Welcome to the first phrase that we want to preach on this morning, and He knoweth them that trust in Him. There are many character traits to God, and there are just things that He is that we could never probably fully describe, but one is the fact that He's omnipresent. He's everywhere at once. The fact that He is omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. So we know that God knows all things, and we're aware of that, and obviously, we could give you many more traits, but this morning, I wanna speak on this subject specifically the fact that He knows. He knows you. He knows everything about you. He knows what you're going through. He knows the decisions you need to make. He knows when you're stepping into a wrong direction. He knows everything about us.
In fact, let me say this. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Do you know that I know my kids better than they know themselves?
Do you know that? Parents, amen. Now, as they get older, I know things.
There'd be things about their life I'm not aware of, and as you go through that of moving away from the home, there's certain things, obviously, that you just aren't aware of, but while kids are in your home and you're raising them, you see things about them that they probably don't even see about themselves. So I thought of David, and I want us to take a journey through the book of Psalms, and briefly, I wanna show you some things, and this is not anywhere near all of them, but I just wanna show you some of the highlights as you go to lunch today and onto your work this next week, some things that might encourage you and some things to think about about the fact that God knows me. He knows all about me. Let's pray as we dig into God's word. Lord, we love you, and Lord, you do know us, and you do know us better than we know ourselves, and God, I pray that you would help your word today to be a blessing to these precious people in front of me. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. Begins in Psalm chapter one.
I want you to look, if you would, at verse six. The Bible says, For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Number one this morning, he knows the best way. I don't know if you understand that phrase, the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but what it's saying is this. He has a plan for your life. He knows the way.
Now, if an ungodly person, their way is headed to danger, they're gonna perish, but for those that want to serve God and to those that submit their life to the Lord, he has a plan. It means this, you and I need to submit to it because he knows the best way to take. He knows what's best. He knows the right decision to make. He knows what he's doing. He has not made any mistakes, and you and I have got to understand that while I might not know the best decision to make right now, and while I might not know exactly what I need to do, and as desperately as I want to know, and I might not know, and if you look in terms of a pastor, I don't know maybe if this would be best for the church or if that would be best for the church, and I know that these individuals would like this, and I know that these individuals would not like that, but these individuals would like such and such, and I know that those individuals would not like such and such so you can get to the point before long, you say, well, I don't really know what's best, but God does. You and I have got to keep that in our mind that he knows the way of the righteous. He knows what's best. He's got a plan for your life. Don't ruin it.
Don't get away from it. Say, God, whatever you want, I'll submit to it. Number two, I want you to look at Psalm 31, and as you flip to there, you say, are there some in between? Oh, yeah, there's a lot, but as you look at Psalm 31, we're gonna begin reading in verse six there also. Psalm 31, if you're having any trouble finding it, it's after 30 and before 32. Psalm 31, notice if you would in verse six.
I have hated them that regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy, for thou hast considered my trouble. Listen to this about the Lord. Thou hast known my soul in adversities.
Number two, he knows our adversities. Now, I love the way the psalmist here says in verse six, he says, I have hated them that regard lying vanities. Now, this is what he's saying. He's saying there are some times that people say things that they really don't mean. There are times that people promise things that they have no intention to keep. There are times that people or individuals will act like they care when they really don't.
And he said, I have hated those that regard lying vanities. It means what they say is vain. They don't even mean it. It's not coming from their heart.
They act like, oh, I'm concerned because you're going through this or because you're going through that or because you've had this happen in your life, and they act like they're concerned and they act like they care, but they really don't. Verse six, but I trust in the Lord. Why? I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy.
Why? For thou hast considered my trouble. That word considered means cared. Thou, he's saying, God, you really cared about my trouble. You cared about what I was going through.
You were concerned. You took notice, and notice this last phrase. Thou hast known my soul in adversities. That word known is the same word for knowing and know and known all through the book of Psalms.
It's the word yada in Hebrew, and it means this, to come close, to gather close to, to know intimately. Listen to me, dear friends. When you go through troubles and difficulties, I'm here to tell you, he knows your adversities.
He's there. He sees it. He knows, and his heart breaks when yours breaks, and he hurts when you hurt. We have a high priest, the Bible says, that is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows our soul in adversities.
When everybody else seems to, you know, they got other things to do in their life, and things are going good for them right now, and they really don't want to be brought down or bogged down or be discouraged with you, so they got other things to do, but God knows your soul when you go through adversities. I want you to notice the third thing in Psalm chapter 40. In Psalm chapter 40, verse eight, we find an interesting thing here by the psalmist. He says this in verse eight. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. Psalm 40, verse nine, look at this. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
Notice what he said. I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. In other words, God, you know that I have not refrained my lips, verse 10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness, and thy salvation.
I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Number three, he knows our witness. He knows when we have shared him with others. He knows the things that we've done. He knows when we have tried to tell them about the Lord. Look at me, dear friend. You might be here this morning and at times have worked in different ministries or maybe you have a bus route or maybe you work in a class or Awanas or you've coached in Upwards and you've given devotions and you've talked to young people or you might teach an adult class or you might show up at visitation. Whatever the case, look at me, dear friend.
I want you to get this. God knows the things you've done. He knows when you've witnessed and he knows when you haven't.
Many times people think they work and you know what, I've been doing this and I've been faithful and I don't, God hadn't done this and here I've been working on a bus route for all these years and I have to go, oh, listen to me, dear friend. The Bible says that he knows when you have shared with others, he knows that and he knows when you haven't. I was reading a book last night to my wife and it wasn't on a submissive wife or anything like that. I was reading her an old book of sermons that I came across in my library and I was reading some portions of that too or it just amazed me, it was such a powerful thing. I think the book was written in 1920 and I was reading her a portion of some of these sermons but the man in it was talking about how prayer can literally bring boldness in witnessing and he is saying, how many times in my life, he said, I can think back and be ashamed.
I cannot believe I was that timid. I cannot believe that I was that scared to share Christ. He said, but I'm a witness to know that through prayer that God brings boldness into your life and he says, there's times I leave and I think I can't believe that I had the nerve to say what I said. Listen to me, dear friend, sometimes you and I would have to admit I can't believe I'm this scared and fearful to tell others about Christ but dear friend, every time you do and you share and you witness, God knows it.
I want you to notice number four this morning. Look at Psalm 44, just four chapters ahead and look at verse 18. I know we don't normally have you turn this much but we're just kinda going through Psalms here this morning.
Psalm 44 verse 18, our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way. Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death, if we have forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange God, shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Dear friend, I want you to remember this morning, he knows our secrets, he knows what nobody else knows. He knows what your wife doesn't even know. He knows what your husband doesn't even know. Young people, he knows what your parents don't know. He knows where you were, he knows what you did. He knows our motives, he knows everything about us. He knows the innermost part of our being. You know what the Bible says?
God's word cuts even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. He gets right into what I call the nitty gritty. He knows. Dear friend, I want you to know, he knows your secrets this morning. You know what, I'm gonna be honest with you, I think if you and I could just get a glimpse in our minds of a holy, righteous God, that we would get to this altar and we would cry on the steps of this altar, pleading with God to forgive us for some of the thoughts that we've had, for some of the things that we've done, for some of the secrets that we have kept in our life.
You agree with that? Dear friend, don't forget, he knows our secrets. I want you to look ahead, if you would, to Psalm 69.
We're almost done this morning. Psalm 69. One verse here in this chapter, and I think this one verse says more than I could probably say in a whole message.
Psalm 69, look at verse five. Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee. I wanna remind you this morning, folks, number five, he knows our shortcomings. He knows where we failed. He knows when we've sinned.
He knows the things that we've done. I oftentimes think that I've argued with God at times, explained to him why I am not a good pastor and why he should allow me to do other things. Now, that might look like weakness to you, that a pastor feels that way sometimes, and if that's weakness, so be it. But that's the way I am.
My wife will sometimes, she'll be like, I know you're going through it again, and I'll sit down and I'll say, now I wonder if I could do this in my life. Maybe I could get a job here, or maybe I could do this or do that, because I've failed these people and I've failed this and I've failed that, and dear friend, I want you to know something. God called me even though he knew every shortcoming I had. I mean, I say this, God has called you and he knows every shortcoming you have. God has a purpose for every one of us. We all have shortcomings.
We all do wrong, but dear friend, I'm here to tell you, he loves you and has a plan for your life even though you might have some shortcomings. He knows them, and he still uses us anyway. Number six, Psalm 94. Some of these Bibles haven't gotten this much use in a long time, have they?
Pages are still stuck together trying to get that all. Psalm 94, look at verse 11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity. May I say this this morning, he knows our thoughts. You say, well preacher, sometimes I can't help what I think. Well, you're right, but we can help if we continue to think on it. You've always heard the phrase I heard when I was a kid, the birds of thought will fly through your head, but you don't have to let them stop and build a nest.
Amen. You know what the Bible says? Think on things that are honest. Think on things that are pure. Think on things that are holy. Think on things that are just. I am here to remind you that most anything wrong we ever do starts with thought.
It always starts here. Before it becomes sin and shortcoming, it started with wrong thinking. And God knows our thoughts. That's why the Bible says we must renew our minds in Christ every day.
Because if we can stop them here, we'll stop them before they get out. Let me tell you something, a husband's not gonna cheat on his wife if he doesn't even let himself think about that. If he's gonna make sure he doesn't entertain thoughts like that, if he doesn't let his mind go places, his body won't either. We've often heard of people that mess up or whatever the case might be, and it always comes to light when preachers do it because everybody thinks preachers should be perfect. And when preachers mess up and oftentimes people say, man, they were so good, just I can't believe that that happened that quickly. Listen to me, dear friend, it didn't happen that quickly.
Their minds were wrong and rotten way before it ever happened. He knows our thoughts more. I would love to say to that, my time's going. Why don't you look at Psalm 103. I know this is different for a Sunday morning, but I hope that you enjoy this. It's just a reminder of some things as we go throughout our week. Psalm 103, look at verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. That word frame, he knoweth our frame, means how we're put together. He knows how we were created because he did it. He made us, so he remembers that. And the Bible says he remembereth that we are dust, it means clay or of the earth.
So God remembers, hey, I'm the one that created them, and I know I created them out of the dust of this earth. God created us, and he molded us, and he made us. And that means this, that he knows our limits. Verse 13 and 14, he knows our frame.
He remembers that we're dust. In other words, this, the Bible says that God has promised never to put on us more than we can bear. He knows our frame. He knows what we can handle and what we can't. He knows our limits. He knows what we can bear and what we can't bear. And he doesn't allow anything in our life that would break us to that point because he knows our frame. So if there's anything in our life that is too heavy for us to carry, and literally brings us to the breaking point, we put that there, God didn't. Do you understand a lot of times, folks, through our own sin, we can bring things in our life that's too much for us to bear?
And we get mad at God, and God didn't put it there. He knows our limits. And dear friend, if you're here this morning, you say, preacher, I just, I'm at my limit in my marriage. I'm at my limit at my job.
I'm at my limit in my life and my thought life, and I just can't get victory over things in my life or in my past or whatever. Look at me, dear friend. He knows that. He knows your limits. What a God we serve. It's amazing to me, sometimes I think that I get under things and I just think, God, I just don't know that I can handle much more. And then you handle a little bit more. And then all of a sudden, God does something to encourage you. God does something to lift that burden. Hasn't happened a lot here, and thank God for that.
Of course, I've only been in it four years. But when you're a church, people leave, and I know, we understand that. People come, people leave, and I know that. But as a pastor, you don't get angry at these people. It hurts you, because you feel like you failed them or whatever the case might be.
But I'm gonna be honest with you. There have been times when, the few times that it has, it crushes me, and I'm not saying that. It just does, because you love people and you wanna help them.
And when that happens, you just think, God, I just don't, and about that time, God'll bring two or three families in. It's amazing what God does when he knows that he knows your limit. He knows how much you can take before you need a break. You need some encouragement. You need a blessing.
He knows your limits. Can I ask you, please, to turn to Psalm 138? Psalm 138.
One verse in here, verse six. It says, though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off. Number eight this morning, he knows our humility. You see, you gotta understand that God knows when we have pride and God knows when we're humble. The Bible says he knows the proud afar off. The Bible says he resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
Dear friend, I want you to understand something. God knows our humility, and he knows when we lack it. And I will tell you something about God, at least what I've experienced in my life, when humility is lacking, he will do something to bring it back. And dear friend, if you and I can look at our life and realize, has pride slipped in, has anything like that, am I being humble, am I submissive to the Lord, am I bucking against things in my life, am I constantly trying to get my way or get people to see my side of things and to get this, what I want, all these things, listen to me, I want you to understand, he knows our humility, and he comes close and he gives us grace when he sees humility, but when he sees pride, he has to stay away at a distance. And I don't know about you, dear friend, but I do not need God to stay a distance away from me.
I need him as close as I can. I want you to notice next, Psalm 139, the next chapter, this is a big one. Psalm 139, verse one, to the chief musician, a psalm of David, oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me, thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off, thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. Number nine, he knows our actions and our attitudes. What's interesting is you'll notice in verses one, two, and three, it's always something that they're doing and then something that they're thinking or that they are inside. He searched me and known me, the inside, thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, that's the outside, thou understandest my thought afar off, that's the inside, thou compassest my path and my lying down, that's the outside. And then he says, thou aren't acquainted with all my ways, that's the inside and the outside.
So you say, preacher, what are you saying? Listen, he knows what we're doing and why we're doing it. He knows where we are going and why we went there. He knows our methods and our motives. He knows.
You can fool me and I can fool you, but neither of us can fool God. He knows it all. He knows why you did what you did. Everybody else might think, oh, he's just being very sacrificial, but he knows if you had a different agenda. He knows if you were self-serving in a matter.
When it comes to your work and your office or wherever you are, he knows if you stole from the company and he knows if you lied in your taxes and he knows if you kinda shuffled here or there at work and the boss thinks you did such, such, but you really did such, such. Dear friend, he knows. And you and I will live different if we live every second of the day realizing he knows. I want you to notice this lastly, Psalm 142, and we'll be done this morning, our time's gone. I love this, Psalm 142. This is a psalm of David. You'll notice in verse one, it says, and your Bible might have this in this, a prayer when he was in the cave. Now that sets up a psalm, doesn't it? I cried unto the Lord with my voice, with my voice unto the Lord that I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him, I showed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. And the way wherein I walked have they privately laid a snare for me.
I looked on my right hand and beheld and there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me, no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
Now notice this before we're done this morning. Notice these phrases. He says when he was in the cave, then in verse two, in my trouble. Verse three, my spirit was overwhelmed within me. Notice also in verse three, they privately laid a snare for me. Verse four, there was no man that would know me. Verse four, refuge failed me. Verse four, no man cared for my soul.
You notice in the middle of all this, David says something. He says in the middle of this, thou knewest my path. I want you to notice last this morning, he knows our path.
You say, preacher, what does it mean? Listen, God knows all the things we've been through. He knows when people have failed us. He knows when we're in the cave hiding for our life even. He knows when we didn't have a refuge. He knows when people have kind of privately laid a snare and they've got a bad agenda and they're trying to find something on you and they have hurtful feelings towards you and all these different things.
And you know what, if you can stop and look at your life, you can think of how you've been done wrong and you can think of this that's happened and that's that's happened and I've been through this and I've been through that and dear friend, I want you to know something. God knows your path. He's seen it all. He knows when you've been done wrong. He knows when you've been done right. He knows when times were good and he knows when times were bad. He knows when you're in the cave and have nobody and he knows when you're victorious on top of the mountaintop. He knows. You say preacher, why did you go through all this and you're just going verse to verse showing all these things.
I'll tell you why. We were gone this week and out of town in Florida doing some interviewing and we got back home Friday and of course we're so glad to see our boys and different things. I was with Kayden yesterday morning even and Kayden's been, he does this thing now where he sings all the time and sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad but he sings all the time. You know, you take the good, you take the bad, you take it all and there you have.
That's the facts of life but it's... But I was out. I had my tools and I was building some stuff out. My wife had the ladies meeting yesterday and I was outside building and so Kayden's just in his own world and he would come out and check on me and he'd go up, play with his brothers and different things and I was outside in the backyard working. I was sitting there working and I kind of sat down.
You know how you're back when you're working on stuff trying to get drills, screws into things and you just sit back and your back's just kind of... So I was standing there and I was watching the backyard and Kayden's just over here playing with something doing this and he's just over and he just started singing. Didn't know I was even listening, had no attention. He's just over, he said, it's been a long journey but I have been blessed walking with Jesus. I have no regrets. He has been good to me. He's just in this car. Just all of a sudden he just found out and then all of a sudden he just come back. My way's been long but I'm blessed.
They're just going over here. It's been a long journey but I... And I thought, it has been. He hadn't been here long but it's been a long journey. I think of all the good things in my life I've experienced that he hasn't yet. And I'm walking around, it's been a long journey and I'm so down. It's been a long journey and I'm so depressed. I would continue but I'm afraid what am I to come up with?
So I'm learning the filter, you know. And I thought that precious little boy, just praising God, God knows everything he's been through. God knows things he's been through that we don't even know. You know, there comes times that your son's crying and he's trying to hold on to you and you have to put him in that gurney and he's still crying and they go back through those double doors and he's just got the fear of life and he goes back in there for a surgery. But I don't know what goes on back there. We're on the other side of those doors and I don't know the things that a four-year-old might think or feel or the fear and strangers working on you.
Of course, they get medicine in you as quick as you can to try to knock you out. Look at me, there's been things in his journey I don't even know, but God knows every one of them. And while it's been a long journey, that four-year-old thinks that he's been very blessed. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. We'll see you in the next episode of Kirtland Baptist Church.
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