Let me turn back to 139, Psalm 139. The Psalm that I want us to look at this morning is not only majestic in its nature, but it's very methodically structured. We have 24 verses before us. And the verses are divided up into four groups, each containing six verses. In the first six verses, we have God's omniscience. In the second six verses, we have God's omnipresence. In the third six verses, we have God's omnipotence. And in the final six verses, we have the Samish response to these amazing thoughts that he's been considering. So let's start with the first six verses. God's omniscience. People say to me, you preachers use big words. What on earth does it mean? God's omniscience is not difficult to grasp because it means simply this. He knows everything. Everything. I find this first six verses very challenging to my own soul. And when I was preparing this, it made me sit and think very, very carefully about my own life. These six verses cover every aspect of our being. It begins in verse one with the heart. Lord, thou hast searched me, thou hast known me. I think we need just to remember that the Lord searches all our feelings, all our emotions, and all our desires. He begins the psalm with the heart, and it's very interesting that he ends the psalm with the heart. He not only searches, but he knows our hearts intimately. The big question, when he searches, What does he find? Could it be a heart that is cold towards him? A heart that is hard towards others? Could it be a heart that is unmoved, insensitive to his promptings and to the needs of others? You see, the Bible throughout Old and New Testament reminds us of one important thing that we always need to consider. That the heart is desperately wicked. It's in need of a spiritual transplant. That cold, that hard, that stony heart that we have needs to be replaced with a heart that is loving, a heart that is tender, and a heart that's responsive to the promptings of God. Our heart needs to be devoted to God. Our heart needs to react to the needs of others by being caring and being sensitive. As we sit here this morning, As I stand here this morning, the Almighty One sees the condition of all our hearts. He longs to create within us a new heart, a clean heart, or as the hymn puts it, a heart that is resigned, submissive, and meek. When he's dealt with the heart, he then goes into verse 2 and he deals with the thoughts. You know, I find it quite daunting, I find it even frightening that the Almighty One understands our thoughts. Whatever you're thinking right now, He knows it. We can't hide it from him. And you know, when we think of our thoughts, they can be often so unkind towards others, especially if we've been wronged by them. Our reaction when we've been wronged is to kind of seek revenge in some form or another. Yes, the steps that we take to get equal are initially seeds that are planted in the mind. But then again, our thoughts can be filled with pride over things that we've accomplished. Haven't I done well? You know, there's two things that are at war in our mind. And those two things are at war constantly. There's a battle taking place in our mind between pride and humility. And pride is often the victor. And remember that out of the heart of man come evil thoughts. It's one step to the other. Verse one is the heart. Verse two is the mind. And out of the heart of man comes evil thoughts such as pride, such as jealousy, deceit, lust, and greed. Paul says to the church in Philippi in chapter four, verse seven, guard your heart. Guard your mind. set your mind and thoughts on the highest things then he turns to verse 3 and he says in verse 3 that he is acquainted with all our ways doesn't get any easier does it He knows our heart, he knows our thoughts, now he knows our actions. This isn't a theological exercise that we're in this morning, it's a reality check by the Almighty upon every aspect of our life. Paul says to the church at Corinth, look, he said, examine yourselves. And there are times when we all need to examine ourselves. And when we do, everything's covered and nothing is omitted. You see, whether we sit down, whether we lie down, whether we stand, he knows. Where we go and why we go there, he knows. We can do the right thing but sometimes we do it with the wrong motive. God is familiar not with some of our actions, not with most of our actions, but he's familiar with all our actions, all our ways. May the Lord guide our steps. so that we walk worthy of his calling. And I say again, be careful where you go. Consider everything that you do. Watch intently how you spend your time and what your time is spent on in doing. Always bear in mind that God knows the way that I take. You see, life is so full of choices. We're making choices every day. And those choices that we make need to be carefully and prayerfully considered. Because sometimes there's no opportunity to retrace our steps. And then finally in this section, in verse 4, He deals with our words. Our heart, our thoughts, our actions are all under his scrutiny. But the psalmist's not quite finished yet. So are the words we speak. Wow, when I look at verse four, it really does hit. For there is not a word on my tongue. Lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Even before it's uttered, even before it hits the sound waves, even before it hits the intended target, before it does any harm, he knows. God is very much aware that our words can bring comfort. Our words can be a blessing to others. But he's also aware of the damaging effects that words can have upon another. We must think before we speak. And that's always hard for Yorkshire people, I can assure you. Yorkshire people have a tendency to speak and then think afterwards. But what the Bible is saying is that we must think before we speak. You see, God in his wisdom has created two barriers before our tongue. You try and talk with your teeth clenched together. Not all that easy. but you try and talk with your lips together and your teeth clenched, it's impossible to get a word out. So God in his wisdom, behind probably one of the most dangerous parts of our body, he has these two barriers that he has created. Be careful and think before you speak. a group of academics were discussing the most dangerous forms of warfare. One suggested it was atomic warfare, another suggested it was chemical warfare, another suggested it was nuclear warfare, and so they went on with various suggestions. But after listening very carefully, an older gentleman in the group stood up and he said, I've listened to all that's been said. And all these that you've mentioned are very dangerous forms of warfare. But can I just tell you this? One has been omitted from your list. And every human being possesses it. It's the tongue. When that tongue is unleashed, it can do irreparable damage. You know, Ephesians 4 has a great deal to say about the tongue. Verse 26, speak the truth always. Verse 9 tells us to speak words that are clean and wholesome. Verse 29, exhorts us to build up and not to pull down. James 3.9 reminds us that we can praise God on Sunday and then we can speak evil of men on Monday. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. These things should never be. So let's ensure that we guard our lips. For there's not a word on our tongue that he does not know. I'm spending more time on that first, just to give you a warning. Now we move on to the second section. Divine omnipresence, verse 7 to verse 12. What does omnipresence mean? It means that God is everywhere. Oh, I love these verses. First of all, we start with height, verse 8. If I go to the moon, he's there. If I go to Mars, he's there. If I go to the furthest galaxy known to man, which is the Whirlpool Galaxy, he's there. If God created it, God can reach it. No matter how high you are transported, you're never out of his reach. I'm not a fan of flying. I'd go in a car anywhere, but I'm not a fan of flying. But I have to fly because our daughter lives in South Africa. But when I'm up there, 40 plus thousand feet, God is there. God is there. We're told in Psalm 103 11, for as high as the heavens are above the earth. Have you ever worked that one out? As high as the heavens are above the earth. How high are the heavens? So great is his love for those who fear him. What a wonderful thought. God's love is so vast. It's so high. to it. And then in verse 8 we go to the bottom extreme. It talks about the depth. No wonder David puts the word behold which shows his surprise at these amazing things. Look friends, God is in the depths as well as he's in the heights. You cannot rise so high that you can't reach Him. And you can't sink so low that He cannot reach you. That's the God we have. And then I move into the third, and verse 9 tells me something about the East and West. It says, if I take the wings of the morning, and I think here is a poetic reference to the sunrise, therefore to the East. I see the psalmist here sitting on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, and I see him looking across Galilee to the land of Moab. and he's saying if I take the wings of the morning he then says something further in verse 9 if I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea I see him there turning round and looking towards the Mediterranean Sea to the west even there your hand shall lead me even there Your right hand will hold me fast. You know, friends, if you travelled north, you'd come eventually south. The shape of the world is such that if you went north, you would eventually be travelling south. There's an end to it. But if you set off this morning, travelling west, let me tell you in a trillion years you'd still be going west and if you set off going east in a trillion years you'd still be going east because there's an end to north and south but there's no end to east or west it's always worth remembering Psalm 103 verse 12 as far as the east is from the west So far has He removed our transgressions, our sins, our iniquities from us. Oh, you know, friends, I don't share much about my past life because I'm ashamed of it. But I can tell you this, that when I became a Christian, a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the things that thrilled my heart is that my sins and the weight and the burden of my sin were carried as far as the East is from the West. Never ever to be recalled again. Never ever to be remembered again. What a God we have. A God of such mercy that he carries our sins into infinity, out of the way, gone forever. And then we come to verse 11. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me. You know, dense darkness can be a perfect hiding place, can't it? I love gardening. I love vegetable gardening. And so when spring comes, I start moving all the stuff around, moving all the bits of wood that have been left around. And what do I see? Underneath are loads of insects. They love it because it's dark. A few years ago, my wife and I were in Derbyshire. And we had a bit of a day free. And we said, I'd love to go to some of the caverns in Derbyshire. You've got the Blue John Mine, and you've got other caverns. And we went to this particular cavern called High Peak Cavern. And it's a massive entrance. And a group of us went into the High Peak Cavern. Thankfully, there were lights there. We had a guide. And the guide took us further and further and further and further into this cabin. I don't know how far we walked, but we seemed to walk ages. And then all of a sudden we came to an area that was like an amphitheatre. It was just like an amphitheatre. I'm told that brass bands practice there because it brings a perfect sound. But we were in this amphitheatre and then the guide said to us now, please hold. any friend's hand, or if you have a wife or what have you, hold their hand, because I'm going to turn the lights off. Derbyshire, a bit soft, you know, I thought, here's the Yorkshireman, we don't worry about things like that. My wife grabbed my hand, and the lights went off. Wow! Do you know, when you face darkness suddenly, It's not long, is it, before you do get little glimpses of light. Have you noticed that? The dense darkness begins to lift after a few minutes. I've never been in a situation like this. It was dense darkness permanently. You couldn't see anything before you. Let me tell you this. Even such darkness is not dark as far as God is concerned. You cannot hide from God. You can't hide from God. Darkness is as light to him. So whether it's height, whether it's depth, whether it's east, west, or darkness, God is present in them all. We come now to the third. And here we've got divine omnipotence, verse 13 to 18. What on earth does omnipotence mean? Well, it means simply this, that God can do anything. Anything. Nothing is beyond the power and ability of God. He's the creator of heaven and earth and everything in it. He creates the oceans. He creates the planets. And what he creates is for his glory. But here the psalmist is specifically considering the mystery of human birth and life. Because human birth and life is the pinnacle of God's achievement. You know, these verses should amaze us as we consider the development and structure of the human body. The complexity within a human being is utterly stunning. The mechanism of our body is truly awesome. Just consider the power, the care, the love which God exercised when he created a human being. And he created you in his likeness. He created you in his image. Do you know when I think of the human body alone, I just cannot understand someone who believes in the theory of evolution. I just can't understand it. sight, hearing, speech, the brain, the kidneys, the liver, the lungs, the arteries, the heart, the skeleton that can work, that can walk, that can breathe, all contained in a six by two rectangular space. And they all operate together in unity. And God did it. God did it. The psalmist says, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too wonderful. Then he said, how precious to me are your thoughts, oh God. How vast, how great is the sum of them? If I count your precious thoughts, they are more in number than the sand. Now briefly, we come to the last six verses. David has meditated on three of God's attributes. He's meditated upon the fact that God knows everything. God is everywhere. God can do anything. Now he comes to verse 19, and he considers God's holiness. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, Depart from me therefore ye bloodthirsty men. Now some people, or should I say even many people, find this section of this psalm very difficult to understand. But David has a clear picture of two things. He has a clear picture of God's holiness. Do you know, friends, I think that's something we've lost sight of today. I can remember as a young man sitting in the church that I was brought up in, and regularly we would hear sermons upon the holiness of God. I don't hear that now. But I have to remind you, as David does here, that God is pure. God is holy. And David here has that picture of God's purity and God's holiness. But there's one other thing that David has And that is something that's in comparison. It's the sinfulness of man. That's David's picture in these last verses. The holiness of God, the sinfulness of man. And David is not just aware of the sinfulness of man in general. He's aware of his own sinfulness. David is aware that in one action he coveted, he stole, he murdered. David is conscious of his own personal sin. The issue is this. How can we, who are such sinful, depraved, and wicked people, have contact, have a relationship, with such a holy God? We can't. God just cannot look upon sin. He can't look upon it. It's abhorrent to Him. There would be no opportunity of a relationship between God and man if it wasn't for the God-man, the Lord Jesus. And when Jesus Christ came to earth, one of the wonders of our faith is that he was able to reach God's hand and reach our hand and we were reconciled to God. The cross is absolutely vital for your future security. The cross is absolutely vital for your salvation. You will never, ever, ever, ever find peace with God through good deeds. You will never ever find peace with God by just church attendance, even church membership. You will never ever find peace with God through any charitable work you do. Now all these are good, but it won't give you peace with God. The only way you can find peace with God is through the cross. It's through fixing your eyes upon Jesus and looking into that wonderful face and realizing that He loved me and He gave Himself for me. That on that cross He just bore, He carried all your sin and iniquity so that it is carried from the East as from the West, so that it's buried into the deepest sea, never to rise again. Isn't it wonderful going through life, knowing that your burden's lifted, and that your blind eyes have been made to see? I find this a wonderful sign. It's a challenging psalm to begin with. Oh, it hits where it hurts. But then we see God's amazing character. We see our sin. We see His holiness. And we see our Savior. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we read at the very end of this psalm that David offered a prayer. It's a prayer that we offer now, and we do it very sincerely. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me. and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way, any action in me, and then lead me in the way everlasting. Father, that is our prayer this morning. Work within us. Help us to see our Lord Jesus and then lead us in the direction you would have us go. We ask this in his name. Amen.