Let’s face it – 2020 has been a strange year.
But God was not surprised by all the events that have happened.

Would you join me in a four-week countdown to Thanksgiving?
When we stop for a moment, we realize we have much to be thankful for.

¹³ For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

(Psalm 139:13-16, English Standard Version)

As we journey together with King David in worship and thanksgiving for all God is and what He has done, we have seen that God is all-knowing and ever-present. God knows more about us than we know of ourselves, and everywhere we go, He is already there.

Today’s verses remind us of God’s timelessness. In fact, God invented time! Today’s verses also remind us of God’s crowning creation – us!

David did not explain his coming into being in biological terms. Instead, David saw the miracle of life as part of God’s amazing plan – both the intricate details of how we were formed in our mother’s womb as well as our life story, all before we were even born.

David experiences God’s goodness in the deepest part of his being, in his soul. And that deep assurance bring him great peace and comfort.

David captures the essence of this in verse 14, when he praises God and says, “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” In the Hebrew text, scholars tell us, this literally says, “for I am fearfully wonderful.”

Now that is something to think about and meditate on today… and my response to David’s thought of being “fearfully wonderful”?

Worship of the Creator who made me and sustains me all my days.

May this paraphrase of today’s text be your prayer to the Lord today:

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. ¹⁵ You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!

(psalm 139:13-16, The Living Bible)

Lord, thank You for David writing down these timeless truths about who You are, what You have done, are doing, and continue to do in the life of every person.

No wonder You know me, Lord – You made me! Thank You for each and every life, Lord – You, the Creator of the universe, know each of us by name!

On the days where I struggle and feel beat up and unloved and things just go wrong and fall apart, please remind me of David’s words of praise to You. When I remember that You made me and love me and know the story of my life before I was born, that brings great comfort to my weary soul.

Lord, for all who feel forgotten and marginalized and less than You created them to be, may they experience the warmth and comfort of Your Spirit wrapping them up in Your love, reminding them that they matter, and their hurts matter, and You made them in Your image.

And if they need a kind word or a hug or a cup of water, may we have Your eyes to see and Your ears to hear, and Your compassion to respond. The love that You freely pour out on me each day, may I share the abundance with others, that they may know You also.

Amen.

Praising the Creator of all life, who made us fearfully wonderful,
~kevin