Isaiah 49:15b-16
“…I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

John 20:26b-27
“…Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’  Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it into my side.  Stop doubting and believe.’  Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’”

Psalm 139:1-3
“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.”

Tender Father, you surround us with compassion and never-ending love.

Our names are as familiar to you as the contours of your hand.  You cup us to yourself despite all our weaknesses and wanderings.

Secure us in the certainty that we are never forgotten by you.  Center us with the truth that we are known by you, that we might exchange our doubt for joy.  Remind us that you know our brothers and sisters as intimately as you know us, and love them as deeply.

We owe a debt of gratitude to you, Jesus, for receiving the nails in your palms, eternally engraving our names within those scars and leading us into a saving knowledge of you.

Listen to ‘O Lamb of God Who, Bleeding’ by Community Presbyterian Church