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Scripture Reading: Psalm 139

If you’ve ever wondered if God knows what you’re going through―if “He can see into your heart and know what you’re thinking and feeling and experiencing in your life, then you’ll want to read Psalm 139.

The word “psalm” means “song,”―or a poem set to music―so the book of Psalms is the songbook of the Bible.  Although the tunes aren’t recorded for us, the words themselves sing of the wonders of God.  And in Psalm 139, they sing of just how deeply God knows each one of us―including you.

Even though this song was written by King David about 3,000 years ago, you can still hear God’s voice to you today as you read his opening words.  Listen to hear just how deeply God knows you and knows what you’re going through in your life.

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it. 

Where shall I go from Your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there Your hand shall lead me,
and Your right hand shall hold me.”
(Psalm 139:1-10)

These words are especially meaningful to me today as I’m headed to the airport as I write this.  I’m sending my son off to college in Sydney, Australia, and my daughter off to college in Lynchburg, Virginia.  What a joy and comfort to know that God will be going with both of them as they “take the wings of the morning” and fly so far from home, even dwelling in “the uttermost parts of the sea!”

Just as I know from Psalm 139 that God is with me and will be with my kids wherever they go, I also know that God is with you and will be with your loved ones wherever they go.  For there’s no place in the world that you can go where God is not there!

As David went on to say in Psalm 139:

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,’
even the darkness is not dark to You;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with You.”
(Psalm 139:11-12)

Even if it looks dark all around you, know that God is still right there with you.  The darkness doesn’t matter to Him.  In His eyes, “the night is as bright as the day.”  You’re not alone.  God loves you.  He sees you.  And He knows what you’re going through.

I can say this with confidence because no one knows you better than Him.  He created you. He saw what you looked like before anyone else did, while He was still forming you in your mother’s womb.  And even before you lived a single day of your life, God had a plan for every one of them.

As David sang:

“For You formed my inward parts;
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are Your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in Your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.”
(Psalm 139:13-16)

God knows you.  He loves you.  And He has an incredible purpose for your life, just as He loves and knows and has an incredible purpose for the lives of every one around you.  Read Psalm 139 sometime today, and let the truth of God’s words sink deep into your heart.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the reminder today of how great Your love is for each one of us.  Thank You that there’s nothing hidden from You and that there’s no place we can go where You aren’t there with us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Memory Verse:

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:1, ESV).