these people.

What do we do with these people, we pray for them, we continue to share the gospel with them, even if they reject us.

Matthew Henry says this

He detests them (v. 21, 22): “Lord, thou knows the heart, and canst witness for me; do not I hate those that hate thee, and for that reason, because they hate thee? I hate them because I love thee, and hate to see such affronts and indignities put upon thy blessed name. Am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee, grieved to see their rebellion and to foresee their ruin, which it will certainly end in?” Note, Sin is hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear God. “I hate them” (that is, “I hate the work of them that turn aside,” as he explains himself, Ps 101 3) “with a sincere and perfect hatred; I count those that are enemies to God as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy with them,” Ps 69 8

God bless you

KK.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

WALKING ON THE BEACH

My home town of Morecambe back in England is by by the sea, it has lots of sand.

The psalmist says here that the thoughts God has towards us are more than the sand of sea, Have you ever tried to count the grains of sand on the sea shore?. That’s how many thoughts God has towards you and me.

We cannot imagine this, but we are on God’s heart all the time, he is constantly caring and looking out for us, we are loved by Him. You imagine this, the creator of the universe is constantly thinking about you.

These things are precious to the believer, the words of Jeremiah come to mind in chapter 29 of his book:

 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[b] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope

Every thought God has is for our good, it is to bless us.

Verse 18 finishes with a note of thankfulness, I awake and am still with you, every morning, our first thought should be, the Lord has given me another day of life, another day to praise and to serve Him

Matthew Henry says:

He acknowledges, with wonder and thankfulness, the care God had taken of him all his days. 17, 18. God, who knew him, thought of him, and his thoughts towards him were thoughts of love, thoughts of good, and not of evil, Jer 29 11.

Constant at all times: “When I awake, every morning, I am still with Thee, under thy eye and care, safe and easy under thy protection.” This bespeaks also the continual devout sense David had of the eye of God upon him: When I awake I am with thee, in my thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him and we did then set him before us.

GOD BLESS 

KEITH

PSALM 139

13 For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 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.

WHERE DO YOU COME FROM?

That’s a question millions of people are asking these days, many think we came from monkey’s, many think we evolved but still many more have no idea of their earthly parents.

They don’t know who their parents were, they might know one of their parents, but not the other.

You weren’t there at the moment of your conception, but God was.

All that time, you were in your mother’s womb, he was intricately weaving you into his image. You are fearfully and wonderfully made; you weren’t and aren’t a mistake.

These are very comforting words for everyone who feels unloved, who feels unwanted. Some of you maybe came from very unfortunate circumstances, maybe you came from the results of rape or were told, like me that one or more parents didn’t want them, well let me tell you this;

GOD WANTS YOU AND LOVES YOU

You are wanted, you are treasured and you were made gloriously as a unique human being. God saw all your days, he created you for a purpose and that purpose was for you to know HIM

God knew you even before you were born, to me that is amazing, it thrills my soul and gives me so much joy and hope.

God bless you

KK

PSALM 139

vs 7-12

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

NO PLACE TO HIDE

In the bible, there are many people who sought to hide from God, Adam and Eve come to mind.

But this passage reminds me, especially of Jonah, he tried and failed to run from God.

I wonder if Jonah was reciting this psalm as he was in the belly of the whale.

He was after all dwelling in the uttermost parts of the sea, he had literally taken the wings of the morning and surely the darkness was covering him.

I loved the play hide and seek, when I was young, I often thought the place I hid would never be found, but sure enough I was found.

Likewise with Jonah and with us, we cannot hide from God, in the earlier verses we saw, we can’t hide any of our thoughts from God, neither can we hide ourselves from God.

If you are hiding from God, don’t, he will find you. If you are trying to resist God by running from him.. don’t.

Don’t run from his call to service and especially don’t run from his call to salvation.

Amen

Keith 

PSALM 139

vs 6

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

ITS ABOVE MY HEAD

We think that we know everything, man thinks he has all the knowledge, when in fact, he knows nothing.

To a believer the verses 1-12, can be summed up in this verse.

All the facts about God, it is too much for me to comprehend, to understand. We can and will never get our head around it, but it is a reality, because we know the one, who knows us completely.

Even though it is beyond our understanding, we still trust God, even though we can’t see him or understand his ways, that is true faith.

The knowledge of God is above me, it is beyond my comprehension, but I know that I can trust him, although I can’t fully understand.

One day, we will see clearly, we will see him face to face, we will not be seeing through a glass darkly.

The knowledge and fear of God truly is the beginning of knowledge.. true knowledge.

God bless you

KK

Introduction

A PSALM FOR YOU AND ME

This psalm is awesome, I come to it, with a deep sense that what I am going to share, will benefit some people.

This is one of the psalms, that speak deeply to our hearts, I know it speaks deeply to me.

Let me explain why it speaks to me:

I had good parents and two older brothers, about 11 years older than me, I was a late arrival in many ways. My father was desperate for a girl after having two sons, but I came along.

I got the feeling that although I was loved, there was always a little disappointment, indeed in later years, my mother told me, she didn’t want another child. 

Although my earthly parents might have had a little disappointment over me, my birth was no mistake, this psalm sets out the comfort and love that God has for us.

So many people feel rejected, maybe you do, rejected by family, there are many people, who have been cold shouldered or called the black sheep of the family by other family members

You may not know where you were born, you may not know who one or more of your parents were, but God saw all that and the amazing fact is that he loves you, it is for those people that this psalm is written

Let me assure you, that you are not a mistake, God was there at your conception, he knew you before you were born, he knows everything about you and yes although he knows everything about us, and get this..

HE STILL LOVES US

If you have no family, if you are rejected by your family, God says that if you are his:

You are my son or daughter.. you are my child..

Amen

God bless you

Keith

HOW BIG IS GOD？                                      

vs 1-5

 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.

HOW BIG IS GOD？

Do you wonder how big God is?

He knows everything, he sees everything, he knows every word we speak

We are worried about data protection in our age, are all my details safe?

Recently I had a conversation, yes conversation with an AI software, yes amazing. I asked him all types of questions and he answered me quickly and with such clarity.

But AI pales in comparison to the knowledge of our all-powerful God, AI is a programme, it is not personal, but in our all-knowing God, we have one who knows everything about us. AI is good, but it cannot have a personal relationship with us, like our God has.

Doesn’t that just blow your mind, whatever AI does, it doesn’t even come close to the knowledge of our wonderful and great God.

Well, there is someone who knows all about you, it is God. To me this is a comfort, he knows all about me, he sees everything I do and hears everything I say. Every action of mine is seen by him.

It is also a challenge to me, as we know God is watching us, would we do all the things we do?

Would we see the things we, see?

Would we say the things we say/

The attributes of God are to be studied, because they show us what God is like, he is omnipresent, he is all seeing and he is all knowing.

That works itself out into our daily lives, if God is always watching us, we would live in a different way.

We live in the way we do, because we have no understanding of who GOD really is and his attributes. We think that God is like us and we can get away with it, but he is on a different level entirely. 

Be sure that nothing is hid from Him:

Ryle says this

Do nothing that you would not like God to see. Say nothing that you would not like God to hear. Write nothing that you would not like God to read.Go to no place where you would not like God to find you. Read no book of which you would not like God to say, “Show it to Me.” 
Never spend your time in such a way that you would not like to have God say, “What are you doing?

Adam and others thought they could hide their sin, remember that God sees, hears and knows everything.

That is a true antidote to sin.

Amen

KK

PSALM 23

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil

my cup overflows.

THE LORD OF HOSTS

This psalm becomes more beautiful as it goes along, Not only is the Lord our Shepherd and our guide, He is our provider.

He provides us with everything we need, I am reminded of the beautiful verses in Ephesians 1: 3-14, where every spiritual blessing that God has made available to us, is laid out like on a table.

God not only blesses and provides for us, He does it right in the middle of a doubting and disbelieving world. In the middle of persecution, in the middle of trial, right in front of the enemies’ eyes, God lays out His blessings to us.

He anoints our head, remember David being anointed by Samuel to be king, He anoints us because we are kings and priests in His kingdom, we are God’s children, His special possession.

Our cup overflows and so it should, we have the blessing of God on our lives, we have feasted at the Master’s table, this is to remind us that one day, we will sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Provision is for now. oh yes, but one day, there will be a time, when we feast WITH our Lord. He prepares the table for us, He knows exactly what we need, it’s glorious to know that our Shepherd, does this for us.

Let me again finish with words from Matthew Henry:

1.) That he had food convenient, a table spread, a cup filled, meat for his hunger, drink for his thirst.

 (2.) That He had it carefully and readily provided for him. His table was not spread with any thing that came next to hand, but prepared, and prepared before him.

(3.) That he was not stinted, was not straitened, but had abundance: “My cup runs over, enough for myself and my friends too.’’

GOD BLESS

KEITH

part 6

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord   forever.

THE LORD WELCOMES US HOME

We are His sheep, the sheep of His pasture, we have followed Him here on earth, we have seen the goodness and the mercy of God, throughout our daily lives, they have been new every morning Lam 3:22-23 .

We have this promise, but it is not just for heaven. Because we have the Lord as our Shepherd, His goodness and His mercy, will follow us, or chase after us, all the days of our earthly life. We will DWELL in God’s house, not just on earth, but also more gloriously in Heaven, this is the important and precious promise, for all those who can say the Lord is my Shepherd.

If you can say the first line of the psalm with confidence, then you can undoubtedly say the last line of the psalm with a powerful and unshakeable confidence. One day, we will see our Saviour, we will be with Him for eternity, we will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever and we will say:

Glory and honour and power belong to the Shepherd and Redeemer of our Souls.

Let me leave the last words, again with Matthew Henry:

 it shall be new every morning (Lam. 3:22,Lam. 3:23 ) like the manna that was given to the Israelites daily. (5.) The certainty of it: Surely it shall. It is as sure as the promise of the God of truth can make it; and we know Whom we have believed. (6.) Here is a prospect of the perfection of bliss in the future state. So, some take the latter clause: “Goodness and mercy having followed me all the days of my life on this earth, when that is ended, I shall remove to a better world, to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, in our Father’s house above, where there are many mansions. With what I have I am pleased much; with what I hope for I am pleased more.’’ All this, and heaven too! Then we serve a good Master.

GOD BLESS YOU

KEITH

PSALM 23

VS 2-3 

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.[a]

 He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name’s sake.

THE SHEPHERD’S LEADING

We have seen that the Lord is my shepherd and that he is our provider.. Now let’s look in more detail at what he provides and how he leads.

Please note the key word here, it is HE。 Not only is HE the Lord, but he is the leader.

A shepherd seeks to give his sheep certain things;

 Food; all of us need food to survive, sheep like grass, so the pasture that the shepherd finds for them, is called green pasture, it conjures up the image of a lush green pasture filled with lots of grass for the sheep. Likewise, the Lord leads us to a place that is filled with all good things for us, he is an expert at leading us to the right place.

Water; All of us get thirsty, we need water. The shepherd seeks a place where there is water, and not just any water. These are still waters and this speaks of a place of security. 

Rest; We all need to rest, sheep are always on the move, so the shepherd seeks a place of rest for his sheep, likewise the great shepherd of his sheep, seeks and finds a place, where his sheep can be revived and can rest.

 The Right Path;

The shepherd leads his sheep on the right path, he does not and will not lead them into danger and likewise, our shepherd, will not and cannot lead us into danger. He knows the best way to go and he leads his sheep on the right path.

Why can we trust him to lead us?

For his name’s sake, because God is who God is. He is faithful, true to his sheep.

We were sheep without a shepherd, but now we are in the care of the great shepherd.

Trust Him to lead you

He is willing and eager to lead you, HE will lead you safely and in security, he leads and wherever he leads, we need to follow.                           

God bless you

KK

Psalm 23

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

    I will fear no evil,

for You are with me;

    Your rod and Your staff,

they comfort me.

The Loving Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd is a truth that applies to God’s people in every situation. We face every enemy in the knowledge that God is with us and stands by our side. 

The greatest fear of anyone is death, fear of this fact grips millions of people, they seek remedies to prolong life, to avoid the fact that one day, they will die. Many will die alone, but not the believer, he/she does not fear this evil. 

Why because the One who is guiding him/her, is the very one who has conquered death and the grave, Jesus Himself.

Matthew Henry says this:

[1. ] It is but the shadow of death; there is no substantial evil in it; the shadow of a serpent will not sting nor the shadow of a sword kill.

[2. ] It is the valley of the shadow, deep indeed, and dark, and dirty; but the valleys are fruitful, and so is death itself fruitful of comforts to God’s people.

[3. ] It is but a walk in this valley, a gentle pleasant walk. The wicked are chased out of the world, and their souls are required; but the saints take a walk to another world as cheerfully as they take their leave of this.

[4. ] It is a walk through it; they shall not be lost in this valley, but get safely to the mountain of spices on the other side of it.

We know that our Saviour will guide us by His rod and His staff, He will guide us through many dark valleys, even the darkest one of death. We can fully trust our Shepherd; He has been through the valley before us

Again, Matthew Henry states:

The good Shepherd will not only conduct, but convoy (protect) His sheep through the valley, where they are in danger of being set upon by the beasts of prey, the ravening wolves; He will not only convoy (protect) them, but comfort them when they most need comfort.

His presence shall comfort them: Thou art with me. His word and Spirit shall comfort them—His rod and staff, alluding to (suggestion of) the shepherd’s crook, or the rod under which the sheep passed when they were counted (Lev. 27:32 ), or the staff with which the shepherds drove away the dogs that would scatter or worry the sheep. 

The rod was to fight wild animals and the staff to direct the flock, now we have the word of God, the sword of the Spirit to fight off wild animals Ephesians 6 and the inner guidance of the Holy Spirit to guide us at all times.. hallelujah.

The Precious word of God, which contains all the promises of God and the Blessed Holy Spirit, will be and is our comfort. They are our assurance, we are sealed by the Spirit, we are HIS.

Jesus assures us that none of His true sheep will be lost, Paul states that nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ.

Nothing will take you true believer from out of the Father’s hand, not death, not tribulation. Nothing can separate you from Jesus.

 God bless you

KK

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd.

MY SHEPHERD

This is probably the best-known psalm of all the wonderful 150, people can often quote this verse by verse.

We are going to see how the first words, play out in practice.

The author, well who better than a shepherd, David knew about being a shepherd and the Holy Spirit used his experience to write these inspired and blessed verses. 

He starts out with this statement, the Lord is my shepherd, he was an expert in shepherding sheep, but here he was acknowledging that it is the Lord who was His shepherd.

Everything flows from our relationship with the shepherd, he provides for us, he protects us and gives us all blessings.

But it starts, with this question; Is he your shepherd?

The whole thrust of this psalm, is the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep, it is an intimate and personal one. Have you an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord and are able to call him.. my shepherd.

Sheep are very disobedient creatures, they wander all over. I remember when I used to drive back to my home town of Bradford, I had to drive over the moors and  the roads got very narrow and sometimes sheep would run out into the road or refuse to move, you had to sound your horn to avoid them, so we are surely in need of shepherding.

We have the best shepherd, Jesus and I would encourage you to study the passage John 10:1-18in conjunction  with this psalm.

The reformation study bible says this:

 The image of God as shepherd is inexhaustibly rich. The shepherd stays with the flock (Is. 40:11; 63:9–12). His sheep are totally dependent upon him for food, water, and protection from wild animals. In the New Testament, Jesus is revealed as the shepherd of His people (John 10:11, 14), fulfilling the prophecy that God will come to shepherd His people (Ezek. 34:7–16, 23).

God bless you

Keith

1.The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want

NEEDING NOTHING BUT THE LORD

In the first devotion of this series, we saw how personal, the Lord was. He was my shepherd.

Being a shepherd was a lonely business sometimes, David had to look after the sheep on his own, there must have been times that he ran out of food for himself, but he like us, knows that the Lord and him alone is his provider.

When we know the Lord is our shepherd, we will never be in want, because our Father knows what we need, even before we ask Him.. amen.

When we ask him, he will give us the right thing at just the right time. I have seen God provide, so many times during my time in China. He brings students to the class, the right students, the right number at the right time.

We can trust God, because he is our shepherd, the sheep have complete trust of their shepherd, if we do the same, we will be able to say:

I shall not want or I shall never lack any good thing.

As we will see God provides:

ALWAYS AND ABUNDANTLY

Amen.

God alone is our Jehovah Jireh.. our provider, not the church or your friends, although he uses these two avenues.

God provides everything for his sheep. Praise his holy name.

God bless you

Keith