January 22ndImperfect, Yet Beautiful to God
- by Gary Knarr
What feelings do you experience as you read this psalm? Do you feel safe in God’s hands, secure, and cared for?
Or, do you feel somewhat mystified, or even troubled?
Some people refer to this psalm as “the creepy psalm” because it tells us that we are always being searched and known by God, and that we cannot possibly get away from God no matter how hard we might try. Some people feel it sounds like God is spying on us, invading our privacy like some sort of super spy we cannot hope to escape. Maybe God is watching and waiting for a chance to find us doing something wrong – and then pounce all over us!
God loves us so much that God goes to the trouble of knowing us so intimately, and caring for us constantly. The psalmist is inviting us to rest secure in the constant presence and care of our God.
I don’t believe that is what the psalmist is trying to express at all. The psalmist doesn’t feel that God’s constant presence with us and intimate knowledge of us is scary. The psalmist is delighted to celebrate the fact that God is our constant companion, who is always with us in all of our life’s experiences, that God loves us so much that God goes to the trouble of knowing us so intimately, and caring for us constantly. The psalmist is inviting us to rest secure in the constant presence and care of our God.
The psalmist affirms that even in Sheol, which means even in the realm we enter after death, God would still be there with him. Even death cannot separate us from the loving presence of God.
Perhaps we feel anxious at the thought of God knowing us so well and being with us all the time. Maybe we worry about what God might see in us.
We humans are not alone in the universe, stuck out here on the third planet from the sun and left to our own devices to make whatever we can of our existence. We live in God’s world, where God is present and active, giving meaning and purpose to our lives. The psalmist exclaims that this is far too wonderful for him to comprehend.
Perhaps we feel anxious at the thought of God knowing us so well and being with us all the time. Maybe we worry about what God might see in us. What does God see?
A woman had a dream that she was a beautiful piece of pottery standing on a museum shelf, surrounded by other beautiful pieces of pottery. As she looked around her, she realized that every one of the pots had a crack running right down its side. At first, she was horrified to be found in the company of such flawed pottery, but then she realized that she also had a crack running all the way down her side as well. When she woke, she thought this dream must be conveying something. Was God trying to tell her something through her subconscious mind in the dream?
When she confided to her friend about the dream, the friend stated that the meaning of the dream is obvious. “We’re all cracked pots, but we’re still beautiful to God.” Yes, we are imperfect and flawed, but God loves us and sees us as beautiful beings whom God created, and accepts us as we are.
- Gary Knarr is retired MCEC Pastor