There are several things we can learn from this Psalm
1. You know me
2. You are with me
3. You are just and righteous
4. Come and search my heart and lead me into the way of everlasting
Background
This Psalm was written in one of the dark days of David.
Many blood thirty men were out there to kill David. (v. 19). He felt so dark that it would be better if the darkness hide him. (v. 11)
What will you do when the things are so dark and have no hope? Eat more and sleep more?
When you are stressed out you reveal who you are.
e.g. Paul Tripps' coffee example. If you shake the coffee cup that is full of coffee, the coffee spills out.
What did David say and what came out?
1.You know me. He came to God and knew one thing. The Lord knows us. (vv. 1-6) In his dark time, David came to the knowledge of God.
2, You are with me (vv.7-18)
After knowing that God knows him, he felt the presence of God. The Lord is one who is with you.
There is no place that he will not be with you. If you rise on the wings of the dawn or go to the far side of the seas, he is there with you.
See the picture of God who leads you gently like a shepherd leading his flock and a father holding his son's right hand. (v. 10)
Can you see the gentle guidance and firm hold on you?
You might ask, "Why he knows me and why he follows me around?"
Because he made you. You are made by God.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Eph 2:10 says that we are created in Christ Jesus do to good works. Jesus died for you and he created you through his death and resurrection.
Knowing that God knows us and made us gives us confidence and we confess, "We know fully." (v14)
Nothing happens without God's will and his control.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your bookbefore one of them came to be. .
What is our life?
It is known by Jesus and knowing Jesus.
Then we can accept God's sovereign will for outlives.
E.g. I did not choose which parents I should have. Where to go and study. It is purely God's grace. Then why were I not happy when I was a child. I disliked the school and was not happy for being placed in God's family. It was before I met Jesus.
When I saw things through Jesus' death and resurrection, I could thank God.
3. You teach me what to like and what to hate.
God is just and righteous. When the bloody thirst men attached David, he asked God to slay the wicked. His hatred is not his emotion but he asked the LORD give him the same attitude of God.
So we love what God loves and hate what God hates.
4. Jesus leads us the way of everlasting
After coming back to his knowledge of us and his presence, David again invites God to come to his heart.
We cannot trust our hearts. Our self righteousness can do a lot of damages.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
We are not just self centered people. We are the people of the cross. We stay close to the cross. When we suffer we do not curse others.
Instead we look at our LORD Jesus who sang Psalm 22 on the cross and hear Jesus' song, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me."
We know how sinful we are before God but how much we are valued by God that the very Son of God died for us.
Daily we ask God to come to us. We open our hearts to him.
"Test me and see my anxious and troubled hearts."
We invite our LORD and his word to search our hearts and see if there are any grievous ways. If there are, then we ask God's forgiveness through his son's death on the cross.
After that we are so confident that Jesus who came to search us will lead us to the way of everlasting.
5. Applications
This is the good time to come to God who knows us and made us and sent his Son for us.
I cannot spare you sufferings and dark times but we are confident of knowing his saving grace through his Son.
The LORD knows you.
He will not forsake you.
He will lead you into the way of everlasting because he came down and found us.
He laid his life for us.
When he was most stressed, he sang the Psalm 22. The word of God came from his mouth so we trust him and trust his word.
We are confident of his way. This is the everlasting way.
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