In case you haven’t been following the social forums this week, we are in the middle of a Palindrome Week. If you aren’t familiar with this term, a palindrome is a set of words, letters or numbers that read the same forward and backward. For example, 2/21/22 reads the same when read from the front or the back. In fact, one day this week, 22/02/2022, can also be read upside as well and is also called an ambigram.
But that’s not all, this entire week the dates are a palindrome. Another example would be today’s date, 2/24/22. Once again, it is read the same forward or backward. These types of events don’t occur all that often and they are kind of fun to consider when they do show up.
There are times when a specific day is a palindrome but many fewer occasions when an entire week works. If February had 29 days this year, that day would also be a palindrome – 2/29/22.
Aside from numbers, we sometimes see sentences that also fit a palindrome model. And whenever we see something that can go forward or backward, we know this special occurrence is something to be noticed. An example would be the brand, OXO. It’s the same backward, forward, vertically and horizontally.
Every once in a while, I run across something in the Bible that has to do with forward and backward. One of my favorite examples of this is in the 139th psalm. It is an obscure verse that most of us don’t stop to think about – in fact, we run right over it – but it’s something to stop and consider.
The psalmist is speaking about the presence of God and he tells us, in tonight’s verse – Psalm 139:5 , “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.” Did you catch that? God hems us in BEHIND and BEFORE – additionally, God lays His hand upon us. This verse has perplexed theologians for ages.
Why? Well, it has to do with the sense that God is using three “hands” in protecting us. Frankly, we don’t even know if God the Father has hands – let alone three of them. It’s what we call an anthropomorphism. That is, we are giving human traits or physical characteristics to something that isn’t human. And clearly, God is God – and not human – unless we are speaking about Jesus – fully divine and fully human as well.
We do know that Jesus came to earth in human form – but we are talking about God the Father here. And if you think about it, it is quite comforting to think that God has His “hands” all over us – protecting us and keeping each of us close to Him.
There are other verses that reference being protected under the “wings” of God. Same thing, does God the Father have “wings”? Another thing that we won’t know this side of heaven.
My encouragement this evening is that God is a protective God. No matter whether He has “wings” or “hands” or any other specific physical attributes, it is clear that He wants to protect us behind and before – and even from above! My prayer is that we will all study the Scripture with renewed intention and that these sorts of obscure verses will call out to us and encourage us to praise the Father for the depth of His love for us. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…