All in All

Good morning it's good to be with you this morning. It was kind of a surprise for me to get a telephone call from brother Mike asking if I would be available this morning to drive up from Greenville, South Carolina, and so we did drive up last evening stayed in the mission house were very grateful for the opportunity to be able do that as well is little harder to get up and get going from Greenville to come up for a 930 service but would be glad to do that occasion occurs at any time and we are available so since the staff is sick and I may be stand here in fear and trembling and brother Mike did say he sanitized everything I sanitized myself were just praying that not only the pastors, their families will recover from this quickly and easily. Well, but as well as the other folks in the church, but that none of us would continue to perhaps that God would protect us from those things as well.

He is been very gracious to us all, and that we are grateful to him for that bullet is Christmas season and since I'm about that for strength to be perhaps called to come speak.

I am not speaking of Christmas message this morning so you have a program tonight so I want to encourage you, as Dan has already done so. Get online get involved saying and be encouraged through the Christmas program this evening. So with that I would invite you take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the hundred and 39 song hundred and 39 song was here just two weeks ago was able to speak at the tri-state meeting and of the Lord directed me to share a passage of Scripture that often we have read and known that was in Proverbs in the third chapter of verses one through 12 and as I talked Mike on Friday. It was, and began to think through some things in thought I would come to this Psalm morning.

We do know, as we have prayed already and read scriptures and song hymns and songs concerning our God, that our God is an all-knowing and all-powerful, omniscient, he is all in all, he is the eternal God of heaven, in whom we are privileged to be his children. We need to give God praise and thanks and yet same time we need to examine ourselves on a regular basis to see what God would have us change in our lives and how we can grow and how we can be a different kind of people that he would like for us to be because of his many attributes we could list many of them communicable attributes, noncommunicable attributes, he is holy. He is righteous, he is love. He is just all of these things, but this passage here helps us to understand some more practical aspects and attributes of God that would help us in our daily living as well. Sometimes we look at the Scriptures and we have these great and grandiose theological realms.

Sometimes we forget how to bring them down to where we are and to our daily living. So I'd like to share this with you.

I will read the song and then we will come back and examine some text with it so if you would follow along. Please. In chapter 139 and verse number one when he says, oh Lord you have searched me and known me, you know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern our thoughts from afar you search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, the Lord, you know it all together. You have me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence. If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

If I make my bed in Sheol you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and well in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me the night.

Even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is bright as the day for darkness is as light with you, for you have formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed substance. If you look if in your book were written every one of them.

The days that were formed for main when as yet there were none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts. Oh God, how fast is the sum of them if I would count them there more than the sand. I await and I am still with you.

Oh that you would slay the wicked will God, all men of blood depart from me, they speak against you with Mel malicious intent. Your enemies, take your name in vain do I not hate those who hate you, oh Lord, and do I not love those who rise up against you. I hate them with complete hatred. I count them my enemies search me oh God, and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Assess the Lord's blessing upon our time together. Thank you father for the privilege that we have to be together pray that you would guide us directors help us in our words and our thoughts and our understandings help us as we seek to submit ourselves to you. Continue to bless your people protect your people and guide your people and will give you the praise in Jesus name, who was our only hope. Amen this passage I see a number of sections within it that I would like us to consider. The first would be that of verses one through six.

That God knows all things.

That's an interesting concept. We just read that entire passage of Scripture. God knows all things. He knows you.

He knows me and he knows us inside and out and thoroughly and through and through God knows it all. There is nothing that is hidden from God. So as you got up this morning the thoughts that you were thinking this morning before you even got your couple coffee maybe as you were thinking various things. Why these things happen us why we haven't such turmoil in our country. Why are we having all the various things are going on the coven.

All of these things that are happening in our lives. While God knows all of those thoughts that we have. God knows the thoughts in our lives is Maurice's not sure I want to go to church this morning. I'm not sure I want to sit anywhere near anybody today. I'm not sure I want anybody to brief George today. God knows our thoughts on all those things in our lives.

Now we were asked the question this morning.

If I asked this question to you how well do you know one another. So if I was asking how well do you know your spouse. Most of you. Perhaps many of you been married a long time, one that I've been married 35 1/2 years and as we think about this. A. How well do we really know each other. We think that we really know each other quite well, and as some of you do when we start to say something. The other one completes the sentence before we finish the sentence ourselves.

How do we know how well do we know one another. Our spouse, our kids are church members. People are sitting here together, our pastors, the pastors with our people.

How well do we really know them. The answer probably is something like this.

Probably not as much or as well.

As we think that we do at times. Or maybe more than you want to know, those are all interesting questions for us. But in the round of that and in the realm of this passage as we were meditating upon all Lord you have searched me and known me that God knows everything all the time about you and about me and about every other individual in the billions of people on the face of the earth at any given second, God knows it all.

Think about God knows everything about you. Everything every thought that you might think every action that you will do. Every person that you are going to speak to God knows all things about you and about me he knows them from all of eternity past, God is not surprised by any thought any action anything that you might do, or that I might he knows it actually before you think it in your mind because God is eternal God is all-knowing, omniscient. He knows all things. God does not have to learn anything. We understand that as we understand this attribute. This characteristic of God as we perceive these words all Lord you have searched me and known me, you know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar you search out my path and my lying down and/or acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. You have me in behind them before and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high I cannot attain before there was anything that was made. God knew you, and God knows and knew every thought that you would think about. It's quite interesting to meditate and think upon that because it helps us to understand how unsearchable our God is. We think we know our God better than what we really do. God knows us. He knows the intricate parts of our lives. He knows our thoughts and our words and our actions before any of us could possibly think upon them interesting even with mathematics. I would think that God knows all equations. He knows all the possibilities. He knows everything that every scientist could ever think about God knows it all. He knows he just simply knows because he is eternally present.

Not that he knew something was possible that was going to happen, but God no.

It's interesting that David says this over and over again. You have searched me and you have known me, you know when I sit down and you know when I rise up. You understand or discern my thoughts. You search out my path and my lying down and you are acquainted with all my ways and even before word was on my mouth behold all Lord you know it all together, you and me and behind and before and lay your hand upon me, and then he says such an arms is far above anything that I could ever ever comprehend. That's an amazing thought for us because it was we notice in verse number one.

He says you have searched me and you have known me through and through. All of my ways everything there is to know about me inside out front upwards and backwards up and down God you know everything about you might want to think about that as we come across Christmas season is here and as you perhaps are purchasing gifts for friends and relatives in as you're trying to gather together and as we gather together with our families on Christmas morning. All the thoughts go through hits all things go through her mind. I we really seeking to worship the eternal God of heaven, said that, but it also means that I think there's anything wrong with buying gifts and giving gifts and encouraging people and celebrating family together. I do want to encourage us to be mindful that God knows our thoughts and as we rise up in the morning on Christmas Day. We celebrate Christmas Day are we thinking about our Savior. The passage of Scripture that brother Bob read this morning. Verse number 21 is a precious verse and you shall call his name Jesus.

Why because he shall save his people from there's that's a thought to meditate upon on Friday morning, so he knows us. He knows our movements in verses two and three every part of me. Everything I do in its complete entirety. The Proverbs says this as well. In Proverbs 521 for a man's ways are before the Lord, and he ponders all his pads so as he says in verse two, three, you know when I sit down and you know what I rise up. You understand and you see all of my pass all my wanderings all of my ways that we are reminded that a man's ways are before the Lord, and he ponders all his past. They are directly before the Lord and he is carefully watching us all the time. He never slumbers never sleeps.

He always sees God always knows and I'm interesting how when where our children were young. Sometimes I would say when we have correct them about something or catch them doing something that was a how did you know that moms would always say I was in the back of my head, so he gave the impression that moms maybe dads are all-knowing are always present. I saw you but you take that in the realm of our eternal God and God is all-knowing and he is all present and he sees it all and he understands little and he knows it all before we do those things. My thoughts before I know them before. I think them even tomorrow.

God knows him altogether. Now you may not want anybody to think or to know what you are thinking. Even at this moment but God does. God knows all in verse number three. He indicates that he knows all my way, that's a repetition of verse number two as well through and through. He knows my ways intimately in verse number four we see that not only are my thoughts is no are known by God but my words and yet he says things that are not yet on spoken in that interesting things that are not yet spoken, you know them altogether even before a word is on my tongue see nothing surprises God and so as we consider this omniscient nymphet tent, all powerful, all wonderful, unsearchable God whom we sent tend to think sometimes is far above yet not close by.

Deborah reminded that he knows all and that he sees all.

Nothing surprises God.

The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 413, no creature is hidden from his site, but all are naked and exposed to see the eye to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. So as we take this unsearchable God that we have come to know the love because he so loved us, and we understand that he knows all things about us and sees all things about us that we must also go a step further and understand is that writer of Hebrews says none of what we do think and say is hidden from God and that we will give an account to all of those things before him while in verses five and six. It kinda gives us the scenario and he says all of this is too high for me to comprehend and understand when he says you have me and behind and before and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is high I cannot attain it.

God is so high, so holy, so marvelous, so unique, that is difficult apart from the Scriptures to understand who we use all of this is too high that you know everything about me you know all of my uprisings in all of my down sittings in all of my goings all my pathways and all of my words. You know it all. All of this is too high. It's too much for me to comprehend and understand it out of my reach, so to speak, and comprehension. It is way beyond in one sense, my pay grade to understand where God is and who is and how he knows all these things is beyond my understanding beyond my number. I'm reminded of Romans and chapter number 11, and verse 35 verse 33 where he says to us. Here Paul writes is all the death of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable is ways was David writes in these first three first six verses, he really exposes to us a lot about ourselves and a lot about who God God knows it all and therefore we have to be careful on how we conduct our lives, how we talk how we speak all the things that we do all the things that we say all the places we go. Everything about us.

We need to scrutinize as well because God sees it all. There is nothing that is hidden from him while second wall in verses seven through 10 maybe 12 we see that God is everywhere present.

God not only knows all things. God sees all things God sees all things God everywhere present you as a little boy living in Lockhaven Pennsylvania before I had come to Christ. I was under sore conviction by the Holy Spirit as he was working on my heart drawing to himself, and I always thought for some reason is a 1011-year-old boy that God was only in the front of the auditorium building and if I could just get away and other parts of the church building. God could not find. But you know what I found out is that I would sit over here and then I sit back there.

I sit over there with a balcony and I would go up and about the you know what God always was there. God always found me. God always was by his spirit drawing me to himself and convicting me of my sin. And so, as I consider verses seven through 12 on the presence of God, the all seeing God that David pretty much says there is no place to hide God knows that again. Where shall I go from your spirit, or where shall I flee presence if I send a have an you are there. 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 and your right hand shall hold me if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about maybe night even the darkness is not dark to you the night is bright as the day for darkness is as light with you no place to hide. I found that I was a little boy, and as I grew up sometimes you try to hide from God. Yet I think that's why men who are unsaved seek to do all kinds of things on the cover of dark most murders most crime takes place at night. People are trying to do things really got hide and be away from things but there's no place to hide from God that is both for the believer both a comfort and a fear I should fear referencing God that I cannot hide from him as a child of God, and it should be a comfort to us to that we should be able to be able to walk in the course of his life knowing that God sees me every step of the way and everything he gives the intentions here the ideas of the heights in the deaths there all the same to God.

The brightness in the darkness. It's all the same to God.

There is no difference. You can't run you cannot you can't flee from God and many Christians have sought to do so. And yet I think about Jonah. Think about how that worked out for Jonah. When you remember in the first chapter of Jonah, that he rose to flee from the presence of the Lord and to Tarshish to go to Tarsus from the presence of the Lord.

I Jonah probably know I'm going to insert some words in his mouth here probably knew that God knew exactly where he was and God as he sought to run from the presence of the Lord run from the responsibilities and accountability that God was giving to him at that moment in time that he'd decided he was going to leave and head to Tarsus and get on about and he was going to flee from all the things God wanted to do and even in the boat was there, and as God prepared, said great fish and as he was cast over swallowed by this great fish that he knew that he was still in the presence of God. We can never hide from the presence of God's on those thoughts change the older we get nothing. Sometimes the older we get, we start thinking differently than we did when we are young we are young we thought we were invincible we could accomplish anything, do anything, nothing to harness.

We could do whatever you want to know. We can return and and and everything be okay between me and the Lord, but the older we get closer we are to glory in that sense by way of natural age processes would begin to think about those things and say no. My preparation is shorter time yet for ongoing to meet the Lord so I need to do the best that I can walk with God and serve God in my life. I cannot run I cannot hide because God is there all the time and he sees it all all the time. Even the darkness, assess the darkness and the light that's a unique contrast here when he says in verse 11. Surely the darkness shall cover me if I could just wait till he gets dark. Nobody else he God sees us in the darkness.in fact, he says, and the light about me the night so I'm out in the pitch blackness of it all.

Even the darkness is not dark to you, God, the night is bright as the day. Generally speaking, I don't like darkness. I like the daylight I like it bright. I don't like strolling through graveyard cemetery at night just way man is made up, but the God is all the same. There is no darkness to him. See, for May. I could not live in places like certain parts of Alaska whether 65 days of darkness. At one time, I didn't look up to see what the suicide rate in place like that.

I would think that it would be much higher than other places for May.

I would probably prefer to live at the equator where there's 12 hours of daylight all the time.

That is what I like to make a difference to God doesn't.

Whether it's in the brightness of the day or whether it's in the blackness of night it is all the same to God and he sees it all and he knows it all and we need to be careful of how we live in accordance with God's omniscience, all seeing everything is the same yesterday today and forever, as Hebrews tells us there is nothing hidden thought, word, no deed before him was to move on in verse number 13 through 18.

We find here that God's omnipotence is vitally important first understand as well that God not only knows all things. He not only sees all things.

He knows all things about me personally as well. This is a fascinating passage of Scripture that you know well because we asked the question. When did God know all of this, God knew it all forever because he is eternal and he has not had to learn anything. He knows all things. He never learned a thing God has never learned a thing he is not learning anything today, and there will be nothing new to him tomorrow. He is personally involved in everything and everyone in our formation notice error in verse number 13 for you formed my inward parts you needed me to gather in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it all very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of your your eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them. The days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. What a magnificent thought, we tend to look at that passage of Scripture and to use it as our proof text only of against abortion but there's so much more that you can see there the intricacies that God knows of us because he hasn't done them in and for them and us. He is the God who knows you intricately, he knows all of your DNA. He knows every line of your fingerprints. He knows every section and thought they could be with in our brain. He knows every blood vessel that goes through our veins. He knows and controls every beat of our heart knows all of it. We are fully made, wonderfully made, skillfully formed as tragic as it is and we all believe and understand that the tragedy of of every aborted life. God knows the mole.

And he has formed them from the very tiniest parts of those cells in the very beginning of conception knows them person that is precious to us to know God knows us as ways involved in our lives.

It is God's plan for me. All of these things in it that demonstrates his sovereignty over our lives.

What I find fascinating is verse number 16 when he says your eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them and notice the days that were formed for me all of my days, when as yet there were none of them one amazing thought, God knows each and every day, and moment of our lives. Yet, because there is an appointed time as the Scriptures tell us that we shall meet our Lord and stand before him and enter into his presence is a tremendous thought well that should bring praise to to our God from us as well. In verses 17, 18. How precious to me are your thoughts.

Oh God, how vast is the sum of them if I would count. They are more than the same I awake and I'm still with you that unique relationship with the child of God. And this eternal God, our heavenly father is so unique that as we understand his all-knowing is all seeing his personal involvement in our lives from the moment the conception and even prior to that.

That should bring us to the point of praise in our lives. We have the privilege that he has granted to us.

Life and he is given to us his son, who has taken our sins away and cleansed us from our unrighteous and made us his own that the think about the preciousness of who he is and what he is Don and what he is doing in all of this should bring us to an amazement in our lives. Of this, God again. I'm reminded of that passage I read a moment ago, in Romans 11 all the depth of the riches the knowledge of this incomprehensible and inscrutable God who he is.

All is way is unsearchable, incomprehensible, unfathomable, and yet he loves us because he loves us. We can love him even though Peter says we have not seen him with her physical eyes at this time, the blessings of God outnumber and outweigh everything.

Sometimes I I see things differently than that my wife has to remind me remember all the blessings of God that outweigh all the troubles of life and they do sometimes we just are so consumed with the things of this life that we do not see the preciousness as he says or how precious to me are your thoughts you think about me that you have can you have been concerned of me. Oh God, that you have cared for me and you have met my needs and you have driven me along this course of this life there unsearchable.

Psalm 40 in verse five tells us the same thing that they are just all of the works of God are so many that we cannot count them.

They are beyond the sands of the sea of blessings of God meditating upon.

In light of all this, I am still with you. God's all-knowing is all seeing God knows me personally on, he does not keep me around. As I wake this morning as I woke this morning as I wake each day I can say I'm still with you, Lord, you are with me. We shall walk through this day I'm still with you. Trust sleep refreshment living in his presence because we are reminded of what he says in Hebrews 13 when he says I will never leave you nor forsake knows her precious thoughts and that's what David is saying these are precious thoughts for us, but with that, the next of all verses 19 and 20. We can see we have great confidence in this God who is going to make all things right. David here speaks in a sense, which is seems almost like it shouldn't be in this passage, and he says oh that you would slay the wicked of God will mentor blood depart from me, they speak against you with malicious intent or enemies.

Take your name in vain do I not hate those who hate you, oh Lord, I address the concept because he sang right off the bat, all God would you slide it, would you kill them. God there's an element of the imprecatory prayer. There kill them go. We need to realize this world is filled with wickedness filled with men who hate God filled with men who who will do all manner of evil against God.

They speak against him. They speak his name in vain they would just assume God would be destroyed which could not, and David comes to the point and he says you have to deal with them. God, I cannot deal with those you eternally will have to deal with them and we know that God will deal with the unrighteous as well, but he says that our heart should be different as well because the wickedness of mankind upsetting the psalmist here should also upset us as well send should obsess.

He says their enemies that take your name in vain do not do I not hate those there's an element that we should hate sin. I'm reminded of the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 in verse number four. He says blessed are they who mourn, I think there's an element that even in the church sometime today would do not mourn over our own sin, not necessarily, but maybe so collectively but individually at times to that we just do not mourn began to think more deeply about that about two years ago my dad died was 92 years old and as I was meditating upon some passages of Scripture. Afterwards, one of things that I I was meditating upon thinking about was this is that my dad didn't die just a body failure. He didn't die, just up, heart disease, or any other disease.

He died ultimately, because of sin. That's what sin.it destroys lives in. It destroys our lives and we to one day will succumb to death.

We want a soft pedal death. We want to make it easy for everybody. We want to save my dad's in a better place. We want to say which is true.

We want to say you know my dad had a good life to celebrate his life and all these other things we want to buy fancy caskets as though it makes any difference to him. All of these things, but as I was reminded in reading a book called remember death that though we want to soft pedal. It death simply that my dad died, and ultimately because of sin. David says we should hate all that we should hate that sin, we should hate what God hates and God hates sin as you detest us and we should should be detestable to us when we look at others who are blatantly living in sin will then he closes off hand, those are always great words for you to hear.

David is closing often so I will to with these last couple versus when he says in verse number 23 in verse 24 therefore search me oh God, and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any previous way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting sees every thought, send, grieve yes or cries of anxieties things of my heart and my life. So, last of all, David really here desires to have a clean heart and conscience.

I think that's important, as we understand all-knowing God and in all seeing God in a God who is personally involved in all of our lives from before conception of our bodies and as we developed in her mother's long as it as we were born and we are fearfully and wonderfully intricately made and that that should drive us to praise this eternal God, and it should also drive us in understanding and seeing the wickedness of man and crying out in God. God you deal with this as you see fit.

In any closes off similar to how we began with a desire to be known of God in heaven was parked in his mind and his life searched out is a crime to be searched. That's an interesting thought because you have to stop and thanks is why does God have to search me if I God knows all things thought God sees all things and he does is not that God needs to try to find things out but David wants God to search his heart's own heart and expose him for who he is as well to expose David's heart to expose my heart so the Holy Spirit can change us as we mom see our lives in realm of an all-knowing God and all seeing God.

All these things David wants to be known. David wants to be exposed to remember. David reminds himself.

Perhaps it is impossible for me to keep anything hidden from God. There are no secrets to exactly what David was safe in the first opening verses, oh Lord you have searched me and known you know when I sit down when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar you search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with my weights you know everything and so God I pray that it's not that I want you to know what's in my heart because you already know God.

I want you to show me what's in my heart and to expose me for who I am and what I am, so that I might come into compliance and submission to you, who is my all knowing, all loving, all kind all judging father. So perhaps someone 39 is written in these last few verses, not just with the element to condemn us in our walk and how our lives are but the comfort us that God knows this and we have great comfort in that. And it helps us to walk day by day in a right relationship with him. We don't like that he alone knows us so well, but it does help us. It helps us to guard our lives as proverb says, for verse 23. Guard your hearts, guard your hearts that phrase guard word garden. Guard your heart is the idea of put a fence put a wall around your hearts and protect out of that control the issues of life.

Guard your hearts, guard your lives to live in his presence and second of all, the comfort our hearts to know that he cares for us and he guides us and he loves us and all of that we know should affect how we guard our hearts and how we guard her lives.

So as we close in prayer. Take a second here, take a moment to meditate on this word whoever business you might need to do with God and as I close this in prayer for the day and will come will singer him. Thank you father for your love and your grace to us. We are sinners, whom you have saved by your grace and we can never show enough gratitude or love. We would pray has the psalmist is shown to us this morning that you are an all-knowing, all wise, all-powerful, all seeing God whom we must give an account to someday and so we pray that as we see what you have done what you know what you are doing that we might praise your name sing praises to you.

You are worthy of all of our praise and adoration.

Help us Lord to hate sin, help us not to be overwhelmed by it in the world to know that you are in control and you shall deal with it in your time as you see fit, but help us to examine our own hearts. We ask that you would expose our hearts so that we might live according to your will, and we will give you the praise and thanksgiving pray in Jesus name was her only hold payment