Ever-Present - January 19 Readings: Psalm 139

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  Psalm 139

Lord, you have searched me and known me.2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;you understand my thoughts from far away.3 You observe my travels and my rest;you are aware of all my ways.4 Before a word is on my tongue,you know all about it, Lord.5 You have encircled me;you have placed your hand on me.6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. 7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence?8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.9 If I live at the eastern horizonor settle at the western limits,10 even there your hand will lead me;your right hand will hold on to me.11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,and the light around me will be night”—12 even the darkness is not dark to you.The night shines like the day;darkness and light are alike to you. 13 For it was you who created my inward parts;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 I will praise youbecause I have been remarkably and wondrously made.Your works are wondrous,and I know this very well.15 My bones were not hidden from youwhen I was made in secret,when I was formed in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;all my days were written in your book and plannedbefore a single one of them began. 17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me;how vast their sum is!18 If I counted them,they would outnumber the grains of sand;when I wake up, I am still with you. 19 God, if only you would kill the wicked—you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me—20 who invoke you deceitfully.Your enemies swear by you falsely.21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,and detest those who rebel against you?22 I hate them with extreme hatred;I consider them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart;test me and know my concerns.24 See if there is any offensive way in me;lead me in the everlasting way.

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 39-40, Matthew 13:1–17, Psalm 11, Proverbs3:5-6

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Ever-Present 

Encountering a Scripture like Psalm 139 is a bit like peeling an onion. You peel one layer and there is another, then another, and another. There are deep truths about God's presence in our lives and confusing tidbits about hating those who hating people with extreme hatred because they oppose God - something that seems to conflict with New Testament commands to love our enemies. We could peel the layers of this psalm for days and not run out of truths on which to reflect.

Perhaps the key truth we should reflect on today is found in verses 7-12. There were times when David was discouraged, perhaps even depressed, and even times when he may have run from God. It is an odd tendency that we have. God is the source of life and healing when things are hard, but we have a tendency to run from him and seek solace in things of this world - balms that cannot heal.

David had found the truth in his times of despair and discouragement, that God was always present, always there. Of course, God is in heaven, but he is even in Sheol, in the place of darkness and death. He is not just the God of this life but the Lord of eternity. Verse 9 talks about the wings of the dawn (the east) and the far side of the sea (in Israel, the sea is to the west). If you travel east, God is there. If you travel west, God is there. He understood what Jonah discovered when he attempted to flee from God in rebellion. God will find you wherever you go. God is light, so even our darkness doesn't hide us from him. He just shines brilliantly through it and comes to us. He is our creator and he loves us. We cannot flee from him.

David's conclusion is that if we cannot flee from God, we might as well serve him. He asks God to search his soul and test his heart so everything in him will be pleasing to God. We serve a God we cannot escape. We might as well glorify him and serve him, experiencing his blessings.

Know this, though. Whatever is going on in your life today, God is present. Always. East and west. Up and down. Night and day. Wherever you go and whatever you do he is there to bless you, to convict you, to encourage you and strengthen you. He is an ever-present help in times of trouble. David learned that and I hope you will too.

Thank you, Father, for being an ever-present source of help in trouble. Search me and test so that my life might be pleasing to you in all things. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Remember that God is with you. That is both positive and negative. He will never leave you alone when you are in trouble, and he will never leave you to yourself when you are walking in sin.

Pray the last 2 verses today and ask God to search you and test you, to make you pleasing to him in all things.