This week we are in Psalm 139 and discussing what intimacy God looks like.
Faith Baptist Church
Classroom 33, ep72, Psalm 139
Greetings everybody. Welcome back to the Classroom 33 podcast. I'm Pastor Dustin here with Steve Prudian and this week we are continuing in the Psalms of David and going to one of my personal favorites, Psalm 139. Steve, how are you doing this week? So far, so good. All right. Now, am I right in understanding? And I know I am because we've already discussed this, but it's my way of introducing it to the listener. We're going to chop this Psalm up a little bit. We're going to, we're going to take the middle portion out of it and we're going to set that aside. State why we're not changing the word of God. State why we are not changing the word of God. The reason is that the last two verses of our Psalm, they're, they can be understood in a different way if we attach them right to the end of verse seven. And it's not that it doesn't change it. But if we continue from verse seven all the way through, we're given details as to the conflict to the conflict. I mean, right. I mean, right at the end, we have in the last couple of verses before verse 23, where we pick it back up, David's talking about killing the wicked and getting rid of and hating the enemies and things like that. And it's just an change of the tone. It changes the tone. It changes the tone, but also, um, beyond, beyond verse seven, uh, verses eight through 18 is really an, an exposition. It's an expounding, it's a stretching out of how and why verse seven is true and kind of David's experience with that. And so, so we are not taking this away. It's not so that we can understand it differently than we believe that it's intended, but it's so we can more immediately see the connection between verse seven and verse 23. Otherwise, we'd have to wade through the weeds for weeks, the way you and I talk in order to get from seven to 23 and get them connected. When I looked at it, yes. I think that as David starts us out as a prayer, he transitioned, he transitions into a complaint and is complaint becomes a complaint of vengeance. Yes. He goes from a prayer to an essay to a complaint and then he, and then he gets back and gets back to where he was. Somehow, I think when, when we don't know when, how the author, whether he penned this all at one sitting or he penned it after certain events in his life, we don't know the setting of how he penned it. Right. But what it does appear as, okay, David starts out in a good doctrinal theological position of his relationship to God. Yes. And then he goes in, he talks about his not so good relationship with men. But then he comes to his senses after he's cooled down. And he comes to the most important quality of this. Yes. Okay. So I think if in fact, we excuse, we excuse the emotion that's driving part of the Psalm and just deal with the truth in the Psalm, we get more out of it. And I'll be asking some questions here. Do you and I can discuss as we go through the first seven verses, and you'd be surprised how much thought is required just to answer those first seven verses. All right. I'm looking forward to having a headache this afternoon. It could take a week. A day for each one, huh? And I am, I am just going to point out before I get into it, in your reading, the Holy Spirit stopped you after verse seven. I tried to go further and cut me right off. Right. But my, my ADD and my OCD and whatever you want to call it, does recognize that seven is the number of completion in regards to God and his ways and his things. So it does it. Tell them what I'm just, I'm just saying that might be a, that might be an indication that we're on the right track. Tell people in the study of scriptures. Yes. When you, when numbers have a significance, what is that called? I, there's a technical term for it, but I don't know a study of numerology. Okay. Okay. What, what numbers mean that God uses repeatedly in his word? And seven happens to be the completion. Seven is completion. Three is fullness, trinity, then you have 40, which also expands to 400, especially when you're talking about the two quiet times, between Joseph and Moses and then between Malachi and Christ. He's at the fractions too. You know, three and a half and three and a half, but he doesn't know three, yeah, three and a half and three and a half. And yep, yep. Then you've got all sorts of 12s and all of that kind of stuff. Anyways, like 12, what 12 tribes, 12 tribes, 12 disciples. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So back to Psalm 139. Why don't I read through? I'm going to read through and skipping eight through 22, I'm going to jump ahead to 23. And you'll probably catch it right away why we've skipped that part. You'll, you'll understand my ramblings from a moment ago. So starting in verse one, Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know, when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down. You are acquainted with all of my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue. Oh, Lord, do you know it completely? You hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high. I cannot attain it. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? And then to verse 23, search me. Oh, God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. And you're right. You're absolutely right. That's incredibly powerful. But I'm sure in time we will get to why. So let's start with verse one. Here's the first question. All right. Well, actually, it's the first statement. Okay. God knows you. Yes, he does. What does it mean to know? To know is to understand to have a conceptual grasp upon something is to know it. It's not a memorization. Yeah, think about that. When I when I was in school and I would take a test, some people in the class would spend the entire night before cramming for the exam. They didn't know they would shove as much information into their brain as they could possibly hold on to for 24 hours. They would take the test. Many of them would pass. But if you gave them a if you gave them the test again a week later, they would do worse. Especially if they didn't know it was coming. They would no longer have any of that information in their head, whereas knowing when you know it, you don't have to study. You can get up in the morning and be told when you walk into the classroom that there's a test and you can get the same score as if you'd been alerted to the test, you know, a day or two days or a week ahead of time. And I think of God and how God knows us. First of all, he knows us better than we know ourselves. And the psalm does get into this. I mean, he created us. And it's not here. It is elsewhere in Scripture. It's in the New Testament. I forget which gospel it's in where Jesus tells us that even the hairs on our head are numbered. I don't know how many hairs are on my head, including the beard, the stuff that's starting to grow on the tips of my ears and kind of stick out for my nose, right? I don't know how much is there. I couldn't count even if I tried. Even if I tried for my entire life, there's no way I could even count the number of hairs on my head. It changes. Let alone have them numbered. I'll have to see which number I lost today. But yes, that's there you go. That's my answer for what it means to be known. To know is intimacy. That's a good word. To know is complete. To know doesn't require questions. Right. It's an absolute. Yes. So God knows us absolutely. Yes. Even before we were born. Even before there was a day. Even before there was a day. Yes. So, God knows you. God knows me. God knows all of us. Yes, he does. Verse two. What is verse two say? You know, when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from far away. Thoughts about that? The far away part actually kind of struck me on this. You discern my thoughts from far away and I was in a different translation this morning reading and the NLT says, you know my thoughts even when I'm far away. God is unchanging. God's right there. Sometimes we step away from God, but he still knows. He knows your physical being. He knows your spiritual being. He knows your mental being. Of course he does. Now as an adult who has children, each one of your kids is different, are they not? Yes, quite. But as a father, you've had time to learn to know them and to watch their consistent inconsistencies. Yeah, no doubt. Have did your parents ever tell you? They know what you're thinking, so don't do it. I can do you one better. I said that to my kid just the other day. Honey like that. Yeah. So what does God do? He knows what we're thinking. And what does he say? He says, don't do it. He says, don't even think about it. Don't even think. Yeah, don't even think about it. That's right. Yeah, don't even think about it. What's interesting is, is that it's like having, it's good and it's bad. Okay. It's good that he knows us and that he knows us intimately. But he also, it's somewhat intrusive that we know he's watching. Right. Yeah, he knows he's watching. So guess what? I can't make up the story. I can't, I can't come up with an excuse. Right. And I can't tell a lie. No, you can't. And I mean, God exists outside of time. And in verse four, it says, even before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely. You know what I'm going to say before I even think about saying it. And you know, it's just one of those things. God knows what I'm going to do before I do it. And he knows that because he's already seen me do it. Because for him, time is not linear at all. He exists in the past, present, and future simultaneously all the time. And I don't think about it. It'll hurt your brain. It hurts me. But yeah, there's no, there's no fooling him. There's no getting around anything. A father knows his child's strengths. Yep. And he knows his child's weaknesses. Yes. He knows what the child will succeed with. And he knows what the child will fumble. Yes, he will. And guess what? Because he's the father. He allows for it. Right. Well, well, in a lot of ways like learning how to ride a bike, you know, dad goes out and he holds the handlebars and he holds the seat and he holds the upright. And eventually it gets to the point where he's going to have to let go. There goes the paint shop. And yeah. You know, hopefully you'll end in the grass and not on the pavement. But he knows there's a chance. You know, dad knows that there's a chance that you're going to fall down. You most likely will the first couple of times. Would you have it? But but on the other side of it, he's always there to pick you back up. That's that's really the point I want to make. So what creates value? Being there. That's exactly right being there being there. Because God's going to tell you don't do it. Don't even think about it. And you can do it anyway. I'm kind of dumb sometimes I'm going to do it anyways. And he's still there on the other side to pick up the pieces. What does the word don't mean to a child? Try to get away with it. They don't hear the guarantee they just hear the do. Well, the O and the not is hidden by the apostrophe. So they think that that means they should hide what they're doing. Yeah, that was anyways. Was that enough for verse two? Okay, verse three, read verse three. Verse three, you search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all of my ways. God inspects you. Yes. In nose again again. Yes. How and why you are how and why you are the way you are. God knows how and why you are the way you are. How and why I are the way I are. Do you know why you are the way you are? Most of the time, no. Well, why do you think that is? Well, because I my ability to comprehend anything just pales in comparison to God's. I mean, I I don't understand all the processes. I don't understand how my brain works. But God's the guy that played out in your life to know who you are today. A lot of different things. And what do they call those things? Testimony. Life. For me, it's yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's life. It's life. It's life. And for the believer, it's a testimony, right? But Can you learn from failure? You learn more from failing than from winning most of the time. Do children stumble? Of course. Do they fall? Yes. Do they get hurt? Yes. And what does a parent do? Pick some back up. And does what? Puts a bandage on the knee. And what's the child doing the whole time? Crying. Uh huh. Why? And the parents comforting. Because it hurts. It's not fun to get hurt. It's not fun to stumble and fall. Do adults face the same thing? Sure we do. How do we be under arrest? Well, how do we be under arrest? As adults, sometimes we develop. I will just call them unhealthy coping mechanisms. Okay. But if we go to God and we go in prayer and we humble ourselves and go to our parent like we did when we were a child, right? When we were a child, we go to our earthly parent. But now as an adult, we go to our heavenly father and what made the difference? How do you mean? Why do you go to your heavenly father? What made the difference? He's just better at it. He knows me. Jesus makes the difference. Yeah, I'll buy that. You have a personal relationship because Jesus made the difference. Right. So therefore you can go to the father. Right. Because what did Jesus say? No one can come to the father. Except through me. Except through me. Right. Sorry. I guess I was assuming that part in my brain. People who do not know Jesus and do not know what Jesus did for them. They find the alternative. Yep. But we know the results of the alternative. Yes, we do. And they're not awesome. I want to look at this. I want to look at this. The first half of this, because we talked about the knowing part. You're acquainted with all of my ways is what this translation says. The NLT, which is what I was reading earlier, seeks to translate into a more understandable language. And in doing that, I think they lose some of the nuance of the original. And one of the things that I'm picking up on in the new revised standard version, which is more of a literal translation. In verse three, this first half isn't actually about me. I'm going to throw it back to Psalm 23. This says, you search out my path and my lying down. You you determine where I'm going to go. How I'm going to get there. So who's the subject? God is actually the subject. Who's the object? I'm the object. How do you like that? It what comes first? The subject, right? But it's God searches out the path and the lying down. And when we throw back and we reach back to Psalm 23, the shepherd Psalm, right? We, we actually talked about that at great length. How much the shepherd cares and plans and prepares the path that is sheep are going to walk on. And how much the shepherd prepares the place where the sheep is going to be able to rest. And remember we taught you never see it beforehand. Right. We don't see what God's planning for us beforehand. We certainly don't. But we do have promises. We do. We do. And this is one of them that God is making the path for us. Doesn't mean he's removing all the rocks. He's just kind of getting us where we need to go. But the lying down part was one of the things in Psalm 23 that really kind of struck me as how many things need to be in place for a sheep to be comfortable enough and feel safe enough to lie down. And that's what God's doing. He's preparing our path so we can get to where he wants us to be. And once we get there, we will understand better who he is to the point where we will be able to lay down and rest. Can you lay down and rest even when your life is troubled? For sure. Do you just don't rest very well? Why? Because your life is troubled. I mean, for me and we want to, I want to trust God. I want to believe all of the promises. I want to release every worry, every care, every concern to him. Ideally. Yeah, ideally. But really? The reality is I'm not very good at it. Why? Because I'm stubborn and I'm a human being. Because you love this world. And I'm in this world. In this world is confusing. It is quite confusing at times. The value system plays with your mind. Right. Well, and I know that there's a wolf lurking around every corner. Now, Paul says to focus on what's true and right and good and beautiful, which means I should be focusing on the God that's protecting me and not the wolf that I know is around the corner. But unfortunately, I fail at that. But we have an admonition. It's just to beware of the devil. That's true. And there's your wolf. Be aware. Right. Be aware of the wolf and sheep's clothing. Be on the lookout, be on guard, but focus on the good things. Focus on we need to. I'll equate it to driving, right? I'll make an analogy for driving, right? When you're driving, especially on the highway, right, your focus is way down the road, right? Our focus should be on the cross. But you still check your mirrors and you still look out the windows to see what's coming up around you. Now, if I focus on my rearview mirror or my side mirrors or too much on the side windows or whatever, if I, if my focus comes off of that road for too long, where do I end up? I end up in the ditch or in somebody. Yeah. Yeah, best case scenario, I end up in the ditch. So yeah, it, we really do have to keep our focus on, on the right thing. We have to keep our focus on the cross to stay on the path and keep our eyes out. Got to keep your, my football coach always told me to keep my head on a swivel. Bubble head, huh? Yeah. Yeah, it's just you have to be focused on what you need to be focused on, but aware of what's going on around you. So sometimes I forget and I focus on the wrong position. What position did you play? Uh, strong safety. Okay. So kind of a linebacker type position. Because different positions have to be where are different things. Yep. And I had to be aware of run and pass and all the people who could potentially have the ball and where they're going and where I might want to tackle them. Um, which I think is kind of a natural segue into number four. Well, read it. Even before a word is on my tongue. Oh, Lord, you know it completely. As a, as a defender playing football, everything I did was reactive. It's all I could ever do. Even getting lined up and reading the offensive line and how they were lined up. It was a reactive behavior. I left hands at a right handed right handed. What did you do with a left handed offensive lineman? I wasn't on the line. I never had to worry about that. Yeah, but he's going to come at you. Yeah, he's going to come at me. Usually it had to do more with what side of him the hole he was trying to make was on. If he was, if he had a guy running inside of him, he would block differently than if the guy was going outside of him. Um, but again, it was all reactive. If you've ever watched a football game and never really paid attention, I would implore you just to take a moment and watch and see who on the defense is set and ready to go before the offense comes up to the line and they're set and ready to go. Because you will see that there might only be one person out of 11 on that defense that is in the space he's going to be in before the offense gets there and you'll see kind of how that reactive happens. Um, now God knows every word I'm going to speak before I even think it. Boy, you in trouble. Aren't I though? He also knows all the words I don't speak. And so yeah, I'm really in trouble. Um, but kind of the analogy here is that not only is God's defense set and ready and waiting for the offense to come to the line, but he knows what play they have called and where the, where the ball is going to go. He knows what receiver is going to get the catch or what running backs going to get the ball and where he's going to go with it. In football, you would call that an unfair advantage or cheating. This is a, this is a convicting verse. It is. The reason it's a convicting verse is because what it's really saying is are we thinking the way God wants us to think? Right. Are we thinking the way we do think? Right. And how often do our emotions get in the way of thinking the way God wants us to think? And my wife says to me, she says to me, she says, if you say something too quickly, she says, you just put your foot in your mouth. Yes. I says, why's that? She's because you didn't think about her first. Isn't that the truth? And so she says, she said to me, she's just happened last night. In fact, she says, why would you make a statement like that? I says, because that makes me angry. She says, does the person make you angry? Or she says, or is the act make you angry? I says both. She says, can you separate one from the other? I says, I can't. So she says, so you're actually placing blame, and you want to have grand vengeance on what you're seeing that you don't like or agree with. I said, exactly. She says, does that honor God? I said, didn't ask him. She says, well, think about it. She says, does God want you to think the way he would think? Or is he okay with the way you think? Right. I says, that's not a fair question. Oh, because I know what gospel mom is going to come at me with. I'm going to be a three-year-old. Yeah, we are because that, yeah, I'm going to get corrected. Yeah, God says, don't look on a brother with hatred or you've committed murder with your heart. Right. So there you go. Okay, so now, but now, I just I just want to follow this a little bit. So now, later, that emotion is gone. Can you separate the act in the person? After I sum it down. I'm right now sitting here with me right now. Are you able to think back on that situation and separate the two things and think about it rightly? A little bit, not completely. Not completely. See, my problem is. Okay. Here's my problem. Okay. Crime is not supposed to happen. Right. But when crime is perpetrated, yes, there should be a punishment. Sure. For a person to get away with it, is very aggravating. Yes, because it looks like evil has won. It does look like that. And so subsequently, if in my defense, I says, I'm practicing righteous indignation. I'd become a proxy for what God would think. But my wife would say something just the opposite. She would. She says, you don't sound like this much mercy ingrastely. I says, there isn't. Well, as much mercy and grace, the Bible is pretty clear that we're supposed to let the Lord have our vengeance. I'm trying to help expedite. I know. I fall into that too. I mean, I totally get it. I totally get it. Especially it. It actually took me quite a bit. I bet you I know who would be a most famous hero cop. My most famous here. I'll catch. I know who it would be. Are you talking real or fictional? Fictional, but I bet you I know who it is. All right. Who do you think it is? Judge Dred. There was a time I might go along with that or a robocop. I mean, they're kind of one execute judgment now. Exactly. Exactly. And as a police officer, that was kind of the way you thought, right? And everything gets into the legal system. They mess it up. Well, the purpose of law enforcement is that second word. It's enforcement. But unfortunately, too many of the guys that are working at angles, but too many of the people that are working in enforcement think it's supposed to be punishment. Whereas the court system is built on rehabilitation. And so there's a philosophical difference that comes up. And that gets kind of tough from time to time. It took it took some serious introspection, some serious evaluation of my view and my values coming out of law enforcement to really start to think better. And towards the end of my career, I was doing okay on it anyways, but to start to think better about helping as opposed to punishing. The issue is this. Yes. The lawyers, the judge, the jury were not involved. They weren't present in the escalation. No. So subsequently, they're looking at it from basically hindsight. Yes. If you're in the immediate, you're responding to the immediate. Right. Which the judge and the jury are actually supposed to be viewing it just like that. They're supposed to be viewing the facts as facts. And it's supposed to be a cold and emotionless response. But is wrong, but it's driven by emotion. Well, that's what the lawyers want. The lawyers want the emotional response because that's ways. Well, even as a police officer, your emotions come into play and you do the best you can to control them. Oh, sure. But sometimes when your life's in danger, you get an override. Yep. Yep, that's true. But anyways, but we've gone a little bit down the rabbit trail there. You know what? The interesting thing is, I think if we're talking about the God who knows us, since he is the God who forgives us, he forgives us of many other things that we think and say. Yes, he does. He does. He knows what's in our heads. And as a parent, you know, I've talked to my kids and I've said that, that line, that famous, like, don't even think it. I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. Don't even think it. As a parent of my four kids, that happens on occasion. God knows that all the time. What does God know about you? Everything. He knows your heart. Right. He knows our heart and he knows our mind. What does man know about you? Only what they can see. Only what they can see. What do you know about you? More than what can be seen, but not nearly as much as God knows. You know what you sense. Yes. But unfortunately, senses sometimes will mislead you. They will. So God is a merciful God, knowing that you are a sensitive creature. All right. Well, should we move on to five? Five? Yeah. Okay. It says you hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me. Where does that sound like? Kind of sounds like I'm surrounded. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, if I'm surrounded by God, I think that's a good thing. That's kind of what I was talking about before with focusing on the right things. The good things. Does your heavy appearance have a hemge you in? Yeah, I can't think of an instance right now, but I'm sure they have. Why would they do that? For protection. Exactly. To protect you from what you don't know. Yep. The devil. The devil knows where you're at. The God knows where the devil is. Yes. So we have God is hemming you in. What does that word hem mean? There's another synonymous word in the Bible to hem. What does that word mean? I'm just going to look at some other translations here. To be encircled. To be enclosed within. To be surrounded. To be protected. In fact, another word for the word hem is to be hit. Okay, he's hiding you from the enemy. Yep. I like that. That's a benefit. Sure it is. Because you can't hide yourself from the enemy, but God is willing to hide you from the enemy. But what do you have to do? I got to trust him. Yeah, you have to you have to basically submit the Israel. Right. And realize that when he hems you in, when he says, whoa, stop right here. Don't go any further. It's because he knows what's across the line. Right. That you can't see. And he's protecting you. He's hiding you from that. Yep. Aren't you glad that God can see further than you can? Oh yeah. So. What kind of trouble would you be in if God wasn't there to intervene? I don't even want to think about it. You can't even think about it. You couldn't even fan them it. No. What is Satan's modus operandi? What's his goal? His goal to kill, steal, and destroy. What? Everything that God loves. That's right. And that includes us. Anything that's alive. Right. Okay. Satan is a synonymous with what? A accuser, a poser. Death. Death. God is synonymous with life. Life. Okay. So the only way to Satan can actually inflict pain on God is afflicting, is afflicting pain on God's creation. Right. So why do we inflict pain on each other? We do. We do. Because we're foolish. I think it's because we're emotional. And our emotions have a tendency to control us from doing the right thing. Right. Because we're not thinking the right way. Yep. So go back. Can we think the right way? Can we think the right way? Paul says what you're supposed to focus on. Right. Whatever is. Right and good and true. Okay. You can, but you have to. Yeah. It's a discipline. It is. And that'll push us right into verse six. That pushes us into verse six. It pushes us into verse six. And what does it say? It says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high. I cannot attain it." Like Paul says, we focus on what is good and right and true and pure and holy, but we don't. We're supposed to, but we're kind of bad at it. Now. David writes here that the way that God thinks is so high that we can't, we can't do it. But should we still try? What's the word wonderful? I mean. Wonderful is good. How good? The best. The description to the wonder is full. Yes. But what's a wonder? A thought question, a quandary. You know, I think of awe and wonder typically go together. Read the verse again. Read the verse. Read the verse again. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high. I cannot attain it." What knowledge is that? The knowledge that God has about me? All the four are mentioned. Yes. You have to go all the way back through. All the four mentioned is what God's focusing on. That's his knowledge of you. Right. And that creates not for him, but for you. Wonderment. Yes. Okay. And you call it wonderful. Sure. Another word. Wonderful is what? Awesome. Another word. I don't know. I'm blanking on another synonym for wonderful. When I thought of this word, I thought about gratitude. Okay. Okay. Because of what God knows already that I don't even know. What God knows what I'm thinking, what God knows where I'm going, what God knows what I'm doing. I'm grateful that he knows because you know what? I'm just bumbling along and I don't know. I'm glad somebody knows the way. Yes. As am I. As am I. In the beginning it talked about the path. Yes. The path is another word for the way. The way. Yep. Any more thoughts on that one? Now we're going to get the transitory. Now we're going to get the transitory verse. Okay. Should we explain what a transitory verse is? I think you should. Okay. In Scripture when you see a transitory verse, it means something is about the change. Okay. It means that a thought could change, a fact could change, a situation could change, a character could change. Okay. An action could change. But usually you're going to be looking for a change. And verse seven is actually the demarcation. It changes things. One of the things that we talked about you and I, Dustin, before we started. Yes. Is this is that this transitions within this sum? And these transitions are broken down to when the word you is spent, spent, that's God. Right. Okay. When my, the word I is sent sent, that is us. Right. And then throughout the Psalm, there is going to be these set-offs where the words are used when, where? Yep. How? Okay. Those are all set-offs. And one of the words that's a set-off that you wouldn't expect it is when the word comes up that he leads. Yes. So you always look for the instruction because the instruction is usually in the transition. Yes. So with that, let's get to seven, which is the key verse, which says, "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Where can I go?" NLT says, "I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. You are everywhere." What is that an admission of? It's an admission. Okay. It's an admission of what? I'm not sure. I'm not sure where you're going with that. Well, it's, it's the omnipresence of God. Right. It's everywhere that we could go. We can't hide because he's everywhere. Yes. And where he is, guess what? His spirit is there. Yes, it is. It is futile to resist. Yes. And you know, following the earthly ministry of Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we understand that a little bit differently than David would have. He would not have had that kind of understanding of the Spirit, but at least not in any theological training, so to speak. But he certainly understands it because he was anointed and he did have the Holy Spirit poured over him. At one time, David lost the absence. He had the absence of the Spirit. Yes, he did. And what was his cry? Don't take your spirit from me. Right. Take not your Holy Spirit from me. Right. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Right. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. And what does that say to us by the same author of these Psalms? He gets it. He gets it. But do we? Sometimes we do. Sometimes we don't. Can you see the picture? Sure. When David said that prayer. Oh, yeah. Can you see the picture? What's the picture in your mind when David was brought to the point of saying that prayer? The picture in my mind is a man humbled, broken, lying prostrate before God and just calling out with everything. He didn't value what he lost until it was gone. Right. So what does that tell us? Sometimes we don't value our faith. That's true. We don't have it. That is true. Can Satan steal your faith? No. Can he steal your happiness? Yes. Can he steal your joy? Only if you let him. Only if you let him. Happiness is a word associated with this world. Joy is a word associated with the kingdom. Correct. Correct. And I always look at it as a believer. I have the Holy Spirit living in me. That means I cannot be and dwelt by a demon. However, that doesn't mean that they won't surround me and try to torment me. No, more than likely they will. Right. Because anyone who stands for God is automatically Satan's enemy. Exactly. Exactly. So, God is everywhere. We can't get away from him. And at a time when God's presence dwelt in a tent, David understood that that was just a manifestation of God's presence so that people could better understand him. But David understood that his presence was everywhere because David experienced it on the field with Goliath and in however many other battles he fought. He experienced the presence of God in all those times and even more when he was on the run from Saul. And yeah, anyways, we don't have to go into all that detail. So, is it time to close it? No, we haven't gotten down to the end of it. That's what I mean. Should we bring it, bring it to the end? You need to read it, which I'm sure you will, when you need to really think about the last two verses. Okay. Okay. Because it's too easy to just blow off without really having some deep thought on it. But there's a reason why this particular Psalm is closed, finished this way. So read it, read it slowly, read it methodically. In fact, when I was in school, I was actually taught that we should pray about what this means. Okay. Before we try to understand it. Okay. All right, I'm going to read it twice at a normal pace. And then I'm going to slow it way down. And we'll see what the spirit reveals. And I'm going to pray right now. And I'm going to ask Father God, would you please through your spirit reveal to us what you want to in this? It could mean different things to different people because they're in different places at different times with different circumstances. But for them to be able to understand the heart that God has for them individually that day, at that point in time, they need to ask them to reveal that. Yes. So the reason I brought that up is it's nice to talk about what we think about this Psalm is about. It's more important to find out what God wants us to know. Yes. What this Psalm is about. Okay. So I'm going to read the last two verses. "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." Now I'm going to read it again really slow. "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." It does. It does hit a little bit different when you read it slower, doesn't it? You're asking him to clean you up. Yes. That's what you're asking. We're back to saying you up. Psalm 51 again. "Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Search me. God, look through me. Know my heart." What's the difference between a heart and a mind? Oh, quite a bit. A lot of people don't know. A lot of people. Well, that's kind of, that's an interesting point because in our culture and our understanding, we think of heart as a muscle. Just an organism. It's an organ. It's a muscle in our body that pumps blood and that blood carries oxygen and nutrients and things and whatever. We have a very biological understanding of heart. But our ancient Hebrew friends, like David, would not have thought the same way about heart as we do. For them, heart was a part of your being, which is called your soul. And so the heart, anything that you're feeling like in your chest, in the pity or stomach, any of that emotional response, any of that, what we would refer to as maybe soul, they referred to as heart. It had everything to do with that feeling and that emotional and that spiritual sense of things as opposed to our brain, our logical. What does the heart affect? Everything. That's right. The heart affects everything. Can a man live without a heart? No. Why not? Because then he's got nothing to flow through him. No life. No life. Absence of life. And life is only good as long as it can flow. Right. Yeah. And in the New Testament, we get a little bit different understanding in regards to clean versus unclean. It's not what you put into your body that defiles, but what comes out of it. It's not what we put into our heart. It's what comes out of our heart. And of course, there's a bunch of analogies about, you know, if somebody's carrying a cup of coffee and you bump into them and what spills coffee, why? Because that's what's in there. If it was tea, it would have spilled tea. So there is a given a take with that. But yeah, our emotional and our spiritual center, that is the heart. It's not about the organ. So we're David and us in reading it is asking God to know us. Like we said, fully, completely, not just on the surface, but to know. And it's asking to be laid bare. Test me God. Know my thoughts. Again, help me to not hide what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling. And if there's any wicked way in me, which we're all sinners, we all still sin. I heard a message recently that talked about it. I'm trying to change my vernacular a little bit. We do all still sin, even though we as followers of Jesus, we are saints, right? Can you be still? We still sin. Can you be a sinner? Be a sinner and attitude. Sure. Do a lot of people think that having a bad attitude is a sin? If they want to be wrong, I guess. If you're offended, how do you sin not? By not acting out of the offense. But you're still offended. Sure, you're offended. Your emotions are valid. The action that comes out of your emotion could be sinful. Could that be the wicked way? It very well could be. Sometimes we can't identify whether we beat up a person or robbed from a person or lied to a person. Can't identify that. But the question is, is those are very blatant, obvious sins. Sure. But what about what we think about a person? Right. Is your thinking pure or is your thinking not so good? Sometimes it's a stinking thinking. I'll tell you that. But David calls it. David takes it to a lower level. What's that called? Wicked. Wicked. Okay. Now, if I say to you, wicked, but you associate wicked with evil, what kind of evil? The worst kind of evil, the devil's kind of evil. That's right. Yes. But often as people take that word basic tongue and shake and don't understand the depth of the word. No, you have to fully understand the depth of it because Neil Paul writes in the letter to the Romans that the gift of the cross is that while we were still his enemy, while we were still sinners, while we were still evil. Christ died on the cross for us. Can we keep a little bit of wickedness? No. Why not? Because that's serving two masters. We're dead to our sin. And sin is no longer a master over us. Now we are a slave to Christ. And if you can't serve two masters, you'll end up loving one and hating the other. If you hold back and you keep some things in your life that are wicked, what happens to those wicked things? They tend to grow. They overtake. They're like a weed, uncontrollable. Yep. And that's the reason why. What does David say? What does he say? If there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting, right? Take the wicked away. Do we even know sometimes where our wickedness lies? Oh, gosh, no, we all have blind spots and we all miss things. But who knows who knows us better than we in all ourselves? And he knows what we're even going to think before we think it. Right. You can't hide. You can't run. This is a scary prayer. It's really a prayer of surrender. It is. And in our culture, in our world, that's scary. That's really scary to surrender to God and say, God, you take over. I'm bad at this. You take over because everything in our culture, everything says we need to be in control of XYZ. Scary prayer. Well, it's where the robber meets the road. Sure is. Okay, you're going to leave any robber on the road? I just got new tigers. So I'm trying really hard not to spin them. Sorry, that was irrelevant. Yeah, this is totally where the robber meets the road. It's for some of us out here, it's going to be terrifying to pray this, to pray for God, to search us, to lay us bare, to see everything. We already know that he does. Read the rest of the Psalm. We already know that he sees everything. He knows everything about us. And at the same time, we're asking through our asking him, we are willingly submitting and exposing to God all of our weaknesses, thoughts and flaws. You want to know what the key words to those two verses are? Yes, hit me with it. Search. Search. No. No. Test. Yep. See. Lead. Yes. Sounds like a formula. Kinda does, doesn't it? Yeah. Search. No. Test. See. Lead. Yep. Question is, where are you being led? And who's leading you? Right. Well, I'm just said it a moment ago. Are you a slave to your sin? Or are you a slave to your God? Some people are a slave to the things of this world. Yes, they are. Which means their focus is on what? The wrong thing. The wrong thing. The thing becomes God. It does. I think that's an idol. Yeah. It has to focus. And who distracts us? The devil does. Right. You know you want some? Ah, yes. Yes, I do. All right. I know where we're going next week. You do. Okay. I'm not prepared because I don't like to be prepared on this particular song. All right. We're going to song 150. 150. And I don't know why yet. Because it's the last one. Well, I don't know. It could be, but I don't know why yet. Okay. Okay. All I know all I know is is that when I'm impressed to do something, it's beyond me. Yes. Okay. Because I've learned that you and I wouldn't be sitting here talking if it was just about us. That's very true. Right. It would not be a podcast. It'd probably be a much shorter conversation. Yes. As my father would say, don't ask questions. Just do it. All right. Well, thank you very much, Steve, for coming in. Have a great week and thank you for listening. Thank you. [Music]