Title: The Comfort of God's Care
Bible Book: Psalms 36
Author: Donnie L. Martin
Subject: Comfort of God; Care of God; God's Comfort
Objective:
Introduction
A verse of scripture that follows the thought of today's text is 1 Peter 5:7, which says, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
All of us like to be cared for. All of us like to know that someone finds us special, in spite of our faults. That’s what is so wonderful about good parents. Parents love and care about their children no matter what kind of eccentricities or deformities they might have.
This need to feel loved and cared for, this need to feel special to someone, is no doubt a big factor in people being drawn together in marriage. It’s nice to know that someone out there loves us just the way we are. But as nice as it is to know that other people care about us, it is even more wonderful to know that God cares for us. This is the thought that fills David’s mind in Psalm 139. King David marvels at God’s care throughout his whole life, and gives Him the praise for that care.
Dear friends, you may not feel very special today, but it is my hope that as we look into God’s Word that you will realize that you are special to God, and that He cares for you.
Theme - God’s care for His children is seen in the fact that…
I. We Are Comprehended By God
Psalm 139:5-6, “Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
David is summing up the verses that have gone before in this psalm. In essence, he is saying, “God, you’ve got me covered no matter what direction I turn. You understand me so completely that I can’t comprehend the magnitude of your knowledge.”
A. God Understands The Workings Of Our Minds
Psalm 139:1-2, “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
I wonder how much difference it would make in our daily lives if we became constantly aware that God was reading our every thought? After all, we are, or become, what we think (Prov.23: 7). There is not one time during the course of a day that God is not aware of your every thought, motive, attitude, or situation. It’s worth thinking about isn’t it?
The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, reported on February 9, 2007 that a team of scientists has determined that reading brain waves can reveal a person's intentions. Literally, if this report is true, science has determined a way to read the mind and determine what you intend to do or want to do before you even do it.
Of course, we knew this could be done. Jesus did it long ago, for the Bible states that he read the intentions of people or he knew what they were thinking. Read Luke 5:22; Luke 6:8; John 2:25; John 21:17. Read also Psalm 44:21. The Lord knows what we are thinking each moment of each day. And, He further knows that what we think about is what we will become. Our thoughts are the seeds of our actions.
If God read our minds today, would he find wholesome thoughts there or thoughts engendered by the world. If you open your mind to the wrong things, you will become what you allow inside. It doesn’t take a mind reader to figure that out!
B. God Understands Our Ways And Our Manner
Psalm 139:3, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”
The words “compassest my path” speaks figuratively of God’s extensive knowledge of a person’s “manner (‘path’),”2 a person’s way of doing things, or their natural characteristics. The idea of the word “compassest” is that God “distinguishes actions; he discerns and separates the good from the bad.”3 Another idea behind this word is that “…the Lord knows us as thoroughly as if he had examined us minutely, and had pried into the most secret corners of our being.”4 Even if you squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle instead of at the bottom, God still loves you and understands why you do that.
David also said that God fully understood his “ways.” That means that God understood his “…course of life or mode of action.”5
God knows all about us. This is brought out in the following scriptures:
Psalm 103:14: “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
John 2:24, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
1 Samuel 16:7b, “…for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Matthew 10:30, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
C. God Understands The Words Of Our Mouths
Psalm 139:4, “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.”
God not only understands what you say, but He understands why you say what you say. God knows that, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt.12: 34b). Therefore, our prayer and intent should be that of King David, who said, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19: 14).
II. We Are Cherished By God
A. He Cherishes Us By His Presence
God’s presence is in every direction.
Psalm 139:7-10, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand (power) shall hold me.”
Brethren, there is a very precious point implied in verse 8. Notice that the psalmist said, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell…thou art there” (Psalm 139: 8). Sometimes it seems like our life takes us through the pits of hell. But dear friend, David said God is there. Praise God, He never leaves us nor forsakes us (Heb.13: 5b)! When you’re on the mountaintop of joy, God is there. When you’re going through what seems to be the worst days of your life, God is there.
God is as much the “God of the Valley” as He is the “God of the Mountain” (I Kings 20: 28-30). Oh folks, there’s never a time when God doesn’t love His children.
One day C.H. Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the evangelist noticed a barn with a weather vane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: God Is Love. Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he thought this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weathervanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.”
“I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.”
There is a natural, logical kind of loving that loves lovely things and lovely people. That’s logical. But there is another kind of loving that doesn’t look for value in what it loves, but that Creates value in what it loves. Like Rosemary’s rag doll. When Rosemary, my youngest child, was three, she was given a little rag doll, which quickly became an inseparable companion. She had other toys that were intrinsically far more valuable, but none that she loved like she loved the rag doll. Soon the rag doll became more and more rag and less and less doll. It also became more and more dirty. If you tried to clean the rag doll, it became more ragged still. And if you didn’t try to clean the rag doll, it became dirtier still.
The sensible thing to do was to trash the rag doll. But that was unthinkable for anyone who loved my child. If you loved Rosemary, you loved the rag doll—it was part of the package. “If anyone says ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar,” (I John 4:20). “Love me, love my rag dolls,” says God, “including the one you see when you look in the mirror. This is the first and greatest commandment.”6
God’s presence is in the darkness.
Psalm 139:11-12, “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 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.”
Even on the darkest night there is never an absolute absence of light. When I was taking training for my tour in Viet Nam, we were familiarized with what was called a Starlight Scope. That scope magnifies existing light two hundred times, enabling the user to see any object, even in the dark. There have been times when I was so troubled that I would go into my office at night, close the door, and turn out the light. I’d sit there in the dark, somehow feeling that the darkness would close out everything and everyone. However, God could see me. He could see my bleeding heart. And the darkness was never able to close out the presence of God, for in the midst of that darkness, God’s Spirit would come and comfort me.
In Ex. 20:21 it says that, “Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” That’s actually what we need to learn to do. Instead of running from the dark times of our lives, we need to embrace them, for there you will find God.
B. He Cherished Us While Our Bodies Were Yet In Preparation
Psalm 139:13-16, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect (incomplete; “a wrapped and unformed mass, i.e. as the embryo”7); and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
III. We Are Compelled By God
A. To Shun And To Hate Evil
Psalm 139:19-22, “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.”
While these verses make for some translational problems, due to the idea of hatred for the wicked, the basic thrust of what David says here is explained by Robert Davidson, who said, “For the psalmist there can be no moral or spiritual neutrality. He knows whose side he is on.”8
The idea seems to be that of hatred and loathing of the wicked sin and conduct of the enemies of God, rather than the people themselves. This is the idea found in Psalm 97: 10a, which says, “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil…” This same idea is found in Proverbs 8: 13, which states, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Hate is a powerful weapon that causes devastating destruction. Make sure it’s aimed in the right direction.
One of the worst cases of hatred I have ever come across is found in a will written in 1935 by a Mr. Donohoe. It says, “Unto my two daughters, Frances Marie and Denise Victoria, by reason of their unfilial attitude toward a doting father...I leave the sum of $1.00 to each and a father’s curse. May their lives be fraught with misery, unhappiness, and poignant sorrow. May their deaths be soon and of a lingering malignant and torturous nature.”
The last line of the will is so vicious I shudder to quote it. It reads, “May their souls rest in hell and suffer the torments of the condemned for eternity.”9
B. To Seek And Heed God’s Examination
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
If we truly understand how much God loves us, and desires our fellowship, we will be willing to be open and honest with God about sin in our lives. We will be willing for God to examine us and reveal anything that is displeasing to Him so that we might claim His cleansing (I John 1: 9).
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1. Dr. J. Mike Minnix, Editor, www.pastorlife.com.
2. James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible: published by MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, Virginia; #734 of the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, pg. 16.
3. John Gill, John Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible, as recorded in e-Sword software.
4. The Treasury Of David, as recorded in e-Sword software.
5. James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible: published by MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, Virginia; #1870 of the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, pg. 31.
6. Ian Pitt-Watson.
7. James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D., Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible: published by MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, Virginia; #1564 of the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, pg. 27.
8. Robert Davidson, The Vitality Of Worship, A Commentary On The Book Of Psalms, Copyright © 1998 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503; pg. 449.
9. Our Daily Bread, February 18, 1994.
