Who do you know the best in the whole world? Do you know that person's middle name… their favourite colour...their third favourite beverage choice? And what about you? Who knows you the best? Psalm 139 makes a strong case that the answer is… God.
God Knows your thoughts? Check.
Psalm 139:1-6 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far off. You search my path and my lying down and are aware of all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue but behold, O Lord, You know it fully. You put Yourself behind and before me, and keep Your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is lofty, and I cannot fathom it.”
We might feel like our bestie knows what we are thinking sometimes or they might be really good at knowing what we are going to say before we say it, they might even be able to guess what you are feeling based only on the look in your eye - but to realise that the Guy who wired the weather patterns also explores your mind, knows your innermost thoughts. He completely understands how you tick. Not only does He know what you are going to say, He knows why you are saying it and why you are saying it that way. That is completely overwhelming.
And to up the ante, He then protects you. We self-sabotage and self-harm in all sorts of ways and He loves you too much to look away. He protects you from all sides - even from yourself. “Too wonderful” indeed. It's unfathomable, but He knows each one of us this well, this completely.
Never alone? Check.
Psalm 139:7-12 Where shall I go from Your spirit, or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell at the end of the sea, even there Your hand shall guide me, and Your right hand shall take hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light shall be as night about me,” even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines as the day, for the darkness is as light to You.
Just like He knows everything there is to know about you, there is also nowhere you can go that He isn't - in your mind or for reals. He is with you. All. The. Time. Whether you welcome His presence or not is irrelevant to the fact. Whether your life-road has you somewhere peachy or somewhere dodgy, He is there.
And He is your navigation, Buddy. It’s your choice to listen to His directions or not, but He is there telling you what is the best decision to make, what dead ends to avoid, what potholes to look out for. Nothing is unknown to Him and He can and wants to, help you navigate this road that is your life. Trust Him; He can see clearly in your dark.
Handcrafted? Check
Psalm 139:13-18 You brought my inner parts into being; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder; marvelous are Your works, and You know me completely. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret and intricately put together in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed, yet in Your book, all my days were written before any of them came into being. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.
Irrespective of whether you felt wanted by your parents, God did use them to make you. You might disagree on that was a good idea, or on if you were a good idea, but He wanted you! He thought the idea of you was good and made you. Weaving you exactly to specification. A marvelous custom job.
That's why, by the way, He knows how your mind works so well; it's because He actually, intricately put it together. With fear and wonder. And while He was still busy doing all this He was thinking of your first day, as well as your last day, and all the days in between. Nothing you do or say or think surprises, God. Some of these make Him cry, some of them make Him laugh, some of them make Him angry and disappointed, and some of them make Him fall down on His knees to comfort you, to be on the floor with you… All of this, your whole life flashes in His mind as His hands make you. “So worth it,” we can almost hear Him say.
Is it good news or bad news?
If you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, then Psalm 139 is great news (Romans 10:9). You would confidently be able to say with King David verse 23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my concerns, and see if there is any rebellious way in me, and lead me in an ancient way.”
If you haven't repented of your sins and turned to Jesus for your salvation, this Psalm is very unnerving and even scary. But I want to reassure you that God is using it to tell you the truth - that you are completely known and never alone and always loved. You don't have forever to accept this true or false. You have a set amount of time and it’s running out. Listen to your Maker, to your constant Companion, to your mind Reader. He is the ONLY Way, and the ONLY Truth, and the ONLY Life (John 14:6).