Morning Reflections: A Gentle Start with Psalm 139

The average human body has about thirty-seven trillion cells, each one working in perfect concert. In our last episode, we talked about finding strength and purpose to begin a new day. Today’s reading goes to the very heart of that purpose, to the one who designed every single one of those cells. This is Psalm 139. You have searched me, Lord, 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, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay 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, 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, 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, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, 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. There is so much comfort in this one passage. But it all comes down to the deep, personal, and intimate knowledge God has of you.

Let's look at three layers of that comfort. First, there is the comfort of being completely seen. The Psalm begins, "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me." He knows your thoughts from afar. He knows the words on your tongue before you even speak them. In a world where we are constantly curating our lives for others, putting on a brave face… that can sound intimidating. But it’s actually an invitation to rest. Here’s what that means for you today: you can stop performing. You don’t have to pretend.

You can bring your honest fears, your unspoken questions, and your unfiltered self to God, because He already knows. And He loves you. Second, there is the comfort of His constant presence. David asks, "Where can I go from your Spirit?" The answer is… nowhere. Not to the highest heaven, not to the depths of the sea. He even says that the darkness is not dark to God. So many of us feel alone in our struggles. We feel like we’re in a dark place where no one can see or understand. Here’s what that means for you: That feeling is not the final truth.

Even there, the text says, His hand will guide you. His right hand will hold you fast. It is a promise that you are never, EVER alone, no matter how dark it seems. And finally, there is the comfort of being intentionally made. This is where it all comes together. You were not an accident. You were not a random collection of cells. The scripture says you were knit together. That you are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made. Your unformed body was seen by God, and all the days of your life were written in His book before you lived a single one of them.

Here’s what that means for you, right now, in this moment: Your value is not based on your performance today. It’s not based on your success, or your failures, or what other people think of you. Your value was established by your Creator before you took your first breath. That is a foundation you can build your entire day on. The knowledge that you are fully known, constantly accompanied, and wonderfully made.