You have laid your hand upon me

Psalm 139:1-6
You have searched me, oh Lord, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, oh Lord.
You hem me in behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Go back and read the passage once more. 

Isn't that the most beautiful picture?

I had actually memorized the entire Psalm 139 a few months ago. And I recite it every now and again so I can make sure I still know it. But I hadn't actually twigged as to the implications of verses 1-6. Until yesterday.

Ladies and gentlemen, here's verse 5 again:

You hem me in behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me.

You have laid your hand upon me.

Wow! Every time I read that I get funny shivers of delight down my spine! That God, the Lord of the universe, the King of all Kings, has laid his hand upon me. He hems me in, behind and before. That's not scary. That's not creepy. That's safety. That's security. 

That's why we can trust, and rest, in our never-changing God. Because his hand is lovingly upon us, and he hems us in, behind and before. 

I don't know about you, but that makes me feel humbled. Awestruck. 

That our great God would put his hand on little me.... 

It does take a wee bit of getting your head around, doesn't it! And David (who wrote this Psalm) knew that. The next verse goes like this.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Even David, who was very close to God, couldn't properly understand exactly what it means that God has his hand upon us. And I think that we can't either.

We are humans, with little brains, and we can struggle to understand things like this. Like how can God have his hand on each one of us? We're made in His image and we only have two hands!

Sometimes I think that we should just let go of the questions. For me, that verse "You have laid your hand upon me" is so comforting and powerful. I just like to enjoy that verse without worrying about how it's physically managed by God!! :)

I don't even know where I am trying to take these lines of thought. I just wanted to share that with you because I love it. And I wanted you to hear those words, too.

May the Lord be with you... have a wonderful day!

PS. Oh, and happy Independence Day to my lovely American readers!