7 Whither shall I go from thy
spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead
me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness
shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are
both alike to thee. 13 For thou hast possessed my
reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from
thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of
the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in
continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalms 139:7-16)
In my elementary school reader (I recall not which year or class), I remember
reading a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes entitled, "The Wonderful
One-Hoss Shay" which means, in country vernacular, One-Horse
Carriage. It tells the story of a Deacon who decided to build a perfect
one-horse carriage. Every part of the carriage was made perfectly and designed
to last the life of the carriage. It was a superb vehicle which served as a
perfect specimen of its class for exactly one hundred years. Its maker had died
and the carriage was finally purchased by a parson who found every part in as
perfect condition as every other part. But on the 100th anniversary
of the carriage being created, it suddenly fell completely apart. Every part
wore out at the same time - and the carriage collapsed in a heap of parts and
splinters. While it lasted, it was as perfect as man could make it; but man has
no command of time - and it came to its end all at once.
Yesterday, my wife, Debbie, and I were guests of friends of an Atlanta Korean
Church for lunch and to tour the Hyundai factory in Montgomery, Alabama, which
produces 1,550 automobiles each day. Almost every part of the production is
done by robots. We traveled through the plant witnessing the production of an
automobile from scratch to finish. The engines, transmissions, welding, doors,
windshields, etc. were produced and placed by automated robots. It was
fascinating to see sheet metal being drawn, stamped and cut for every body
part. Finally, as we completed the tour, we saw car after completed car rolling
off the assembly line out into the sunlight and onto the test driving course.
The tour guide made what I considered to be a profound observation: he said.
"from the moment the first part is made, until the car is declared
complete, it only sees the light of day when it rolls off the production
line." It reminded me of the sanctity of life and how God our Maker
performs the production of every part of our being in our mother's womb - and
we do not see the light of day until all members are fully functioning and
complete.
It reminded me, too, of the Deacon who built the one-horse carriage making
every part perfectly as good as the other, but one part at a time. Amazingly,
our Maker did not adhere to that scheme in producing our own bodies. He
gradually made every part simultaneously. The moment of conception, our
personality, inclinations, talents, color of eyes and hair - even numbers of
hair - were settled in that blueprint God made an inherent part of our being -
our DNA.
Just in the way God began Creation of the world (in darkness) so He began the
Creation of every miraculous little baby in the darkness of the mother's womb.
In the warmth and cozziness of that womb, our eyes, ears, and brain (except
liberals) were fully formed. Even our fingerprints were created as an original
Creation of the Master's Art - for every child is a work of Art of the Master.
When we are complete and able to live without the umbilical cord, the Lord
takes us off the assembly line of the womb and brings us out, for the first
time, into the light of day - just like the completed Hyundai which I saw
during our tour. And the days of our lives are also date-stamped; but He places
a soul within us that is eternal. Where we spend that eternity makes all the
difference! Should we not praise God for the conception and miraculous birth of
every child which He labored to create in secret?
3 When I consider thy
heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast
ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the
beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the
fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth!
(Psalm
8:3-9)
