Meeting Jesus · Day 12 of 14

Fully known, fully loved

Today's reading: Psalm 139:1-18

1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. 2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether. 5You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. 6This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it. 7Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? 8If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! 9If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. 11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,” 12even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you. 13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 15My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them. 17How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum! 18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:1-18 (WEB)

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), public domain.

Reflection

David marvels that God searches him and knows him. God knows when he sits and when he rises, understands his thoughts from far away, and is familiar with all his ways. To some people that sounds frightening, since being known means nothing stays hidden.

Listen to the tone of the psalm, though. David isn't describing a hostile guard watching him. He sounds full of wonder. Wherever he goes, God is already there and his hand holds him. Even the darkness is not dark to God.

David goes back further, to before he was born. God formed his inward parts and knit him together in his mother's womb, and he is fearfully and wonderfully made. To be fully known and still fully loved is what every heart longs for, and Christians believe God offers exactly that.

Prayer

Lord, you know everything about me and still love me, so help me stop hiding from you.

Something to think about

What part of yourself do you find hardest to believe God could love?

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