"Removing our Masks" in this Pandemic . . . Pressing into Psalm 139
/“Masks or no masks” has become a big controversial deal these days. But there are masks that have been a bigger deal than we have realized all along in most of our lives. They are the metaphorical “masks” that we humans tend to don, to hide who we really are from others.
I’ve been a mask-wearer. How about you? My masks were dependent on the group I was with . . . in particular, the religious, “spiritual” context I found myself in. In particular, the conservative, evangelical groups would vary in some of the things the mature, spiritual women did or didn’t do. In one part of the country where we lived, spiritual people didn’t play cards or dance. In other places, they evangelized by being involved in certain programs. And everywhere we’ve been church-wise, even really good things could be masks, like being a woman who does all this good stuff like teaching bible studies, homeschooling, memorizing scripture, having an organized prayer list, going to all the meetings of the church, etc. etc.
Well, eventually, I threw off my “masks” thanks to the grace of God and the help of a dear sister who led me into my freedom in Christ. Many of the things I did or didn’t do came back in but they weren’t parts of a “mask.” They were the true realities of a life lived out of my Lord who lives within me. I’m so grateful!
But I have been thinking now of “masks” of a different sort… these "good masks” can also tend to keep others from discovering the real me deep down inside. They are the masks of the “roles” I rightfully have in life. We are most often seen by others in our roles and maybe in no other way. My roles include wife, mother, grandmother (“Babci”), mother-in-law, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, teacher, Bible teacher, writer, and various others. And I love them all, but . . .
Here’s the question I have hit periodically over the years: “Does anyone really know the real me . . . the deep down inside ‘me’?”
It’s dangerous to go down that thought path, I’ve found out, because it can only lead to self pity. And it often has for me. But last week when it hit me, and I was wishing that someone really knew the real me, it inevitably led me to my Abba Father God, the only One in all my life who has ever known and knows the real me, and not only that, who in His infallible knowing loves and accepts the ‘me’ that He knows.
So the Holy Spirit drew me back to a favorite, familiar passage of Scripture, Psalm 139.
Why not press into the thoughts of this precious psalm with me and enjoy the knowing of your Abba Father God who knows you, who likes you, who designed you, who loves and accepts you too. Then maybe next time we will visit again our desire to not only be known but also to know others. Now is the perfect time to do that!
Knowing and being known . . . isn’t this what we all desire?
Psalm 139
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
. . .
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Where could I go, where could I run
Even if I found the strength to fly
And if I rose on the wings of the dawn
And crashed through the corner of the sky
If I sailed past the edge of the sea
Even if I made my bed in Hell
Still there You would find me
'Cause nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
Time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
Death has lost its sting
And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
If I should shrink back from the light
So I can sink into the dark
If I take cover and I close my eyes
Even then You would see my heart
And You'd cut through all my pain and rage
The darkness is not dark to You
And night's as bright as day
Nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations
Our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You
And deep cries out to deep
Singing that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
And time cannot contain You
You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You
And death has lost its sting
And I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
Nothing is beyond You
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Mitch Mcvicker / Rich Mullins / Tom Booth
Nothing Is Beyond You lyrics © Music Services, Inc
