Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 139.1 et seq. Indeed, “God is light” (1 John 1:5-7). “And there is no creature hidden before Him… (Heb 4:12-13). It is unbearable for a sinner to feel this holy gaze continually resting on him, laying bare his most intimate thoughts and discovering his most secret motives! At first he has only one idea: to flee this terrible beam of light. But this one searches the darkness where he seeks to hide, joins him at the end of the world, goes back to his most distant past… (Gen 3:6-8; John 3:18-21). For it is folly to think that one can escape god. It’s another to shy away… to the One who wants to ensure our happiness. When you are sick, it does not occur to you to hide from the doctor the slightest of your symptoms. You know well that it is in your interest, to be healed, to tell him everything you feel. Why do you do otherwise when God wants to save your soul or deliver you from sin? Confess to Him all aspects of the evil that undermines you. Let its light scrutinize your consciousness. May your prayer be that of verses 23, 24: “Probe me, O God” and probe me again! Put everything in order in my life. Don’t let me embark on “some path of sorrow.” But “lead me into the eternal way”!
This psalm seems to be related to the previous one: It recalls the feast of unleavened bread that immediately followed the Passover. Indeed, if in the previous psalm it was grace, here it is the holiness of our call in Christ Jesus that is presented. For light is the light of God, soothing to the sinner, but who cannot bear sin.
In the first place, the believer confesses this terrible fact for him: God knows him. This is something overwhelming for a soul deeply convinced of sin. But he finds complete relief, and a reason for praise in this, that he knows God. Moreover, he knows Him in the mystery of Christ’s tomb, and of the new creation that came into being there (Eph 2:5). Such is this strange and admirable work: Eve pulled from the side of Adam asleep. This immediately puts praise in his mouth, and then, in his soul, the desire for a more complete purification; far from fearing it, the believer is ready to be probed by the penetrating “word of God” (Heb 4), so that no leaven is found in what he now knows to be the dwelling of an Israelite. Thus, the feeling of the richest grace is linked to the most demanding jealousy of holiness (Ps 138-139). For the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread remain associated.
It is that the human body is used, we know it as a symbol of the Church – mystical body of Christ. Both were made in a strange and admirable way; and this “great mystery” is glimpsed in this psalm. We find this, so to speak, in the mouth of Christ himself (verses 14-16); for it is personally, if I may say so, that Christ speaks in these verses, so worthy is this theme that he himself, present personally, makes himself the interpreter. We have seen above that the saint, led by the Spirit of Christ, in the feeling of his sin, recognized the power of the divine light reaching the depths of his being – a solemn moment for his soul (verses 1-13). But now, rejoiced and encouraged by the words he has heard from the very mouth of Christ, he continues, in communion with God, the course of his meditations, in the full appeasement experienced by those who have, in spirit, drunk from the refreshing fountain of such a mystery (verses 17-24). Now the happy saint can desire (in his love for God and for his power in holiness and righteousness) in the present a moral judgment of himself, in the future the judgment that will destroy evil. He asks to be probed, even though he feared when he was convicted of sin.
For in Ps. 139 we find all the exercises of the heart that belong to the ways of God: Although God’s faithfulness fulfills all the blessing he has offered himself, not one of our thoughts escapes him; it is not possible for man to stand in his presence, but it is also not possible to flee and hide from Him, as consciousness might desire. This reveals another truth: God sees everything and knows everything, because He has formed everything. This thought is related to the thought so precious to us, that it is in goodness that he takes a perfect knowledge of us. He is interested in us, watches over each of our members, as he knows each of our thoughts. But if He knows our thoughts, He has His own; and how precious they are to us!
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Lord, you know me perfectly:
· Divine knowledge, God searches the heart of man
1 Ch 28:9 And you, Solomon, my son, know your father’s God, and serve him with a devoted heart and a well-disposed soul, for the Lord searches all hearts and penetrates all purposes and thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you abandon Him, He will reject you forever. Jer 17:10 I, the Lord, feel the heart, I probe the kidneys, To give back to each according to his ways, According to the fruit of his works. Jer 23:24 Will anyone stand in a hidden place without me seeing him?” said the Lord. Don’t I fill the heavens and the earth?” said Jehovah. Am 9:3 If they hide at the top of Carmel, I will look for them there and seize them; If they evade my gaze in the bottom of the sea, there I will order the serpent to bite them. Zep 1:12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will chastise men who rest on their lees, and who say in their hearts: The Lord does neither good nor evil. Rom 8:27 and he who searches hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because it is according to God that he intercedes on behalf of the saints.
· God’s Divine Omniscience
Jb 26:6 Before him the sojourn of the dead is naked, the abyss has no veil. Ps 147:5 Our Lord is great, powerful by His strength, His intelligence has no limit. Hb 4:13 No creature is hidden before him, but everything is bare and uncovered in the eyes of the one to whom we are accountable. 1 John 3:20, for if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.
· Bad conversations, general references
Ps 5:10 For there is no sincerity in their mouths; Their hearts are filled with malice, Their gosier is an open sepulchre, and they have flattering words on their tongues. Ps 36.4 The words of his mouth are false and misleading; He renounces to act wisely, to do good. Ps 55:22 His mouth is softer than cream, but war is in his heart; His words are smoother than oil, but they are naked swords. Mt 12:34 Breeds of vipers, how could you say good things, wicked as you are? For it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Rom 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; They use their tongues to deceive; They have under their lips an aspic venom; John 3:6 Language is also a fire; it is the world of iniquity. The tongue is placed among our limbs, defiling the whole body, and inflaming the course of life, being itself inflamed by gehenna.
· Right path
Isaiah 26:7 The way to righteousness is righteousness; You who are just, you flatten the path of the just. Jer 42:3 and may Jehovah your God show us the way we must follow, and what we have to do! Mt 7:14 But narrow is the door, tightened the path that leads to life, and there are few who find them. Lk 1:79 To enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our steps in the path of peace.
From all the above, we note that the Lord is interested in his creature and these are precisely the effects produced by the law: It necessarily begins with consciousness, under the eye of God, because it brings us into his presence; then it leads us to the thoughts of God, who formed us for himself, then unfolded before us the infinite spheres of his blessing and his ways. God watches over the faithful in the silence of sleep, so that if he wakes up, he is with God. But, moreover, this relationship with God separates him entirely from the wicked: God will kill them; the faithful summon them to withdraw away from him. Therefore, he looks at the wicked with hatred and horror because of what they are towards God: as far as he himself is concerned, he desires to be probed thoroughly, so that there is no wickedness left in him. Although this Psalm has a special view of the outward judgment of the wicked, it takes us deep into the relationship of the spirit of man with God and his language adapts to our own condition as Christians. The great subject that is dealt with directly is that the heart of man must be fully probed, as it will be at the time of judgment, as it must always be. If this search for the state of the heart, this operation of probing it thoroughly, takes place when we are in a position of personal responsibility, the result is necessarily this cry: “Where will I flee from your face?” But when we have become God’s work, that is, when grace and power have intervened, God’s thoughts become precious to us, and we can ask to be probed, known, and tested (the more we will be, the better), so that, stripped of ourselves, we may be able to enjoy God. So also we ask God to lead us. The will is broken, as thoughts are judged, and our desire is to be led by God. We also see that the character of this Psalm links it to the last days: “O God, if you wanted to kill the wicked!” He who speaks awaits judgment; he expresses his hatred for those who hate God and the horror they inspire in him. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the Lord, a great king on all earth.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.