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Thankful
for How God Sees Me
I guess
I’m pretty thick. I’ve heard since I was born that God
loves me … but, I don’t think it was really until this week
that God really was able to use His Word to penetrate my
heart and convince me of how He sees me. He used Psalm 139
to drive the truth home — deep into my heart. He got all
over me … It felt so good to know the love and care of God
that it physically hurt! I go back to this a couple of
times a day just to allow Him to remind me of How He Sees Me
— so that I can press on! And, I know if He sees me this
way, He sees you this way, too — He loves us and He just
wants to convince us of that love and drive it deep inside
our hearts! These are the thoughts I wrote down that day as
He was ministering to my hurting heart.
Lord, I can hardly
take it! I am literally, physically about to burst with the
goodness you are pouring all over me!
Psalm 139:1-5 O LORD, thou hast
searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and
mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art
acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in
my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand
upon me.
You know all about me —
inside and out — in front and in back — above me and beneath
me — around me and throughout me!
Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
This is
so wonderful I can hardly stand it!
Psalm 139:7-12 Whither shall I go from
thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If
I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness
hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the
darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
No matter where I
end up, or how I get there, You’re going to be there, too!
— Whether up or
down, on the mountain in the morning where it’s wonderful or
in the darkest valley at nighttime where it’s so scary I can
hardly stand it …
— Whether I am up so
high the air is so thick I can hardly breathe, or down in
the depths of the sea where there is no air to breathe …
— Whether I’m
climbing or falling …
— Whether I’m
sinking or swimming …
— Whether I’m
walking and running or stumbling and falling …
You’re Going to Guide Me By Thy Hand —
You’re Going to Hold Me Up!
When it’s so dark I
can’t see a thing, Your face will be the light that guides
me. In fact, to you, there’s no difference between day and
night — You’re Lord over both!
Psalm 139: 13-16
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my
mother's womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee,
when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my
substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my
members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them.
No
matter what I think about myself or how I feel about who I
am and what I’ve done, where I’ve been I’ve been and how
I’ve messed up, You want me to know what You think about me!
— You gave life to
the seed that became me even though literally in sin was I
conceived by people who probably didn’t even know what they
were doing at the time.
— You protected me
in the womb of the woman who gave birth to me even though
You knew she would reject me and give me away.
— You directed the
placement of my little, helpless, defenseless body into
loving arms who would guide me and direct me into Your light
and show me the way of salvation.
So, I
praise You because You took some very ugly clay
circumstances and gave me some talents and abilities that
You have allowed me to use for You. I know and see now that
You did this for me — that You have been so wonderful to me
and that You have seen fit to honor Yourself with this — the
most wretched of lives!
The real
me was never hidden from You (“thine eyes did see my
substance”). You always knew about my frailties as well as
my potential (“when as yet there was none of them”). You
always saw possibilities when I only saw failures. You saw
what You could do with me once You brought me from where I
was to where You wanted me to be.
Even
before I existed, You had a plan for me that took into
account my failures and my falls (“yet being unperfect”),
and You continually worked out your plan for me and wrote it
down as Your will for me (“in your book all my members were
written”).
So, NOW I can see …
17 How
precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great
is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are
more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still
with thee.
And, I can come to You and open myself up
to You and allow you to …
23 Search me,
O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead
me in the way everlasting.
Mac
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