IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

God Knows Us Completely

Date: Jan. 9, 2023

Passage

Psalm 139:1-24 (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

  O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
  You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
  Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
  You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.
  Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
  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!

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 139:14

  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
  Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.

When we meditate on God’s complete knowledge of us as this Psalmist did, we are filled with wonder (6). No human being fully knows our actions, habits, and thoughts, but God knows them inside and out (2-5). He understands exactly why we do everything we do. God’s knowledge surrounds us continually, and there is no place we can flee from it (7-9).

This may sound frightening, but in truth it is a source of great reassurance. When we are in trouble or deep personal distress, we can feel we are totally isolated in a dark place (11). But even then, we are not alone. God knows every detail of our situation and we are upheld and guided by him (10). He has been doing so since he created us wonderfully in our mother’s womb (13-16). The Psalmist ends by asking God for protection from powerful enemies, and by asking God to show him his own sins so he may walk in the holy way of salvation. Today, let’s meditate on God’s complete and personal knowledge of us and let it fill us with amazement, reassurance, and conviction.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, thank you for creating me with perfect knowledge. Thank you that your knowledge always surrounds and protects me.

One Word: One Word: God’s perfect knowledge guides me.

Daily Bread

Victory and Final Judgment

Revelation 20:1-15

Key Verse: 20:15

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