Weekly Devotional 23rd of May 2025
by Bruce Billington
Weekly Devotional 23rd of May, 2025
We will continue our series on hearing God through the Psalms by examining Psalm 139, a Psalm of David.
Psalm 139:7-10 – “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, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.”
Verse 7 does not imply (as many claim) that David’s first response was a desire to flee when realising the extent of God’s knowledge about us. The point he makes is that God knows all things and is everywhere. It is more accurate to say that David is greatly consoled by the fact that the hands of God are with all who are His, to sustain them and take up the battle against our enemies to overthrow them. In this respect, it does not matter where this happens or where our enemies are – the active energy of God is always present in every situation, even in Sheol.
David stated that if he could rise on the wings of morning or dawn and fly to the farthest shore of the sea, he could not escape God’s presence (V9). The sea David refers to is the Mediterranean Sea, which lies west of Israel. In Israel, the sea was a natural synonym for the west. The dawn was likewise a symbol of the extreme east. David was poetically saying that the LORD is present at every point from the far east to the far west—in every place touched by the dawn’s rising. We are never alone because He is always with us to guide and protect us.
Psalm 139:13-14 – “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are your works, And my soul knows it very well.”
God’s character is infused in the creation of every person. When you feel worthless or begin to hate yourself, remember that God’s Spirit is ready and willing to work within you, and your being is sacred. We should hold as much respect for ourselves as our Maker has for us. We are created in His image.
We need not go to the ends of the earth to find great wonders or spectacles because they abound in our own bodies. And, if we are prepared to consider this, we will discover that our soul knows this well.
Because God is our maker and creator, our soul carries not only an imprint of Him but also the knowledge of this fact. Our soul yearns for Him (Isaiah 26:9).
When David says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, he means that God’s creation of us is a wonder, a marvel, something so great that it is beyond our comprehension. God’s workmanship in making us is amazing—a truth that David said he realised fully.
The science available today about our being was hardly known to David, yet he had seen enough to break into praise and worship of God’s handiwork in creating humanity.
We should pause to consider this. Here is what the POSB says about the marvel and sanctity of human life.
The formation and birth of a baby is perhaps the most amazing phenomenon on earth. David glorified God because He envisioned and designed this awe-inspiring miracle, and He coordinates every detail of this complex process from conception to birth.
God’s creation of each of us explains how He knows everything about us and why He is always with us. He creates every part of the human body as it develops in the womb. He weaves these intricate parts together to form the fascinating, highly complex machine called the human body. Even more amazing, God makes the body far superior to a mere machine: He creates in it the capacity to think, to feel, and to choose its own path. He breathes into this machine the “breath of life [and makes it become] a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
Wow – that is who we are and how we got here. Furthermore, God has a plan and a purpose for every one of us, which is found in Christ (Ephesians 2:10). We should never allow ourselves to navigate through life without discovering what this is.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington