Psalm 139

God fully knows us

1  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.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

State: There is absolutely nothing that God doesn’t know about you.

Apply: How many people know you completely? How many people have you told absolutely everything to?

We Cannot Run From God

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.

State: It can be a scary thing for someone to know every part of you. It might even make you want to run away. Here’s the thing though: you can’t run from God.

Illustrate:

Apply: Sometimes your sin will make you want to be done with God, but you can’t even be done with God, even if you choose to ignore him. He will not ever ignore you.

God Loves Us Deeply

English Standard Version 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.

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.

State: We shouldn’t want to run from God, even though he knows every part of us because he sympathizes with our weakness and provides for all our lack. www

Hebrews 4:13–16 ESV

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. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Illustrate: The beauty of being fully known and fully loved.

FCF: To be known by God is to be known to be sinful

CFC: In addition to knowing us, God also loves us and saves us.