The Psalmist wrote clearly that each person ever conceived is fearfully and wonderfully made!
As I sat having my morning tea with my 6 month old puppy (now 30 lbs and growing) sitting next to me, I noticed the face. Nellie Belle has become my faithful and loyal friend. She has unique markings on her largely white body. It’s taken me four months to notice the “face” on the pad of one of her paws. (v14) It made me smile, and of course, take a photo. I’m sure there are other things I have yet to discover.
In Psalm 139 the Psalmist is talking with God:
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
For some of us this Psalm may have become almost cliché, but that does not change the facts of it. I like to slow down with it. As I sit, the Holy Spirit has a better chance I will hear Him speak to me.
The world, meaning widely accepted social norms and media tell us we are only worth something if we fit into its mold. Peer pressure, commercials, songs invite us to believe that what they say about us is truer than what our Creator says about us is.
As one who believes in Good and Evil, I hear the lies of the enemy of our souls working to convince us to believe we are never good enough. He lies and twists little pieces of the truth trying to get us tied in knots so we do not hear the truth of who we are and we miss the fulness of our destiny. We all have a good, God-given destiny (v16) and the enemy wants us to miss it. We attempt to meet the phantom expectations from several directions. These, however, will never be satisfied.
Then we have ourselves to contend with. Beyond the world and the enemy, we have our personal habits that can derail us from doing what God created us for. Do I see myself the way my creator sees me? (v15)
We have the gifts of rational thought, the ability to feel a broad range of emotions and also to choose who we will listen to and how we will act as a result.
I feel like God is calling us all to focus on our individual identities in Him. He wants us to know who we are and whose we are. Not so much to fulfill our destiny, or so we may be fulfilled and happy, but rather so we can make the world a better place. The result is bringing God glory being our best selves, knowing we are loved and accepted. And we just happen to be more fulfilled and happy as a result.
Take some time to meditate on all of Psalm 139, also sometimes called the Identity Psalm. I’d love to hear what Holy Spirit reveals to your heart!
