Psalm for Sunday, June 24, 2012

  
Reflections

Psalm 139:  1-3, 13-15

“Lord, you have probed me, you know me.”

Our psalmist David tells us
that there is no way to hide from God,
who is all knowing,
and who is present to us always.
 
David says later in the Psalm,
“Where can I hide from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?”
There really is no need for us
to run away from the Lord.
His presence within us draws us closer to Him.
There is no reason for anxiety
just because He knows all our inner secrets
(“With all my ways you are familiar.”)

In fact his presence is merely to confirm
that we have a share in His divinity,
After all, God is the one
“Who knit us in our mother's womb.”
He is our Creator, so why would we run from Him?  
On the contrary, we are drawn to Him,
and we are led by Him along right paths.

“Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother's womb.” 
When we hear these words,
we are reminded that John the Baptist
leaps in his mother's womb
when Mary visits Elizabeth. 
John heralds the coming of Christ
even while he remains in the depths
of his mother’s womb. 
Surely John the Baptist was
wonderfully made and so much of what
our psalmist says seems fit to apply to John.

As for us, truly the Lord is familiar
with all our ways; he knows our soul full well,
and he knows our frame as well. 
Just as the hand of God was with John
from the moment of his conception,
so the Lord has a plan for each of us as well.
 
We are wonderfully made because the Lord
wouldn't have it any other way.
He equips us to do his work;
to be a light to our families and our communities;
to preach the Gospel and 'when necessary use words.'
 
We may not all be headed for a sojourn
in the desert, but the Lord knows
when we sit and when we stand;
he scrutinizes our journeys,
and he has made us for a purpose. 

Amen

Discussion Questions for Reflection

1.  Our Psalm response is, "I praise you, for I am wonderfully made."  
Do you believe that you are created by God to do His will,
that you are made for a purpose?  Explain.

2.  Our psalmist says, "O Lord, you have probed me, you know me."  
We cannot hide anything from our God; He is familiar with all our ways.  
Are you convicted by these words?  
Are there sins you commit that you would prefer to
keep in the dark, or on a side porch, away from God's knowledge?
In what way are you grateful for the scrutiny of the Lord?