The Presence of God

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

    Try me and know my thoughts!

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

 Psalm 139

English Standard Version

A Psalm of David.

Creation's Story

The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. 

2 Day and night they keep on telling about God. 

3-4 Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. 

The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it 5 and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding, or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race! 

6 The sun crosses the heavens from end to end, and nothing can hide from its heat.

7-8 God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light. 

9 God’s laws are pure, eternal, just.

10 They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. 

11 For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.

12 But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 

13 And keep me from deliberate wrongs; help me to stop doing them. Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of some great crime.

14 May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19

Living Bible

Don't be subborn!

  32 It is a great blessing

    when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done,
    when their sins are erased.
2 It is a great blessing
    when the Lord says they are not guilty,
    when they don’t try to hide their sins.

3 Lord, I prayed to you again and again,
    but I did not talk about my sins.
    So I only became weaker and more miserable.
4 Every day you made life harder for me.
    I became like a dry land in the hot summertime. Selah

5 But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord.
    I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins.
    And you forgave them all! Selah

6 That is why your loyal followers pray to you while there is still time.

    Then when trouble rises like a flood, it will not reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me.
    You protect me from my troubles.
You surround me and protect me,
    so I sing about the way you saved me. Selah

8 The Lord says, “I will teach you
    and guide you in the way you should live.
    I will watch over you and be your guide.
9 Don’t be like a stupid horse or mule that will not come to you
    unless you put a bit in its mouth and pull it with reins.”

10 Many pains will come to the wicked,
    but the Lord’s faithful love will surround those who trust in him.
11 Good people, rejoice and be very happy in the Lord.
    All you who want to do right, rejoice!

Psalm 32

Easy-to-Read Version

The One God Hears

34 I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.

3 O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

9 O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

 Psalm 34

New American Standard Bible

Hidden Blessings

With each year, your vision gets bigger because your faith expands. Your faith will grow proportionally to your struggle.

Proverbs 3:5-6  (NKJV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Trust in the Lord's direction.  If the all-knowing God has a plan for you, how can you fully understand it in your mind?

Ephesians 3:20  (NKJV)

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

If you understand it one way and someone else understands it another, you've had a misunderstanding. 

Don't believe for God to do something that He's never promised. 

The Bible is offensive. It will offend your flesh. It is a challenge to talk about somethings in the Bible.  

Do you love God, but not trust Him?  

Why should God give what you've ask Him for if you won't give Him what He's asked you for? 

Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)

19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

  

When you give to God that positions Him to bless you.  

God wants to receive a seed from what He has given you, so He can plant it.  

We need to be progressive, percentage based givers.

What you don't sow to God, you'll lose anyway.  

Returning the seed to God positions you for His blessings. 

To God, a seed is a tree from which much fruit can grow.

Your thoughts are like a seed. You give from your heart by thinking it first.

Then, it goes from your heart to your mind as a choice. 

Then, it is birthed into your actions as a gift.

Blessings are birthed by changing the way you think. 

Romans 12:2  (NKJV)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

  

  

If you want God to work in your life, it begins with surrender.  

David began as a forgotten shepherd boy.

David was left behind by his father when Samuel came to chose a new king. 

1 Samuel 16:6-7 (NKJV)

6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [a]refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1. The blessing of identity. 

Don't define yourself by anyone, but by what God says about you. 

Be who you are, and be what God has created you to be.

1 Samuel 16:11 (NKJV)

11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.”

2. The blessing of now.   

David was forgotten by his father, but he was never offended by it.  

Don't miss the blessing of where you are right now.  

Do something with what you have right now.

Some are upset by where they are right now, but how they handle right now determines where they'll be next.  

David killed a lion and a bear, and learned how to play the harp.  

He didn't know that He had a giant in his future.

David was held back from the battle, but was chosen to bring the food.  

His brothers got mad when he showed up.

They thought he was there for the thrill of watching the battle.  

It didn't bother David.  He knew who he was and his motives. 

     

  

3. The blessing of focus.  

We must trust God when we can't perceive him.  

We must seek God first, and watch what He will do. 

1 Samuel 17:26  (NKJV)

Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? 

For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Who is this giant David said?  

He doesn't even have a relationship with God!

  

Who do you think you are to speak against the army of God like that David said?  

David questioned the giant's authority to even be speaking.  

David was offended at the right thing.

Opposition makes you  stronger.

  

If you can't take a punch from your own brothers, you can't take it from your enemies. 

3. The blessing of walking and talking in faith.

The giant in you (God) is bigger than the giant in front of you (your problem). 1 John 4:4

When people say to you "never", they don't know how big your God is.  

We've got to talk it.  Then, we've got to walk it.

  

1 Samuel 17:41-47 (NKJV)

41 So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 

42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 

43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 

46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 

47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

We can't plan a move of God.  

We move at the speed of the Holy Spirit.  

Risk says I'm willing to lose this for that.  

Faith says that I can't lose.

You can't pray negative prayers and expect positive results.

Romans 8:37 (NKJV)

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

1 John 4:4  (NKJV)

 He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 Samuel 17:48-50 (NKJV)

48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 

49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David.

The giant in front of me is no match for the giant (God) inside of me. 

Do you have God inside of you?  You can ask for Him to be.

Revelation 3:20 (NKJV)

Jesus speaking: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Romans 10:13 (NKJV)

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Jeremy Foster, Hope City Church

https://hopecity.com/sermons/hidden-blessings-pastor-jeremy-foster/