Post by Les on Apr 17, 2024 9:49:04 GMT -6
Questioning Ourselves By: Amy Boucher Pye
Click here for the Audio Message
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psalm 139:2
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 139:1–18
John Wesley (1703–1791) led a highly disciplined life. He created 22 questions for self-examination, which he and his friends in Oxford used daily, for instance: “Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?” These questions formed their ‘method’ of being accountable spiritually, which eventually birthed the Methodist movement.
Although Wesley’s exacting questions are no longer used widely on a daily basis, his approach to self-examination, combined with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, can help us to understand ourselves and God better.
King David, who wrote so many of the Psalms, was also someone who sought to know himself and God better. In the well-loved Psalm 139, for example, he shares how God searches and knows him (Psalm 139:1). He understands that, “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar” (v. 2). David acknowledges the wonderful mystery of God knowing him so completely: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (v. 6). He finds deep contentment in this understanding.
We can entrust ourselves to God’s loving care because we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (v. 14). We know that God has knitted us together in our mother’s womb (v. 13). Therefore we can ask Him to reveal to us our blind-spots and our failings, knowing that He will answer us both graciously and lovingly.
Reflect & Pray
How could you incorporate self-examination into your daily or weekly routine? How does knowing yourself better help you to love others better?
Loving God, thank You that when You shine Your light on me, I do not need to fear. You help me to love You and others better.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In response to a hostile world that opposed and rejected God (Psalm 139:19–22), David exalts Him and celebrates His character. He’s omniscient—God knows everything about him (vv. 1–4); He’s omnipresent—God is ever-present to protect him (vv. 5–12); He’s omnipotent—God is an all-powerful Creator who sustains him (vv. 13–18 ). Referring to God’s omnipresence, David asks a rhetorical question: “Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7). Nowhere! The prophet Jonah learned the hard way that there’s no place to run from God—not even in the belly of a big fish in the depths of the sea (Jonah 1–2). God issued this challenge to His people who thought they could hide from Him: “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24 NLT).
K. T. Sim
Psalm 139:1-18
King James Version
139 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Click here for the Audio Message
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psalm 139:2
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 139:1–18
John Wesley (1703–1791) led a highly disciplined life. He created 22 questions for self-examination, which he and his friends in Oxford used daily, for instance: “Am I a slave to dress, friends, work or habits?” These questions formed their ‘method’ of being accountable spiritually, which eventually birthed the Methodist movement.
Although Wesley’s exacting questions are no longer used widely on a daily basis, his approach to self-examination, combined with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, can help us to understand ourselves and God better.
King David, who wrote so many of the Psalms, was also someone who sought to know himself and God better. In the well-loved Psalm 139, for example, he shares how God searches and knows him (Psalm 139:1). He understands that, “You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar” (v. 2). David acknowledges the wonderful mystery of God knowing him so completely: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (v. 6). He finds deep contentment in this understanding.
We can entrust ourselves to God’s loving care because we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (v. 14). We know that God has knitted us together in our mother’s womb (v. 13). Therefore we can ask Him to reveal to us our blind-spots and our failings, knowing that He will answer us both graciously and lovingly.
Reflect & Pray
How could you incorporate self-examination into your daily or weekly routine? How does knowing yourself better help you to love others better?
Loving God, thank You that when You shine Your light on me, I do not need to fear. You help me to love You and others better.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In response to a hostile world that opposed and rejected God (Psalm 139:19–22), David exalts Him and celebrates His character. He’s omniscient—God knows everything about him (vv. 1–4); He’s omnipresent—God is ever-present to protect him (vv. 5–12); He’s omnipotent—God is an all-powerful Creator who sustains him (vv. 13–18 ). Referring to God’s omnipresence, David asks a rhetorical question: “Where can I flee from your presence?” (v. 7). Nowhere! The prophet Jonah learned the hard way that there’s no place to run from God—not even in the belly of a big fish in the depths of the sea (Jonah 1–2). God issued this challenge to His people who thought they could hide from Him: “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24 NLT).
K. T. Sim
Psalm 139:1-18
King James Version
139 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.