Searching

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. (Psalm 139:1)

Grace and peace to you on this beautiful summer Saturday afternoon. In a delightful conversation about our spiritual lives this morning, a parishioner and I remarked at how God has been our companion through very different yet similarly wandering journeys, God is with us, knows us, and loves us deeply. As we reflected on our lives we could see God guiding us patiently – nudging us here and there into a different direction and sometimes simply picking us up and setting us back on a new path.

In tomorrow’s psalm, the psalmist shares this sentiment of God’s enduring presence: 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. (v. 139:1)  

How comforting it is to know that God seeks us out and will go no matter where we take ourselves. The psalmist wonders:  “Where can I go from your spirit?” The heights of heaven? The farthest limits of the sea? The darkest parts of the world?  Even there, in the limits of life itself, God is with us.

Every time I hear Psalm 139 I remember a friend, Fran McKendree, who set this psalm to music (you can listen to him sing here). Fran was a deeply faithful man, a friend, and companion. He was deeply concerned with life’s troubles and his music reflects the depth of his compassion.

My prayer for you today is that you experience the companionship of God, however God makes himself known to you, whether through family, friends, neighbors, music, art, nature and so much more. May you know that God loves you without exception.

See you tomorrow!

The Rev. Jenifer Gamber, Rector
St. Peter's Episcopal Church