The Christian Thread

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 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 know it completely, O LORD.

 ⁵ You hem me in—behind and before;
       you have laid your hand upon me.

 ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
       too lofty for me to attain.

What an amazing notion- that my God knows his creation and his design so thoroughly that my next remark or activity he is already aware of.  Nothing I ever do surprises him.  He knows when I will speak encouragingly and with love, and he knows when I will speak with venom and hurtfulness.

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
       Where can I flee from your presence?

 ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
       if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

 ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
       if I settle on the far side of the sea,

 ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
       your right hand will hold me fast.

 ¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
       and the light become night around me,"

 ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
       the night will shine like the day,
       for darkness is as light to you.

There is nowhere I can go to be away from God.  This thought that begins as a terrifying idea becomes one of comfort as soon my relationship with God changes from one of enmity to one of adoption and gentle care.  While I once feared God would know all my wrong deeds and despise me, I now take comfort in knowing that he is always there to correct me, and is always available every time I am tempted and tried.

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
       you knit me together in my mother's womb.

 ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
       your works are wonderful,
       I know that full well.

 ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
       when I was made in the secret place.
       When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

 ¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

When my little son was born, the nurses had to take him to another room for a short while, and I attended him.  I asked for a Bible and read him this passage, and I plan to read it to every child I have as soon as he or she is born.  During the nine months we could not see our boy (though my wife could feel his movements), the Master was busy at work crafting not just an amazing physical specimen, but also every single day my son would live through- every scrape, bruise, broken bone, tear and crushed spirit is written in God's book, but so is every glory, hope, joy, dream and achievement.  God is a master craftsman who completes every work.

 ¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!

 ¹⁸ Were I to count them,
       they would outnumber the grains of sand.
       When I awake,
       I am still with you.

What a majestic thought, that the Creator and Overseer of the universe thinks of me (and you)!  His thoughts toward us outnumber the sands on the ocean.  While we so seldom think of God, he never ceases thinking of us.  Whenever I am in need, I am on his mind.  Whenever I am joyful, I am on his mind.  Whenever I behave immorally, even then am I on his mind.  Again, this constant attention would have alarmed me as someone caught up in sin, but as a child of God, I know I need his watchful eye at all times.

 ¹⁹ If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
       Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

 ²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
       your adversaries misuse your name.

 ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
       and abhor those who rise up against you?

 ²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
       I count them my enemies.

God is certainly a God of love, but he is a God of holiness first, and his patience only extends so far.  The psalmist here is grieved that God is slow in demonstrating his wrath and sweeping up and destroying the wicked in one swift wave of his hand.  When we become holier through the cleansing of God, over time, those who speak ill of God or those who ignore his commands will hurt our hearts more, and rightfully anger us.  Yet Peter writes this:

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9). 

But before we are quick to ask God to crush all evil, we must consider the final words of the psalm...

 ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

 ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

That should be on a Christian's lips every morning: "Lord, show me where my shortcomings are- show me what aspects of my life stink to you."  But know that God will be faithful in doing this!  And then we must be ready and willing to deal with it when God exposes our bad behaviors to us.