The Lord will work out his plans for my life – for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me. – Psalm 138:8
This is where we ended last week and where I find myself again this morning as I move to Psalm 139. My favorite verse in scripture is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” This verse in Psalm 138 is another great reminder that the God who created me knows everything there is to know about me and it is this God who holds my life in His hands.
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
I can never escape your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to the heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night –
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you. – Psalm 139:1-12
There is no pretending when it comes to our relationship with God. He knows our heart – He knows what we are feeling and where we are struggling. But there is no need to pretend. This God who created us understands us. He created us to need His hand to guide us and His strength to support us. He will not leave us alone. When we look back, He is there. When we look forward, He is there. His Spirit is inescapable!
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up, you are still with me! – Psalm 139:13-18
As we start a new week, let’s give everything this week holds to God. Let’s place in His hands every detail, every conversation, every situation, every relationship. Let’s trust our week to the God who created us and has been watching over us before we were even born.
Lord, you know what this week holds for me. I ask You to guide me and strengthen me according to Your plan for my life. Go before me and follow me. Place Your hand of blessing on my head. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out everything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life (139:23-24). I commit this week to You, Lord, trusting You with all the details. I choose to spend this week in Your ever faithful presence. Fill me with Your Spirit, O Lord, and make this week exactly what You want it to be. Amen.