December 23, 2024

This Week…Psalms 139:1-3

August 7, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have looked at the Truth that our wonderful God knows all about us.  Our devotional writers have shared this understanding with us in the devotionals that they have written.  Here are a few of their thoughts….

In God Loves Our Brokenness, Tina reminded us that God can use us for His glory….

God loves our brokenness. Why? Because it is through our brokenness where He can begin to ‘FIX‘ us. God will:

  • F ocus on what is right in us, He will help us build our character to be a reflection of Him
  • I ntends to heal us and will use us as
  • eX amples of His great love and mercy

Also, God can use our past to help others to see Him as our Redeemer.  We can know that God will soften our hearts to forgive ourselves and use our lives to win others with similar situations to Him.  We just have to be willing.  We have to allow ourselves to be molded and shaped into what God can use. We will not be perfect; we are human.  But God can use our humanity to reach those who are unsaved…we will be able to reach others with our lives and show how God redeemed us from our path of sin and unrighteousness.

❦

In To Be Known, Ahmee shares how much it means to her to be ‘known’ by God….

These three verses focus on one of the many aspects of God that I truly love and adore—He knows me.  Coming from a place in my life where I felt misunderstood, weird, different, and alone into a relationship with my Lord Who knows everything about me has been amazing.  Some people have things about themselves that they want to hide or hope others never find out…and they behave the same with God.  I’ve never been that way.  God knows everything about me, whether I tell Him or not.  And He knows everything about me whether I want Him to know or not.

Nothing I do, say, or think as well as nothing I have thought, said, or done,  can change the fact that God loves me.

  • He loves me just the way I am.
  • He doesn’t separate the good from the bad.
  • He doesn’t only love me when I behave.
  • He doesn’t only love part of me.
  • He loves all of me.

❦

In Divine Knowledge, Ann relates how these characteristics of God—His omniscience and His omnipresence—are described throughout Psalm 139….

In verses 1-3 of Psalm 139 it shows God knows all our inward thoughts, motives, desires, and fears as well as our outward habits and actions.  He knows all we do from the beginning of the day to its end.  In everything we do, He encircles us with His care and lays His hand of favor upon our heads.  Our God knows everything and so we should not deceive ourselves that He is not there watching when we are doing what is not pleasing unto Him.  He sees all.  Refer to the verses below for a good understanding of how God operates:

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
He will not grow tired or weary
and His understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28

He reveals deep and hidden things,
He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with Him.
Daniel 2:22

…do not be like them for your Father knows
what you need before you ask Him.
Matthew 6:8

…and again, The Lord knows
that the thoughts of the wise are futile.
1 Corinthians 3:20

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You Are Familiar with ALL our ways

August 6, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

Oh, dear Father…to be known by You!  You—the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the One Who hung the moon and each and every star and planet!  You—the Designer of all life here on this Earth—the animals, the birds, the fish, every type of plant and tree!  You—Who made the sun to give light to the daytime and the moon to give light to the night-time!  What a wondrous (and true!) thought that ‘You are familiar with all my ways!’  Oh, we also know about our ways…and some of them are not so good, Lord.  But You love us in spite of our faults and failures, our sins, our idiosyncracies.  Lord, today may we recognize the great privilege of this.  You are so good to us!  We praise and thank You in Jesus’ name.  Amen.  <3

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Divine Knowledge

August 5, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo
O Lord, You have searched me and You know me
You know when I sit and when I rise
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down
You are familiar with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

The whole chapter of Psalm 139 describes various aspects of God’s attributes especially His omnipresence and omniscience as well as the ways that these characteristics relate to His care for His people.

The God of heaven and earth created us and has perfect knowledge of us.  He is always with us and His thoughts are always directed toward us in every situation.

As mountains surround Jerusalem
so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.
Psalm 125:2

In verses 1-3 of Psalm 139 it shows God knows all our inward thoughts, motives, desires, and fears as well as our outward habits and actions.  He knows all we do from the beginning of the day to its end.  In everything we do, He encircles us with His care and lays His hand of favor upon our heads.

Our God knows everything and so we should not deceive ourselves that He is not there watching when we are doing what is not pleasing unto Him.  He sees all.  Refer to the verses below for a good understanding of how God operates:

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God the Creator of the ends of the earth,
He will not grow tired or weary
and His understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28

He reveals deep and hidden things,
He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with Him.
Daniel 2:22

…do not be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Matthew 6:8

…and again, The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.
1 Corinthians 3:20

Even in times with our adversaries let us bear in mind that God knows the situation even beforehand.  He just waits for us to call on Him and will give us the desires of our hearts.  He will wipe away our tears, taking away the shame.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Holy, Holy are You, our God.  Heaven and earth are full of Your glory; Hosanna in the highest.  Thank You for You are the God who sees and knows us in every way.  Thank You for this privilege to be called Your sons.  May You search our hearts and our minds…and if you find anything that is not worthy…please uproot it in Jesus’ name so that we live a holy life pleasing unto You.  Be with us now and forever more.  We pray in Jesus’ name amen.

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God Loves Our Brokenness

August 3, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

God loves our brokenness. Why? Because it is through our brokenness where He can begin to ‘FIX‘ us. God will

  • F ocus on what is right in us, He will help us build our character to be a reflection of Him
  • I ntends to heal us and will use us as
  • eX amples of His great love and mercy

God will make our sins as if they were not and will use our new life for His glory.  We need to be willing to walk in His ways without fear (Romans 3:21-31).  God will be with us and guide us along His path to righteousness.  Paul tells us that he was ready for the end of his life when he would receive his crown.

…in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day;
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
2 Timothy 4:8

Paul lived his life for God and knew it would be hard.  He did not falter from his path in order to show and tell people of Jesus’ great love. 

God will heal us from our past wounds, our past experiences. Some of those may be a result of a curse in our family history. Or it could be a result of our own disobedience to one of His commandments. An example would be if we have not honored our parents. We do not have to agree with how they live, or what they do, but we still have to give them honor for who they are in our lives.  Through grace God can restore those relationships to ones of tolerance and acceptance of who our parents are. 

Also, God can use our past to help others to see Him as our Redeemer.  We can know that God will soften our hearts to forgive ourselves and use our lives to win others with similar situations to Him.  We just have to be willing.  We have to allow ourselves to be molded and shaped into what God can use. We will not be perfect; we are human.  But God can use our humanity to reach those who are unsaved.  Just as we have the example of Samson and David, we will be able to reach others with our lives and how God redeemed us from our path of sin and unrighteousness. 

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, thank You for loving my brokenness. I ask that You continue to take away my sins and use me for Your glory and to further Your kingdom. Thank You for not tossing me aside as dross and for choosing to use me to tell others of Your great love. Thank You!  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

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Psalm 139

August 2, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

Rebecca St. James, singer/songwriter
 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

You search me
You know me
You see my every move
There’s nothing I could ever do
To hide myself from You
You know my thoughts
My fears and hurts
My weaknesses and pride
You know what I am going through
And how I feel inside

But even though You know
You will always love me
Even though You know
You’ll never let me go
I don’t deserve Your love
But you give it freely
You will always love me
Even though You know

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Esther – Chapter 4:1-3

September 23, 2013 by

Isaiah30_19

Now when Mordecai learned all that was done, [he] rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and bitter cry.  He came and stood before the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.  And in every province, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
The Book of Esther, chapter 4:1-3

Mordecai was utterly distraught.  The word, distraught, means ‘overly agitated, worried, full of grief, worked up, deeply upset, in a panic.’  In Latin, it literally means to be pulled apart.  Have you ever felt like this?  I am thinking you are nodding your head…for sure I have, too.  There are many reactions and responses to this gut-wrenching emotion of being distraught. Perhaps you might feel as Mordecai did and react by crying out loudly.  Or, rather, you might feel ‘frozen’ and not sure what to do.  Maybe you might feel like you had been punched and just fall to your knees in despondency.  These emotions—being distraught, despondent, unsure—are feelings that the enemy of our souls would want you to experience and succumb to in defeat.

However, there is One Who knows we will feel like this at times and wants us to seek Him for relief and help and deliverance.  Our heavenly Father is the One Who has put ‘feelings’ into our makeup.  Remember He formed and made us; He knows every part of our being…our feelings and our thoughts, too.

O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.
You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off.
You sift and search out my path and my lying down; You are acquainted with all my ways.
Psalms 139:1-3

Almighty God wants us to come to Him at any time, with all of our feelings; yes, even when we are distraught, despondent, unsure.  He already knows we are feeling this way…He just wants us to seek Him!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5-8

The same feelings that Satan attempts to use to pull us down and defeat us, God can use to draw us to Himself.  Listen to the words of the psalmist when he was distraught, despondent, unsure.  Just like Mordecai, he cried out to God.

As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.
Psalms 55:16 and 17

With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him.
Psalms 142:1 and 2

You know those times when you fall to your knees…so unsure of what to do.  God simply desires a heart of humility as You come before Him.

There is record after record after record in the Scriptures of people who loved God, and did wonderful things as they served Him…and yet, at times, were at their wits’ end.  This account in the Book of Esther is an incredible example of harrowing times—so alarming and scary!   But as we have witnessed over the past three weeks in our study, Esther’s story is one that shows the providential hand of the loving Almighty God.  As we continue our study of the Book of Esther, and Mrs. Schacht’s Esther: the Beauty of Courageous Submission, we will see how Esther also recognized her need for God’s protection, His care, His supply of her needs.

May I encourage each of you to never, ever hold back your desire to cry out to your heavenly Father.  He is always listening.  He has promised.  His promises are ours to stand firmly on knowing Who has spoken them, and Who will bring them to pass.

In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.
Psalm 120:1

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
Psalm 34:6

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Acts 2:21

He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
when He hears it, He will answer you.
Isaiah 30:19

* * * * *

Let’s Pray:

Thank You, Father, for Your many promises that You will hear our cry…and that You will answer.  You are a Faithful God…who never lies.  We are such blessed women that we can put our absolute trust and total confidence in You!  You are so good to us!  We praise and thank You in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

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