Uncle Luther's Porch

I’m going to take a break from my normal ranting and grumbling. For the next few days I will set aside my usual criticisms and ponderings and reflect on one of the most beautiful word pictures found in the Bible.

Not to sound clichéd but the next few blogs are more for me than for anyone who may be reading. I want to spend some time looking closely at Psalm 139, which—more than any other passage I can think of—describes how deeply God loves His people.

We live in a society of unfaithful marriages, throw-away relationships and shallow friendships. I don’t know about you, but it seems like every time I turn around I’m losing a friend, meeting an enemy or struggling to know who I can trust.

This song written by King David thousands of years ago tells of the love of a God who doesn’t change. The one being in all the universe who knows me completely… The only One who knows my motives, will not second guess me and will never have an inaccurate perception of me.

This is the song of a God who knows me better than I know myself and who sees my strengths and weaknesses—and doesn’t run or turn away. He is the only One capable of loving me unconditionally. So, for the next few posts, I invite you to meditate with me on this old Psalm. Some might call it over-used, but I know I can’t hear of God’s love enough.

To start, I’ll post the Psalm in its entirety. In the posts that follow, we will look at each passage together and reflect on this unshakeable and undeserved love the Father has for us.

Oh 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, Oh Lord.
You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
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, [a] 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.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
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,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, Oh God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, Oh God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Oh Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, Oh 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.