Reveal | Day 33- March 31 | Psalm 139

For about three years, our family lived in a small town with about a thousand people. We discovered everyone pretty much knew everything about everyone else in town. There were few secrets. As a young parsonage family, our lives gained special scrutiny. We seldom needed to introduce ourselves because most folks already knew more about us than we knew about ourselves! Though this felt uncomfortable at times, it also felt good that people cared so much.

In a way, Psalm 139 brings back those feelings of small-town living. It talks about how God knows everything there is to know about the psalmist. He writes about God tracking his every movement and even knowing what he is going to say before he says it. He continues to talk about feeling surrounded and hemmed in on every side, unable to get away from God. It is almost as if God is stalking him.

You have to admit that feels a little uncomfortable. Yet, I have come to understand that it is actually pretty wonderful that God is so interested in us. Such constant attention highlights God’s unrelenting love. Like a doting parent or grandparent, God noticed the psalmist’s every move and every word. He had his eye on him for a long time. You see, God carefully created every fiber of his being and continued weaving the cords of his life from the womb to the grave. He obviously mattered a lot to God.

So, it is no wonder the psalmist finishes his reflections with a request for God to shine his searchlight deep into his soul. He knows that God truly loves him and can be trusted. So, the psalmist prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart” (v 23). He opens the door of his heart to the basement of his soul. He wants God to remove any junk that may have accumulated down there.

What a great prayer for all of us. We can invite our loving Heavenly Father deep into the crevices of our hearts and ask him to remove anything unseemly. He already knows what is there anyway.