PSALM 139:1-3
You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
One of the great characteristics of the Lord is that he cares and delights in us personally. Nothing about his character is impersonal or distant. God is always relational. His Trinitarian nature speaks to the very fact that God reveals himself in and through relationships.
For many people, the thought of God knowing everything about them is terrifying. For others, it is unfathomable to ponder the history of creation and realize that there never was a time that they were unknown to the Lord. God knows our thoughts every day, even long after we have completely forgotten them. This is good news, because the deepest desire of the Lord is to be united with us.
Much of our culture is adamant in trying to ignore or even flee from God. This has been true since the fall of humankind through Adam and Eve, and one can see the evidence all around them as our culture quickly works to eviscerate reminders and references to God. However, this does not punish God; it punishes only us. Some people even try to fool God or strike bargains with God for His favor or blessings. They are confused about not only the Lord’s power but also what He desires from them.
The greatest revealed truth is that the Uncreated One came down from heaven as man to save and redeem us. Even when God sees humankind at its worst, His desire is to be in fellowship with us continually. When we spend time delighting in the Lord and studying His ways, we learn through Jesus Christ that He reveals not only God to us but also man to his true self.
While this passage is a powerful reminder of the omniscience of the Lord and the importance of holy living, it’s also a reminder of the Lord’s deep love for creation. It reveals to us that God knows more about our true selves than we could ever know. He wants us to search the truth of His revelation and discover what He already knows—that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
God ultimately uses his boundless knowledge to reach out to us in relationship. When we speak to and study God, we are ultimately learning the truth about ourselves. The psalmist continues in this passage (verse 12) to note that even the “darkness is as light to you.” Humankind, in all its darkness and evil, is wrapped up in the Lord of all creation to give us “the light of all mankind.”
