May 24 - Psalm 139:11-12

May 24 - Psalm 139:11-12

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. 

It is dark in the country.  I mean DARK!  On nights when the clouds hide the moon and stars, the darkness is overwhelming.  Driving on country roads at night, with no lights except my headlights cutting through the darkness can be a little scary.

One night I came up to the cabin late after a choir rehearsal.  I opened the back of my Jeep and was beginning to grab things to take inside.  Just as I reached for the second bag, I heard strange animal sounds. They were loud and they were close!  I dropped everything back into the Jeep, slammed the door, ran inside, slammed the main door and decided that unpacking could just wait until morning.

Mom, Dad, Jim and I went to Canada in 1982.  We drove as far as the road would take us (the dirt road that kept going went into an Indian encampment. The guys came out every morning in their pickup trucks to get to work).  Camping with my father was a terrific experience.  He made sure that everyone was comfortable.  He and Jim pitched the tent and set up the entire camp.

We were far enough north that it never really got dark.  In fact, Mom and I were able to read without additional light until 3 am.  However, it was dark enough in the woods behind our campground that she and I chose to NOT sleep in the tent with Jim and Dad.  We preferred the safety of the van’s metal walls.  When Dad and Jim told us about the wolves snuffling around their tent and then showed us the pawprints, we were thankful for those metal walls and stayed in the van the rest of the week.

Darkness exposes our fears.  We think that it hides our inconsistencies and flaws, but what really happens in darkness is that little fears become immense and threaten to overtake our sanity.

We worry when our children are afraid of the dark, but many of us are just as fearful when the lights go out and we can’t see things as they really are.  I don’t mind having a nightlight burning or lights from the computer (not the monitors – hate that), or power bricks.  Those small flickers of light are enough to guide me when I wake up in the middle of the night.

The greatest darkness we find ourselves in can be fear or sin or hatred or sorrow.  There is no electrical solution to combat those fears, but there is a promise we have from God.  He brings light into darkness.  When He created the world, the first thing he created was light (Genesis 1:3).  When all is said and done, and the Lord walks among us, the sun and moon will no longer be needed because the glory of the Lord will bring light and the Lamb will be its lamp (Revelation 21:23).

God is light and in him there is no darkness.  Now – imagine the brightness of that light as He stands in the darkness of your heart.  God brings light into darkness.

This is a promise.

May 23 - Psalm 139:9-10

May 23 - Psalm 139:9-10

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. 

God’s hand will guide me – his right hand will hold me fast.

Throughout scripture we read of God’s right hand.  The right hand is the hand of authority or honor.  When Jacob gave out his blessings, the right hand came first. In Genesis 48:13-14, even though Manasseh was the older son, Jacob crossed his hands so that the right hand would be on Ephraim’s head for the blessing.

The right hand refers to the Messiah in prophecy found in the Old Testament. These prophecies promise that the Messiah will rule over his enemies.

“A Psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”  Psalm 110:1

Psalm 118:16.  “the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!"

This makes a great deal more sense when we get to the New Testament.

Ephesians 1:19-21, “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the one who has been given great power and is blessed by and whom we know is seated at the right hand of the Father, will hold us fast.

The strength of that right hand is what keeps us safe, no matter where we are.

May 22 - Psalm 139:8

May 22 - Psalm 139:8

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

One thing distinguishing the Lord from other gods is that there is no limitation to his reach.  While lesser gods focus on one area of authority, the Lord God is everywhere. He isn't just a god of the sun or the sea, the winds or fertility.  He is nothing like Athena or Jupiter, Mars or Neptune.  He is the God of creation: omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent.

Even though He can’t abide in hell, His reach extends to the very depths as it does to the very heights of creation.

Through the next couple of verses, the Psalmist spells out the extent of the Lord’s presence.  The heights of heaven, the depths of hell … tomorrow we see him in the wings of dawn (the east), the far side of the sea (the west), the next day we’ll read of the darkness and light … all of these things portray God’s absolute sovereignty over all that He created.

No matter how high we soar or how low we fall, the Lord God is there.  We can be confident in that. We can relax in that. We can find comfort in that.  God is everywhere that we are. He was there before we got there and will be there long after we leave.

May 21 - Psalm 139:7

May 21 - Psalm 139:7

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 

Jeremiah 23:24 says "Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD."

Hebrews 4:13 says "Hebrews 4:13 And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account."

This is one of those things we can count on … there is no place in heaven or on earth that we can escape the notice of God.  For some, this might seem terrifying, but for me, these words provide great comfort.

Fear and anger make us do crazy things. Sometimes running away is the only thing we can do to escape our own terrors. I think of all those who feel alone.  I think of children who are bullied, a parent watching a child go through hell, whether physically or emotionally; addicts who can’t escape their drug of choice; families who are abused, whether verbally, emotionally or physically by an angry, sick, person; there are so many reasons, both real and imagined why we want to run away.

When I was young, I had a close friend who had seen so much misery in her short life that all she could do was bolt and run, even though she had a home with loving people.  She trusted no one.  There was no one who felt safe to her.

These words assure us that no matter where we run to, God sees us.  These words are meant to comfort us.  There is no place that is too far away for the one who loves us the most to find us.  With every step we take away from familiar surroundings, he walks with us.  In every dark place we choose to hide, he is beside us.

We can’t hide from him.  He fills heaven and earth.

May 20 - Psalm 139:6

May 20 - Psalm 139:6

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 

The Lord knows me; he hems me in and lays his hand on me.  THAT knowledge is too wonderful - too lofty to attain.

I have spent the last two years going after more and more knowledge.  There seems to be no slaking the thirst that I have for knowledge.  I read voraciously, I search out information and knowledge all the time.

However, I will never know the extent of the Father’s love for me.  It feels as if I see glimpses of it, but I can’t get my head wrapped around the enormity of it.

What wondrous love this is.  He knows us better than anyone, He cares for us more than we can comprehend and there is no way to grasp the depth of his infinite love for us.

We can try to understand it, we can attempt to put it into words, but no knowledge will ever be enough.  The knowledge of what the Lord has done for us is greater than anything we can contemplate.

May 19 - Psalm 139:5

May 19 - Psalm 139:5

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

I love to cocoon myself in blankets.  I sleep on my side, so I will lean forwards and tuck the blankets in behind me and then pull the blankets in so they tuck in around my front.  Before I know it, I am warm and snuggled into my cocoon, with not much showing except my nose on those cold, winter nights.  If there is a warm animal tucked in close under the blankets with me, all the better and if I need several extra blankets on top, that’s fine, too!  When I am all tucked in like that, the cold night air has difficulty reaching me.

The Psalmist revels in the protection offered by the Lord.  Imagine those amazing, creative hands, tucking you in cradling you as he wraps his protection around you.  The hand of the Father strokes your hair gently, offering comfort and peace … soothing you.

Now, imagine the Father taking all of your yesterdays and all of your tomorrows and covering those with his hands.  He hems you in behind … all that has happened until this moment and he hems you in before … all that will happen from this moment forward.  Those are also protected and covered by him.

You are safe with the Lord who knows everything about you. From the moment of your birth he offers you protection, safety, peace and love.  All you have to do is reach out for it.

May 18 - Psalm 139:1-4

May 18 - Psalm 139:1-4

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. 

As you read these words, what is it that your imagination grabs hold of?

I consider how only the Lord knows everything about me.  Before him, I am as vulnerable as a newborn.  There is nothing he doesn’t know about me, there is nothing he hasn’t seen me do or heard me say.  I can hide nothing from him.

The Lord knows my deepest wounds and would love nothing more than for those to be healed.  He knows my greatest desires and would love nothing more than for me to see those through his eyes so that together we can make them become real.

He knows my anger and would love for me to release it so that it no longer poisons my heart.  He knows which things make me happy and would love to be able to allow everything in my life to be easy.

He knows my limitations and would love for me to be able to trust him as he leads me beyond those into an extraordinary life.  He knows what I dream about and would love to make those dreams a reality.

He knows when I struggle to wake up in the morning and would love to let me know what will happen throughout the day so that I am as excited about it as he is.  He knows when I awaken in the middle of the night, filled with terror about things I cannot control and he would love to hold me and comfort me and assure me that all will be well.

He knows my sins; he knows my weaknesses and my strengths.  He knows all of these things and yet he is the only one that I trust completely with this knowledge. It is to him that I pour out the truth of my life. He holds it close to his heart and will never betray me to the world, to the deceiver, even to myself.

He has permission to search me through and through, something I give to no person on earth, because there is no one who is worthy of that trust.  Only him … the one who knew me before I was born.  He is the one who knows me now and will know me through my life.