I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Psalms 139:13-16 - His perfect knowledge of and love for His creation are on display for us to marvel at!
Photo by Alex Hockett, via Unsplash.
“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.”
Psalms 139:13-16 NIV
Psalm 139 contains many valuable insights into the nature of God, and verses 13 through 16 are especially important in our time. Verse 13 begins with the acknowledgment that God knew David before his birth, from his conception and as he was developing in his mother’s womb.
If any verses of the Bible can be said to be pro-life, these four specific verses speak volumes. God’s concern for our lives begins at conception, which should make it clear to His people that we have a responsibility to show concern and care for children in the womb.
A number of states are pushing the pro-abortion agenda during this election cycle, saying that a woman has the right to do what she decides is best for her body. From God’s point of view — and from the viewpoint of most of us on the pro-life side — that is another person in the woman’s womb, making abortion tantamount to murder.
In the years that I have become intimate with the Bible, I have found David’s psalms to be indicative of the complex nature of the man. He went from being a shepherd to ruling a powerful nation; he mixed the heart and soul of a poet/musician with the martial skills of a warrior. In verse 14 he marvels at God’s amazing design of the human body, praising his Maker for being “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
When we stop and think about how our bodies were designed by God, with all of the infinitely complex processes that constitute His creation of self-aware beings that can praise Him, we should be in complete awe of the Lord. At this point in human history, we know so much more about how we are put together, but the unanswered questions should give us even more reason to praise Him!
I would be remiss if I didn’t quote the “Prince of Preachers” Charles Haddon Spurgeon at least once in this devotional, so here are several of his insights into these verses:
“The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood-vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.”
“If we are marvelously wrought upon even before we are born, what shall we say of the Lord’s dealings with us after we quit his secret workshop, and he directs our pathway through the pilgrimage of life? What shall we not say of that new birth which is even more mysterious than the first, and exhibits even more the love and wisdom of the Lord.”1
You might be confused (as I was) about the phrase used in verse 15 — “woven together in the depths of the earth”. David was using these words to describe an unseen and mysterious place like a deep cavern, and he was wise to make the analogy of a mother’s womb as the unseen and mysterious workshop of God’s skills at work creating a baby.
But what about those babies who are not perfect when they are born? I liked David Guzik’s explanation from Enduring Word:
ii. The work of God in fashioning the body of the individual has made some people wonder about the presence of birth defects, and what that may mean regarding God’s work. We should regard such birth defects as injuries to God’s original design, and even as a person may be injured out of the womb, so they can be injured while still in the womb and in the process of formation. Such injuries are the result of the fall and the corruption it introduced into the world, yet still the eye of faith can see the hand of God at work in what defects or injuries He would allow in His providence.
David finishes this portion of Psalm 139 with more praise for His maker. While no one else at the time could see David’s body being formed, God could see all that was going on. Once again, His perfect knowledge of and love for His creation are on display for us to marvel at!
The Lord knew David before his birth, and he realizes that God also knows exactly how his life will unfold, day by day, as if each thought, action, prayer, and even sin had been written in a book.
How is your book playing out? Don’t let a few bad chapters spoil what could be a perfect and happy ending!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, thank You that You saw me before I was born. Thank You that every day of my life was recorded in Your book and every moment of my life is laid out before You. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me praise Your holy name! In Jesus' name, AMEN.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon "The Treasury of David: Volume 3" (Psalms 111-150) (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1988)