Psalms 139:13-16

13 For You ¹formed my inward parts; You ²wove me in my mother's womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ³Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

15 My ⁴frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the ⁵depths of the earth;

16 Your ⁶eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in ⁷Your book were all written The ⁸days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Psalms 139:13-16 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 119:73; Isaiah 44:24
• 2. Job 10:11
• 3. Psalms 40:5
• 4. Job 10:8-10; Ecclesiastes 11:5
• 5. Psalms 63:9
• 6. Job 10:8-10; Ecclesiastes 11:5
• 7. Psalms 56:8
• 8. Job 14:5

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "kidneys"
• [b] Some ancient versions read "You are fearfully wonderful"
• [c] Lit "bones were"