Tonight, we complete our brief consideration of Psalm 139, and we want to read together again the entire psalm, the text being verses 19 through 24. Psalm 139, beginning at the first verse. Hear now the word of the Lord. O Lord, You have searched me 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 know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in, behind and before. You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise in the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you. The night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You. If only You would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, You bloodthirsty men! They speak of You with evil intent. your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Beloved of the Lord, whose side are you on? You see, that's an appropriate question for us to consider after having considered the greatness of God throughout our study of Psalm 139. After having meditated on the omniscience and omnipresence and omnipotence of God, David now makes it clear that there can only be one of two responses to God. Either one will refuse to acknowledge this God and therefore will reject Him, or one will desire to have God, search Him, and know Him, and direct Him in God's way. Therefore, beloved, what is your response to the greatness of God as we have studied it and find it recorded in Psalm 139? David makes it clear whose side he desires to be on, And especially as he describes those he wants nothing to do with. And this here really is also a reminder for us. What kind of company do you keep? Young people, do you surround yourselves with friends who will encourage you in the faith? Who will encourage you in your walk with the Lord? Who are believers like you? Or do you surround yourselves with those who will tempt you to sin? Those who do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses 19-22, I think we would agree, of the text are really quite disturbing. When you read this psalm straight through as we have done tonight, you want to stop there and say, well, what is going on here? You see, throughout this psalm, we have studied about the greatness and the majesty of God. We have considered His perfect knowledge, His presence everywhere, His perfect creation of man, and now there's a complete turn, isn't there? talking about slaying the wicked, about bloodthirsty men, about hate. What's going on? This stuff is against everything we've been brought up to believe and stand for. Boys and girls, we are taught not to hate. We are taught not to want to kill. And it seems as if these few verses have wiped out the beauty and the comfort of the rest of Psalm 139. But, beloved, that's not the case. Once we see what David is doing here, then we will realize that these few verses actually enhance the beauty of this portion of the Word of God. And therefore, here in this final section of Psalm 139, we find the believer's confession to be on God's side. In competition, whatever that competition may be, we want to be on the right side, don't we? We want to be on the winning side. Well here, David, the believer, confesses that he wants to be on God's side. And we can see this in two distinct points. Through his profession of faith, and also through his submission of life. Now we might say after being on somewhat of a spiritual high, David comes back down to earth. Again, he has been reflecting on the greatness of God. He is an awesome God. David is in awe in this psalm as he meditates upon who God is. To David, the God of heaven, namely his God, was marvelous, perfect, pure, holy, just, and good. He is a God who knows all things, sees all things, hears all things, and is the great protector because he is everywhere. But then David remembers that not everyone knows these things about God. Not everyone feels the same way about God that He does. Not everyone believes in God. Some reject Him. God has enemies. God deserves the complete and wholehearted devotion of all people and all creatures, but He doesn't have it. David says, if only You would slay the wicked, O God. We need to understand that by wicked, David here is talking about unashamed, Hateful, open, blatant despisers of God and God's people. He's talking about wicked people who do not even try to hide or camouflage their wickedness, but they openly admit that they hate God and His kingdom. And David understands, I believe, that if they are not destroyed, they will try to destroy God's work. He also says, away from Me, you bloodthirsty men. And again, he's talking about wicked men of bloodshed. Those, we might say, who kill for fun. And it's as if David is saying, get away from me, you wicked men. I don't want any part of you. If God will not allow you who are wicked to be near Him, then I don't want you near me either. Beloved, do you see that this is a part of David's profession of faith? Now, why does David want the wicked out of the way? In verse 20, he says, they speak of you with evil intent. Your adversaries misuse your name. Again, these are open, blatant despisers of God and His kingdom. They don't care about what they say or do against God or His people. These wicked people do not see themselves and God in the proper roles as they ought to. Instead, they exalt themselves much higher than any human being ought to be exalted, and they lower God, even below themselves. And what we have here is an open violation of the third commandment, a misusing of God's name, a taking His name in vain, blaspheming His name. And the way David speaks about the wicked, they do it on purpose. They just don't care. These wicked people despise God and David here is professing that he's not one of them. He is not one of them. He is not one of these despisers. He doesn't want anything to do with them. He says, away from Me, you bloodthirsty man. God must slay the wicked. You see, congregation, if God would allow the wicked to continue, that would show that He doesn't truly hate sin. But He does hate sin. He hates all sin. Not just the open, blatant sin of the wicked that David is talking about here, but also the secret sins of the heart. He also hates the sin of those who claim to be His children. God hates sin and God punishes sin. David knew this. In fact, he saw God's wrath in his lifetime against sin. Think back to especially Old Testament history and you remember that God would make examples of the wicked in order to keep His people in line. God's people would witness His punishment of the wicked and that they themselves were to keep from that same wickedness. Isaiah 26, verse 9 says, For when your judgments are in the earth, then the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. We are to learn from punishment, aren't we? David witnessed the judgments of God even in his own life. For example, with Goliath and the Philistines. What a demonstration to David himself. But also in his personal life, his sin with Bathsheba, God did not allow the child to live. But also as we think back, during the Old Testament times, God would wipe out entire wicked nations from before Israel, for example, as they were making their way through the desert into the land of Canaan, and even cities. Think of Jericho. The walls didn't fall because Israel marched around and shouted and blew trumpets. The walls fell because of God. But even today, because of God's preserved, written, special revelation, the Bible, we too can see God's judgment throughout the history of revelation and redemption. In many ways, beginning with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Or think of God's dealing with the wicked world when He sent the great flood. Or we see how God dealt with Pharaoh and the Egyptians when He led His people out of Egypt. And we also see how God punished His own covenant people when they themselves had become so wicked and perverse. He sent them into captivity. And I believe even today we see some of that truth that some people suffer the punishment for their sin. I think particularly of the AIDS virus. Now indeed there are some who contract AIDS innocently through blood transfusions and so forth, But there are many who contract it because of a wicked, heathen lifestyle. And they are suffering the effect of their sin as well. Yet God's judgment, beloved, is no more clearly seen than upon the cross of Christ. Still today, and especially today, we look to the cross to see God's wrath poured out against sin. We can see God's intense hatred of sin as He laid our punishment upon the shoulders of His own precious Son, Jesus Christ. We look to the cross and we must admit that no, God will not allow sin to go unpunished. In fact, He has not allowed sin to go unpunished. And He expects us to take note of His divine judgment so that when we see how He deals with the wicked, we will desire to be kept in line. And as Isaiah says, to learn righteousness. David's profession of faith then and his desire to be on God's side become even stronger in verses 21 and 22. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against You? I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them My enemies. Now again, this doesn't exactly sound like a profession of faith, does it? But it is. And again, it's quite disturbing because David says, I hate. Again, we're brought up not to hate. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So what's going on here? How can David in good conscience say that he hates? Look again at verses 20 and 21. In verse 20, David says, they speak of you and of your adversaries. And he describes in verse 21, who you and your, who he's referring to. In verse 21 he says, Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? Do you notice what's taking place here? David is not talking about his own personal enemies here. He's talking about God's enemies. He hates those who hate God. Those who hate good. There's a very important lesson for us here, beloved. It's important for us to remember that our enemies are not necessarily God's enemies. God's enemies ought always be our enemies. But our enemies are not necessarily God's enemies. We may not hate someone for our own sake or because someone has done something evil to us. That's wrong. In David's confession to be on God's side, he is professing his faith in God by saying that he hates sin. He has been thinking and reflecting on the majesty of God and this causes Dave to realize, I believe, that he must be opposed to sin. And he must be opposed to God's enemies, those who hate God. David shows here that he is devoted to godliness. It doesn't mean that he is sinless. Not at all. That's not the case. He knows his sin all too well. He doesn't want to be surrounded by the wicked, I believe, because he doesn't want to fall into temptation. But the majesty of God causes him to detest and hate everything that is against God. That's part of the sanctification process, isn't it? A cleansing of the pollution of our sin more and more. Wiping it away. And indeed, that we might have the righteousness of Christ in actual practice more and more every day. Now, how can we describe David's hate? Well, there are actually two kinds of hate being spoken of in our text. The first kind of hate is the hate that God's enemies display, manifest toward God. Their hatred is a hate that springs up from a heart that is depraved and fallen into sin. It's a hatred completely clothed with evil and evil intentions. And then the other kind of hatred is David's hatred, which is patterned after God's hatred towards sin. It's a righteous hatred. David's hatred is not born out of sin or out of evil intentions. Instead, it is born of God's grace. It's from a new heart. It comes from a thorough and earnest desire that God's purposes must stand firm and that wickedness must fall. In congregation, we too must hate sin. All sin. And our hatred for sin as well must flow from an intense desire for God's purposes to be fulfilled, for His holy name to be exalted, for His glory. And if this is the case, then we will turn wholeheartedly and absolutely against all of those who stand in God's way, those who try to tear Him from His throne. We will turn in this way in the power of the Spirit. You see, beloved, if we don't absolutely hate sin, then our godliness is defective. Psalm 69 verse 9 says, A zeal for your house consumes me. And David had this zeal, the type of zeal for the way of the Lord that wouldn't allow him to sit still when God's law or His name was violated. And that's the kind of zeal that we must have. We are not to put up with things or situations that we know are not right. We are not to let things slide when it comes to the way of the Lord. We are especially not to compromise when it comes to God and His kingdom. And we are not to compromise the authority of God's Word and we are not to live the way we think is best. But we are to live, beloved, the way God knows and teaches is best. David's profession of faith here is that he is on God's side against God's enemies. He says in verse 22, I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them my enemies. You see, that's the crown of his profession. He says, I count them. Who's them? Those who hate God. I count them my enemies. In other words, your enemies, O Lord, are also my enemies. I devote myself entirely to you. And beloved, this must also be our profession after by the illumination of the Holy Spirit we recognize the greatness of God. We must desire to be on God's side and be willing to rise up and fight for God's honor at all costs, even if it costs us our earthly friendships or our work or even our life. Isn't it true that we're often so quick to protect our own interests and our own honor, but often we are not so quick to defend God's glory? We must be ready and willing to stand up and say, away from Me, you bloodthirsty man. And Your enemies, O Lord, are also My enemies. Remember who the enemy of God is. The world, as we learned in 1 John 2. John there says, those who are friends with the world are enemies of God. In 2 Chronicles 19, verse 2, we read where Jehu the seer said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you, What this means is if we do not join God against His enemies, that is evidence that we are really with God's enemies. And He will punish us. Congregation, our righteous hatred is not to be shown in a malicious or a threatening way. We don't go out and bomb abortion clinics or seek to put to death doctors who commit abortion. We don't go out and try to harm in some way those who are living in the homosexual lifestyle. We do not physically strike out against God's enemies. Our righteous hatred is not against the persons themselves who are also made in the image of God, but against their sin and wickedness. We are called to work to reclaim the wicked in love, to seek their repentance in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, our righteous hatred for sin is shown by our love for God by serving Him. and by keeping His commandments. You see, this is submission of life. And that's what David did. Not only did he confess his desire to be on God's side through his profession of faith, but he also showed. He demonstrated his desire to be on God's side through his submission of life. David ends this psalm with these words of submission. Verses 23 and 24. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. No doubt you notice the echo there from the first verse of this psalm. Search me and know me. The difference, if you recall, is that in the first verse, the searching and knowing was already completed action. God had already done it. And now after considering the greatness of God, David is asking God to go through this process again. But now he goes a step further. David says, test me. The idea is prove genuine, like gold tested in fire to remove the impurities. Now, we are not to get the wrong idea. This is not overconfidence and arrogance on David's part. He's not challenging God to look and try to find even the least amount of sin in him. See if you can do it. I'm sure it's not there. That's not what David is doing. But he's asking God to prove him genuine, like gold tested by fire to purify Him. David never claims that he is exempt from sin. He never tries to pull the wool over our eyes or over God's eyes pretending to be a sinless man. He knows he's a sinner. But he is claiming, by the grace of God, to be on God's side. And he wants us to know that he does not take sides with the wicked. He says, search me, O God, And know my heart. Know me. You see, you can tell a lot about a person by looking to see where their heart leaves them. David's intentions can be seen through his heart by the all-seeing one. And his submission to God can be seen as well through his heart. Congregation throughout this psalm again, as we have seen and repeated over and over again, David reflects upon the greatness and the majesty of God. He has spoken in awe of God's attributes, of His knowledge, of His complete presence, of His creating works. And in our text for tonight, David has professed his faith through his righteous hatred for sin and for wickedness. His one true desire is to be on God's side. So now he submits himself to God to be searched and known and tested by God. David wants God to know his anxious thoughts. And to see if he hides any offensive ways in himself. And we might say, wow, that's interesting. Why would David want God to see if there is still anything there? That can't look good, you see. David is claiming godliness. So he wants to make sure that there are not any secret sins hidden deep within him that he has not confessed. That's the desire of the new heart. That is to be your desire and my desire as well, that we not hide anything from God. He doesn't want anything to harm his relationship with God. He knows that only God can thoroughly search him. He not only desires to be right with God, to be on his side, but also to have a clear conscience before God. He has already professed that he hates the wicked, and now he wants to make sure that he doesn't hide any of this same wickedness in himself. This is total submission of life. David's desire to be on God's side, his desire for godliness, causes him to submit himself to God and for God to show him if there are any offensive ways in him that would separate David from God. David doesn't want to be separated from God. He wants to be with God. And then finally, he submits himself to God for life. He says, and lead me in the way everlasting. Oh God, take me by the hand. Never let go of my hand. Lead me on the narrow path of everlasting life. Don't let me look to the left or to the right, but keep me looking straight ahead to that finished line that my Lord Jesus Christ has passed for me. David knew which side to be on by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. But not only that, he desired to be on that side, God's side. Indeed, there are some who do what is right. They go through all the right motions, but not because their heart is right. It's simply so that they won't get into trouble. There's nothing more than deceit. But not David. His desire was genuine. It was from the heart. Well, how about you? How about me? As we reflect on the comfort of this entire psalm and on the awesomeness of God, are you humbled as you consider the greatness of God? Are you amazed as you consider who God is? That He knows everything about you. Your thoughts before you think them. Your words before you say them. He knows the secret sins of our hearts. and yet He still calls us to be His children. Does that amaze you? Do you profess your faith in Him? Do you submit your life to Him? Do you truly hate sin and wickedness and promise to stand up in God's name against it? Do you see that your sin has already been punished in Jesus Christ our Lord? Do you desire to be on God's side? If not, then you are with His enemies. Beloved, if you're not on God's side, then you're on the losing side, guaranteed. And you are called to submit yourself to God and ask Him to lead you in the way everlasting. There's only one way. And that way is our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. And we need to remember that you can't be on God's side half-heartedly. He will not accept partial commitment on again, off again, here a while, there a while. It's all or nothing. He who loves us with a sacrificial love as we have considered in 1 John expects our love in return. So what will it be with you? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, take captive every thought, not just a few, not even most, but take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. If you truly desire godliness like David did, then in the Holy Spirit's strength, you will desire not to sin and you will submit yourself to God for His searching, His cleansing, and for the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, knowing that your salvation is secure with God. There's no greater comfort than that. And then through the grace of Jesus, Christ, knowing that not a hair can fall from your head without the will of your Father in heaven, you can live your life on God's side. Beloved, remember, God's side will never fail. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You for the instruction that You have given to us in Psalm 139. What a blessing to consider this Your Word. To know of Your greatness. To be reminded that there is none like You. That You are the one and only God. The Maker of heaven and earth. And to know that You, the One who is the great God, has loved a people for Yourself with a sacrificial love, and undying love through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Indeed, Father, may we be humbled. May we be amazed. May we be filled with joy because of all that You are and all that You have done. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.