“I am totally ‘blown away’”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, July 29, 2023
Psalm 139:1-24 (Forward p. 92) CEV p. 640
We have just watched a television special that described how computer hackers are now able to access our computers and not only defraud us by various scams but even able to get into our accounts, change passwords etc., steal our identities and make various unauthorized transactions on our behalf, all without us even having an inkling that this is taking place. Such a knowledge of us and our affairs is rather daunting, unnerving and frightening.
But, in a very real sense, this is a mere ‘nothing’ compared to God’s knowledge of us. Certainly, He is well aware of what we do.
“You know when I am resting or when I am working” (verse 2a);
“You notice everything I do and everywhere I go” (verse 3);
Indeed, as the psalmist later relates (verses 7-12), there is nowhere that we can go that God is not already present. And, even before we were born, God was there for us, and busily working on our behalf (verses 13-16)
However, this is not all. With God, it is not merely our outward actions and behaviours that are known to Him, but even our thoughts and our unspoken words. On this count, our psalmist says:
“You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me” (verse 1);
“From heaven you discover my thoughts” (verse 2b);
“Before I even speak a word, you know what I will say” (verse 4);
But, unlike the ever-present hackers, who are always trying to wrest something from us and always trying to do us harm, God is absolutely loving and kind, and always working for our good, always working for our best. And, with His knowledge of us, it is always tempered with a profound understanding of ‘where we come from’, a deep and compassionate grasp
of our past histories and experiences—and our inner attitudes, ideas, and motivations. All of this He is able to weigh in His deep love for us and make allowances for. So, I am ‘totally blown away’ by this. How unlike the hackers this is, who don’t care a wit for us and our well-being.
Forward notes: “I will thank you because I am marvellously made; your works are wonderful, and I know it well” (verse 13).
“We are God’s children. We all deserve to be treated with love and respect from the moment we are born. But we know that life isn’t always like that. Many are born to unfortunate circumstances—poverty, dysfunctional families, or worse.
“Manu is a 4-year-old boy with big, angelic eyes. He comes from an underprivileged background, and he spends a lot of time in the streets. He and his sister have recently started to attend church. I am trying to teach them good manners. One day, Manu came to mass with a wound—he had been bitten by a dog. I mended his wound, held him in my arms, and kissed his head. After mass, he came and embraced me with so much love that it almost made me cry. He was thanking me for having cared for him.”
MOVING FORWARD: “Today, help spread the message that we are all ‘wonderfully made’”.