By Megan Evans, Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC

PSALM 139:1,13-14, 23 (NIV)
1O Lord, you have searched me and known me! …
13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well…
23Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Has God ever felt distant?  Perhaps you’ve even felt forgotten by God at times, or you’ve wondered if your decisions and choices really matter that much to God.  These are certainly normal human feelings, but definitely not the truth when it comes to God. Psalm 139 is a glimpse into the very attentive nature of God as our loving Creator and Father, and throughout this Psalm David captures the very real presence of God in our life.  Like David, recognizing that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present helps us grow in our personal relationship with him.

The claim that God doesn’t care, or that God has forgotten us just doesn’t hold up when we realize that God knows more about us than we know about Him.  We are reminded in Psalm 139 that God knows when we sit and stand and He knows our thoughts before we think them (verse 2). He knows our words before we think or say them (vs 4).  This kind of knowledge is humbling and can only be attributed to an all-knowing God. David states in verse 6, “Your knowledge is amazing to me; it is more than I can understand.” Do you know that full well today?

David understands God’s presence when he states, “you hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me,” (vs 5).   As far north, south, east, or west as one can go, David understands that God is there and misses no detail (vs 8). But more than that, David understands that God’s hand is also there guiding him (vs 10) Why? Because he loves you.  God knows His creation in and out. Do you know that full well today?  

David acknowledges the personal nature of His Creator.  God knew you before anyone else did. God loved you even before you loved Him (1 John 4:19).  God lovingly knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16). How often do we join David in praising God for our physical frame and inward personality, talents, and abilities?  God deserves praise for our body, and our body as God’s creation deserves care and respect. Our body, both its physical and inward being, has value. God is powerful and sovereign, is daily involved in your life, and yes – even thinks about you (vs 16-17)!  David recognized that God created him on purpose, with a purpose, for a purpose.  Do you know that full well today?  

In poetic style, David begins and ends Psalm 139 with the same thought, “Search me God and know my heart” (verses 1 and 23).  What a beautiful moment when our thoughts and desires align with God’s Truth and God’s Will for your life. Grab your Bible and spend some time reading Psalm 139–Will you join David in praying this psalm over your life today?  

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Lord, Thank you for lovingly knitting me together. You know me better than I know myself. Search my heart and guide me to live in Your will.  Teach me to use my personality and abilities to glorify you. In Jesus’ Name, break the chains of the enemy and tear down lies I have believed about myself in the past.  Today I choose to believe, I am wonderfully made. Today I proclaim that I know that full well! In Jesus Name, Amen.

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Isaiah 26:3
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.