“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”

You see me, here in my home. I may be quarantined from the outside world, but You are not limited by social distancing. As I long for human companionship right now, let my heart find comfort in Your closeness.

 ” You hem me in – behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”

No matter where I turn – You are there, guarding the way behind me and leading the way before me, keeping me under Your tender care.

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

There is no place to outrun Your love. If my faith is steadfast and my heart joyful, You rejoice with me. If my soul plunges to depths of depression and I lose hope in life, You follow me into the pit. No matter where I go You are already there to meet me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

If I turn away from You and follow dark paths of sin, You don’t turn away from me in anger. No, you pursue me with your goodness to restore me to life.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

I am not an accident. You created me with a beautiful purpose to fulfill. I may see my weaknesses, but You view my strengths. I may focus on my disabilities, but You call me gifted.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.

I may feel lonely and directionless right now, but Your presence is always with me. You never turn Your loving gaze away from me. You will guide me through this time of uncertainty today, and strengthen my heart for the challenges ahead. 

Search me, 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.

I lay before you my heart and my life. I trust that You will lift me up when I stumble and will guide me in Your goodness through whatever the future brings. Show me how I can bring hope to others, and help me to remain rooted in Your love for the challenges of living in a world turned upside down from this disease.