Attributes (and names) of God…
Omnipresent: Everywhere all the time
Omniscient: Knowing Everything
Psalm 139:1-18 NAS For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. 2 Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. 3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all. 5 Thou hast enclosed me behind and before, And laid Thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," 12 Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee.
13 For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. 14 I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. 16 Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee.
David had an understanding of God that we need to learn for our own wellbeing.
My understanding of what David was saying: God you have searched me and you know me. You know me inside, out. You know everything I do all the time and you know why I do what I do. You know what I think even before I think it. You know what I do all day long and even when I lie down to sleep. You know ever personal detail of my being with all knowledge of what I will speak before I think or speak it. You know all about me for you have me totally surrounded so that I am always enclosed with your hand on and around me, past, present and future.
I am overcome with awe of your detailed knowledge and constant care of me.
I cannot be anywhere you are not, whether I’m in the highest of heavens or the lowest of hell, you are with me. Whether I am in the brightest of daylight or the darkest of night, there is no absence of you or hindrance to your watchful care. No, nothing prevents you. Even when I was being conceived, you were there detailing me with amazing intricate specifics. I will give thanks to you for You did a wonderful and amazing work when made me, all of me, inside out. You numbered and knew my days and all the details within them even before the first day began. How vast, meticulous and intimate are your thoughts of me. I am humbled and in awe before you because of your precious, loving and continually thoughts about me; your thoughts are more in sum than each grain of sea sand. The great love you have lavished on me is overwhelming. Even when I awake from sleep you are still there with me.
God Was, God Is, and God always will be. HE is the “I Am”. There has never nor will ever be a time or place where God is not.
God sees all.
God knows all.
God is everywhere all the time.
God knows our past, present and out future. There are NO surprises to God.
God knew us when we were being conceived in our mother’s womb. God fashioned us while we were in our mother’s womb. God’s work is good and he made us skillfully and amazingly beautiful! God made us inside and out.
Every day of our life was recorded even before the first day took place. He knew and He still loved!
God’s many thoughts (more than the sand of the sea) concerning us are precious!
In difficult circumstances, sometimes it doesn’t appear or feel like God sees, cares or loves us. He sees the little sparrow and numbers even the hair of your head…
Hagar was a servant of Sarai, Abraham’s wife. You probably know the story, Abraham and Sarai were promised by God to have a son together and now they were very old. Sarai was past the natural age to bear a child.
took her servant girl Hagar and gave her to Abraham to be his wife. Sarai wanted a son so badly; she (like many of us at times have been), was tired of waiting on God to help her conceive a child. took matters into her own hands and made a plan for her servant Hagar be a segregate mother to have her a son. After Sarai saw that Hagar had conceived, she despised her. (When we take matters in our own hands, we make a painful and big mess.)
God sees: Genesis 16:6-16 Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence. 7 Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." 9 Then the angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority." 10 Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they shall be too many to count." 11 The angel of the LORD said to her further, "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. 12 "And he will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers." 13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "Thou art a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
Hagar’s allowed her feelings and her limited perspective to lead her the wrong and dangerous place. Are you doing the same?
Hagar felt unimportant, used, despised, perhaps she like a sex slave or a common possession maybe she even felt abandoned by God (If God really loves me, why would he let this happen?)
was at her “wits-end” and “dead-end”. One might say, “She was at the “end-of- her- rope.” She either forgot or didn’t know that God saw past her “DEAD- END”. God really cared for and loved Hagar too! God had plans past her DEAD-END. He knew what was in Hagar that she didn’t even know. He knew the plans and purposes He had in mind for both her and her child/children. God always sees beyond “your moment.” When you cannot see God, change your focus. Fill your mind with his Words.
Hagar thought she was ready to die, but she was really ready to give life. Life was growing in her but it didn’t feel like it. She couldn’t see past her pain UNTIL God gave her a WORD AND SIGHT!
***Sarai would have been around 76 and Abraham 86 when Ishmael was born. Sarai she was age 90-91 when Issac was born and Abraham was age 100. (Genesis 17)***
(Psalm 139 — David wasn’t the only one who learned that God is a God who sees, loves compassionately and cares deeply, Hagar was shown God’s love and watchful eye upon her too. She said, You are a God who sees me.)
INSITE & WORD: Perhaps some of you have suffered such devastating circumstances, you are where Hagar was; you are at your dead-end and ready to “throw-in-the-towel” and give up. I want to tell you, it’s not time for you to die and God has something beyond what you see right now. You have life in you, focus on life, and not death!
Hagar thought she was all alone in the wilderness as she cried, but God was with her, watching her, thinking about her the entire time. God had sent his angel to bring her a message of comfort and instruction.
INSITE & WORD: God is a God who sees you, past, present and future. He knows every detail about you inside and out. He knows what you are feeling and the despair you feel in your situation(s). You are weary, you are tired of it all, you feel unloved and unseen. Your feelings are not reality.
Reality Is: God has a plan and you don’t need to go beyond God’s plan and make things worse for yourself. Wait on God, stay the course and although it’s a hard time and situation right now, you will get through this. God will be with you in the storm. He will bear you up though it all and you will survive! God hasn’t taken his eyes off you and there are no accidents in God. Trust and believe!
2 Chronicles 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…
Just because Hagar felt no hope, did not mean hope was not there:
judge your future just by your present.
Hagar was about to make a huge mistake but God met her. God assures Hagar of protection of her son. God knew the child in his present as well as all of his future. God instructed Hagar to do what was hard. When God instructs you to do what is very hard, He is likely trying to save you from something that is harder!
God never sleeps or slumbers: Psalm 121:2-5 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
Believe God’s promises! Be of Good Cheer, It shall be as God says.
Hagar needed to allow God to direct her steps to a sure and better place: God told Hagar to go back home and submit to her mistress. God knew what was best for both Hagar and her unborn child.
Go Home and Live!
The Best or safest places are not always the easiest places, God sees all the details of the future, God knows the thoughts and makeup of our person, He knows what is best all the way around. We must trust and follow Him.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
God knows all the details about you: Matthew 10:30-31 … the very hairs of your head are all numbered. "Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Hagar learns and accepts God as her God. She has her own personal relationship with God…Genesis 16:13-16 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "Thou art a God who sees"; for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?" (Awe of his Holiness) 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
Take God’s hand even as Hagar and the many other followers of God have and walk through life’s good times and bad times together!
He is the God who See’s All and Knows All! Psalm 139:1-18 ….It’s true! You are always on God’s mind, always in his view, always in his love. Go rest in Him and his love
