God's Children

Wonderfully Complex

After Psalm 23, Psalm 139 is one of the most beloved of David’s poems. Because it’s so loved and well-known, you might recognize certain words and phrases as you read through it. The words flow out of David’s own personal understanding and experiences of God. Though he wrote thousands of years ago, David’s ideas are timeless. That’s the power of poetry: it communicates truth beyond a specific time and place.

The lyrics in Psalm 139 are true, but not in the same way that the stories of Jesus are true. The words of poetry aren’t presented as measurable data or historical dates or tested theories. That’s not the point or purpose of poetry. The poetry of the Psalms is meant to challenge your thoughts, to stir your soul, and to move your heart. The lyrics connect with your deepest emotions, longings, questions, and thoughts in ways that a lesson, lecture, or sermon might not.

Settle into the words and images of this Psalm. Let God your Father speak to you through its beauty and wisdom.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — how well I know it. (Psalm 139:13-14)

Read & Reflect

Psalm 139

In a single phrase, summarize the big idea of these sections in Psalm 139:1-6

7-12
13-16
17-18
19-24

What other imagery besides being “knit” or “woven” would you use to describe God’s process of designing and creating each person? Talk about it or doodle it.

Extra Info

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Hebrew poetry doesn’t use rhyming patterns the way we usually expect it in our poems, like this:

Roses are red, violets are BLUE. I love pizza, how ‘bout YOU?

Instead, Hebrew poetry rhymes ideas. The second line of poetry either repeats the previous line with different words and phrases, or it contrasts with the previous line, or it completes the previous line by expanding the idea.

O Lord, I give my life to you.

I trust in you, my God! (repeated idea)

Do not let me be disgraced,

or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat (expanded idea)

No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,

but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. (contrasted idea)

(Psalm 25:1-3)

Extra Verses

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Ephesians 2:8-10

Extra Things

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Watch and listen to the videos below for more about our identity as God's children.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2103 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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