I am grateful to be awake on this 9th morning of Lent. My chosen companion for the 46 days leading to Easter, Psalm 139 has been on my mind and in my heart ever since Ash Wednesday. I pray the Lord will continue to reveal Himself to me through the words of King David.
So far, we have pondered the beginning of the psalm:
Psalm 139
To the Choirmaster. A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
We learned that this beautiful hymn was entrusted into the hands of the Choirmaster, the distinguished musician in charge of leading God's people in worship -- gleaning also that God Himself is our ultimate Choirmaster or life master. We also ascertained that David (first a lowly shepherd then anointed king) was most likely the writer of this psalm -- finding therein much hope that God would choose to use us like David for His higher purposes regardless of our status in life. We further pondered God's lordship over heaven and earth, humans and beasts and plants -- understanding thereby that the light of God searches the human heart and intimately knows all our motives, thoughts, words, and deeds before any one of them materializes.
Such a God knows me . . .
puny me
even me
. . . and knows me so well that He knows when I am active and inactive as expressed in the next verse:
2a You know when I sit down and when I rise up . . .
God's probing light exposes you and me.
He knows when we sit down . . .
- alone (Jer 15:17)
- in the seat of scoffers (Ps 1:1)
- at His banqueting table (Ps 23:5)
- in the company of revelers (Jer 15:17)
- in ashes scraping loathsome sores (Job 2:8)
- on the ground for days uttering nothing (Job 2:13)
- greedily imbibing juicy gossip and slander (Prov 18:8)
- waiting patiently to be drawn up from the pit of destruction (Ps 40:1-2)
. . . and He knows when we rise up . . .
- alone (1 Ki 18:22)
- in the morning (Ps 3:5)
- groaning and crying (Ps 5:1-2)
- in the pathway sinners take (Ps 1:1)
- standing in the fiery furnace (Dan 3:25)
- in fierce anger against the Lord (Jonah 4:1)
- taking our prayerful stand at our watchpost (Hab 2:1)
- standing in awe of the Lord's righteous laws (Ps 119:120)
Yes, my friend.
He knows you and me.
He perceives all that comes out of us.
He notes our position -- whether sitting or standing.
Charles Spurgeon says it this way, ". . . I am observed when I quietly sit down, and marked when I resolutely rise up." Samuel Annesley advances, "Thou knowest my rest and motion . . ." And James Montgomery elaborates, ". . . at home, abroad, in crowds, alone, Thou mark'st my rising and my rest." And I join their rank in saying He knows when I sink into the miry pit of despair and when I rise with a prideful, heaving chest.
Lenten thought is beckoning you and me to rend our selfish leanings in deference to the glory of our Lord when we face sitting down or rising up:
Might we give up grumbling and choose gratitude instead when we sit down to eat?
Might we give up gossip and use discretion instead when we rise from a confidential conversation?
Might we give up mockery and choose encouragement instead when we sit alongside others?
Might we give up conforming to the world and instead align our minds and hearts with the Word?
I pray you and I will sit to imbibe Scripture with attentiveness and affection, gratefully receiving therein all that is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). I also pray you and I will rise up from our time in the Word humbly yet firmly prepared to take our stand against the devil's schemes.
Thank You for teaching us, O Lord.
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