May 17 | God’s Perfect Design

Today’s Reading:

Read Psalm 139:1-18

Read today’s reading out loud as a family.   

1 Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest; you are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know all about it, Lord.
5 You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me.
6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. 

7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon,
10 even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night”— 

12 even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you. 

13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.
Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began. 

17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with you. 

Application/Prayer:

Spend some time in prayer today thanking God for being remarkably and wondrously made. 

May Memory Verse:

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”


Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:
  1. Bring your Bible!  Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
  2. Each day starts with a reading prompt.  Read the selection as a family.  If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
  3. After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
  4. Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word!  After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
  5. There is a reading for six days of the week.  The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.

Other Resources:

May Memory Verse

May memory verse song

May memory verse coloring sheet

May Fill-in the blank activity

May Prayer Calendar