Thursday, January 4, 2018

Inward Beliefs

On the off chance that your Bible is not handy or you have not memorized all of Psalm 139 (I haven't but one of my favorite authors has, so I know it's possible), I am going to share the entire Psalm with you and leave you with one question to wrestle with until tomorrow. Tomorrow, my hope is to unpack a lot of this Psalm, although not completely because I'm not capable of that. My prayer is that the question I leave us with will help us to recognize what our deepest thought patterns are and then lead us directly to the truth of Romans 12:2.

Psalm 139

Lord, you have serached me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.

Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
If I live at the eastern horizon
or settle at the western limits,
even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night" -
even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.

For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I will praise You
because I have been remarkably
and wondrously made.
Your works are wondrous, 
and I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.

God, how precious Your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
If I counted them, 
they would out number the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with You.

God, if only You would kill the wicked -
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me -
who invoke You deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by You falsely.
Lord, don't I hate those who hate You,
and detest those who rebel against You?
I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.


Question:

If God's thoughts about you are precious and He told you what they were, 
would you accept them as true?


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