An Intimate Acquaintance

One of the most intimate Psalms ever written is Psalm 139.  In it, David expresses God's deep understanding of man.  The Psalm also disperses any claim that God is open to future happenings; that He is "learning as He goes."  If there is any question as to God's sovereignty or to His acquaintance with man, Psalm 139 gives an irrefutable answer.

There are two elements of this Psalm that I wanted to share this morning.  First, David says "You [God] are intimately acquainted with all my ways" (3b); and Second, that, "[You God] have laid Your hand on me" (5b).  Both of these verses speak of deep wonders concerning God's mind.

First, we need to understand that God knows us intimately.  This truth is written all over Psalm 139.  David says, "You have searched me and known me" (1); "You know when I sit down and when I rise up" (2); "You understand my thoughts from afar" (3); "Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all" (4).  All of these verses testify to the truth that God does indeed know us better than we can possibly comprehend.  

In this life, the most intimate relationship I have is with my wife.  I know her pretty well, (but sometimes not well enough, right fellas'?).  I have an idea of when she "rises up" for work; I have an idea of her thoughts and emotions; I have an idea of what she might say in certain circumstances, but I don't know all of these things, I can only speculate them; I only have an idea about them.  David says that the Lord knows these things about us.  This is the difference.  Look back on the verses mentioned above and you will see the word know in every single one of them (minus verse 3 which uses "understand").  This testifies to the idea that before we can conceivably claim that we know God, He already knows us; and this is far greater than any of us realize.

The most remarkable thing about God knowing us is that He desires to, in that knowledge, have a relationship with us.  The problem is, there is something standing in the way of that relationship--sin.  Even after we come into a relationship with Jesus, we still sin.  This is why verse 5 is so grand.  David says, "[You have] laid Your hand on me."  That word "hand" there in Hebrew refers to the flat of the hand, which is the palm.  The idea is that God lays the palm of His hand on us.  This is a remarkable testimony of grace and a beautiful picture of forgiveness.  The holiest Being of all wants to touch us, the filthiest beings of all.

Today, consider the truth that God knows you.  He knew what time you would wake up today (v2a), what your early morning thoughts would be (v2b), what decisions you have would make (v3), and He knew what words you would speak (v4).  This is amazing knowledge and David says, "[It] is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it" (6).  Many of us fail to consider that true love, grace, and even hope, is manifested in the fact that God has predetermined knowledge about us.  We often look at this as a weakness on our behalf, or even a weakness on God's.  It is indeed a weakness on our part, but a marvelous strength on His, and I would rather have a God on His throne who knows me and my ways than a God who is learning as He goes.  This is true acquaintance--an intimate acquaintance.