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Illustration of a little girl standing alone with tears on her cheeks, clutching a teddy bear, surrounded by a warm golden glow and tiny rays of light from above, illustrating Psalm 139's comfort that God sees every tear and knows us completely, even when we feel forgotten.

Psalm 139

You Know Me Completely

ComfortWisdom

God knows everything about you — when you sit down and when you stand up, what you're going to say before you even say it! There is nowhere you can go where God isn't there. He knit you together in your mother's womb and every day of your life was written in His book before you were even born.

  1. 1O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
  2. 2You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.
  3. 3You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.
  4. 4Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O LORD.
  5. 5You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
  6. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
  7. 7Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
  8. 8If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
  9. 9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the far side of the sea,
  10. 10even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.
  11. 11If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me,"
  12. 12even the darkness is not dark to You; the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
  13. 13For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
  14. 14I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
  15. 15My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
  16. 16Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
  17. 17How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
  18. 18Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I awake, I am still with You.
  19. 19If only You would slay the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
  20. 20those who speak of You with evil intent, who misuse Your name as Your adversaries.
  21. 21Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
  22. 22I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them as my enemies.
  23. 23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.
  24. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

What it means

God knew you before you were born. He knows every thought you think, every word before you say it, and every place you go. You are not an accident — you are wonderfully made by a God who loves you deeply.

A little prayer

Lord, You know everything about me — and You still love me. Thank You for making me exactly as I am. I am wonderfully made by You. Help me to believe that and live it every day. Amen.

Memory verse

“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:14 (BSB)

It is the verse to have ready for the day a child decides there is something wrong with how they were made.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. The psalm says God knows when you sit down and when you get up. Is being known that well a comfortable feeling or an uncomfortable one? Can it be both?
  2. It says there is nowhere you could go to get away from God. Name the furthest place you can imagine. Then read verses 9 and 10 again.
  3. 'Fearfully and wonderfully made' — what is one thing about how you are made that you are glad about?
  4. How would you treat someone at school differently if you remembered they were made just as carefully as you were?

Try this

Wonderfully made

Take a fingerprint with a pencil rubbing and a piece of sticky tape, and look at it with a magnifying glass. Nobody else who has ever lived has that pattern. Read verses 13 to 14, then write the verse under the print and keep it.

You will need: A pencil, sticky tape, white paper, and a magnifying glass if you have one.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)