Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Have you ever had one of those moments where you realize just how well someone knows you? Maybe it was a friend who finished your sentence, or a family member who knew what you were feeling before you said a word. Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows us like that—only deeper.

The psalmist opens with awe: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me” (v. 1). There’s no hiding, no pretending. God knows our thoughts before we form them, our words before we speak them, and our paths before we walk them. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary highlights how this is not about God spying on us but about God’s intimate care—a God who knows because God loves (NIB, Psalm 139).

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would have agreed. In his commentary, Wesley stressed that God’s knowledge is not abstract but personal. God’s presence is always near, guiding and shaping our lives for holiness and love (Wesley One Volume Commentary, Psalm 139). Far from being something to fear, this kind of knowing is a comfort.

The psalm shifts in verses 13–18 to celebrate how God’s knowledge reaches all the way back to our very beginning. “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13). Here we get one of the most beautiful images in Scripture—God as a careful weaver, stitching us together with purpose and care. Bishop William Willimon, a United Methodist pastor and writer, often reminds us that our identity begins not with what we achieve but with the God who lovingly created us. We are, as the psalmist says, “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

What does this mean for us today? First, it means we can rest in God’s presence. Even when we feel misunderstood by others, God sees us clearly and loves us fully. Second, it challenges us to see others through that same lens. If God has created each person with care, then every life carries sacred worth. That’s a message our world needs to hear again and again.

So the next time you catch yourself doubting your worth or comparing yourself to someone else, remember Psalm 139. You are known. You are loved. You are wonderfully made. And nothing can change that.

Bibliography

• Brueggemann, Walter. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. IV: Psalms. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.

• Wesley, John. Wesley One Volume Commentary. Edited by Kenneth J. Collins and Robert W. Wall. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020.

• Willimon, William H. This We Believe: The Core of Wesleyan Faith and Practice. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010.

• Hamilton, Adam. Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: A Devotional on God’s Design for Us. Leawood, KS: Church of the Resurrection Resources, 2015.