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PSALM 139

"SEARCH ME, O GOD"

Intro: "Man know thyself" Most difficult, most painful.

I. GOD'S KNOWLEDGE OF ME.
        A. My down sitting and uprising.
                1. Nathaneal "Whence knowest thou me?"
        B. "Thou understandeth my thoughts afar off."
                1. Not He is way up in heaven and I'm way down here.
                2. Knows my thoughts in the mystery of origin.
                        a. Before the subconscious projects it into the consciousness
        C. "Thou compassest my path and my lying down" "sifted & searched."
                1. "In Him we live, we move, we have..."
                2. "I am encompassed by the presence of God."
                        a. As I walk this path of life He has preceeded me to every
                           experience.
                        b. If I look back on any past experience. He was there.
                        c. If I pause to look around I discover. He is here.
                        d. Verse 5.

II. THE DIFFICULTY OF SELF KNOWLEDGE.
        A. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it."
                1. We ourselves do not always know our own motives.
                        a. The heart is deceitful & desperately wicked
                        b. "Why did you do that son?" "Because my heart is deceitful &
                           desperately wicked."
                2. We each have an ideal self and a real self.
                        a. I don't want to see my real self.
                        b. Constant rationale.
                3. A built-in mechanism called nature has a way of shielding us from too
                   great a pain & we go into what is known as shock. When ever we start
                   getting close. . .
                        a. James in His N .T. Epistle said we are like a person looking
                           into a mirror.
        B. Our uncertainty of the future.

Ill. THE PROPER COURSE OF ACTION IN THE LIGHT OF THESE TRUTHS.
        A. "Lead me in the way everlasting."
                1. Submit myself to be led by Him.
                2. What keeps a man from submitting? Pride.
                        a. Blind man wandering a long the edge of the grand canyon going
                           opposite direction from camp.
                      "Here, sir, take my hand I will lead you."
                          "I need no help. I am capable."
                      "But 3 feet in front of you a sheer drop of thousands of feet"
                          "You can't get me with scare tactics."
                      "Please sir, take my hand before you destroy yourself"
                          "You're asking me to take an awful risk, I can't see you, why
                           should I trust you. How do I know you are there?"
                      "Risk? You can feel me, you hear my voice."
                3. Did I say pride? Blind pride.