Psalm 139
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
(PSALM 139:16)
When we adopted our children, there was no "choosing" involved on our part. Rather, their birth families chose us. We knew that whatever the baby would be - boy or girl, sick or healthy, beautiful or not - the child would be the one we'd welcome into our home. It's a good picture of God's love for us.
But we don't live out His pictures perfectly at all times. If any parent had known how hard the road ahead would be, how defeated they'd feel some days, would any of us have continued?
God never second guesses His pursuit of us, despite knowing what lay ahead. He knew how naughty I'd be as a child, how disappointing my choices would be as a young adult, how I'd hurt people's feelings, how I'd break every commandment of His in new ways throughout my life, how I'd turn my back on Him at one point and come crying to Him at another - and He yet sought me anyway. In knowing all of this and more before we even were born, Jesus tells each of us that we are His chosen ones, belonging to Him (see 1 Peter 2:9-10), receiving His mercy.
INSIGHT
ADOPTING A SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD IS NOT NOTEWORTHY. WHAT IS AMAZING IS GOD LOOKING BEYOND ALL OF OUR "SPECIAL NEEDS" AND FAILURES, LOVING US ANYWAY.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Ezekiel 29-30
Psalm 145
2 Thessalonians 1-3
Psalm 139
For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
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, 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.
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.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
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.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, 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.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me
A PRAYING LIFE
with Paul Miller
We know prayer is important, so why do we avoid praying? There's only one cure for this and Jesus is the One with the remedy.
No comments:
Post a Comment