God's Omniscience (08/26/2001)

Psalm 139 and the Personality of God

Turn with me to Psalm 139. It's kind of nice to have our own resident counselor at college here in town brother Russell appreciate that Psalm 139 and We're talking about the personality of God. Intellect must direct.

Sensibility must desire and will must determine so intellect sensibility and Will or the three aspects of personality whether that be a human person or whether that be God. Those are three human attributes that we use to try to determine what a person is.

Well, we know that God is more than we can discern. But he has revealed himself to us somewhat in the Word of God to the extent that he chose to and we have that. But this is we can certainly look in these three areas.

And in the Lord and we can see that he has these attributes for example. Under intelligence normally when we're speaking of God, we use the word omniscience and that's what we began to study last Sunday morning but the Bible says in Psalm 147 5 great is our Lord and of great power and his understanding is infinite and.

So it shows that The the Lord has that attribute of being a person. He has intellect it goes beyond that. He has omniscience, which means all-knowing. He is the all-knowing God. Secondly, God possesses sensibility.

First John 4 16 says and we have known and believed The love that God hath to us. God has love to us. He has tender mercy toward us. He has loving kindness. These fall under the category of sensibility and.

Then God has will. Psalm 115 3 says but our God is in the heavens and he hath done whatsoever. He hath pleased God does what he wills to do. He is a sovereign God. So we see from these three attributes that he fits the theologians definition for personhood.

Therefore God is not just some energy force out there in outer space who created all things some of the scientific world. Those who are agnostic at least they're not atheists. But they don't want to think of God as a person because a person would imply morality a system of morality and perhaps laws.

They want to think of him as an energy force out there because that's not personal. It's just something that started everything in motion and we don't have to really answer to that and yet God has revealed himself as a person who has Intellect sensibility and will so that's kind of how we began to introduce this topic.

Last time we talked about the omniscience of God and we were continuing That study this morning if you would. Let's look at Psalm 139 and we'll read down through this some of you weren't here last time.

So we'll comment just on a couple of things by way of review and get into some new Verses in this passage that we didn't cover last time Psalm 139 and We'll be in verses 1 and following verse 1 says to the chief musician a psalm of David Oh Lord, thou has searched me and known me.

Remember from last time that the word for search Means an inside search. The Greek the Hebrew word call car literally means to penetrate and hence to examine intimately and So he has searched me that's on the inside and then it says and known me.

This is from the Hebrew word y 'all da which means to ascertain by seeing. So he also sees what I do on the outside. So in this phrase the Lord has searched me on the inside and known me on the outside and known all my ways.

And my goings forth we talked about last Sunday morning about the great Encouragement and comfort that comes to those who are right with the Lord when they consider his omniscience. He searches us on the inside.

He searches us on the outside. We think of Job. We're studying through that on Monday night with brother Otis and to think of Job all of his buddies came and we're trying to tell Him how sinful he must be in order for God to have done all these evil things to him.

And so they had God in a box so to speak. They thought they had God figured out and they had their rules About how God must behave and so forth. And so according to their rules Job must have been an evil man or else these bad things wouldn't be happening to him and the whole story goes through and Job keeps Saying no, I I search my own heart.

I know the Lord searches my heart and and I think you're missing. You're not diagnosing this properly and He battled with that throughout the whole book. Well God it is a comfort to those of us who wish to walk with the Lord for those of us who want a Relationship with God a close relationship day by day moment by moment.

It's comforting to know that he is omniscient which means he knows everything about us. He knows our thoughts. He knows our ways. He knows our inside. He knows our outside and it goes on into verse 2.

Thou knowest my down sitting in mine uprising. Thou understandeth my thought afar off. Thou compasses my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. Remember this word. Compasses is from a Hebrew word, which means to winnow.

So it means that God as we walk down the path God is winnowing us. Do you remember what? Winnowing is you take the wheat you throw it up in the air and the chaff blows away and the good wheat falls back down and You keep doing that all day.

And finally by the end of the day, you've got just the good wheat left. That's what this word literally means in the Hebrew when it says God Compasses my path it means as I'm going in my path and we can look at this from the human viewpoint and the divine.

At the same time the human viewpoint we choose the path. The divine viewpoint says very clearly that while we thought we chose the path. God is winnowing us. He is really the one who put us in that path and he's using the very path to get the chaff out of our lives and Then it says he's acquainted with all of our ways.

The word acquainted means familiar with but it also means in a sense of being Familiar with in order to minister to. So here is a sense in which God is winnowing our life. And getting the chaff out, but at the same time he is acquainted with our ways.

He's familiar. He is ministering in a sense. It carries the connotation of cherishing. So God cherishes the wheat the kernel of our life. That is what he is Bringing forth as he winnows the chaff out.

It's all seen in the Hebrew here when we read verse 3 and I'm sure that the Jewish mind would see these idiomatic expressions as he heard this word. Now verse 4 says for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo O Lord thou knowest it all together.

Now you see he doesn't just hear our words. He knows them all together. He knows the heart from which the word came. Sometimes we Misjudge one another. Someone may say a word to us. We take it the wrong way and they may not have really even meant harm by it.

We just took it that way we tried to know their word all together. But we're not God because so we can't do that, but God always does. Well, that's a comfort to us if we're wanting to walk closely with the Lord that that when we say things and do things He knows the heart from which it came.

He judges that also he knows it all together. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. Oh boy. That that was the part last week that that really I love the most. The when it says he is beset behind and before me the word beset in the Hebrew is a word pronounced sewer.

It's hard to even say it in Texan. But it means to confine. Now, isn't it interesting that from our viewpoint we picked the path. We decided we come up to it and we say do we go left or right? In fact much of the book of Proverbs is exhorting us to pick the right path.

To take the right path listen to your father to your mother children. Listen to the ways that your father's and your mother's teach you Principles from the Word of God and use that as you choose the paths when you go into college you college.

Students you're not going to believe the paths that can be set before you by the world the flesh and the devil. Take the path that was set before you by your parents as they taught you God's Word and by your pastor and by your own Personal Bible study.

So from the human viewpoint we choose to turn left or right. But what's so wonderful about it is we also know this is true at the same time. Somehow is that God has beset behind and before us. It means he has confined us to exactly the path that he is placing us on.

Is that amazing? But do you know you're still responsible to choose the right path? The great Spurgeon. I've been reading a little bit about him this past couple of weeks. He was known of all things as a Calvinist.

He believed in the sovereignty of God. But you know what he taught he also taught the responsibility of man when he came to a verse of Scripture that taught that He was not one who would try to change the Scriptures.

He would just preach them as they were and God has given us both. And so we must take both. We don't have to fully understand how God can do this that's what's wonderful about it. We know a man didn't write these portions of Scripture because the man couldn't have thought him up.

Only the omniscient mind of God could have come up with the plan that he has Revealed to us in the Word of God. Now it says his hand is upon us. Now we may not be aware of it, but his hand is upon us.

Isn't that beautiful? It says his hand is upon us in the very next verse and we'll go into some Message for today at this point in verse 6 such knowledge is too wonderful for me. What knowledge the knowledge that even though I'm responsible for choosing the path?

God has beset me. He has confined me to that place. He has protected me Into the very place. He wants me to go By his sovereign right hand, which is upon me every moment. It's on me when I sit down. It's on me when I get up.

It's on me when I go to bed at night. It's on me when I wake up in the morning. His hand is upon me If I am his child. This is too wonderful for me. It's high I cannot attain into it. The word wonderful in the Hebrew means Remarkable, but it has been translated in other places in the Old Testament into the word secret.

The word secret is these things are like a secret to me that I cannot Totally a mystery that I can't totally figure out how God can do all these things. But it makes it remarkable and wonderful that he holds me responsible to choose the right path.

But at the same time he besets Behind me and before me and his hand is on me when I get up and when I go to bed when I sit down. When I rise up to go in and out. He's there. He is Confining me to his perfect will for my life.

You can look at any of the saints of the scriptures the examples of their lives as we look back on their life. With hindsight, we see the sovereign will of God. We see how even as they made their decisions.

They were right exactly where God placed them all the time. These things are too wonderful for me. They're high. I cannot attain unto them. But they are fact. Malachi chapter 3 verse 16 Speaks of this.

Then they that fear the Lord spake often one to another. I Love to think about this verse back. We we talked about it sometime this week. I don't remember who I was with but we were talking about the Lord.

We're just I mean we were not having a Bible study. We were just talking about the Lord and this thought came to my mind and I tried to quote some of it to my friend. I said, you know. Isn't it neat the verse in the Bible where it says they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord?

Harkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him. For them that fear the Lord and that thought upon his name. God is omniscient. He knows every time you think about him. He writes it in a book of remembrance now whether that's a literal book.

It doesn't matter to me. That's how God explained it to us. That's how we would understand it. Perhaps if he had written this in the modern times, he said I got a computer disk and it's all on there. It doesn't matter what the means is it is stored.

God has it before him all the time. The eternal now I am. God is with us all the time every time we think of him. He records it in his heart every time. Look at this that you're with a friend whether you're having coffee.

Whether you're walking down the street, whether you're going to Six Flags. Whatever you're doing if you're with a friend and you talk about the Lord the Lord records it in his heart. He's written a book of remembrance for those who love him and walk with him.

He is omniscient. You see how his omniscience is a great comfort and joy to those who are walking with him because it shows his omnipresence. This is so fascinating to me as we study omniscience. I'm having a real problem staying away from omnipresence and omnipotence because they keep coming in together with it.

I Mean he knows all things. He's also present everywhere. He hears our thoughts. He sees our deeds. He sees us when we get together and speak of him and takes great pleasure in it. 2nd Chronicles 16 9 says for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.

To show himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. What does that mean? It's his omniscience. Works out into his omnipotence. His omniscience is not there just to be an end. It is a means to the end of his omnipotence his strong arm.

Which is displayed on behalf of you on behalf of you whose heart is perfect toward him. Job 2310 you knew we would get to Job when we're going to talk about The omniscience of God, but he says but he knoweth the way that I take.

Job argues these three buddies of his are saying you're wicked job. You got secret sin. You're not telling us about if you'll just confess it out loud to us. God will take his Curses off you and you'll just be fine.

I think these may have been the first three Roman Catholic priests in existence. They set up their little booth and they said come sit in here and tell me everything you've done. Job wasn't gonna do it.

He why he knew God better than to do that. But look what Job said. He knoweth the way that I take. You know, he already knows the way that I take when he hath tried me. I shall come forth as gold Job said.

Isn't that amazing? He knew a lot about New Testament theology, didn't he Job did? And so we find great encouragement and comfort in the omniscience of God. Let me go into a second point as we go to verse 7 now in Psalm 139 and we're kind of following down through here as our Main text when we get out into 20 30 40 50 other verses as we study the omniscience of God.

I'm trying to give you a bit of most of the really key verses as we go on Omniscience. Look at verse 7. Whether shall I go from thy spirit? Now we might think of this point men are always under God's continual Observation.

I know that's redundant always and continual, but I'm trying to emphasize it. Trying to get us to think about the emphasis men are always Under God's continual observation. Well. You know omniscience then implies omnipresence.

He not only knows everything about us, but he sees everything we do because he's there. Whether shall I go from thy spirit? Is there any place you can go and hide from God? Brother Otis says go ahead and sin, but make sure you find a place where God can't see you first.

Mm-hmm. That there is no such place. Where can I go from thy spirit or whether shall I flee from thy presence? If I send up into heaven thou art there and you know everything about me. You see the omniscience here implied in the omnipresence if I make my bed in the grave.

It says hell hell sometimes. In the English is could have been transferred translated perhaps a little bit better grave in some places. You can only tell by the context. If I make my bed in the grave behold thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. You are there now. Let's look at a little part of the omniscience of God that might come to play when we are not right with God.

It's Not always as peaceful and pleasant and pleasant as it is when we are walking with the Lord but it's still just as good and we'll see why as we look at some of these verses look at Psalm 90 in verse 8 we'll come back to our passage here in a moment.

So you might keep a marker in it. We'll spend the rest of our time this morning. Talking about God's omniscience from the point of view of number one. What it's like when we're not walking with him when we're not right with him and number two why that's good for us anyway.

So keep that in your thoughts as we look Psalm 90 in verse 8. Thou has set our iniquities before thee. Now you see now we're looking at the omniscience of God from the viewpoint of the fact that he sees everything we think and do.

Even the sin is before him. It is not hidden from him. He is aware of it our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. Now children, that's a good thing to learn at a young age. Is that there are no secret sins.

When you sneak in there and you stick that hand in that cookie jar. Mom and dad may not see it. But God does and if mom told you to keep your hand out, which normally she won't but if she did God will see that if you disobey your mom or your dad now.

What's amazing about that and humorous to me? Is that it's amazing how God then goes and tells the parents about it and you get caught. You can't you know, then you think mom and dad are omnipresent watching everything.

But really that's the Lord that's doing that. You know, why it's good that you get caught Children for the same reason it's good that adults get caught when they sin because if we get caught God will deal with the sin.

And if it's dealt with properly, we will see it as it is exceedingly sinful and wrong and Disgusting to God and it becomes disgusting to us and then we agree with God about how bad our sin is and that same thing is confessing sin and So then we can get right with the Lord.

Sometimes we face face chastisement but after that we get a hug and God says now it's over. It's covered. Let's go forward and sin no more don't do that sin anymore and that's the proper way to deal with it and So God sees our iniquities our iniquities are set before God.

Our secret sins are in the light of his countenance. Nothing can be hidden for one moment of earth time from God. Job 42 2 says I know that thou can't do everything and that no thought can be withholding from thee.

You can't even think a thought that God does not record instantly and understand and know everything about the thought. Isaiah 29 15 woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord. Isn't that amazing someone who would seek?

To hide their counsel from the Lord and to put their works in the dark and they say who seeth us. And who knoweth us? The Bible says woe to a person that believes that's how it works. Now listen, you can know that's not how it works and you can be deceived by the evil one to Rationalize or forget for a moment that that's how it works.

Don't let that happen woe to the one who seeks to hide his own thoughts and his works and play like his works are in the dark and Says who sees us? Who knows us. Jeremiah 23 24 says can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him.

Hebrews 4 13 says neither. Is there any creature that is not made manifest in his sight? But all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Psalm 4 4 says stand in awe and sin not.

Commune with your heart upon your bed and be still now. Let me take this one and make a point. Stand in awe and sin not would you turn with me to Exodus 20 and verse 17? This is a passage we've been preaching through lately.

So it'll be from very familiar to you and You'll remember when we were here. But I want you to see a point that deals with God's omniscience. And with this concept that's found in Psalm 4 4 where it says stand in awe and sin not.

Why are those two concepts related? Why is it that standing in awe of God and not sinning are related? Well, let's look at Exodus chapter 20 start with me around verse 17 and You're gonna find out that the context here has is right after God has given the Ten Commandments.

In fact, we're gonna read One of the last bits of it here in 17 as we go into this. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his manservant nor his maidservant nor his ox nor his ass nor anything.

That is thy neighbors now. Right after hearing this look how the people respond and all the people saw the Thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet. What does that represent? Up on that Mount the light and the trumpets and the thundering Presence of God that which said, okay the presence of God and the awesome presence of God and the mountain Smoking and when the people saw it they removed and stood afar off now.

Did they walk closer to God or further from God? They moved away from God and They said unto Moses speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die. They didn't want their relationship.

This is part of the passage that we discussed in earlier sermons about how they rejected this kind of relationship where they could have been priests. Believer priests like we are today and they said no we we don't want that Moses you go do that we'll just do what you tell us to do.

They wanted law and Moses said unto the people now look at this is what Moses said in response to this great fear that the people had. They they moved away from this mountain as they saw the awesome presence of God.

And look what Moses said and Moses said unto the people fear not. In other words, don't fear in the wrong way. Don't fear in the wrong way. He is your father. He loves you. Don't fear in the wrong way.

But look here for God is come to prove you and That his fear now, he's saying fear in the right way. Isn't that strange fear not now he says but God has come that his fear may be before your faces. Why?

Somebody read that last phrase to him. That you sin not. So what is the purpose of this entire meeting? That The proper healthy fear for God would be there to protect his people from sinning. So what do we see from this little passage in the passage in in?

Psalm 4 4 where it says stand in all the only way you can stand in all God is to be in his presence and To be aware of his presence. Now whether we like it or not We are always in his presence because not only is the omniscient knowing everything we think and seeing and knowing everything we do.

But he's on my present. He's everywhere at one time. We're never out of his presence and that's what the psalmist is talking about. Where can I go be away from your spirit? Nowhere is the answer but we're not always humanly aware of his presence because sometimes we allow our minds to wonder and look at the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the pleasures of this life and These things coming in choke the word from us.

We get out of his word and when and I I'm convinced of this that to the extent that you are in the Word of God Filled with the Holy Spirit to that extent you will be more and more aware of his presence.

You will have a closer and closer relationship to the extent that you're in the word more Filled with the Holy Spirit and in the word you are more like Joshua who went out to that tabernacle and didn't want to leave.

You're not so much like the ones who'd never went out there. But stayed in their tent doors and nipped knelt on their knees and looked religious, but they had no relationship and so to the extent that you Go out to that place in your own hearts and you become aware of the presence of God.

You then stand in awe and guess what the result of that is the byproduct of is is that you send not? You send not. So what is the great? Practical application of the Omniscience of God the fact that he knows all things.

The great practical application for us as we look at it is that we realize that he knows every thought. He knows every word and the thought in the heart that it came from and he sees every action. He besets our path behind and in front when we sit down and when we stand up when we go to bed when we rise Up when we go out into the world when we come back when we speak to our wives gentlemen when we first get home from Work, which is the toughest time?

Ladies. When the husband gets home. What we present for him God sees it all. Isn't it interesting that there's a verse that says our prayers cannot and be answered. Ladies and gentlemen if we're not right with our spouse.

Well a little rabbit trailed there, but my point is God is God is present. God is knowing it all. God is he not only knows everything, but he knows it in a way that we can't comprehend because he knows perfectly.

I better be careful. I'm going to get into my third point. But he knows perfectly. What's behind everything that we do? The reason the motives he sees it all. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still still means at peace at peace with God.

Ezekiel 11 5 says. And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and said unto me speak thus saith the Lord thus. Have you said O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind. Every one of them God tells the nation.

You haven't hidden anything to me. I know what you've been thinking. In it interesting that right before the flood God said the thoughts of their hearts were evil were only evil. Continually, how do you know that?

Because he knew their thoughts from afar off. And then one last thought under this topic in Matthew chapter 6 verse 4. In Matthew chapter 6 verse 8. In Matthew chapter 6 verse 32 4 8 and 32 there we see some of the bit of the aspect of the omniscience of God with respect to our Religion.

We talked about a little bit in Sunday school and out of James this morning about what pure religion is and so forth, but look what Jesus says in Matthew 6 4. That thine alms may be in secret and Thy father which seeth in secret that's omniscience.

Thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee. Openly think about as we go about to serve God. Think about the omniscience of God and how different that is than the knowledge of man and Let the things that you do from your heart as the spirit moves you.

The good deeds the good works that you do let them be in secret because God will still know them. Because there is no secret thing from God and Jesus instructed the people. He said very clearly let when you give alms when you give to the poor when you do a good thing unto the Lord.

Don't let men see you do it do it in secret. Because that way only the omniscient God can even know about it. But he shall know about it and he will reward you openly now. I like this one. Look at verse 8 it speaks of a different aspect of the omniscience of God towards his children.

Be not ye therefore likened to them for your that means like the heathen. Don't be like the heathen for your father. He had just told him don't be repetitious. Don't don't just babble in your prayers Lord.

Give me this. Give me this. Give me this like you're having a mental pep rally. That's not what prayer is all about. He says don't be like them. For your father knoweth what things you have need of before you ever asking.

Now that's not teaching not to ask that's teaching omniscience. That's teaching that God already knows what you're gonna ask for before you ask for it. God already knows the need before you even recognize the need.

Perfect example of that was one time when we were driving home, Mahalia, or I don't know at least from Dallas. I don't really remember if it's from between Dallas and Coors County or between Coors County, Mahalia, but we were driving along and Katie Stan.

Katie, no, I'm kidding. I Did that to him at a wedding recently and had him stand and Katie. Katie Let me know that was not the right thing to do. So I'm gonna pick on her a little bit more publicly here.

So we're driving down the highway and Katie. Oh, I don't know how old she was but She was about that age. You wish your children would eternally stay whatever age that is. Little a little age where they say that they're really nifty things and you want to write them in a book and then you kill Yourself because you didn't.

But she was wanting a horse. Real badly. She had wanted a horse for many years long before she was able to have a horse. She wanted a horse and she just from time to time would throw out a little comment so mom and I would know, you know that she needs a horse and We passed by and she looked over there and said look over there mommy.

And there was the most awful horse you've ever seen it what you could see more ribs than most horses even have. Sticking out through this dry hide and No leg muscles just you know, his head was just sagging down like this.

Couldn't hardly eat and it was so skinny. You've never seen a horse that skinny ever. And she said mom look at that horse. You'll get that one for me. I'll feed him. She Had a horse within six months.

But you know what? We didn't get her that horse. Because we knew her needs we knew what she needed. She didn't need a skinny old horse that she would have to feed she needed a smaller one. That was a pony that was you know, she could ride and so forth.

So we got her the right horse. We knew what she meant even when she asked kind of slightly amiss. It's just a little illustration of how God is in his omniscience. Don't think for a moment that he doesn't have every need you'll have in your entire life on this earth already.

Already within control. He sees the needs and then when we ask sometimes we don't even ask for the right thing exactly. But he gives us the right thing. Sometimes before we've grown to a place of maturity where we understand which is where we all still are.

We think he didn't answer the prayer. Katie comes up to me and says dad. That's not the horse I asked for. What if she had done that dad that's this horse is healthy and has muscles and. You know, he's young and has teeth and I didn't want that one.

I wanted that one. We saw out by the highway. We do that sometimes. I'm gonna say God didn't answer my prayer. Well, the Lord knows our needs. He is omniscient. He knows exactly what we need now. Let's move back into Psalm 139 and close this little passage off and we'll leave the third point for next time.

Verse 10 brings Omni presence together with omnipotence as we've already seen happen in many other verses. To the extent that it brings God's sovereign will into our lives. Now this is too wonderful for me.

This is so high that I cannot attain to it. But this is what the scriptures say. You are supposed to choose your paths wisely. Young people going to college. It's almost a sermon for you. Yours you are held responsible for by God.

By the omniscient God who knows everything you say everything you do and sees everywhere you go. To go to the right place. You're held responsible. But look what verse 10 says. Even there shall thy hand lead me now.

Where did we just leave off who could read verse 9 to me? Now you're probably not going to dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea and look at verse 8. If I take my bed in hell. Now this is Exaggerated language trying to make a point that there's not any place you can go.