14 day plan

Divine Judgment

Day 3 of 14

GNT

Psalm 139:1-7

God's Complete Knowledge and Care

1Lord, you have examined me and you know me.

2You know everything I do;

from far away you understand all my thoughts.

3You see me, whether I am working or resting;

you know all my actions.

4Even before I speak,

you already know what I will say.

5You are all around me on every side;

you protect me with your power.

6Your knowledge of me is too deep;

it is beyond my understanding.

7Where could I go to escape from you?

Where could I get away from your presence?

Reflection:  When we face judgment from Jesus there will be no chance whatsoever of relying on phoney excuses or self-justifying obfuscation. Like God the Father, Jesus knows everything about us. Nothing can be hidden from him (Luke 12:2-3) – every sin against God’s law we have ever committed will be known to him, even if we have long since forgotten what many of those sins were, or have fooled ourselves into believing they were not sins at all. Each of us, however powerful or privileged in life, will be like a small child facing a knowing parent, or a vulnerable witness in a
courtroom facing cross-examination from a skilled, probing QC. In fact, we will be far more helpless than that, because Jesus’ knowledge will be total and his motives in judging us entirely pure.

Question: Have you ever imagined that you can hide something from God?

Prayer: Father, I understand that you know everything about me. Help me not to try to “sugar coat” the vileness of my sins, but to trust that while Jesus will judge me in truth he will also do so with justice and mercy. Amen

Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (www.americanbible.org). LICENSEE shall reproduce the following trademark and trademark notice on the copyright page of each copy of the Licensed Products: ®

Days

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5
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7
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14

Psalm 139:1-24

God's Complete Knowledge and Care

1Lord, you have examined me and you know me.

2You know everything I do;

from far away you understand all my thoughts.

3You see me, whether I am working or resting;

you know all my actions.

4Even before I speak,

you already know what I will say.

5You are all around me on every side;

you protect me with your power.

6Your knowledge of me is too deep;

it is beyond my understanding.

7Where could I go to escape from you?

Where could I get away from your presence?

8If I went up to heaven, you would be there;

if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.

9If I flew away beyond the east

or lived in the farthest place in the west,

10you would be there to lead me,

you would be there to help me.

11I could ask the darkness to hide me

or the light around me to turn into night,

12but even darkness is not dark for you,

and the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

13You created every part of me;

you put me together in my mother's womb.

14I praise you because you are to be feared;

all you do is strange and wonderful.

I know it with all my heart.

15When my bones were being formed,

carefully put together in my mother's womb,

when I was growing there in secret,

you knew that I was there—

16you saw me before I was born.

The days allotted to me

had all been recorded in your book,

before any of them ever began.

17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts;

how many of them there are!

18If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand.

When I awake, I am still with you.

19O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked!

How I wish violent people would leave me alone!

20They say wicked things about you;

they speak evil things against your name.

21O Lord, how I hate those who hate you!

How I despise those who rebel against you!

22I hate them with a total hatred;

I regard them as my enemies.

23Examine me, O God, and know my mind;

test me, and discover my thoughts.

24Find out if there is any evil in me

and guide me in the everlasting way.

Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Bible text from the Good News Translation (GNT) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (www.americanbible.org). LICENSEE shall reproduce the following trademark and trademark notice on the copyright page of each copy of the Licensed Products: ®