30 Jan Psalm 139 Scripture Memory Challenge 2011: Verse 3
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Synchronicity. If you grew up with the music of the 80’s, then this word will take you immediately to…The Police and their hit album with the hit single, “Every Breath You Take,” written and sung by none other than… Sting. (If you don’t know… don’t ask.) Loved the song. You too? But did you know:
The track was written during the collapse of Sting’s marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics are the words of a sinister, controlling character, who is watching “every breath you take; every move you make”.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head, sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn’t realise at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance and control.” —Sting
Every breath you take and every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take
I’ll be watchin’ you
Every single day and every word you say
Every game you play, every night you stay
I’ll be watchin’ you…
Let me ask you a question: Is that how you think of God? Watching every breath you take, every move you make, and just waiting to pounce on you for any and every mistake? Let’s face it- that really is the way some of us see Him. But that’s not the God that David was singing about in this Psalm. Big diff. Huge.
Yes, our God is always watching; He sees everything (El Roi: the God Who Sees) and never, ever misses one single second of our life. Certainly He sees it all, including the things we’d rather Him not see. But He is not watching us as a sinister Big Brother. He is not watching as a resentful parent whom a child can never please. He is not watching as a stern school teacher who we cannot win the approval of. He is not watching as a hawk stalking it’s prey… just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on its poor, helpless victim.
No. God watches over His precious child as any good and loving father would.
We have to remember first and foremost that God is always watching us because God is for us. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, then who can ever be against us?”
God is always watching you because God is on your side… watching your life with only good intentions toward you. Job was so comforted in knowing that God was always watching him no matter how hot the fire of testing and trials would get: “But he knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10).
God is always watching you because He longs to give you strength when you need it: “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God is always watching you—and not only that, He is celebrating over you… with singing: “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
My mom used to say that she loved to come into our bedrooms when we were young and watch us while we were sleeping; watching us breath, or turn from side to side. Just watching. Whether we were in the backyard or playing in the pool, she was faithful to yell to us… “I’ve got my eye on you!” And she did.
Today, take comfort knowing that your loving Father has His Almighty and loving eye on you… and He’s not glancing away for a minute! As you meditate and memorize this verse, “Fear not!” He is watching!
Pressing on in His unfailing love… and under His loving and watchful eyes!
xo – P