Psalm 139

It was the day after our twins Isaac and Eli were born. One of our youth parents was teaching my Wednesday night class in my absence. I called him up so that he could put me on speakerphone and I could update the class on how the boys and Bekah were doing. Bekah was doing great, but we had a lot of question marks at that point about the boys. While on speakerphone to the youth class, I read to them a portion of one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 139:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My 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. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.”

At the time, I was primarily thinking about the boys and how we were experiencing new life with them seeing what God had knit together in their mother’s womb. Being that they were born 3 months early - there was indeed a good deal of knitting still required. Over the next 6 months, while they were in the hospital, more of this Psalm became comforting.

This Psalm addresses the great power and magnitude of God. David writes of God’s ability to be all knowing, all present, and all powerful. When we try to grasp his power, we are often left in awe as we just try to contemplate the size of the universe.

When the boys were born, they were so small. I couldn’t get over how small they were and yet how still very much alive they were. Over the next few months, we went through so many ups and downs with them. One of the many things that kept both of us going was the truth of who God is. A God of infinite power and might who can create the whole universe with his voice is the same God who is gentle and who cares for the very smallest among us.

When I read this chapter again, I can’t help but think that it’s either an incredibly terrifying truth to know that God is always with you, or it is incredibly comforting. I’m am comforted knowing that amidst all the chaos that we experience in this world that God is the one who is ultimately in charge. Whether it is the things in life that need us to remember how big God is or the things in life that need us to remember how small God is.

—Chris Gannon