from the teaching of scripture that all who follow Christ will find suffering in this life. A slave cannot be above his master. It is also clear that God utilizes the struggles we face in this life to burn off the dross of this world and to leave the pure gold of His love and work in our lives. Through this refining process we call sanctification, every Christian must walk. While this is not unique, the different circumstances each of us face to a greater or lesser degree are ours and ours alone to walk through. The real danger of the Christian life is when we, rather than allow these difficulties to draw us closer to Christ, drift further away from Him. The old hymn is right–like the people of Israel in the wilderness–our hearts are prone to wander. This week’s reading and song selection are designed to help us remember that God already knows our hearts. May we be encouraged to examine ourselves and to ask Him earnestly to search us and to show us our sinful thoughts and deeds that we may confess those to Him and find forgiveness in Christ. In doing so, may we be encouraged to draw near to our Savior. For it is only in Him that we will find forgiveness and peace.
Scripture Reading for Sunday, February 23, 2025
Psalms 139 (ESV)
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 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 was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Reflections on Scripture Reference
David makes it perfectly clear in this psalm that God is both omniscient (knows everything) and omnipresent (everywhere at once). The application of this knowledge is seen in the first few verses as David declares to God the reality that He knows his thoughts from afar, is acquainted with all of his ways, and knows his words before he utters them. God not only knows what we will do and say, he knows the desires and intentions of our most hidden thoughts. David realizes that God already knows us intimately–He formed him in his mother’s womb and had written down all of his days before he was ever conceived. David is also keenly aware that there is nowhere he can go to hide from God. Rather than frustrate David, this knowledge is wonderful to him. Listen to David’s words, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (v. 14) and “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand” (vs. 17-18). Far from being dismayed at what God knows, he is in awe at how incomprehensible his God really is.
In light of this, David asks God to search him and know his heart. The cry of David’s soul was that he would be open and laid bare before God–he knew that he was already! This request is so that David himself could truly be led by God in the way everlasting. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the Christian to draw near to God without seeing himself in light of God’s word. Once we understand that we are not hiding anything from God and then He sent His son to pay the penalty for our sin that we might have His righteousness, we can confess our sins to Him. John tells us that He is faithful to forgive our sins. As we confess and draw near to God through Christ, we find that fullness of joy we read about last week. Then we are led by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us to be more and more like Christ. The troubles will come. Sin and temptation are part of this fallen flesh. But draw close to God. Be known by Him. Examine yourself in light of His word and holiness. Let that draw you ever closer to the Savior.
Song Selection for Sunday, February 23, 2025
I Asked the Lord
The heart that has been changed by Christ will seek to make Him Lord. In this song, the believer asked the Lord, as we all should, that he might grow in faith and love and every grace. What a beautiful prayer from the heart of a believer. What follows is the experience that we will all find if we are truly following after Christ. He thought that God would wave a magic wand and make it all so. But verse four tells us, “Instead of this, He made me feel the hidden evils of my heart and let the angry powers of Hell assault my soul at every part”. Why would God do this? The final verse of this hymn explains, “These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set the free, and break thy schemes of earthly joy that thou mayest find thy all in Me.” God wants us to find all that we need in Him. He does this through our struggles, our sorrows, and our sins.
Near the Cross
As we truly see ourselves as God does (fully known in all our thoughts and deeds), our prayer should echo this hymn: “Jesus, keep me near the cross.”
You Are My All in All
As we understand our own sinfulness and our desperate need of the Savior, let our song be to Him that He is indeed our all in all. “Taking my sin, my cross, my shame, rising again I bless Your name!”
Song for Consideration
“I Asked the Lord”
Words by John Newton (1779). Music, traditional. Public Domain. Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. www.SovereignGraceMusic.org
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev’ry grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.
‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer,
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He’d answer my request
And, by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in ev’ry part.
Yea, more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe,
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Humbled my heart and laid me low.
“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried;
“Wilt Thou pursue Thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”
“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
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