Dear Friends,
It is a joy to be writing to you again. I was reading Psalm 139 the other day and I would like to share a few thoughts with you. I pray that they would be useful to you. Psalm 139 teaches us that all our thoughts are an open book to God and that, like every good shepherd, His eyes are wide open to all of our struggles. (Ps 139: 23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.)
He observes us unceasingly and there is not a painful emotion we experience that escapes His watchful eyes. (Ps 139 v 2 – 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.) He is fully acquainted with all the pressures that we are under and understands what we are going through when stresses mount up. God wants to use the pressure to work in us what is pleasing in His sight. It may be interpersonal skills that we painfully need to work on, or dealing with frustrations without exploding. We each know our weak points where we need God’s forgiveness and grace.
Can you imagine what it would be like if God took His eyes off you for a brief moment? Just how terrible it would be and what absolute havoc Satan could wreak if he wasn’t on a tight leash held by Jesus Christ. No! while Jesus is in charge and is praying for us, we have His grace available to us all the time! In Psalm 139 He promises to be with us wherever we may be, whether it’s where we are right now or ‘on the far side of the sea’ (which is where I am!). Let us be grateful, realising that God’s thoughts towards us are always tender, loving, wise and prudent (verse 17).That they bring countless benefits to us (verses 5 and 6). We read in verse 12 that ‘even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.’ What a wonderful reassurance for us to know that no matter what burdens we are carrying or how much we are struggling, the darkness of the situation is as light to Him – He sees us and is with us in it. We simply need to offer it up to Him in prayer and ask for His light to shine into the situation.
In conclusion let’s look at God’s promise to His people through Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah 32:40 – I will make an everlasting covenant with them (God’s rebellious people): I will never stop doing good to them and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
May you be encouraged as you start a new school term by the certainty that God created you and formed you and He will never let you out of His sight. He is with you and longs for you to walk in the light of His presence each and every day.
