Clara Rhoden

The year was 2020 in the world’s most locked down city. Although it was only the first of many lockdowns, the impact on the mental health of everyday Australians was already coming to light. Emergency hotlines were overrun with calls from people of all ages who wanted to tragically end their suffering. The elderly were isolated and unable to see their loved ones; businesses were forced into shut down; marriages were on a knife’s edge; children were banned from playgrounds and placed in front of screens. The value of human life was constantly being called into question.

The tragedy of this situation impacted me deeply. I cried out to God for a song that might help people to know the true value of their existence. He pointed me to Psalm 139:

Lord, you have searched me and known me…

For it was you who created my inward parts; �you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.�Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
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.

(Psalm 139:1, 13-16 CSBA)

As I reflected on these words, this melody dropped into my spirit. The more I sang these words, the more my tears fell. Our Father in heaven loves every person He created so deeply. He has great plans for each of us. Not one of us is a mistake. Even if our parents thought so, they are not ultimately responsible for our existence. It is God who knit us together in our mother’s womb. The truth of this is something I have personally experienced.

When I fell pregnant with my second child, sadly, after only 7 weeks, I lost her. There are no words to describe that kind of grief. For the next year, I was unable to get pregnant. Every month of disappointment felt like I was losing my daughter all over again. It was deeply painful. When I eventually did fall pregnant again, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that every baby is a gift from God.

I released a Mandarin version of this song with my church band Future Generation 未來世代 a couple of years ago. There were many testimonies of broken and hurting people experiencing the love of the Father as they listened to these words. I pray that as more people hear this psalm, they will know in their heart of hearts that they have a loving Father who created them for a unique purpose even from their mother’s womb.

Link to video in comments.