Have you ever felt worthless? Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror and hated what you saw? Have you ever felt so alone that you thought no one would even notice if you disappeared from the face of the earth? I have. I think at one point or another in our lives, we all have.
Judging by some of the Psalms he wrote, my guess is that that even David—one of the great heroes of the Bible—experienced these feelings at times throughout the course of his life as well. In today’s GRIP reading from Psalms alone you can hear the twinge of pain ringing through in David’s words: “I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before Him my complaint; before Him I tell my trouble.” (Psalm 142:1-2, NIV). In Psalm 143:1, David cries out to the Lord for mercy and relief, and later on in the chapter he confesses that his spirit “grows faint” and his heart is “dismayed” within him. Surely he, too, experienced feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, and solitude.
But David always knew where to turn in those moments of pain and isolation. His heart was persistently devoted to the God who created him and knew his name. His intimacy with God and his knowledge of God’s character kept him going when it felt like all hope was lost. And it was out of this deep, unshakable relationship with God that David penned Psalm 139—a chapter that is known and memorized by many, and has undoubtedly been one of the most influential Biblical passages in my own life over the years.
Psalm 139 speaks to our feelings of worthlessness. While we are constantly bombarded with messages that demean and devalue us, Psalm 139 shouts the truth above the noise: God created us. Not only did He create us, but He did so with skill, precision, and intention. In verses 13 and 14 David says, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. And if that weren’t enough to convince you of your worth, David goes on in verses 17 and 18 to ponder over the vast sum of God’s thoughts for him—for us, mankind. For the God of the universe to spend so many of His thoughts on us, that must mean we are worth something.
Psalm 139 also speaks to our feelings of loneliness. There are moments in life when everything seems to be going against us, and it feels like no one is on our side. But David remembered that there was ALWAYS someone with him. “Where can I go from Your Spirit,” David asked. “Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:7-10, NIV). David knew that he could not escape the immeasurable love of his Heavenly Father. He knew that even in the loneliest times, he could turn to God and find a loving friend. We need to remember the same.
Like David, and like me, I am sure you experience times in your life when your emotions lead you into dark places that you struggle to navigate through. On those days, I hope that just like David we will be encouraged by our intimacy with God and our knowledge of His character. And when it is too hard for us to lean on our own experiences to remind us of God’s goodness, we can be thankful that David wrote his down for us and that it has been preserved for us throughout history in the form of Psalm 139! We can read his words and find hope, being reminded that we are loved, we were created with intention and purpose, and we are never alone.
-Talasi Guerra
(Director of Children and Family Ministries)