Recently on Youtube, I heard a song inspired by Psalm 139.
Without much time to dwell into it, I immediately reached for my Bible to read what it is about.
Below is the New International Version (NIV) of it:
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Here’s a couple of things I was struck by.
For one thing, I realize it’s been a while since I last opened my Bible to meditate on God’s Word.
It doesn’t matter if there’s a good preacher from the pulpit to expound on all things biblical and theological.
What matters is hearing what God has to say to me in the middle of all quietness.
It was both fun and refreshing to hear what He has to say to me on this day at this juncture of my life.
Here’s another – I became aware of a few individuals I have not thought about in a while.
You probably won’t know who Wee Ming is. I can’t even tell you if he is dead or alive. After all, it’s been 35 years since our paths crossed.
But I remember his intensity. His face showing an obvious wrestling whenever he ponders and tries to make sense of a deep truth from God. I am glad he took time to share his thoughts and ideas with me.
I am also glad my spirit was open to receive it then.
Which leads me to another insight and point.
Routine, structure and comfort has a very sneaky way of lulling all of us into a deep sleep.
We think we are alive – busy with all our stuff.
When the truth is it’s good to be disrupted and welcome radical interruption at times.
That’s what this month of May has been for me.
On Mother’s Day, I deliberately unplugged myself from all things electronic.
Instead of visiting a spiritual center, I simply handed my phone to Ron to safekeep it.
Oh, how lovely it was to do without it!
And to notice all the automatic ways of how much I rely on my phone to function in our modern world.
Then this past weekend, a severe storm hit Houston and knocked out our electricity.
I heard close to a million of us were without power. (I have yet to fact-check that.)
2 days without power again was delightful.
Irritating at first but how wonderful it was to let go of many non-essentials and do so many essentials in a new way.
I certainly was glad to know a few of my neighbors in a deeper way.
In Psalm 139, I am reminded once more I was carefully planned out (verses 13-16).
Verses 17 and 18 cause me to pause and ask this question:
When was the last time I think His thoughts are more precious than mine?
Truth is I have more personal thoughts I like to dwell on than His these days!
As I relook Psalm 139, I am struck once more by the pure heart of this psalmist.
He is eager for Him. He loves the presence of God in his life.
Do you?
I hope this entry encourages a deepening of your faith walk with Him.
Yours warmly,
Angela
