Psalm 139:13-18
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My 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.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
When David began to grasp the incredible design of the human being all he could think to do was praise God. Verse 14 states, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” The word translated ‘wonderfully’ can also be translated differently – set apart, or unique. Every one of us is unique and different. I’m reminded of pumpkins. Have you ever seen two pumpkins that are identical? I haven’t. Did you know that even our fingerprints are unique? Not one of the 7.8 billion people on the earth have fingerprints that match yours. You are truly unique. That’s how creative God is in His design of each one of us!
Verse 15 states, “My 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, your eyes saw my unformed body.” This is clearly a reference to the womb of a mother. It is a holy place. God’s work in weaving us together is a holy process. Warren Wiersbe writes, “The womb of the mother is a holy of holies where God is at work. How tragic that we turn [this sacred place] into a tomb, this holy of holies into a holocaust.”
The Hebrew word used here for ‘frame’ is a reference to our skeleton. God, in His wisdom, formed a bony substance that would serve as a support system for the body and a shield of protection for the vital organs that He hid behind it.
“Woven together” is a translation of a Hebrew word that literally means embroidered. It is a reference to the ‘sewing of curtains for the Tabernacle’ in the OT. Curtains were made of blue, purple and scarlet yarns and finely twisted linen, with cherubim embroidered into them by a skilled craftsman. This picture provides us with a beautiful metaphor of God at work weaving a human being together in a holy and secret place.
Dr. Stephen Davey, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, writes:
[This verse] means that God wired together what would become every physical ability and every physical disability—woven into your being so that we would uniquely give Him glory and uniquely have to depend upon him for our own unique needs—and find in Him a faithful, gracious, sovereign Lord.
In this secret place, hidden from the eyes of man, God was at work. Now, centuries later, and with the help of sonograms, we can see what lay hidden from sight when David penned these words: That…
- At three weeks the baby’s heart begins to beat and pump blood.
- At six weeks the baby has brain waves that can be measured with an electroencephalograph.
- At seven weeks the baby is swimming in the amniotic sac with a natural swimmer’s stroke and is already kicking.
- At eight weeks the baby is swallowing.
- At eleven weeks all the baby’s organ systems are functioning. Although still so small that the baby could stand on an adult’s little fingertip, his or her little feet are perfectly shaped. The baby has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation, as well as eyelids, nails and fingerprints.
- At eighteen weeks the child is perfectly formed.
- At nineteen weeks the baby can survive outside the womb.
Verse 16 states, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
God has uniquely designed each one of us for a specific purpose. For some, who are very special, He designed with some very unique disabilities. These perceived weaknesses are often viewed by the world as mistakes. Understand that nothing is a mistake in God’s design. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
When I was in seminary, my favorite Professor was Dr. John Sailhamer. His eldest son, David, was born with Down syndrome. David became one of my best friends. He saved me a seat at every Chapel service each week. David and I grew to love each other. Now let me ask you a question: Did God make a mistake with David? Should David have been aborted as many in the world believe? I remember one day saying to Dr. Sailhamer, “Dr. Sailhamer, it’s going to be great when we all get to heaven because then David will be like us.” Dr. Sailhamer looked at me and said very gently, “Russ, it’s going to be great when we all get to heaven because then we will be like David.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 states, “God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that on one may boast before him.”
Do you have some unique disabilities? If you do, then understand this truth: God created you, as you are so that in your uniqueness He might be more fully glorified than if you had been created without them.
