Psalm Meditation 1064 Proper 27 November 8, 2020 Psalm 139 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. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you. 19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me— 20 those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil! 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NRSV) Even in times we wish we could disappear, one of our great fears is that we are invisible, that we don’t matter to anyone. The psalmist goes through a list of the ways that God not only sees us, but seeks us out. Especially when we are feeling sad and sorry for ourselves it is a source of great comfort to discover that someone is thinking about us enough to seek us out, to go out of their way to look for us until we are found. The psalmist goes through a list of possible hiding places, and notices that God can find us there. Whether we go to the highest height, the lowest depth, or the darkest darkness God will find us to be with us. Once we have been sought and found we develop a fierce loyalty toward that person. The psalmist goes through the list of actions that contribute to that sense of loyalty. God knows us well enough to know where to look for us. God gathers us into a comforting embrace we need that. God makes words unnecessary and lets us decide if and when to speak. God helps us pull ourselves back together so we can face anything arm in arm. God helps us discover the difference between our revenge fantasies and what course of action will actually be helpful. God lets us know that the loyalty we feel toward God is felt by God toward us. God willingly seeks us out when we wander off. Sometimes God strides in to scoop us up, to let us know we are not alone as we face whatever we are facing. Sometimes God stands back watching and waiting for us to recognize our need and ask for help. Either way, God is present in the way that works in our lives. God is not there to fix things or change things, God is there to be with us, to demonstrate the love and loyalty God directs our way. November 2, 2020 LCM