Year 5, Day 278: Psalm 139-140

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Identity

• Identity: Our true identity comes from the Father.  Only when our identity comes from God can we be obedient in ways that satisfy our person to our core.

Identity is a key issue in our life.  We make choices based upon who we are and what we are trying to achieve.  Where we will go in our future largely depends upon who we see ourselves as today.

In Psalm 139, we can see why this is important in the past.  Psalm 139 is a great psalm about where the psalmist’s identity comes from.  The psalmist knows that he is the Lord’s.  The psalmist tells us that the Lord even knew him while he was being knit together in his mother’s womb.  That’s identity.  Having that kind of belief about who you are and where you came from will make an incredible impact upon the decisions you make and the future into which you will step.

In Psalm 140, we have more of a present look into the idea of identity.  Once more we hear a psalmist writing in the midst of trouble.  The psalmist needs to find peace and calmness in his life in the midst of the pressure around him.  The psalmist wants to know in the midst of his trouble that he will be protected, remembered, and loved.  In this psalm we hear the psalmist’s identity bringing him peace and comfort in the present.

In both cases, though, we can see that identity is important.  Knowing to whom we belong helps us here and now.  Knowing to whom we belong will help shape us as we make decisions about the future, too.

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