I was struck by this passage talking about how well God knew all about us. Then in verse 5, it says that God hems us in, both before and behind. That struck me as sort of odd. Most of us might not like the thought of someone knowing us extremely well and hemming us in. That makes me think of being trapped or caught in something that I don’t want to be caught in. The last part of that verse says that God lays his hand on us. So, does that mean we are trapped and God squishes us? This was my first thought process.

So, I read the Scripture more closely. The verses before this, talk about God knowing us intimately –that God knows what we do and think even before we do. Down in verse 13 it talks about God knitting us together in our mother’s womb. The verse after being hemmed in, talks about how wonderful it is that God does this. Therefore, I started thinking about my Mother doing some sewing on her machine. She hemmed a quilt to keep the stuffing in. She hemmed potholders to keep the stuffing in. Otherwise, the stuffing would soon be gone in the wind. Perhaps God hemming us in is for our own good. Perhaps we would just be blowing in the wind without God hemming us in and placing a hand of protection over us.