You Search Me and Know Me
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.”
Our Lord God knows everything about us, for he created us.
He knows us inside and out, better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are
thinking and what we are going to say before we know it. I don’t always know
what I am going to say before I say it.
I definitely don’t know what I am going to write before I
write it. I don’t usually even know the passage of Scripture I am going to be
writing on until the time to write. And when I sit down to write, I pray for
the Lord to give me the words to say or else nothing gets written.
Even as I began this writing, there were no more words in my
head after the first paragraph. So, I prayed, and I inquired of the Lord if
this was the passage he wanted me to write on today and if there was anything
he needed to deal with me about before I wrote, too. I always want my heart
clean before him.
I don’t want to ever be hypocritical. I don’t want to teach
beyond what I am living or write about something which I am not putting into
practice myself. So, I want the Lord to search my heart and to show me where I
am failing in any way so that I can get that right with him before I move forward.
You Knitted Me Together
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.”
What came to mind before I started writing this was an
incident which took place when I was a child. It was something over which I had
no control. I didn’t know why it happened, but it saddened me. I didn’t have
the courage to ask why, and I didn’t know why until many years later.
So, as I was sitting here getting ready to write, I was
inquiring of the Lord about that incident and if there was something he wanted
to teach me through this. And then I read this part where it says, “You knitted
me together in my mother’s womb.”
So, what that means is that God gave me the parents that he
gave me. He chose for me the mother and the father I was to have, for better or
for worse. And he chose for me the siblings that I had, and my experiences I
had with them, too. For all the days that were formed for me were written in
God’s book before any of them came into being.
God allowed the things he allowed to take place in my life
for a purpose. It doesn’t mean that he approved or that he caused any of it to
happen, but he permitted it to take place. And everything that happened served
a purpose in my life in making me who I am today.
The Scriptures teach that God chose us in him even before he
laid the foundations of the earth. So, this means that God knew me even before
he created the universe, and that he called me for a very specific purpose, and
he allowed me to go through the things I went through to prepare me for this
ministry.
So, when this says that “I am fearfully and wonderfully
made,” that includes all the things God had planned for our lives to make us
who we are. He uses our difficult experiences to draw us to himself and to
humble us and to mold us and make us into his likeness.
When I consider this calling which the Lord has placed on my
life, and I look at my life from birth to my present age of 71, I can see in so
many ways how all of this was preparing me for this point in time in my life. The
Lord was setting me apart for his service even from before I was born.
So, when you think back over your life, and you wonder why
things happened the way that they did, the things which were out of your
control, remember these words of the Psalmist. All of your experiences were
allowed by God to happen in order that he would make you into the person he
wants you to be for his purposes and for his glory and for the salvation of
human lives, too. For we are all here to share the gospel of our salvation.
Lead Me in the Way
Psalms 139:23-24 ESV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!”
Perhaps you are reading this, and you are struggling to
accept the idea of God’s absolute sovereignty over your life. You have had some
difficult experiences, perhaps in your childhood, in your marriage, with
co-workers, with neighbors, or with the church. And you just can’t accept that
a loving God would allow you to go through what you went through.
Well, he never promised us that life would be easy or that
we wouldn’t have to suffer. In fact, he said we would suffer, that suffering is
part of life, and it is definitely part of the Christian life. For, we share in
the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
Through the things we suffer, if we are followers of Christ,
God matures us, he makes us holy, and he teaches us patience and endurance and
to rely on him and not on ourselves. And he makes us, and he molds us into his
image, and he prepares us for the calling he has upon our lives.
Think with me about Joseph and what he suffered at the hands
of his brothers. What did he tell them many years later? “You intended to harm
me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the
saving of many lives.”
I believe that is a picture of my life, too. Satan tried to
destroy me from birth on throughout my life. Many people in my life did evil to
me. But all of this was allowed by God to make me who he wanted me to be so
that he could use me in the way he is now using me, which definitely involves
the saving of many lives.
So, again, if you are struggling with something you went
through in your life or that you are presently going through, and you are
questioning God as to why he allowed or is allowing this to happen to you, give
it over to the Lord. Surrender your all to him and let him make you into who he
wants you to be. Let him use it in your life for his purposes and for his
glory.
Jesus,
Rescue Me
An
Original Work / September 18, 2011
Based
off of Romans 7:7-8:39
Jesus, rescue me today.
Listen while I bow and pray.
I need Your help to obey You;
Live for You always.
Meet me in my hour of need, Lord,
As I pray to You.
Help me walk in fellowship, Lord,
Living in Your truth.
Jesus, how I long for You to
Change my heart anew.
Father, God, my heart’s desire
Is to live for You this hour
In Your Holy Spirit’s power
Living in me now.
Teach me to walk in Your love, Lord,
Guiding me each day.
Help me to show love and kindness
To the lost, I pray.
Father, teach me to love others
As You love always.
Holy Spirit come in pow’r.
Revive our hearts in this hour.
Change our hearts to be like You, Lord;
Live for You each day.
Help us to forsake our sins, Lord,
As we humbly pray.
Teach us how to live for You, Lord,
Obey You always.
Holy Spirit come in power,
Revive us today.
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