Some thoughts on Psalm 139

You have searched me, Lord,

    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, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

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, 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, God, would slay the wicked!

    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

They speak of you with evil intent;

    your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,

    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;

    I count them my enemies.

Search me, 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

When reading this psalm from the Message Bible, a verse that really struck me was Psalm 139:6 which is a summary and overwhelming awareness of what the first 5 verses already discuss of God’s providential and incarnational presence.  Look at the first 5 verses and then read v. 6:

This is too much, too wonderful – I can’t take it all in!

But more is coming! Like, where can one flee or try to hide in God’s all-encompassing presence? If one goes to Hades, or to darkness, or to anywhere, it is still in the purview of God’s grace and presence. Light and dark are all open to God! One could not count the ways in which we are near God. For the sands of all the beaches, deserts, and oceans cannot contain such presence. Again, it is too much and too wonderful to take it all in.

So, yes, such intimate knowledge of God’s gracious presence is there from growth in the womb to birth. 

Now, feeling overwhelmed has a whole different perspective of how we deal with stress. Even in the face of evil and encounters that confront us with evil and threats, yet the overpowering presence of God out maneuvers and hedges around us to see us through such moments and stress. Again, it is too much and too wonderful to take it all in.

Yes, in 51 plus years of ministry and life, I have felt much stress and some quite overpowering, even when I felt powerless to continue. Thanks to friends of faith and an Incarnate Providence of God in Christ I could reach when there was nothing else to grasp.

I had a poster that hung on my study door with a kitten hanging by a rope with its paw in the rope! The saying on the poster was: “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on! “ 

Imagine the relief and letting go expressed in Psalm 139:22 – it is the release of stress that God does guide us through, even if it is too much and too wonderful to take all in.

“See for Yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life.”

Prayer: O Gracious God, when things get overwhelming, I pray that the encouragement and presence of your grace will hedge around me that I may fully be in awe of your care, even if it is too much and too wonderful to take it all in, through Christ I pray. Amen

Rev. Dr. John J. Duling, Honorably Retired

What Do We Have in Common?

Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness."  Genesis 1:26

For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Romans 12:4-5

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 

Donna Gustafson recently told me of our fall worship theme, "What we hold in common." Consulting with my family, my daughter suggested we all have bodies. My grandson's wife, a minister, immediately smiled and started quoting scriptures that referred to our bodies and the church. Some bodies are small, some are large. Some are short and some are tall. Bodies and hair and eyes come in different colors. Our bodies start as infants, grow into children and teenagers, and then into adults. Finally, our bodies show the signs of aging with arthritic hands, graying hair, and changes in our abilities. Some of our bodies are healthy while others have chronic illnesses. There is so much to say about our bodies. 

Paul teaches us that we are not just arms, or legs, or other body parts, but we need all our parts (members) to function and to live. So it is with Christians and the church. All of us have differences in our physical bodies, but we are one body in Christ. We have many different gifts and talents and roles in the church, but we make up one body of believers, children of God in his own image, the living breath of the Holy Spirit in all of us. We have all these things in common. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us in your image. Thank you for loving us despite all our differences. Thank you for sending your son Jesus to us in the form of a human body so we could better understand you and the kingdom of heaven. Help us love one another for all the things we have in common. Amen 

Nancy Hall

The Message of the Spider Web

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Hebrews 6:10-15

Earlier this summer, as I went out to water the flowers on our deck, I noticed four thin, silvery threads connecting the deck railing to several leaves on one of the plants…the beginnings of a spider web. As the week progressed, the spider web grew a few threads each day until I noticed the spider finally taking its rest in the middle of the web. I sat one morning, looking at the web, and reflected on the patience and time the spider had painstakingly taken to complete its masterpiece. It seemed in no hurry to finish its task and when it had finally accomplished what it set out to do, it rested and, I imagined, enjoyed the fruits of its labor.

As I reflected on the spider’s patience, a smile formed on my face as I remembered a song I used to sing to our sons when they were much, much younger and would show their impatience and frustration to me at various times.

“Have patience, have patience. Don’t be in such a hurry. 

When you are impatient, you only start to worry. 

Remember, remember, that God is patient, too.

And think about the times when others had to wait on you.”

Being patient takes a great deal of self-control and is mentioned over and over again in God’s Word. As we find ourselves in situations that try our patience, may we remember the message of the spider and take our time to allow the “masterpieces” of our lives to unfold, allowing us to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Prayer: Master Planner of our lives, we thank you for your Word and the various messages you have shared with us about the importance of patience. We pray you will guide us in our quest for more patience and self-control as we allow the scripts of our personal lives, and the life of our congregation, to unfold as you have set forth.  Amen

Patty Niemann (reprinted from May 2013)

Words from Psalm 73

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26 

Words from Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1 

Words from Psalm 18

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. Psalm 18:2 

Words from Psalm 37

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7