This is the continuation of a devotional series I started in March about my favorite Psalm of all time. Last time, we left off with little Julianne reading “Even before a word is on my tongue, You, Lord, know it completely” in her school’s small library years ago.

I used to read this an interpret it as, “Before I even pray a word, you know what I’m going to say.” And that is true—the LORD knows the depths of our prayers, but it’s much more than that (as we uncovered in the previous edition).

Now, let’s fast-forward slightly. I now sit in front of my 8^th grade class, reading this Psalm out loud as part of my duties as Class Chaplain.

Vs. 5: “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too loft for me to attain.”

I used to imagine God’s hands keeping us from things, like you did when you had a pet hamster and wanted to guide them towards food. While that may be true to a certain extent, God guiding us towards our destiny, there’s more to take note of here.

God is everywhere. Not just right now, though. He’s in our past—creating us, showing us himself, authoring our destiny. He’s forgiving our sins, cutting away the sinful habits and thoughts of the past. That’s him, hemming us from behind. His acts in the past point to a time in the future when the former sins will not be remembered, and we will be free and in love with God forever (Isaiah 65:17).

He’s in our future, preparing a place for us in the heavenly realms. Sometimes he tells us to pull promises from the future into the present. He knows everything we’ll ever experience—on a bone deep level. That’s Him, hemming the future before us.  This is truth. Why, then, is it so hard to trust him?

And, finally, He lays his hand upon us in the present. Right now, all around the world, he is encouraging the Bride of Christ, strengthening the church, and calling each member to His purposes, and the beauty of continuing reconciliation

The God Outside of Time chooses to reach into time and guide us with his mighty hands. That’s love.

Vs. 6: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too loft for me to attain.”
No kidding! Experiencing God’s Presence in a Past/Future/Present way is almost indescribable. He’s so much more than we could ever fathom.

Today, LORD, remind us that you hem us in, behind and before. You are in our past and our future. You lay your hand upon us in the present, smiling as bright as a young father’s grin, calling us into an even deeper and greater relationship with you.

Vs. 7-8, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Where shall I flee from your Presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in the depths, you are there!”

This passage continues the theme of God’s eternal Presence. Now, when David was writing this psalm, most believing folk weren’t blessed with the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. The Spirit’s arrival was part of the New Covenant. David, however, seems to have been one of the few God chose to pour his Spirit upon (How else do you explain Psalm 16?).

So, the fact that God is there, in heaven, and Shaol is true on multiple layers.

First of all, God is omniscient. He is God, after all, and He knows his creation deeper than anyone else by a longshot. But for those of us living in the 21^st century, and maybe for David too—God’s Presence is experienced and known in part because of us. As temples of the Living God, we invite God to move in to the places we find ourselves.

And what places are those?

Vs. 9-10”: If I ride on the wings of the dawn, if I settle o the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

David uses such visceral imagery here. Verse 9 is one of my favorite passages in all of the Bible because of the juxtaposition is displays (can you tell I’m an English major?).

Other translations (like the ESV) say, “If I take the wings of the morning” but the NIV creates this emboldening connotation, a vast declaration with trumpets—

RIDING ON THE WINGS OF THE DAWN!”

This is when you are in your element. This is when you experience the Lord’s Presence in a way that is impossible to ignore. You feel his hand upon you in the moment. You might be writing, leading a child towards Christ, making a new friend, praying for a friend– whatever it may be, it’s pins and needles, maybe healing, maybe weeping, just—beauty, and glory all woven together. Overcome with blessings, feeling the wind and the the Wings of the Dawn, heralding in the sun and the Hope of Morning.

And then, there’s Sheol, in a sense: the far side of the sea. Isolated. Lonely. Apart from everything and everyone we care for and value. It’s often a place we build ourselves, thinking ourselves the kings and queens of vast kingdoms. But really, we’re living in a stupid, terrible little shelter that we made, mistaking it for a castle just because we made it by ourselves. It’s made of despair, bitterness, anger. Like Jonah, I sit on its edge until I realize that God still loves me and wants me to know him. He walks on the water to visit me on this lonely sea, showing me his campfire and saying, “Look, I made breakfast. Come sit with me.”

(There’s a part of me that feels too ashamed to accept this invitation, but we’ll parse that out at a later date).

His mercies are new every morning—let’s accept his hand and go forth, especially in those lonely, island moments.