Psalm 139, Part One: Known

To the Choirmaster, a Psalm of David

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

--Psalm 139:1-4

Psalm 139 has always been one of my favorites.  It's very comforting, when you take it altogether.   Sometimes it seems to be the only passage I can read: short, sweet, and uplifting like a candy bar.  Sometimes, I feel bad about it, as if it really is just eating a candy bar.  Too sweet, too sugary, too little nutrition.  I ought to be deep in the "meat" of the Word--a T-bone stake of theological treatise from Hebrews or somewhere.  Instead, here I am stuffing a cheesy little passage like Psalm 139 in my face, the spiritual equivalent of a fat little kid that only eats junk food.

But if you think about it, are there really any more or less relevant passages of scripture?  Doesn't the Bible say, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?  If so, Psalm 139 is a part of scripture, and thereby as divinely inspired as any other part of the Bible, and is also profitable for all the things necessary to train a man up in godliness.  The part about "milk" and "meat" in Hebrews 5 and 1 Corinthians 3 seems to refer more to carnal instruction (do this, don't do that, etc) verses instruction in spiritual truth.  Psalm 139 doesn't contain one word of carnal instruction: therefore as short and sweet as it may be, it is what the Bible calls, "spiritual meat."

So here's the truth from the first four verses of Psalm 139.  I am known.  Completely, intimately, and thoroughly known by God.  He has "searched me" and knows everything about me.  He knows my habits, where I live, where I work, where I go, when, and who with.  He knows even when I break those habits and do something out of the ordinary.  He knows when I sit down and when I get up.  He even knows, thoroughly knows, all my thoughts, everything I intend to say and why, before I even open my mouth.

To be honest, the idea of someone, anyone, knowing me that well is frightening.  There is a lot of stuff I do, stuff I think, that I'm not proud of.  A lot I think would, if it got out, turn my closest friends against me.  Further, knowledge is power, and to be known by someone is to be totally at their mercy, naked before them.  Just ask any blackmailer.  Of course, the illustration isn't perfect.  A blackmailer can merely defame you by exposing what he or she knows.  I am known by God, and if He pleases, He can destroy me body and soul in Hell for what He knows of me.  Anyone who never feels a measure of terror and fear before God is either a fool or imagines God to be altogether a different sort of being than He is (less powerful, more distant, or chained into total passivity and harmlessness by a strange distortion of kindness).

But, there is the flip side.  While it is truly terrifying to think of anyone knowing me like that and holding that kind of power over me, there is a part of me that longs for it.  Power can be used to harm or heal.  Knowledge can be used against me, but it could also be used for me.  The kind words and compliments of a stranger are nice, of course, but they don't really known me.  They don't see me as I am.  But if an intimate friend gives the same compliment, seeing more of my character, having lived with me day in and day out...then it means more.  And if God, who sees me and knows me entirely were to actually like me...well, nothing could be greater (and the Bible says He does).  Imagine what He could do with that kind of intimate knowledge?  Family members and friends may pry for months trying to figure out one's desires so that they can buy an appropriate gift at Christmas.  God doesn't need to pry, He simply knows everything about me.  If He wanted to give a gift, it would always be absolutely perfectly suited.  If He wanted to give direction and instruction, He would always be spot on.  If He wanted to give comfort, consolation, or compliments, He would always be absolutely on the mark.  He knows me.  He understands me.  To be known and understood is a fundamental human desire, just as to be naked in public is a fundamental human fear.  God fulfills that desire because He knows, He understands.  The next verses tell us how He uses that knowledge...