Psalms 139:5

5 I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too - your reassuring presence, coming and going.

Psalms 139:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 139:5

Thou hast beset me behind and before
Art on every side of me, all around me, like one besieged in a strait place; so that there is nothing I can think, say, or do, but what is known unto thee. The two Kimchis, father and son, render the word, "thou hast formed me": and interpret it of the formation of his body, of which, in ( Psalms 139:14-16 ) ; see ( Job 10:8 Job 10:10 Job 10:11 ) but it denotes how God compasses men with his presence and providence, so that nothing escapes his knowledge;

and laid thine hand upon me;
not his afflicting hand, which sometimes presses hard; though the Targum thus paraphrases it,

``and stirred against me the stroke of thine hand:''

but rather his hand of power and providence, to preserve, protect, and defend him. Or it signifies that he was so near to him that his hand was upon him, and he was perfectly known; as anything is that is before a man, and he has his hand upon.

Psalms 139:5 In-Context

3 You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight.
4 You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence.
5 I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too - your reassuring presence, coming and going.
6 This is too much, too wonderful - I can't take it all in!
7 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight?
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.