Reading 23—A God Who Gets It
Psalm 139
READ PSALM 139
Are you running? Are you hiding? GOD understands; He understands the human condition. “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?” Much of life is a mystery to us! We look for answers that will help us to see through the veil of confusion. Our understanding of God is limited, fragmented, hidden, until we come to know certain truths about Him. “You know when I sit down and when I rise, You know my thoughts…even the words that come from my mouth, before they’re spoken, You know them altogether. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance; in Your book were written all my days, even before one of them was lived.” What unsearchable wisdom comes from the mind and presence of God’s Spirit! He gets it.
As a boy, I attended church regularly; curiously wondering about the beauty and order of creation, wondering where man fit in? Then, in adolescence, I started having dreams of running from God whose presence was manifested in the form of tornados. There were older persons in the dream, saints of God, who told me, “It’s alright, young man, God’s going to take care of everything, “to which I sarcastically replied, “Yeah, right.” While they sang His praise, I hid in the barn, behind their interlocking arms. When the twister began to shake the barn, I slid out from their protection and in the dust scrambled to my feet, so that I might hide again behind them. When the twister dropped the barn, it dropped it on the choir of praise worshippers, killing them all. In my confusion I asked, “Why them? They worshipped you; they loved you,” and in my confused state, I uttered, “they were ready to die.” That’s when I heard that still small voice. “They were ready to die…you’re not!” That was the day I stopped running from God and took measured steps toward God.
Even before you’ve finished this devotional, He knows what your next thought will be. We’re all sinners; called to be re-born; called to become ministers of His grace. Do we have the courage or the hope to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my anxious thoughts! And see if there be any hurtful way within me?” And, if there is, put me on the path to Christ Jesus, in whom we find hope, forgiveness, and love.
To Consider
Look at the attributes of God as related to mankind. What do they tell you about God?
Some form of the word “know” recurs throughout the passage. Why are we afraid to be known thoroughly?
How can facing our shortcomings help us grow?
O GOD of hope, turn us from self-destructive ways to embrace the Light and Life that is in Christ. Help us not be fearful, but joyful, as we’re learning to put our trust in You, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
ELW 842 “O Worship the King”
Pastor Hugh Mozingo is a survivor of brain cancer (seventeen years) and recently retired after 41 years in ministry. He lives with his wife Janice in Hubert, NC; they have three children: Zach, Hannah, and Mark
