Psalm 139

Every so often you stumble across a psalm that just seems to strike a chord somewhere deep inside you. That's what Psalm 139 is to me. It never ceases to amaze me that one so great and holy could be so near to us. Every time I read Psalm 139, I am so amazed and humbled by the deeply personal nature of our relationship with the Lord; and this psalm seems to describe every aspect of that incredibly intimate relationship.

Psalm 139: 1-4, 13:
O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Isn't it just so incredible? There are 6 billion people in this world, and the Lord, the Maker of them all, cares enough to know each one better than they know themselves! And even beyond that, nothing we do surprises Him. When we mess up, it's not like He's shocked or disappointed in us- He knows that we're bound to mess up sometimes. That means that nothing we do will ever make Him love us less, and that we don't have to work to somehow "earn" His love. He already knows all our virtues and our shortcomings, already loves us because of them; so we don't have to put our successes on display or try to hide our failures in order to gain His favor.

Psalm 139: 7-10, 18:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
...When I awake,
I am still with you.

Do you know that the Lord is with you always? You've probably heard many times that He'll never leave us or forsake us, and that He is with us in everything we do. But do you actually know it? There come times when you feel far from God; when you wonder if He's really there, or if you've done something to drive Him away, and that's why you can't hear His voice or feel His presence. In times like these, this passage really comforts me. It tells me that no matter where I am in life- physically or circumstantially- I haven't lost Him. There's nowhere I could go, nowhere I could hide or fall into, where He wouldn't be able to find me. I've often heard it said that when hard times come and we wonder if God has abandoned us, those are the times when He is closest. And you know what? I'm starting to find out that it's true. The times when we fall away are the times when He proves Himself most faithful to us.

Psalm 139: 23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Here, David talks about our part in our relationship with the Lord. In these two verses, he says, "Here I am, Lord. I'm not hiding anything from You. I've laid myself bare; now examine me. Tell me what I need to do to be Your disciple, and I'll do it." David is being completely honest with God, surrendering his heart and all his worries. He's not trying to hide his mistakes or hold on to any secret sense of self. He's asking God to teach him "the way everlasting," and promising to live in obedience to Him.

Psalm 139:5:

You hem me in- behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

The first half of this verse simply says that God is all around and within us. (As a song by 10th Avenue North says, "My love is over, it's underneath, it's inside, it's in between.") Again, it's saying that we can never escape His presence. The second part says that He's got His hand on us, protecting and guiding us. It reminds me of the animal sacrifices made by the Hebrews- just before killing the animal, they would lay their hands on its head in order to bless it. So it's like God Himself is blessing us as a sacrifice at the cross of Calvary- blessing the sacrifice of our sin and death, so that we come into our new lives, sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, as a blessed people. Also, in the New Testament and today, the laying on of hands is used as a physical symbol of blessing, healing, or working by the Holy Spirit. So here, it's also like God is laying His hand on us to bless and heal us with the power of the Holy Spirit.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The intimacy of our relationship with God is at once terrifying and wonderful. It's terrifying because God can see into our deepest selves; He can see every part of us that we hide from the world, everything in ourselves that we hate. He knows all our imperfections, and He can plainly see our sins- the sins that He hates. But this intimacy is also wonderful because we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. There is no retribution, wrath, or judgement; there is only life. Now we stand before His throne as a forgiven people. Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, the Lord Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is with us and for us.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me." (2 Samuel 22:17)

That's what our relationship with the great and holy God is like. Are you amazed?