He Knows!
As I sat in the comfort of my livingroom watching the news of the devastation caused by Haiti’s earthquake roll across my screen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I sit there glued to the television with a brokenheart. Then when I thought I had seen it all, I watched a bulldozer push hundreds of bodies into a huge hole at the city dump. I was mortified to the absolute disregard for the dead. The tears rolled down my face as I began to pray.
I wondered whose brother, sister, uncle, aunt, dad, mother, grandmother, or grandfather was among the dead. I tried to understand the authorities’ decision to dispose of the dead in hopes to protect the living from the outbreak of various diseases. I couldn’t imagine the pain the Haitian people must be experiencing.
I wondered what I would do if I were faced with the same circumstances. There would be no funeral or grave site for these people to grieve their loved ones. At least with a funeral, there is some closure; unfortunately, with the vast death toll, the comfort a funeral brings, would not be possible. The only solace I could muster that day was to run to Psalm 139.
As I open the Bible and poured my heart over these precious words, I was calmed by each word the psalmist wrote. He understood the omniscience of God. Then I began to understand that humanity will probably never know all who were disregarded that day at the dump, but God knows every precious person that took their last breath by the earthquake.
The Lord knows their names, their relatives, where they lived, and their last word spoken. Yes, sadness surrounded me as I pondered on Haiti, but I rested in the assurance that nothing escapes the eyes of the Lord. He knows.
Psalm 139:1–8 (NKJV)
1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me,
