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Psalm 139 is a presence of God Psalm. In difficult moments, we might ask, “Where are you, God?” Psalm 139 answers this question:
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there (vv. 7-8, NASB).
Answer to the “location of God” question—right next to you! And if we can’t leave the presence of God, it changes the way we act and think. Think this thought or say that word, and yes, God hears it; do this or that, and God is watching.
As Psalm 139 says:
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all (vv. 3-4).
We can’t hide anything from God, and yet He still loves us, sent Jesus to die for our sins, and fills us with His Spirit so that we can change our errant thoughts, words, and actions.
During my morning devotions, I often praise God by repeating . . .
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it (v. 6).
I have a deepening relationship with Psalm 139 as one of my life passages (verses that I’ve memorized and repeat often) are the last two verses of this Psalm . . .
Search me, God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (vv. 23-24).
This passage has helped me defeat anxiety for decades.
But at the beginning of 2024, I thought, “Why don’t I go ahead and memorize the entire chapter?” Which I’m doing now. When I meditate on Psalm 139, I’ve found that the Psalm is not only about the presence of God but also that God searches us.
Again, it is unnerving as God not only always stands next to us but searches us constantly. The Psalm ends with searching (vv. 23-24) but begins with searching too . . .
Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away (vv. 1-2).
This searching began in our mother’s womb before we were born, and our days were set for us before we lived them. God’s searching is not limited by time.
Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them (v. 16).
Let me repeat myself: It’s unnerving that we can’t go anywhere without God, and He’s eternally searching our thoughts. If one of you followed me around knowing my thoughts, you would think, “Pastor Grant is a sinful dumb dumb!” And if I followed you around searching your thoughts, I would say that you are a sinful dumb dumb, too.
But what does God think?
How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand (vv. 17-18a).
Psalm 139—presence, searching, and precious thoughts!