Title: God Almighty
Contents
This psalm is a prayer and confession that an individual's soul whispers to God and Pharaoh. I understand the true value of this psalm because it is not a poem that attempts a theological or doctrinal explanation just because he is an all-knowing God, but a psalm that weaves the experiences of one's faith and life after reaching the climax of a deeply devout life. To do this, you must have a consistent religious and mystical experience with this poet. The famous Scottish theologian and mystic Rev. Erskine of Rinnarden, who was on his deathbed, said that he wanted a copy of this psalm to be kept in his heart.
This is not a psalm to be carried only at the end of life, but a psalm to be engraved in the heart and lived with at the beginning of life as well.
The content of this psalm can be divided into five parts, but in reality, the meaning of this Psalm can be fully understood even if it is divided into four parts.
The first part sings of God's omniscience until verses 1-6, the second part sings about the omnipresence of the second part, verses 7-12, and the third part sings about the Lord as Creator until verses 13-18, which is part of Job 10:8 It corresponds to verse 12, and the fourth part is verses 19-22, which pray for the destruction of the wicked, but this part is also the part where there is a lot of discussion. It would be good, and the fifth part is making the end of this poem by receiving the first letter again by saying, 'Know my heart and take care of me.'
Now let's take a look at it and explain its meaning. However, as this psalm is also one of the longest psalms, it is impossible to read the entire text, so we will only look at the meaning of each part.
The first part, verses 1-6, "You have searched and knew me, O LORD. You know when I rise up in my arms; You know my thoughts from afar; You see my way and my lying down; You are familiar with all my actions. W, there is not a single thing that is not ignorant of the words of my tongue. You know both before and after me; you have laid your hands on me."
This is the first part. Here we see the poet's deep religious insight. He sang the ecstasy of faith to discover that the God he was looking for, the God he wanted to know, knew him before him and sought him before all his efforts to seek God and to know God.
The omniscience of God when Jesus met Nathanael and said, "I saw you while you were under the fig tree" (John 1:48b) was expressed in this poet's experience of faith as well.
The light is full of the earth, but I am blind and cannot see. The voice of the word shakes the heavens and the earth, but I am deaf and cannot hear.
God is already everywhere, God already knows me in detail, and he is looking for me. Human instinct is not just to seek God. On the one hand, it is going into a grove of trees to hide from God. God does not want to see, God does not find him. If God does not exist, even if he does not exist, without being consciously aware of it, ah, where is such a foolish human being? He already surrounds me, he already has a recorder inside me, and he has his hands on my head.
Therefore, in the second part, the psalmist says, "O where I go and where can I escape from Your presence? Shall I go up to heaven? Will I go down to hell to hide? Shall I go to the edge of the sea to escape? Come, and his hand is already holding me and is guiding me” (verses 7-10).
Look at this ecstasy. Where in the world could there be a being who could avoid God? Where will there be things that can be hidden from God?
The psalmist confesses in the third part that it is just because God is the Creator.
"You have made my books, and you have organized me in my womb. I give thanks to the Lord, for His creation is wonderful" (verses 13-14).
It is said that the quality of the vagina, the nucleus of the nucleus, the created being who made me out of anything, therefore, cannot be hidden from the Lord.
The giving creator, yes. I who am in the Creator cannot really hide from the Creator. And again, the creator cannot forsake me. And it is something that cannot be ignored. That is why it is so foolish and absurd for man to cut off his relationship with God or to ignore him. He is his love who could not forsake his creation and gave his life for me. I am his unbroken lineage. He is the Creator, I am his creature, and therefore he and I are inseparable personal communion, love and unity.
Except for the fourth part, in later verses 23-24,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my will. See what evil I have done and lead me in the everlasting way".
If there is only one word that humans can say, this is it. "Look at me. Know me and look at me. Lead me in the way of righteousness and the way of eternity."
It is faith and obedience that man, who cannot leave Him, cannot forsake Him, and cannot escape Him, only wants His counsel and asks for His guidance and protection. Now that the heart has realized this fact, the realization of living day by day, moment by moment, in the presence of God who only sees it is the life of a believer and the practice of godliness. It is the reality of the saved soul who commits me to Him alone, has placed me in Him, and is aware that living for Him alone, following His guidance and direction, is His joy and my grace.