Psalm 139 gives us three convicting truths about God.
Verses 1-6 remind us that God knows us completely. He knows our thoughts, our words, and our actions. He knows what we will do tomorrow, next week, next month. Which means he knows about all of our sins. He knows every sinful thought, every sinful word, every sinful action. We can’t hide our sin. God knows!
Verse 7-12 remind us that God is with us everywhere we go. We simply cannot escape his presence. Which mean he is always there witnessing our sins. The kitchen may look empty, but God sees you reach into the cookie jar. You might not to that sin in front of your mom or your spouse or your kids. But every sin you commit you do before God. He is always there.
Verses 13-16 remind us that God made us. As his creatures, we belong to him (see Psalm 24:1-2), and so should live according his commands for his glory. But of course we fail to live for our Creator way too often.
No wonder after reflecting on these three convicting truths about God, the Psalmist cries out for God to search his heart. He wants God to examine his life. The goal? I think it is that God would reveal his sins (Job 13:23, Hebrews 4:12) that he might forsake them and follow God’s way – that God would lead him in the way everlasting.
We need to ponder these three convicting truths about God as they relate to our lives, asking God to show us where we have failed, that we might seek his mercy for our failures, and seek his grace to overcome those sins and follow him.