New Testament Reading: Hebrews 4:1–13

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’’ although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And again in this passage he said, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 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.” (Hebrews 4:1–13, ESV)

Old Testament Reading: Psalm 139

“TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID. O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139, ESV)

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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.

Introduction

This Psalm should sound familiar to you. I will sometimes read the first four verses of it before the confession of sin and assurance of pardon in our liturgy. Those first four verses are helpful to prepare us for the silent confession of our sins to the Lord for they remind us that God sees our sins anyway, so what is the point of trying to hide them? God has atoned for our sins in Christ Jesus. He is merciful and kind. He is eager to forgive. So come to him, confess your sins, turn from them, and to Christ, having been washed in his blood.

This Psalm should sound familiar to you, for I do often use it in that way — to urge you to confess your sins, to run to God again through faith in Christ, and walk in paths of righteousness for his names’ sake. But there is more to this marvelous Psalm. The whole thing is a contemplation and then application of the all-pervasive presence of God in his creation. God sees all. God is everywhere present, for God is the source and sustainer of all life. The concluding verses reveal the proper response to these truths.

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Old Testament Reading: Psalm 139

In verses 1-6 King David considers that God is all-seeing.  

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” (Psalm 139:1–4, ESV)

The first line states the principle: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” In other words, nothing about us is hidden from God’s sight. He has thoroughly explored us and truly knows us. 

We do not have this kind of knowledge. I know you and you know me, but our knowledge of one another is only superficial. I can observe your actions. I can listen to your words. But your thoughts are hidden from me, and mine are hidden from you. When two people grow close to one another they gain greater insights into the mind and the heart of the other. This is especially true in healthy marriages. But even then, the true mind and heart of the other are beyond our comprehension.

In fact, people do not always have a clear understanding of their own mind and heart. Sin does this, I’m afraid. It blinds us to the realities of our own inner life so that we do not even see ourselves clearly. Sometimes our own thoughts and emotions are a mystery to us.

But God’s knowledge of us is perfect.  He sees our every action and he hears our every word, but more than this, he discerns (or perceives) our thoughts from afar; even before a word is on our lips the LORD knows it altogether. 

We see one another superficially. We know ourselves more thoroughly, but even then our own thoughts, emotions, and motives remain mysterious. But God sees us with perfect clarity, for “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13, ESV), he “[pierces] to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and [discerns] the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).

As we consider this we will begin to feel like David felt — surrounded, trapped, and vulnerable before God. This is what he confesses in verse 5, saying, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me” (Psalm 139:5, ESV). The word translated as “hem” is often translated as “besieged” in the Old Testament. King David knew what it was to besiege or surround a city with his army, but here he confesses that God has besieged him! God has surrounded him and trapped him. God has gotten his hands on David, as it were. And here he is recognizing his absolute vulnerability before the LORD who sees and knows all things.

And in verse 6 he confesses that the thought of it is overwhelming to him: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it”, he says. I appreciate the way that the NET renders verse 6: “Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension; it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it” (Psalm 139:6, NET). Paul confesses something like this in Romans 11:33 when he exclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!” (Romans 11:33, NET).

I do hope that you feel this way when you contemplate the knowledge, power, and glory of God. We should feel overwhelmed by God. And I do not mean that in a bad way. It is good to stand in awe of him. It is good to know and to confess that God is beyond us.

And  I wonder, how does it make you feel to think that God is omniscient, that he, all-seeing and all-knowing? 

There is a sense in which God’s omniscience should comfort us. It is comforting to know that God sees all things and knows all things. God is not ignorant. There is no room for him to grow in knowledge. This means that God’s wisdom is perfect, his plans are perfect, and his judgments are perfect. We sometimes lack wisdom, make foolish plans, and faulty judgments. We do this,  in part, because we lack knowledge. But it is not so with God, for he knows all things. He sees all things with perfect precision and clarity. Yes, he even sees our thoughts and knows our intentions.  

It is because we are sinful that God’s omniscience is not only a comfort to us, it is also troubling. It makes us feel vulnerable and exposed before him. It makes us feel like running away. Remember, that is what Adam and Eve did after they rebelled against God. They heard God coming and they ran away. They tried to hide from God and to cover their shame, but they could not.   

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God Is Everywhere Present (vs. 7-12)

In verses 7 through 12 we learn that David felt the same impulse. After considering that God sees all he considered running away, but thought the better of it given that God is also everywhere present. 

In verse 7 he speaks to God and asks, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” In other words, LORD when I consider that you see everything about me — even my thoughts — I feel like running away from you! But where can I go, for you are not only omniscient, you are also omnipresent?

Brothers and sisters, there is nowhere that God is not.  

Where is God? Some may say, he is in heaven. And yes, this is true. God is enthroned in the heavenly. This means that his glory is manifest or made visible in that realm in a special way. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He created the heavenly realm — that is, the spiritual realm which is presently invisible to us — to show forth his glory in a special way to the elect angels of heaven and, eventually, the elect from amongst the children of man. But this does not mean that God is confined to that realm. No, he transcends heaven, and he transcends earth too. Heaven and earth are created realms, but God is not confined to either. He is without boundaries or borders of any kind. He is omnipresent.  

And that is what David reflects upon in this Psalm. LORD when I consider that you see all, even my innermost being, I want to run! But that would be pointless. Where would I go? Verse 8: “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

You are beginning to notice that the Psalms talk about Sheol a lot. Remember that Sheol is the place where the dead live. Before the resurrection of Christ, the bodies of those who died went to the grave and their souls went to Sheol. This was true of both the righteous and the unrighteous, but their experiences were very different in that place. The unrighteous who died in their sins were tormented in Sheol. The righteous who were justified through faith in the promised Messiah were comforted there. I will not take the time to tell you about the change that took place in Sheol (or Hades) when Christ rose from the dead, for I have done that recently. It will suffice to say that when the righteous pass from the world today their souls go, not to Sheol (or Hades), but into the blessed presence of God, for Christ has won the victory through his resurrection. He has set the captives free. He has opened up the way into the Most Holy place. Truly, to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD. So something did change in the realm of the dead when Christ rose from the grave. Now, it is only the unrighteous dead who are alive in Sheol. The righteous dead live in the presence of God in the soul while their bodies await the resurrection on the last day.  

But David, living long before the resurrection of Christ from the dead, expected to be comforted in Sheol (Abraham’s bosom) at death. And here he confesses that God is present even there. “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” 

I think many assume that God is not present in Sheol or hell, but that is a misconception, for there is nowhere that God is not. He is omnipresent. The difference between heaven and hell is not God’s presence, but the way that God is present. In heaven, God is present to eternally bless his redeemed and to lavish them with his love and grace, whereas in hell God is eternally present to pour out his wrath and justice upon all sin. In hell, the wicked will be tormented not by the absence of God, but by his presence. You have heard it said (and I think I have been guilty of saying this in the past), that God cannot dwell in the presence of sin. If you think of it, that is really a silly statement. God is everywhere present in this world, isn’t he? And yet this world is filled with sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, God “approached” them in the garden. It would be more accurate to say that God must punish all sin, for he is just. This is true. And God will punish every sin. He has either punished your sin by setting it on Christ as your substitute, or he will punish it at the final judgement and in hell. 

Though much more could be said, this sermon is not about Sheol, Hades, or hell, and so I will move on. Here is the point of the text. When David considered that God sees all he was tempted to flee. But he immediately recognized the futility of that approach, for no man can escape the presence of God. He is present in heaven, and he is present in hell. 

So in verse 9, David considers another place: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9–10, ESV). So you see what David is doing, don’t you? He is looking for somewhere to run, but he confesses that there is nowhere in all of creation for him to go. God is present in heaven (above the earth, if you will). God is present in Sheol (under the earth, if you will). God is obviously present on the dry land (for that is where he communes with his people). And God is also present in the uttermost parts of the sea. Can you picture David looking out upon the sea thinking, maybe if I allow the winds to drive me way out there I can hide from the presence of God? No, God is there too. 

Lastly, David considers the darkness of night as a potential hiding place. Verse 11: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalm 139:11–12, ESV). Here David confesses that the darkness of night will not do the trick either. The darkness of night may hide the sins of men from the eyes of other men, but it cannot hide us from the eyes nor from the presence of God. 

So David is out of options. He has considered all of creation. In the spiritual realm, God is present in heaven and in Sheol. In the earthly realm, he is present on land and in the depths of the sea. And he sees with equal clarity in the light of day and in the darkness of night. Truly, David is hemmed in on every side. And the same is true for you and me. We may try to escape the presence of God by running to some place or by denying his existence, but it is all in vain, for he does exist, and he is everywhere present.

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God Is The Source And Sustainer Of All (vs. 13-18)

In verses 13 through 18 David goes even deeper in his contemplation of God’s omnipresence. Here he clarifies that God is not merely present in the realms of heaven and Sheol, earth and sea, day and night in a passive way, but he is present actively as creator and sustainer of all life. 

I wonder if you can sense the difference between the two ways of speaking of God’s omnipresence. It is one thing to say that God is everywhere present. But it is another thing to say that God is everywhere present as the source and sustainer of all things seen and unseen. It is a question of intensity and intimacy, I guess. God is everywhere present… well, how so? Is he here but hands-off? Is he here with us but only as a passive observer? The answer is no, God is everywhere present and intimately so, for he is our creator and sustainer. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36, ESV)

Listen again to verses 13-18 and consider that God is present with us as our source and as our sustainer. Here David says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:13–18, ESV)

God is everywhere present in the world that he has made, and intimately so, for he is our creator and our sustainer. 

When David says, “you formed my inward parts”, I take this to refer to the soul of man, the invisible aspects of man, the mind and the heart, the personality. Have you ever thought about this? Have you ever asked the question, where did I come from? And no, I do not mean where did your body come from, but your soul. Where did your soul come from? Answer: it came from God. He formed your inner parts. How he does it is debated. But that he does it is perfectly clear, for you and I had a beginning. There was a time when we were not. And this is true of both our body and soul. God is the source of both.  

When David says, “you knitted me together in my mother’s womb”, he refers to the development of the human body which does contain the soul. I appreciate the NKJV here. It says, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13, NKJV). Verse 15 will restate the same idea but in a different way: “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.” “The depths of the earth” is a poetic way of speaking of the darkness and secrecy of the womb. 

In verse 14 we see that David’s response to these truths is to praise God: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

In verse 16 we learn that God is not only the source of our body and soul, he also the source of the days of our life: “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.” This is the doctrine of predestination. God has “a book”. This is not to be taken literally, of course, but metaphorically. Men write books; God does not. But what does this metaphorical language teach us about God? It teaches us that the days of our lives are determined by God. He is the source of them. Men write books about what they learn. They write history books, but they always write those books after the events have occurred. Not so with God.  He wrote his book concerning the days of our life “when as yet there was none of them.” The question regarding the relationship between God’s predestinating and our freedom is difficult and mysterious, but we must accept what the scriptures say. God is the source of the days of our life. He “formed” them. He wrote his book concerning us beforehand. This was true of David and it is true of us.

Notice that David’s response to this is not to complain against God, but to marvel at his wisdom and his grace: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you” (Psalm 139:17–18, ESV).

As I have said, God is our creator and he is our sustainer. He is our source. He knit us together, body and soul. He formed our days. He thinks of us continually, and he sustains us in this. He is with us, and we are with him. Day after day we awake, and God is there with us. Indeed, he will be with us and sustain us for all eternity. 

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What Then Shall We Do?

So the question that remains is, what shall we do? If this is true that the LORD sees our sinful words and deeds, even the thoughts and intentions of our heart. And if it is true that we cannot flee from his presence, for he is everywhere present as the source and sustainer of all things, what then shall we do? 

Verses 19 through 24 show us the way. 

First, we must turn from sin. That is what is described in verses 19-22 where David expresses his hatred for all that is evil. 

“Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.” (Psalm 139:19–22, ESV)

These words can trouble Christians who have been taught by Christ to love their enemies. Really, there is no reason to be troubled by what is said here. To hate the wicked and to love your enemies are not contradictory things. It is possible to, on the one hand, hate the wicked and their works, and on the other hand, to pray for their repentance and to show them kindness and love. It is possible for us to do these two things at once. 

What David says here needs to be considered in context. After considering God’s omniscience and omnipresence, he is choosing, not to flee from God, but to run to him and to be found on his side. He prays for God’s justice. He separates himself from the wicked and bloodthirsty. He declares that God’s enemies are also his enemies. 

Friends, you must do the same thing. In Psalm 1 we learned that there are two possible paths. There is the way of the wicked and there is the way of the righteous. There is no other way. So do not be found walking, nor standing, nor sitting with the wicked. No, be found on the path of the righteous which leads to life eternal. Flee from sin and run to God. Draw near to him and be found on his side. 

Hating the wicked in this way does not mean that you cannot also pray for them and show them love and kindness as you have the opportunity. That is what Jesus means when he says, “love your enemies”. He means, do good to them. Listen carefully to his words, “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:32–36, ESV). The Father hates the wicked and yet he is merciful and kind to them. We are to do the same. We are to “abhor what is evil [and] hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9, ESV). And yes we are to at the same time show love and kindness to our enemies. Do not forget the words of Christ to the church in Ephesus: “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:6, ESV). 

But here is the point. After considering God’s omniscience and omnipresence David did not run away from God, but to him. He turned away from the wicked, took God’s side, and declared that God’s enemies were his enemies.

Secondly, David pursued righteousness and the way of life eternal, and we must do the same. 

Verse 23: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24, ESV). In the context of this particular Psalm, of the Psalter in general, and of the life of David most broadly, this must be understood, not as a self-righteous boast, but as a cry to God for grace and for cleansing. 

Some may read the words, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me” and think that David is claiming to be pure and upright before God to the core of his being. Go ahead, Lord! Look in upon my heart and mind with your x-ray vision and see what you can find! You will find me blameless! Is that what David means?

No, if David thought that he was self-righteous, then why did consider fleeing from God’s presence earlier in the Psalm? And if we consider the rest of the Psalms of David, we know that he was not upright in and of himself. For example, in Psalm 51:3 he said, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3, ESV). If you know the story of King David, you know that he was a flawed and sinful man, no different from you and me. 

What then does he mean when he says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me.”

One, he is claiming to have a true and sincere love for God and faith in his heart. 

Two, he is asking the Lord to purify him further.

And three, he is running to God for refuge. He concludes the Psalm with these words: “lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:24, ESV).

What is the way to life everlasting? 

Do you remember Psalm 2? That Psalm mirrors the verses 19-24 of Psalm 139. It speaks of how the Son will judge the nations at the end of time, and then it concludes with these words: “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:11–12, ESV).

Think of it. Because God is omniscient and omnipresent, the sinner will find no refuge in heaven or on earth from the just wrath of God… but there is one exception. Refuge may be found in the Son, and it is to God’s Son, the Messiah, that David fled for refuge. This is the reason for his confidence. This is the reason for his rejoicing. 

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Conclusion

So what about you? Have you taken refuge in the Son? 

I pray that you would if you have not. I pray that you would come to your senses regarding your sin. I pray that you would feel hemmed in on every side by God who is all-seeing, everywhere present, holy, and just. I pray that you would come to the realization that there is nowhere to run except to the Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Savior, the Door, the way, the truth, and the life, the only mediator between God and man. If we hope to be found on God’s side and to have everlasting life, we must be found in him. So please turn from your sins and to Christ for the forgiveness of sins.  

And if you have faith in Christ, I pray that you would, like David, marvel at the grace that God has shown to you, and say with him “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you” (Psalm 139:17–18, ESV).