HOW GREAT THOU ART –

The compilers of the Psalter want to make sure that no pilgrim walked into God’s holy sanctuary; lifted up their hands and began praising the LORD, thinking He’d be surprised to see they had found Him. They wanted each pilgrim to realize that from the day of their conception until the very moment they opened their mouths to worship Him, He knew all there was to know about them. It was important that they understood that God would be fully aware if they were sincere or not in their adoration of Him; that would He discerned whether or not they really meant what they said. They must not be fooled into thinking that they could sing a song with their lips while their minds wandered elsewhere. No matter how far back we look or how far into the future we gaze, God is always in the moment. So in order to really respect and pay honor to Him, we must always worship Him in the moment. That’s why they chose a psalm written by a returned exile from captivity to emphasize these truths, because it expressed the feelings of someone who knew what they were talking about.

“O LORD Eternal, no one knows me as thoroughly as You do. You know when I plan to sit down or stand up; You know what I’m thinking ahead of time; You know what road I’m going to take and where I’ll stop to rest; You know everything there is to know about me. Before I say a word You already know what I’m going to say. You know all about what I’ve been and what I’m going to be. You are in total control of my life. Such a revelation just makes me shake my head in awe, it’s too deep for me; as a matter of fact, it’s more than I can grasp. It means there is no place I can hide from Your Spirit; no place I can run and not find myself in Your presence. No matter how high I try to climb, You are there; or if I attempt to descend into the lowest cavern, You are there; if I take flight early in the morning and fly far beyond the horizon, You go along with me, holding tightly to my hand. If I were to suppose that I could hide in the dark with all the lights out and be invisible to You, even darkness cannot hide anything from You; as a matter of fact, You see as well at night as You do during the daytime. In other words, there’s no difference between night and day with You. After all, You’re the One who created me as I am; yes, You assembled me in my mother’s womb. Therefore, I worship You because I have been marvelously and wonderfully created; Your handiwork is spectacular; and believe me, I’m more conscious of this now than ever. You knew all along what I was going to be, even as I was being conceived in intimacy and skillfully fashioned in seclusion. Your eyes were on me even as an undeveloped embryo because You laid down the formula for everyone to be formed this way. Oh how precious for me to know, O One True God, that you even think to bless me. As a matter of fact if I were to try and count Your blessings, they would outnumber the grains of sand around me, and were I able to do so, as soon as I got finished there would be even more blessings for me to count.” Psalm 139:1-18

Reflection: Howard Thurman, an African-American, born in Daytona Beach, Florida in 1900, during the days when segregation and racial bias ran rampant, refused to let this stop him from the goals his grandmother, a former slave, instilled in him while growing up. During one of his most stressful moments, after suffering hurtful discrimination at the hands of heartless segregationists, he ran to his room and threw himself on his cot and sobbed for hours. After a while, he opened his eyes and spotted his Bible laying on the night stand; he reached out and grabbed it. It fell open to this Psalm 139; he read these comforting words of God’s abiding presence. So Howard was encouraged and eventually went off to the nearest Negro high school in Jacksonville, Florida; then later enrolled in Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Although he was rejected by Andover Theological Seminary for graduate studies, he didn’t quit. He pursued his doctoral studies at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York, earning a Ph.D. This led him to become a professor of theology at Boston University. He went on to write twenty-two books, and became a leader in the religious community across America. Like the Psalmist, Dr. Thurman found out that God never abandons His children. He stays with them in both their brightest and darkest hours. Only fools contemplate trying to run from God or deny His existence. Wise people know the best thing to do is run toward God. So let the examples of the Psalmist’s faith and Dr. Thurman’s experience become a guiding light for every moment of your life. God was before our own existence; before we came into being, and is beyond our present time and will be there to welcome us when we exit this life. Why not let Him become a constant daily companion in everything you do and everywhere you go along the way. Believe me; the trip will be a lot more exciting and beneficial to both.