Psalm 139:1-5 NIV 1. You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2. You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3. You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4. Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5. You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Life is complicated and sometimes confusing. We have all been in situations where we lost track of ourselves. Why did I come into this room? Oops, I just passed the exit I was supposed to take. I know that yesterday, I thought of something important I was going to do today but now I don’t remember what it was? Who am I? Why am I here? Why did I do that?
That is part of the essence of being human. We are fickle, finite, and forgetful. I am glad that God is not like me. Psalm 139 tells a lot about what God is like.
The first five verses tell us that God is a real person who is intimately aware of me. God is not a mere philosophical idea or a dead religious icon. Nor is He the impersonal God imagined by the Deists – one who made the world and then left it alone to run by itself. The God of the Bible is intellectually engaged, purposefully aware, and caring. Nothing can be hidden from Him – neither our thoughts, nor our actions, nor our motives.
To the person who is living life only for himself and in opposition to God’s will, that truth about God can only be terrifying. But to those who love Him in response to His unfailing love for us, that is wonderful news!
When I don’t know which end is up, He doesn’t fault me for losing my way. He knows, He cares, and He stands ready to help me. I can run to Him, climb up onto His daddy lap, let Him hold me in his arms, tell Him I’m lost, and listen for Him tell me what to do next. I’m glad the He knows everything about me. He knows my thoughts before I think them. He has a good eternal plan for me. The details of my life are already written in his heavenly book. (Psalm 139:16)
He knows every word I say (and why I said it). (Vs. 4) So, I want to be filling my mind and heart with God’s word and repeating only that back to Him with my mouth. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Nothing surprises Him about the path I take. He is going ahead of me to clear the way and He has my back (vs. 3, 5). While I am following Him, the two of us together, are invincible.
Prayer: Thank you, God, that you know me that way. I love you.
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