Skip to main content

He Knows

             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. (Psalm139:1-6)

Today’s passage includes my favorite verse about how God sees me. In my imagination, I see God (indistinctly, of course) sitting on His throne doing His God-thing. Suddenly, He raises a finger and says something like, “Hold on a sec. Karen’s thinking a thought and I want to listen.” I know that’s not Biblical. God doesn’t have to interrupt His “God-thing” to listen. But the point is that He perceives my thoughts.

He has searched me. Not searched for me, but searched me. That’s more than a little intimate and scary. He knows me. He knows the lies I tell myself, the lies I tell others, and the truth. He knows what I’m doing and why. He knows what I think, what I think I believe, and what I really believe. Before I make a claim or an excuse, He knows it.

I’ve used this idea before, but I’ll take it up a notch. I am (we are) like a frightened, cornered or trapped animal, struggling, snapping, and screaming. He blocks any escape route and carefully wraps His arms around us because, for all our imagined prowess, we are harmless to Him. And then, He lays His hand on our head or back, and begins to stroke, telling us with soft words and soft touches that we are safe. He will feed us, warm us, bind up our wounds, and give us somewhere safe to rest.

Sometimes, animals (and we) respond quickly and almost instinctively to a rescuer. Sometimes, it takes time. I had a dog who never got over being afraid, and if someone touched her without speaking to her (so she knew you were there), she would panic and defend herself until she realized who was there and that there was no threat. Sometimes, we’re like her.

As I noted yesterday, this is one of my favorite passages about God’s view of me because I have seen it from both sides.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more