You Are Precious

Today I want you to read Psalm 139. Not just skim it, but really read it and ponder the implications of what it says about God’s attitude toward you. Here we go:

O Lord, You have searched me
And You know me
You know when I sit and when I rise
You perceive my thoughts from afar
You discern my going out and my lying down
You are familiar with all my ways
Before a word is on my tongue
You know it completely, O Lord

You hem me in – behind and before
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me
Too lofty for me to attain

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there
If I make my bed in the depths, You are there
If I rise on the wings of the dawn
If I settle on the far side of the sea
Even there Your hand will guide me
Your right hand will hold me fast

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
And the light become night around me.”
Even the darkness will not be dark to You
The night will shine like the day
For darkness is as light to You

For You created my inmost being
You knit me together in my mother’s womb
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Your works are wonderful
I know that full well
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
Your eyes saw my unformed body
All the days ordained for me
Were written in Your book
Before one of them came to be

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God
How vast is the sum of them
Were I to count them
They would outnumber the grains of sand
When I awake
I am still with You

If only You would slay the wicked, O God
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men
They speak of You with evil intent
Your adversaries misuse Your name
Do I not hate those who hate You, O God
And abhor those who rise up against You?
I have nothing but hatred for them
I count them my enemies

Search me, O God, and know my heart
Test me and know my anxious thoughts
See if there is any offensive way in me
And lead me in the way everlasting

~ Psalm 139:1-24 (NIV 1984)

Do you realize how precious you are to God? Did you know that He thinks about you day and night? I mean, you know that feeling you have when you really like someone and you think about them ALL the time? Well, take that and multiply it by a million, and you might start to skim the surface of God’s thoughts about you.

WOW.

I also love how this psalm talks about God forming life in the womb, how He knew us before we were born, and how amazing His workmanship is! I think one of my favorite lines from this psalm is the last part of verse 16: “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” What a statement about the value, the purpose, the preciousness of human life! God put each of us exactly where we are and at this exact point in time for a very important purpose. Nothing is random with Him.

You are not a mistake. You are not substandard. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God, who loves you more than you could possibly imagine.

You are precious.

Psalm 139 is the basis for the newest band piece in my Psalm Series, “Precious,” and I couldn’t be more ecstatic about it! I’ll tell you more about it in my next blog post, but first I just wanted us to take a minute to meditate on the psalm and what it reveals about God’s amazing love. He is always with you and He has a specific and beautiful purpose for your life. Let yourself be surrounded, enraptured, and overwhelmed by His love for you.

[October 11, 2013]