Psalm 139: 17-18

How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them - they are more than the sand; I come to the end - I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18 NRSV

How often we forget that the Bible actually contains humor! Here is one of those verses that says something about the nature of God but also makes us laugh.

How weighty and vast are God's thoughts. This reminds me of a scene in the movie, Bruce Almighty, in which God gives Bruce the right to answer prayers. Bruce is completely overwhelmed - whether he is hearing these requests or sets them up in files or even tries to use post-it notes. He cannot keep up; in fact, his apartment becomes filled with any one of these. Eventually he resorts to emails which means his inbox becomes completely filled. Later he discovers that he is actually only receiving prayers from his hometown - not the entire world! Just trying to grasp all the things that God is aware of, knows, thinks of, and hears is almost impossible.

Could we count them? Here is where we all have to laugh. In fact, some translations say: "I try to count your thoughts, they are as many as there are grains of sand... when I wake up, you are still here!" Counting God's thoughts is like counting sheep - eventually we fall asleep. But, don't worry, God will remain with us, awake and aware! God doesn't sleep nor does God leave us in our attempt to grasp the whole of God's awesome power and knowledge. God's thoughts are truly vast and weighty.

God, we cannot comprehend how much you know. If we try to count all the things you are capable of or think about we would fall asleep! But we are assured of your continued presence and your care for us. Thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 139:16

Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. Psalm 139:16 NRSV

How are you doing in memorizing Psalm 139? I keep getting verses mixed up but I keep trying. I hope you will, too. Take a moment to see what you can remember before you continue reading....

We have been looking through the lenses of Psalm 139 and seeing how God has known us from our creation. In fact, God created us. This verse goes further than our creation. Even when you were just a twinkle in your parents' eyes (and grandparents' and great-grandparents', etc.), God could see us.

God had plans for you before you even existed. Wow! Talk about being truly known, truly seen, and truly intimate! This verse is also truly hopeful. It does not strip us of our free will nor does it suggest predestination. Instead, it further reveals God's omniscience. This isn't God determining our lifetime but God knowing our lifetime. God is not unconcerned nor ignorant of our plights, our story or our joys. Truly, God does know!

God who sees, God who knows, God who hears, we rejoice in your awareness. Help us to also be more aware of your presence in our lives. May we live as those who do travel in Your intimate awareness and love. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 139: 11-12

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139: 11-12 NRSV

By this time in the psalm, there is almost a playfulness going on here. It is like the psalmist has tried several ways to think of how to get away from God and nothing has worked. So, the psalmist is just thinking up things. This is almost like a young child with their what if, then what, and now what kind of questions. There is a seriousness yet a playfulness in these images. It is almost as if the psalmist already knows God will also be in the dark but it has to get mentioned. Or maybe the psalmist is trying to stay one step ahead of the reader, as though the reader might think of a way to get away from God.

Here the darkness is nothing to God. For us it is everything and can often be a scary place. Even as an adult, there is still something about that dark that is unknown, uncomfortable and slightly menacing. But for God, there is nothing scary about the dark. God is at home there as much as God is at home in the light. God is with us in the daytime and at night. Light, darkness and twilight are all the same to God. God is also with us when we go through times in our lives when we feel like we are in the oppressive, shadowing and evil-seeming dark. For God, these times are just like the good times of our lives, for God it makes no difference.

God, help me to know that you are there even in the darkest of nights. Help me to know that the darkness is as bright as day to You. Amen.

Psalm 139: 9-10

I tried to take the wings of the morning and avoided the computer pretty much all weekend. Sorry - I will try and plan ahead for next time- thanks for reading! Amelia

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. Psalm 139: 9-10 NRSV

If you were in Israel when the sun rose in the east, it would pretty much be on the "land side" while the setting sun is on the "seaside." So for me the imagery is about rising with the sun and setting sail on the Mediterranean with the wind at your back, heading west. I almost can imagine a Jonah-like setting of trying to escape God via the sea. I suppose the farthest limits might mean Spain or Gibraltar or maybe even the Americas. Any of those would be quite a distance.

For Christians, this may not be earth-shattering, especially when it comes to our understanding of God. But for the Israelites, God was very much place-centered. God was in the tent, in the temple, where the arc of the covenant was located. God was in one place and one place alone. You had to come to God in order to worship - God was not located in everyplace. So, settling at the farthest limits of the sea meant placing the largest gap between you and God.

Or so it might be thought.

But this psalm reminds all of us that even moving that far away does nothing to distance us from God. God still leads us, God still wants us to follow God's will, and God holds us in God's hand. In fact, we are held in God's right hand, the important hand of power and significance. We are that precious and loved by God.

God, thank you for your guiding hand. We are so in awe of your loving hand upon us. We praise you and give you the glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 139: 7

If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. Psalm 139: 7 NRSV

I get the part about being in heaven and being in God's presence. For me, that is a given. God is present in heaven. No one can get away from God's presence when in heaven. But when it comes to Sheol or hell, I always thought that hell was a place that God was truly absent from. Hell for me is the total absence of God. So, what is going on here?

The word that has got me here is the word Sheol. My mind immediately associated it with my Christian concept of hell. However, I forgot for a moment that the Psalms are part of the Tanach, the Jewish Bible. The concept of Sheol is not hell but where all the dead go. In some churches when they recite the Apostle's Creed they talk about Jesus descending to the dead before being resurrected. He would have gone to Sheol – where all the dead went (the exceptions in scripture were Elijah and Enoch). So, what the psalm is saying is that even in death, God is with me.

So what do I do with the heaven statement? I think what that means is that you could go out into space and never be absent from God. Even when you die, you are not absent from God. In other words, God is not limited by your mortality or your orientation in space. God is never apart from you, no matter what happens in your life or even in death.

God, your presence is a comfort to me. May your presence give me courage and confidence to do as you will. Amen.

Psalm 139:7

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7 NRSV

This psalm has told us how much God knows about us and how near to us God is. This verse reminds us that we cannot shake God off!

Going away from God's Spirit sounds very intellectual. Fleeing from God's presence sounds more physical. Either way, we cannot escape God.

This means that no matter what, God is with us. Even when we think we have gotten away from God or done something so very contrary to God's laws and expectations for us, God will not leave us alone. When we participate in bad or sinful behavior, God is still with us. When we go through the darkest valleys (there is another Psalm that addresses that!) or life's suffocating tragedies, God remains with us. If we are angry at God or claim we don't "believe" in God, God still never lets us go.

There is nothing you can do, say, or be that can shake God off. God is with you, no matter what.

Thanks be to God for God's unshakable presence!

Psalm 139: 5

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139: 5 NRSV


When I first think of the word hem, I think of sewing -which I cannot do. My hems are the most uneven, sloppiest things you have ever seen. My husband sews better than I do! A good hem is tight, even, and secure.

However, most people probably think of battle - to be hemmed in by your enemy. In a more positive outlook, one could also be hemmed in by those who are fighting for you, protecting you. I often pray for others asking God to set up a protective hedge around them - a hedge that hems them in a good way.

Not only that, God lays God's hand on you. I like to think of this not in terms of punishing. Instead, I think of it in terms of guidance. However, I am very familiar with the term "laying a hand" on someone as another way of spanking or physically harming another person.

So, you could really go with this verse in a positive or a negative way. You could be hemmed in by your enemy - God - who punishes you by spanking. In that way, God is out to get you no matter what. Or, you could be protected by God's water-tight security, with God's hand on your shoulder, gently guiding you in the way you should go. Whether for punishment or guidance, it really personalizes God - gives God a body, an almost physical presence, and an incredible constancy.

Either way, God surrounds you - you cannot get around God at all. God has been with you, God is with you and God will be with you.

Thank you, God for your constant presence. May I recognize your love, grace and mercy and not see you as out to get me. Amen.