WWUTT 1274 You Have Searched Me and Known Me (Psalms 138, 139, 140)

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God loves you. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a fellowship with God that's far greater than even you understand when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

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Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

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Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the

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Psalms, we're up to Psalm 138. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there.

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We're also going to look at 139 today, one of the most popular Psalms in this book, which

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I'm thinking we're going to finish up by the end of the month. That's this lesson next week and the week after that, but I'm pretty confident we're definitely closing in on the conclusion to our year and a half long study of the

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Psalms. Here is Psalm 138, a Psalm of David. I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.

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Before the gods I sing your praise. I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

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For you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

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On the day I called, you answered me. My strength of soul you increased.

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All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth.

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They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the

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Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

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Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand delivers me.

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The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Your steadfast love,

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O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

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So this particular Psalm is very obviously a Psalm of praise. We have that right from the very beginning.

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I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart. Before the gods

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I sing your praise. This is in Hebrew Elohim, but it's little Elohim.

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The way it's translated in the Septuagint seems to give reference to angels. So in the presence of angels,

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I give you praise. And we have that in the New Testament as well. The Apostle Paul talks in 1

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Corinthians 11 about worshiping in the presence of angels. We have in Hebrews 13 to the reference to entertaining angels unawares.

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So it's in the presence of even the heavenly host. I give thanks unto

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God. There are others that may interpret this as earthly rulers, and there are others that interpret this as idols.

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So even above idols, I give praise to God. I do not give my praise to idols. I give my praise to God.

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But I think because of the way that the Septuagint renders this as angels, I think that would be the more accurate assumption.

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So worshiping God even in the presence of angels. I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

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We read about the steadfast love of God in the last several Psalms, which we looked at last week. For you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

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My friends, that is a section of Psalm 138, too. You should underline because that is a good response verse to somebody who would say something like God has placed you above everything.

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Like, well, say take, for example, that praise song above all, you know, that song,

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Michael W. Smith made it famous. Lenny LeBlanc wrote it. I think Paul Belosch was one of the other co -writers on that song.

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Like a rose trampled on the ground, you took the fall and thought of me above all.

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Right. That's the end of the chorus. It's not true. Jesus did all things to the praise of God, the father, which is

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Philippians 2, 11. And we're supposed to do the same. Everything that we do is supposed to be praise unto

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God, including charity, loving our neighbor. We do this to the praise of his glorious grace, for God even saves us to the praise of his glorious grace.

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So he is exalted above all things, his name and his word. It is unto

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God that we do all that we do. Underline that. Remember that in case anybody comes along and says, well,

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God has placed this as his highest priority. If what they're placing as God's highest priority is not his name and his word, then they're wrong.

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Going on, verse three. On the day that I called, you answered me, my strength of soul, you increased.

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All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth and they shall sing the ways of the

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Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord, for though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly.

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But the haughty he knows from afar. Yesterday we talked about when we were in in Romans chapter eight, we talked about how

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God condescended himself to show grace to us, to reveal to us his word and his will according to his word.

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And of course, the condescension of God in the man, Jesus Christ, God stepping off his throne in heaven to take on flesh and dwell among us, to even let the creatures that he created crucify him for the sake of the forgiveness of sins.

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God did all of this to the praise of his great name. And he regards the lowly.

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So also should we. Paul's instruction in Romans chapter 12. Do not think too highly of yourselves, but give regards to the lowly, just as our

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Lord God does. The haughty he knows from afar. So regards the lowly means that he draws them close.

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We who are humble in heart draw near to God, but those who are proud, he knows them from a distance.

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He knows them, but they are not close in relationship, in fellowship with God. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.

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That's very similar to Psalm 23, right? Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.

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Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies.

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Also sounds like Psalm 23. You prepare for me a table in the presence of my enemies. Your right hand delivers me.

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The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

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Do not forsake the work of your hands. You have worked, you have purposed this in me.

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Bring to fulfillment, bring to fruition what you have set forth. This statement here at the end of the psalm, verse 8, may also be a reminder to the psalmist that according to Philippians 1 .6,

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I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ.

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Let's go to Psalm 139, one of the most famous psalms here. I think you put this one with Psalm 1,

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Psalm 8, Psalm 23, Psalm 40, Psalm 51, Psalm 119,

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Psalm 139. This is one of the top of the charts on the hit parade.

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I'll read through the first six verses here and stop. This is to the choir master, a Psalm of David.

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O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when

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I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

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Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

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You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

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Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it.

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What we have here at the start of this psalm, in these six verses, we have a very intimate relationship that God has with those who love him.

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God knows us. When we read that God knows us, it's not that he simply knows of us, or that he knows the thoughts that we think.

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It's just like you might say that you know your spouse. I know my wife.

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You know, you wives. I know my husband. There is an intimacy that exists between a husband and a wife, that when a husband says,

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I know my wife, it's much different than when anybody else says, well, I know your wife too.

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And this is the way that God is being talked about here in this psalm when it says that he knows us.

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There is that intimate affection that God has for his children. After all, the church is described as the bride of Christ.

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That is an incredibly intimate title that the Lord God has with his people.

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You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when

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I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. And all of this that God knows, such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

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It is high. I cannot attain it. Even what God knows about you is more than you know about yourself.

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For God even knows the end from the beginning. He knows how your story concludes, which you don't even have knowledge of that yet.

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Let's continue on verses seven through twelve. Where shall I go from your spirit or where shall

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I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

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If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me.

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If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you.

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The night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

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So this is to say that we can't go anywhere outside of the reach of God.

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No matter where we are, God is with us. As high as we go, as down as we go, as to the left or to the right,

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God is always there. We will never be outside of his reach or his care or his love and his guidance.

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So we start out the psalm talking about God's affection for us. And then the next section is how we will never be outside of that affection.

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He will always be with us, his children. Verse 13, for you formed my inward parts.

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You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when

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I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance.

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In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

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This paragraph, verses 13 through 16, speaks of the sovereignty of God and how

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God's sovereignty is even deeply intimate toward those whom he loves.

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God knew us before we existed, before we were even of any substance in our mother's womb.

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His eyes saw us, and it says, in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

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God had every day of ours written down in his book before we even came into existence.

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And I think I made a reference earlier this week to Job 14, where it says there that God has numbered our days, and he has set limits which we cannot pass.

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He holds every one of our days in his hand. Now, that's not just to say that you have a limited amount of time that you can live and you can't go any further than what

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God has set. It's also to say, it's also to speak of God's fellowship with us, his intimacy with us.

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That when we were born and we were born in sin, we were born in rebellion against God, yet by his divine providence had set up for us a way that we might come into the hearing of the gospel so we could repent of our sins and know

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Jesus Christ. And through Jesus, we have the fellowship with God that he had foreordained we would have with him before we were ever even born.

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Like, however you know or think about the love and affection that God has for you, it's even greater than that.

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His affection for you even greater than that. God's love for you, his kindness to you.

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My friends, take heart this day. Take heart this day, knowing that God loves you.

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And he is fond of you. And he is working all things together for your good, for those who love

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God and are called according to his purpose. Nothing that is happening to you today that happened to you before that happens to you tomorrow.

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Yes, yesteryear, later year, you know, whenever all of these things are happening for your good.

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Trust God, for he had set his affection on you before you were ever even born.

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And you're going to walk through heaven's gate one day and you will hear if you're if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you are going to see the father.

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As I mentioned yesterday out of first John three, two, we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him.

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And when we stand before the master, he will say to us, well done, good and faithful servant for great is your reward.

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And on that day, we will look back over every day before and we will understand how

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God was working, even in the in the greatest of catastrophes that happened in our lives, how

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God was working to bring about our salvation and ultimately our glorification that we would be forever in heaven with him.

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Now, this section or of Psalm 139 also speaks of of.

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The human being in the womb before the child is born, and so this

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Psalm 139 is often been utilized for the pro -life movement or a pro -life argument, and I've used it that way as well.

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It says much more than that, but I think it it certainly speaks of the value of life from conception.

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If God has affection for us before we're even conceived, then, of course, there's that affection for us in the womb when we before we are even born.

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And so the value of life that we are to have as Christians from womb to tomb, as it is said, from conception to natural death, every life is precious to God.

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And so it should be precious to us as well. Abortion is murder.

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And if you are guilty of the sin of abortion, if you've taken an abortion pill, you've not even gone to an abortion doctor, but you took the pill.

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You ended a life and I implore you be convicted of your sin because of what you have done, ending a life that God held precious, that that was made in the image of God, that were that was formed even in the womb by the hand of God.

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You ended that life. You murdered, which is even a blasphemy against God. And so you must go to God and ask for forgiveness in Christ Jesus.

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He will give it to you. Mourn over that sin and receive the forgiveness of Christ before the day of judgment comes.

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I implore you. So we go on here. Verses 17 and 18. How precious to me are your thoughts?

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Oh, God, how vast is the sum of them? If I would count them, they would be more than the sand.

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I awake and I am still with you. Oh, that you would slay the wicked.

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Oh, God. Oh, men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you with malicious intent.

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Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate me?

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Oh, Lord. And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred.

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I count them my enemies. Search me. Oh, God, and know my heart.

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Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.

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We end the same way we started. But unlike the beginning of the psalm where David says,

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You have searched me and you know me. He concludes by saying, Search me and know my heart. If there is anything else in me that is keeping me from holiness, without which we will not see

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God, as it says in Hebrews. David says, Then search that out. Try me. Know my thoughts.

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May all those sins be repented of. May they be out. May I be cleansed so that I may be led in the way of everlasting.

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Let's go to Psalm 140. To the choir master, a psalm of David. Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men.

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Preserve me from violent men who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.

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They make their tongues sharp as serpents. And under their lips is the venom of asps.

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We see a similar statement made in Romans chapter 3 about evil men.

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Their lips are like the lips of, their tongues are like the lips of, sorry, under their lips is the venom of asps.

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Yeah, an asp doesn't have lips. Specifically the term or the statement in Romans 3 .13

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is, the venom of asps is under their lips just like it is here. Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked.

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Preserve me from violent men who have planned to trip up my feet. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me.

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And with cords they have spread a net. Beside the way they have set snares for me.

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And, you know, when we're talking about the evil setting snares, it doesn't just mean that there are obvious plots that are going on that mean to thwart us.

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It could be flattery. Because as it says in Proverbs, that a man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

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So he kind of butters him up and sets him up for a fall. So we have to be careful of even those wily ways that may entice us into their company only to spring their trap and bring us to ruin.

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The devil is very conniving. It's not like a movie villain who obviously looks like a villain.

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For even the devil himself disguises himself as an angel of light, as Paul says in 2

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Corinthians 11. We go on into verses 6 through 8. I say to the Lord, you are my

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God. Give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord. O Lord, my

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Lord, the strength of my salvation. You have covered my head in the day of battle.

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Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. Do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted.

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As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them.

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Let burning coals fall upon them. Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise.

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Let not the slanderer be established in the land. Let evil hunt down the violent man speedily.

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I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and will execute justice for the needy.

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Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name. The upright shall dwell in your presence.

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How beautiful, once again, is the intimacy that is demonstrated here

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God has with his children. That's what we've seen through these three psalms that we've looked at today.

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138, 139, and 140. How much God loves us and cares for us.

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But those who are haughty, he knows from afar and has preserved them for a day of judgment.

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Let's conclude with prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the kindness that you show to us.

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And we ask that we would be delivered from the hands of our enemies even before they have any chance to have any way with us.

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You uphold us by your mighty hand and you lead us in the way everlasting.

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May we pray as David did in Psalm 139. Search me and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.

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See if there be any grievous way in me that I may turn from this and walk in the path of righteousness that you have set before me in Christ Jesus even before the ages began.

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And it's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. This is

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When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours.

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But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family. Find a good gospel teaching

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Christ -centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study