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This psalm deals with God’s proximity to the writer. It
begins with verse 2 expressing, “You discern my thoughts from far away”
(nrsv). The psalm then progresses nearer to God until the last verse. Verses
7-12 narrate the extreme places to which the psalmist could go in his imagination,
“If I ascend to heaven . . . If I take the wings” (nrsv). The
psalmist seems to be offering scenarios based on decisions he may make. A
key phrase is found in verse 3, “You search out my path and my lying
down and are acquainted with all my ways” (nrsv). Verse 5 uses the imagery
of a capture or a military surrounding tactic, “You hem me in”
(nrsv). In this section, God is presented as tracking the psalmist down wherever
he might go. This is life seen according to the concept of inhabited space.
The psalmist confesses that there is no hiding from God, even if he inhabits
darkness. By verse 6, the psalmist is overwhelmed, almost drowning in the
thought of God’s knowledge of him.
Verse 13 marks a shift to the past. Here the psalmist gives
graphic imagery to the period of his own gestation in order to highlight God’s
knowledge of him prior to his birth. God is intimately involved in the process
of creation. As metaphors, knitting and weaving show the meticulous attention
of God during pre-natal development. Such a flashback to the womb evokes in
the mind of the Wesleyan reader the concept of prevenient grace. Truly, God’s
grace is at work before we ever choose to respond. In fact, it is God’s
grace at work that gives us the ability to choose our “path” and
contemplate the “ifs” of life.
Verses 17 and 18 echo the wonder of verse 6. The very thought
of what God knows is absolutely mind-boggling. The psalmist comes to the end
of his knowledge, even his knowledge of himself, and yet God is there, ready
to reveal more.
At first the sentence beginning in verse 19 seems to be a radical
departure from what has gone before. The previous verses suggest God’s
presence with the psalmist on any path. But here, there is hate for those
who have chosen wrongly. The psalmist has suddenly moved from wonder about
the knowledge of God, and about God’s intimate and meticulous care in
the creation of his life, to a wanton disregard, or even a bloodthirsty disdain
for the life of those who do not follow after God. It is enough to give the
reader emotional whiplash. A commentator from an earlier generation has called
this “holy hatred for sin.” However, an honest read here says
the psalmist hates more than just the sin. An even worse read of the passage
suggests that this is “the difference between a Jewish and Christian
Spirit.”1
One would almost think this part of the passage was somehow
inserted into the text at a later date. However, respect for the canon in
its present form calls us to seek the meaning in context. Verses 23-24 seem
to push the mind of the reader back to the beginning of the psalm, where the
writer confesses that God searches him and knows him. One wonders if the psalmist
read what was written in 19-22 and realized he needs God to continue to search
him.
If we read verses 19-24 as a confessional moment, we gain a
whole new perspective. In verse 3 we see that God is familiar with the psalmist’s
outward “ways” or “path” and verses 3-12 deal with
the places the psalmist could travel in those ways or that path (nrsv). In
verse 23, after revealing his attitude toward those who do not follow after
God, he says, “Search me O God and know my heart; test me and know my
thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting”
(nrsv). At the end the psalmist desires the searching presence of God, not
only on the outward paths of the life he chooses, but on the journey within
where there may be “wicked ways.” God is extremely close by the
end of the psalm. He ends with a desire to be led in the way everlasting.
This psalm provides a powerful lens through which to view graduation
time, when our young are taking wings and making decisions. Your church may
be praying for young people who have entered military service, some may be
overseas for a year after college and some are graduating from high school.
Decisions about which paths people will take are all around us and take our
imaginations to a myriad of places. Ironically, in our smaller world, the
possibilities of destination have multiplied. This can cause tremendous anxiety
for the young and for those who love them.
Throughout life there are plenty of opportunities for us to
turn our feet to wicked or hurtful ways. Whenever there is a choice, there
is always a possibility to wander onto a wicked way that leads to destruction.
When that happens to a person, the rest of us who look on usually do not understand
at all. “What made Fred go off the deep end?” Sometimes we even
wonder about ourselves, “How could I have made such horrible decisions?”
Poor choices in dating, work or other relationships can literally transport
people to places neither they, God or anyone else want them to be. This can
cause tremendous anxiety for anyone who has lived long enough to make a few
decisions or watch others do the same.
The fact that “all have sinned” guarantees we all
know what it is like to make wrong decisions and take some detours along the
path. However, some have been walking in what scripture calls “right
paths” for years, and don’t remember much about days when they
found themselves in “wicked ways.” While our language will not
be as violent as verses 19-22, those of us with a long history of outward
righteousness, can easily take offense at decisions others have made, harbor
bitterness and speak destructive words to and about them.
The wicked ways men and women find themselves in and the bitterness
with which God’s people sometimes respond have a common source. The
biggest problem in life is not that we are on or in a wicked way. The biggest
problem is what caused us to choose poorly. I can be a churchgoing, devout
and outwardly moral person who does not seem to be on the wrong path. In that
case most people would say that I am not on or in a wicked way. But the truth
is, if I am harboring all kinds of unholy and revengeful attitudes toward
people that I believe do not follow the right path (see vv. 19-22), then I
may not be in a wicked way, but there is a wicked way in me. The internal
“wicked way” causes some to reach the wrong destination and causes
others to despise those who wander into the wrong places.
The good news is we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a
loving God who was there and active in our creation. There is nowhere we can
wander that is outside the reach of God’s grace. This psalm tells us
God is not just some omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient force. He is a personal
God who is here to talk to and be known by. He knows us better than we know
ourselves and He knows why we have chosen every path. He is beyond our knowledge
but we are not beyond His.
No matter where our journey takes us, God continues to search
us out, and draw us to himself. He continues His work to turn us around and
place us on a righteous path. No matter where the wicked way takes us we cannot
hide from God’s pursuing grace. No matter how far under good manners
we bury the wicked way in us, God can search it out. Not only will God track
us down on the wicked way we have chosen, if we let Him, He will deal with
the wicked way in us that has us choosing the wrong path or the wrong attitude
toward others.
We live life as though every moment were lived in the presence
of God. We give up running and hiding from His searching presence. We open
ourselves to Him and we journey with Him into our innermost soul, so that
the presence of God replaces the wicked (hurtful) ways in us. We allow His
presence within us to show us the way everlasting.
(For the full manuscript
of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”.)
This sermon begins by exploring how our options grow for us.
The sermon really begins in verse 13, in the womb, and moves through life,
exploring the expanding possibilities we have at each stage of development.
Then, it moves to the life choices of some young people in the congregation
who’ve graduated or will soon do so.
Once all those options are laid out, it explores some of the
anxiety we have over the choices that we or those we love have to make. It
declares there is nowhere we can go that is outside the reach of God’s
grace.
The sermon then refers to verses 19-22, and explores some of
the bitterness that we can harbor toward people who choose hurtful ways, offering
the option that these verses may be confessional. This section teases the
hearer by suggesting there is one more place we need to go with God. The sermon
ends by inviting the hearer on an inward journey with God, searching the heart
and allowing Christ to change any wicked ways found there.
This sermon progresses like the psalm from safe distance to
close intimacy that can sometimes be unnerving. It does so by employing scenes
from Black written by Ted Dekker.2 The flow of the sermon attempts to move
from God discerning thoughts from far away and pursuing us anywhere, to us
inviting God to lead us to explore the region within.
1. Wesley’s Notes http://www.ccel.org/w/wesley/notes/notes/Psalms.html)
2. Ted Dekker, Black (Nashville: Westbow Thomas
Nelson, 2004).