Known by God
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
SUNDAY, January 14
Psalm 139:1-6
One of our greatest needs as humans is to be known. David wrote this psalm in the midst of those he counted as enemies (even uttering words of demise toward them in later verses). He acknowledges he is known by God—all of his thoughts, his ways, his words—and yet God still loves him. God’s hand is upon him and God surrounds him, behind and before.
Our need to be known is met by God. David personally acknowledges this truth and gives us words to personally acknowledge it as well. It is a good reminder of God’s all-knowing presence: “Your hand upon me” is translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message as “reassuring presence.” I like that.
David was known and loved by God, and he knew it. We are each known and loved by God. Do we need a reminder? Do we need to remind each other?
Lord, remind us that you know everything about us and love us anyway. May your presence reassure us this day. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: LIVING IN GOD’S LOVING PRESENCE
Seen by God
MONDAY, January 15
Psalm 139:7-12
David seems resigned to the fact that God is everywhere. No matter where he would choose to go, or be led or taken, he acknowledges God will be there to lead him. He is comforted by knowing God will “hold me fast” (v. 10, NRSV). David helps us focus on God’s faithfulness—God holding onto us when we may be at times too weak or distracted or rebellious or unknowing to hold onto God.
We are known, and we are also seen—even in the darkness (of our heart or our circumstances). Nothing is darkness to God. It’s as if God sees us with the original night blindness goggles.
I often think of Hagar, who in dire circumstances, encountered God who saw her. She named God “El Roi,” acknowledging, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Genesis 16:13, NIV). It is life-changing when we see the God who sees us and loves us and cares for us. We can then more easily see and love and care for others.
Lord, thank you for seeing me when others may not. AMEN.
Custom-Made by God
TUESDAY, January 16
Psalm 139:13-18
David moves from acknowledging being known and seen, to praising and knowing, although he admits knowing God as we are known is overwhelming. He can’t even count God’s thoughts, earlier admitting he cannot attain the knowledge of God.
My friend and Covenant pastor Sally Carlson says she has been encouraged by the phrase “We are custom-made, not mass produced.” We are known, seen, and made by God before we were born. We are each unique; no one is a mistake. Pastor Judy Howard Peterson likes to say we are each “a once-in-eternity, irreplaceable, unrepeatable act of God.” You are. I am. Our neighbors are. Our friends are. And yes, our enemies are.
Let us join David in his benediction of this psalm as he acknowledges God knows and sees him; he now asks for continued help to follow in the ways of God.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: APPRECIATION FOR GOD’S GOOD GIFTS
Are You Listening?
WEDNESDAY, January 17
1 Samuel 3:1-10
The calling of Samuel could be a lesson in prayer. How often do we actually say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening?”
And how often do we wait for an answer? Or even want an answer if it is different from our desires? When I was a college student, a friend asked to pray for me when I was trying out for cheerleading. She prayed, “If it is your will, Lord…” “What!?” I wanted to exclaim. “I really want to be a cheerleader! What did she pray that for?” (As it turned out, I was not chosen!)
Many years later I heard my friend Jackie Karsh speak on prayer and she quoted Elisabeth Elliot who said we often pray as if we are saying, “Listen, Lord, for your servant is speaking,” instead of, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Prepare my heart for today and prepare me for the people with whom I come into contact. AMEN.
What Are You Doing?
THURSDAY, January 18
1 Samuel 3:11-20
Eli helped Samuel prepare to listen for God’s voice. Samuel followed his instructions and said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel listened, but he was given a difficult task to prophesy against Eli (his mentor) and his sons; his sons for blasphemy and Eli for knowing about it and not doing anything about it.
Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said, but Eli accepted the prophecy and Samuel was recognized in all Israel as a prophet of the Lord. Samuel was known, heard, and did what he was asked to do (with encouragement).
What are you doing? Do you need encouragement from friends to do what the Lord asks of you? Maybe it is to “Do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Lord, may we always desire to listen to you. Give us the desire and strength to do what you ask of us. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: STILLNESS TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE
Hearers or Doers
FRIDAY, January 19
Romans 2:12-24
Paul is writing to “all in Rome who are loved by God” (Romans 1:7, NIV), but here he is questioning the Roman Jews, accusing them of hearing and knowing but not doing. What if he were writing to me, to you, to followers of Jesus? Would he ask questions like these, which the late writer Rachel Held Evans asked herself: “Am I including the people who are typically excluded? Am I feeding the hungry and caring for the sick? Am I holding the hands of the homeless and offering help to addicts? Am I working to break down religious and political barriers that marginalize ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities and people with disabilities?”
Am I? Are we?
Remember the sin of Eli’s sons? That’s right, blasphemy. Paul ends this section with “The name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you” (v. 24, NRSV). Let us not be the cause of someone blaspheming (or despising) the name of the God who loves them.
Lord, may my actions not be the cause of someone despising you. AMEN.
Come and See
SATURDAY, January 20
John 1:43-51
Being seen and known is a powerful thing. It shows respect, understanding, and the beginnings of compassion.
Phillip responded to Jesus’s invitation to “Follow me.” Phillip included his friend Nathaniel by simply saying, “Come and see.” Nathaniel responds to Jesus at the invitation of his friend. He then asks Jesus, “How do you know me?” He then sees for himself that he was seen.
God in the person of Jesus, knows us, sees us, and loves us.
Wrought iron letters spell out “Lo, I am with you always” across the front of my childhood church, reminding me that Jesus is with me. What reminds you? A friend? A verse?
Jesus downplays seeing Nathaniel before Nathaniel sees him (because that’s how it works with an all-knowing God). But he adds, “You (plural) will see greater things.” Nathaniel, Phillip—and you and I—will. Come and see. Invite. There is room at the table.
Lord, make me aware of your presence this day. Prompt me to make room for others to “come and see” and feel included at your table. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: PRAISE FOR GOD’S LOVE
