You have laid Your hand on me

In the last couple of weeks I have felt encouraged by Psalm 139:5 in The Passion Translation, which talks about how God has gone into our future and prepared the way and in KINDNESS, He is our rear guard to keep us from harm in our past. The last line in this verse is “You have laid Your hand on me” .

Today my daily reading was precisely about this, titled God’s Hand is on you. Hmmm. This made me sit up and lean in to see what the Lord was saying. To be honest, I hadn’t been so struck by the end of the verse so I opened my heart to hear what the Lord was saying.

I have been fighting a nasty virus the last week or so, and even though I know the Bible tells us that “by the stripes of Jesus we were healed”, I wasn’t experiencing the victory, as the sleepless nights and coughing did not subside. Clearly, this was part of ‘fighting the good fight of faith’, or as one pastor puts it – ‘working with the tension between knowing that what the Bible tells us is true and final, and at the same time, our situations and symptoms are telling us another story. God is true and His Word is perfect!

The other morning I woke with the words “get your sticky fingers off my lungs” – so I spoke the words out loud, and the scripture that says ‘speak to the mountain and tell it to go and it will obey if you don’t doubt’, (Mark 11:23-24), came to mind. The congestion in my lungs broke and I felt a release. Thank You Lord!

However, the battle was not over; and though the coughing continued to plague my body, I knew I’d won part of this battle. I continued to look to the Lord, and my husband and I continued to confess that ‘by His stripes we were healed”.

Back to Psalm 139:5 tpt – “You have laid Your hand on me”. Today’s reading was from Psalm 145:13b-21 and the importance of the word ‘hand’, which can be used as a metaphor for action, care and possession.

God uses hands. We read of Jesus laying His hands on sick people and healing them (Mark 6:5) . At other times, He put His hands on people to bless them. (Mark 10:16) Others were filled with Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17),or received gifts through the laying on of hands. (2 Tim 1:6).

What about the Hand of God? Something very profound. Ezra 7:28 “Because the hand of my God was upon me, I took COURAGE…” wow! God’s invisible and intangible hand is also on you; leading, guiding, encouraging, protecting and strengthening you and giving you courage! Psalm 145:16 “You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” V21 “my mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name”. Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits!. How amazing is the Word of God! Even though my body is not feeling fully healed, how wonderful and encouraging to know His Hand is upon Me – and we have the Victory in the mighty Name of our Lord and Friend!

The Lord bless and keep you over the Christmas season and into 2022!

Kath