A canopy of stars watches over us day and night. The source did not identify the location, but I have seen a similar rock formation in Arches National Park, Utah. This photo is courtesy of pxhere.com, a website that offers non-copyrighted images.

July 21, 2023 / 0 comments

Knowing God’s Presence – with a little help

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

  • Psalm 139:1-6

You, God, know my folly;
    my guilt is not hidden from you.

  • Psalm 69:5

Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

  • Psalm 139:23-24

“God knows everything about me.  Maybe – We forget that God is everywhere and we don’t think about Him at all times.”

  • My wife’s ideas about the Scriptures above

I seemed to have forgotten the boilerplate information that explains this series.

My wife took a Bible Study in 2009.  She had become a Christian in 2000, and about the time that she took this class during the week at night, she developed night blindness, or at least the start of it.  I would drive her to a friend’s house and then the friend would drive her home afterwards.  The focus on the Bible Study was weight loss from a biblical perspective.  I don’t know if any weight was lost by anyone in the Bible Study, but a few members of that group became very good friends.

My wife passed away in March and I found her study guide as I was cleaning up.  I actually found two study guides.  The other study guide was from a Bible study long before committing herself to Jesus.  Her answers were usually copying Scripture or turning the Scripture into her own words.  This Bible Study in 2009 showed signs of how God was working in her life.  It showed Christian growth.

So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I decided to write on the topics in the Study Guide, but instead of using the words of the Study Guide, I thought I would fashion the answers of her questions into a thread to discuss the topic.  And I will not use any comment about other members of the group study (few, and usually prayer requests).  That would be confidential.

Thus, I am writing about these topics “with a little help” from my wife’s answers to study guide questions.

As for her comments, have you ever felt the spiritual battle within your own body?  You have the urge to do something and you have something within you pulling you away.  Since this study was originated about weight loss, let’s say that a cookie is on the kitchen table.  No one will notice.  Your body could absorb the calories of one cookie and no one would notice.  You are the only one in the house.  Go on.  It will taste … so … good…

But the only ones near the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil were, Adam, Eve, and the serpent.  Right?

“[Eve] was so deluded by her own vanity that she forgot God was there.”

  • My wife’s ideas on Eve’s temptation

Is it vanity or something else?  Maybe it is a variety of things with each person.  We are all tempted in different ways.

Getting back to the cookie – sorry, I started to drool just thinking about it – eating that cookie might not be a bad thing for some people.  Maybe some people normally do not eat enough calories during the day anyway.  But then again, those people would never be tempted to eat the cookie.  If they needed the calories, they would be tempted to not touch the cookie.

Cookie … cookie …

Sorry, drooling again.

My wife then did some introspection regarding Psalm 139, Genesis 3 and the story of David and Bathsheba.

“I still have a long way to go for Him to work His miracles in me.  My mind is still disillusioned like Adam and King David.
“You know me fully, O God. My guilt is not hidden from you – Psalm 69:5.”

  • My wife’s inner thoughts

The Scripture from Psalm 69 is something that she added, not in the study guide.  The guidance of the study guide only caused her to want to study more.  She had to know what God really meant.  She wanted to use all the Scripture she could find on the subject.

She realized that King David realized that no matter what happened, God was there to comfort him in everything.

“Just knowing God’s there to comfort and forgive me is all I need.”

  • My wife’s concluding remarks

Did she not have wants and desires?  Yes, but she trusted in God’s provision.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.

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