Scripture — Psalm 139:13-14 (NRSV)

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.

Devotion

I expect the title of this devotion – Reflecting on the Wonder of You – will elicit different responses from different readers of Life for Leaders. You may be intrigued, even encouraged by this title. You’d like to learn more about how wonderful you are. But I imagine that you may be put off by a title that sounds suspiciously like something you’d find on a schmaltzy poster in a mall gift store. You may wonder if I’ve fallen off the cliff of biblical theology into the valley of trendy sentimentality.

I can indeed get pretty sentimental sometimes. But I can assure you that today’s title has not been inspired by some saccharine slogan of positive thinking. No, in fact, my inspiration comes from the Bible, from Psalm 139, actually. There, the psalm writer is reflecting on many things, including the intricate beauty of his own being. We get the sense of this from the striking statement, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (139:14). The Message puts it this way, “Body and soul, I am marvelously made.”

If you stop to think about it, perhaps one of the most wonderful of all human characteristics is the ability to reflect deeply. Our brains are unbelievably complex and powerful. Yet, we can easily take for granted all that our brains can do, including contemplating our own brains. The fact that we can engage in self-reflection bears witness to the wonder of our createdness.

Of course, in Psalm 139 the writer is reflecting on the wonder of his own nature, not your nature or mine. But this psalm isn’t in Scripture just to show us how amazing the psalm writer was. Rather, this poem of worship is meant to inspire our own reflection on the complexity and elegance of . . . yes, ourselves.

But this isn’t the whole biblical story. We’ll get to the less beautiful parts of us in a few days. Psalm 139 doesn’t deny the reality of sin and the brokenness it produces in ourselves and the world. But bodies, minds, and souls that have been warped by sin still reflect the wonder of God’s creation. Psalm 139 invites us to reflect on this reflection, to marvel over who we are because God made us.

This psalm does not invite us to replicate the story of Narcissus found in Greek mythology. He was regarded by all as an exceptionally beautiful person. One day while bending down to drink from a pool of water, Narcissus saw his own reflection. Not realizing what he was actually seeing, Narcissus fell in love with his own mirror image. His obsessive self-love trapped Narcissus, who ultimately died because of his inability to have a relationship with his own reflection. That’s not the kind of self-reflection we find in Psalm 139.

This psalm does, however, invite us into adoring worship, not of ourselves, but of God. The psalm writer doesn’t say, “I am wonderful,” but “I am wonderfully made.” His reflection on his own intricate beauty points, not to himself, but to his Maker. Thus, immediately after saying “I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” the psalmist says to the Lord, “Wonderful are your works; that I know very well” (139:14). God receives the glory for the magnificence of the psalm writer’s being, which he celebrates through God-inspired self-reflection.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Search Me, O God.

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