A Dose of Faith
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Psalm 139:1-18
1. O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me! 2. Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar. 3. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4. Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou dost beset me behind and before, and layest thy hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8. If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! 9. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10. even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11. If I say, "Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night," 12. even the darkness is not dark to thee, the night is bright as the day; for darkness is as light with thee. 13. For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb. 14. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; 15. my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. 16. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17. How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18. If I would count them, they are more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.
I’ve missed two days of posting devotions. On Friday I was in Blackstone, VA on my “Walk to Emmaus.” On Monday, I was almost numb from the intensity and enormity of the previous 3 days. The Walk is an intensely spiritual experience where one meets Christ on an intimate, personal level. Everything is stripped away until you are left with only what is referred to in Psalm 139. Just you and God. Wow! Powerful! Frightening! Humbling! Overwhelming!
So much of the experience has not even begun to seep into my conscious thought yet. That part of my brain has already been drawn back to “the world.” But there is a part of my heart and mind and soul that has been forever changed. To be touched by the Holy Spirit -- to meet the risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 40:13), to begin to grasp how very much God loves us--it is unspeakable! David had a grasp of that love--he comprehended that God loved him in spite of all his flaws, his weaknesses, his disobedience, his human-ness. More than that, that God loved him so much he could never be apart from him--or us!
He cannot stand to apart from us! Even though he knows our darkest thoughts. Even though he sees the depth of our sinfulness. Even though he sees the magnitude of our sin! He just loves us too much to hold all that against us! We are never alone, because he cannot cut those “apron strings!” We are his beloved, perfect creations. And like those two travelers on the Road to Emmaus after Christ’s death, even when we’re at our lowest point, even when we feel so small and insignificant, that’s when God steps in!
We are fearfully and wonderfully made--because we’re made in his image and likeness! When we look in the mirror, reflected back to us is a part of God! I’ll say it again: Wow! You and I are a part of God. And even though He knows everything about us -- knew it before we were even conceived -- he loves us anyway!
I hope you the next time you have a “Road to Emmaus” day, you remember that those two travelers met Christ on that journey. And when you reach the limit of your capacity as a human being, you’ll remember that God is always standing by with a little extra dose of faith!
Mary
