January 16, 2015--Knows Me

Psalm 139

¹O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
²You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
³You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.
⁵You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
⁷Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
⁸If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
⁹If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”
¹²even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
¹³For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.
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This is my favorite psalm, and definitely a favorite passage from Scripture.

I find this psalm comforting.  I often wonder if anyone really knows me.  Sure, they know me as pastor, friend, sister, ..... but do they know me?  Does anyone really know me? Do I know me?

Psalm 139 affirms that yes indeed, someone does know me and that is God.  And even though God knows me, with all my faults, scars, failures--God loves me.  No matter what, God is with me.  In fact, even if I wanted to flee from God's presence, that is impossible.

I failed to write devotions now for nearly a week.  I apologize, mostly to myself and God, because I had made this a goal for my spiritual journey.  I thank God that when I fail, God continues!

Let us pray, creating and everpresent God, you created me and all people, and in your image you said we are good.  Nothing in our lives are hidden from you, and you know us inside and out, and beyond.  Thank you for that comfort when I feel other people don't understand me, when I don't understand myself.  Amen.