Psalm 139:13-16

Devotional
If the universe came from nothing and life is a biological accident, then human beings are simply complex arrangements of chemicals — and concepts like purpose, value, and meaning are illusions we invented to comfort ourselves. But the Bible presents a radically different picture. Psalm 139:13-16 describes God as intimately involved in forming each person, knowing them before they were known to themselves. Ephesians 2:10 declares that we are God's workmanship — a word that carries the idea of a work of art, a masterpiece — created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared in advance. Jeremiah 29:11 affirms that God holds plans for a future and a hope for those He has made. You are not here by accident. You are not a biological footnote. You are a deliberate creation, made by a God who thought about you before you existed, who designed you with intention, and who placed you in this moment in history for reasons that extend beyond what you can currently see.

Make it Personal

• Do you genuinely believe that your life has purpose, or does that feel more like a comforting idea than a settled conviction? What shapes that belief?

Read the Context
Psalm 139
1You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My 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.
16Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17How precious to me are your thoughts, a God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Footnotes:
a 17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

Talk to God:

• What part of God’s character do I want to praise him for?
• What do I want to thank God for?
• Do I have any unconfessed sin?
• What do I need God’s help with?
• What questions do I have?
• Do I need direction? Do I know how God wants me to serve him today?

Application Idea:

• Identify one area of your life where you have been living as though your existence does not matter. Bring that area before God today and ask Him to replace purposelessness with the confidence of being His workmanship.