It’s the evening before Valentine’s Day – a day traditionally reserved for acts of love and kindness. Of course, when we were kids, we gave Valentine’s Day cards at school and usually had some sort of celebration. This year, in addition to the traditional things that happen around this special day, our younger daughter, Jill, married Matt, her fiance since last fall.
In fact, while the initial plans called for a more traditional wedding, Jill and Matt decided that a more intimate, home style wedding was their preferred style – and that is exactly what they did. I was asked to perform the ceremony and there were a total of 10 people present – immediate family and Matt’s best friend who was providing video for us.
Throughout the twenty years or so that I have been performing weddings, I have personalized each ceremony. As a teaching pastor, I like to provide a bit of commentary along the way that brings a very different perspective to each couple. Sometimes, it awakens them to an element of getting married that they may not have thought of before.
One of my favorite non-traditional Bible passages to use is the 139th Psalm. This is a psalm of David and is one that most of us are familiar with – but you don’t hear it used in wedding ceremonies. You know the one – the psalm that speaks of being created by God and He knowing all the days of your life before even one of them comes to pass. But it is much more than that. The psalm speaks of the omnipresence of God – being with you no matter where you are. And it speaks of the omniscience of God, knowing you more intimately than anyone else. Also, closer to the end of the psalm, David speaks about the wonder of God and His omnipotence – doing things that only He can do – such as creating us…
I particularly like the last stanza of the psalm. David invites God to search his heart and see if there are any offensive ways in David – then change his heart – right here, right now, so that David can do the next season of his life as flawlessly as humanly possible. That’s why I like to use this psalm in weddings. It’s so applicable to each of us in our marriages and our family lives.
Each of us has made mistakes and we are usually slow to ask God to examine us and change whatever needs to be changed before we begin the next segment of our lives. After using this psalm, I pray that God will examine the bride and groom – changing whatever needs to be changed before they enter into this most holy union. It’s such an unusual passage to use at weddings but I use it whenever I feel led by the Spirit.
Such was the case yesterday. Of course, the last stanza of Psalm 139 is our verse for tonight. David petitions God in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
My encouragement this evening is that God wants each of us to invite Him into our lives to examine us and change us as necessary so that we can be the best possible version of ourselves as we embark on new and exciting seasons of our lives. My prayer is that we will continue to stay close to the Father and make sure that we periodically take stock of ourselves to make sure that we are squarely in the will of God. Congratulations Jill and Matt. We love you! And to all of you, have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…