He Knows Us Well

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. Psalm 139:1-2

When we leaf through the many psalms David wrote, we see how personal and intimate they are. He knew his God and God knew him. It is no different here. David understood as he penned these words that the Lord knew him.

The Lord had searched him and search here references searching the earth by boring or digging for water or metal. God isn’t looking for something. He examines the thoughts and feelings of our hearts. He knows us better than any family, friend, or acquaintance as they can’t see our heart.

But God can.

Our soul is transparent to His piercing glance and He sees the sin that dwells in our hearts. We can hide it from others but not God.  Psalm 44:21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart?

The Puritan A.W Pink says this. “The natural man cannot endure the thought of being thoroughly searched by God. The last thing he desires is to pass beneath the all-seeing eye of His maker and Judge, so that his every thought and desire, his most secret imagination and motives stands exposed before Him.”

We our observed by God whether we sit down or rise up. Our simple tasks, our most needful movements are noted. When we cling to pride, the Lord sees it. When anger or bitterness gets comfortable in our heart, He sees it. When we are sad and lonely, our great God sees it all.  This is a truth to remember, if we are sitting down to think or rising up to act, we are still seen, known, and read by our Lord.

So, because of this He understands our thoughts from afar, and He understands our thoughts of Him. He won’t misjudge or wrongly interpret us; our inner thoughts our perfectly understood by His impartial mind.

On one hand, it should restrain us from sin and when we do sin, we should repent. Our soul is transparent before the living God every minute and hour of the day. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord see the heart. On the other hand, God sees us, puny us, and knows us. We need to mediate on the truths that come our way. This is a beautiful contrast between the observer and the observed. The Lord and us. This is an intimate connection that exists, and therein lies our hope.

The Lord isn’t far away from us. We can boldly go the throne of grace with confidence. He hears our prayers, cries, joys, and sorrows. He is the one that will comfort our soul and hold our hand. 

Because He is faithful.