MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE TO REFLECT HIS GLORY

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made….  (Psalm 139:14a)

We are created in the image of God to reflect His glory.  There are attributes of God we can share.  These include: love, righteousness, and veracity.  Other attributes are excusive to God alone.  Some of these are His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.  In all that God is, humans are created in His image to glorify Him.  That is what the psalmist leads us to do in Psalm 139.

We glorify God in His omniscience (v.1-6).  God is all-knowing. He is never surprised, caught off guard, or startled in the least.  Every eventuality is planned out.  All His purposes are mapped out.  None can thwart Him.  God knows our deeds before we do them (v.1-2a).  God is acquainted with our every activity.  He knows our thoughts before we think them (v.2b).  He knows more than our activity; He knows our attitude—not just what we do, but why we do it.  God knows our steps before we take them and knows our days before we live them (v.3).  God knows our words before we speak them (v.4). He hears every word—even if whispered.  God puts a hedge of protection about us—to keep His sheep from straying and to keep predators away (v.5)!  His strong, but gentle hand rests upon us.  How can we grasp a God so great? He is beyond our imagination and vocabulary (v.6)!  It is remarkable how He who knows us best, loves us most!

We glorify God in His omnipresence (v.7-12).  God is ever-present.  If we go to the highest point—heaven—God is there (v.7-8). If we go to the lowest point—sheol—God is there.  In heaven, the face of God is our happiness, but in hell, the face of God is our horror!  An inescapable date with judgment is fixed.  If I go to the east (the wings of the morning where the sun rises) or to the west (the Mediterranean Sea as located in reference to Israel where the sun sets), God is there (v.9-10).  God has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us.  Nothing obscures his vision (v.11-12).  God sees the tears on the saint’s pillow and transgressions sinners seek to conceal.  Secret sin on earth is open scandal in heaven.

We glorify God in His omnipotence (v.13-18).  He is all-powerful.  Our organs are designed by Him—the incredible functions of the body’s systems (v.13-14).  Every life is a special creation of God.  Only God can do this. God is like a weaver pulling the threads together.  Even when we were but a few cells forming, God saw us and mapped out our DNA (v.15-16).  Ultrasound may not have detected us, but God knew all about us. The lowest parts of the earth is symbolic language to describe how God formed us in secret—as a precious gem formed and then “mined.”  Even the number of our days is predetermined.  Isn’t it astonishing that the great God would condescend to give such individual attention to the least among us (v.17-18)?  God’s grace is boundless!  It is as constant as His moment by moment care.  Every day, when we awake it is a gift from God.

Because God knows all, is always there, and has total power, He is the only One qualified to judge people (v.19-24).  He is holy.  What is expressed here by the psalmist is righteous indignation, calling upon God to magnify His holiness.  Let us pray for God to remove our sins and stresses.