What does it mean that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)?

Response

Psalm 139:14 proclaims, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” The verse highlights the remarkable nature of our physical bodies. The human body stands out as the most intricate and exceptional organism globally, showcasing the profound creativity of its Maker. Every detail of the body, even down to the smallest microscopic cell, reflects its intricate and marvelous design.

Engineers comprehend the art of crafting sturdy yet lightweight beams by placing robust material on the outer edges of a cross-section and filling the interior with lighter, less robust material. This strategy is employed because the surfaces of a structure endure the highest levels of stress when subjected to typical bending or stresses. A cross-section of a human bone illustrates the placement of strong material on the exterior, while the interior functions as a hub for various types of blood cells. Upon examining a sophisticated camera with its capacity to adjust light intake as needed and automatically focus across a broad field, one can identify repeated imitations of the functionality of the human eye. Furthermore, possessing two eyeballs grants us depth perception, enabling us to gauge the distance of objects.

The human brain, another remarkable organ, is fearfully and wonderfully made. It possesses the remarkable ability to learn, rationalize, and regulate numerous automatic bodily functions like heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, as well as maintain balance for activities such as walking, running, standing, and sitting, all while focusing on other tasks. While computers may surpass the human brain in sheer computational power, they lag behind in most reasoning tasks. Additionally, the brain exhibits an extraordinary capacity for adaptation. In an experiment where individuals wore glasses that inverted their perception of the world, their brains swiftly reinterpreted the incoming information.

Given the ability to perceive the world as “right-side-up.” When others were blindfolded for extended periods, the “vision center” of the brain began to be utilized for other purposes. When individuals move to a residence near a railway, the brain quickly filters out the sound of trains, leading to a subconscious disregard for the noise.

In terms of miniaturization, the human body is truly a marvel, fearfully and wonderfully made. For example, the information necessary for replicating an entire human body, with every detail accounted for, is stored in the double-helix DNA strand located in the nucleus of each of the billions of cells in the human body. The information and control system represented by our nervous system is remarkably compact compared to man’s cumbersome inventions of wires and optical cables. Each cell, once deemed a “simple” cell, is a small factory not yet fully comprehended by humans. As microscopes enhance in power, the incredible intricacies of the human cell come into sharper focus.

Consider the single fertilized cell of a newly conceived human life. From that one cell within the womb, all the various types of tissues, organs, and systems develop, working together harmoniously in a remarkably coordinated process. An instance is the opening in the septum between the two ventricles in the heart of a newborn baby. This opening closes precisely at the correct moment during birth to facilitate blood oxygenation from the lungs, a process that does not occur while the baby is in the womb and is receiving oxygen through the umbilical cord.

Moreover, the body’s immune system can combat numerous adversaries and self-repair from minor damages (even fixing flawed sections of DNA) to major ones (such as mending bones and recovering from significant accidents). While diseases may eventually overpower the body as we age, we are unaware of how many times throughout our lives our immune systems have rescued us from certain death.

The function

The functions of the human body are incredible. The capability to handle large, heavy objects and also delicately manipulate a fragile object without breaking it is astonishing. We can shoot a bow with the arrow repeatedly hitting a distant target, type quickly on a computer keyboard without focusing on the keys, crawl, walk, run, twirl around, climb, swim, perform somersaults and flips, and complete “simple” tasks such as unscrewing a light bulb, brushing our teeth, and lacing up our shoes—again without much thought. Indeed, these are “simple” things, but humanity has not yet designed and programmed a robot capable of performing such a wide range of tasks and movements.

The function of the digestive tract and its related organs, the endurance of the heart, the formation and operation of nerves and blood vessels, the purification of the blood through the kidneys, the intricacy of the inner and middle ear, the senses of taste and smell, and many other phenomena that we barely comprehend—each one is a marvel and beyond human ability to replicate. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. How thankful we are to acknowledge the Creator—through His Son, Jesus Christ—and to marvel not only at His wisdom but also at His love (Psalm 139:17-24).