Thursday: At Monday Night Bible Study, we have been studying Genesis. The guide that the leadership team from Calvary put together for our study is SO well done and I love to study with it. We have come to the end of our first semester--they always take the month of December off--and so we are now "on our own" so-to-speak for studying Scripture.
Last week's study on how the Lord guides and leads us (from the story of Isaac and Rebekah), brought me to Psalm 139--a very familiar Psalm and well-loved, for sure. God used His words in this Psalm to comfort me very personally last week and I felt directed by Him to study and try to commit to memory much of this Psalm during our December break. There are 24 verses in this song ... perhaps I could study and memorize one verse per day!
Here is what I have learned so far. Most of this is from Vine's expository dictionary, but some of it is from cross-referencing as well.
Verse One:
O LORD, You have searched me and You know me.
The word "searched" ["chaqar" Hebrew] means "to search out" or "investigate". It is used in passages like Judges 18.2 when the Danites sent out men to "spy out the land and explore it."
Proverbs 25.2 says "The honor of kings is to search out a matter ..." And in Psalms 17.3 it is used like this: "You probe my heart and examine me at night ..."
Also at the end of this song, David ASKS the Lord: "Search [same Hebrew word] me, O God, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This is such a humbling prayer, isn't it?
I was sharing the meaning of this word with Emma and she said it was "creepy" to think of the Lord spying on her, and I get what she is saying. However, I find it interesting that God would bother to investigate us at all. To me, it means that God is actually interested in each of us ... personally.
He also "knows" me. The Hebrew word is "yada". (1) to know by observing, reflecting; (2) to know by EXPERIENCING with the senses: hear, see, touch; by investigation and proving; by reflection and consideration. It is first-hand knowledge. The KNOWER has actual involvement with the object known. I love that! The dictionary went on to say that this word means "INTIMATE, experiential knowledge."
You might ask ... SO WHAT?
Well, it means that I have VALUE, that's what! It also means that the great Creator didn't just make me and leave me. We are very personally HIS. He listens to us, sees us, touches us! It expresses CARE to me and makes me happy to think about!
Verse Two:
You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.
I am sitting right now at my desk in the front room of my little house. I do a LOT of sitting in this space because this is where my computer monitor is located. This is where I edit photographs, design cards, watch stuff (the news, movies, etc.). God watches me here. He is so near that He takes note of when I am sitting and when I get up. It's difficult for me to actually BELIEVE this, but I am asking that He will help me realize how close He is, how all-seeing His gaze ... which is both a warning and a comfort at the same time.
And what does it mean that He "perceives" my "thoughts" from afar?
The Hebrew word for "perceive" is "bin" and Vine defines it this way: "be able, deal wisely, consider, pay attention to, regard, NOTICE, discern, perceive, inquire." Wow. That's a lot of words--but they help me to slow down as I read this verse and really stop and think about what this means. The more I make myself concentrate on this, the more comfort I receive.
God notices, He pays attention to ... my thoughts? The Hebrew word [rea] for "thought" carries with it "the will" or "desire".
Psalm 94.11: "The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile."
Proverbs 24.12: "If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?"
Jeremiah 12:2b-3: "You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. Yet you know me, O LORD; You see me and test my thoughts about You."
Those cross-references all seem ... negative and a little bit scary. But ... not actually ... because since He knows my desires (which are often evil) and my will (which is often bent against Him), the fact that God continues to be close to us and intimately involved in our lives is really quite amazing! David says that "such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." (verse six) I completely agree, and so my heart is quieted and I find a deep peace. I am thoroughly KNOWN, yet I am still LOVED. If I could truly believe this, I would feel far less alone in this broken world, wouldn't I?
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