Praying Psalm 139

Here is another prayer response to a Psalm. This is a wonderful way to engage scripture formationally. You may want to read Psalm 139 before you enter into this prayer and make it your own.

Father, You search my life today and know exactly what is in me. You watch me sit down at my desk, see each time I get back up. You know exactly what I?m thinking, even when I?m not sure. You watched me get out of bed this morning, and You?ll be up after I retire tonight. You?ve known every word I would say before it came out of my mouth. There are no surprises for You when it comes to me. I?m grateful that this is good news!

You surround me, Father. You lead the way and You bring up the rear. It?s more than my puny mind can grasp. I feel like a toddler trying to jump onto the roof. Impossible! But, Your knowledge of me is also very personal. You have laid Your hand upon me?Your gracious, loving, guiding hand. I?m so grateful.

When I try to run from You, where exactly would I hide? Where isn?t Your Spirit present? Where is the place of Your non-presence? No such place!

If I tried rocketing to the heights of the heavens, You?d be there to greet me. If I went down to the deepest depths (a place I?ve visited at times), You will not have lost touch with me. If I could ride a sunbeam at the speed of light from sunrise to the far side of the sea, You would still be there to guide and secure me. If I think that the darkest places are the one place You can?t see me, I am mistaken. Darkness cannot overwhelm the light of Your presence. You see and oversee everything with love.

You know me so well because You made me?inside and out. You were the One Who began to weave me together in the womb of a nineteen-year-old wife and mom. Today, I am now more than twice her age. It?s hard to imagine that what feels like forever to me is less than the blink of an eye to You.

I praise Your craftsmanship, Father. My life is, in part, an expression of Your creativity. When I look at all that You have made, I am amazed. Why do I find it harder to acknowledge Your creativity and wonder in my life? You handmade my bones and everything else in me.

You even have a precise count of just how many days I will live on this earth. You know if I?ll live to be 49 or 99. You know the day, hour, minute and second when I?ll leave this earthly body behind. And You knew all this before I was born?or even conceived. You are remarkable, Father!

You constantly think about me. Your thoughts keep me alive. How could I begin to count them? I might as well try counting all the grains of sand at Huntington Beach. I could never begin to do it because there would always be more thoughts of me than I can calculate. And while I slept, You would still be thinking of me. Thanks, Father, for such care for and involvement in my life.

I often grow weary of this ?without-God? world, but I have to admit that the problem is not just ?out there?, but ?in here? as well. I want to be more alarmed and disturbed by the distortion around and in me. I want there to be a holy loathing in me for the destructive impact of evil in the lives of people.

So, God?the One Who knows me intimately and made me personally?search me completely, mind and heart. Please expose any places of anxiety or unbelief in me, any way that is offensive to You. Lead me out of the way of destruction and into the way everlasting. God, You are my God.