You Know Me

God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in!- Psalm 139: 1-6 (MSG)

Familiarity is a wonderful thing among family and friends. We’ve often heard the comment, “Oh, you know me,” spoken with the expectation that whatever has just occured is not a surprise. Isn’t it nice to have a conversation with someone who truly gets you, understands you and accepts you just the way you are?

Today’s passage reminds us that God is familiar with all our ways and knows us completely. He knows everything about us and knows everything we’ll do, even before we do it! One of the most comforting parts of this passage for me is, “I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there too – your reassuring presence, coming and going.” What a beautiful thing to be known, understood, accepted and loved by God.

Sometimes we don’t let people get to know us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won’t like. But God already knows everything and still He accepts and loves us. His total awareness should comfort us because He stays with us through every situation and in every trial, protecting, loving, and guiding us.

This is good news to those who know and love God, because no matter what we do or where we go, we can never be far from God’s guiding and comforting presence.