Lent 2015 Day 2: Psalm 139

Hello to you, friend!

You and I are alive. 
Great news!
You and I are still breathing.
What grace!
It is the day after Ash Wednesday.
How does that affect anything?

Perhaps you did or did not grow up in a tradition that promoted the observance of Lent. You may remember receiving or seeing or reading about ashes yesterday. In case you haven't, I invite you to read my reflections from yesterday entitled ashes. 

Gone are the ashes now. 
A shower took care of that (or, for some, the ashes were never there to begin with).

Gone is the worship gathering enabling you to feed on the wonder and fervor of fellow Christ-followers. Gone is the hype of "giving up" on social media. You are now alone, going about your day packed with mundane tasks. As the excitement of the beginning of Lent wanes, may I remind you that the Father's invitation still stands:

"Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

. . . Give ear and come to me;

hear me, that your soul may live."

Isaiah 55:1, 3a

This morning, as you and I read God's invitation, I pray our hearts might be singularly pricked. May we acknowledge that the Father has everything we need:

-  living water for our thirsty souls

-  living bread for our famished hearts

-  living refreshment for our fainting spirits

And as we come to Him this Lent, lacking "money" or virtue of our own, may we sit at the banqueting table of His Word and feast upon Psalm 139 for the remaining days of this season of fasting and surrender!

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1  O Lord, You have searched me 

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 know it completely, O Lord.

5  You hem me in--behind and before;

You have laid 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, O 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 would slay the wicked, O God!

Away from me, you blood-thirsty men!

20  They speak of You with evil intent;

Your adversaries misuse Your name.

21  Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord,

and abhor those who rise up against You?

22  I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O 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.

What a vulnerable and open perspective!
What a wonderful opportunity to accept God's probing light!
What a beautiful psalm that speaks of the omnipresence and omniscience of the Father!

LORD, we repented in dust and ashes yesterday but we forget so easily . . . and repeat the same mistakes . . . over and over . . . again and again. But You know that; You knew it already before we even brought it up. We thank You so much for David whose inspired words of vulnerability stir our hearts with renewed passion and focus. O ever-present and all-knowing Father, the heart of Psalm 139 unveils the blessed intimacy available to us through You and in You -- no one will ever know us as well as You. You see the confusion and darkness of our hearts and You love us all the same.  Thank You for using this psalm in this season to point us to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Amen!