Psalm 139

1 O Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising: thou understandest my thoughts long before.

3 Thou hast traced my path and my bed, and hast foreseen all my ways.

4 For there is no unrighteous word in my tongue: behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things,

5 the last and the first: thou hast fashioned me, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 The knowledge of thee is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I cannot attain to it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither shall I flee from my presence?

8 If I should go up to heaven, thou art there: if I should go down to hell, thou art present.

9 If I should spread my wings to fly straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea, it would be vain,

10 for even there thy hand would guide me, and thy right hand would hold me.

11 When I said, Surely the darkness will cover me; even the night was light in my luxury.

12 For darkness will not be darkness with thee; but night will be light as day: as its darkness, so shall its light be to thee.

13 For thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins; thou hast helped me from my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thee thanks; for thou art fearfully wondrous; wondrous are thy works; and my soul knows it well.

15 My bones, which thou madest in secret were not hidden from thee, nor my substance, in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes saw my unwrought substance, and all men shall be written in thy book; they shall be formed by day, though there should for a time be no one among them.

17 But thy friends, O God, have been greatly honoured by me; their rule has been greatly strengthened.

18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand; I awake, and am still with thee.

19 Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, ye men of blood.

20 For thou wilt say concerning their thought, that they shall take thy cities in vain.

21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hate thee? and wasted away because of thine enemies?

22 I have hated them with perfect hatred; they were counted my enemies.

23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart; examine me, and know my paths;

24 and see if there is any way of iniquity in me, and lead me in an everlasting way.

Psalm 139 Commentary

Chapter 139

God knows all things. (1-6) He is every where present. (7-16) The psalmist's hatred to sin, and desire to be led aright. (17-24)

Verses 1-6 God has perfect knowledge of us, and all our thoughts and actions are open before him. It is more profitable to meditate on Divine truths, applying them to our own cases, and with hearts lifted to God in prayer, than with a curious or disputing frame of mind. That God knows all things, is omniscient; that he is every where, is omnipresent; are truths acknowledged by all, yet they are seldom rightly believed in by mankind. God takes strict notice of every step we take, every right step and every by step. He knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk toward, what company we walk with. When I am withdrawn from all company, thou knowest what I have in my heart. There is not a vain word, not a good word, but thou knowest from what thought it came, and with what design it was uttered. Wherever we are, we are under the eye and hand of God. We cannot by searching find how God searches us out; nor do we know how we are known. Such thoughts should restrain us from sin.

Verses 7-16 We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. The grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body. No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer.

Verses 17-24 God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and bless our God for his precious salvation, when we awake in the world of glory! Surely we ought not to use our members and senses, which are so curiously fashioned, as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But our immortal and rational souls are a still more noble work and gift of God. Yet if it were not for his precious thoughts of love to us, our reason and our living for ever would, through our sins, prove the occasion of our eternal misery. How should we then delight to meditate on God's love to sinners in Jesus Christ, the sum of which exceeds all reckoning! Sin is hated, and sinners lamented, by all who fear the Lord. Yet while we shun them we should pray for them; with God their conversion and salvation are possible. As the Lord knows us thoroughly, and we are strangers to ourselves, we should earnestly desire and pray to be searched and proved by his word and Spirit. if there be any wicked way in me, let me see it; and do thou root it out of me. The way of godliness is pleasing to God, and profitable to us; and will end in everlasting life. It is the good old way. All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, or tire in it.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm was written by David, when he lay under the reproach and calumnies of men, who laid false things to his charge; things he was not conscious of either in the time of Saul's persecution of him, or when his son Absalom rebelled against him: and herein he appeals to the heart searching and rein trying God for his innocence; and, when settled on his throne, delivered it to the master of music, to make use of it on proper occasions. According to the Syriac title of the psalm, the occasion of it was Shimei, the son of Gera, reproaching and cursing him as a bloody man, 2 Samuel 16:5. Theodoret takes it to be a prophecy of Josiah, and supposes that he is represented as speaking throughout the psalm. Aben Ezra observes, that this is the most glorious and excellent psalm in all the book: a very excellent one it is: but whether the most excellent, it is hard to say. It treats of some of the most glorious of the divine perfections; omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. Arama says, the argument of it is God's particular knowledge of men, and his providence over their affairs.