When I was young, my parents took us to explore an underground lake in Tennessee, and I absolutely hated it. We followed a guide through a cave — no actual climbing in tight spaces — just hiking down for what felt like miles. It really was a beautiful underground world, but all I could think about was getting back up to the surface and away from those dark cave walls.
Even if you don’t have claustrophobia, the idea of being pressed in on every side probably doesn’t sit well. We all know what it feels like to be confined at work, in a relationship, or in a huge crowd of people. That panicky need to escape into open air is very real.
Recently this scripture came to my mind. In Psalm 139, David says to the Lord, “You hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me.” I began dwelling on this beautiful verse and what it means that God hems us in. I’ve always focused on the “you knit me together” part of this chapter and sort of missed the rest. Yes we are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” as David reminds us here. We are also fearfully and wonderfully hemmed in by God.
God intricately knit us in our mother’s womb, but his glorious sovereignty didn’t stop there. Psalm 139 says He knows when we sit down and rise up. He discerns every single thought. He knows every word before it’s on our tongues. Verse 16 says that every day “formed for us” was written in His book before one of them happened. He hems in our every day.
If we are in Christ Jesus, this knowledge is absolutely, utterly freeing for us. Our God hems us in.
This word “hem” is often used in scripture as a war term to mean “surround to conquer.” I believe God hems us in two ways:
- He besieges us: While I was still sinning, Jesus surrounded me, overcame me, but unlike ancient invaders, He brought me from death to life. He conquered even my complete darkness (Psalm 139:11-12) at the cross, where God exchanged my sin for Christ’s righteousness. His love overcame me at calvary and brought me to life.
- He barricades us from the enemy. There is nothing that can separate me from the love of God through Jesus: no power, no height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation. Nothing can ultimately break through this holy hemming if we are in Christ.
Does this mean I have spiritual bubble wrap, insulating me from hurt? Am I guaranteed a pain-free, trial-free story? Or maybe God forgot to hem a certain part of my life when he saved me? Absolutely not.
I think the greatest answer to this is the Psalm itself. Psalm 139:7-12 describes the essence of this hemming: God is with us. When we are hemmed by Christ, he goes with us. We have our almighty God intimately near to us always. If we ascend to the heavens, he is there. If we dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, he is there. If we’re so broken and tired we don’t know how we will make it, he is there. If we’re happy and successful, he is there. If we’re grieving the loss of something huge, he is there. We have the Lord’s nearness surrounding us through every single trial, constant and steadfast. Christ goes with us. He is also sovereign over our days. They are written in his book. He has hemmed in our lives.
The world will tell you to seek freedom and independence apart from God. It will tell you to avoid the smothering and archaic systems of the Bible. Don’t buy the lie: there is no freedom apart from his hemming, only death. This mighty hemming is the very nearness of God himself in our lives. He formed us, he recorded our days, in Christ he rescued us, and he will hem us in until he returns for us!