“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul well knoweth. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and skilfully formed in the lowest parts of the earth. Thy eyes saw my substance, not yet formed; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16
Though God created the first man from the dust of the ground and the first woman from the man’s rib, He formed each of us in our mother’s womb. We were no accident. God created and intricately formed each of our bodies and gave us life. Even in the darkness of the womb, God saw and created us, fashioning and weaving together all our members according to His design.
You knew me, O God, even my most inward parts, and formed me in my mother’s womb. Your intricate, creative work is amazing! According to Your creative design, You formed all my members and wove them together in the womb. Grant me the wisdom to acknowledge that, as my Maker, You know everything about me. Give me the wisdom to use my body and my life in this world to worship and honor You and to look to You for my salvation. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1883 Webster Version of the Bible.]
“I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.” Psalm 119:75
As a child does not always understand why a parent corrects and disciplines, we often do not understand why God corrects and afflicts us. However, we trust that our loving heavenly Father afflicts us for our good — that we might look to Him and His Word, repent of our erring ways, and trust in Christ Jesus, our Savior.
O gracious heavenly Father, afflict me as You see fit that I might hold fast to You and to Your Word and continue in the true and saving faith. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1883 Webster Version of the Bible.]
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, he made a woman, and brought her to the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Genesis 2:21-23
The LORD God created Adam from the dust of the ground. He made woman from a rib of Adam and brought her to Adam to be his wife — “an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). As the Scriptures state: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24) — one new family unit — and this remains God’s purpose and design to this day.
We praise You, O God, for creating woman to be a helper and companion to man and for instituting marriage as the life-long union of a man and a woman. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised 1883 Webster Version of the Bible.]
“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. … It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” Psalm 119:67, 71
God often uses sickness and trouble in our lives for our good. When all seems to be going well, we so easily neglect God’s Word and go astray. But when affliction comes, we are driven back to God’s Word and consider its teaching. We repent of our sinful ways and turn to God for mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, and we look to His Word for direction in our lives.
Thank You, O merciful Father, for allowing affliction and trouble in my life that I might consider Your Word, repent of my erring ways, and look to You for mercy and direction. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster Version of the Bible.]
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7
The LORD God formed Adam’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul, alive physically, with a living, breathing body, and spiritually, knowing God and His will, and loving, trusting, and honoring God, his Maker. John’s Gospel tells us of Jesus, God’s Son, that “all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3-4). It was Jesus who breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.
We thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for both creating us and giving us life, and for redeeming us by giving Your life in our stead when You died on the cross to atone for our sins. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Webster Version (1833).]
