His Presence in Every Season

Psalm 139 : The All-knowing and Ever-present God in every season

Introduction: David, a man after God’s own heart composed this psalm to the chief musician. Psalm 139 is a ‘mizmor’ – a poem set to notes /instrumental music.

The psalm is structured around four distinct movements of six verses each,

1. God's Omniscience (Verses 1-6): "You Have Searched Me and Known Me"

2. God's Omnipresence (Verses 7-12): "Where Can I Go From Your Spirit?"

3. God’s Omnipotence (Verses 13-18): "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"

4. God's Sovereignty & Our response :submission (Verses 19-24): "Search Me, O God"

Message:

#	Key themes from Psalms 139
1	God is especially interested in you. (v1)
	Notice who David is addressing here : The word Lord is YHWH, the covenant name God revealed to Moses. God Who Was , Who Is and Is to Come.  Jehovah God.  The personal name - covenant keeping God of Israel.  The God who transcends and is above all things. God searches and knows every person’s heart. He doesn’t simply look at the surface, but He goes down deep to the tiniest detail of our existence. – Examine (chaqar). This word refers to the act of digging and boring as if a person is looking for precious metals and water / mining operations. God already knows His creation; His desire is that in knowing Him we would know ourselves the way He created and purposed us.Nothing is, or can be, concealed from Him.
2	God transcends time. God knows everything about us. He has intimate knowledge of my past, present  and future. (v2-4)
	God alone possesses this absolute knowledge of us. Sitting down and Rising up: this is an idiom for Living  referring to  All that I do from one end of the day to the other. He knows everything, nothing escapes His attention - even the hairs on my head are all numbered. There are four verbs used for perception, reflecting Yahweh’s attentiveness to the fullness of the psalmist’s life (merism - polar opposites) V2 : He knows (yada) our sitting down and our rising up. It means that there’s no movement that we can do without Him noticing it. Anything in between, He knows it! V2 : He understands/tests (bin/bantah) our thoughts afar off. (from a distance – heaven). God does not need to be in our presence like a human doctor. Jer 23:23 – He is God at hand and God far away. God knows what we are thinking in the past , present and future. He knows our plans and aspirations, our successes and failures, fears/worries - literally everything! v3 : He comprehends/discerns (zarah) our path and our lying down – the places we like to go, travel and find rest. God is sifting out who we are and takes away what’s not of value. God’s knows all things that are to happen in our lives , but He does not cause things to happen especially leading anyone to sin.  (Js 1:13) V4: He acquaints/familiarises (sakan) Himself to everything that we are! God knows all the words that we say, what we can say and what we have said. It is worth noting that God even knows every intent behind our words.  God's active involvement or "working His purpose" in our ways. It would be wise not try to conceal anything from God in other words speak to God honestly , tell him your struggles , your temptations,  your innermost thoughts.  As believers how do our words , thoughts, actions reflect who we are in Christ? Ps 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
3	God is not only omniscient , He is also omnipresent (v5-12). The all-present God is with me.
	God is ever close to hedge David on every side, so that nothing could come to him unless it first passed through God’s permission. It is like a siege to a city , binding in David and laying His hand over him: an expression of God’s love, keeping and care to preserve, protect, and defend him. What was true for David is true for all who trust in the LORD. V6 : A concluding exclamation of reverent awe. The thought of God's omniscience makes him feel as if real knowledge were beyond his reach. David understood that God knew him better than he knew himself, beyond his imagination.  Do we find this knowledge too wonderful and true? V7-10 :  The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. He ponders “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? God's presence is All-encompassing and inescapable; His spirit is everywhere. "In him we live, and move, and have our being - For we are indeed his offspring. (Acts 17:28) . Paul was provoked (v16) in Athens when he saw the numerous idols. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to worship God in Spirit and Truth, John 4:24: "God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." Where can I go ? It is a restraining influence of the Spirit in one’s life – we are “ locked in to worship the true God” and to repentance and draw closer to God. Another use of merisms to convey both the vertical and horizontal presence of God. V8 Heaven (Up) isn’t too high filled with His glory (Ps 19:1), earth and hell/sheol (grave – under the earth) isn’t too low; Even  sheol will display His righteous judgments. V9,10 : Imagery for light from darkness to light . Wings of the morning and speed across the earth on the wings of dawn from east to the uttermost parts of the sea where the sun sets in the west.  Light itself cannot outrun God’s presence and knowledge. Wherever he goes God’s providential care accompanies him, but that there is no place in the universe where he can escape Him. God is sovereign but not a “controlling” Father, and neither should His people be. God’s right hand, symbol of strength and authority would hold him. V11-12 : God’s presence with David was like a constant light in the darkness. May we realise like the Psalmist that if we are in the darkness, the place of chaos and death -  it may conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. His very presence casts out all darkness – He sees perfectly even in darkness. For darkness is as light with God. (John 1:5). Ekklesia – called out ones once in darkness, but now are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph. 5:8-11).
4	God's Creative Power (Verses 13-18): "I am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"
	The mystery of birth regarded as one of the greatest mysteries. (Eccl 1:5) God’s presence starts from our mother’s womb. God knows us from before our birth, as a child conceived and developing in the womb. God had a special plan for you before you were an embryo. God dwells in the most inward and hidden part of our body, supposed also to be the seat of the mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. Our most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul, are subject to His control – He is the owner and possessor.  (For thou hast possessed my reins) When I was an embryo undeveloped (golem) God has fashioned me. God had put my parts together, as one who weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. We are fashioned with skill and care, literally woven or embroidered with threads of different colours, pointing to the complex and intricate formation of the body.  We are created in His image and likeness; He knows every detail of our bodies, how it works, every beat of our hearts; every cell in our body; strand of our hair. (Luke 12:7) We are crafted personally and purposefully, to bring glory to God. Nothing about us is accidental. Every cell of our being is intentional.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Each day of our lives with all its history was pre-determined by the Creator God and recorded in His book, before one of them actually was in existence. Not just our birth but also our past, present and future , there is an ideal plan of life providentially marked out for every individual. Eph 2:10. God loves every person and predestined each believer for a special calling. God gives free will, but He knows in advance your choices. Because God created you, He will finish what He started in you.
5	God’s thoughts to me are precious. Out of love, He constantly thinks about me. v6,14,17,18
	V17-18 :  It is precious that God should think of us at all; it is beyond precious that He would think well of us and think so often of us. If God's works are admirable, and, therefore, precious, so still more are his thoughts.  Weighty The number of times when God thinks of us would be like counting the grains of sand. Psalmist brings us to a sense of awe. Although he cannot know the vast sum of God’s thoughts, he does know that God is with him, even at the end of his life. (Ps 40:5). These are my last thoughts when he lies down, and the first when he rises. What are Gods thoughts for me? For my good. Jer 29:11 (AMP) - For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Thoughts of our pardon, renewal, upholding, supplying, educating, perfecting, and a thousand more kinds perpetually well up in the mind of the Most High.” (Spurgeon)
6	God is righteous and just. V19-22
	The psalmist shifts from a spirit of wonder and adoration to intense prayer against the wicked and against bloodthirsty men. Through his petitions the psalmist aligns himself with God and asks for God to redress his present circumstances. It wasn’t primarily because these men opposed David, but because they opposed God. There is no fellowship between light and darkness, the wicked and the God-fearing. This is a picture of divine agreement and alignment.  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. (Rom 12:9). Those who love God must hate God's enemies.  Ps 97:10-12 - you who love the Lord, hate evil! Consequently, the enemies of God are the enemies of those who side with God. How did Jesus call us to respond to our enemies? Love the person, not their sin. When God’s love is in our hearts, we are able to pray for our enemies. That is what a mature son is called to be and reflect. Matt 5:11-12; 43-48; Rom 12:14-21. Do not be overcome by evil, nor repay evil but overcome evil with good. Let God avenge. Be of the same mind toward one another. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. David is uniting His heart with God,  those who are enemies of God are his enemies – should this also be the position of the ekklesia? Hate enemies is not to condone their sin. But they too are not outside the grace and mercy of a gracious, compassionate God. His judgment is four levels deep but His love a thousand levels deep (Ex 34:7) . The ecclesia is called to be a living sacrifice, Rom 12:1-2;14-21. But how can this omniscient God tolerate the existence of wicked men, who blaspheme and hate Him? With such the Psalmist will have no fellowship; he petitions God to act because they are against him, God himself. “Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord?” he asks. Trust God to be just and fair and avenge the wrongs against you in His timing. Because God knows everything, then He is the perfect Judge. Whether what we have done is good or evil, He can bring it before us in day of judgment. (Ecc 12:14).
7	A humble prayer.  V23-24
	Search - The same word with which the psalm opens. The prayer denotes great "sincerity" and self-distrust. The heart of man is very corrupt – deceitful above all things ; we are liable to deceive ourselves; and that the most thorough examination "should" be made that we be "not" deceived and lost. The psalmist welcomes the continuance of that piercing scrutiny because it is for his good. His desire is to be proved and tested. Thoughts: He says examine not merely my outward conduct, but what I think about; what are my purposes; what passes through my mind; what occupies my imagination and my memory; what secures my affections and controls my will. He asks the Lord to uproot any wicked way (way of grief or sorrow) in him and lead him to the way of Godliness pleasing to God, which will end in everlasting life. Let God’s Word (lamp) guide your path through study and prayer for the Holy Spirit to apply. Righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ alone – (Rom 3:22) Message Version - Investigate my life, O God,  find out everything about me;Cross-examine and test me,  get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—  then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Summary:

1. God is everywhere and yet intimately part of our lives. It’s not just that God knows everything – He knows us, He knows even those parts of our lives we would prefer to remain hidden.  It’s not just that God is everywhere – He is everywhere with us.  God also knows our needs before we state them.

2. Reflection upon God's wonderful works must overflow into praise; and the phenomena of man's creation and birth are an opportunity to do so. Because God carefully made you, He also deserves your praise. Let us join David and declare that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.   Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Rev. 4:11).

3. Our times are in His Hands. God knows my every action and motive. May this prompt us to be better stewards of our time, talents, and resources and do it for His glory , redeeming the time. May we know God, and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts.

4. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. (1 Chr. 28:9). God’s grace and mercy is still available to all. The Hebrew word for “womb” comes from the same root as mercy (racham), it reflects the loving care and nourishment a mother gives to her unborn foetus, leading to its ultimate birth. While 1 Chr 28:9 is specific to Solomon, if you see v20 David expresses God’s nature “He will not fail you or forsake you” until the work is finished. Yes, man has free-will to accept or reject God, but God is as a mother who grieves over her children who have rejected her love. Any moment the child turns, the mother will be available and willing to receive with open arms- case in point is Luke 15 - our prayer should be for those who wantedly reject God’s love to have a change of heart.

5. Let us come forward in full disclosure and be vulnerable before God, allow Him to search examine our inner most thoughts. Trust God to test you, correct you, and restore you on the right path. The LORD searches the heart, tests the mind, to give to each person according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. (Jer 17:10). We can trust in God in all times. May we choose to stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it (Jer 6:16)

Closing:  God examine me , try me and anything in me that needs changing.  I want to come in agreement with your purposes and plans.  Lead me in everlasting way.

Background

Kainos Church India, Bengaluru led by Ps. Manoj and Lincy Iype is a gathering open to all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church is ideally located for believers in the Koramangala, HSR Layout, Agara, Sarjapur Road, Bellandur areas of Bengaluru and our Church Service in English starts at 10am on Sundays.

These notes are from the Sunday Sermon held on 31st August 2025