Sermon Tone Analysis

God knows us

He knows all about us because He is omniscient - Verse 1

“God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell.”

—A W Tozer

He knows us because He is omniscient

He doesn’t really have to search but the Psalmist uses human terms so our feeble and finite minds can comprehend how well God knows us

His searching is a continual action

He knows our physical position and our thoughts before we think them - Verse 2

We are transparent before Him

Our physical activities are viewed by Him

This is a fact to be remembered every moment: sitting down to consider, or rising up to act, we are still seen, known, and read by Jehovah our Lord.

—Charles Spurgeon

He knows our entire day - Verse 3

He surrounds us like the “air” Charles Spurgeon

All day is “within the circle of thine observation” Charles Spurgeon

Where were going

When we will stop and rest

Where our ways will take us for all the days of our life

Planned or unplanned

Unplanned

Good or evil

Safe or dangerous

The Lord judges our active life and our quiet life; he discriminates our action and our repose, and marks that in them which is good and also that which is evil.

—Charles Spurgeon

He knows what we are going to say

Even before our tongue utters it

Would that we would think before we utter it

He is eternal therefore He is with us in space and in time - Verse 5

Hedged = enclosed, besieged, encircle

No escape from God’s knowledge of us

Behind = back, of dwelling , of God ;—2.

sg.

directional, behind adv.

pānîm weʾāḥôr before and behind , nāfal ʾāḥôr fall backward ;—3.

metaph.

adv.

hēšîb … āḥôr turn (wise men) back ;—4.

sg.

west: mēʾāḥôr from the west ;—5.

temporal: leʾāḥôr for the future , beʾāḥôr at last .

back, of dwelling , of God ;—2.

sg.

directional, behind adv.

pānîm weʾāḥôr before and behind , nāfal ʾāḥôr fall backward ;—3.

metaph.

adv.

hēšîb … āḥôr turn (wise men) back ;—4.

sg.

west: mēʾāḥôr from the west ;—5.

temporal: leʾāḥôr for the future , beʾāḥôr at last .

Holladay, W. L., & Köhler, L. (2000).

A concise Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament (p.

9).

Leiden: Brill.

Before = 1. in front ; miqqedem from the front ;—2. in front = east: in the east ; eastward ; miqqedem from the east , miqqedem le east of ;—3.

east (as a geographical region) ; benê qedem Easterners ; har haqqedem Eastern Mountains = northern border of Sinai ;—4.

temporal: before, earlier, ancient times (adv.)

keqedem as of old ; miqqedem for the first time , from ancient times ;—5.

(noun) antiquity, primeval times: ʾelōhê qedem God from primeval times = eternal God .

1. in front ; miqqedem from the front ;—2. in front = east: in the east ; eastward ; miqqedem from the east , miqqedem le east of ;—3.

east (as a geographical region) ; benê qedem Easterners ; har haqqedem Eastern Mountains = northern border of Sinai ;—4.

temporal: before, earlier, ancient times (adv.)

keqedem as of old ; miqqedem for the first time , from ancient times ;—5.

(noun) antiquity, primeval times: ʾelōhê qedem God from primeval times = eternal God .

Holladay, W. L., & Köhler, L. (2000).

A concise Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament (p.

313).

Leiden: Brill.

He is before us

Deuteronomy

Laid = He has arrested us.

We are His prisoners

God is the God of the past, the God of the present, and the God of the future

Isaiah 49:

Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.

—Charles Spurgeon

All of this is beyond my comprehension - Verse 6

In our pursuit of knowing God we will never ever come to full conclusion of knowing Him completely

Every thing David just said about God is beyond our full understanding.

It is definitely wonderful but such a wonder we can never fully grasp

God is with us

Introduction to God’s omnipresence with a question - Verse 7

Spirit = His active presence

face = His personal presence

When we sin is as though we sin in His face.

His back is not turned nor do we take Him by surprise

Run or walk, forward or retreat He is there (ask Jonah)

He uses contrasts in the following verses to emphasis the truth there is no place God is not present - Verses 8-12

Heaven or hell - Verse 8

Heavenlies or heaven where the throne of God is

Hell the grave or the the place of the condemned

Fly to a remote spot in the sea - Verses 9-10

From the east to the west - dawn/west —Alec Motyer

He shall lead the way and hold onto us

The Lord would be leading, covering, preserving, sustaining us even when we were fugitives from him.

—Charles Spurgeon

God’s self-sustaining power is able to meet all our needs because He has no needs

Night and darkness cannot hide us from Him - Verses 11-12

Night is not different than light for God

God made us

He brought us into existence - Verse 13

He formed our internal organs