Personality—III - Chambers, Oswald
Psalm 139
Intercessory Introspection
1. The supernatural intimacy of god (psalm 139:16)
O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. (psalm 139:1)
The l39th psalm ought to be the personal experi- ence of every christian. My own introspection, or exploration of myself, will lead me astray, but when i realise not only that god knows me, but that he is the only one who does, i see the vital importance of intercessory introspection. Every man is too big for himself, thank god for everyone who realises it and, like the psalmist, hands himself over to be searched out by god. We only know ourselves as god searches us. God knows me is different from god is omniscient; the latter is a mere theological statement; the former is a child of gods most precious possession o lord , thou hast searched me, and known me. No matter what our christian experience may be the majority of us are nowhere near where the psalm- ist was; we will rest in our experience instead of see- ing that the experience is meant to bring us to the place of knowing gods supernatural intimacy. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, o lord, thou know- est it altogether. To say of course god is omniscient and knows everything makes no effect on me, i don’t care whether god is omni anything; but when by the reception of the holy spirit i begin to realise that god knows all the deepest possibili- ties there are in me, knows all the eccentricities of my being, i find that the mystery of myself is solved by this besetting god. Do i really believe i am too big a mystery to solve by myself ? Or am i so desperately ignorant that i imagine i understand myself thoroughly? If so, i am likely to have a rude awak-ening. The psalmist implies thou art the god of the early mornings, the god of the late at nights; the god of the mountain peaks, the god of the sea; but, my god, my soul has further horizons than the early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain, greater depths than any sea thou who art the god of all these, be my god. I cannot search to the heights or to the depths; there are motives i cannot trace, dreams i cannot get at; my god, search me out and explore me, and let me know that thou hast. Look back over your past history with god and you will see that this is the place he has been bringing you to god knows me, and i know he does. You cant shift the man who knows that; there is the sanity of almighty god about him. It is an interpretation of what Jesus Christ said the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore.
. . . Never shall i think
of anything that thou mightst overlook:
in faith born triumph at thy feet i sink.
George MacDonald
2. The surprising presence of god (psalm 139:712) whither shall i go from thy spirit? Or whither shall i flee from thy presence? (psalm 139:7)
The psalmist states further that the presence of god is the secure accompaniment of his knowledge; not only does god know everything about him, but he is with him in the knowledge. Where is the place that god is not? Hell? No, hell is god; if there were no god, there would be no hell. If i make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. The first thing the fool does is to get rid of god (the fool hath said in his heart, there is no god. (psalm 14:1); then he gets rid of heaven and hell; then he gets rid of all moral consequences no such thing as right and wrong. The psalmist is stating that wherever he may go in accordance with the indecipherable providence of god, there the surprising presence of god will meet him. Immediately you begin to forecast and plan for yourself god will break up your program me, he delights to do it, until we learn to live like children based on the knowledge that god is ruling and reigning and rejoicing, and his joy is our strength. When we say even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me, there is no foreboding anxiety, because his love in times past enables us to rest confidentially in him. The only rest there is is in abandon to the love of god. There is security from yesterdaythou hast beset me behind; security for to-morrow and before; and security for to-day, and laid thine hand upon me. It was this knowledge that gave our lord the imperturbable peace he always had. We must be like a plague of mosquitoes to the almighty, with our fussy little worries and anxieties, and the perplexities we imagine, all because we wont get into the elemental life with god which Jesus came to give. This psalm is the expression of the atonement at work in human experience, atonement with god. The marvel of the atonement is that Jesus Christ can create endlessly in lives the oneness which he had with the father. When the holy spirit emancipates my personality no attention is paid to my individuality, to my temperament or prejudices; he brings me into oneness with god entirely when once i am willing to waive my right to myself and let him have his way. No man gets there without a crisis, a crisis of a terrific nature in which he goes to the death of something. God is never far enough away from his saints to think about them: he thinks them, we are taken up into his consciousness. This is expressed in the life of our lord. How we get there we cannot say, but it is by the processes of gods training of us. God wont leave us alone until the prayer of his son is answered, that we may be one with the father even as he is one.