Listen

Lord, you have examined me. You know me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up. Even from far away, you comprehend my plans. You study my traveling and resting. You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways. There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord, that you don’t already know completely. You surround me — front and back. You put your hand on me. That kind of knowledge is too much for me; it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it.

Psalm 139:1-6

Think

I secretly like writing tests. I don’t like taking tests or giving them to my students, but I have fun writing them as a teacher. I like the challenge of creating questions that help my students show off their knowledge or help me to learn what we need to review as a class. I also like trying to sneak in a few new things my students might discover and learn just by reading the test questions themselves.

The examination in today’s psalm is unlike any test we take at school. It’s not based off of anything we’ve done or haven’t done, know or don’t yet know. God is examining and seeking the answers within us.

The author proclaims that God chooses to be there alongside of us — surrounding us and embracing us with grace and peace.

I wonder what we can discover and learn just from this examination itself. God knows us, loves us, and calls us to welcome others to God’s radical embrace of grace and peace.

Molly Logan

Pray

Gracious and loving God, what do you see when you look within me? Thank you for choosing to see me for who I am and guiding me into becoming who you call me to be. Help me to feel you all around me today. Amen.

Go

I said, “I’m here; send me.”

Isaiah 6:8b

May we go into our days celebrating that God knows us, loves us, and calls us to share that grace and care with all whom we encounter today.