While Pastor Al is away on vacation this week and part of the next, I (Vicar Mike) have the opportunity to share my thoughts with you through these devotions. Instead of taking over Pastor Al's series from Colossians, I thought I might share my favorite psalm with you, Psalm 139. We begin today with the first few verses of the psalm . . .
(1) O LORD, you have searched me and known me. (2) You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. (3) You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (4) Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely.
When I hear these words of the psalm, I think about God knowing me in ways that I can only wish that other people would know me, ways I wish that even I could know myself. God cares about more than just which paths we take; God knows and cares why we do the things we do. God sees the inner tensions going on in our thoughts, our emotions, and our bodies that guide us in this direction or that direction. While I imagine God wants us to take the right paths, we can be sure that God understands why we don't always take them, sure that God understands it is easier said than done. I find comfort in recalling that God knows that our sometimes foolish actions do not mean that we are totally self-absorbed, completely misguided, and entirely uncaring about what God wants for us and for this world. I'm also glad that God knows the love inside of us as we happen to plod along the right paths.
Connection: As you find yourself going down one path or another today, take a moment to consider what it means that God is just as much concerned with what led you in that direction as God is concerned about where you are headed. Remember that God cares to know you because God loves you.
God of wisdom, you know where we are headed and all those things that have lead us down this path. Thank you for coming this far with us and caring to know us so well. Walk with us and use that knowledge to guide us in your ways. Amen.
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