A sister in New Mexico asks for comment concerning Psalm 139:16, in which the Psalmist writes: “Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance. In Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.”
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This ancient text assures us that God who made us also knows us intimately. God knows the number of our days and our months (Job 14:5). Our times are in his hand (Ps. 31:15). We were known to God before we were born — even by name, according to some biblical examples. God knows those who take refuge in him (Nahum 1:7). Everything in our lives is under the Creator’s sovereignty and control. I find great comfort in this assurance.
The person who hopes in God may confidently say, “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me,” assured that God’s “lovingkindness is everlasting” and that God will “not forsake” the person he himself has made (Ps. 138:8). He gives us sleep and he wakes us again (Ps. 3:5; 4:8). He protects us according to his own will and he gives us any success which we enjoy (Ps. 127:1-2). All health comes from God, and all healing (Ps. 103:1-5).
There are no “accidents” with God and there is no such thing as “luck.” Nothing can happen to one of God’s children without his permission and loving awareness. He grieves with us when we grieve. Sometimes he sorrows for us quite alone — for he knows what is best for us even when we choose the ways and things that are not. “God works everything together for good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). In context, this statement looks back to God’s choosing us before the world began, and it looks forward to his keeping us until eternity to come (Rom. 8:29-32).
None of this destroys our accountability, diminishes our responsibility or deprives us of the need and obligation to make right choices. Yet, in some way which we can believe although we do not fully understand, God is sovereign over our decisions and he empowers us to choose. These are truths for accepting, not for arguing, for praising, not for disputing. There are many things we do not know. But we know enough to thank and to worship God, who knows us so very well and who loves us so very much!