Commentary from Papa JoeMac:
#52 - God's Intimate Relationship With Us - Psalm 139This is one of my favorite chapters in God’s Word. I’ll get personal here…….I’m a sinner. But, you knew that already! We are all sinners. I moan in spirit at times because I know I sin against God. I get mad at myself over some of the things that I do. Getting mad is not all bad when it’s a “righteous anger” – Amen? Jesus showed His anger in the Temple with the money changers – righteous anger. We should get angry when we sin. If we don’t, something is wrong. Psalm 139 tells us very clearly that God is intimate with us – from the heavens to the far sides of the sea. Where can we flee from His presence and His Spirit? We can’t. God is all knowing, omnipresent, and He knows every detail about us – beginning at the instant we were conceived in the womb. We have an intimacy with God that started before we were born! Intimacy is the ability to be close, loving and vulnerable! God wants this relationship with us. It is our choice to be intimate with Him!
Psalm 139 tells us that God knew our innermost feelings when we were still in the womb! The intimacy between Mother and child is better understood when meditating on these verses. In some areas of the world, many children do not live with their biological Fathers. Divorce rates in some parts of the United States are 70%! The majority of these ‘fatherless’ children live with their Mothers. This fact, in conjunction with Psalm 139 helps us understand why most children have a bond with their Mothers that they never form with their Fathers. Sadly, some people I have talked with do not accept God as their Father in heaven simply because they had no intimate relationship with a biological Father here on earth! They cannot understand the love of a Father being that of their Mother. At a prison in Texas, the men on death row were interviewed and asked about their relationships with their Fathers. EVERY man on death row stated that they hated their Father! These men’s lives could have been totally different if they had formed an intimate relationship with their Fathers on earth as well as their Father in Heaven! Men, it is so important that you be the spiritual leader in your family! Mothers are certainly special but it is God’s plan for the Father in the house to be the spiritual leader.
God is omnipresent. We can never escape from His Spirit. No matter where we go, we are always in God’s comforting presence. Remember those times when you feel that you are unworthy? Remember those times when you feel like everything you touch becomes mud? Remember those times when you actually hated yourself? Psalm 139 gives us hope! Never forget that God’s Spirit is ready and willing to work within you.
There are several verses in the chapter that have caused some folks to worry. If God’s people are to love all of mankind and reflect the Glory of Christ, how can we hate people? Specifically, verses 21 and 22 where David expresses his ‘hatred’ towards God’s enemies. We must remember that David’s hatred for his enemies came from his zeal for God and his hatred was a desire for God’s righteous justice and not for personal vengeance. There is a tremendous difference between those two reasons. David was not “out to get” God’s enemies. He was calling out to God for righteous judgment. Is it all right to be angry at people who hate God? Yes, but we must remember that it is God who will deal with them, not us. If we truly love God, then we will pray that God’s enemies will turn to Him before He judges them.
In closing out this Psalm, David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. How are we to recognize sin unless God points it out? When God shows us our innermost feelings, we can repent and be forgiven. This is similar to how we are with our earthly parents. The intimacy that is formed between a parent and a child is strong – especially with our Mothers. The level of intimacy with God our Father should be even stronger. God wants it to be! He knows our every thought before we think it! He knows our every word before it is completely on our tongue! Do you want that intimacy with the Lord? It is simple! It is not a difficult thing at all! How can you get started? Read Psalm 139 aloud to God. Meditate on each word. Feel the bond that God has with you through these Scriptures. Will you ask God to “search your heart and know you”? He is ready! Choose to be intimate with God and He will respond!
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