Faith in Focus #31
A reflection from Connection Church and other spiritual events from the week
Faith in Focus is a weekly reflection on what God has been teaching me throughout the week regarding my faith. Whether it’s personal interactions, reading, or the Sunday sermon, God speaks through it all, and I hope this helps you focus on His mission.
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Sermon Reflection
Psalm 139 confronts one of humanity's oldest fears: if God truly knew everything about us, would He still want us? David's answer is both comforting and challenging. The God who knows us completely is also the God who lovingly leads us in the way everlasting.
Based on the sermon by Joe Obermueller, Connection Church Sioux Falls, June 7, 2026.
Known, Pursued, and Led: The Comfort and Challenge of Psalm 139
There are few things in creation more humbling than looking into the night sky.
Modern astronomy continues to reveal a universe so vast that our minds struggle to comprehend it. Distances are measured in light years. Galaxies number in the billions. The farther we look, the more we realize how small we are. Yet as overwhelming as the universe may seem, David points us toward something even greater.
This week in our Summer in the Psalms series, elder Joe Obermueller led us through Psalm 139, a psalm that reveals not merely the greatness of creation, but the greatness of its Creator. David repeatedly points to truths about God that stretch beyond our ability to fully understand. In Psalm 139:6, he declares, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”
The mystery isn’t simply that God is big. The mystery is that this infinitely great God knows us completely. And for many people, that thought can feel terrifying.
Sin whispers a familiar lie into every human heart that if God really knew everything about you, He would reject you. If He saw every failure, every secret thought, every hidden struggle, He would turn away.
Psalm 139 dismantles that lie.
The World Behind the Text
Psalm 139 is one of David’s most personal. Unlike many psalms that focus on external enemies or national concerns, this one turns inward. David reflects on God’s character and his own relationship with Him.
Throughout the psalm, David celebrates three attributes of God that theologians often describe as omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.
Omniscience means God knows all things.
Omnipresence means God is present everywhere.
Omnipotence means God possesses all power.
While those words may sound technical, David presents them through poetry rather than theological formulas. He wants us to feel these truths as much as understand them.
God knows every word before it is spoken. He knows every thought before it is formed. He knows every step before it is taken.
God is present in every location. Whether David ascends into heaven or descends into Sheol, God’s presence remains. Whether he travels to the farthest reaches of the sea or finds himself surrounded by darkness, God is already there.
God is also the Creator who formed him in the womb. Every detail of his existence originated from God’s careful design and sovereign purpose.
For David, these truths are not frightening. They are deeply comforting.
Walking the Passage
The opening verses establish a remarkable reality.
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” (Psalm 139:1).
David isn’t speculating that God might know him. He’s declaring that God already does.
God knows when he sits down and when he rises up. God understands his thoughts from afar. God knows every path he walks and every place he rests.
Nothing is hidden.
At first glance, that level of exposure can feel uncomfortable. We spend much of our lives carefully managing what others see. We reveal certain parts of ourselves while concealing others.
God can’t be managed. He sees beneath every mask.
Yet David doesn’t describe God’s knowledge as oppressive. Instead, he describes it as loving care. God surrounds him behind and before. God lays His hand upon him.
Joe illustrated this beautifully through the image of an MRI machine.
An MRI reveals what can’t be seen on the surface. Its purpose is not to shame the patient but to identify what needs healing. In a similar way, God’s knowledge penetrates deeper than appearances. He sees beneath our outward actions into the hidden places of the heart.
Not to condemn. Not to humiliate.
But to heal.
David then shifts from God’s knowledge to God’s presence.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7).
The answer is nowhere.
If he ascends to heaven, God is there. If he makes his bed in Sheol, God is there. If he flies to the farthest reaches of the sea, God is there. Even darkness can’t hide him.
This is one of the most comforting truths in all of Scripture. There’s no location where God’s people can find themselves beyond His reach. No season of suffering, no valley of grief, no moment of confusion exists outside His presence.
David concludes this section with a fascinating statement.
“If I awake, I am still with you” (Psalm 139:18).
At first glance, we might read this as waking up from sleep. Yet throughout Scripture, sleep often serves as a metaphor for death.
David uses similar language in Psalm 17:15.
“As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”
Likewise, Job declares,
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26).
Neither David nor Job possessed the full revelation that we now have through Christ’s death and resurrection. Yet both expressed remarkable confidence that death would not be the end. Both anticipated a future day when they would behold God Himself.
What they hoped for, we know with certainty because Christ rose from the grave.
Because Christ lives, death has lost its final word.
A Fair Counter-Reading
One of the most challenging parts of Psalm 139 appears in verses 19-22.
After eighteen verses celebrating God’s greatness and care, David suddenly begins speaking about the wicked and expressing hatred toward those who oppose God.
To modern readers, this can feel jarring. It almost appears as though David is throwing a spiritual tantrum.
Yet David’s concern isn’t personal revenge.
Instead, Joe advised us that these verses reveal covenant loyalty. David loves God so deeply that he hates anything that opposes God’s goodness, holiness, and purposes.
His words reflect grief over sin’s destruction and a desire for God’s justice to prevail.
At the same time, the New Testament reminds believers to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44). The church is called to oppose sin while extending grace to sinners, just as Christ extended grace to us.
The tension is intentional. We should hate evil because God hates evil. Yet we should also long for redemption because God delights in saving sinners.
The Turn
The psalm concludes with one of the most courageous prayers in Scripture.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24).
This isn’t a request for information. God already knows David’s heart. This is a request for transformation.
David recognizes that there are blind spots within him. There are sins he can’t see. There are motives he doesn’t fully understand. There are patterns hidden beneath the surface.
Only God can reveal them.
More importantly, only God can lead him out of them.
The prayer isn’t simply, “Show me my sin.”
The prayer is also, “Lead me in the way everlasting.”
The Gospel reminds us that God’s conviction is never separated from His grace. He reveals sin not to crush His people but to conform them to the image of Christ.
The same God who searches us is the God who saves us. The same God who exposes our hearts is the God who heals them. The same God who knows us completely is the God who loves us completely through Jesus Christ.
Carry It Into the Week
Most of us naturally want God to search other people.
We notice the sins, weaknesses, and failures around us far more easily than the ones within us. David takes the opposite approach.
Before asking God to deal with the wicked, he asks God to deal with himself.
That’s a prayer worth repeating.
What if every morning this week began with Psalm 139:23-24?
What if we invited God to expose our pride, our selfishness, our bitterness, and our unbelief?
What if we trusted that His purpose was not shame but healing?
The beauty of Psalm 139 is that we never have to fear what God discovers. He already knows everything.
The God who searched us before we ever sought Him is the same God who sent His Son to redeem us.
There’s nowhere we can run that He isn’t already there.
There’s nothing He can uncover that Christ hasn’t already paid for.
And there’s no heart so broken that He can’t lead it in the way everlasting.
Song of the Week: Evidence - Citizen Way
Love is the evidence. This hook is the core of this week’s song, “Evidence” by Citizen Way. Mercy, grace, and compassion are beautiful words, but if they never move beyond our lips and into our actions, they remain little more than concepts. Love is what puts flesh on those words. It is what transforms theology from something we merely understand into something we actually live.
This idea echoes what Jesus taught His disciples in John 13:34-35 when He gave them a new commandment to love one another just as He had loved them. He then made a remarkable statement, saying that all people would know they were His disciples by their love for one another. Notice that Jesus didn’t say people would recognize His followers primarily by their church attendance, Bible knowledge, political views, or social media posts. While those things may have their place, the distinguishing mark of a Christian is love.
The kind of love Jesus spoke about is not simply a feeling. It’s sacrificial. It chooses patience when frustration would be easier. It extends forgiveness when resentment feels justified. It serves others even when there is nothing to gain in return. It notices the lonely, encourages the discouraged, and carries the burdens of those who are struggling. This is the same love Christ demonstrated when He laid down His life for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).
When believers live this way, love becomes evidence of God’s work within them. It becomes visible proof that the Gospel is not just information but transformation. A watching world may debate doctrine, question beliefs, or challenge convictions, but genuine Christlike love is difficult to ignore. People may forget a sermon, but they often remember the person who showed up during their darkest moment. They may not recall every Bible verse quoted to them, but they remember the grace they experienced when they least deserved it.
Lives are changed when we act in love because love reflects the heart of God. Every act of kindness, every moment of forgiveness, every sacrifice made for another person points back to the One who first loved us. Love isn’t merely a byproduct of the Christian life; it’s one of the clearest pieces of evidence that Christ is truly at work in us. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be living proof of His love, allowing our actions to testify to the grace that has transformed our own hearts. When we do that, the world doesn’t just hear about Jesus, it catches a glimpse of Him through us.
Week in Reflection
This week has been rough, but honestly, not because of anyone else. The choices were mine. Several nights this week I stayed up past midnight, far beyond my normal routine. Some of that time was spent doing genuinely good things like hanging out with friends, traveling for a photography gig, and editing photos from the show afterward. None of those things are wrong. In fact, they’re all things I’m grateful for. I love the friendships God has given me, and I’m thankful for opportunities to use photography creatively.
But somewhere in the middle of all that, I ignored my limits. I traded rest for “just one more hour,” over and over again. And while staying up late isn’t automatically sinful, I started to notice the effects piling up. My mind felt foggy, my discipline weakened, my time with God became rushed, and the temptations I normally fight with more clarity suddenly felt louder. Little compromises became easier to entertain. My guard dropped.
That’s the part that’s hardest to admit. It wasn’t one dramatic moment; it was a slow drift. Exhaustion has a way of making spiritual vigilance feel optional, and I let that happen. I can see now how important rhythms and boundaries really are. God designed us to need rest, and when I consistently ignore that, it affects more than just my energy level. It affects my heart.
Right now, I feel ashamed and worn down. There’s that familiar feeling of disappointment, “I should know better by now.” But even in that, I’m reminded that the Gospel is not built on my ability to keep myself together. It’s built on Christ’s finished work. My failure doesn’t surprise God, and it doesn’t cancel His love for me. He invites me to come honestly, not pretend I’m fine.
So that’s where I’m at, not excusing my choices, but bringing them into the light. Repentance means turning back to Him, trusting that His mercy is real, and asking for strength to walk differently moving forward. I’m grateful that God’s grace is not exhausted by one bad week, or ten bad weeks. He is patient with His children.
I don’t have some polished conclusion or a neat lesson tied up in a bow on this one. I’m just reminded again that I need Jesus every single day in my routines, my sleep, my friendships, my work, and my battles with sin. And even when I feel beaten down, I know I can still run to Him, because He is faithful to forgive and restore those who come to Him in repentance.
And always remember, God loves you, and so do I.
Connection Church in Sioux Falls is a gospel-centered community committed to helping people follow Jesus through authentic relationships, biblical teaching, and everyday mission. Rooted in historic Christian belief and aligned with gospel renewal movements, the church exists to see lives transformed by Jesus. Learn more: https://siouxfallsconnection.com/who-we-are
