Psalm 139:1-12
SS Lesson for 11/24/2024
Devotional Scripture: Jer 23:23-24
The progress of technology has facilitated an interconnected world. The sheer volume of information that is available thanks to the internet is staggering. But the wealth of knowledge also serves as a reminder of humanity’s limitations in experiencing every corner of the globe within a single lifetime. Visiting every country might seem possible. But with approximately 4 million cities and towns across the globe, we realize that just seeing a country will not give us the experience of all those varied places, let alone lightly or uninhabited regions. Moreover, humanity has only begun to explore the vast expanse of space and the depths of the oceans. In this regard, when we consider the smallness of our plot of land on earth compared to the vastness of space and the oceans, we are reminded of humanity’s limited ability to explore. In today’s lesson, the psalmist offers insight into this.
Although one ancient manuscript ascribes Psalm 139 to a man named Zechariah (not the prophet) sometime in the 700s-600s BC, most scholars accept the traditional attribution to David. According to Scripture, David was a man who sought after the very heart of God (1 Samuel 13:14), exemplified by his demonstration of faith when he faced Goliath (17:47). He was a man of integrity who chose to trust in God when presented with an opportunity to kill Saul in a cave (24:8-10). Even after conquering his enemies and receiving the promise that his kingdom would be established forever, David remained humble (2 Samuel 7:18). Several difficulties confront us when reading this psalm. First, there is no reference to a particular historical circumstance. This means that a specific historical context, even in David’s life, cannot be determined. Context is a great help in interpretation, so the questions presented below reflect to some degree the question of the context of this psalm’s being written. Second, a thorough examination of Psalm 139 reveals complexities in its structure that complicate a straightforward interpretation of David’s intent. To analyze the psalm’s content, some scholars have proposed dividing it into sections of praise (vv. 1-18) and lamentation (vv. 19-24) based on the initial expressions of gratitude followed by anguish. These can further be broken into four stanzas of verses 1-6, 7-12, 13-18, and 19-24. These issues also prevent this psalm from fitting neatly into conventional categories of psalms, which, when clear, can also aid in understanding ancient texts. And finally, the text assumes that David was beset by wicked adversaries opposed to him and to God. These individuals harbored animosity toward God, profaned his name, and spoke maliciously against him (Psalm 139:19-22, not in our printed text). Furthermore, David implored God to probe his innermost being and guide him toward eternal life (139:23-24, not in our printed text). But the connection between the verses we will study today (139:1-12) and these opponents is unclear, and how early lament or protest begins is also hazy.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
3 When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path where I walk men have hidden a snare for me.
11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.
36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.
Ps 22:9-10 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast. 10 From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Isa 44:24 24 "This is what the LORD says--your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
Prov 16:2 2 All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
1 Cor 4:5 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
3 The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God — or rather are known by God
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
4 Does he not see my ways and count my every step?
15 Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" 16 You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
23 "Am I only a God nearby," declares the Lord, "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the Lord. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the Lord.
27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
15 Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Verse 1
The opening verse expresses the theme of the psalm. God knew David intimately because of His penetrating examination.
David praised God for His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence in this popular psalm. It is a plea for God to search the life to expose sin. It consists of four strophes of six verses each.
"The Gelineau version gives the psalm the heading ’The Hound of Heaven’, a reminder that Francis Thompson’s fine poem of that name owed its theme of flight and pursuit largely to the second stanza here (Psalms 139:7-12), which is one of the summits of Old Testament poetry." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 464.]
Verses 2-4
The psalmist employed a figure of speech (merism) to express completeness (Psalms 139:2). In merisms, the opposites named represent everything in between them. God knew every move David made. Furthermore, He understood his motives as well as his actions. "Afar" probably refers to time rather than space. The "Thou" or "You" is emphatic in the Hebrew text. God also knew David’s daily activities (Psalms 139:3). This is another merism with going out and lying down representing a whole day’s activities. Psalms 139:4 presents the greatest proof of God’s omniscience. Before David spoke, the Lord knew what he was about to say.
Verses 5-6
David responded to his own reflection by expressing the thought that God was confining him. This is often our initial reaction to God’s omniscience. The writer also felt out of control in the presence of such vast knowledge. "Wonderful" is at the beginning of the sentence in the Hebrew text, which is the emphatic position. This word means extraordinary or surpassing (cf. Psalms 9:1). Yahweh’s omniscience is too amazing for humans to comprehend.
Verse 7
Evidently the confining awareness of God’s omniscience led David to try to escape from the Lord. His two rhetorical questions in this verse express his inability to hide from God (cf. Jeremiah 23:24).
Verses 8-10
David gave hypothetical examples of where he might go to hide from God in these verses (cf. Romans 8:38-39). Psalms 139:8 is another merism (cf. Psalms 139:2-3) that expresses everywhere between heaven and hell. Even if he could travel as fast as the speed of light, he could not escape God (Psalms 139:9). Even there God’s hand would lead him. Psalms 139:10 pictures God gently leading and guiding David. This thought changes the fearful earlier image of God pursuing the psalmist.
Verses 11-12
David spoke of the night as bruising him (Psalms 139:11) because it is often at night that harm comes to people. The only other places in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word sup, translated "overwhelm" (NASB) or "hide" (NIV), occurs are in Genesis 3:15 and Job 9:17 where the translation is "bruise." However, since darkness and light are the same to God, David felt secure always. Darkness does not hide things from God’s sight as it does from human eyes.
Verses 13-14
The word "For" indicates that what follows explains what precedes. Since God creates people, He knows them intimately, and He is always with them. The idea of God creating David arose from Psalms 139:11-12. Forming as a potter and knitting as a weaver describe the gestation process figuratively (Psalms 139:13). "Thou" or "You" is again in the emphatic first position in the Hebrew text. David marveled at God’s amazing power in creating him by the embryonic process of fetal development.
(Adapted from URL:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/psalms-139.html)
The vastness of the world’s information and the multitude of places yet to be explored can be exciting and terrifying; God’s boundless wisdom and presence provide solace to believers in either and all cases. Even if humanity were to one day journey to the surface of Mars, God’s omnipresence ensures that he is already there. For those who trust in him, the omniscience and omnipresence of God offer a sense of security and salvation. It is essential to recognize that God did not create the universe only to abandon it to its own devices. Rather, he is actively involved and present in every aspect of creation. There can never be too much to know for the infinite God. David acknowledged his inability to comprehend all knowledge, which underscores the incomprehensibility of God’s omniscience. And it’s uncertain whether, in the writing of this poem, David was reassured or troubled by God’s full knowledge and relentless presence. But these characteristics certainly did comfort David in other cases. Like David, we might find ourselves in a situation when God’s knowledge and presence make us uneasy. Or we might unreservedly embrace these attributes as comforts in our present circumstances. In either case, we can strive to know God better and to praise him, offer him our confusion and anxieties, and ask him for help against all the evil we confront.