Daily Devotion, January 25, 2023

 

Devotion:

Read Psalm 139:23-24.

Two weeks ago, we wrestled with Psalm 139:19-22 which are verses filled with the Psalm writer’s hate and a cry for God to slay the wicked. Those verses seemed out of place in this beloved psalm which gives us the assurance that God is with us always and in all places. Then we arrive at today’s verses which call for God to, “search us and know us and to lead us in the way everlasting.”

In the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Dr. J. Clinton McCann, Jr. writes that these verses “help us to understand the depth of the oath of loyalty which this writer has for God. This Psalm begins in verse 1 with the acknowledgement, ‘O God, you have searched me and you know me.’  The Psalmist trusts God so deeply and is so very loyal unto God that the Psalmist writer invites God to know, search and lead him or her even more.” 

I believe it is this Psalm writer’s deep loyalty to God which appears to be the motivation for the difficult verse we read two weeks ago which says, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?” Again, Jesus came to teach us and show us we are to pray for and to love our enemies.

McCann adds that in the concluding verses of First Corinthians 13, Then Apostle Paul weaves this understanding of our being ‘fully known’ by God. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

This Psalm writer’s understanding of God’s love is woven throughout Psalm 139. God created us, fully knows us, understands us, loves us and is with us wherever we are. Therefore, we are safe to let God search our hearts to see if there is any offensive way in us. We can trust God to lead us in the way everlasting. We can trust God to transform our lives.

Personal Worship Option:

Let this be our prayer often, “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.” Amen.