Psalms 139:1-6 ESV

“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.”

The Lord is our creator, the one who made us, and so he knows us. Now he is not in an intimate relationship with all who he created, but he knows everything about each one of us, whether or not we believe in him. So there is nothing escaping his notice or his knowledge. But since this is a psalm, I presume that the author of the psalm is one who is intimately acquainted with the Lord, and he is speaking of his relationship with the Lord.

The Lord does know those who are his intimately. And he has searched us, not that he needed to do that, but I think that is for our benefit that we might see what he sees about us. For sometimes we can be blinded to our own selves and to our own faults, and so we need to see ourselves through the eyes of the one who made us. And sometimes this is actually for our encouragement when Satan is attacking us.

The Lord Jesus is acquainted with all of our ways and with all of our thinking, and there is nothing hidden from his sight. He understands us much better than we understand ourselves. So it is good sometimes for us to ask him to search us and to show us what is in our hearts, and to reveal to us anything hidden that we need to have brought to the light. For sometimes we miss things that we need to see about ourselves.

I like this part about how Jesus knows what I am going to say even before I say it, because then I ask him sometimes to please let me know if I am about to say something that I shouldn’t so that I don’t say it. For I am not perfect in everything that I say. I do strive, by the grace of God, to say only what is good and helpful to others, but there have been times when I didn’t choose the best words, and I could have done better.

Psalms 139:13-16 ESV

“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.”

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, but he is also God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he is our creator God. So, Jesus Christ formed our inward parts. He placed us in the wombs of our mothers and in our families. And at least for those of us who have been called by him, he has a plan and a purpose for our lives. He put us in the families he had designed for us in order to make us who we are and/or who he wants us to be. This was all part of his plan for our lives.

And in his book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Now that is absolutely amazing, and we need to grasp this. For our Lord did not create us without a plan. None of us were accidents. And even if we had horrible upbringings, still that was the mother and/or the father we were designed to have, for a reason. And the things that happened to us in life, and the people who did horrible things to us, well that was all part of making us into who God designed that we should be, too.

Nothing happens to us unless God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose, and he intends for good to come out of it in our lives. Even our bad experiences were to teach us to rely on God and not on ourselves, and to humble us, and to change us to be more like Jesus. And they were to make us more compassionate towards others, and to grow us in our walks of faith and obedience. So whether good experiences or bad, it was all to make us into the children of God that he designed that we should become.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13]

The Prayer

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,
Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

I pray you’ll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don’t know

Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.

I pray we’ll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When the stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe.

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians