In my quiet time this morning, I found myself back in Psalm 139. It is one of my favorite Psalms and one that I am constantly reading over and over again during various phases of my life. The amazing thing is that every time I read it a different part of it will strike a chord within me. And this morning, it was the first verse (and then continuing through verse 4).
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.
What does it really mean to know someone? Spanish is perfect for this, as there are two different verbs that describe "to know". To concocer someone is to know them as an aquantaince. Or to know that they exist. But to saber is to really know - not only in your head but also in your experience.
It's amazing to me how the Lord searches us and knows us. He not only knows our names and what we look like, but he knows everything that is in our hearts - our feelings, our intentions, our hopes, dreams, failures - everything. He knows us because His hands have touched us - created us.
As an artist, I can understand this through the process of creating my own work. When I finish a painting, for instance, I know the whole story of its creation. I know the painting. I know how it evolved from the preliminary sketches into the final product - the color and brush choices, the different strokes I used, and every imperfection. But not only do I know the technical details of how I created it, I also can look at that painting and see and know myself in it. I know what my thoughts were as I was painting, what was on my heart and the emotions were conveyed through paint onto a simple canvas.
And that is how God is with us. Although we are sin-filled creatures, when God looks at us - at all that makes us who we are in how God created us to be, He can see Himself. He knows the whole story. And He loves us profoundly - as we are His own work of art, His poetry, His song.
O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
that's beautiful, Beth. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI remember the first time we read Ephesians 2:10 in Family Worship. "We are God's Workmanship..." We are God's Creative Act. We are His Masterpiece, His Work of Art, His Poetry. All of the sudden, my life had meaning. Our existence as humans made sense to me for the first time. Just as we create, design, write, paint, and play for our pleasure, our release, our enjoyment, GOD MADE US for HIS pleasure, HIS enjoyment, HIS DELIGHT. Thanks for your insight, Beth. It was delicious.
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