Praise God For His Attributes
Psalm 139
An attribute can be said as something that belongs to someone.
The attributes of God are things that belong to Him and Him only!
Let's look at a few things we can attribute to God that only He has.
**1) God is spirit.
This does not mean that God is "a spirit"!
God does not have a physical form but "as spirit" God is everywhere. God cannot be limited.
God has substance but not in the material forms that we understand.
Joh 4:24 God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is Spirit, just as God is Light and just as God is Love!
God does not have a physical form and it is sinful to make any likeness of Him.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
This attribute is best described as the Omnipresence of God!
None of God's created creatures possess this attribute and that includes Satan.
**2) God is self-existent.
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
God is independent of any part of His creation.
Joh 5:26 "For as the Father hath life in himself"; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Everything that lives is dependant on something or someone to exist and have life, but God is independent of such things.
**3) God is immutable which means God is perfect.
God is devoid of any and all change.
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".
This is why the love of God and the promises of God are all certain!
**4) God is "One" God!
The essence of God cannot be divided!
The Lord alone is God, He is not a composite and cannot be divided into parts.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
God is "One" in essence but God is "Three" in respect to persons!
God has 3 substances with each substance having the same essence of God, and each having the same fullness of God!
God merely makes Himself known in 3 different ways.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
In this passage we have the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Holy Spirit, and the Father.
All three in total unity!
All 3 having the same authority!
Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Look at the prophecy of the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah:
Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, "there am I": and now "the Lord GOD", and "his Spirit", hath sent "me".
We are all to be baptized in the name of the "One" God but also in all His essence!
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
**5) God is TRUTH!
We can only see things as they really are by looking at our world through the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
**6) God is Love!
God's love is not some emotional impulse. God's love is rational and is the voluntary affection from our Creator!
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
**7) God is Holy.
Holy means set apart. God is totally set apart from all His creation.
God is the moral and ethical standard for all His creation.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
God expects us to exert every effort to be as holy as He is!
There are so many others.
God is eternal.
God is immense.
God is great in all ways.
**8) God is omniscient. God knows all things.
God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables of things that exist and all things that have not yet occurred.
God knows all future events.
God knows all these things at the same time.
God's knowledge is immediate, simultaneous, actual, complete and is according to reality.
**9) God is omnipotent. God is all powerful!
God's power cannot be overcome by any part of His creation!
God is full of mercy.
God is full of grace.
God is just and the justifier of all His creation.
Psalms 139 will tell us much about our God so let's begin.
*****Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
We see we have another Psalm of David that is given to the chief Musician.
It can be said that the true Chief Musician is our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are things that we know about our own selves that we would never tell to anyone, even the ones we love and trust the most but there is absolutely nothing that can be kept hidden from God.
If we accept this one thing then our conversations with God can be open and real!
No pretended god can know anything about us but the God of truth can understand all our ways because He knows everything that can be known about each of us and He understands our thoughts because He has searched us.
God has given us His Word so we are then able to also know about Him.
It should be very clear from this passage that God has known us even before we were ever born and one of the attributes of God is that God can never forget anything that He knows.
Remember God does not forget our sin, God chooses to not remember our sin against us.
We are pardoned as if that sin never existed!
God said this to Jeremiah:
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born and God has a plan for each of us even before we ever exist.
*****Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
You see God has personal knowledge of each of us. God sees every move we make. God sees us when we are sitting quietly and God notices us when we stand back up while knowing every thought that makes us do the things we do.
God even knows the thoughts we think even before we ever think them!
God may seem to be far off but He is never very far from those He loves!
It is important for us to realize just how much God knows about each of us.
God has personal knowledge because God wants us all to have a very personal relationship with Him!
*****Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
When I was in Vietnam we would occasionally surround a village for several days and we would keep a close eye on everyone and everything that went on in that village.
The Vietcong had such a fear-hold on many villages that by observing we could sometimes tell if that village was helping the enemy.
The presence of God always has us surrounded and God is observing our every move and God is very acquainted with all our ways.
God may be just observing our reaction to the things that our enemy, the Devil is causing to happen.
We must remember these words:
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, "who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able"; but will with the temptation "also make a way to escape", that ye may be able to bear it.
If God were not acquainted with all our ways, He could not be ready to provide that means of escape from our enemy!
*****Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
God knows every word I will speak before I even speak them.
That's the reason God cautions us to think about what we are about to say, before we speak them.
Sometimes when we speak, what we say can be misinterpreted, but God always knows the true meaning of what we say.
God even knows the reason behind the words we are about to say. God is never surprise at what comes out of our mouths!
For this reason we need to include in our prayers that God will guide the things we say.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Our words begin in our heart, so when our hearts are right with God, it will also show up in the words that come out of our mouths.
*****Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows all these things at the same time because God is not bound by the restraints of time.
Behind us God has recorded our sins.
Upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ, "by Grace", God has blotted out His remembrance of those sins.
And before us, when God has us within His loving hands, God is recording our deeds so He can give us the proper reward.
What did David say about all these things?
*****Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
It is a foolish thing for us to think we will ever grasp the enormous power of our God!
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
How very precious was the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified and the veil of the Temple was rent into, just so we can have access "at any time" into the throne room of our Father in Heaven!
Until we get to Heaven we will never understand why our Creator would even want to be so close to sinners such as we are!
The theme of these first 6 passages has been the Omniscience of God.
Now we will spend some time seeing the Omnipresence of God.
*****Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
What is the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord? There is no one on this earth that can escape the observation of the Almighty God and this includes Satan, the Devil!
God is present everywhere!
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
God is very near to us at all times!
We do not have to wait until the White Throne of judgement because we can be judged now, while we are living.
We do not have to wait until we get to Heaven for safety, God has surrounded us by His Heavenly host and they will guard us against the evils of Satan!
We do not have to wait for God's inspiration, God is close enough that we can ask for His wisdom on a personal level!
We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to go before God, God is available to us at any moment of the day!
God dwells in the hearts of those that love Him and God is as close as a silent thought!
If God could be limited by any distance or by any means then God could not be perfect in His divine being!
When we ascend to Heaven either by death or by Rapture, we will find God sitting on His throne.
If we have chosen the wrong path and end up in Hell, we will find that, part of the torment, is that though the Lord is near, we will never find His comfort.
Those that strap on bombs to kill God's people see this truth immediately at their death as they join all those others that have rejected the truth!
Though we travel in a mighty space ship, we can never go beyond the reach of God's presence!
Though we seek the depth's of the uncharted seas to escape, we will find the Lord is already there and even in that place we can know the salvation of the Lord.
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
There is no darkness that can escape the Shekinah Glory of God!
*****Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
By definition darkness is the absence of light.
Spiritual darkness is chaos, a world without the presence of God.
Darkness is also the curse of Hell the outer darkness of the Bible!
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Darkness in truth is far away from the "Grace" of God but is also being in the midst of the "Ultimate Wrath" of God!
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
In this life, darkness may be our oppressor and our enemy, but darkness can never shut me out from the presence of my God.
Evil is said to dwell in darkness but it is impossible for anything to be hidden from the sight of God!
To the Lord, darkness is just another part of the day that He created back in the Book of Genesis.
Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
There is no evil that can hide from God and there is no darkness where we cannot reach out to Our Savior, while we are still living!
These things relate to the Omnipresence of God.
*****Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
God does not just dwell in His children:
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
God does not just just keep a watchful eye on us.
Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
God is the possessor of our most secret parts!
That word "reins" actually means the kidneys in the lower part of the back. The Hebrews believed this to be the seat of all our desires and all our longings.
In this verse it probably means the most hidden and vital portion of our true being, the seat of our affections and our passions!
Every new mother today wants to get an ultra sound, to get some picture of their unborn child but the pure truth is that only God knows what we will be be like before we are even born!
Even before we are born we are under the control of God!
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee"; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
*****Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
The word "wonderfully" means "differently"!
Each baby that is born is designed to be like other humans.
Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature "after his kind", cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
But, every human being is uniquely different from all others in details!
That word "fearfully" means that every human being from the time of birth will live all his days seeking his Creator because he is born with the knowledge of a Creator.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Solomon wrote these words:
Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; "but they have sought out many inventions".
Our soul knows the truth, it is our flesh that is blinded by Satan!
2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We exists as flesh and bones in the eyes of other humans, but God's greatest creation is the entire human being!
Not one scientist since the beginning of time has been able to completely explain the miracle of child birth along with the DNA structure and the other things that make humans unique in this world.
In fact most scientist have given up trying to explain the Creation of God and just say the human race just evolved by some accident.
How were we made?
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God first made the elements of the earth, and then God formed man from those elements and only after God breathed into man the breath of His life was man a complete human being.
It is from Adam and Eve that our world has been populated by all other humans!
That phrase "substance, yet being unperfect" means the "embryo".
God is watching over each and every embryonic human from the the very moment of conception!
There is no act of evolution going on at any time in the life of the human being from the point of conception till the death of that individual.
There are those that say that embryo may not reach perfection for 9 months but the truth is that from the moment of conception until delivery that embryo it is a human being and has a God given eternal soul!
That word "continuance" means that God over seeing the development of that soul and all the substance of that human all the days of his or her life!
That word "fashioned" has the meaning that each and every embryo is fashioned in the same way as Adam!
When we realize that our entire creation came about by the design of God, it's Creator, we will then begin to understand the thoughts of our God!
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
*****Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Anthropology is the science of studying man and is almost in its entirety based on the theory of evolution.
Man can never be understood when we use evolution as the guideline!
Some old scientist such as Isaac Newton, and Kepler and Maxwell understood and bragged on the fact that God knew their thoughts but there not many around today who will actually say this.
It is only God who knows everything about us as mankind and as individuals!
God knows each of us individually!
God thinks on us as individuals!
A thought is an operation of the mind. It should bring us great pleasure in knowing that the thoughts of God are on each one of us all the time.
It should also bring comfort to us knowing that God is not thinking of evil things about us or to do to us!
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God simply tells us what will happen if we follow certain paths in our lifetime and God then points out the proper way to avoid all those evil things.
God teaches us His thoughts so we can think more the same way that He does!
Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
If God's thoughts of us are innumerable, then we must be on the mind of God continuously!
We know that the main thought of God concerns His love for us and that love will never end!
God may limit His acts of creation and His acts of wrath, but God will never limit the power and thoughts of His love for each of us individually.
We absolutely cannot make God stop loving us!
BUT, we will miss out on God's rewards by not thinking the same way that He does!
If our own thoughts are on the Lord when we go to sleep, then when we awake we will know that God has sustained us through the night or we will wake up in His presence!
No matter where we are we will always be with Him in His thoughts and one day face to face.
These things relate to the Omnipotence of God.
*****Psa 139:19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
God will always do the right thing!
We can be sure that the crimes we commit before our righteous Judge will not go unpunished!
If God's wrath is stirred because of some evil, we can be sure that God will remove that evil thing from His sight!
What does God expect of us?
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Just as God will one day remove Himself from all evil, God expects us to do the same thing during our lifetime!
God has proclaimed the sentence of death to all unbelievers and the sentence of life to all that accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior!
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We can be sure that God will slay all wicked things!
Even though the liberals do not agree the Word of God says what it says!
This evil world will always speak against the Lord Jesus Christ and they would remove His name entirely if they could.
This world is all about going their own way and rejecting the purposes of Christ Jesus.
This world ignores the providence of God.
This world strives to remove the commandments of God.
This world is striving to remove God's people, but if this world will be patient God will do this thing Himself and this world can then come face to face with the God they hate so much!
God teaches us to hate the works of this world but God teaches us not to hate the people themselves.
The Apostle Paul had these same feelings as did David and most of us will also.
Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
The Lord Jesus gave us this command:
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
It is the Lord who will deal with all those that are wicked and evil:
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
It is alright to be angry with those that hate God, but it is only God who knows His creation best!
*****Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here again is some other things we need to include in our prayers.
We need to be saying:
"Search Me Lord"
"Know My Heart"
"Know My Thoughts"
We cannot lose our salvation. If God is powerful enough to save us then God is certainly powerful enough to keep us saved!
We should not have a problem then asking the Lord to search out any sin, minor or major, that we can repent of "while we are still living".
We should not want any one thing to come between us and our God!
When we are going through something in our lives that we do not understand, we can be sure that God is trying to remove that thing from us, so He can reward us even greater!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Psalm 139
An attribute can be said as something that belongs to someone.
The attributes of God are things that belong to Him and Him only!
Let's look at a few things we can attribute to God that only He has.
**1) God is spirit.
This does not mean that God is "a spirit"!
God does not have a physical form but "as spirit" God is everywhere. God cannot be limited.
God has substance but not in the material forms that we understand.
Joh 4:24 God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
God is Spirit, just as God is Light and just as God is Love!
God does not have a physical form and it is sinful to make any likeness of Him.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
This attribute is best described as the Omnipresence of God!
None of God's created creatures possess this attribute and that includes Satan.
**2) God is self-existent.
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
God is independent of any part of His creation.
Joh 5:26 "For as the Father hath life in himself"; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Everything that lives is dependant on something or someone to exist and have life, but God is independent of such things.
**3) God is immutable which means God is perfect.
God is devoid of any and all change.
Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".
This is why the love of God and the promises of God are all certain!
**4) God is "One" God!
The essence of God cannot be divided!
The Lord alone is God, He is not a composite and cannot be divided into parts.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
God is "One" in essence but God is "Three" in respect to persons!
God has 3 substances with each substance having the same essence of God, and each having the same fullness of God!
God merely makes Himself known in 3 different ways.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
In this passage we have the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Holy Spirit, and the Father.
All three in total unity!
All 3 having the same authority!
Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Look at the prophecy of the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah:
Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, "there am I": and now "the Lord GOD", and "his Spirit", hath sent "me".
We are all to be baptized in the name of the "One" God but also in all His essence!
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
**5) God is TRUTH!
We can only see things as they really are by looking at our world through the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
**6) God is Love!
God's love is not some emotional impulse. God's love is rational and is the voluntary affection from our Creator!
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
**7) God is Holy.
Holy means set apart. God is totally set apart from all His creation.
God is the moral and ethical standard for all His creation.
Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
God expects us to exert every effort to be as holy as He is!
There are so many others.
God is eternal.
God is immense.
God is great in all ways.
**8) God is omniscient. God knows all things.
God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables of things that exist and all things that have not yet occurred.
God knows all future events.
God knows all these things at the same time.
God's knowledge is immediate, simultaneous, actual, complete and is according to reality.
**9) God is omnipotent. God is all powerful!
God's power cannot be overcome by any part of His creation!
God is full of mercy.
God is full of grace.
God is just and the justifier of all His creation.
Psalms 139 will tell us much about our God so let's begin.
*****Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
We see we have another Psalm of David that is given to the chief Musician.
It can be said that the true Chief Musician is our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are things that we know about our own selves that we would never tell to anyone, even the ones we love and trust the most but there is absolutely nothing that can be kept hidden from God.
If we accept this one thing then our conversations with God can be open and real!
No pretended god can know anything about us but the God of truth can understand all our ways because He knows everything that can be known about each of us and He understands our thoughts because He has searched us.
God has given us His Word so we are then able to also know about Him.
It should be very clear from this passage that God has known us even before we were ever born and one of the attributes of God is that God can never forget anything that He knows.
Remember God does not forget our sin, God chooses to not remember our sin against us.
We are pardoned as if that sin never existed!
God said this to Jeremiah:
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born and God has a plan for each of us even before we ever exist.
*****Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
You see God has personal knowledge of each of us. God sees every move we make. God sees us when we are sitting quietly and God notices us when we stand back up while knowing every thought that makes us do the things we do.
God even knows the thoughts we think even before we ever think them!
God may seem to be far off but He is never very far from those He loves!
It is important for us to realize just how much God knows about each of us.
God has personal knowledge because God wants us all to have a very personal relationship with Him!
*****Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
When I was in Vietnam we would occasionally surround a village for several days and we would keep a close eye on everyone and everything that went on in that village.
The Vietcong had such a fear-hold on many villages that by observing we could sometimes tell if that village was helping the enemy.
The presence of God always has us surrounded and God is observing our every move and God is very acquainted with all our ways.
God may be just observing our reaction to the things that our enemy, the Devil is causing to happen.
We must remember these words:
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, "who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able"; but will with the temptation "also make a way to escape", that ye may be able to bear it.
If God were not acquainted with all our ways, He could not be ready to provide that means of escape from our enemy!
*****Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
God knows every word I will speak before I even speak them.
That's the reason God cautions us to think about what we are about to say, before we speak them.
Sometimes when we speak, what we say can be misinterpreted, but God always knows the true meaning of what we say.
God even knows the reason behind the words we are about to say. God is never surprise at what comes out of our mouths!
For this reason we need to include in our prayers that God will guide the things we say.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Our words begin in our heart, so when our hearts are right with God, it will also show up in the words that come out of our mouths.
*****Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows all these things at the same time because God is not bound by the restraints of time.
Behind us God has recorded our sins.
Upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ, "by Grace", God has blotted out His remembrance of those sins.
And before us, when God has us within His loving hands, God is recording our deeds so He can give us the proper reward.
What did David say about all these things?
*****Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
It is a foolish thing for us to think we will ever grasp the enormous power of our God!
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
How very precious was the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified and the veil of the Temple was rent into, just so we can have access "at any time" into the throne room of our Father in Heaven!
Until we get to Heaven we will never understand why our Creator would even want to be so close to sinners such as we are!
The theme of these first 6 passages has been the Omniscience of God.
Now we will spend some time seeing the Omnipresence of God.
*****Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
What is the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord? There is no one on this earth that can escape the observation of the Almighty God and this includes Satan, the Devil!
God is present everywhere!
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
God is very near to us at all times!
We do not have to wait until the White Throne of judgement because we can be judged now, while we are living.
We do not have to wait until we get to Heaven for safety, God has surrounded us by His Heavenly host and they will guard us against the evils of Satan!
We do not have to wait for God's inspiration, God is close enough that we can ask for His wisdom on a personal level!
We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to go before God, God is available to us at any moment of the day!
God dwells in the hearts of those that love Him and God is as close as a silent thought!
If God could be limited by any distance or by any means then God could not be perfect in His divine being!
When we ascend to Heaven either by death or by Rapture, we will find God sitting on His throne.
If we have chosen the wrong path and end up in Hell, we will find that, part of the torment, is that though the Lord is near, we will never find His comfort.
Those that strap on bombs to kill God's people see this truth immediately at their death as they join all those others that have rejected the truth!
Though we travel in a mighty space ship, we can never go beyond the reach of God's presence!
Though we seek the depth's of the uncharted seas to escape, we will find the Lord is already there and even in that place we can know the salvation of the Lord.
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
There is no darkness that can escape the Shekinah Glory of God!
*****Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
By definition darkness is the absence of light.
Spiritual darkness is chaos, a world without the presence of God.
Darkness is also the curse of Hell the outer darkness of the Bible!
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Darkness in truth is far away from the "Grace" of God but is also being in the midst of the "Ultimate Wrath" of God!
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
In this life, darkness may be our oppressor and our enemy, but darkness can never shut me out from the presence of my God.
Evil is said to dwell in darkness but it is impossible for anything to be hidden from the sight of God!
To the Lord, darkness is just another part of the day that He created back in the Book of Genesis.
Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
There is no evil that can hide from God and there is no darkness where we cannot reach out to Our Savior, while we are still living!
These things relate to the Omnipresence of God.
*****Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
God does not just dwell in His children:
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
God does not just just keep a watchful eye on us.
Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
God is the possessor of our most secret parts!
That word "reins" actually means the kidneys in the lower part of the back. The Hebrews believed this to be the seat of all our desires and all our longings.
In this verse it probably means the most hidden and vital portion of our true being, the seat of our affections and our passions!
Every new mother today wants to get an ultra sound, to get some picture of their unborn child but the pure truth is that only God knows what we will be be like before we are even born!
Even before we are born we are under the control of God!
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee"; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
*****Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
The word "wonderfully" means "differently"!
Each baby that is born is designed to be like other humans.
Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature "after his kind", cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
But, every human being is uniquely different from all others in details!
That word "fearfully" means that every human being from the time of birth will live all his days seeking his Creator because he is born with the knowledge of a Creator.
Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Solomon wrote these words:
Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; "but they have sought out many inventions".
Our soul knows the truth, it is our flesh that is blinded by Satan!
2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
We exists as flesh and bones in the eyes of other humans, but God's greatest creation is the entire human being!
Not one scientist since the beginning of time has been able to completely explain the miracle of child birth along with the DNA structure and the other things that make humans unique in this world.
In fact most scientist have given up trying to explain the Creation of God and just say the human race just evolved by some accident.
How were we made?
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God first made the elements of the earth, and then God formed man from those elements and only after God breathed into man the breath of His life was man a complete human being.
It is from Adam and Eve that our world has been populated by all other humans!
That phrase "substance, yet being unperfect" means the "embryo".
God is watching over each and every embryonic human from the the very moment of conception!
There is no act of evolution going on at any time in the life of the human being from the point of conception till the death of that individual.
There are those that say that embryo may not reach perfection for 9 months but the truth is that from the moment of conception until delivery that embryo it is a human being and has a God given eternal soul!
That word "continuance" means that God over seeing the development of that soul and all the substance of that human all the days of his or her life!
That word "fashioned" has the meaning that each and every embryo is fashioned in the same way as Adam!
When we realize that our entire creation came about by the design of God, it's Creator, we will then begin to understand the thoughts of our God!
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
*****Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Anthropology is the science of studying man and is almost in its entirety based on the theory of evolution.
Man can never be understood when we use evolution as the guideline!
Some old scientist such as Isaac Newton, and Kepler and Maxwell understood and bragged on the fact that God knew their thoughts but there not many around today who will actually say this.
It is only God who knows everything about us as mankind and as individuals!
God knows each of us individually!
God thinks on us as individuals!
A thought is an operation of the mind. It should bring us great pleasure in knowing that the thoughts of God are on each one of us all the time.
It should also bring comfort to us knowing that God is not thinking of evil things about us or to do to us!
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God simply tells us what will happen if we follow certain paths in our lifetime and God then points out the proper way to avoid all those evil things.
God teaches us His thoughts so we can think more the same way that He does!
Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
If God's thoughts of us are innumerable, then we must be on the mind of God continuously!
We know that the main thought of God concerns His love for us and that love will never end!
God may limit His acts of creation and His acts of wrath, but God will never limit the power and thoughts of His love for each of us individually.
We absolutely cannot make God stop loving us!
BUT, we will miss out on God's rewards by not thinking the same way that He does!
If our own thoughts are on the Lord when we go to sleep, then when we awake we will know that God has sustained us through the night or we will wake up in His presence!
No matter where we are we will always be with Him in His thoughts and one day face to face.
These things relate to the Omnipotence of God.
*****Psa 139:19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
God will always do the right thing!
We can be sure that the crimes we commit before our righteous Judge will not go unpunished!
If God's wrath is stirred because of some evil, we can be sure that God will remove that evil thing from His sight!
What does God expect of us?
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Just as God will one day remove Himself from all evil, God expects us to do the same thing during our lifetime!
God has proclaimed the sentence of death to all unbelievers and the sentence of life to all that accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior!
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We can be sure that God will slay all wicked things!
Even though the liberals do not agree the Word of God says what it says!
This evil world will always speak against the Lord Jesus Christ and they would remove His name entirely if they could.
This world is all about going their own way and rejecting the purposes of Christ Jesus.
This world ignores the providence of God.
This world strives to remove the commandments of God.
This world is striving to remove God's people, but if this world will be patient God will do this thing Himself and this world can then come face to face with the God they hate so much!
God teaches us to hate the works of this world but God teaches us not to hate the people themselves.
The Apostle Paul had these same feelings as did David and most of us will also.
Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
The Lord Jesus gave us this command:
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
It is the Lord who will deal with all those that are wicked and evil:
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
It is alright to be angry with those that hate God, but it is only God who knows His creation best!
*****Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here again is some other things we need to include in our prayers.
We need to be saying:
"Search Me Lord"
"Know My Heart"
"Know My Thoughts"
We cannot lose our salvation. If God is powerful enough to save us then God is certainly powerful enough to keep us saved!
We should not have a problem then asking the Lord to search out any sin, minor or major, that we can repent of "while we are still living".
We should not want any one thing to come between us and our God!
When we are going through something in our lives that we do not understand, we can be sure that God is trying to remove that thing from us, so He can reward us even greater!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
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