"O, Lord, you know me ..."My favorite Psalm is 139. I have found so many uses for the comfort of those words. It helps me to know that I am not alone in this world, no matter how lonely I become. I first learned about this Psalm when I was about 10 years old. I was the typical 10-year-old; for a boy, but of course I was a girl. I was active and most of the time I was a tomboy. I climbed trees, played baseball and rode my bike for hours. Once I got lost and didn’t panic until I was really late for dinner. I was exploring the mountains of Wills Mountain in Southwestern Pennsylvania, where I lived. I rode my bike to a trail that swerved up over the hillside and decided to ‘conquer’ that hill. I was alone but fearless.I remember encountering a deer nearby and for the first time I was amazed by it’s beautiful eyes. I still marvel at the clearness of a doe’s eyes. On up I went until I could no longer see the path below. In fact, I was not sure where I was and how many turns I had taken. A meadow spread out before me and I knew, at that moment, that I had not seen that meadow before. Gulp! I was surely lost!Well, dummy, turn around and you can just backtrack on down to your bike and peddle on home, I told myself!!! But down was now up and over and around and I was lost. Too brave to cry, I sat down on the grass and began to think real hard. A piece of paper blew right past me and landed on my shoes. I grabbed it and it was Psalm 139, torn from the center of the Bible. King James Version, I remember. I had read the Bible but I was not an avid scholar. I almost threw it away, until I read the first line:"O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me! Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up: Thou discernest my thoughts from afar."Visions of the deer’s eyes, the beautiful meadow and that sacred page will live with me always. All I had to do was trust in God, who knows me best. When I feel ‘lost,’ I just open my Bible and turn to Psalm 139 and I know God will show me the way. I rarely use the King James Version of the Bible but I do read quite often the comforting words of Psalm 139. When my beloved father died 10 years ago, nothing would comfort me but the words of ‘my’ Psalm. I still need that comfort when I think of my father.Do you have a favorite Psalm? Read through them every day and see how they each speak to you. If you ever get ‘lost,’ you can find your way with God’s Word.
