Wherever You Make Your Bed

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Wherever You Make Your Bed

Martha Meister Kiely

"If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!" Psalm 139:8

If we have sown wild oats and found the resultant porridge a distasteful mess, we usually run to our friends for sympathy. Either in word or in action they fling at us the old adage "You made your bed; now lie in it."

However, the psalmist discovered that God is not at all like that. He is always standing by and ever ready to help pick up the pieces of a wrecked existence and built them into the more abundant life. God refuses to be left behind, though the psalmist made his bed in hell. Our Father can be found in the gambler's den, the house of prostitution, the jail, or wherever our particular sin drags us. His infinite love knows no bounds when there is the possibility of finding one of his wayward children.

Today, wherever you are, reach out to God, who is waiting to help you.

Scripture

Psalm 139:1-16

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before,

And laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.

c
Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,

"Even the night shall be light about me;

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,

But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

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For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise You,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.

Prayer Our Father, thou art faithful in spite of our unfaithfulness. Cleanse us from our sin. Forgive us that we have allowed the tinsel of unrighteousness to lure us from thee. Bind us to thee with cords of love, in our Saviors name. Amen.

Devotions for Women at Home by Martha Meister Kiely, Abingdon Press ISBN 0-687-10679-6