God Knows Us
It could be argued that most, if not all, of the Psalms are prayers. We couldn’t fit them all into our 52 days of prayers so we have picked just one Psalm as an example. And why have we chosen Psalm 139? Simply because it is one of my favourites!
This is a wonderful song prayer of praise, written by king David.
God knows us! The word translated as know also means ‘to explore’ and was also used to describe mining operations. He doesn’t just know who we are, he has purposefully set out to know all about us. To drill down below the surface.
He knows all of our daily life. And he knows every word that we speak.
He surrounds us completely, upholding us and reassuring us. What a wonderful thought that is!
We cannot hide from God. He knows where we are all of the time, even in the darkness when no one else can see us He still sees us as clear as if it were day. We're going to hear more about that in a couple of days when Jess tells us about a prayer that Jonah prayed while he was trying to hide from God.
Whatever we are going through, God knows about it and we find ourselves in his loving care.
We might have family members who delight in telling stories of that time we did something embarrassing when we were only a few years old, but God knew us even before then. He knew us when we were first conceived and he surrounded us even then.
The way that we are made is marvellous. I mean, think about all of the organs, bones, muscles, blood vessels and skin that holds everything together in perfect balance. When you think about it, the human body is amazing. You are amazing. If we know nothing else about God, he is worthy of praise just for the way he has made us.
God knows our thoughts too and yet he still loves us!
And the psalm tells is that it isn’t just that God knows us, he thinks about us too. In fact he thinks about us so often that you can’t count the times that he thinks about you.
Have you ever, been in love? When you just can’t stop thinking about someone? That is what it is like with God. He just can’t stop thinking about you.
There is no comparison between God’s goodness and the wickedness of men. The tone of this Psalm suddenly shifts towards indignation of those who do not follow God, those who don’t appreciate how much God loves them.
This prayer finishes with a plea. It is actually a really brave ask. Keep seeking me out God, David says, and search my heart. Test that my heart is true towards you. Reveal to me when I am getting it wrong and teach me how to get it right.
It is a wonderful prayer of praise, a wonderful expression of how much God loves us. Tonight, let’s reflect on this, maybe even using this Psalm as a way to prompt our own prayer of praise. And, if you are brave enough ask God to keep seeking you out and testing that your heart is true.
Tomorrow we read about Jeremiah who thought he was too young to obey God and do what God asked of him. I wonder how many of you can relate to that?