Psalm 139 (ESV)
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 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 in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Sardines and Psalm 139
by Pastor Michael Salemink
“The Psalmist here proclaims that incomprehensibleness of the divine wisdom and goodness, whereby, in a wonderful manner, he himself and all men, with all their affairs, all their works and all their thoughts, both the greatest and the least, were predestined of God from everlasting.” Martin Luther
Have you heard of the backwards hide-and-seek game called “sardines”? One person hides, and the other players all look for the hiding one. If you find the hiding one, you hide right there, too. The last player to find everyone loses. Sometimes the hiding place gets crowded with everyone in there, so we call it “sardines.”
Sinfulness offers the illusion of hiding. Sinfulness deceptively promises fewer complications in solitude, greater control and comfort in autonomy. Serving self instead actually detaches from fellowship. Using others disconnects from community. The Lord of Life’s laws retract the curtains by calling out, “Where are you? Do you see how far you’ve wandered, how naked and endangered you’ve become? I’m coming for you. I will find you.”
Hear even in these condemning words the Father’s compassion. “I’m coming for you. I will find you.” He abides beside us even in the depths of sin and pain, through the very valley of the shadow of death itself. He has incarnated Himself among us, made Himself little like us, to fit with us in our tightest spaces. He assumes on Himself and endures in our place the claustrophobic crushing so that we may breathe relief. The pressure binds both Him to us and us to Him. He has implanted Himself right next to us, and where He ascends, there we also will reside.
If the devil comes up against us, he comes up against our God, too. If hurt and hell frighten or entice us, they must face our Savior also. Afraid or ashamed, we know He stays with us. Frail or failing, we trust He prevails for us. We hear His Word speak to us. We see His Word work on us. We remain sardines with Him, sealed secure in Baptism’s water.
Let us pray: Good Shepherd, I fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Amen.