We want to be known, to be heard, to be understood. Our biggest problem is we expect another flawed, broken human being to fully understand us when only God can. Psalm 139 celebrates the truth that God knows us completely and well, but it also wrestles with the implications of that in our lives.
If you are getting started in a relationship with God, trying to have a quiet time or seeking guidance at this point in your life, you're in the right place.
In fifteen minutes (or less) you will listen to God's word for you, reflect on it and learn to pray to God as well as carry that word with you through the rest of your day. What a perfect way to get started!
We are nearing the end of season three and we've prayed a lot of different psalms. Toward the end of the book there is a greater concentration of praise songs and hymns, and Psalm 139 is one of the most profound of those.
God knows me and God is everywhere. These are great spiritual truths. But there are other realities in Psalm 139 that we might miss or wish to avoid. The 24 verses of Psalm 139 are divided into four sections with six verses each. The main idea of each section is stated up front in the first verse: vv. 1, 7, 13 and 19. If you read those, you'll get the overall sense of the entire psalm instead of seeing this as a random collection of inspirational verses with a weird ending you might want to avoid.
Psalm 139 shows us how complete God's knowledge of us is and the instinctive reaction we might have to flee from him. But God's goodness and desire to bless us above everything else reassures us that being known by him isn't nearly as dangerous as trying to live life apart from him. There is also no neutral ground; it's worship or rebellion, and not serving God puts you in the camp of his enemies.
Four verses from this psalm to meditate on at length are vv. 1, 14, 23 and 24. Choose one of more of these and let God work out its truth in your life.
While we can't exhaust the riches in these verses, you can go deeper into them on your own using our four step process. You can download the helpsheet that details and demonstrates the four step process we use on First Fifteen using Psalm 1.
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You can get a copy of the book God Help Me Grow: Learning to Pray through the Psalms on Amazon (or the ebook) so you can pray all of the first 30 psalms in the book of Psalms.
Additional resources at the Word of Prayer website https://word-of-prayer.com
