You hem me in behind and before,
and You lay Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Psalms 139:5 and 6

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

You have to admire how David praised God; there is so much we can learn about how we should praise God everyday of our life.

hem:

to surround in a restrictive manner
to confine—usually used with in <hemmed in by enemy troops> (from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

If we can follow this, we can see how God covered the Israelites in Egypt. He tells Abraham…

Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring
will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there,
and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.”
Genesis 15:13

And then God prepared Moses to come and to take the people out of Egypt. God made sure Moses had the best education and best upbringing available at the time.  Then Moses had to be taken out of that atmosphere to become a man God could use to bring His people out—someone who would be patient and understanding; someone who would become a shepherd.

Next God prepared Joshua to lead the people into the promised land.  He had had years to learn from Moses’ leadership.  Joshua watched how Moses interceded for the Israelites and won God’s favor most of the time.  Joshua learned how to pray to God and wait for His answer. Again, God surrounded His people with love and protection. A hemming in for the people…if only they would see and understand.

How often are we like the Israelites?  There can be a blessing waiting for us to grasp…if only we will let down our defenses and kneel before our God in holy reverence.  God sends angels to watch over us and to protect us everyday.  Can you feel the presence of them?  Yes, sometimes you can: when you are taken out of a near accident, when you witness a child being born, when you wake up every morning.  These are gifts.

Just as we pray for our families, we are to pray and minister to the people who believe.  God sees us.  In public and in private.  He knows our heart. He loves our intentions and can use them for His glory.

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Father, help us take self out of our actions.  Help us to be like the man praying in the temple, the humble one, who said he was a sinner and not worthy to be thought of.  I want to be humble as he was.  Forgive me of my pride and help me to learn to submit to Your will for my life.  Help me to be an example of someone who ministers to the saints.  In Jesus’ name, amen!