Fearfully and Wonderfully

Preface
I'm starting to do a little study that I've entitled 'Who does God say I am'. All my posts might not centre around this one topic forever, but at least for a while i'm going to give myself a little homework to do, and see what God is saying to me in this area. And it's a good opportunity to write and express myself, so why not. Here goes...

So I go back to my memories about youth camps back in Ontario, and one thing that really sticks out in my mind is something one of the speakers said one time. He said when you go home, stand in front of a mirror, naked, and say ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made’. I’ve done this once or twice since then and it’s an interesting thing, standing there with no clothes on, exposed to the world (and perhaps some stuffed animals, depending on your gender… maybe). Now it is obviously true for moi that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, but it’s a very poignant thought considering the way much of North America views itself today. So, I think back to this memory some times and last night I did as well. So I decided to do a little reading in the word (read:bible) and actual research a bit about what God says about me. Hopefully I find enough to write about but either way my main goal is to gain some revelation in this area so I begin to see myself as God sees me and not so much as I see me, or others see me (although both of those views will still affect me somewhat).

So that line or verse I mentioned above is actually in Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

So I guess one thing I notice is that David (he wrote most of the psalms) isn’t really surprised by how amazing we are. The greatness of God’s creation causes David to praise Him, but it’s not a surprise because – ‘I know that full well’. All God’s works are wonderful. That’s a sobering thought. How does that apply to people that aren’t so wonderful? (I don’t have the answer, I’m asking you). There have been lots of not so nice people all throughout history and today still. What makes us wonderfully made doesn’t necessarily equate to being wonderful I guess. Maybe it takes some understanding of who made us wonderful to be ‘all we can be’ (not too sound cliché).

So what about that ‘fearfully’ part, how does that fit in there? Well apparently the Hebrew word is yare' {yaw-ray'} which can mean a number of things (see complete reference here) but in general it seems to mean to fear, be afraid or to stand in awe of, be awed. So one could translate it as ‘I am astonishingly and wonderfully made’. I think if you spend any time looking at or reading about the human body you’ll quickly find out that it’s a pretty impressive thing. We’re still barely tapping the capabilities of the brain, and we’ve been around these things on our necks for quite some time now (anywhere from 6,000 to a couple hundred thousand years now – depending on your theology or lack thereof).

But to get back to my original discussion. How I see myself can greatly impede how I perceive God and how I interact with Him and/or how much I allow him to ‘interfere’ with ‘my’ life. If you take time to read the whole Psalm (I’ll add it below) you can tell that David is very in tune with God’s view of him/us. It’s a great prayer, but it’s also a great piece of writing. The Psalms are so full of wonderful imagery and the essence of life – the highs and lows.

Psalm 139 (The Message Bible)

A David Psalm

1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand.
I'm an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I'm never out of your sight.
You know everything I'm going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you're there,
then up ahead and you're there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can't take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you're there!
If I go underground, you're there!
If I flew on morning's wings
to the far western horizon,
You'd find me in a minute—
you're already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I'm immersed in the light!"
It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you.

13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I'll never comprehend them!
I couldn't even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I'm about;
See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.