No one on this earth knows me better than my mother.
She has been there for all my big, important moments… but even more importantly, she’s been there for my little, ordinary moments, too. We have laughed together and cried together, adventured together and passed time together. She knows me—inside and out.
So, these days, it doesn’t really surprise me that she can look past my smile and tell when I’m struggling or that she can finish my sentences (just like I can hers).
I have a mother who shares my history and understands me deeply.
Maybe you have somebody similar in your life—someone who shares your history and understands you deeply. Or maybe you don’t, but wish you did.
I think it’s safe to say that all of us have a desire to be seen and known. And whether or not some special, caring person has met part of that need for us, there is a greater (more satisfying) fulfillment found only in God.
Just look at what David said in Psalm 139:1-5:
LORD, you have searched me, and you know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. (WEBBE)
God knows us more intimately than anyone else ever could and He surrounds us personally with His presence.
Each of these truths meets a deep need in our souls.
God knows us intimately.
In the first four verses of this Psalm, David described God’s knowledge of him. And up front, he said, “LORD, you have searched me, and you know me” (verse 1).
This reminds us that God’s knowledge of His people is firsthand knowledge. It doesn’t come from hearsay or through the grapevine. Rather, He knows us because He has a personal window into our souls and has taken time to search out our deepest parts.
But, what, exactly, does God see and know when He looks at us like this? Well, for starters…
- God is aware of everything we do. David said in verse 2, “You know my sitting down and my rising up.” Nothing we do escapes God’s notice. He sees our working and our vegging, our going out and our coming in, our routines and our interruptions. Whatever we do, whether in public or private, God sees and knows it entirely.
- God knows our reasons for doing what we do. David continued, “You perceive my thoughts from afar.” That word “thoughts” can also mean “purpose” or “aim.”[1] So, God understands the reasoning behind our actions. If we’re honest, there are days when even we don’t know why we do certain things. Why do we bristle and snap back at careless words? Why do we spend our precious, limited time scrolling a screen? What is happening beneath the surface of our choices and responses? We may or may not be aware of those answers. But God knows. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees—not only our actions—but the root of our actions, as well.
- God discerns the true worth of what we do. In verse 3, David said, “You search out my path and my lying down…” In other words, He assesses the value of all our actions. This is a sobering truth—that the God who sees every detail of our lives is the all-wise, righteous Judge of men. And yet for those of us in Christ, it doesn’t have to lead to fearful, legalistic living. It only invites us to get curious about God’s perspective. What does He think about our habits and responses? What does He think about the paths we take and don’t take? God knows the ways that are best—the ways that are most beautiful and helpful—and He can reveal them to us.
- God knows what we’re doing to do or say before we do or say it. David said in verse 4, “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether.” This is more than the kind of sentence-finishing I can do with my mom. We humans can sometimes guess what someone will do or say, especially if we know them well. But God has actual foreknowledge of our lives. He knows—with 100% accuracy—what we will do next.
There is nothing in our past, present, or future that is hidden from God’s knowledge of us. As verse 3 put it, “You…are acquainted with all my ways.” Because God is present and involved in our day to day, He is familiar with every aspect of our living. His knowledge is up-close and relational.
What a comfort to remember that God knows us more intimately and thoroughly than anyone else ever could. And yet that’s not the only comforting thing David tells us about the Lord, here.
God surrounds us personally.
David continued in verse 5, saying, “You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.”
The God who knows us intimately is also the God who hems us in, behind and before. This holds 2 encouragements for us:
First, God is the One who sets our limits.
The phrase “hemmed in” conjures up an image of being enclosed and limited in where you can go. It’s similar to how my mom set limits for me, growing up. I could run off and play with my friends in the neighborhood, but I needed to stay within a certain radius or be back at a certain time. Like most children, I didn’t always understand the limits set for me and yet, because my mom loved me and knew me like no one else, her limits were trustworthy. They were for my ultimate good and safety.
How much more, then, can we trust the limits God sets for us? Given His matchless love and knowledge of us, His limits have to be for our good, as well.
So, when we look at the limits we read in His Word or at the limitations we face in our lives, might we consider that God is hemming us in right where He wants us? If we will live within our God-given limits, I believe we’ll find that His hand is on us in those hemmed in places.
Second, God is in every moment of our stories.
Whether or not we have people who share our history and understand us deeply, we have a God who does. He knows every chapter we’ve lived so far because was in every chapter. And He’ll be present in all our future chapters, too. He hems us in, behind and before, with His very presence.
So, though we may not always be able to point to a person and say, “They know everything about me,” we will always have a God who knows us inside and out. He stays with us through our laughing and our crying, our adventuring and our time-passing. Our God shares the entirety of our history and knows us best of all.
[1] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7454.htm
his devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Summer Soundtrack” on the Psalms. To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
