Have you ever had a conversation with a family member or an old friend that left you feeling complete? Being heard by someone who knows you to the depth of your soul can be a beautifully satisfying experience. Last week I had a conversation with my cousin that just filled my heart with joy. It wasn’t the subject that made me happy; indeed, we were discussing her parents’ health issues and frustrations with the hospital care they were receiving. But the familiarity of her voice in my ear filled my heart. She is younger than me, so I have known her all her life. She has known me all her life. In the absence of my immediate family, she is the only one left who knows me so well and for so long.

It is a comfort to be known in such a way.

Our lectionary passage reminds us today that we are deeply, intimately, and completely known by God. Think about that for a moment. The one who created the entire universe(s) knows you from the inside-out! He knows your thoughts, your plans, and even the things you say even before you say them (ruh roh …):

Psalm 139 (Common English Bible)

Lord, you have examined me.
    You know me.
² You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
    Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
³ You study my traveling and resting.
    You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
⁴ There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
    that you don’t already know completely.
⁵ You surround me—front and back.
    You put your hand on me.
⁶ That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
    it’s so high above me that I can’t reach it.

Intimidated yet? It is strange to think we are THAT well known. This is a reminder that we should order our thoughts and our plans according to God’s word, as there is no escaping his presence in any aspect of what we are doing. But this also brings a comfort to us, as it assures us that we are never alone, even in the darkest moments.

¹³ You are the one who created my innermost parts;
    you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
    Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.

I love the thought that God knit us together in our mother’s wombs, knowing and forming our bones and our embryos. It suggests to me that God knew us even before our mothers did, which is a comfort of a sort when you lose your mother here on earth. There still is One who knows us, who never leaves us, and who loves us with a mother’s love.

¹⁵ My bones weren’t hidden from you
    when I was being put together in a secret place,
    when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my embryo,
    and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me,
    before any one of them had yet happened.
¹⁷ God, your plans are incomprehensible to me!
    Their total number is countless!
¹⁸ If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand!
    If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you.

“I’d still be with you.” The psalmist ends his song with this beautiful thought. We can never go away from God’s presence or his love. Even in our loneliest times, even in seasons of abandonment and betrayal from those we love, God remains.

I hope that gives you comfort today! It might be a good day to reach out to an old friend, a cousin, or your mom if you can, and offer thanks for knowing them, and being known.

Your Works Are Wonderful by Michelle Robertson