Psalms 139:17-24

17 But how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 [If] I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.

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

20 For they speak of thee wickedly, they take [thy name] in vain, thine enemies.

21 Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? and do not I loathe them that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I account them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts;

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 139:17-24 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'with evil intent.'
• [b]. Or '[They] who speak wickedly of thee have lifted up themselves to lying, -- thine enemies.'
• [c]. As Ps. 94.19, 'anxious (or conflicting) thoughts.'
• [d]. Or 'idolatrous way.'