Have you ever stopped and considered the uniqueness of every individual? Every single person alive is different; none of us are the same regardless of our similarities! Think about how incredible that is! Yet we live in a world that is constantly trying to force us into uniformity removing our unique qualities. This push toward oneness causes an insane amount of insecurities in almost every person in the world.
This problem of insecurity is something that Christians do not have to struggle with! One of my favorite passages of Scripture to read is Psalm 139. In this passage I see amazing, mind-blowing things that should encourage every Christian.
Psalm 139: 1–6
1 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.
1. God knows all my faults (His Omniscience)
This may not seem encouraging at first, but let’s think about it. God knew every single sin that I have ever and will ever commit before I was even born, yet He chose to die for my sins! But it gets even better. God died for my sins knowing that even after I accepted Him as my Savior I would continue to sin and continue to reject Him. He did that for every person that has ever lived and will ever live. That is an amazing love!
God has acquainted Himself with my entire being, my behavior, my thoughts, my words, all of me. The things that I do not think even matter are under His constant eye. God knows every thought I think before I think it and every word I say before I say. Matthew Henry said it this way, “The God with whom we have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and actions both our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before Him.” His care and love for me is incomprehensible, and it just keeps getting better.
Psalm 139:7–13
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.
2. God is always with me (His Immanency)
I cannot go anywhere where God’s presence is not. Henry so eloquently said it this way, “Every part of the creation is under God’s intuition and influence…. God is a Spirit, and therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him he cannot see us.” This is incredible. There is no place that I can go, no crowd big enough, there is no where that I can hide that God cannot be. A.W. Tozer explained it this way, “God is immanent, which means you don’t have to go distances to find God. He is in everything. He is right here…. It is impossible to think of a place where God is not.” Adam Clarke stated this: “What is to us hidden by darkness, or unknown through ignorance, is perfectly seen and known by God; because He is all sight, all hearing, all feeling, all soul, all spirit — all in All, and infinite in Himself. He lends to every thing; receives nothing from any thing. Though His essence be unimpartible, yet His influence is diffusible through time and through eternity.” I get so overwhelmed just reading that! That same God is my God! This infinite, all knowing God is my God, and He loves me and is always with me! That puts a smile on my face every time I think about it.
Psalm 139:13–16
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.
3. God made me unique (His Omnipotence)
God created me. I am fearfully made that means I was made to a representation God! I was created to bring Him glory and honor. I am wonderfully made that means I was made to be distinct, separated, and distinguished! God created me to be unique. God has known me my entire existence. Charles Spurgeon explained it this way, “Thou art the owner of my inmost parts and passions: not the indweller and observer only, but the acknowledged Lord and Possessor of my most secret self…. Before I could know Thee, or aught else, Thou hadst a care for me didst hide me away as a treasure till Thous shouldest see fit to bring me to the light. Thus the Psalmist describes the intimacy which God had with him. In his most secret part—his reigns, and in his most secret condition—yet unborn, he was under the control and guardianship of God.” I love that! What a wonderful God we serve, and what an honor and privilege we have to bring glory to Him!
Psalm 139:17–20
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.
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
4. God thinks about me (His immense love)
If everything that we have learned thus far is not enough, God thinks about us! This incredible God takes time to think about us. He thinks precious thoughts of me. Precious means to be esteemed, to be prized, to be valuable, to be precious, and to be costly. These are the thoughts that God has about me. Jeremiah 29:11 says it this way, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Matthew Henry said of His thoughts, “God’s counsels concerning us and our welfare have been precious to admiration: how precious are they! They are deep in themselves, such as cannot possibly be fathomed and comprehended. Providence has had a vast reach in its dispensations concerning us, and has brought things about for our good quite beyond our contrivance and foresight . They are dear to us we must think of them with a great deal of reverence, and yet pleasure and thankfulness.” His thoughts are not few either. The psalmist said, “how great is the sum of them!” We cannot even begin to comprehend how many kind thoughts God has of us. He has more kind, loving thoughts of us than the sands of the sea. His thoughts of us are constant.
Psalm 139:21–24
21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me,
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
5. God’s love changes me (Sanctification)
This is my favorite part. God loves me so much, and His love changes my behavior. The people who do not want to serve the Lord are not people I associate with. The first verse says, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.” This entire passage talks about how God knows us, yet in verse twenty three and twenty four the psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” He saw that God wanted to protect him, and because of that his sin was no longer attractive. Matthew Henry described it this way, “Those that are upright can take comfort in God’s omniscience as a witness of their uprightness, and can with a humble confidence beg of Him to search and try them, to discover them to themselves (for a good man desires to know the worst of himself) and to discover them to others.” The life of holiness and godliness is not only pleasing to God, it is also profitable to us.
All that just blows my mind, and it is only a tiny comprehension of God’s love for us! This love gives us an unbelievable confidence in God and who He created us to be.
