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Psalms 139

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God's Omniscience 1–6

1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. ​
2
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. ​
3
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. ​
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. ​

There Is No Escape from God's Presence (Omnipresence) 7–12

7
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. ​
9
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. ​
11
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. ​

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made 13–18

13
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. ​
14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ​
15
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ​
16
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. ​
17
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! ​
18
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Prayer Against the Wicked and Self-Examination 19–24

19
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. ​
20
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
21
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22
I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. ​
23
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: ​
24
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 139

Verse 1

thou hast searched me, and known me — Chaqar, to search, is to penetrate and examine intimately: 'the honour of kings is to search out a matter' (Prov 25:2), and 'I the LORD search the heart' (Jer 17:10). The psalm opens with the LORD's search and ends with David asking for it, in the same verb (v.23). 'Known' (yada) is knowledge of a person, said again in vv.2 and 4.

Verse 2

my downsitting and mine uprising — Sitting down and rising up name the whole of a day's movement, and the LORD knows both. 'Thought' is rea, the word that returns in v.17 as God's 'thoughts' toward the psalmist: his thoughts known afar off, and God's thoughts too many to count. Of Christ it is written that 'he knew what was in man' (John 2:25).

Verse 5

Thou hast beset me behind and before — Tsur is to confine or enclose, the verb used of besieging a city (2 Sam 11:1). Here the one who surrounds is the LORD, on every side, with his hand 'laid' on the psalmist, as 'the angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him' (Ps 34:7). 'Before' (qedem) is also the word for the east.

Verse 6

too wonderful for me — Pil'iy, wonderful, is the word of Judg 13:18, 'seeing it is secret'; 'high' (sagab) is set out of reach. The knowledge of vv.1–5 is too much to take in, as Paul says of the same God: 'O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!' (Rom 11:33). Job makes the same admission in Job 42:3.

Verse 8

if I make my bed in hell — Sheol, the place of the dead, is set against heaven: height and depth. Neither hides a man from God, as in 'Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering' (Job 26:6) and 'Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them' (Amos 9:2). 'Thou art there' is said of both.

Verse 10

Even there shall thy hand lead me — The wings of the morning and the uttermost parts of the sea (v.9) are the farthest ends the psalmist can name. Nachah, to lead, is the verb of the last verse of the psalm, 'lead me in the way everlasting' (v.24). The 'right hand' that holds him is that of 'thou hast holden me by my right hand' (Ps 73:23).

Verse 12

the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — The noun choshek and the verb 'hideth' (chashak) share a root: darkness does not darken to him. Daniel says the same: 'he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him' (Dan 2:22). At the Red Sea the cloud 'gave light by night' to Israel (Exod 14:20).

Verse 13

thou hast possessed my reins — Qanah, to possess or acquire, is the verb of 'possessor of heaven and earth' (Gen 14:19) and 'The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way' (Prov 8:22). The kilyot, 'reins', are the kidneys, the inward parts. 'Covered' (sakak) is to screen or weave over, as the cherubim cover the mercy seat with their wings (Exod 25:20).

Verse 14

fearfully and wonderfully made — Palah, 'wonderfully made', is to set apart or distinguish, the verb of 'so shall we be separated, I and thy people' (Exod 33:16). With yare, 'fearfully', it says the psalmist has been marked out, and his making calls for awe. 'Marvellous' (pala) is said of the works as a whole, and the soul knows it 'right well'.

Verse 15

curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth — Raqam, 'curiously wrought', is to embroider, the word for the 'needlework' of the tabernacle's hangings (Exod 26:36). 'Substance' (otsem) is the bone or frame. 'The lowest parts of the earth' is a hidden place; Job likewise says 'thou hast made me as the clay' (Job 10:9).

Verse 16

in thy book all my members were written — Golem, 'substance, yet being unperfect', is the unformed mass, a word found only here. The 'book' (sepher) is the LORD's record, as in 'put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?' (Ps 56:8) and 'a book of remembrance' (Mal 3:16). 'In continuance' is literally 'days'.

Verse 17

how precious also are thy thoughts unto me — 'Thoughts' (reim) is the word of v.2: the LORD knows the psalmist's thoughts, and the psalmist treasures God's. Yaqar, precious, is costly, and the 'sum' is rosh, literally the 'head' or total. Another psalm says 'thy thoughts which are to us-ward… cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee' (Ps 40:5).

Verse 19

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked — Qatal, 'slay', is found only here and in Job 13:15, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him', and Job 24:14. 'Bloody men' is literally 'men of blood' (anshe damim), those whom 'the LORD will abhor' (Ps 5:6). 'Depart from me' is said as in Ps 6:8, 'Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity'.

Verse 22

I hate them with perfect hatred — The hatred is aimed at 'them, O LORD, that hate thee' (v.21), the very men who 'speak against thee wickedly' (v.20). Taklit, 'perfect', is completion or full extent, as in 'unto perfection' (Job 11:7). The psalmist takes the LORD's side, as in 'Ye that love the LORD, hate evil' (Ps 97:10).

Verse 23

Search me, O God, and know my heart — The verbs of v.1 return, chaqar and yada, now asked for. Bachan, 'try', is to test as metal is assayed, and 'thoughts' here is sarap, anxious or troubled thoughts, a word found only here and in Ps 94:19, 'In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul'.

Verse 24

any wicked way in me — Otseb, 'wicked', is pain, grief, or an idol, and is used of sorrow in 1 Chr 4:9 ('I bare him with sorrow'), so the psalmist asks the LORD to see whether any way of grief or idolatry lies in him. The 'way everlasting' (derek olam) is 'the old paths, where is the good way' of Jer 6:16, and he asks to be led in it (nachah, as in v.10).