Morning Reflections

Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.
You know everything about me – my joys and fears, my strengths and weaknesses, my thoughts and concerns.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You pay attention to me, and your cognizant of my worlds (even though you are such a mighty God)
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.
You know all my patterns, habits and rituals. You understand the way I’m wired.
4 Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.
You know my thoughts even better than I do. And you know the thoughts I don’t even understand or realize.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.
You complete me. You guard me. You lead me. You polish and change me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.
How could you care so much for us?
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.
I can’t outrun you. I can’t hide from you. I can’t just disappear off your radar screen. I’m your child, and you will love me and be with me always. You will hold me gently and carefully, guarding me from harm.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Even when life feels really dark and frightening, yet you promise to be there with me, to give me hope and peace in the midst of my suffering. No matter how dark I feel, you can still see clearly and you will guide me safely.
13 For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.
You made me just the way I am.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.
I know that you will use my strengths and weaknesses to glorify yourself, because you make all things beautiful.
15 My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book before one of them came to be.
You have good plans for me & you are preparing me for those works.

Even the dark times are in my life for a purpose.
17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!
You amaze me, dear God.
18 Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

When I awake,

I am still with you.
I am still with you – all the time, even when I feel drowned in the frustrations of life. Even when I feel all alone. You are there.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

My heart is open, I’m waiting for you to speak. Help me see clearly. Show me what I need to change in my life. Give me wisdom, clarity and courage. Heal me and strengthen me. Hold me in your arms and make me whole again.

Thank you for your unfailing love.

Your little girl