Random Encouragement from the Psalms - Pt. 7

 

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. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. (Psalm 139:13-18 ESV).

 

Before we were known to our parents, God was forming every intricate detail and fabric of who we are. We often default to a critical view of ourselves and others. Psalm 139 helps us to see ourselves and others through God’s perspective. Color, ethnicity, disability …every trait and characteristic were crafted by our purposeful God. We are crafted personally and purposefully, to bring glory to God. Nothing about us is accidental. God doesn’t simply allow us to be a certain way or carry a certain trait - every cell of our being is intentional. When I became a parent, I experienced love on another level. And, even though I love my children greatly, God gave them life and cares for them infinitely more. We are all loved by God this way.

 

“God has perfect knowledge of us,” Matthew Henry wrote, “and all our thoughts and actions are open before him.” We cannot control the thoughts popping into our minds all day long, every day. But we do have some say over what happens to them once they arrive. Scripture advises to take our thoughts captive. Some of the rogue thoughts that enter our minds are absolutely crazy! God sees every one of them. He knows our words before we let them exit our mouths. He knows what we will do. He’s numbered our days. We are intimately known by God, not just outwardly, but inwardly. When the heart is mentioned in Scripture, it often refers to the seat of our souls, and the place from which we make decisions and harbor our beliefs. God is there. He is not surprised by our physical or mental struggles.

 

Being intimately known by our sovereign God means we are not hidden, nor should we feel compelled or convinced by guilt or shame to hide from Him in any way. The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross negated the shame which compelled Adam and Eve to hide from God in the garden. Though the curse of sin we live under compels us to do the same—run and hide when we sin—God made a way for us, through Jesus, to bring our sin to His feet and confess and repent of it. God’s forgiveness, His mercies, and the grace available to us through Christ Jesus, are new each day.