by Lori Skipper

Psalm 139 NLT

Too often, we as believers, do not realize our value or our worth. We forget that God is with us ALL the time. We feel we were a mistake. Psalm 139 breaks down our value and our worth for us. This powerful Scripture also reinforces that we are not nor were we a mistake; regardless of what others may have said to or about us. The One that matters the most has told us we are NOT a mistake.

When we sin or make a mistake, we spend so much wasted time beating ourselves up and trying to make up for the wrong we’ve done. But, Psalm 139 verse 1, 4, 5, 16 & 17 assures us that our Father already KNEW what we were going to say or what we were going to do, before we said or did it! I’m certainly not making excuses, we need to repent of our sin, but let’s quit abusing ourselves over the sin, shall we?

Verse 1: O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

Verse 4: You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

Verse 5: You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Verse 16: You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Verse 17: How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

I love verse 5!! Not only is He with us but He goes before us and follow’s us. What?!? We cannot escape Him or His presence. When we don’t feel His presence, we need to encourage ourselves in verse 5 as well as verses 7-11. Oh yea! And He places HIS hand of blessing on our heads. We already have His blessing on us! I could shout about now!!

Let’s talk about something else for a second. We often despise the way we look. But, we see in verses 13-15 that He is the One that made us. When we look at ourselves in the mirror or look at newborns, we will say “Oh, you look like your mom or your dad. You have your mom’s eyes, etc.” Or here is a big one “You are ugly. Look at those wrinkles. You are disgusting looking.” We start cursing what God created. When we’re saying those things, we are aligning ourselves up with the enemy of our souls. When the truth of the matter is: “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. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” Yes, sometimes we change the way God created our outer appearance, BUT we are still wonderfully made, created in HIS image!! (Genesis 1:27).

We are not all created to look, do or behave the same way. Before we start critiquing ourselves or judging ourselves by another, why don’t we first ask Father if we look or do or behave exactly how HE wants us to. Remember, He is looking at the heart while we and man look at the outside. (1 Samuel 16:7). One day, we will have a new glorious body but until that day, why don’t we learn how to be comfortable in the skin we currently wear? If He directs us to do something different, then we will be obedient to follow His leading, and not follow the leading of ourselves, others or the enemy.

I close with verses 23-24. But let me encourage you, when you pray verse 23, allow Him to point out the good in your heart as well, not just the bad or the offensive.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Lori Skipper

9/26/18