PSALM 139 COMME TARYEdited by Glenn Pease

I TRODUCTIO

1. Spurgeon, “One of the most notable of the sacred hymns. It sings the omniscience and

omnipresence of God, inferring from these the overthrow of the powers of wickedness, since he

who sees and hears the abominable deeds and words of the rebellious will surely deal with them

according to his justice. The brightness of this Psalm is like unto a sapphire stone, or Ezekiel's

"terrible crystal"; it flames out with such flashes of light as to turn night into day. Like a Pharos,

this holy song casts a clear light even to the uttermost parts of the sea, and warns its against that

practical atheism which ignores the presence of God, and so makes shipwreck of the soul.

2. Here the poet inverts his gaze, from the blaze of suns, to the strange atoms composing his own frame. He stands shuddering over the precipice of himself. Above is the All encompassing Spirit, from whom the morning wings cannot save; and below, at a deep distance, appears amid the branching forest of his animal frame, so fearfully and wonderfully made, the abyss of his spiritual existence, lying like a dark lake in the midst. How, between mystery and mystery, his mind, his wonder, his very reason, seem to rock like a little boat between the sea and sky. But speedily does he regain his serenity; when he throws himself, with childlike haste and confidence, into the arms of that Fatherly Spirit, and murmurs in his bosom, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God; how great is the sum of them"; and looking up at last in his face, cries -- "Search me, O Lord. I cannot search thee; I cannot search myself; I am overwhelmed by those dreadful depths; but search me as thou only canst; see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." --George Gilfillan (1813- 1878), in "The Bards of the Bible."

3. OUTLI E By unknown author

1. THE SEARCHI G OF GOD’S PRESE CE.

2. THE SCOPE OF GOD’S PRESE CE.

3. THE SATISFACTIO OF GOD’S PRESE CE.

4. THE SEVERITY OF GOD’S PRESE CE.

5. THE SUPPLICATIO OF GOD’S PRESE CE.

4. Calvin, “In this Psalm David, that he may dismiss the deceptive coverings under which most men take refuge, and divest himself of hypocrisy, insists at large upon the truth that nothing can elude the divine observation -- a truth which he illustrates from the original formation of man,

since he who fashioned us in our mother's womb, and imparted to every member its particular office and function, cannot possibly be ignorant of our actions. Quickened by this meditation to a due reverential fear of God, he declares himself to have no sympathy with the ungodly and profane, and beseeches God, in the confidence of conscious integrity, not to forsake him in this life.”

5. This Psalm has often been admired for the grandeur of its sentiments, the elevation of its style, as well as the variety and beauty of its imagery. Bishop Lowth, in his 29th Prelection, classes it amongst the Hebrew idyls, as next to the 104th, in respect both to the conduct of the poem, and the beauty of the style. "If it be excelled," says he, "(as perhaps it is) by the former in the plan, disposition, and arrangement of the matter, it is not in the least inferior in the dignity and elegance of its sentiments, images, and figures." "Amongst its other excellencies," says Bishop Mant, "it is for nothing more admirable than for the exquisite skill with which it descants on the perfections of the Deity. The Psalmist's faith in the omnipresence and omniscience of Jehovah is in the commencement depicted · with a singular and beautiful variety of the most lively expressions: nor,:an anything be more sublime than that accummulation of the noblest and loftiest images, in the 7th and following verses, commensurate with the limits of created nature, whereby the Psalmist labors to impress upon the mind some notion of the infinity of God." If we compare this sacred poem with any hymn of classical antiquity in honor of the heathen deities, the immense superiority of the sentiments it contains must convince any reasonable person that David and the Israelites, though inferior in other respects to some other nations, surpassed them in religious knowledge. o philosopher of ancient times ever attained to such sublime views of the perfections and moral government of God as the Hebrew Prophets. How are we to account for this difference but on the supposition of the divine origin of the religion of the Hebrews? On any other supposition these Psalms are a greater miracle than any of those recorded by Moses.

Bishop Horsley refers the composition of this Psalm to a later age than that of David. "The frequent Chaldaisms," says he, "of the diction, argue no very high antiquity." Dr. Adam Clarke, on the same ground, argues that it was; not written by the sweet singer of Israel, but during or after the time of the captivity. Other critics, however, maintain that the several Chaldaisms to be found in it afford no foundation for such an opinion. "How any critic," says Jebb, "can assign this Psalm to other than David, I cannot understand. Every line, every thought, every turn of expression and transition is his, and his only. As for the arguments drawn from the two Chaldaisms which occur, (yebr for yubr, and Kyre for Kyru,) this is really nugatory. These Chaldaisms consist merely in the substitution of one letter for another very like it in shape, and easily to be mistaken by a transcriber, particularly by one who had been used to the Chaldee idiom: but the moral arguments for David's author-ship are so strong as to overwhelm.'my such verbal or rather literal criticism, were even the objections more formidable than they actually are." -- Jebb's Literal Translation of the Psalms, etc., volume 2.

6. Right Thoughts by Dr. Warren Wiersbe, “Some people never think about God. They live and die as strangers in His world. Others think wrong thoughts about Him. They live and die in the shadows of superstition and confusion. Still others think right thoughts about God, but somehow it makes no difference in their lives. They live and die disappointed and defeated. Psalm 139 was written by a man who had right thoughts about God that made a difference. He lived with confidence, security and fulfillment. He submitted to God. Let's look at the four discoveries David made as he thought about God and the difference He made in his life.

God knows everything (vv. 1-6). Theologians call this God's omniscience. God knows you personally. We find nearly 50 personal pronouns throughout the psalm. He knows your name, nature, needs and even the number of hairs on your head. He knows you intimately, including your actions and your thoughts. He knows you sovereignly.

God is everywhere (vv. 7-12). You cannot flee from Him. This is a beautiful description of His omnipresence. "Where shall I go to get away from God?" Jonah asked this and never got an answer. You cannot hide even in darkness. God is in all places at all times (v. 11).

God can do anything (vv. 13-18). He is omnipotent. David says the greatest marvel of all is human birth. God can make life. He gives each baby the genetic structure He wants him or her to have. If you leave God out of your life, you will never fulfill what you were born for.

God can guide your life (vv. 19-24). You dare not fight against Him. David said he was going to serve God--a decision that led to dedication (vv. 23,24). When we put the whole psalm together, we discover a man who knows God. You, too, can know God through Jesus Christ (John 14:9;17:3).

God knows everything about you. Be open and honest with Him, and He can lead and bless you. Strive to do His will. God made you and wants to fulfill in your life that for which He made you.

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

1. You may never have been stripped searched by the police, but everyone has been so searched by God, for we are all open and naked before his all seeing eyes. He knows us inside and out. David is just acknowledging that God is all knowing, and this is a good way to see God, for it means that there is no sense in being anything but completely honest before him. To try and hide some feeling or attitude that might be offensive to God is nothing short of folly, for he knows you completely. You just as well let your true feelings come out and deal with them rather than pretend that you can hide them from God. A healthy relationship with God demands total openness and honesty. That is why the Psalms are often full of language that is shocking, for they pour out some of the most outrageous feelings that you would think would be hidden from God, but they are just the honest feelings and thoughts that are going through the mind of the Psalmist at the time. They may be horrible thoughts, but they are real, and so that is what is expressed. It is a good form of catharsis to empty your head and heart of all the awful thoughts that can enter, and by telling God of them, you can gain control over them rather than allowing them to control you. Someone wrote, “The Greek word for God is Theos, which derives from the root Theisthai, which means ‘to see’. They regarded God as being the all-seeing one, whose eye took in the whole universe at a glance, and whose knowledge extended far beyond that of mortals.”

2. Stedman, “It is divided into four paragraphs of six verses each. It is easy to follow the outline for it is already structured for us in the RSV. In each paragraph the psalmist faces a question about himself in relationship to God. In the first paragraph he asks, "How well does God know me?" The first sentence gives us his answer: The Hebrew word for "searched" is the word, "to dig." Literally what this man is saying is, "O Lord, you dig me!" ow that is how up-to-date the Bible is! The word means, "You dig into me and therefore you know me." It is not surprising that the word dig has come to mean in English, "to know or to understand." This is the way the psalmist begins, "Lord, you dig me!" In what way does God understand?

The Greek word for God is *Theos* (Theos); which derives from the root *Theisthai* (Theisthai), which means ‘to see’. They regarded God as being the all-seeing one, whose eye took in the whole universe at a glance, and whose knowledge extended far beyond that of mortals. “The Hebrew word for "searched" is the word, "to dig." Literally what this man is saying is, "O Lord, you dig me!" ow that is how up-to-date the Bible is! The word means, "You dig into me and therefore you know me." It is not surprising that the word dig has come to mean in English, "to know or to understand." This is the way the psalmist begins, "Lord, you dig me!" In what way does God understand?”

"O LORD, Thou hast searched me and known me." (Ps 139:1) The divine knowledge is extremely thorough and searching. God searches us as officers search a prisoner for contraband or as burglars search a house for plunder. The same word is used for Joshua and Caleb spying out the Promised Land. It's used in Job for searching and digging out gold and silver. (Job 28:3) Literally, we could translate it "O Lord, you dig me!" See how up-to-date the Bible is? It's not surprising that the word "dig" has come to mean "understand."

The word "search" also means to pierce through. We sometimes speak of seeing right through a person. That's a poetic figure of speech for us, but when it comes to God, it's a fact. He sees right through us.

Isn't it odd

that a being like God

who sees through the facade

still loves the clod

He made out of sod?

Isn't it odd?

But He does! God is like a doctor, giving us a physical, like a psychiatrist exploring our inner depths, like an intimate friend who probes us until we reveal all. And this knowledge is not just analytical knowledge, it is personal, relational, intimate knowledge.

God is the great researcher. He digs for all the facts, for He longs to know every detail of our lives. He makes a thorough investigation of our lives. He knows all and is Omniscient.

God knows his inner life, his thought, his heart, and his actions. He understands us, for He knows how we feel about everything, and how we think. He knows that your motive was right even

though the whole thing went wrong. He know when you are being hypocritical.

He even knows the head count of our hairs, and I would assume not just those on the head, but all over the body. For some this is a sizable number.

3. “Isn't it odd that a being like God who sees through the facade still loves the clod He made out of sod? Isn't it odd?But He does! God is like a doctor, giving us a physical, like a psychiatrist exploring our inner depths, like an intimate friend who probes us until we reveal all. And this knowledge is not just analytical knowledge, it is personal, relational, intimate knowledge.” unknown

4. Spurgeon, “God knows us by name. “ ames are very important. They are more than merely a means of distinguishing between people in a conversation. If that were all they were about numbers would do. But people complain and rightly so if they are treated as merely a number and not a name. ames are personal. They are not only labels but expressions of who we are. If you say someone is a Hitler you don't mean that they have the name "H i t l e r" you mean that they are an evil person like the famous leader of azi Germany. I an sure before the 20th century the name Hitler had no bad connotations to it. But now it means more In the same vein if you say someone is a Mother Theresa you mean more than they are a mother whose name is Theresa. You mean they are a person who loves and cares for the needy.”

5. Calvin, “1. O Jehovah! thou hast searched me. David declares, in the outset of this Psalm, that he does not come before God with any idea of its being possible to succeed by dissimulation, as hypocrites will take advantage of secret refuges to prosecute sinful indulgences, but that he voluntarily lays bare his innermost heart for inspection, as one convinced of the impossibility of deceiving God. It is thine, he says, O God! to discover every secret thought, nor is there anything which can escape thy notice, He then insists upon particulars, to show that his whole life was known to God, who watched him in all his motions -- when he slept, when he arose, or when he walked abroad. The word er, rea, which we have rendered thought, signifies also a friend or companion, on which account some read -- thou knowest what is nearest me afar off, a meaning more to the point than any other, if it could be supported by example. The reference would then be very appropriately to the fact that the most distant objects are contemplated as near by God. Some for afar off read beforehand, in which signification the Hebrew word is elsewhere taken, as if he had said -- O Lord, every thought which I conceive in my heart is already known to thee beforehand. But I prefer the other meaning, That God is not confined to heaven, indulging in a state of repose, and indifferent to human concerns, according to the Epicurean idea, and that however far off we may be from him, he is never far off from us.

The verb hrz, zarah, means to winnow as well as to compass, so that we may very

properly read the third verse -- thou winnowest my ways,2 a figurative expression to denote the bringing of anything which is unknown to light. The reader is left to his own option, for the other rendering which I have adopted is also.appropriate. There has been also a difference of opinion amongst interpreters as to the last clause of the verse.

The verb ko, sachan, in the Hiphil conjugation, as here, signifies to render successful,

which has led some to think that David here thanks God for crowning his actions with success; but this is a sense which does not at all suit the scope of the Psalmist in the context, for he is not speaking of thanksgiving. Equally forced is the meaning given to the words by others -- Thou hast made me to get acquainted or accustomed with my ways;3 as if he praised God for being endued with wisdom and counsel. Though the verb be in the Hiphil, I have therefore felt no hesitation in assigning it a neuter signification -- Lord, thou art accustomed to my ways, so that they are familiar to thee.

6. Barnes, “O Lord, thou hast searched me - The word rendered searched, has a primary reference to searching the earth by boring or digging, as for water or metals. See Job_28:3. Then it means to search accurately or closely.

And known me - As the result of that search, or that close investigation. Thou seest all that is in my heart. othing is, or can be, concealed from thee. It is with this deep consciousness that the psalm begins; and all that follows is but an expansion and application of this idea. It is of much advantage in suggesting right reflections on our own character, to have this full consciousness that God knows us altogether; that he sees all that there is in our heart; that he has been fully acquainted with our past life.

7. Gill, “O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. The omniscience of God reaches to all persons and things; but the psalmist only takes notice of it as respecting himself. God knows all men in general, and whatever belongs to them; he knows his own people in a special manner; and he knows their particular persons, as David and others: and this knowledge of God is considered after the manner of men, as if it was the fruit of search, to denote the exquisiteness of it; as a judge searches out a cause, a physician the nature of a disease, a philosopher the reason of things; who many times, after all their inquiries, fail in their knowledge; but the Lord never does: his elect lie in the ruins of the fall, and among the men of the world; he searches them out and finds them; for be knows where they are, and the time of finding them, and can distinguish them in a crowd of men from others, and notwithstanding the sad case they are in, and separates them from them; and he searches into them, into their most inward part, and knows them infinitely better than their nearest relations, friends and acquaintance do; he knows that of them and in them, which none but they themselves know; their thoughts, and the sin that dwells in them: yea, he knows more of them and in them than they themselves, Jer_17:9. And he knows them after another manner than he does other men: there are some whom in a sense he knows not; but these he knows, as he did David, so as to approve of, love and delight in, Mat_7:23.

8. Henry, “David here lays down this great doctrine, That the God with whom we have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before him.

I. He lays down this doctrine in the way of an address to God; he says it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it. Divine truths look fully as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over, and much better than when they are disputed over. When we speak of God to him himself we shall find ourselves concerned to speak with the utmost degree both of sincerity and reverence, which will be likely to make the impressions the deeper.

II. He lays it down in a way of application to himself, not, “Thou hast known all,” but, “Thou hast known me; that is it which I am most concerned to believe and which it will be most

profitable for me to consider.” Then we know these things for our good when we know them for

ourselves, Job_5:27. When we acknowledge, “Lord, all souls are thine,” we must add, “My soul is thine; thou that hatest all sin hatest my sin; thou that art good to all, good to Israel, art good to me.” So here, “Thou hast searched me, and known me; known me as thoroughly as we know that which we have most diligently and exactly searched into.” David was a king, and the hearts of

kings are unsearchable to their subjects (Pro_25:3), but they are not so to their Sovereign.

III. He descends to particulars: “Thou knowest me wherever I am and whatever I am doing, me and all that belongs to me.” 1. “Thou knowest me and all my motions, my down-sitting to rest, my up-rising to work, with what temper of mind I compose myself when I sit down and stir up myself when I rise up, what my soul reposes itself in as its stay and support, what it aims at and reaches towards as its felicity and end. Thou knowest me when I come home, how I walk before my house, and when I go abroad, on what errands I go.” 2. “Thou knowest all my imaginations. othing is more close and quick than thought; it is always unknown to others; it is often unobserved by ourselves, and yet thou understandest my thought afar off. Though my thoughts be ever so foreign and distant from one another, thou understandest the chain of them, and canst make out their connexion, when so many of them slip my notice that I myself cannot.” Or, “Thou

understandest them afar off, even before I think them, and long after I have thought them and have myself forgotten them.” Or, “Thou understandest them from afar; from the height of heaven thou seest into the depths of the heart,” Psa_33:14. 3. “Thou knowest me and all my designs and undertakings; thou compassest every particular path; thou siftest (or winnowest) my path” (so some), “so as thoroughly to distinguish between the good and evil of what I do,” as by sifting we separate between the corn and the chaff. All our actions are ventilated by the judgment of God, Psa_17:3. God takes notice of every step we take, every right step and every by-step. He is acquainted with all our ways, intimately acquainted with them; he knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk towards, what company we walk with. 4. “Thou knowest me in all my retirements; thou knowest my lying down; when I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting upon what has passed all day and composing myself to rest, thou knowest what I have in my heart and with what thought I go to bed.”

9. Prof. Benne Holwerda, “We don't know anything of the time this psalm was written, neither of the circumstances in which David found himself. It really does not matter, it is a psalm for all times, even for today. Therefore I will not weary you for one second with all kinds of claims and presumptions about the background of the psalm. We will instantly begin by reading what it says in verse one, 'LORD Thou hast searched me and known me'.

Here, David prays to the LORD. That word is written here with capital letters. In the Hebrew that means Jahweh, Him Who saw the misery of His people in Egypt and therefore led them out with a strong hand. After that He led them through the wilderness into the good land of Canaan, to be a gracious Father to them for evermore. Of course, you have heard at some time that when our language has Lord (that is with lower case letters!), it means God as He rules all things. But when the word is written with only capital letters, then - we used to say - we think of His covenant as an expression of His faithfulness to the covenant. Undoubtedly, we are not far amiss here. But yet, the content of the name LORD is much richer.

It does not only speak of God's faithfulness to the covenant, but it emphasizes that He is active in that covenant. He does not just speak beautiful words of redemption, but He makes that redemption real. He not only speaks, but also makes His word come true. He speaks first, but then also confirms it. That is where the God of Israel is distinct from the idols, who do nothing and never change anything. When David addresses Him as LORD, he thinks of all God's works

of deliverance in earlier days, and also of his own days; he thinks of the power with which He fulfills His promises. Since that is so, we must say more, for since that time has been Christmas, and Good Friday, and Easter and Pentecost. David could not think of them, for in his days these facts were still a long way off, in the far future. But the LORD continued with His works of deliverance. When I now read that name LORD, it has a much deeper meaning, 'the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ'.

David prayed: 'LORD, Thou Who hast redeemed Thy people out of Egypt'. We pray with him, yet we can say more than David, 'LORD, Thou Who in Christ hast revealed Thyself as redeemer and Who in Him art our eternal merciful Father.' It is to this God that we say, O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me!

In the first place, 'searched me'. Of course it means that His eyes went searching and seeking through everything, He sees me, all the way down to the bottom of my existence. He looks right through me. I cannot hide myself from Him. To say it in ew Testament language: 'All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do'.

Is that something to be afraid of? Many commentators answer this question in the affirmative. They point out that after this David considers the possibility of fleeing away from God and escaping from His grasp. He finds the inquiring eyes of His God unbearable. He cannot stand these eyes, as search lights looking into the bottom of his existence.

But you must not forget, there is more. Right in front is His ame LORD, that is to say, God in the majesty of His deliverances. Then follows: Thou not only searchest me, but Thou also knowest me.

Do not be too hasty and say, 'that is no wonder'. When the LORD looks right through you, of course He sees everything. But by doing so, you have mutilated the beautiful biblical word 'knowing'. Of course, we could speak here of God's omniscience. But omniscience in itself is a terror. Knowledge as such is yet without interest and without love. But when you read of God's 'knowledge' in the Bible, be careful. It really does not mean that He knows everything and that nothing escapes Him. But it means in the first place that He is interested, He sympathizes, He is moved.

'Knowledge' is cold, but 'knowing' is altogether different. I think for instance of the last words of Exodus 2. It says that the Israelites were oppressed in a terrible manner and they sighed about their harsh slavery. But then it is written of their God, 'He heard their complaining; He remembered His covenant; He looked at the children of Israel; and He knew them!'

ow you understand at once what it means that the LORD 'knows' you. He was concerned about the suffering of His people. He was hurt by it. In all their oppression, He was oppressed. Anyone would be afraid of God's 'searching'. But what does the Lord mean by that? What is behind it? Is He the cold Inquisitor, the one Who mercilessly looks in all the corners, Who brings all your secrets out into the open, and then without mercy brings everything into judgment? Beloved,with the LORD it is pure interest and warm sympathy. He knows me and is moved with tenderness, with compassion. He is never indifferent concerning me. He searches everything in my life, even what remains hidden from man's eyes, even things that escaped me. He does it because He loves me.

We are dealing here with something very tender. The Lord looks at you, He loves you, and therefore you are not for one second out of His eye. It is so very personal: Thou hast searched me and known me, just as if I were the only one for Him. As if there was no one else in need of His love and care.

Is this psalm written for us to know more about God's omniscience? Happily not! It is this: He is interested in everything that concerns me; the loving Father's heart is extended in mercy to me. ow, I am never alone aymore!

And because this is about His love for the smallest things in my life, we find here no theorizing and philosophizing about God's omniscience. All David attempted to see was the practical riches of this knowing-in-love. He saw no chance to explain something here. Repeatedly he says in this psalm, 'His ways are past finding out'. There is a limit to his thinking here which he cannot exceed. But he can accept these riches without understanding, and set them before him. That is what happens here!

10. “There is nothing to hide from God and so being fully open to Him is the key to good emotional health. He is our divine psychologist and we can talk about anything to God, even our most sinful thoughts and feelings. This can free us from them and give us control over them. It is no secret what God can do, and no secret of what He knows about us. There is no need to be a hypocrite with God. We can be totally honest. We can pray honestly and say I am supposed to be feeling pious right now, but instead I feel rebellious and lustful and desire only to do what I know is wrong. Help me overcome this foul mood.

We are all involved in some form of cover up, but not with God.

Before men we stand as opaque beehives. They can see the thoughts go in and out of us, but what work they do inside of a man they cannot tell. Before God we are as glass beehives, and all that our thoughts are doing within us he perfectly sees and understands.” —Henry Ward Beecher.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

1. Your mom and dad, and best friends do not know every time you sit down and get up, for nobody, however close to you is with you all the time. Only one person can be with you every minute of your life, and that person is God. He is omnipresent, and that means there is no time or place where he is not present, and that is why he knows every detail of our lives like no one else can. Even if you had someone who stayed with you 24/7, they could not know your thoughts, but God sees not only what your body does, but what your mind is doing at all times.

2. Stedman, “That is, "Lord, you understand and know me in my conscious life. You know when I sit down (my passive life) and when I rise up (my active life). When I am resting or when I am acting, you know me. And you know me also in my subconscious life -- that level of life from which my thoughts arise. You understand them even before they get to the surface. You know how I think and what I think about. You even understand the thoughts which come unbidden, in

a constant flow to my mind." Through Moses, God says: "I know what they are disposed to do,

even before they do it." (Deut 31:21) Again, the "you" is emphatic. God - alone - possesses this kind of knowledge. o law court in the world can convict a man on the testimony of witnesses who tell the court what the accused thought. But God can. At least twice in the Gospels we read that Jesus "knew their thoughts" and He knows ours too. As Plutarch said; "Men may not see thee do an impious deed, but God thy very inmost thought can read." The gods of the ancient people are general gods, but the God of the Bible is a specialist, and He gets to know His people personally. He is not the God of any place, but the God of every place and every individual. He takes it seriously being the Creator, and He keeps an eye on all He has made-especially those made in His image.”

3. “God knows the details of his leisure and his labor, of his rest and recreation. obody knows us like God, for he alone can know our inner thoughts. Here is intimacy of the highest order. God is both far off and near as can be. Job 22;12-14, Jer. 23:23-4, Ps. 11:4 and 44:21. God knows us in private and in public, and this can be two different personalities. People only often see the one and family the other, but God sees them both. There is nothing to hide from God and so being fully open to Him is the key to good emotional health. He is our divine psychologist and we can talk about anything to God, even our most sinful thoughts and feelings. This can free us from them and give us control over them. It is no secret what God can do, and no secret of what He knows about us. There is no need to be a hypocrite with God. We can be totally honest. We can pray honestly and say I am supposed to be feeling pious right now, but instead I feel rebellious and lustful and desire only to do what I know is wrong. Help me overcome this foul mood. We are all involved in some form of cover up, but not with God.” author unknown

4. Before men we stand as opaque beehives. They can see the thoughts go in and out of us, but what work they do inside of a man they cannot tell. Before God we are as glass beehives, and all that our thoughts are doing within us he perfectly sees and understands. —Henry Ward Beecher.

5. "Man may not see thee do an impious deed; But God thy very inmost thought can read." —Plutarch.

6. Afar off. This expression is, as in Ps 138:6, to be understood as contradicting the delusion (Job 22:12-14) that God's dwelling in heaven prevents him from observing mundane things. —Lange's

Commentary.

6B. “Thou understandest my thought afar off. ot that God is at a distance from our thoughts; but he understands them while they are far off from us, from our knowledge, while they are potential, as gardeners know what weeds such ground will bring forth, when nothing appears. Deuteronomy 31:21. "I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware": God knew their thoughts before they came into Canaan, what they would be there. And how can it be, but that God should know all our thoughts, seeing he made the heart, and it is in his hand (Proverbs 21:1), seeing, "we live, and move, and have our being" in God (Acts 17:28); seeing he is through us all, and in us all (Ephesians 4:6). Look well to your hearts, thoughts, risings, whatever comes into your mind; let no secret sins, or corruptions, lodge there; think not to conceal anything from the eye of God.” --William Greenhill.

7. An unknown author give this testimony: “This was my favorite psalm as a teenager. I prayed the last two verses a lot. Lord, You know everything about me -- everything. You know everything I do and everywhere I go. You even know why I went there and why I did that -- though half the time I don't know why I do things. You know every thought I think. I can't come close to keeping track of all the stuff going on in my head. But You know it all. What's better and maybe more amazing, You understand me. I'm misunderstood all the time, but You always understand me. You know where I'm coming from. You watch me. You're interested in everything I do. You come to all my games. You even like to watch me sleep. You know everything I say, before I even say it. And with my mouth, that's kinda scary. And, Lord, You surround me. You're always looking out for me. You've placed Your hand on me to guide me, to encourage me, to calm me, to protect me . . . . All this is too wonderful for me. I can not take it in. I can not begin to comprehend it. It is too extreme, too high over my head, I'll never be able to get a grip on it. You are too awesome to me, Lord.”

8. “A little 7 year old is kneeling by his bed saying his nightly prayers. Concerned about his first day of school, he closes his prayer: "As you know God, tomorrow is the first day of school. I hope you won't lose sight of me in the crowd." Then he climbs into bed, thinks for a moment, and then crawls out again -- and adds to his prayer: "I'll be wearing a red shirt." David has shown us in the first 12 verses of Psalm 139 that we needn't worry about God ever losing us in the crowd.” unknown author

9. M. R. De Haan, “A father and son were driving down a country road and saw a watermelon patch a little way off the highway. The father said to the boy, "Keep a lookout here while I go get a melon." He snuck into the patch, lifted a choice melon from the vine, and then called to the boy, "Is anyone coming? Look both ways." The little fellow wisely responded, "But Daddy, shouldn't we look up too?" Yes, that is the most important place to look. How do you behave when no one is looking but God? Test yourself by this rule.

You cannot hide from God, tho' mountains cover you,

His eye our secret thoughts behold,

His mercies all our lives enfold,

He knows our purposes untold,

You cannot hide from God! --Ackley

10. Our Daily Bread, “Years ago I heard an amusing story. A young man stood up in a crowded room and loudly said, "Excuse me, everybody, excuse me! Could I please have your attention?" The noisy chatter stopped and everyone's eyes turned toward him. At that point the young man grinned and said, "Thank you! I just love attention!" Then he sat down.

This story reminds us that while some people love the spotlight, all of us have legitimate needs, and only God can be totally attentive to them. He alone has complete knowledge of us. God's attentiveness is constant. Whenever you feel that nobody cares about you, meditate on Psalm 139 and be satisfied with God's attention. —JEY

Whatever we do, wherever we go,

There's nothing we could mention

That God is unacquainted with,

He always pays attention! —Fitzhugh

Keep your eyes on the Lord; He never takes His eyes off you.”

11. Barnes, “Thou knowest my downsitting ... - In the various circumstances of life, thou knowest me. Thou knowest me in one place as well as in another. I cannot so change my position that thou will not see me, and that thou wilt not be perfectly acquainted with all that I say, and all that I do. In every posture, in every movement, in every occupation, thou hast a full knowledge of me. I cannot go out of thy sight; I cannot put myself into such a position that thou wilt not see me.

Thou understandest my thought - Hebrew, “As to my thought.” That is, Thou seest what my plans are; what I design to do; “what I am thinking about.” A most solemn reflection! How unwilling would bad people be - would even good people be - to have those round about them know always “what they are thinking about.”

Afar off - ot when the “thought” is far off; but “thou,” being far off, seest us as clearly as if thou wert near. I cannot go to such a distance from thee that thou wilt not see perfectly all that I am thinking about.

12. Clarke, “My downsitting and mine uprising - Even these inconsiderable and casual things are under thy continual notice. I cannot so much as take a seat, or leave it, without being marked by thee.

Thou understandest my thought - לרעי lerei, “my cogitation.” This word is Chaldee, see Dan_2:29, Dan_2:30.

Afar off - While the figment is forming that shall produce them.

13. Gill, “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,.... Here the psalmist proceeds to observe the particular circumstances and actions of his life, which were known to God; as his "downsitting", either to take rest, as weary persons do. Schultens (a) explains it of the quiet rest in sleep; this the Lord knew when he betook himself to it, and to whose care he committed himself and family; under whose protection he laid himself down, and on whom he depended for safety, Psa_4:8. Or, since lying down to sleep is afterwards mentioned, this may respect sitting down at table to eat and drink; when the Lord knows whether men use the creatures aright, or abuse them; whether they receive their food with thankfulness, and eat and drink to the glory of God: or else this downsitting was to read the word of God, and meditate upon it; so the Targum paraphrases it,

"my sitting down to study the law.''

When men do this, the Lord knows whether in reading they understand what they read, or read attentively and with affection; whether it is to their comfort and edification, and for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness; whether their meditation on it is sweet, and is attended with profit and pleasure. "Uprising" may respect either rising from bed, when the Lord knows whether the heart is still with him, Psa_139:18; what sense is had of the divine protection and sustentation, and what thankfulness there is for the mercies of the night past; and

whether the voice of prayer and praise is directed to him in the morning, as it should be, Psa_3:5; or else rising from the table, when the Lord knows whether a man's table has been his snare, and with what thankfulness he rises from it for the favours he has received. The Targum interprets this of rising up to go to war; which David did, in the name and strength, and by the direction, of the Lord;

thou understandest my thought afar off; God knows not only his own thoughts, but the thoughts of men, which none but themselves know; by this Christ appears to be truly God, the omniscient God, being a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Mat_9:3, Heb_4:12. God knows what thoughts his people have of him, and of his lovingkindness in Christ; what thoughts they have of Christ himself, his person, offices, and grace; what thoughts they have of themselves, their state, and condition: he knows all their vain thoughts, and complains of them, and which also they hate; and all their good thoughts, for they come from him. And he knows them "afar off", or "of old" (b), even before they are; so Aben Ezra interprets it, a long time past, and compares it with Jer_31:3; where the same word is rendered "of old": God knows the thoughts of his people, as well as his own, from all eternity; see Isa_25:1; as he knew what they would say and do, so what they would think; he knows thoughts that are past long ago, and forgotten by men, or were unobserved when thought; how else should he bring them into judgment? or though he is afar off in the highest heavens, yet he sees into the hearts of men, and is privy to all their thoughts.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

1. God makes the best detective in history, for he can know every move we make. Others will not know if you slip away in the darkness of night to go where you are forbidden to go, but God knows perfectly when you are leaving, and where you are going, and the thoughts that motivated you to go. Many a wife has to higher a private eye to spy on her husband to see if he is having an affair, but this is all common knowledge to God to knows your habits, and you unusual behavior as well. An unknown author adds, “He knows our lying down; a word used often in the Old Testament for sexual relations; showing us that He knows even the most private and personal activities of our life. His knowledge is intimate, and he knows us in all of our nakedness, even greater than does a mate. He knows the paths we take through each day; every detour; every pause; every habit; every choice. He knows us inside and out. As Job declares: "Does He not see

my ways, And number all my steps?" (Job 31:4)

2. Milton traveled a great deal as a young man and in later years he wrote, “I again take God to witness that in all places where so many things are considered lawful, I lived sound and untouched from all profligacy and vice, having this thought perpetually with me that though I might escape the eyes of men, I certainly could not the eyes of God.” Such a testimony makes it clear that when Christians fall into some sin they never planned to fall into, it is due to their losing sight of the truth of this Psalm. If believers were fully aware of God's watching their every

move, they would have a hard time doing what they know to be folly.

3. Spurgeon, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down. My path and my pallet, my running and my resting, are alike within the circle of thine observation. Thou dost surround me even as the air continually surrounds all creatures that live. I am shut up within the wall of thy being; I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge. Waking or sleeping I am still observed of thee. I may leave thy path, but you never leave mine. I may sleep and forget thee, but thou dost never slumber, nor fall into oblivion concerning thy creature. The original signifies not only surrounding, but winnowing and sifting. The Lord judges our active life and our quiet life; he discriminates our action and our repose, and marks that in them which is good and also that which is evil. There is chaff in all our wheat, and the Lord divides them with unerring precision. And art acquainted with all my ways. Thou art familiar with all I do; nothing is concealed from thee, nor surprising to thee, nor misunderstood by thee. Our paths may be habitual or accidental, open or secret, but with them all the Most Holy One is well acquainted. This should fill us with awe, so that we sin not; with courage, so that we fear not; with delight, so that we mourn not.”

4. Reflection on Psalm 139 by unknown author

Father, you know me better than I could ever know myself.You know in all truth what I have been, what I am, what I will become.You know me when I am loving and when I am selfish.You know when I succeed and when I fail.You know everything about meAnd yet, Father, you love me more than I will ever know.You don’t hold it against me that I fail, or am discouraged.You try also to show me that I should not hold it against myself,Because by doing so I will fail to love more.You are forgiving and loving.It is beyond my understanding.I read your word and am inspired,But then immediately I feel its poverty in my own life.But Father, if I do try to escape you, really where can I go?Deep down I never want to escape you, but at times I try.Help me to realise that at these times you will support me,You will send the light needed,You will send your consolation through another,You will send your strength and courage.God, my Father, know my thoughts.Guide me to you.You know what I desireEven though I do not always move toward my goal

5. OUR DAILY BREAD

We cannot tell God anything He doesn't already know. When we pray, we simply put into words what He's been aware of all along.

That doesn't make prayer unnecessary; rather, it encourages us to pray. We find relief in talking to Someone who knows us and our situation fully. It's a comfort to know that God's response arises not from information we give Him, but from His perfect knowledge of our circumstances. He knows all conditions—past, present, future—that bear on our well-being.

"Your Father knows," Jesus said in Matthew 6:8. He knows our thoughts, our intentions, our desires; He is intimately acquainted with all our ways (Psalm 139:3). He knows the anguish of our heart, the strain of continual frustration, the enemies inside and outside that war against our souls.

So, can we presume to dictate the time and terms of our deliverance from trials or adversity? Can we say our way is better, more likely to develop our soul? o, we cannot teach God anything. He alone knows the way to bring us to glory. Out of all possible paths, He has chosen the best, the route most adapted to who we are and what He has in store for us.

We cannot teach God knowledge, but we can love and trust Him. That's all He asks of us. —David Roper

6. Our Daily Bread, “In today's world of inexpensive, high-tech spying devices, total privacy has become a rare and precious thing. A special agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says, "Don't assume that you are alone, not ever."

Cameras are used to monitor people in public places like banks and shopping malls. In addition, tiny wireless video cameras that sell for less than $100 are being used by ordinary people for less than honorable purposes.

It might seem odd, therefore, to hear someone celebrate a complete lack of privacy, until we realize that the One watching his every move was Almighty God. After stating that God knew each thought, word, and action before it happened, David said, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (Psalm 139:6).

o place was beyond the presence, guidance, and protection of God (vv.7-10). The deepest darkness became flooded with light because God was there (vv.11-12). From the womb to the tomb, every day of David's life was known to his Creator (vv.13-16). And the number of times God thought about him could not be counted (vv.17-18).

We are completely known and never alone in our relationship with God. What a comfort! —DCM

I never walk alone, Christ walks beside me,

He is the dearest Friend I've ever known;

With such a Friend to comfort and to guide me,

I never, no, I never walk alone. —Ackley

© 1952 The Rodeheaver Co.

He is not alone who is alone with Jesus.

7. TODAY I THE WORD

After Jacob had deceived his father Isaac and stolen the birthright from his twin brother Esau,

he had to flee for his life. Esau harbored murderous thoughts, so their mother Rebekah concocted a scheme in which Jacob was supposedly sent to look for a wife. But the fact was that he was on the run, lonely and probably frightened.

One night, on the road and sleeping out in the open, Jacob had a dream. He saw a stairway reaching from heaven to earth, with angels going up and down, and God above all. The Lord promised him: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go” (Gen. 28:10-22).

At Bethel, Jacob discovered an encouraging truth of pilgrimage: God is always there. Wherever we go, whether on or off the path of godliness, He is there and He is sovereign!

What does God know about us? Everything–our thoughts, words, and actions. Where can we hide? owhere. As Psalm 139 opens, this complete, intimate knowledge of us may seem a little overwhelming, even a little threatening. David couldn’t comprehend it either. But he warmed to the idea of God’s omnipresence as he went along, for it guaranteed constant guidance and protection (v. 10).

Omnipresence is a truth as vast as the universe, but also as private as a mother’s womb. Just as God is everywhere in space, so He’s everywhere in time (cf. Jer. 23:24). He was personally involved in David’s creation, and had written the story of his life before one day of it had come to be (v. 16). He’s done the same for each one of us! o wonder David finally called this attribute of God “precious.”

TODAY ALO G THE WAY

You can create a greeting card using verses 9–10 in today’s Scripture reading: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

8.Barnes, “Thou compassest my path ... - Margin, “winnowest.” The Hebrew word - זרה

zârâh - means properly “to scatter,” to cast loosely about - as the wind does dust; and then,

to winnow - to wit, by throwing grain, when it is thrashed, up to the wind: Isa_30:24;

Jer_4:11; Rth_3:2. Then it means “to winnow out;” that is, to winnow out all the chaff,

and to leave all the grain - to save all that is valuable. So here it means that God, as it

were, “sifted” him. Compare Isa_30:28; Amo_9:9; Luk_22:31. He scattered all that was

chaff, or all that was valueless, and saw what there was that was real and substantial.

When it is said that he did this in his “path and his lying down,” it is meant that he did it

in every way; altogether; entirely.

And art acquainted with all my ways - All the paths that I tread; the whole course of my life. All that I do, in all places and at all times, is fully known to thee.

9. Gill, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down,.... The Targum adds,

"to study in the law.''

His walk in the daytime, and every step he took, and his lying down at night. It denotes his perfect knowledge of all his actions, day and night; he surrounds every path of man, that they cannot escape his knowledge. Or, "thou winnowest", as some render the word (c); he distinguishes actions; he discerns and separates the good from the bad, or the goodness of an action from the evil and imperfection of it, as in winnowing the wheat is separated from the chaff. Or, "thou measurest my squaring" (d); all his dimensions, his length and breadth, as he lay down in his bed;

and art acquainted with all my ways; the whole of his life and conversation, all his works and doings: God knows all the evil ways and works of his people; he takes notice of them, and chastises for them; and all their good works, and approves and accepts of them; he knows from what principles of faith and love they spring, in what manner they are performed, and with what views, aims, and ends; see Rev_2:2, Psa_1:6.

10. O Lord, in me there lieth nought

But to thy search revealed lies;

For when I sit

Thou markest it;

o less thou notest when I rise;

Yea, closest closet of my thought

Hath open windows to thine eyes.

Thou walkest with me when I walk,

When to my bed for rest I go,

I find thee there,

And everywhere:

ot youngest thought in me doth grow,

o, not one word I cast to talk

But, yet unuttered, thou dost know.

If forth I march, thou goest before;

If back I turn, thou com'st behind:

So forth nor back

Thy guard I lack;

ay, on me, too, thy hand I find.

Well, I thy wisdom may adore,

But never reach with earthly mind.

To shun thy notice, leave thine eye,

O whither might I take my way?

To starry sphere?

Thy throne is there.

To dead men's undelightsome stay?

There is thy walk, and there to lie

Unknown, in vain I should assay.

O sun, whom light nor flight can match!

Suppose thy lightful flightful wings

Thou lend to me,

And I could flee

As far as thee the evening brings:

Ev'n led to west he would me catch,

or should I lurk with western things.

Do thou thy best. O secret night,

In sable veil to cover me:

Thy sable veil

Shall vainly fail:

With day unmasked my night shall be;

For night is day, and darkness light,

O Father of all lights, to thee.

--Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.

4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

1. Here is the foreknowledge of God. This is not surprising, for we even do this at times and know what someone is going to say before they say it. I often watch a movie and know what the next scene is going to be, because of the logical consequence of what has gone before. I know that the man who is caught in bed with another women as his wife walks in is going to say, “It’s not what

it looks like.” I can sense the way the writer of a movie is thinking and guess what is coming, and often I am right. God knows infinitely better than we do, and knows with accuracy and not just guessing.

God knows what we are going to pray for before we ask, but it is not our words he listens to, but our desires and our lives. The choices we make in life are our prayers, and not just our words.

God is a divine mind reader.

There are many choices that can be made, but God knows all of them, and he knows which one you would have made if other factors had been present to give you more information and different motivation. Because he can know all, he is never surprised at the choices people make.

2. Stedman, “When I was a boy in northern Minnesota I lived for a time in a Swedish settlement. The Swedish Christians used to tease the rest of us, saying, "You know, we Scandinavians are going to have a wonderful time in heaven while all the rest of you are learning the language!" I used to resent that until I discovered that God knows more than Swedish; he also knows English, Afrikaans, Hebrew, and all other languages of earth. That is what impresses the psalmist: "Even before I utter a word, Lord, you know it. You understand my language, you communicate with me."

3. Spurgeon, “The unformed word, which lies within the tongue like a seed in the soil, is certainly and completely known to the Great Searcher of hearts. A negative expression is used to make the positive statement all the stronger: not a word is unknown is a forcible way of saying that every word is well known. Divine knowledge is perfect, since not a single word is unknown, nay, not even an unspoken word, and each one is "altogether" or wholly known. What hope of concealment can remain when the speech with which too many conceal their thoughts is itself transparent before the Lord? O Jehovah, how great art thou! If thine eye hath such power, what must be the united force of thine whole nature!

4. Treasury of David, Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. The unformed word, which lies within the tongue like a seed in the soil, is certainly and completely known to the Great Searcher of hearts. A negative expression is used to make the positive statement all the stronger: not a word is unknown is a forcible way of saying that every word is well known. Divine knowledge is perfect, since not a single word is unknown, nay, not even an unspoken word, and each one is "altogether" or wholly known. What hope of concealment can remain when the speech with which too many conceal their thoughts is itself transparent before the Lord? O Jehovah, how great art thou! If thine eye hath such power, what must be the united force of thine whole nature!

Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc. The words admit a double meaning.

Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what we are about to say before the

words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to

conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same

thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while

the tongue is the index of thought to man, being the great medium of communication, God, who

knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle lo! to

indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view. --John

Calvin.

Verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc. How needful it is to set a watch before the doors

of our mouth, to hold that unruly member of ours, the tongue, as with bit and bridle. Some of you

feel at times that you can scarcely say a word, and the less you say the better. Well, it way be as

well; for great talkers are almost sure to make slips with their tongue. It may be a good thing that

you cannot speak much; for in the multitude of words there lacketh not sin. Wherever you go,

what light, vain, and foolish conversations you hear! I am glad not to be thrown into

circumstances where I can hear it. But with you it may be different. You may often repent of

speaking, you will rarely repent of silence. How soon angry words are spoken! How soon foolish

expressions drop from the mouth! The Lord knows it all, marks it all, and did you carry about

with you a more solemn recollection of it you would be more watchful than you are. --Joseph C.

Philpot.

5. God knows everything that passes in our inmost souls better than we do ourselves: he reads our most secret thoughts: all the cogitations of our hearts pass in review before him; and he is as perfectly and entirely employed in the scrutiny of the thoughts and actions of an individual, as in the regulation of the most important concerns of the universe. This is what we cannot comprehend; but it is what, according to the light of reason, must be true, and, according to revelation, is indeed true. God can do nothing imperfectly; and we may form some idea of his superintending knowledge, by conceiving what is indeed the truth, that all the powers of the Godhead are employed, and solely employed, in the observation and examination of the conduct of one individual. I say, this is indeed the case, because all the powers of the Godhead are employed upon the least as well as upon the greatest concerns of the universe; and the whole mind and power of the Creator are as exclusively employed upon the formation of a grub as of a world. God knows everything perfectly, and he knows everything perfectly at once. This, to a human understanding, would breed confusion; but there can be no confusion in the Divine understanding, because confusion arises from imperfection. Thus God, without confusion, beholds as distinctly the actions of every man, as if that man were the only created being, and the Godhead were solely employed in observing him. Let this thought fill your mind with awe and with remorse. —Henry Kirke White, 1785-1806.

6. “Every day the average person speaks enough words to fill a good-sized book and in the course of a lifetime, enough to fill a college library. We forget; by far; the majority of them; but every one is known to Him. Jesus said: "For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you

shall be condemned."... "And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall

render account for it in the day of judgment." (Mt 12:36-37) If that doesn't cause us to bridle our tongues; nothing will. Mark Twain said: "It is fortunate that we have free speech. But it is too bad that the supply usually exceeds the demand." (#305) Beloved, God gave man a mouth that closes, and ears that don't -- which should tell us something! (#229) You know why the dog is man's best friend, don't you? It's because he wags his tail instead of his tongue. (#632)

7. Barnes, “For there is not a word in my tongue - All that I say; all that I have power to say; all

that I am disposed at any time to say.But lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether - All that pertains to it. What is “said,” and what is

“meant.” Merely to “hear” what is spoken does not imply necessarily a full knowledge of what is said - for it may be false, insincere, hypocritical. God knows exactly what is said and what is “meant.”

8. Gill, “For there is not a word in my tongue,.... Expressed by it or upon it, just ready to be spoken; or, as the Targum,

"when there is no word in my tongue:''

so Aben Ezra,

"before it was perfect in my tongue:''

before it is formed there; while it is in the mind, and not expressed, and even before that;

but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether; the whole of it, from whence it springs; the reason of it, what is designed, or the ends to be answered by it. The Lord knows the good words of his people, which they speak to him in prayer, even before and while they are speaking them; and what they say to one another in private conversation, Isa_65:24. See an instance of words known by Christ before spoken, in Luk_19:31.

9. FOREK OWLEDGE A D OM ISCIE CE By unknown author

"Omniscience" literally means "all knowledge," or "all science." The omniscience of God may be defined as that attribute of God whereby He knows Himself and all things possible and actual in one eternal act. The All Knowing One knows all things immediately, simultaneously, and exhaustively. By definition God is the ultimate Scientist since He is the ultimate Knower and has the ultimate knowledge of all things.The omniscience of God is expressed by two names found in the Hebrew Scriptures. The first is found in 1 Samuel 2:3: The Lord is a "God of Knowledge" (El De'ot). The Mighty One is all knowing and is the source of all knowledge. The second name is found in Genesis 22:14. There God is called "the Lord Who Sees" (Adonai Yireh). The Lord sees everything. He is completely aware of the needs of His people and will see to it that they are provided for. God's omniscience is taught throughout the Holy Scriptures. With Him are wisdom and might; to Him belong counsel

and understanding (Job 12:13:) Psalm 94:9 declares: He that made the ear, shall He not hear? He

that formed the eye, shall He not see?

Whatever omniscience is, only the all knowing God can know it.

To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn anything. It means that God has never learned anything, and cannot learn. Who

has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He

consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught

Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding (Isaiah 40:13-14)? Who has known

the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor (Romans 11:34)? These rhetorical questions raised by Isaiah and Paul declare that God has never learned anything from anyone. If God were

able at any time to receive knowledge that He did not possess and had not possessed from eternity, He would be imperfect and less than God. I am the Lord, I change not tells us much about the omniscience of God. To think of a God who must sit at the feet of any teacher, be he archangel or seraph, is to think of someone other than the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth.

Because God knows all things perfectly, He knows all things equally well. He knows no thing better than any other thing. He never discovers anything. He is never surprised by anything. He is never amazed by anything. The knowledge of one thing is not in God's mind before another thing. For the mind of man, one thing comes before another; one year comes before another year, one generation of men comes before another generation. One is the cause and the other is the effect. There is no such order in the mind of God. He knows all series of events at one glance. God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, every mind, every spirit, every living being, every creature, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feelings, all desires, all secrets, every relationship, all thrones and dominions, and all personalities. He knows all laws. He knows motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, hell, all things visible and invisible, all things in heaven and all things on earth. He knows every cause and why everything is the way it is.

To give us a better understanding of the vastness of the knowledge of God, consider that the most recent scientific estimates indicate that there are 100 billion to 200 billion stars just in our Milky Way galaxy. The largest galaxies can have more than a trillion stars each. Scientists now think that there are a hundred billion galaxies like our Milky Way in the universe. These billions of galaxies contain untold trillions upon trillions upon trillions upon trillions of stars. God's knowledge is so great that He is able to count the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them (Ps. 147:4). Think of the knowledge it would take first to count, and then give a name to every star! o wonder why the psalmist goes on to say: great is our Lord, and abundant in

strength; His understanding is infinite (Ps. 147:5). The knowledge of the God of Israel is so great that He also knows every electron circling every proton in every atom throughout the entire universe at any given moment! He knows every hair on the heads of each of the 5.7 billion human beings alive on earth. He knows every one of the millions of sparrows that fall to the ground. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and

knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways (Romans 11:33)! Truly the vastness of God's knowledge is incomprehensible.

ot only does God perfectly know the future, but He also knows all the things that ever could have happened. He knows all the possibilities and potentials, all the alternative dimensions and universes that can be imagined. We sometimes wonder what would have happened if such and such would have happened instead of so and so. What would have happened if the attempt to assassinate Hitler would have been successful? What if apoleon had not lost at Waterloo? What if America had not won the War of Independence? This world would have been very different.

The fact that God knows all possible futures is revealed in the Word of God. Every prophetic warning is a declaration of evil and danger which the Lord knows will follow from a wrong choice that we might make. The Lord knew that the city of Keilah would betray David to King Saul if David remained in that vicinity (1 Samuel 23:4-12). The Son of God knew that the cities of Tyre and Sidon would have repented and been spared if they had seen the miracles that He did elsewhere. Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre

and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

=evertheless I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement than

for you. And you Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Sheol;

for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day

(Matthew 11:21-23).

This is interesting to speculate about, for if God knows all that might have been then he knows what each of us might have been and done had we been given the same opportunities as others. Life is unfair in many ways, but God will know what each of us would have been and done had we had the same breaks and blessings of those who did great things for him. You who are good singers for example. You might have been one who sold millions of your records had you had the same opportunity as those who have.

But there are things God does not know says Steve Thomas

He does not know anyone he does not love. He does not know anyone who does not need salvation, and he does not know anyone who can save themselves.

Dr William Lyon Phelps the famous Yale professor once had a paper turned in just before Christmas break with this note: “Only God knows the answer to that question. Merry Christmas.” He returned the paper with this note, “God gets an A, and you get an F. Happy ew Year.”

God ever knows what might have been. Jer. 38:14-39:10. Things could have been different, but he did not see that surrender can sometimes be wise and brave resistance folly. The future is not locked in but can be different if we make wiser choices.

Jer. 17:10

Jer. 18:7-10

Jer. 32:16-35

Ps. 69:5-6

II Sam. 12:7-10

Rev. 2:18-22

The Calvinist says God knows because he has predestined. The Arminian says he knows because he foresees. Both of these are real, but he also knows what has not be determined because it has never happened to foresee. God’s omniscience is greater than either theological system allows him to be.

We see the omniscience of Jesus in Luke 22:31-34 and of the Holy Spirit in Rom. 8:26-27.

Matt. 11:20-24 God has ties himself into the plan of history where even he cannot do all that is possible. He could not have sent his son into the world in the day of Sodom and still kept his plan for the whole world. There are infinite possibilities, but God has to limit the choices he makes and cannot make more than one sometimes. But God know what people would have done had they

gotten the same chance as others. Being just and fair he will judge all people in a merciful way based on what he knows they would have done, and in this case he says it will be less severe for they would have given a positive response. If some would have been saved if they would have gotten the Gospel, but they never had a chance to hear it, that will make a great difference in the way God treats them. God’s judgment will be perfectly fair to all.

10. OUR DAILY BREAD

When Scottish theologian John Baillie taught at Edinburgh University, he made it a practice to open his course on the doctrine of God with these words: "We must remember, in discussing God, that we cannot talk about Him without His hearing every word we say. We may be able to talk about others behind their backs, but God is everywhere, yes, even in this classroom. Therefore, in all our discussions we must be aware of His infinite presence, and talk about Him, as it were, before His face."

The knowledge that the Lord is everywhere should have an impact on what we say. David, thinking of the everywhere-present God, declared, "There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether" (Psalm 139:4).

Lies, gossip, unkind remarks, off-color jokes, angry words, vulgar comments, and disrespectful use of the Lord's name should never come from our lips. Rather, we should speak only those things that God approves of. Our desire should be the same as David's passionate prayer in Psalm 19, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer" (v.14).

Remember, God is listening. —Richard De Haan

From others we can hide some things

We've thought and said and done;

We cannot hide them from the Lord,

He knows them, every one. —Cooper

Every word we say on earth is heard in heaven.

11. Our Daily Bread, “The Bible tells us that God knows our every thought and every word on our tongue (Psalm 139:1-4). And when we don't know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit "makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).

These biblical truths assure us that we can have communication with God even without a word being spoken, because He knows the intentions and desires of our heart. What a comfort when we are perplexed or in deep distress! We don't have to worry if we can't find the words to express our thoughts and feelings. We don't have to feel embarrassed if sometimes our sentences break off half-finished. God knows what we were going to say. We don't have to feel guilty if our thoughts wander and we have to struggle to keep our minds focused on the Lord.

And for that matter, we don't have to worry about a proper posture in prayer. If we are elderly or arthritic and can't kneel, that's okay. What God cares about is the posture of our heart.

What a wonderful God! o matter how much you falter and stumble in your praying, He hears you. His heart of infinite love responds to the needs and emotions of your own inarticulate heart.

So keep on praying! —Vernon Grounds

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,

Unuttered or expressed,

The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast. —Montgomery

Prayer does not require eloquence but earnestness.

12. CALVI , “The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while the tongue is the index of thought to man. being the great medium of communication, God, who knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle lo! to indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view.

In verse fifth some read -- behind and before thou hast fashioned me;4 but rwu, tsur,

often signifies to shut up, and David, there can be no doubt, means that he was surrounded on every side, and so kept in sight by God, that he could not escape in any quarter. One who finds the way blocked up turns back; but David found himself hedged in behind as well as before. The other clause of the verse has the same meaning; for those put a very forced interpretation upon it who think that it refers to God's fashioning us, and applying his hand in the sense of an artizan to his work; nor does this suit with the context. And it is much better to understand it as asserting that God by his hand, laid as it were upon men, holds them strictly under his inspection, so that they cannot move a hair's breadth without his knowledge.5

5 You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

1. God has hands even though he is spirit, and so this is either anthropomorphic, or Spirit can have body parts. We are surrounded by the Lord, and we are trapped in his presence. God has our past covered as well as our future. He can heal the past for he is there where we blew it and can come in and give forgiveness and healing. Healing of the past is possible because God is there.

Acts 17:28 describes God this way. In words attributed to Paul, God is "the one in whom we live and move and have our being." God is not somewhere else, but all around us: we live and move "in God."

2. Spurgeon's Treasury of David

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. As though we were caught in an ambush, or

besieged by an army which has wholly beleaguered the city walls, we are surrounded by the

Lord. God has set us where we be, and beset us wherever we be. Behind us there is God recording

our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God

foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape

him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and outmarch him, for he is before. He not only

beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should seem any chance of escape, or lest we should

imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added, --

And laid thine hand upon me. The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped

by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It

is not said that God will thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done -- "Thou hast beset me." Shall

we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and

caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, etc. There is here an insensible transition from

God's omniscience to his omnipresence, out of which the Scriptures represent it as arising.

"Behind and before", i.e., on all sides. The idea of above and below is suggested by the last clause.

"Beset", besiege, hem in, or closely surround. "Thy hand", or the palm of thy hand, as the

Hebrew word strictly denotes. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. What would you say if, wherever you turned,

whatever you were doing, whatever thinking, whether in public or private, with a confidential

friend telling your secrets, or alone planning them -- if, I say, you saw an eye constantly fixed on

you, from whose watching, though you strove ever so much, you could never escape ... that could

perceive your every thought? The supposition is awful enough. There is such an Eye. --De Vere.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before. One who finds the way blocked up turns back; but

David found himself hedged in behind as well as before. --John Calvin.

Verse 5. Thou hast ... laid thine hand upon me. As by an arrest; so that I am thy prisoner, and

cannot stir a foot from thee. --John Trapp.

Verse 5. And laid thine hand upon me. To make of me one acceptable to thyself. To rule me, to lead

me, to uphold me, to protect me; to restore me; in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my

affliction, in my despair. --Thomas Le Blanc.

3. Barnes, “Thou hast beset me behind and before - The word rendered “beset” - צור tsûr - means properly to press; to press upon; to compress. It has reference commonly to the siege of a city, or to the pressing on of troops in war; and then it comes to mean to besiege, hem in, closely surround, so that there is no way of escape. This is the idea here - that God was on every side of him; that he could not escape in any direction. He was like a garrison besieged in a city so that there was no means of escape. There is a transition here (not an unnatural one), from the idea of

the Omniscience of God to that of His Omnipresence, and the remarks which follow have a main reference to the latter.

And laid thine hand upon me - That is, If I try to escape in any direction I find thine band laid upon me there. Escape is impossible.

4. Gill, “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 Psa_139:14; see Job_10:8 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.

5. “The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It is not said that God will

thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done— "Thou hast beset me." Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.”

And laid thine hand upon me. To make of me one acceptable to thyself. To rule me, to lead me, to uphold me, to protect me; to restore me; in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my affliction, in my despair. —Thomas Le Blanc. 6. “Before us is God foreknowing all our deeds and providing abundantly for all the needs of our future; preparing us now to face triumphantly all that the future holds. We can't turn back and escape Him for He is there. We can't go forward and outrun Him for He is before us. (Verse 5 begins to anticipate the theme of His omnipresence, discussed in the next paragraph of the Psalm.)Thus surrounded by God there is no sense in trying to deceive Him. one of life's little disguises fool Him. He sees through all the games people play for exploiting each other and gaining psychological benefits for themselves.He surrounds us to protect us. He encloses us in His love to care for us. This omniscient and omnipotent God is our Father -- not only distant in Glory, but present with us in care and concern. He knows us: past, present and future -- and wants to meet our needs.” author unknown

7. OUR DAILY BREAD

The term "sandwich generation" is often used to describe people who are being squeezed between the demands of their children and the responsibility to help their own aging parents. It's

not a new dilemma but one that has been complicated by families living far apart, an increasing number of working women, and the pressures faced by single parents.

For the past 8 years, my wife's mother has needed full time care, and our youngest daughter has grown from age 7 to 15. Two Bible passages have helped us through the ever-changing landscape of being parents and caregivers. The first is 1 Timothy 5:4, "If any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God." There are many different ways to do this, but the clear command is to care for a parent in need.

The second passage is Psalm 139:5-6. The words of David help us to see that instead of being hemmed in by circumstances, we are surrounded by God's care: "You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me."

If you're feeling "sandwiched" today, know that the Lord is closer to you than the most pressing circumstances. —DCM

O wondrous knowledge, deep and high!

Where can a creature hide?

Within Thy circling arms I lie,

Beset on every side. —Watts

Faith puts God between us and circumstances.

8. STEDMA , “He is simply overwhelmed by the fact that God knows him better than he knows himself, better than anyone else knows him. That is amazing, is it not? God knows me better than I know anyone else, no matter how hard I have tried to communicate to him, and better even than I know myself. For God knows me in the subconscious, the unexplorable part of my life, as well as in the conscious. What a wonderful revelation this is of God's understanding of each individual human being. How desperately we need, in this day of depersonalization, to remember that though science tells us how vast the universe is, and thus how great is the power of God, it takes God's self-revelation to tell us how important we are to him and how well he knows us.”

9. Great Texts, “THAT God besets us behind and before and has laid His hand on us is the crowning glory, as it is also the perpetual mystery, of human life. In the light of this truth nothing seems small or negligible. Every incident and every association of our lot takes on a new meaning. The stars have a fresh message for us; the flowers look up to us with intelligent faces ; God walks in His garden still, and His voice calls for our recognition. othing becomes impossible for us ; our strength is sufficient for our day, and new ideals press upon us for acceptance as soon as we have faithfully done the work of the immediate present.

2. We speak of God as a Person, for want of a better term to express the thought that He is self-conscious and freely acting, of a kind with ourselves in all that makes for the difference between the realm of the Personal and that of the Impersonal, though infinitely higher, not only than we are, but even than we can

conceive. But we reach an even greater truth when we say that God is an all-encompassing Spirit, in whom we live and move and have our being, a Presence everywhere and in all things, a Source of boundless energy and influence, the Cause and Sustainer and Hope of all that is. There is nothing inconsistent in these propositions. It is the same God who, being a pervasive Spirit und having created us in His own image, maintains relations of tender watchfulness over His children.

Two great ideas underlie this beautiful text: I. God s Intimate Knowledge of Man. II. God s Individual Care of Man.

PS. CX1X.-SO G OF SOL. IO

146 THE E COMPASSI G GOD

I.

GOD S I TIMATE K OWLEDGE OF MA .

1. God accurately and exhaustively knows all that a man knows of himself. Every man who lives amid Christian influ ences has an intimate knowledge of himself. He thinks of the moral quality of some of his own feelings. He considers the ultimate tendency of some of his own actions. In other words, there is a part of his inward and his outward life with which he is well acquainted ; of which he has a distinct apprehension. There are some thoughts of his mind at which he blushes at the very time of their origin, because he is vividly aware what they are, and what they mean. There are some emotions of his heart at which he trembles and recoils at the very moment of their uprising, because he perceives clearly that they involve a very malignant depravity. There are some actings of his will of whose wickedness he is painfully conscious at the very instant of their rush and movement.

ow, in reference to all this intimate self-knowledge, man is not superior to God. He may be certain that in no respect does he know more of himself than the Searcher of hearts knows. He may be an uncommonly thoughtful person, and little of what is done within his soul may escape his notice ; let us make the extreme supposition that he arrests every thought as it rises, and looks at it; that he analyzes every sentiment as it swells his heart ; that he scrutinizes every purpose as it determines his will even if he should have such a thorough and profound self- knowledge as this, God knows him equally profoundly and

equally thoroughly. This process of self-inspection may even go on indefinitely, and the man grow more and more thoughtful, and obtain an everlastingly augmenting knowledge of what he is and what he does, so that it seems to him that he is going down so far on that path which " the vulture s eye hath not seen," is penetrating so deeply into those dim and shadowy regions of consciousness where the external life takes its very first start, as to be beyond the reach of any eye and the ken of any intelligence but his own ; and then he may be sure that God understands the thought that is afar off, and deep down, and that at this lowest

PSALM cxxxix. 5 147

range and plane in his experience He besets him behind and before.

*[} Let us adore God for the streams of bounty which flow unceasingly from the fountains of His life, to all His countless creatures. But, on the other hand, beware lest in thus enlarging your view of the Infinite One, you lose your hold of the corre lative truth that though all beings of all worlds are His care, though His mind thus embraces the universe, He is yet as mindful of you, as if that universe were blotted out, and you alone survived to receive the plenitude of His care. 1

2. Although the Creator designed that man should thoroughly understand himself, and gave him the power of self-inspection that he might use it faithfully and apply it constantly, yet man is exceedingly ignorant of himself. Men, says an old writer, are nowhere less at home than at home. Very few persons practise serious self-examination at all, and none employ the power of self -inspection with that carefulness and diligence with which they ought. Hence men generally are unacquainted with much that goes on within their own minds and hearts.

But God knows perfectly all that man might but does not know of himself. Though the transgressor is ignorant of much of his sin, because, at the time of its commission he sins blindly as well as wilfully, and unreflectingly as well as freely ; and though the transgressor has forgotten much of that small amount of sin of which he was conscious, and by which he was pained, at the time of its perpetration ; though on the side of man the powers of self-inspection and memory have accomplished so little towards this preservation of man s sin, yet God knows it all, and re members it all. " He compasseth man s path, and his lying down, and is acquainted with all his ways." " There is nothing covered, therefore, that shall not be revealed ; neither hid that shall not be

known. Whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops/ The Creator of the human mind has control over its powers of self-inspection and of memory, and when the proper time conies, He will compel these endowments to perform their legitimate functions, and do their appointed work.

1 W. E. Chauning.

148 THE E COMPASSI G GOD

^| You will never know what the Psalmist had in mind till you come upon a young mother all alone with her laughing babe. The hours are not long. The house is not lonesome for her, though she has been left for the day. She has her babe. See, it lies all uncovered in her lap ! The mother is fair, but the child is fairer. She counts its fingers, she pulls its toes, she kisses its dimples, she pats its pudgy arms, she studies its features, she sounds to their depths its eyes and matches their colour with the skies. She helps it to stand. She coaxes it to walk. She teaches it to talk. She infects it with laughter. She bathes it with love. She tells it her secrets. She cries over it for joy. She multiplies its happiness and bears its sorrow. Mother and babe in all the world there is no other vision one-half so fair. There is no knowledge like love, no explorer like solicitude. She knows every strength, every weakness, every beauty, every mark or scar, every characteristic, every disposition, every tendency, every fault, every charm. The mother has searched her babe and knows it. A mother with her babe in her arms that is the Psalmist s picture of the tender care of God for men. 1

3. Let us not forget that there is a bright as well as a dark side to this picture. For if God s exhaustive knowledge of the human heart wakens dread in one of its aspects, it starts infinite hope in another. If that Being has gone down into these depths of human depravity, and seen it with a more abhorring glance than could ever shoot from a finite eye, and yet has returned with a cordial offer to forgive it all, and a hearty proffer to cleanse it all away, then we can lift up the eye in adoration and in hope. There has been an infinite forbearance and condescension. The worst has been seen, and that too by the holiest of beings, and yet eternal glory is offered to us ! God knows from personal examination the worthlessuess of human character, with a thoroughness and intensity of knowledge of which man has no conception ; and yet, in the light of that knowledge, in the very flame of that intuition, He has devised a plan of mercy and

redemption.

^| Might I follow the bent of my own mind, my pen, such as it is, should be wholly employed in setting forth the infinite love of God to mankind in Christ Jesus, and in endeavouring to draw all men to the belief and acknowledgment of it. The one great mercy of God, which makes the one, only happiness of all

1 . M. Waters.

PSALM cxxxix. 5 149

mankind, so justly deserves all our thoughts and meditations, so highly enlightens and improves every mind that is attentive to it, so removes all the evils of this present world, so sweetens every state of life, and so inflames the heart with the love of every Divine and human virtue, that he is no small loser whose mind is either by writing or reading detained from the view and contemplation of it. 1

II.

GOD S I DIVIDUAL CARE OF MA .

" Thou hast beset me." Even words may fall into bad com pany. Because of its association many a noble word is misjudged. " Beset " is such a word. We speak of the " besetments " of life. We pray about the " sin which doth so easily beset us." Job was beset with calamities. A traveller from Oriental lands tells us that at Cairo he was beset with dogs and beggars. A young man goes wrong, and through his tears of shame he tells how for months he has been literally beset with temptations. " Beset " we associate with evil. That is the ordinary use of the word. But that is not the Psalmist s use. It is the glory of the Scriptures that they are always finding gold where men see only clay. The Psalmist takes this word out of man s vocabulary and gives it a heavenly meaning. " Beset " is a strong word and it shall not belong to evil. The writer snatches it out of its evil surroundings and makes it spell out for evermore the love of God. "Thou hast beset me behind and before." He is talking about God. It is a startling statement. It is like the old prophet and his servant. So long we have been pursued by evil. Every day we have seen the Syrians coming up against us. Every morning we have seen them closer, having moved up in the night. We are beset by them. That is the testimony of the generations. And now on this morning our eyes are opened, and, lo ! the hills are " full of horses and chariots of fire." Like the young man

we cry : " They that be with us are more than they that be with them." " We are besieged by goodness." God has beset us !

Tf When I was a very little boy I knew my father loved me. I took it as a matter of course ; but I did not see that he had me

1 William Law, An Earnest and Scri&iis

T50 THE E COMPASSI G GOD

in mind very much. When I was very little I thought houses and clothes and food and money were a matter of course, and I did not know anybody worked very hard to provide them for me. It takes a child quite a while to know that these ever-present necessaries are not free for the using like air for breathing, but that they cost somebody a great deal of sweat and anxiety. When I grew older I knew of course that father did it all the home and food and clothes and money ; but I did not know how much he did it for me. I saw but little of him. I heard him talk only a little. He was away and so busy and all wrapped up in his farm and mill and cattle and horses. That was his business and care. I was just incidental. Then I grew up to adult life and I saw it all as it was. He did not think about anything but his children. His mind was only a little on his farm. It was on his home. He did not care for his business except as it ministered to his family. His business was fatherhood ; his farm was only the incident. He was laying his plans ahead. If the children were hungry, there was bread. If winter came, there were clothes. When they were old enough, there was a teacher ready for them. When temptation came to do wrong, there was also close at hand an enticement to do good. Once he was sick, and he thought, and we all thought, he was going to die. I heard him talking to mother and grandfather, laying out all his business plans, and I heard him say over and over : " That money is not to be touched beforehand. It is there to take ancy to college." He even spoke of the after years and said : " When the girls marry, I want them to have so and so." Child that I was, I began to realize that father carried us all on his heart, and that in his plans he thought not only of the present, but took in all the future years. He really with his care and foresight " beset me behind and before." l

1. " Thou hast beset me behind." God stands between us and our enemies in the rear. He defends us from the hostility of our own past. He does not cut us away from our yesterdays. Con sequences are not annihilated ; their operations are changed. They are transformed from destructives into constructives. The

sword becomes a ploughshare; the implement of destruction becomes an agent of moral and spiritual culture. The Lord "besets me behind," and the sins of yesterday no longer send their poisoned swords into my life. They are changed into the ministers of a finer culture, nourishing godly sorrow, and humility,

1 . M. Waters.

PSALM cxxxix. 5 151

and meekness and self-mistrust. The failures and indiscretions of yesterday are no longer creatures of moral impoverishment and despair. He " besets me behind," and they become the teachers of a quiet wisdom and well-proportioned thought.

Tf When you reflect that your evil thoughts and dispositions as well as acts all lie naked and open before the Eye of God, even though they may have escaped the view of man, is this a subject of satisfaction, or of dissatisfaction ? Would you have it other wise if you could, and hide them from Him also ? The Christian hates sin, and finding that neither his own nor any other human eye can effectually track it out in him, while he knows it to be the true and only curse and pest of the universe, must rejoice to think that there is One from whom it cannot lie hid One who will weigh his own case, which he may feel to be to him unfathomable, in the scales of perfect justice and boundless mercy. 1

2. " And before." God comes between us and the enemy that troubles us from to-morrow, the foe that lies ambushed in futurity and disturbs the peace of to-day. And so He deals with our fears and anxieties, and repeats the miracle of transformation, and changes them from swords into ploughshares. He changes de structive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness. He converts a lacerating fretfulness into an energetic contentment. He trans forms an abject fear into a holy reverence. He takes the terror out of to-morrow, and enables us to live and labour in a fruitful calm.

When thunders roll And lightnings slash the sky, God of the Elements Stand by.

When warring worlds Make men in thousands die, God of the Battle-field

Stand by.

When terrors lurk And hearts in anguish cry, God of humanity Stand by.

1 Letters on Church and Religion of W. E. Gladstone, ii. 159.

i52 THE E COMPASSI G GOD

When storm blasts rage And lives in peril lie, God of the Universe Stand by.

When life ebbs low

And death is drawing nigh,

God of Eternity

Stand by. 1

3. "And laid thine hand upon me." When God lays His hand upon us, it means manifold blessing.

(1) His hand is a restraining hand. One of the hardest tasks of parental love is to correct, to restrain. For is it not strange that a child who comes into life so pure from God should hold within it the possible germ of future wrong! The father, watch ing with proper pride the wonderful growth of thought and passion and will, is fearful of the day when first his child will follow evil. So long as that day is a day delayed, laughter and joy fill the home. But, in a moment, the germ of evil starts into life. It grows from less to more, until one day rebellion oversweeps the prentice soul, and the glamour of heaven is gone. A passion of anger shakes the child to the very founda tion of its being. It is the first good-bye to innocence. Then come correction and punishment and restraint. A father s strong arms hold the little body in check, as in the grip of an iron vice. The very touch of love in such a moment irritates. For anger maddens every soul. But there the father sits, in stern silence, holding his child in restraint, until he has gained the mastery. And when the passion has spent itself, then come floods of tears from the poor little penitent soul as he lays his conquered head upon his father s breast.

T{ The great American orator Daniel Webster, being asked what was his greatest thought, .replied, " The greatest thought that ever entered my mind was that of my personal responsibility to a personal God." In a famous speech he expanded the thought : " There is no evil that we cannot either face or flee from, but the consciousness of duty disregarded. A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the

1 L. Leigh, The While Gate and Other Poems, 40.

PSALM cxxxix. 5 153

sea, duty performed or duty violated is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If \ve say that darkness shall cover us, in the darkness as in the light our obligations are yet with us. We cannot escape their power nor fly from their presence. They are with us in this life, will be with us at its close, and, in that sense of inconceivable solemnity which lies yet farther onward, we shall still find ourselves surrounded by the consciousness of duty to pain us wherever it has been violated, and to console us so far as God has given us grace to perform it."

If you would see the same principle in life, open your Shake speare; imagine yourself on Bosworth field, before the tents of Richard and of Richmond ; hear the ghosts as they rise and speak. At the door of Richard s tent

Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow !

Think, how thou stab dst me in my prime of youth

At Tewksbury : despair, therefore, and die !

At Richmond s tent

Be cheerful, Richmond ; for the wronged souls Of butcher d princes fight in thy behalf: King Henry s issue, Richmond, comforts thee.

On Richard s own confession

coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! ... Methought the souls of all that I had murder d Came to my tent; and every one did threat To-morrow s vengeance on the head of Richard.

Ghosts all, yet speaking in the voice of reality. Conscience wears the form of a haunting fiend as well as of a guiding friend. Yet it is no haunting fiend. " Thou hast beset me ... and laid thine hand upon me." " I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee."

The promise is fulfilled as truly in the condemning voice of conscience as in our conviction of God s power and peace. 1

(2) The hand suggests the ministry of guidance. That is a most suggestive word, constantly in the book of the prophet Isaiah : "And the Lord said unto me with a strong hand." Speech by strong graspings ! Suggestion by grips! Guidance by the creation of a mighty impulse ! The Lord declared His will unto the prophet Isaiah by implanting in his life the sense of a tre mendous imperative, a terrific " must," a consciousness which the

1 F. Ealaud, The Spirit of Life, 55.

154 THE E COMPASSI G GOD

piophet expressed under the symbol of the grasp of a "strong hand." " Thy right hand shall guide me."

Tf There is surely nothing remote or obscure in the theme of God s guidance. It is relevant and immediate to everybody. We differ in many things and in many ways ; we differ in age and in calling, in physical fitness and in mental equipment ; we differ in knowledge and accomplishments; we are greatly different in temperament, and therefore in the character of our daily strife. But in one thing we are all alike we are pilgrims travelling between life and death, on an unknown road, not knowing how or when the road may turn ; not knowing how or when it may end ; and we are in urgent need of a Greatheart who is acquainted with every step of the way. We are all in need of a leader who will be our guide by the " waters of rest," and also in the perilous ways of the heights. 1

(3) The hand suggests the ministry of soothing and comfort. The nurse lays her cool hand upon the burning brow of her patient, and he exclaims, " How lovely that is ! " And when we come into a sudden crisis in life, and are tempted to become feverish, and " heated hot with burning fears," the Lord lays His cooling hand upon us, and we grow calm again. " And Jesus touched her, and the fever left her."

TJ Dr. Miller never forgot the universal need of comfort. " We

forget how much sorrow there is in the world," he one day re marked. " Why, there are hearts breaking all about us. I have made it a rule of my ministry never to preach a sermon without giving some word of comfort to the sorrowing. In every congre gation there is sure to be some soul hungering for consolation. I spent the afternoon of Wednesday with two or three sore sufferers. In conversation with them I spoke freely of their trials and their comforts. . . . Comfort is one of life s best blessings. Even the comfort of earthly friends is soothing and sweet. But the real comfort which the Holy Spirit brings to the heart of the Christian mourner is infinitely better. ... It is better to go into the furnace and get the image of Christ out of the fire, than to be saved from the fire and fail of the blessed likeness."

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

1. Henry, “He speaks of it with admiration (Psa_139:6): It is too wonderful for me; it is high. 1. “Thou hast such a knowledge of me as I have not of myself, nor can have. I cannot take notice of all my own thoughts, nor make such a judgment of myself as thou makest of me.”? 2. “It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe. That thou knowest all things I am sure, but how I cannot tell.” We cannot by searching find out how God searches and finds out us; nor do we know how we are known.

2. Barnes, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me - literally, “Wonderful knowledge away from me,” or, more than I can comprehend. It is beyond my reach; it surpasses all my powers to comprehend it.

It is high, I cannot attain unto it - It is so exalted that I cannot grasp it; I cannot understand how it can be.

3. Clarke, “Such knowledge is too wonderful - I think, with Kennicott, that פלאיה דעת pelaiah daath should be read פלאי הדעת peli haddaath, “This knowledge,” ממני mimmenni, “is beyond or above me.” This change is made by taking the ה he from the end of פלאיה pelaiah, which is really no word, and joining it with דעת daath; which, by giving it an article, makes it demonstrative, haddaath, “This knowledge.” This kind of knowledye, God’s knowledge, that takes in all הדעתthings, and their reasons, essences, tendencies, and issues, is far beyond me.

4. Gill, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,.... Meaning either the knowledge of himself, such as God had of him, which was vastly superior to what he had of himself; and especially the knowledge of other persons and things, whether visible or invisible, in heaven, earth, or hell; things past, present, and to come; or else the manner in which God knew all this was amazing to him, and quite impenetrable by him; that he did know him, his thoughts, his words and actions, and so those of all others, was easy of belief; but how he should know all this was past his conception, and struck him with the profoundest admiration;

it is high; sublime, out of his reach, beyond his comprehension;

I cannot attain unto it; neither to such knowledge, nor to comprehend what it is in God; and how he should have it, and in what manner he exercises it. Kimchi, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra, connect the words with the following, as if the matter of his wonder and astonishment was the omnipresence of God, or where he should find a place to flee from him.

5. SPURGEO , “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot grasp it. I can hardly endure to think of it. The theme overwhelms me. I am amazed and astounded at it. Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination.

It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Mount as I may, this truth is too lofty for my mind. It seems to

be always above me, even when I soar into the loftiest regions of spiritual thought. Is it not so

with every attribute of God? Can we attain to any idea of his power, his wisdom, his holiness?

Our mind has no line with which to measure the Infinite. Do we therefore question? Say, rather,

that we therefore believe and adore. We are not surprised that the Most Glorious God should in

his knowledge be high above all the knowledge to which we can attain: it must of necessity be so,

since we are such poor limited beings; and when we stand a tip toe we cannot reach to the lowest

step of the throne of the Eternal.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, etc. When we are about to

look upon God's perfections, we should observe our own imperfections, and thereby learn to be

the more modest in our searching of God's unsearchable perfection: Such knowledge, saith

David, is too high for me, I cannot attain unto it. Then do we see most of God, when we see him

incomprehensible, and do see ourselves swallowed up in the thoughts of his perfection, and are

forced to fall in admiration of God, as here. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I

cannot attain unto it." -- David Dickson.

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. Compared with our stinted knowledge, how

amazing is the knowledge of God! As he made all things, he must be intimately acquainted, not

only with their properties, but with their very essence. His eye, at the same instant, surveys all the

works of his immeasurable creation. He observes, not only the complicated system of the

universe, but the slightest motion of the most microscopic insect; -- not only the most sublime

conception of angels, but the meanest propensity of the most worthless of his creatures. At this

moment he is listening to the praises breathed by grateful hearts in distant worlds, and reading

every grovelling thought which passes though the polluted minds of the fallen race of Adam ... At

one view, he surveys the past, the present, and the future. o inattention prevents him from

observing; no defect of memory or of judgment obscures his comprehension. In his remembrance

are stored not only the transactions of this world, but of all the worlds in the universe; -- not only

the events of the six thousand years which have passed since the earth was created, but of a

duration without beginning. ay, things to come extending to a duration without end, are also

before him. An eternity past and an eternity to come are, at the same moment, in his eye; and

with that eternal eye he surveys infinity. How amazing! How inconceivable! -- Henry Duncan

(1774-1846), in "Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons."

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. There is a mystery about the Divine

Omnipresence, which we do not learn to solve, after years of meditation. As God is a simple

spirit, without dimensions, parts, or susceptibility of division, he is equally, that is, fully, present

at all times in all places. At any given moment he is not present partly here and partly in the

utmost skirt of the furthest system which revolves about the dimmest telescopic star, as if like a

galaxy of perfection he stretched a sublime magnificence through universal space, which

admitted of separation and partition; but he is present, with the totality of his glorious properties

in every point of space. This results undeniably from the simple spirituality of the Great

Supreme. All that God is in one place he is in all places. All there is of God is in every place.

Indeed, his presence has no dependence on space or matter. His attribute of essential presence

were the same if universal matter were blotted out. Only by a figure can God be said to be in the

universe; for the universe is comprehended by him. All the boundless glory of the Godhead is

essentially present at every spot in his creation, however various may be the manifestations of

this glory at different times and places.

Here we have a case which ought to instruct and sober those, who, in their shallow philosophy,

demand a religion without mystery. It would be a religion without God; for "who by searching

can find out God?" --James W. Alexander, in "The (American) ational Preacher", 1860.

Verse 6. Theme: the facts of our religion, too wonderful to understand, are just those in which we

have most reason to rejoice.

1. Prove it.

a. The incomprehensible attributes of God give unspeakable value to his promises.

b. The Incarnation is at once the most complete and most endearing manifestation of

God we possess, yet it is the most inexplicable.

c. Redemption by the death of Christ is the highest guarantee of salvation we can

conceive; but who can explain it?

d. Inspiration makes the Bible the word of God, though none can give an account of

its mode of operation in the minds of those "moved by the Holy Ghost."

e. The resurrection of the body, and its glorification, satisfy the deepest yearning of

our soul (Romans 8:23 2 Corinthians 5:2-4 ); but none can conceive the how.

2. Apply its lessons.

a. Let us not stumble at doctrines simply because they are mysterious.

b. Let us be thankful God has not kept back the great mysteries of our religion simply

because there would be some offended at them.

c. Let us readily receive all the joy which the mysteries bring, and calmly wait the

light of heaven to make them better understood.

7. Herbert Spencer, “The one sure thing we know about God is that He is unknowable.”

8. Author unknown, " David is staggered by the overwhelming sense of God as God! Such knowledge overwhelms me, amazes me, astounds me; it not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination! But he does not doubt it, just because he can't explain it; indeed the fact that it is so far beyond his understanding is what leads him to such adoration and awe. "'The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious,' wrote scientist Albert Einstein. 'He who knows it not, can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.' If what Einstein wrote is true, then many people are snuffed-out candles!

All honest scholars admit their ignorance and wonder at how much there is to learn. ... Our modern day loss of wonder has helped make us shallow and hollow. Wonder and worship go together, and worship leads to depth. Wonder and worship help us put daily life into perspective, and perspective helps us to see Him for who He is!" (Wiersbe, Meet Yourself in the Psalms; page 131)Have you ever found yourself, as the hymn writer put it; "Lost in wonder, love and praise?" Paul did -- several times. He thought about the love of God and declared: "This love surpasses

knowledge." (Eph 3:19) He meditated on the peace God gives, and exclaimed: "it passes human

understanding." (Phil 4:7) He mused on the knowledge of God and in ecstasy wrote: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the

wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

For WHO HAS K=OW= THE MI=D OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS

COU=SELOR? ..... For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory

forever. Amen." (Rom 11:33-36) o wonder the psalmist cries; "I cannot attain such loftiness." Mount as I may, this truth is far above me. Is it not so with every attribute of God?? Can we attain to any real comprehension of His power, His wisdom, His holiness....? Our mind has no line with which to measure the infinite but that does not bring doubts and questionings; but rather stirs our faith, our adoration and awe.

Ver. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. I cannot grasp it. I can hardly endure to think of it. The theme overwhelms me. I am amazed and astounded at it. Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination.

When we are about to look upon God's perfections, we should observe our own imperfections, and thereby learn to be the more modest in our searching of God's unsearchable perfection: Such knowledge, saith David, is too high for me, I cannot attain unto it. Then do we see most of God, when we see him incomprehensible, and do see ourselves swallowed up in the thoughts of his perfection, and are forced to fall in admiration of God, as here.”

9. Spurgeon, “There is a mystery about the Divine Omnipresence, which we do not learn to solve, after years of meditation. As God is a simple spirit, without dimensions, parts, or susceptibility of division, he is equally, that is, fully, present at all times in all places. At any given moment he is not present partly here and partly in the utmost skirt of the furthest system which revolves about the dimmest telescopic star, as if like a galaxy of perfection he stretched a sublime magnificence through universal space, which admitted of separation and partition; but he is present, with the totality of his glorious properties in every point of space. This results undeniably from the simple spirituality of the Great Supreme. All that God is in one place he is in all places. All there is of God is in every place. Indeed, his presence has no dependence on space or matter. His attribute of essential presence were the same if universal matter were blotted out. Only by a figure can God be said to be in the universe; for the universe is comprehended by him. All the boundless glory of the Godhead is essentially present at every spot in his creation, however various may be the manifestations of this glory at different times and places.”

10. Here we have a case which ought to instruct and sober those, who, in their shallow philosophy, demand a religion without mystery. It would be a religion without God; for "who by searching can find out God?" —James W. Alexander

11. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? That is, either from thee, who art a spirit, and so canst pierce and penetrate me; be as truly and essentially in the very bowels and marrow of my soul, as my soul is intimately and essentially in my body:” A heathen philosopher once asked, "Where is God?" The Christian answered, "Let me first ask you, Where is he not?" —John Arrowsmith,

1602-1659.

12. “You will never be neglected by the Deity, though you were so small as to sink into the depths of the earth, or so lofty as to fly up to heaven; but you will suffer from the gods the punishment due to you, whether you abide here, or depart to Hades, or are carried to a place still more wild than these. —Plato.

13. The Psalm was not written by a Pantheist. The Psalmist speaks of God as a Person everywhere present in creation, yet distinct from creation. In these verses he says, "Thy

spirit...thy presence...thou art there...thy hand...thy right hand...darkness hideth not from thee."

God is everywhere, but he is not everything. —William Jones

14. God knows all about us and still loves us. We keep things hidden from others, for we think they will probably not like us if they know all that we think, but God does know all and does love us still. Amazing love. Even your best friend might not like you if he know you had lust for his wife, but you keep that from him and preserve your friendship. You cannot keep it from God, and should not try, for it is talking to God about it that will keep you from letting lust lead you into sin. Baxter wrote,

Come and rejoice with me,

For I have found a friend

Who knows my heart’s most secret depths

Yet loves me without end!

We can never understand God, for if we could we would have a mind equal to that of God’s. Spurgeon said, “We can stand on tip toe and cannot reach to the lowest step of the throne of the Eternal.”

15. J. Pulsford, “Though the sun is the source and fountain of light, there is little good in gazing at the sun, except to get blinded. o one ever saw the better for looking the sin directly in the face. It is a child’s trick; grown-up people know better. We use the light which the sin gives, to see by, and to search into all things, the sun excepted. Him we cannot explore beyond what he reveals of himself in the light and hear which he sheds upon us, and in the colors by which he is reflected from the earth. There is not searching of the sun: our eyes are too weak. How much less can we search the sun’s Creator, before whom the myriads of suns are but as so many cloud-bodies!”

o fish can comprehend the vastness of the ocean, but they can still enjoy what they do know. So we can know God but never comprehend Him. The ocean would be no ocean if it could be held in a spoon, and God would be no God is we could hold him in our finite mind.

16. Arthur Patten

Let there be many windows to your soul,That all the glory of the universe

May beautify it. ot the narrow paneOf one poor creed can catch the radiant rays

That shine from countless sources. Tear awayThe blinds of superstition; let the light

Pour through fair windows, broad as truth itself,As high as God.

17. CALVI , “Thy knowledge is wonderful above me. Two meanings may be attached to ynmm: mimmenni. We may read upon me, or, in relation to me, and understand David to mean that God's knowledge is seen to be wonderful in forming such a creature as man, who, to use an old saying', may be called a little world in himself; nor can we think without astonishment of the consummate artifice apparent in the structure of the human body, and of the excellent endowments with which the human soul is invested. But the context demands another interpretation; and we are to suppose that David, prosecuting the same idea upon which he had already insisted, exclaims against the folly of measuring God's knowledge by our own, when it rises prodigiously above us. Many when they hear God spoken of conceive of him as like unto themselves, and such presumption is most condemnable. Very commonly they will not allow his knowledge to be greater than what comes up to their own apprehensions of things. David, on the contrary, confesses it to be beyond his comprehension, virtually declaring that words could not express this truth of the absoluteness with which all things stand patent to the eye of God, this being a

knowledge having' neither bound nor measure, so that he could only contemplate the extent of it with conscious imbecility.

1 C'est par dessus moy et ma capacite." -- Fr. Marg. "That is, above me and my capacity."

2 Piscator, Campensis, Pagninus, Luther, and our English Version, read "thou compassest." This no doubt gives the meaning, of the original, though not the precise idea, which is noticed on the margin of our English Bible to be "winnowest." The verb hrz, zarah, employed, signifies to

disperse, to fan, to ventilate, to winnow; and here it denotes that as men separate the corn from the chaff, so God separates between, or investigates, the good and the bad in the daily conduct of men. Hence the Septuagint reads ejxicni>asav, "thou hast investigated." Bishop Hare, who renders "thou dost compass," supposes it to be a metaphor taken from hunting. "Winnowing," says Archbishop Secker," would sound uncouth But Mudge hath hit on the word siftest, which, though an idea somewhat different, suits very well."

3 "Fecisti assuescere vias meas." -- Lat.

4 Thus the Septuagint have e]plasa>v me, Thou hast formed me. Similar is the rendering of the Syriac. Those who embrace this view take the verb, as if the root were.ruy, yatsar. "But," says Phillips, "it is certain that the root of yntru must be rwu, to afflict, press, besiege. Hence the meaning of the verse is, 'Thou hast so pressed upon, or besieged me, both behind and before, that I find there is no escaping from thee; Thou hast placed thy hand upon me, so that I am quite in thy power.' The whole passage is a figure, representing God's thorough knowledge of man." --

Phillips. "Thou besettest me behind and before, i.e. thou knowest all my doings as perfectly as if I were begirt by thee on every side." -- Cresswell.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

1. Barnes, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? - Where shall I go where thy spirit is not; that is, where thou art not; where there is no God. The word “spirit” here does not refer particularly to the Holy Spirit, but to God “as” a spirit. “Whither shall I go from the all-pervading Spirit - from God, considered as a spirit?” This is a clear statement that God is a “Spirit” (compare Joh_4:24); and that, as a spirit, he is Omnipresent.

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? - Hebrew, From his face; that is, where he will not be, and will not see me. I cannot find a place - a spot in the universe, where there is not a God, and the same God. Fearful thought to those that hate him - that, much as they may wish or desire it, they can never find a place where there is not a holy God! Comforting to those that love him - that they will never be where they may not find a God - their God; that nowhere, at home or abroad, on land or on the ocean, on earth or above the stars, they will ever reach a world where they will not be in the presence of that God - that gracious Father - who can defend, comfort, guide, and sustain them.

2. Clarke, “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? - Surely רוח ruach in this sense must be taken

personally, it certainly cannot mean either breath or wind; to render it so would make the passage ridiculous.

From thy presence? - מפניך mippaneycha, “from thy faces.” Why do we meet with this word so frequently in the plural number, when applied to God? And why have we his Spirit, and his appearances or faces, both here? A Trinitarian would at once say, “The plurality of persons in the Godhead is intended;” and who can prove that he is mistaken?

3. Gill, “ Whither shall I go from thy spirit?.... Or, "from thy wind?" which some interpret literally, the wind being God's creature; which he brings out of his treasures, and holds in his fists, and disposes of as he pleases; this takes its circuit through all the points of the heavens, and blows everywhere, more or less. Rather God himself is meant, who is a Spirit, Joh_4:24 not a body, or consisting of corporeal parts, which are only ascribed to him in a figurative sense; and who has something analogous to spirit, being simple and uncompounded, invisible, incorruptible, immaterial, and immortal; but is different from all other spirits, being uncreated, eternal, infinite, and immense; so that there is no going from him, as to be out of his sight; nor to any place out of his reach, nor from his wrath and justice, nor so as to escape his righteous judgment. It may signify his all-conscious mind, his all-comprehending understanding and knowledge, which reaches to all persons, places, and things; compare Isa_40:13; with Rom_11:34; though it seems best of all to understand it of the third Person, the blessed Spirit, which proceeds from the Father and the Son; and who is possessed of the same perfections, of omniscience, omnipresence, and immensity, as they are; who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and pervades them all; and is the Maker of all men, and is present with them to uphold their souls in life, and there is no going from him; particularly he is in all believers, and dwells with them; nor do they desire to go from him, but deprecate his departure from them;

or whither shall I flee from thy presence? which is everywhere, for God's presence is omnipresence; his powerful presence and providence are with all his creatures, to support and uphold them in being; he is not far from, but near to them; in him they live, move, and have their being: and so there is no fleeing from him or that; and as to his gracious presence, which is with all his people, in all places at the same time; they do not desire to flee from it, but always to have it; and are concerned for it, if at any time it is removed from them, as to their apprehension of it. Or, "from thy face" (e); that is, from Christ, who is the face of Jehovah; the image of the invisible God, the express image of his person, in whom all the perfections of God are displayed; and such a likeness, that he that has seen the one has seen the other; he is the Angel of his face or presence, and who always appears before him, and in whom he is seen. ow there is no fleeing from him, for he is everywhere; where God is, his face is: and a sensible sinner desires to flee to him, and not from him; for there is no other refuge to flee unto for life and salvation but to him; and gracious souls desire to be always with him now, and hope to be for ever with him hereafter; they seek him, the face of God, now, and expect to see it more clearly in the world to come.

4. Henry, “It is of great use to us to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed, that we may not only believe them, but be able to tell why we believe them, and to give a reason of the hope that is in us. David is sure that God perfectly knows him and all his ways,

I. Because he is always under his eye. If God is omnipresent, he must needs be omniscient; but he is omnipresent; this supposes the infinite and immensity of his being, from which follows the ubiquity of his presence; heaven and earth include the whole creation, and the Creator fills both (Jer_23:24); he not only knows both, and governs both, but he fills both. Every part of the creation is under God's intuition and influence. David here acknowledges this also with

application and sees himself thus open before God.

1. o flight can remove us out of God's presence: “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, from thy

presence, that is, from thy spiritual presence, from thyself, who art a Spirit?” God is a Spirit, and therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him he cannot see us: Whither shall I flee

from thy presence? ot that he desired to go away from God; no, he desired nothing more than to be near him; but he only puts the case, “Suppose I should be so foolish as to think of getting out of thy sight, that I might shake off the awe of thee, suppose I should think of revolting from my obedience to thee, or of disowning a dependence on thee and of shifting for myself, alas! whither can I go?” A heathen could say, Quocunque te flexeris, ibi Deum videbis occurrentem tibi - Whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou wilt see God meeting thee. Seneca. He specifies the most remote and distant places, and counts upon meeting God in them.

5. SPURGEO , “Here omnipresence is the theme, -- a truth to which omniscience naturally leads up. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? ot that the Psalmist wished to go from God, or to avoid the power of the divine life; but he asks this question to set forth the fact that no one can escape from the all pervading being and observation of the Great Invisible Spirit. Observe how the writer makes the matter personal to himself -- "Whither shall I go?" It were well if we all thus applied truth to our own cases. It were wise for each one to say -- The spirit of the Lord is ever around me: Jehovah is omnipresent to me.

Or whither spirit I flee from thy presence? If, full of dread, I hastened to escape from that

nearness of God which had become my terror, which way could I turn? "Whither?" "Whither?"

He repeats his cry. o answer comes back to him. The reply to his first "Whither?" is its echo, --

a second "Whither?" From the sight of God he cannot be hidden, but that is not all, -- from the

immediate, actual, constant presence of God he cannot be withdrawn. We must be, whether we

will it or not, as near to God as our soul is to our body. This makes it dreadful work to sin; for we

offend the Almighty to his face, and commit acts of treason at the very foot of his throne. Go from

him, or flee from him we cannot: neither by patient travel nor by hasty flight can we withdraw

from the all surrounding Deity. His mind is in our mind; himself within ourselves. His spirit is

over our spirit; our presence is ever in his presence.

6. Treasury of David:

Verse 7. Wither shall I go from thy spirit? By the "spirit of God" we are not here, as in several other

parts of Scripture, to conceive of his power merely, but his understanding and knowledge. In man

the spirit is the seat of intelligence, and so it is here in reference to God, as is plain from the

second part of the sentence, where by "the face of God" is meant his knowledge or inspection.

--John Calvin.

Verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? That is, either from thee, who art a spirit, and so canst

pierce and penetrate me; be as truly and essentially in the very bowels and marrow of my soul, as

my soul is intimately and essentially in my body: "from thy spirit"; that is, from thy knowledge

and thy power; thy knowledge to detect and observe me, thy power to uphold or crush me.

--Ezekiel Hopkins, 1633-1690.

Verse 7. We may elude the vigilance of a human enemy and place ourselves beyond his reach. God

fills all space -- there is not a spot in which his piercing eye is not on us, and his uplifted hand

cannot find us out. Man must strike soon if he would strike at all; for opportunities pass away

from him, and his victim may escape his vengeance by death. There is no passing of opportunity

with God, and it is this which makes his long suffering a solemn thing. God can wait, for he has a

whole eternity before him in which he may strike. "All things are open and naked to him with

whom we have to do." -- Frederick William Robertson, 1816-1853.

Verse 7. Whither shall I go, etc. A heathen philosopher once asked, "Where is God?" The

Christian answered, "Let me first ask you, Where is he not?" --John Arrowsmith, 1602-1659.

Verse 7. Whither shall I flee from thy presence? That exile would be strange that could separate us

from God. I speak not of those poor and common comforts, that in all lands and coasts it is his

sun that shines, his elements of earth or water that bear us, his air we breathe; but of that special

privilege, that his gracious presence is ever with us; that no sea is so broad as to divide us from

his favour; that wheresoever we feed, he is our host; wheresoever we rest, the wings of his blessed

providence are stretched over us. Let my soul be sure of this, though the whole world be traitors

to me. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 7. Whither shall I flee? etc. Surely no whither: they that attempt it, do but as the fish which

swimmeth to the length of the line, with a hook in the mouth. --John Trapp.

Verse 7. Thy presence. The presence of God's glory is in heaven; the presence of his power on

earth; the presence of his justice in hell; and the presence of his grace with his people. If he deny

us his powerful presence, we fall into nothing; if he deny us his gracious presence, we fall into sin;

if he deny us his merciful presence, we fall into hell. -- John Mason.

Verse 7. Thy presence. The celebrated Linnaeus testified in his conversation, writings, and

actions, the greatest sense of God's presence. So strongly indeed was he impressed with the idea,

that he wrote over the door of his library: "Innocue vivite, umen adest -- Live innocently: God

is present." --George Seaton Bowes, in "Information and Illustration," 1884.

Verse 7-11. You will never be neglected by the Deity, though you were so small as to sink into the

depths of the earth, or so lofty as to fly up to heaven; but you will suffer from the gods the

punishment due to you, whether you abide here, or depart to Hades, or are carried to a place still

more wild than these. --Plato.

Verse 7-12. The Psalm was not written by a Pantheist. The Psalmist speaks of God as a Person

everywhere present in creation, yet distinct from creation. In these verses he says, "Thy spirit ...

thy presence ... thou art there ... thy hand ... thy right hand ... darkness hideth not from thee."

God is everywhere, but he is not everything. --William Jones, in "A Homiletic Commentary on

the Book of Psalms", 1879.

7. HI TS FOR PASTORS A D LAYPERSO S

Verse 7-10.

1. God is wherever I am. I fill but a small part of space; he fills all space.

2. He is wherever I shall be. He does not move with me, but I move in him. "In him we live,

and move", etc.

3. God is wherever I could be. "If I ascend to heaven", etc. "If I descend to Sheol", etc. If I

travel with the sunbeams to the most distant part of the earth, or heavens, or the sea, I

shall be in thy hand. o mention is here made of annihilation, as though that were

possible; which would be the only escape from the Divine Presence; for he is not the God

of the dead, of the annihilated, in the Sadducean meaning of the word, but of the living.

Man is always somewhere, and God is always everywhere.

8. Leopold, “ ever has the pen of man more effectively described the omnipresence of God.”

9. Paul Tillich says that only that which is inescapable is God, for he is God just because he is inescapable. We may not be near to God, but he is always near to us. In him we live and move and have our being. Linneaus, the great botanist had these words on his study, “Live innocently; do not sully hand or heart today; deity is present.”

10. “Because God is present everywhere we worship in spirit and in truth, for there is no where where he is not. You may recall Francis Thompson's poem 'The Hound of Heaven' which is actually a modern version of the 139th Psalm. Thompson was a fugitive from God. Brought up in a religious home, he studied for the priesthood, then for medecine, each time failing because of laziness and lack of interest. arcotics almost destroyed him. He lost himself in London, picking up jobs like boot cleaning, selling matches, holding horses, anything for a few pennies to buy his 'fix'. The only decent thing left in his life was a love for poetry. He wrote a few poems and on an impulse sent them to an editor and publisher - Wilfred Meynell, who saw signs of genius in them. Meynell and his wife searched out the poet and drew him from his pitiable surroundings. From that wretched condition Thompson was rescued for English literature and for the enrichment of the world by two people in whom he recognised the love of God. He came to see that even though he had made his bed in the hell of misery and the darkness of despair, even though he had secluded himself from others and fled to the limits of loneliness he could not escape the pursuing love of God. Here's his testimony. 'I fled him, down the nights and down the days; I fled him, down the arches of the years; I fled him, down the labrinthine ways Of my mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from him, and under running laughter... From those strong feet that followed, followed after. But with unhurrying chase, And unperturbed pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy They beat - and a voice beat More instant than the feet- 'All things betray thee, who betrayest me'” Author unknown

11.Philip Ryken writes, “If you want to keep away from sin, remember how impossible it is to escape God's notice. ever live as though God does not exist. Practice "the presence of God." as Brother Lawrence termed it. Speak to the Lord frequently throughout the day. Remember that everything you say, do, or even think is said, done, and thought in the infinite presence of a holy God.” . 12. Bill Hybels says it well, “If we live our lives without an intense awareness of the omnipresence of God, we create one illusion after the next. We start to think, o one witnesses the way I "shade the truth" with a client in my office --they just hear me sing along with everyone else on Sunday morning. Or, o one witnesses my pilfering or "borrowing" of company pens and notepads -- they just see my soliciting donations for the food bank. o one witnesses my 11 P.M. binge -- they just see the discipline portions I take at dinners out. o one hears how I raise my voice at my wife, my husband, or my children -- all they hear is how well I pray at church. o one sees the illegal deal I am cutting -- they just see the folded check I drop in the offering.”

13. DAILY BREAD

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence. --Psalm 139:7

Francis Thompson wrote a gripping poem that he called "The Hound of Heaven." It reflected the torture of his life during the years he was running from God. At one time he had intended to be a priest but was deemed unqualified. Then he turned to his father's medical profession but failed again. Angry and bitter, Thompson gave up on God.

From 1885 to 1888 he lived the life of a derelict on the streets of London, suffering the agony of an opium habit. Finally some friends snatched him from the pit of death and brought him to the God he had dreaded. Thompson was gloriously converted.

His poem is his testimony. As the hound pursues the hare, ever drawing nearer in the chase, so God pursues the fleeing soul.

o matter how far you've run from God, the "Hound of Heaven" is still chasing you. Just when you think you've eluded Him, you'll discover that He's still there. David, who wrote Psalm 139, knew he could not flee from God's presence.

We sense His presence everywhere. It may be through the patience of a spouse, or the warm embrace of a friend when we expected to be shunned. But God is there.

It's tiring to run from God. Perhaps you sense that He's pursuing you. If you do, it's time to stop running. --HWR

Relentless quest, this race for happiness;

Vain footsteps echo 'gainst a hollow soul;

What peace to cease--exchange our chase for God's

Relentless love that never lets us go! --Gustafson

o matter how far you've run from God, He's only a prayer away.

14. Our Daily Bread, “Have you ever been alone—really alone?

Many people can answer yes because they feel that way every day. I'm not referring to people who live in a remote cabin on a mountaintop far from civilization. I'm talking about those who feel alone in a crowded mall, or in a church full of people.

I'm referring to people who simply cannot find anyone to connect with. Perhaps they are new to a community. Maybe they have lost a spouse. It could be that they simply feel alone because they think of themselves as different, unusual, and left out of normal communication with others.

Have you ever been alone, really alone? If so, there's good news. If you have invited Christ into your life as Savior and Lord, you're never alone. You have His constant presence. Here is His promise: "I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). And from God the Father: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Recognize with the psalmist that there's no place you can go where God is not with you (Psalm 139:7).

Sure, we all need flesh-and-blood companions, but let's not overlook the reality of the Lord's presence. We can depend on it. With Him by our side, we're never alone. —JDB

On life's pathway I am never lonely,

My Lord is with me, my Lord divine;

Ever present guide I trust Him only,

=o longer lonely, for He is mine. —Harkness

© Renewal 1950 Broadman Press

God's presence with us is one of His presents to us.

15. Our Daily Bread, “The guillemot is a small Arctic seabird that lives on the rocky cliffs of northern coastal regions. These birds flock together by the thousands in comparatively small areas.

Because of the crowded conditions, hundreds of females lay their pear-shaped eggs side by side in a long row on a narrow ledge. Since the eggs all look alike, it's incredible that a mother bird can identify those that belong to her. Yet studies show that she knows her own eggs so well even when one is moved, she finds it and returns it to its original location. She is never confused.

The Bible tells us that the heavenly Father intimately understands each of His children. He knows their every thought and emotion, and is "acquainted with all [their] ways" (Ps. 139:3). From morning till night He gives personal attention to all their circumstances. Overwhelmed by this glorious reality, the psalmist exclaimed in amazement, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (v.6).

ot only does God's knowledge of us evoke our praise and worship, but it also brings great comfort to our hearts. Isn't it wonderful to be so well-loved and well-known by our Lord! --MRD II

He knows each winding path we take

And every sorrow, pain, and ache;

His children He will not forsake--

He knows and loves His own. --Bosch

With God, no one is ever lost in a crowd!

16. Our Daily Bread, “Margaret Wise Brown is known for her simple yet profound books for children. One of my favorites is The Runaway Bunny. It's about a little bunny who tells his mother he has decided to run away.

"If you run away," says his mother, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny." She goes on to tell him that if he becomes a fish in a trout stream, she will become a fisherman and fish for him. If he becomes a little boy, she will become a human mother and catch him in her arms and hug him. o matter what the little rabbit does, his doggedly persistent, ever-pursuing mother will not give up or go away.

"Shucks," says the bunny at last, "I might as well stay where I am and be your little bunny." "Have a carrot," his mother then says.

This story reminds me of David's words in Psalm 139:7-10, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me."

Let's be thankful that God is relentless in His love for us—ever-pursuing, ever-present, and ever-guiding. —David Roper

THI=KI=G IT THROUGH

How can the truth of God's presence be a comfort in our trials?

How can it help us to avoid and overcome sin in our lives?

o matter where you go, God goes with you.

17. CALVI , “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? I consider that David prosecutes the same idea of its being' impossible that men by any subterfuge should elude the eye of God. By the Spirit of

God we are not here, as in several other parts of Scripture, to conceive of his power merely, but his understanding and knowledge.1 In man the spirit is the seat of intelligence, and so it is here in reference to God, as is plain from the second part of the sentence, where by the face of God is meant his knowledge or inspection. David means in short that he could not change from one place to another without God seeing him, and following him with his eyes as he moved. They misapply the passage who adduce it as a proof of the immensity of God's essence; for though it be an undoubted truth that the glory of the Lord fills heaven and earth, this was not at present in the view of the Psalmist, but the truth that God's eye penetrates heaven and hell, so that, hide in what obscure corner of the world he might, he must be discovered by him. Accordingly he tells us that though he should fly to heaven, or lurk in the lowest abysses, from above or from below all was naked and manifest before God. The wings of the morning,2 or of Lucifer, is a beautiful metaphor, for when the sun rises on the earth, it transmits its radiance suddenly to all regions of the world, as with the swiftness of flight. The same figure is employed in Malachi 4:2. And the idea is, that though one should fly with the speed of light, he could find no recess where he would be beyond the reach of divine power. For by hand we are to understand power, and the assertion is to the effect that should man attempt to withdraw from the observation of God, it were easy for him to arrest and draw back the fugitive.

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths,[1] you are there.

1. Barnes, “If I ascend up into heaven - The word “heaven” here, in the original is in the plural number - “heavens,” - and includes all that there is above the earth - the highest worlds.

If I make my bed - Properly, “If I strew or spread my couch.” If I should seek that as the place where to lie down.

In hell - Hebrew, “Sheol.” See the notes at Isa_14:9, where the word is fully explained. The word here refers to the under-world - the abodes of the dead; and, in the apprehension of the psalmist, corresponds in depth with the word “heaven” in height. The two represent all worlds, above and below; and the idea is, that in neither direction, above or below, could he go where God would not be.

Thou art there - Or, more emphatically and impressively in the original, “Thou!” That is, the psalmist imagines himself in the highest heaven, or in the deepest abodes of the dead - and lo! God is there also! he has not gone from “him”! he is still in the presence of the same God!

2. Clarke, “If I ascend - Thou art in heaven, in thy glory; in hell, in thy vindictive justice; and in all parts or earth, water, space, place, or vacuity, by thy omnipresence. Wherever I am, there art thou; and where I cannot be, thou art there. Thou fillest the heavens and the earth.

3. Gill, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there,.... o man hath ascended or can ascend to heaven of himself; it is an hyperbolical expression, as are those that follow; none but Christ has ascended to heaven by his own power, who descended from it; saints hope to go there at death, and, when they do, they find God there; that is his habitation, his throne is there, yea, that is his throne; here he keeps court and has his attendants, and here he will be seen and enjoyed by his people to all eternity;

if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there; which, if understood of the place of the damned, is a place of torment, and a very unfit one to make a bed in, being a lake burning with fire and brimstone; and where the smoke of their torment ascends for ever, and they have no rest day nor night; their worm never dies, and their fire is not quenched; and even here God is: hell is not only naked before him, and all its inhabitants in his view; but he is here in his powerful presence, keeping the devils in chains of darkness; turning wicked men daily into it, pouring out his wrath upon them, placing and continuing an unpassable gulf between them and happy souls: though rather this is to be understood of the grave, in which sense the word is often used; and so Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and Arama, interpret it of the lowest parts of the earth, as opposed to heaven; the grave is a bed to the saints, where they lie down and rest, and sleep till the resurrection morn, Job_14:12; and here the Lord is watching over and keeping their dust, and will raise it up again at the last day. The Targum is,

"there is thy Word.''

4. Henry, ““If I ascend thither, as I hope to do shortly, thou art there, and it will be my eternal

bliss to be with thee there.” Heaven is a vast large place, replenished with an innumerable company, and yet there is no escaping God's eye there, in any corner, or in any crowd. The inhabitants of that world have as necessary a dependence upon God, and lie as open to his strict scrutiny, as the inhabitants of this. (2.) In hell - in Sheol, which may be understood of the depth of the earth, the very centre of it. Should we dig as deep as we can under ground, and think to hide ourselves there, we should be mistaken; God knows that path which the vulture's eye never saw, and to him the earth is all surface. Or it may be understood of the state of the dead. When we are removed out of the sight of all living, yet not out of the sight of the living God; from his eye we cannot hide ourselves in the grave. Or it maybe understood of the place of the damned: If I make

my bed in hell (an uncomfortable place to make a bed in, where there is no rest day or night, yet thousands will make their bed for ever in those flames), behold, thou art there, in thy power and justice. God's wrath is the fire which will there burn everlastingly, Rev_14:10.

5. Spurgeon, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. Filling the loftiest region with his yet loftier presence, Jehovah is in the heavenly place, at home, upon his throne. The ascent, if it were possible, would be unavailing for purposes of escape; it would, in fact, be a flying into the centre of the fire to avoid the heat. There would he be immediately confronted by the terrible personality of God. ote the abrupt words -- "THOU, THERE."

If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Descending into the lowest imaginable depths

among the dead, there should we find the Lord. THOU! says the Psalmist, as if he felt that God

was the one great Existence in all places. Whatever Hades may be, or whoever may be there, one

thing is certain, Thou, O Jehovah, art there. Two regions, the one of glory and the other of

darkness, are set in contrast, and this one fact is asserted of both -- "thou art there." Whether we

rise up or lie down, take our wing or make our bed, we shall find God near us. A "behold" is

added to the second clause, since it seems more a wonder to meet with God in hell than in heaven,

in Hades than in Paradise. Of course the presence of God produces very different effects in these

places, but it is unquestionably in each; the bliss of one, the terror of the other. What an awful

thought, that some men seem resolved to take up their night's abode in hell, a night which shall

know no morning.

6. Treasury of David, Verse 8. Hell in some places in Scripture signifies the lower parts of the earth,

without relation to punishment: If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in

hell, behold, thou art there. By "heaven" he means the upper region of the world, without any

respect to the state of blessedness; and "hell" is the most opposite and remote in distance, without

respect to misery. As if he had said, Let me go whither I will, thy presence finds me out. --Joseph

Caryl.

Verse 8. Thou art there. This is not meant of his knowledge, for that the Psalmist had spoken of

before: Psalms 139:2-3, "Thou understandest my thought afar off: thou art acquainted with all

my ways." Besides, "thou art there"; not thy wisdom or knowledge, but thou, thy essence, not

only thy virtue. For having before spoken of his omniscience, he proves that such knowledge

could not be in God unless he were present in his essence in all places, so as to be excluded from

none. He fills the depths of hell, the extension of the earth, and the heights of the heavens. When

the Scripture mentions the power of God only, it expresses it by hand or arm; but when it

mentions the spirit of God, and doth not intend the third person of the Trinity, it signifies the

nature and essence of God; and so here, when he saith, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit?" he

adds exegetically, "whither shall I flee from thy presence?" or Hebrew, "face"; and the face of

God in Scripture signifies the essence of God: Ex 33:20,23, "Thou canst not see my face", and

"my face shall not be seen"; the effects of his power, wisdom, providence, are seen, which are his

back parts, but not his face. The effects of his power and wisdom are seen in the world, but his

essence is invisible, and this the Psalmist elegantly expresses. --Stephen Charnook.

VERSE 8 He goes to the highest physical place and to the lowest physical place, and it is all the same to God for he is there equally present. There is no escape from God, and no place to hide. There is no height above Him and no depth below Him. And everywhere in between He is there. Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in his name he is there.

Where two or three, with sweet accord,Obedient to their sovereign Lord,

Meet to recount His acts of Grace,And offer solemn prayer and praise;

There, says the Savior, will I be,Amid this little company.

VERSE 8. Hell in some places in Scripture signifies the lower parts of the earth, without relation to punishment: If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. By "heaven" he means the upper region of the world, without any respect to the state of blessedness; and "hell" is the most opposite and remote in distance, without respect to misery. As if he had said, Let me go whither I will, thy presence finds me out. —Joseph Caryl.

"whither shall I flee from thy presence?" or Hebrew, "face"; and the face of God in Scripture signifies the essence of God: Ex 33:20,23, "Thou canst not see my face", and "my face shall not be seen"; the effects of his power, wisdom, providence, are seen, which are his back parts, but not his face. The effects of his power and wisdom are seen in the world, but his essence is invisible, and this the Psalmist elegantly expresses. —Stephen Charnook.

7. Omnipresence differs from pantheism (belief that God is present in everything) in that there is a distinction between the creator and the created.

8. Author unknown, “There can be no limits to His presence. There is no place beyond Him. In His infinitude He surrounds the finite creation and contains it. God is our environment as water is to the fish and air is to the birds. Rabbi Paul declared to the philosophers at Athens: In Him we

live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). "God is over all things" wrote one ancient writer, "under all things; outside all; within but not enclosed; without but not excluded; above but not raised up; below but not depressed; wholly above, presiding; wholly beneath, sustaining; wholly within, filling. Few truths are taught in the Scriptures with a greater clarity than the omnipresence of God

People of almost every culture and age have wondered what kind of universe we live in. Is it a material world running all by itself? Or is it spiritual and run by unseen powers? Does the stream of existence begin and end in itself? Is there a connection between spirit and matter? The belief that God is all present within His universe answers many of our deepest questions. The Holy Scriptures declare that the universe is ultimately spiritual in nature. It originated in spirit, and it flows out of spirit. Life is meaningless apart from the Spirit that inhabits it. God created the world by His Word. The Word made all things and then the Word remained in the universe to uphold it and sustain it. The universe does not operate by impersonal laws, but by the creative voice of the immanent and universal presence of the Word of God. One day, if scientists are able to get to the smallest subatomic particles, beyond the atom, beyond the proton and electron, beyond the quark, and beyond what may be beyond the quark, perhaps they will find that the ultimate building blocks of the material universe are spiritual in nature.God is not only the Creator, but He is also the Sustainer of the universe. He is everywhere present, everywhere imparting life. He is present in every blade of grass, yet at the same time He is guiding giant Betelguese in its course, leading the stars as a host, and calling them all by name. He is present in every human soul, giving it wisdom and understanding, endowing it with gifts, and working in it both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. He is in all things, and over all things, yet different from all things, and not to be confused with any created thing, because He is infinitely exalted over all things.

The knowledge of God's omnipresence should also bring us comfort because He is always present to save and help us. What great nation is there that has a God so near to it as is the Lord our God

whenever we call on Him? (Deut 4:7). The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call

upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18) asserted King David. The knowledge that we are never alone, that He will never leave us or forsake us, should bring us supernatural peace when we do go through the most difficult of situations. The truth of God's omnipresence imparts supreme value to man. Immanuel is present with us. He is near us, He is next to us, and this God see us and knows us better than we know ourselves. God is closer to us than our own thoughts, and His thoughts toward us are full of love and mercy. Are you lacking in joy? You need to meditate on the omnipresence of God, because in His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand there are

pleasures forevermore.

To God belong the East and the West;whithersoever you turn, there is the Face of God;God is All-embracing, All-knowing.”

9. OUR DAILY BREAD

Have you ever thought about running away from God? Or has your situation ever been so bad that you felt as if you had outrun Him, and He didn't know where to find you?

David, the author of Psalm 139, asked a provocative question: "Where can I flee from Your presence?" (v.7). He answered his own question with two parallel responses. He first replied, "If I ascend to heaven, You are there" (v.8). It doesn't take a theologian to figure that out. After all, where else would God be?

But David's second reply was striking: "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there" (v.8). The word translated hell in this verse is from the Hebrew word Sheol. This was the place where

the souls of the dead went before Christ rose from the grave.

As David pondered the awesome presence of God, he realized that there are no boundaries that God cannot pass. One Bible teacher points out that the psalmist was so taken aback by his own thought that he had to stop in mid-sentence: "If I make my bed in hell, behold, You . . ."

There is no place we can go that is hidden from God's watching eye. othing we experience lies beyond His loving presence. What a comfort to know He is near! --HWR

There is no time of day or night,

=o place on land or sea,

That God, whose eye is never dim,

Is unaware of me. --DJD

The question is not "Where is God?" but "Where isn't He?"

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

1. Barnes, “If I take the wings of the morning - literally, “I will take the wings of the morning.” That is, I will take this as a supposable case; I will imagine what would occur, should I be able to take to myself the wings of the morning, and endeavor to escape “by flight” from the presence of God, or go where he could not pursue me, or where he would not be. The “wings of the morning” evidently mean that by which the light of the morning “seems to fly” - the most rapid object known to us. It is not to be supposed that the psalmist had an idea of the exact velocity of light, but to him that was the most rapid object known; and his language is not the “less” striking because the laws of its flight have become accurately known. The word rendered “morning” refers to the dawn - the daybreak - the Aurora - the “first” beams of the morning light. The beams of light are in fact no swifter then than at any other time of the day, but they seem to be swifter, as they so quickly penetrate the darkness.

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea - The end of the sea; that is, the “west,” as the sea referred to undoubtedly is the Mediterranean, which was west of Palestine, and which became another name for the west. The idea is, that if he could fly with the rapidity of light, and could be in an instant over the sea, even beyond its remotest border, still God would be there before him. He could not escape from the divine presence.

2. Gill, “If I take the wings of the morning,.... And fly as swift as the morning light to the east, to the extremity of it, as Ben Melech; as far as he could go that way, as swiftly as the wings of the morning could carry him thither; so the morning is represented by the Heathens as having wings (f); or as the rays of the rising sun, called wings for the swiftness of them, Mal_4:2;

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; in the most distant isles of it, in the farthest parts of the world, the sea being supposed the boundary of it: or "in the uttermost parts of the west" (g), as opposed to the morning light and rising sun, which appear in the east; and the sea is often in Scripture put for the west, the Mediterranean sea being to the west of the land of Palestine; and could he go from east to west in a moment, as the above writer observes, there would God be. The Heathens represent Jupiter, their supreme god, as having three eyes, because he reigns in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth .

3. Henry, “ In the remotest corners of this world: “If I take the wings of the morning, the rays of the morning-light (called the wings of the sun, Mal_4:2), than which nothing more swift, and flee upon them to the uttermost parts of the sea, or of the earth (Job_38:12, Job_38:13), should I flee to the most distant and obscure islands (the ultima Thule, the Terra incognita), I should find thee there; there shall thy hand

lead me, as far as I go, and thy right hand hold me, that I can go no further, that I cannot go out of thy reach.” God soon arrested Jonah when he fled to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

4. Spurgeon, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. If I could fly with all swiftness, and find a habitation where the mariner has not yet ploughed the deep, yet I could not reach the boundaries of the divine presence. Light flies with inconceivable rapidity, and it flashes far afield beyond all human ken; it illuminates the great and wide sea, and sets its waves gleaming afar; but its speed would utterly fail if employed in flying from the Lord. Were we to speed on the wings of the morning breeze, and break into oceans unknown to chart and map, yet there we should find the Lord already present. He who saves to the uttermost would be with us in the uttermost parts of the sea.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 9. The wings of the morning, is an elegant metaphor; and by them we may conjecture is

meant the sunbeams, called "wings" because of their swift and speedy motion, making their passage so sudden and

instantaneous, as that they do prevent the observation of the eye; called "the wings of the morning" because the

dawn of the morning comes flying in upon these wings of the sun, and brings light along with it; and, by beating and

fanning of these wings, scatters the darkness before it. " ow", saith the Psalmist, "if I could pluck these wings of the

morning", the sunbeams, if I could imp (graft) my own shoulders with them; if I should fly as far and as swift as

light, even in an instant, to the uttermost parts of the sea; yea, if in my flight I could spy out some solitary rock, so

formidable and dismal as if we might almost call in question whether ever a Providence had been there; if I could

pitch there on the top of it, where never anything had made its abode, but coldness, thunders, and tempests; yet there

shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." -- Ezekiel Hopkins.

Verse 9. The wings of the morning. This figure to a Western is not a little obscure. For my part, I cannot doubt that

we are to understand certain beautiful light clouds as thus poetically described. I have observed invariably, that in

the late spring time, in summer, and yet more especially in the autumn, white clouds are to be seen in Palestine. They

only occur at the earliest hours of morning, just previous to and at the time of sunrise. It is the total absence of

clouds at all other parts of the day, except during the short period of the winter rains, that lends such striking

solemnity and force to those descriptions of the Second Advent where our Lord is represented as coming in the

clouds. This feature of his majesty loses all its meaning in lands like ours, in which clouds are of such common

occurrence that they are rarely absent from the sky. The morning clouds of summer and autumn are always of a

brilliant silvery white, save at such times as they are dyed with the delicate opal tints of dawn. They hang low upon

the mountains of Judah, and produce effects of undescribable beauty, as they float far down in the valleys, or rise to

wrap themselves around the summit of the hills. In almost every instance, by about seven o'clock the heat has

dissipated these fleecy clouds, and to the vivid Eastern imagination morn has faded her outstretched wings. --James

eil.

Verse 9. If I take the wings of the morning. The point of comparison appears to be the incalculable velocity of light.

--Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 9-10. When we think that we fly from God, in running out of one place into another, we do but run from one

hand to the other; for there is no place where God is not, and whithersoever a rebellious sinner doth run, the hand of

God will meet with him to cross him, and hinder his hoped for good success, although he securely prophesieth never

so much good unto himself in his journey. What! had Jonah offended the winds or the waters, that they bear him

such enmity? The winds and the waters and all God's creatures are wont to take God's part against Jonah, or any

rebellious sinner. For though God in the beginning gave power to man over all creatures to rule them, yet when man

sins, God giveth power and strength to his creatures to rule and bridle man. Therefore even he that now was lord

over the waters, now the waters are lord over him. --Henry Smith.

Verse 9-10.

Should fate command me to the farthest verge

Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes,

Rivers unknown to song; where first the sun

Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam

Flames on the Atlantic isles; 'tis nought to me:

Since GOD is ever present, ever felt,

In the void waste as in the city full;

And where he vital breathes, there must be joy,

When e'en at last the solemn hour shall come,

And wing my mystic flight to future worlds,

I cheerful will obey; there with new powers,

Will rising wonders sing: I cannot go

Where universal love smiles not around,

Sustaining all yon orbs, and all their sons:

From seeming evil still deducing good,

And better thence again, and better still,

In infinite progression.

--James Thomson, 1700-1748.

VERSES 9-10, “If the rays of the rising sun were my chariot and I fled away at the speed of light,

I would not escape thy presence. God is inescapable.

"If I had wings to fly as swift as the morning light, from the east to the west, that I could in a moment get to the furthest parts of the world."

Ver. 9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea. If I could fly with all swiftness, and find a habitation where the mariner has not yet ploughed the deep, yet I could not reach the boundaries of the divine presence. Light flies with inconceivable rapidity, and it flashes far afield beyond all human ken; it illuminates the great and wide sea, and sets its waves gleaming afar; but its speed would utterly fail if employed in flying from the Lord. Were we to speed on the wings of the morning breeze, and break into oceans unknown to chart and map, yet there we should find the Lord already present. He who saves to the uttermost would be with us in the uttermost parts of the sea.

6. Whittier

Father of all! He urges his strong plea,Thou lovest all; Thy erring child may be

‘Lost to himself, but never lost to Thee!All souls are Thine; the wings of morning bear

one from that Presence which is everywhere, or hell itself can hide, for thou art there.

Through doubt and pain, through guilt and shame and ill,

Thy pitying eye is on they creature still.

7. STEDMA , “What do you think he means by the "wings of the morning"? This is a beautifully poetic expression. If you have stood and watched the sun come up you will have noticed how the rays of the rising sun shoot across the heavens with the speed of light and reach to the farthest bounds of the horizon. This is what he is describing. "If I could travel with the wings of the morning," that is, with the speed of light; "if I could go with the speed of light and reach to the farthest points of earth (the uttermost parts of the sea), even there," he says, "I would find you Lord. You have gone before me, have preceded me, and I will find you there as much as here."

When I was about twelve years old we moved from Minnesota to Montana. The night before we left I got down by my bed and said, "Good-bye, God. We're going to Montana." I was sure I would not find him there, but when we arrived, there He was. I have found him everywhere since. That is what this writer is saying.

A young airman of the Royal Canadian Air Force wrote a poem which ties in beautifully with what the psalmist is saying. Killed at the age of nineteen, this is the way John Gillespie Magee described his experience of flight.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earthAnd danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirthOf sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred thingsYou have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swungHigh in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,I've chased the shouting wind along, and flungMy eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blueI've topped the wind-swept heights with easy graceWhere never lark, or even eagle flewAnd, while with silent lifting mind I've trodThe high untrespassed sanctity of space,Put out my hand and touched the face of God.(From Sourcebook of Poetry, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1968, p. 500.)

10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

1. Barnes, “Even there shall thy hand lead me - I shall find thee there; thy hand would be upon me; I should not have gone from thy presence.

And thy right hand shall hold me - Still hold me; still be laid upon me. I should find myself there, as certainly as here, in thy hand; and in the same sense - either to seize upon me if I went astray, or to protect me, if obedient, supported by thee in all the perils of the flight. God, still the same - the same in all respects - would be with me there as he is here.

2. Gill, “Even there shall thy hand lead me,.... For he could not get there with all the assistance of the wings of the morning, could they be had, without the leadings of divine Providence; and when there, being a good man, should experience the leadings of divine grace; let the people of God be where they will, he heads them as a parent his child, teaching him to go; and as a shepherd his flock, into green pastures, and to fountains of living water; he leads to himself, and to his Son by his Spirit; into communion and fellowship with them, and to a participation of all blessings grace; guides them with his counsel, and directs all their ways and going;

and thy right hand shall hold me; the Lord lays hold on his people, and apprehends them for himself, and claims his interest in them; he holds them in his ways, that they slip and fall not; he upholds them with the right hand of his righteousness, and they are safe; and he holds them from going into or on in wrong ways to their hurt.

3. Spurgeon, “Even there shall thy hand lead me. We could only fly from God by his own power. The Lord would be leading, covering, preserving, sustaining us even when we were fugitives from him.

And thy right hand shall hold me. In the uttermost parts of the sea my arrest would be as certain

as at home: God's right hand would there seize and detain the runaway. Should we be

commanded on the most distant errand, we may assuredly depend upon the upholding right

hand of God as with us in all mercy, wisdom, and power. The exploring missionary in his lonely

wanderings is led, in his solitary feebleness he is held. Both the hands of God are with his own

servants to sustain them, and against rebels to overthrow them; and in this respect it matters not

to what realms they resort, the active energy of God is around them still.

He cannot be anywhere out of God’s sight, and so he feels secure.

Thy children shall not faint nor fear,Sustained by this delightful thought,

Since thou, our God, art everywhere,We cannot be where thou art not.

4. OUR DAILY BREAD

My wife and I love to travel roads we've never been on before. Last fall we drove down a county road in northern Wisconsin. The autumn colors were near their peak, and every turn brought us a thrilling new sight. Maples of red and orange, green pines, and yellow softwoods painted the ever-changing landscape. ot knowing what to expect next made the journey memorable.

One of the many exciting aspects of walking with Christ is that we don't know what's going to happen next. At times we may be uncomfortable with the twists and turns, but God reserves the right to lead us wherever He wants.

Paul and his missionary companions were making their way through Asia Minor when God changed their plans (Acts 16:6-7). Instead of going to Bithynia, they went to Troas. That night Paul saw a vision of a man pleading, "Come over to Macedonia and help us" (v.9). Paul's plans were changed when God revealed His.

As we prayerfully consider what God wants us to do, we can be confident that He will lead us day by day through His Word and by His Spirit within us (Psalm 139:10). Because He is good (25:8), we can trust Him with our lives in this great adventure called the Christian life. —DCE

There's a path His love is planning

Which must mean the best for you;

There are blessings, countless blessings

Which are hidden now from view. —Chambers

You don't need to see the way if you follow the One who is the way.

5. Our Daily Bread, “What color is God? That's the question James McBride, an African-American author and musician, asked his Jewish mother when he was a boy. His autobiography contains the following story: Walking home from church one day, he asked her if God was black or white. She replied, "God is not black. God is not white. God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color." That was indeed a wise response.

We know that God doesn't have a color because He doesn't have a body. He is Spirit and He's present everywhere (Ps. 139:7-12). Whether we're sitting at home or flying miles above the earth, He is there and we can call out to Him. His ears are always open to our cry (Ps. 34:15). He isn't an idol or a mere idea. God is Spirit, almighty, always present, ever available.

An atheist was engaged in a public debate with a Christian about the existence of God. To emphasize a point he was making, the atheist wrote these words on a blackboard: "God is nowhere." In rebuttal the Christian simply split the last word so that the statement read, "God is now here."

That truth can give us assurance, strength, and comfort each day as we trust in Him. --VCG

God is always present with us,

Though His face we cannot see;

He protects and guides and comforts

As He cares for you and me. --Sper

Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God's presence.

6. Our Daily Bread, “You're up at the crack of dawn, doing your exercises. You're not going to let your heart get weak! You've trimmed the fat from your diet. You get regular cholesterol checks. And you're exercising four times a week to keep your cardiovascular system in peak condition.

But you've let your spiritual heart turn to mush. Preoccupied with the temporary, you've neglected the eternal. You seldom read the Bible anymore. Your prayers are lists of requests to God to make your life more comfortable and pain-free. By the time you reach the church door after the sermon, you can't recall what the pastor said because you were thinking about something else.

If this describes you, it's time to get into a spiritual heart-care program. It begins where David (a man after God's own heart) was in Psalm 139--by acknowledging that God knows all about your heart. It continues in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." And it results in the prayer of Psalm 19:14, "Let . . . the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord."

Taking care of your body makes sense, but it makes even more sense to gain spiritual fitness by walking with the Lord. That's an exercise program with eternal value! --DCE

Dear Jesus, take my heart and hand,

And grant me this, I pray:

That I through Your sweet love may grow

More like You day by day. --Garrison

To keep spiritually fit,keep walking with the Lord.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"

1. Barnes, “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me - If I seek to find refuge in the darkness of the night so that God would not see me. The word rendered “cover” - ׁשוף shûph - means properly to snap, to gape after; then, to lie in wait for; and then, to attack, or fall upon anyone, unexpectedly. It is rendered “bruise” (twice) in Gen_3:15, “He shall “bruise” thy head, and thou shalt “bruise” his heel;” “breaketh” in Job_9:17, “He “breaketh” me with a tempest;” and in this place “cover.” It does not occur elsewhere. Here it means to fall upon; to overpower; to cover. The idea is, If it should come suddenly upon me; if I should be involved in sudden darkness - “as if” the darkness should come and attempt to “snatch” me away from God. All this would be in vain, for it would be, so far as God is concerned, bright day around me.

Even the night shall be light about me - In respect to me. It shall be as if I stood in the full blaze

of light. God can see me still; he can mark my goings; he can perceive all that I do as plainly then as at mid-day. This “is” so: and what a thought this is for a wicked man who seeks to escape detection in his crimes by perpetrating them in the night! What a thought for a good man, that in the darkest night of sorrow, when there seems to be nothing but deep midnight, when there appears to be not a ray of light in his dwelling, or on his path that all to the eye of God is as clear as noon-day! For in that night of sorrow God sees him as plainly as in the brightest days of prosperity and joy.

2. Gill, “ If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me,.... The darkness of a cloud or of the night, so that my actions shall not be seen; that is, if I entertain such a thought in my mind, that what I do in the dark will escape the sight and knowledge of God, and so be emboldened to commit it;

even the night shall be light about me; and make all my works manifest, as light does.

3. Henry, “ o veil can hide us from God's eye, no, not that of the thickest darkness, Psa_139:11, Psa_139:12. “If I say, Yet the darkness shall cover me, when nothing else will, alas! I find myself deceived; the curtains of the evening will stand me in no more stead than the wings of the morning; even the night shall be light about me. That which often favours the escape of a pursued criminal, and the retreat of a beaten army, will do me no kindness in fleeing from them.” When God divided between the light and darkness it was with a reservation of this prerogative, that to himself the darkness and the light should still be both alike. “The darkness darkeneth not from

thee, for there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” o hypocritical mask or disguise, how specious soever, can save any person or action from appearing in a true light before God. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open and barefaced villanies.

4. Spurgeon, “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me. Dense darkness may oppress me, but it cannot shut me out from thee, or thee from me. Thou seest as well without the light as with it, since thou art not dependent upon light which is thine own creature, for the full exercise of thy perceptions. Moreover, thou art present with me whatever may be the hour; and being present you discover all that I think, or feel, or do. Men are still so foolish as to prefer night and darkness for their evil deeds; but so impossible is it for anything to be hidden from the Lord that they might just as well transgress in broad daylight.

Darkness and light in this agree;

Great God, they're both alike to thee.

Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soon

Through midnight shades as blazing noon.

A good man will not wish to be hidden by the darkness, a wise man will not expect any such

thing. If we were so foolish as to make sure of concealment because the place was shrouded in

midnight, we might well be alarmed out of our security by the fact that, as far as God is

concerned, we always dwell in the light; for even the night itself glows with a revealing force, --

even the night shall be light about me. Let us think of this if ever we are tempted to take license

from the dark -- it is light about us. If the darkness be light, how great is that light in which we

dwell! ote well how David keeps his song in the first person; let us mind that we do the same as

we cry with Hagar, "Thou God seest me."

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, etc. The foulest

enormities of human conduct have always striven to cover themselves with the shroud of night.

The thief, the counterfeiter, the assassin, the robber, the murderer, and the seducer, feel

comparatively safe in the midnight darkness, because no human eye can scrutinize their actions.

But what if it should turn out that sable night, to speak paradoxically, is an unerring

photographer! What if wicked men, as they open their eyes from the sleep of death, in another

world, should find the universe hung round with faithful pictures of their earthly enormities,

which they had supposed for ever lost in the oblivion of night! What scenes for them to gaze at

for ever! They may now, indeed, smile incredulously at such a suggestion; but the disclosures of

chemistry may well make them tremble. Analogy does make it a scientific probability that every

action of man, however deep the darkness in which it was performed, has imprinted its image on

nature, and that there may be tests which shall draw it into daylight, and make it permanent so

long as materialism endures. -- Edward Hitchcock, in "The Religion of Geology", 1851.

Ver. 11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me. Dense darkness may oppress me, but it cannot shut me out from thee, or thee from me. Thou seest as well without the light as with it, since thou art not dependent upon light which is thine own creature, for the full exercise of thy perceptions. Moreover, thou art present with me whatever may be the hour; and being present you discover all that I think, or feel, or do. Men are still so foolish as to prefer night and darkness for their evil deeds; but so impossible is it for anything to be hidden from the Lord that they might just as well transgress in broad daylight.

6. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, etc. The foulest enormities of human conduct have always striven to cover themselves with the shroud of night. The thief, the counterfeiter, the assassin, the robber, the murderer, and the seducer, feel comparatively safe in the midnight darkness, because no human eye can scrutinize their actions. But what if it should turn out that sable night, to speak paradoxically, is an unerring photographer! What if wicked men, as they open their eyes from the sleep of death, in another world, should find the universe hung round with faithful pictures of their earthly enormities, which they had supposed for ever lost in the oblivion of night! What scenes for them to gaze at for ever! They may now, indeed, smile incredulously at such a suggestion; but the disclosures of chemistry may well make them tremble. Analogy does make it a scientific probability that every action of man, however deep the darkness in which it was performed, has imprinted its image on nature, and that there may be tests which shall draw it into daylight, and make it permanent so long as materialism endures. —Edward Hitchcock, in "The Religion of Geology",

7. “Paul Tillich in his book 'The Shaking of the Foundations' says, 'A person who has never tried to flee God has never experienced the God who is really God'. He goes on to say 'There is no reason to flee from a god who is the perfect picture of everything that is good in humans ...a god who is nothing more than a benevolent father, a father who guarantees our immortality and final happiness'. But a JUST God, Tillich suggests, a God who knows things about us that we ourselves cannot face, is a God whom we actually hate. Tillich tells us that Martin Luther was terribly

shocked when he recognised within himself a hatred for the all-knowing God and a desire to escape him. But Luther knew that he could no more escape God than he could himself, and that the God whom he wanted to escape was the Ground and Depth of his own being.

In fact we, we who are Christians, try to hide from God. We so often cover up or deny our wrong doing, the pain we cause others, the sharp tongue and the self centredness rather than letting God deal with it. We try to hide from him in the things of life, things we name 'heavenly', wonderful things like human love, professional success and affluence and pleasure - things that yield such a measure of personal fulfillment and happiness that they make God seem superfluous.

.Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place,

and they say, Who sees us? or Who knows us? (Isaiah 29:15). Can a man hide himself in hiding

places so I do not see him declared the Lord to Jeremiah, and through him to all mankind (Jeremiah 23:24) . It is as stupid for the sons of Adam today to deny the All Knowing One as it was for Adam to hide in the trees from the all seeing eyes of God.

Instead, all of us should heed the advice of the ancient Roman Seneca who wrote these wise words: We ought always to conduct ourselves as if we lived in public; we ought to think as if some one could see what is passing in our inmost breast; and there is One who does thus see us. Of what use is it then, that any deed is concealed from man? othing can be hidden from God. He is present with our very souls, and penetrates our inmost thoughts. Even a wise Roman like Seneca realized that the omniscience of God should cause all thinking men to tremble, and to sin not. William Cooke wrote: "If the transgressor's eyes could be opened to the reality of his position, what horror would seize him! A sight more dreadful than Sinai in a blaze - more terrible than the handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar's palace - a sight more awful than the drama of the world's total destruction would burst on his vision - he would see an offended God on every side, he would see himself surrounded with the presence and attributes of the eternal God, his Maker and his Judge." Author unknown

8. CALVI , “If I shall say, etc. David represents himself as a man using every possible method to make his escape from a situation of embarrassment. So having acknowledged that it was vain to dream of flight, he bethinks himself of another remedy, and says, If no speed of mine can bear me out of the range of God's vision, yet, on the supposition of light being removed, the darkness might cover me, that I might have a short breath of respite. But this also he declares to be hopeless, as God sees equally well in the deepest darkness as at noon-day. It is a mistake in my opinion to consider, as some have done, that the two clauses of the verse are to be taken separately, and read, If I shall say the darkness will cover me, even the night shall be as light before

me -- meaning that darkness would be converted into light, and so though he saw nothing himself, he would stand manifest before the eye of God. David is rather to be considered as in both clauses expressing what he might be supposed to feel desirous of, and intimates that, could he only find any covert or subterfuge, he would avail himself of the license;4 "if I shall say, at least the darkness will cover me, and the night be as light for me," that is, in the sense in which it is so to the robbers or wild beasts of the forest, who then range at greater liberty. That this is the proper construction of the words we may infer from the particle Mg, gam. If any one should 'think it a very unnecessary observation to say that as respects God there is no difference between light and darkness, it is enough to remind him that all observation proves with what reluctance and extreme difficulty men are brought to come forward openly and 'unreservedly into God's presence. In words we all grant that God is omniscient; meanwhile what none would ever think of controverting we secretly make no account of whatsoever, in so far as we make no

scruple of mocking God, and lack even that reverence of him which we extend to one of our fellow-creatures. We are ashamed to let men know and witness our delinquencies; but we are as indifferent to what God may think of us, as if our sins were covered and veiled from his inspection. This infatuation if not sharply reproved will soon change light, so far as we are concerned, into darkness, and therefore David insists upon the subject at length in order to refute our false apprehensions. Be it our concern to apply the reproofs given, and stir ourselves up by them, when we feel disposed to become secure.

1 Some commentators suppose the third person of the Trinity to be here referred to.

2 Or "of the dawn of the morning." rxs, shachar, the word employed, "is the light which is seen in the clouds before the rising of the sun, and it is like as if it; had wings to fly with haste; for in a moment the dawn of the morning is spread over the horizon, from the end of the east to that of the west." --

Mendlessohn's Beor.

3 Dathe understands thy hand of God's gracious presence to defend the Psalmist; and such may be the meaning of the words. But whether we take them in this sense, or according to Calvin, as expressing man's being under the power of God, in whatever part of the world he may be, they illustrate the divine omniscience, which Calvin regards as the chief design of the inspired writer.

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

1. Barnes, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “darkeneth not.” Darkness does not make darkness to thee. It makes things dark to us; not to him. So it is in natural darkness; so in moral darkness ness. It seems dark to us; it is not so to him. Things appear dark to us - disappointment, bereavement, trouble, care, losses; but all is light to God. The existence of sin and suffering on the earth seems dark to us; not to him, for he sees the reasons and the end of all.

But the night shineth as the day - One is as bright and clear to him as the other.

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee - Margin, as in Hebrew, “As is the darkness so is the light.” To thee there is no difference. All is light.

2. Clarke, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee - Darkness and light, ignorance and knowledge, are things that stand in relation to us; God sees equally in darkness as in light; and knows as perfectly, however man is enveloped in ignorance, as if all were intellectual brightness. What is to us hidden by darkness, or unknown through ignorance, is perfectly seen and known by God; because he is all sight, all hearing, all feeling, all soul, all spirit - all in All, and infinite in himself. He lends to every thing; receives nothing from any thing. Though his essence be

unimpartible, yet his influence is diffusible through time and through eternity. Thus God makes himself known, seen, heard, felt; yet, in the infinity of his essence, neither angel, nor spirit, nor man can see him; nor can any creature comprehend him, or form any idea of the mode of his existence. And yet vain man would be wise, and ascertain his foreknowledge, eternal purposes, infinite decrees, with all operations of infinite love and infinite hatred, and their objects specifically and nominally, from all eternity, as if himself had possessed a being and powers co-extensive with the Deity! O ye wise fools! Jehovah, the fountain of eternal perfection and love, is as unlike your creeds as he is unlike yourselves, forgers of doctrines to prove that Ithe source of infinite benevolence is a streamlet of capricious love to thousands, while he is an overflowing, eternal, and irresistible tide of hatred to millions of millions both of angels and men! The antiproof of such doctrines is this: he bears with such blasphemies, and does not consume their abettors. “But nobody holds these doctrines.” Then I have written against nobody; and have only to add the prayer, May no such doctrines ever disgrace the page of history; or farther dishonor, as they have done, the annals of the Church!

3. Gill, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee,.... Any thing that is done by men in it; or "darkeneth not from thee" (i), or causeth such darkness as to hinder the sight of any action committed. The Targum is,

"from thy Word;''

see Heb_4:12;

but the night shineth as the day; or "enlightens as the day" (k), gives as much light with respect to God as the day does;

the darkness and the light are both alike to thee; as is the one, so is the other: the day gives him no more light than the night, and the night no more darkness than the day; he sees as well, as clearly and distinctly, in the one as in the other. The psalmist expresses the same thing in different words three or four times, as Kimchi observes, to show that so the Lord is, that thus it is with him; he has as clear a discerning of all things done in the darkest night as at bright noon day; see Job_34:21.

4. Spurgeon, “ Yea, of a surety, beyond all denial. The darkness hideth not from thee; it veils nothing, it is not the medium of concealment in any degree what ever. It hides from men, but not from God. But the night shineth as the day: it is but another form of day: it shines, revealing all; it "shineth as the day", -- quite as clearly and distinctly manifesting all that is done.

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. This sentence seems to sum up all that went

before, and most emphatically puts the negative upon the faintest idea of hiding under the cover

of night. Men cling to this notion, because it is easier and less expensive to hide under darkness

than to journey to remote places; and therefore the foolish thought is here beaten to pieces by

statements which in their varied forms effectually batter it. Yet the ungodly are still duped by

their grovelling notions of God, and enquire, "How doth God know?" They must fancy that he is

as limited in his powers of observation as they are, and yet if they would but consider for a

moment they would conclude that he who could not see in the dark could not be God, and he who

is not present everywhere could not be the Almighty Creator. Assuredly God is in all places, at all

times, and nothing can by any possibility be kept away from his all observing, all comprehending

mind. The Great Spirit comprehends within himself all time and space, and yet he is infinitely

greater than these, or aught else that he has made.

5. Unknown resource, “Trying to hide in a cave from God is like trying to hide Lois Lane from the x-ray vision of superman.

Darkness and light in this agreeGreat God, they’re both alike to thee.

Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soonThrough midnight shades as blazing noon.

"For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps. There is no darkness or deep

shadow Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." (Job 34:21-22)

In Hogan's Market in Girard, Ohio, shoppers are reminded of this by a sign that says; "Don't steal; God will see you; and Hogan might." But, again David's reminder is not to produce fear but comfort. He sees my every movement; this indicates that He's interested in me.

Yet God means for His omniscience to be a comfort for us. We don't have to put on any masks with God; He already knows everything there is to know about us and He loves us just as thoroughly as He knows us.It is pure folly to try and be a hypocrite with God. You can fool people, but not God, and so do not try to hide anything from Him. Come clean before Him and be totally honest, and it will keep you pure and healthy in mind and spirit.

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. God has night vision and does not even need the night goggles that man uses to see at night. There is no night with Him. God sees all and there is not hiding in the darkness. To try and hide from God is like trying to hide a black marble inside a light bulb. It will be easily exposed for all to see.

Here is the paradox of the shining night and the enlightening power and illumination of the night. God sees the light in the night and that is to be our goal to have the mind of God so that we too can be enlightened by the dark places of life. Can you see in the dark?

When Hagar burst out: "Thou art a God who sees," (Gen 16:13) it wasn't an exclamation of terror, but a grateful acknowledgment that God took notice of her, an unwanted slave, that God Himself saw her plight and would take care of her.

6.Dr. Thomas Lane Butts, Jr., “In life there is about as much darkness as there is light. As in nature, darkness and light are fairly equally divided. Why are we always surprised, and sometimes dismayed, when our world goes dark? Why are we shocked when life becomes difficult? Our idealized image of life is that it is problem-free, with no dark spots at all. But that is a myth, a universal myth, but a myth no less.”

“Our salvation is in the God who said: "out of darkness let light shine."

In life there is about as much darkness as there is light. As in nature, darkness and light are fairly equally divided. Why are we always surprised, and sometimes dismayed, when our world goes dark? Why are we shocked when life becomes difficult? Our idealized image of life is that it is problem-free, with no dark spots at all. But that is a myth, a universal myth, but a myth no less.Colors have symbolic meanings in all cultures. For the Romans, white was the symbol of happiness and black of misfortune. In a trial a vote for acquittal was cast with a white stone, for condemnation, a black one. A happy day was marked with a white stone, and an unhappy day with a black stone. According to Pliny the younger, many Romans kept an urn at the door. At the end of a day the Roman would judge his day to have been good or bad. Once decided, the Roman would drop a stone of the appropriate color into the urn. At the end of a year he would empty the urn and sort the stones by color and count them to determine whether his year had been good or bad.

How would the white and dark stones add up in your life if your emptied the urn right now? Most of us would consider ourselves fortunate to have a equal count! The truth is that darkness is a normal as light, and, unless we learn to live creatively with the dark places in life, we are going to be frustrated at least half of the time. We may bridle at Shakespeareís reminder that the "uses

of adversity are sweet", and we may not be able to control what happens to us in life, but thank God, we can be in control of how we respond to what happens to us. When life puts you through a tumbler, basically, you decide whether you come out crushed or polished. The darkness is as normal as the light.There are some things you will never understand until you see them in the dark. Some of the most treasured wisdom we have come out of some of the darkest places in our lives. Ask anyone to tell you about the most important lessons they have learned, and chances are they will begin to recite a story of sorrow, tragedy, hardship, loss, brokenness, hurt, or confusion. Most of the good things that we know we learned from the darkest days of our lives. I am always shocked when I realize the extent to which almost everything important that I know, I learned from the most tragic and trying experiences of my life. Most of the light in my life came from the darkness.

Over a hundred years ago there was a child by the name of Louis who one day was blinded by a sharp leather working tool while playing in his father's shop. As Louis grew up, he brooded over the tragic loss of his precious vision. One day, as he sat at a table in that same shop, he was almost overcome with anger and frustration over his blindness. He felt around on the table and took one of the leather tools and a piece of leather; and, in his anger, he began to stab the piece of leather. Louis stabbed and wept until he was exhausted. When he laid the tool down and picked up the piece of leather on which he had been taking out his anger, he discovered that there was a piece of paper under it. He ran his fingers over the piece of paper and found that there were bumps on the paper where he had stabbed, and a light came on behind the blind eyes of Louis Braille. Out of the darkness something dawned on Louis Braille that has benefited every blind person since then. You never really see some things until you see them in the dark ~ until you see them through tears or feel them with your anger and frustration.Life is difficult for us all. Darkness is a standard part of normal life. Pain is a normal part of life. You will never see some things clearly until you see them in the dark.

The most enlightening experience in all human history came out of the darkest event of all time. The three Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each record a strange phenomenon surrounding the death of Jesus. The last three hours of his life, as he hung dying upon the cross, "There was darkness over all the land." (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). This was the darkest deed ever perpetrated by humankind. Even dumb nature closed its eyes. The sun hid its

face and the stars refused to shine. "There was darkness over all the land." It was terrible! Yet, out of this darkest hour and darkest deed came the greatest light we have ever seen.

It was as if everything else in the world was blotted out of sight so that this most important event could be seen in its stark reality. God sent darkness so that we might see. We sing a song about Jesus being the "bright and morning star," and He is, but you never really see him until you look for him in the dark.

7. In his book, The Dilemma of Modern Belief, Samuel Miller tells a delightful and insightful story of a former Munich comedian, Karl Valentin. The curtain goes up on a completely darkened stage, and in this darkness a solitary circle of light from a street lamp comes on. Valentin, with a long and worried look on his face, walks around and around in this circle of light, desperately looking for something. A policeman joins him and asks what he has lost.He said, "The key to my house."

They both go around and around the lamp post looking for the key. After a while the policeman asks him:"Are you sure you lost it here?"

"Oh no," said Valentin, "I lost it over there," as he points to a dark corner of the stage."Then why in the world are you looking for it here?" asks the policeman."There is no light over there," said Valentin.

George Shearing, a blind pianist, told of an experience he had in England in the dark days of World War II, during the terrible blitz of London. He was standing on a street corner late one night during a blackout when he heard someone say, "Can you help me across the street?" This blind man, with his finely tuned musical ear, said: "Take my arm," and they crossed the street together. The stranger never knew that he had been helped by a blind man. It is a paradox, but the blind see just as good in the dark as in the light.

“ ot long ago I received a telephone call from a man I had never met. He said to me: "I have just

learned that I have cancer of the prostate. I have heard that you are a survivor of prostate cancer.

Can you talk with me about what it is like?" When we are about to step into some scary dark spot in life, we instinctively look for someone who has learned to see in that kind of dark.”

Jesus has been through the darkness, but he saw the light and that is what enabled him to endure the cross. It was for the joy that was before him that he endured the cross. He saw the light in the darkness.

“A little boy went with his parents to the movies. About half way through he wanted some popcorn, so his parents gave him some money and out he went. As he came back in to the dark theater, he went up and down the aisle 3 times but couldn't find his seat. Finally, he went up to the screen, stood there with the light of the projector on him, and shouted, "Does anybody here recognize me?" God knows us in the dark. This psalm can be seen as saying you cannot hide in the dark, but also you cannot be lost in the dark, for God sees you and knows who you are at all times.

In Gen. 16:13, God is referred to as "the God who sees." Prov. 15:3 teaches: "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." Similarly, Ps. 34:15 affirms, ‘The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry. Job realized: "God’s eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place no deep

shadow where evildoers can hide. (34:22-23). God is described in Zech. 3:9 as having 7 eyes to illustrate his omniscience, and the prophet Ezekiel depicted God as having eyes all around him (Ez. 1:18). And in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus affirmed, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten?" (12:6). John 2:25 goes so far as to assert the omniscience of Jesus, i. e., "He did not need man’s testimony, for he knew what was in a man.""God knows everything: everything possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell. ‘He knoweth what is in the darkness.’ (Dan. 2;22)"

1 Sam. 16:7 teaches that God is not fooled by outward appearance, but that his wisdom penetrates even to hearts. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."Ps. 33:13: " From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth."Ps. 119:168: "I obey your precepts and your statutes for all my ways are known to you."Prov. 5:21: "For man’s ways are in full view of the Lord and he examines all his paths."Jer. 17:9-10 states: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind . . ." The prophet Ezekiel records God as saying, "For I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them." (Ez. 11:5) 2 Chron. 16:9: "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

A prime T example of God’s omniscience is: Ananias and Sapphira – Acts 5These two were attempting to pass themselves off as great philan-thropists. The early church had just seen an example of magnanimous giving when Barnabas donated a plot of land to be sold for the work of the church. He must have received some accolades. For immediately thereafter, Ananias and Sapphira sell a field, and bring a large gift to contribute to the work of the church. Only one major difference: they shaved a little off and kept some for themselves. o one would know, they thought. Of course, as the Scriptures also teach, they were free to keep this for themselves. There was no command to donate this amount. They must have wanted the praise. But having a little greed, they kept some for themselves When Ananias brings the gift, God had seen right through his pretense. Furthermore, God revealed this to Peter, who sternly rebukes this man. He falls over dead. A few hours later, the wife notices he is not at home; maybe the house was neat or something. She goes to find out what happened. As she comes in, Peter confronts her, she lies, and she dies, too.

ow I admit that our Elders, successors to Peter, don’t usually have to do this with our church members and their offerings. But the point is: God sees all and is not fooled by our sin. If we try to deceive him, or hide even motivations, it will not work. The OT taught: "Be sure your sin will find you out." ( um. 32:23) A D it still will. Acc. to Ps. 90:8, God sets our iniquities before him, our SECRET sins in the light of his countenance."

Pastor David Hall makes a radical statement, “Those who believe in a finite God (unitarians) ascribe to him limited knowledge. Invariably, the false religions do not get this aspect of God right. Maybe it is because they are not truly worshipping God. Any representation of God as not all-knowing, rest assured, is cultic.” He implies that those evangelicals who believe that God chooses not to know some things are cultic, and this goes too far. He makes it clear that he is a determinist by these words, “God not only knows all things as/after they happen. He also knows

all things before they happen, and guarantees that they will happen.” The fact is, millions of Christians disagree with this, and they are not determinists, but believe in the reality of free will, and that things can be different depending on the choices we make. Hall goes on to say,

“It would be impossible to claim omniscience if the future was unknown or in question. The certainty of the future is bound up in the omniscience of God. The next time you wonder, the next time you doubt if God can provide for you and your family, the next time you pray or worship, know that God knows all things so totally, that he knows exactly how you’ll be tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade, next generation, and all in between. All your days are known to him before your race ever started. That’s why we can face the future and not worry.”

How is that a comfort and a basis for no worry? We do not know what God knows. What if he knows we will make foolish choices and damage our life, our marriage, our finances, and end up destroying the very things that we love most? God knowing all things is not any guarantee that all will be well. God knew Israel would be foolish and sin when they got into the promised land. They were not told not to worry, but rather that they should worry about what God forknew, for they could then avoid the folly he knew was coming.

8. OUR DAILY BREAD

For 18 years the routine is the same. Each night you make sure each child is asleep before turning out the lights and locking the door. You can rest easy only when you know that the family is safe.

Then that day comes when your oldest child leaves home. Perhaps to college as our oldest daughter did. Maybe to a hitch in the military. Or just across town to an apartment.

As much as you prepared for the day when it would happen, those first nights are the most difficult. ow when you lock the doors and turn out the lights, you no longer have the security of knowing where each child is. You no longer can rest quite as well--unless you trust God.

In Psalm 139, David provided some comforting words that can help all of us who have to say goodbye to our children as they go out on their own. We cannot escape God's presence. He is with us, and with our children, wherever we go. As a dad whose daughter is 300 miles away at college, I'm encouraged that when God turns out the lights at night, He is checking on my daughter.

Psalm 33:13 says, "The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men." That helps me rest easy--even when one of the children is out of the house. --JDB

Beneath His watchful eye

His saints securely dwell;

That hand which bears all nature up

Shall guard His children well. --Doddridge

We can put our minds at ease because God's mind is on us.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

1. Barnes, “For thou hast possessed my reins - The word here rendered “possessed” means properly to “set upright,” to “erect,” and hence, the derivative of the verb is applied to a cane or reed, as being erect. Then the word means to found, to create, Gen_14:19, Gen_14:22 - as the heavens and the earth; and then, to get, to gain, to purchase, etc. Here the word seems to be used in its original sense, to make, create, etc. The idea is, not as in our translation, that God “possessed” or “owned” them but that he had “made” them, and that, “therefore,” he knew all about them. The word “reins” means literally the “kidneys;” and then, it comes to denote the inward part, the mind, the soul, the seat of the desires, affections, and passions. Jer_11:20. See Psa_7:9, note; Job_19:27, note. The meaning here is, that God had made him; that the innermost recesses of his being had been constituted as they are by God; and that, “therefore,” he must be able to see all that there is in the very depths of the soul, however it may be hidden from the eye of man.

Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb - The word here rendered “cover” means properly to interweave; to weave; to knit together, and the literal translation would be, “Thou hast “woven” me in my mother’s womb, meaning that God had put his parts together, as one who weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. So it is rendered by DeWette and by Gesenius (Lexicon). The original word has, however, also the idea of protecting, as in a booth or hut, woven or knit together - to wit, of boughs and branches. The former signification best suits the connection; and then the sense would be, that as God had made him - as he had formed his members, and united them in a bodily frame and form before he was born - he must be able to understand all his thoughts and feelings. As he was not concealed from God before he saw the light, so he could not be anywhere.

2. Clarke, “Thou hast possessed my reins - As the Hebrews believed that the reins were the first part of the human fetus that is formed, it may here mean, thou hast laid the foundation of my being.

3. Gill, “For thou hast possessed my reins,.... His thoughts and counsels, the reins being the seat of instruction and counsel; hence God is called the trier of the reins, and searcher of the hearts of the children of men; he is the possessor or master of their most secret thoughts, and thoroughly knows them; see Psa_7:9; they are also the seat of the affections, which are naturally sinful and inordinate, and set upon carnal and earthly things; but the Lord possesses and engrosses the affections of his people in the best sense, Psa_73:25; moreover the reins are the seat of lust, the bed in which it is conceived and brought forth, and God knows the first motions of it there; and that the imagination of the thought of man's heart is evil continually, Gen_6:5;

thou hast covered me in my mother's womb; with the secundine, or afterbirth, in which he carefully wrapped him, a proof of his knowledge of him, and care for him in the womb; or with skin and flesh he covered his bones with as they grew there; see Job_10:11; or the sense is, he protected and defended him in his embryo state, and when ripe for birth took him out from thence, and held him up ever since, Psa_22:9; he had his eye on him when no other eye could see him, not even his mother that bare him, and before ever he himself saw light. The Targum is,

"thou hast founded me in my mother's womb.''

4. Henry, “Because he is the work of his hands. He that framed the engine knows all the motions of it. God made us, and therefore no doubt he knows us; he saw us when we were in the forming, and can we be hidden from him now that we are formed? This argument he insists upon (Psa_139:13-16): “Thou hast possessed my reins; thou art Master of my most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul; thou not only knowest, but governest, them, as we do that which we have possession of; and the possession thou hast of my reins is a rightful possession, for thou coveredst me in my mother's womb, that is, thou madest me (Job_10:11), thou madest me in secret. The soul is concealed form all about us. Who knows the things of a man, save

the spirit of a man?” 1Co_2:11. Hence we read of the hidden man of the heart. But it was God himself that thus covered us, and therefore he can, when he pleases, discover us; when he hid us from all the world he did not intend to hide us from himself. Concerning the formation of man, of each of us,

5. Spurgeon, “For thou hast possessed my reins. Thou art the owner of my inmost parts and passions: not the indweller and observer only, but the acknowledged lord and possessor of my most secret self. The word "reins" signifies the kidneys, which by the Hebrews were supposed to be the seat of the desires and longings; but perhaps it indicates here the most hidden and vital portion of the man; this God doth not only inspect, and visit, but it is his own; he is as much at home there as a landlord on his own estate, or a proprietor in his own house.

Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. There I lay hidden -- covered by thee. Before I

could know thee, or aught else, thou hadst a care for me, and didst hide me away as a treasure till

thou shouldest see fit to bring me to the light. Thus the Psalmist describes the intimacy which

God had with him. In his most secret part -- his reins, and in his most secret condition -- yet

unborn, he was under the control and guardianship of God.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. From the sensitiveness to pain of

this part of the body, it was regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of sensation and feeling, as also

of desire and longing (Psalms 72:21 Job 16:13 19:27). It is sometimes used of the inner nature

generally (Psalms 16:7 Jeremiah 20:12), and specially of the judgment or direction of reason (Jer

11:20 12:2). --William Lindsay Alexander, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.

Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. The reins are made specially prominent in order to mark

them, the seat of the most tender, most secret emotions, as the work of him who trieth the heart

and the reins. --Franz Delitzsch.

Verse 13. Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. The word here rendered cover means

properly to interweave; to weave; to knit together, and the literal translation would be, "Thou

hast woven me in my mother's womb", meaning that God had put his parts together, as one who

weaves cloth, or who makes a basket. So it is rendered by De Wette and by Gesenius (Lex.). The

original word has, however, also the idea of protecting, as in a booth or hut, woven or knit

together, -- to wit, of boughs and branches. The former signification best suits the connection;

and then the sense would be, that as God had made him -- as he had formed his members, and

united them in a bodily frame and form before he was born -- he must be able to understand all

his thoughts and feelings. As he was not concealed from God before he saw the light, so he could

not be anywhere. --Albert Barnes.

God does not just know all about your external whereabouts, but about your internal being completely, for he made you. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you." (Jer 1:5)

Ver. 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. From the sensitiveness to pain of this part of the body, it was regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of sensation and feeling, as also of desire and longing (Ps 72:21 Job 16:13 19:27). It is sometimes used of the inner nature generally (Ps 16:7 Jer 20:12), and specially of the judgment or direction of reason (Jer 11:20 12:2). —William Lindsay Alexander, in

Kitto's Cyclopaedia. Ver. 13. Thou hast possessed my reins. The reins are made specially prominent in order to mark them, the seat of the most tender, most secret emotions, as the work of him who trieth the heart and the reins. —Franz Delitzsch.

7. God made us, and then we fell and became in some ways less than other beings that God created because of our sinful nature that resulted.

Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree discussing things as they're said to be. Said one to the others: " ow listen, you two. There's a certain rumor that can't be true; that man descended from our noble race. The very idea! It's a dire disgrace! o monkey ever deserted his wife, starved her baby and ruined her life.And you've never known a mother monk to leave her baby with others to bunk or pass them on from one to another till they hardly know who is their mother.And another thing! You'll never see a monk build a fence 'round a coconut tree and let the coconuts go to waste, forbidding all the other monks to taste.Why, if I put a fence around this tree starvation would force you to steal from me.Here's another thing a monk won't do; go out at night and get on a stew; or use a gun or club or knife to take some other monkey's life.Yes! Man descended, the ornery cuss, but brother he didn't descend from us!!!" Author unknown

8. STEPHE MU CHERIA

Invite turn to with me to Psalm 139:13-16 and we want to read these verses together. “For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise

Thee, for Thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are Thy works! Thou knowest me right well;

my frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the

depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in Thy book were written, every one of

them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Today we want to talk about the significance that God has given to our lives and the important place He has given to each one of us. With that thought in mind, I thought it might be helpful for us to take a quiz. So, sharpen your mental pencils and see how you do.

1. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and inspired his translation of the ew Testament?2. Who was erses Shahnorhalie’s music teacher?3. Who visited Dwight L. Moody at a shoe store and spoke to him about Christ?4. Who was the wife of the great preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon?5. Who was the elderly woman who prayed faithfully for Billy Graham for over twenty years?6. Who taught Mesrob Mashdotzs how to write?7. Who refreshed the Apostle Paul in that Roman dungeon as he wrote his last letter to Timothy?8. Who were the parents of the godly and gifted prophet Daniel?9. Who helped Charles Wesley get underway as a composer of hymns?

Before you say, “Gee, why is he wasting our time on this trivia quiz?” Stop and think. Had it not been for those unknown people - those nobodies - a huge chunk of church history would be missing. There are times of our lives when we experience feelings of self-doubt or insecurity. Are we really people of significance, value, and purpose? 100 years from now will it really make a difference that we were here? Certainly there are enough voices telling us that we really are not all that important. Jim Elliott, the martyred messenger of the gospel to the Aucas, once called missionaries “a bunch

of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.” In the plan of God nobody is unnecessary. Unseen is not un-needed. Where ever God has placed you and however He has uniquely created you, you are exactly what He desires you to be. This morning we want to consider the truth that God reveals to us of our tremendous worth, uniqueness, significance, and purpose. In Psalm 139 David writes of these and there are two truths I want to highlight. 1. YOU ARE SOMEBODY Consider what David says, “You (God) made all the delicate, inner parts of my body, and knit them

together in my mother’s womb. You are the one who put me together...” In the womb, God formed us - unique - known to God even before birth. Think about this for one moment. Your face and features, your voice, your style, your background, your characteristics and peculiarities, your abilities, your smile, your walk, your viewpoint.... everything about you is unique - everything about you is found in only one individual since the creation - you. God wanted you to be you. He designed you to be the unique person you are. Say this to yourself, “I am somebody - God made me who I am.” - say to person next to you, “You

are somebody.” The second truth is this: 2. YOU MAKE A SIG IFICA T DIFFERE CE I THIS WORLD

David says this. (v.16) “You (God) saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life

before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!” The Apostle Paul puts this truth in a slightly different way, “For we are God’s workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in

them.” (Ephesians 2:10) God is personally involved in the very days and details of your life. And, we have been created and prepared for His tremendous purpose for our lives. As Christians we can know the tremendous significance God has given to our lives. Say this to yourself, “I make a difference.” Say to the person next to you, “You make a difference.”

It is very easy to know these two truths and still feel insignificant - a person without value and purpose. So many people I talk with - who intellectually know that they are somebody and that they have purpose - still have times of self-doubt - let’s be honest, we all do. I would like to suggest on Biblical thought of application to help us move from the intellectual to the practical. THE WAY TO K OW GOD’S SIG IFICA CE FOR YOUR LIFE IS TO DO WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO DO - A D KEEP O DOI G IT U TIL GOD TELLS YOU TO STOP. Chuck Swindol, in his book, “Growing Strong In The Seasons Of Life” shares this parable. Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to meet the problems of the new world. So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming; in fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying, and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to drop swimming and stay after school to practice running. This caused his web feet to be badly worn, so that he was only average in swimming. But average was quite acceptable, so nobody worried about that - except the duck. The rabbit started at the top of his class in running, but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because of so much make-up work in swimming. The squirrel was excellent in climbing, but he encountered constant frustration in flying class because his teacher made him start from the ground instead of from the treetop down. He developed “charlie horses” from overexertion, and so only got a C in climbing and a D in running. The eagle was a problem child and was severely disciplined for being a non-conformist. In climbing classes he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there. The obvious moral of the story is a simple one- each creature has its own set of capabilities in which it will naturally excel - unless it is expected or forced to fill a mold that doesn’t fit. When that happens, frustration, discouragement, and even guilt bring overall mediocrity or complete defeat - they simply give up. A duck is a duck - and only a duck. It is built to swim, not to run or fly and certainly not to climb. Eagles are beautiful creatures in the air but not in a foot race. The rabbit will win every time unless, of course, the eagle gets hungry. What is true of creatures in the forest is true of us as well. If God made you a duck - be a duck! Be glad you’re a duck. Swim like mad and don’t get discouraged because you can’t run like a rabbit. Don’t doubt your abilities just because you wobble when you run and flap instead of fly. Revel in the fact that you are a duck and not something else. Your loving creator has made you - unique you - to be a duck. God has ordained you with a significant plan, purpose, and opportunities for your life. He needs you to be a duck. Too often we look around and wish we were like someone else. By comparison we fill ourselves with self-doubt. Too often we listen to the voices of criticism and not the voice of God. Well

intentioned people who expect us to act like something we are not and God never intended us to be. We can only make a significant difference in this world if we are doing what God has called us to do. To do the “good works” which we have been “created for in Christ Jesus.” Listen to any other voice - walking on any other path - will lead to discouragement and toward potential disaster. A few years back, as I was entering full time ministry, my search for significance kept me listening to everyone else's ideas of what I should be doing. In parish ministry - or in any ministry or work setting - there are always people who will tell you what you should be doing. After about two years of listening to others - and not God - I found myself so stressed out that I was virtually unable to continue in ministry. It was then that I began to realize that the one voice I should have been listening to was God’s. Somehow, in my rush to be effective in ministry, I had let other voices drown out His. I will never be another Chuck Swindol or Billy Graham. But, I am who God is making me to be. And, I am learning to be okay with that. It is vitally important to learn who God has called you to be. For me the process of discovery has led me to brothers and sisters in Christ who will tell me honestly about my strengths, weaknesses, and how they see God using me - or not using me. It involves study of the Bible, prayer, and action - serving God - trial and error - living in situations where the Word of God can be applied to real life situations. I share this with you as someone who is in the process of discovering God’s unique role for my life. Find people who you can honestly talk to about yourself - do not neglect Christian fellowship, Bible study, prayer - times of getting close to God. And, find a place of service where you can see God working out His plan through you. God encourages us - He has made us - He wants to use you significantly in this world - right where you are - at home, work, church - Be who God has called you to be until He tells you to stop.

9. CALVI , “For thou hast possessed my reins. Apparently he prosecutes the same subject, though he carries it out somewhat farther, declaring that we need not be surprised at God's knowledge of the most secret thoughts of men, since he formed their hearts and their reins. He thus represents God as sitting king in the very reins of man, as the center of his jurisdiction, and shows it ought to be no ground of wonder that all the windings and recesses of our hearts are known to him who, when we were inclosed in our mother's womb, saw us as clearly and perfectly as if we had stood before him in the light of mid-day. This may let us know the design with which David proceeds to speak of man's original formation, tits scope is the same in the verse which follows, where, with some ambiguity in the terms employed, it is sufficiently clear and obvious that David means that he had been fashioned in a manner wonderful, and calculated to excite both fear and admiration, 4 so that he breaks forth into the praises of God. One great reason of the carnal security into which we fall, is our not considering how singularly we were fashioned at first by our Divine Maker. From this particular instance David is led to refer in general to all the works of God, which are just so many wonders fitted to draw our attention to him. The true and proper view to take of the works of God, as I have observed elsewhere, is that which ends in wonder. His declaration to the effect that his soul should well know these wonders, which far transcend human comprehension, means no more than that with humble and sober application he would give his attention and talents to obtaining such an apprehension of the wonderful works of God as might end in adoring the immensity of his glory. The knowledge he means, therefore, is not that which professes to comprehend what, under the name of wonders, he confesses to be incomprehensible, nor of that kind which philosophers presumptuously pretend to, as if they could solve every mystery of God, but simply that religious attention to the works of God which

excites to the duty of thanksgiving.

10. TODAY I THE WORD

A remarkable photograph was taken in the fall of 1999 at a hospital in ashville, Tennessee. In it, a fetus’s tiny hand reaches out from its mother’s womb to grip a surgeon’s finger.

The baby was only 21 weeks old and could have been legally aborted. Diagnosed with spina bifida, he needed an operation to be saved from serious brain damage. The operation wouldn’t cure him, but it could limit the damage caused by his condition.

The baby remained in the womb throughout the pioneering surgery, and the doctors reached in with miniature surgical tools through a slit in the side. He is believed to be the youngest fetus ever to undergo this type of operation, and may be the youngest patient ever in medical history.

To God, every human life, born or unborn, is uniquely valuable. His hand is on the origins of every one of us, as described in today’s verse. From Psalm 139, today we want to develop the idea of humanity’s uniqueness. God created not only the first man and woman--He is involved in the making of every one of us!

David has just described God’s omnipresence and omniscience, truths which both challenge and comfort him (vv. 7-12). There is nowhere he can hide from God, and God sees clearly everything he is doing. How can God know him so intimately and completely? Because He made David.

God sovereignly shapes conception and fetal development. He is described as knitting or weaving us in the womb (vv. 13, 15). (“Secret place” and “depths of the earth” are metaphors for the womb.) He oversees not only our physical development, but our whole person, our “inmost being” (v. 13)--our identity, personality, and character.

God makes us who we are and knows what we will become. Another metaphor, of a book, shows that God has ordained every day of our lives (v. 16; cf. Jer. 1:5). God knows us utterly and completely. If we want to come to grips with who He is, we must realize that He is not only the Creator of ancient times, but the Creator and Lord of us personally (cf. Ps. 119:73).

TODAY ALO G THE WAY

Given the uniqueness and value of human life, which we’ve looked at both today and yesterday, we suggest that you find a way to participate in the anti-abortion movement. You could research statistics or legal issues, make a financial contribution to a crisis pregnancy center, volunteer to answer phones on a hotline, write a letter to your local newspaper, or pray for people in your community who are currently facing an abortion decision.

Whatever you choose to do, you’ll demonstrate a commitment to the value of human life!

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

1. Barnes, “I will praise thee - I will not merely admire what is so great and marvelous, but I will acknowledge thee in a public manner as wise, and holy, and good: as entitled to honor, love, and gratitude.

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made - The word rendered “fearfully” means properly “fearful things;” things suited to produce fear or reverence. The word rendered “wonderfully made” means properly to distinguish; to separate. The literal translation of this - as near as can be given - would be, “I am distinguished by fearful things;” that is, by things in my creation which are suited to inspire awe. I am distinguished among thy works by things which tend to exalt my ideas of God, and to fill my soul with reverent and devout feelings. The idea is, that he was “distinguished” among the works of creation, or so “separated” from other things in his endowments as to work in the mind a sense of awe. He was made different from inanimate objects, and from the brute creation; he was “so” made, in the entire structure of his frame, as to fill the mind with wonder. The more anyone contemplates his own bodily formation, and becomes acquainted with the anatomy of the human frame, and the more he understands of his mental organization, the more he will see the force and propriety of the language used by the psalmist.

Marvellous are thy works - Fitted are they to excite wonder and admiration. The particular reference here is to his own formation; but the same remark may be made of the works of God in general.

And that my soul knoweth right well - Margin, as in Hebrew, “greatly.” I am fully convinced of it. I am deeply impressed by it. We can see clearly that the works of God are “wonderful,” even if we can understand nothing else about them.

2. Clarke, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made - The texture of the human body is the most complicated and curious that can be conceived. It is, indeed, wonderfully made; and it is withal so exquisitely nice and delicate, that the slightest accident may impair or destroy in a moment some of those parts essentially necessary to the continuance of life; therefore, we are fearfully made. And God has done so to show us our frailty, that we should walk with death, keeping life in view; and feel the necessity of depending on the all-wise and continual superintending care and providence of God.

3. Gill, “ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,.... the formation of man is not of himself, nor of his parents, but of God, and is very wonderful in all its parts; it has been matter of astonishment to many Heathens, as Galen and others, who have, with any carefulness, examined the structure and texture of the human body, the exact symmetry and just proportion of all its parts, their position and usefulness; holy every bone, muscle, artery, nerve and fibre, are nicely framed and placed to answer their designed end; particularly the eye and ear, the exquisite make of them for sight and sound, have filled the most diligent inquirers into nature with

amazement and wonder, and are a full proof of the wisdom and knowledge of God; see Psa_94:9; no man has cause to reproach his parents, nor blame the Former of all things for making him thus, but on the contrary should praise the Lord, as David did, who has given him life and breath, and all things; or own and confess (l), as the word may be rendered, that he is in various surprising instances a wonder of nature; see Isa_45:9. R. Moses in Aben Ezra thinks David is speaking of the first father, or the first Adam; who was wonderfully made of the dust of the earth, and had a living soul breathed into him; was made after the image of God, holy and upright: but rather he speaks of Christ, the second Adam, his antitype, who as man is a creature of God's make, and was wonderfully made, even of a virgin, without the use and knowledge of man; is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, the tabernacle which God pitched and not man; was produced by the power of the Holy Ghost, was born without sin, which no man is, and united personally to the Son of God, and is the great mystery of godliness; and his name is justly called Wonderful, Isa_9:6. Cocceius interprets this passage of God's separating act of David, and so of others in election; which is a wonderful setting apart of than for himself, as the word is used Psa_4:3; it is the effect of amazing love, and to be ascribed to the sovereignty of God, and the unsearchable riches of his grace; but this seems not to be intended here, though it is a marvellous act, as all the works of God are, as follows; rather, since the word may be rendered, "I am wonderfully separated" (m), it may be interpreted of his being separated in his mother's womb from the rest of the mass and matter of her blood, and formed from thence; which was done in a secret, unknown, and marvellous way and manner;

marvellous are thy works; of creation, providence, sustentation of all creatures, the government of the world, the redemption of mankind, the work of grace and conversion, the perseverance of the saints, and their eternal salvation;

and that my soul knoweth right well: having diligently sought them out, and having such a distinct knowledge of them as to be capable of talking of them, and of showing them to others, and pointing out the wonders, beauties, and excellencies of them; see Psa_111:2; however, he well and perfectly knew, or knew so much of them that they were very wonderful and amazing: some connect the word rendered "right well", which signifies "greatly", or "exceedingly", not with his knowledge, but with the marvellous works known; and take the sense to be, that he knew them to be greatly or exceedingly wonderful; so R. Moses in Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech.

4. Henry, “The glory of it is here given to God, entirely to him; for it is he that has made us and

not we ourselves. “I will praise thee, the author of my being; my parents were only the instruments of it.” It was done, (1.) Under the divine inspection: My substance, when hid in the womb, nay, when it was yet but in fieri - in the forming, an unshapen embryo, was not hidden from thee; thy

eyes did see my substance. (2.) By the divine operation. As the eye of God saw us then, so his hand wrought us; we were his work. (3.) According to the divine model: In thy book all my members

were written. Eternal wisdom formed the plan, and by that almighty power raised the noble structure.

2. Glorious things are here said concerning it. The generation of man is to be considered with the same pious veneration as his creation at first. Consider it, (1.) As a great marvel, a great miracle we might call it, but that it is done in the ordinary course of nature. We are fearfully and

wonderfully made; we may justly be astonished at the admirable contrivance of these living temples, the composition of every part, and the harmony of all together.

5. Spurgeon, “I will praise thee: a good resolve, and one which he was even now carrying out. Those who are praising God are the very men who will praise him. Those who wish to praise have subjects for adoration ready to hand. We too seldom remember our creation, and all the skill and kindness bestowed upon our frame: but the sweet singer of Israel was better instructed, and therefore he prepares for the chief musician a song concerning our nativity and all the fashioning which precedes it. We cannot begin too soon to bless our Maker, who began so soon to bless us: even in the act of creation he created reasons for our praising his name,

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Who can gaze even upon a model of our anatomy

without wonder and awe? Who could dissect a portion of the human frame without marvelling at

its delicacy, and trembling at its frailty? The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which

hides the nerves, sinews, and blood vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was

quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his

reverence for the Worker.

Marvellous are thy works. These parts of my frame are all thy works; and though they be home

works, close under my own eye, yet are they wonderful to the last degree. They are works within

my own self, yet are they beyond my understanding, and appear to me as so many miracles of

skill and power. We need not go to the ends of the earth for marvels, nor even across our own

threshold; they abound in our own bodies.

And that my soul knoweth right well. He was no agnostic -- he knew; he was no doubter -- his

soul knew; he was no dupe -- his soul knew right well. Those know indeed and of a truth who first

know the Lord, and then know all things in him. He was made to know the marvellous nature of

God's work with assurance and accuracy, for he had found by experience that the Lord is a

master worker, performing inimitable wonders when accomplishing his kind designs. If we are

marvellously wrought upon even before we are born, what shall we say of the Lord's dealings

with us after we quit his secret workshop, and he directs our pathway through the pilgrimage of

life? What shall we not say of that new birth which is even more mysterious than the first, and

exhibits even more the love and wisdom of the Lord.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 14. I will praise thee, etc. All God's works are admirable, man

wonderfully wonderful. "Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." What

infers he on all this? Therefore "I will praise thee." If we will not praise him that made us, will he

not repent that he made us? Oh that we knew what the saints do in heaven, and how the

sweetness of that doth swallow up all earthly pleasures! They sing honour and glory to the Lord.

Why? Because he hath created all things: Re 4:11. When we behold an exquisite piece of work,

we presently enquire after him that made it, purposely to commend his skill: and there is no

greater disgrace to an artist, than having perfected a famous work, to find it neglected, no man

minding it, or so much as casting an eye upon it. All the works of God are considerable, and man

is bound to this contemplation. "When I consider the heavens", etc., I say, "What is man?."

Psalms 8:3-4. He admires the heavens, but his admiration reflects upon man. Quis homo? There

is no workman but would have his instruments used, and used to that purpose for which they

were made ... Man is set like a little world in the midst of the great, to glorify God; this is the

scope and end of his creation. --Thomas Adams.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The term "fearful" is sometimes to be taken

subjectively, far our being possessed of fear. In this sense it signifies the same as timid. Thus the

prophet was directed to say to them that were of a "fearful heart, be strong." At other times it is

taken objectively, for that property in an object the contemplation of which excites fear in the

beholder. Thus it is said of God that he is "fearful in praises", and that it is a "fearful thing to fall

into the hands of the living God." In this sense it is manifestly to be understood in the passage

now under consideration. The human frame is so admirably constructed, so delicately combined,

and so much in danger of being dissolved by innumerable causes, that the more we think of it the

more we tremble, and wonder at our own continued existence.

"How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,

How complicate, how wonderful is man!

How passing wonder he who made him such,

Who mingled in our make such strange extremes

Of different natures, marvellously mixed!

Helpless immortal, insect infinite,

A worm, a god -- I tremble at myself!"

To do justice to the subject, it would be necessary to be well acquainted with anatomy. I have no

doubt that a thorough examination of that "substance which God hath curiously wrought"

(Psalms 139:15), would furnish abundant evidence of the justness of the Psalmist's words; but

even those things which are manifest to common observation may be sufficient for this purpose.

In general it is observable that the human frame abounds with avenues at which enter every

thing conducive to preservation and comfort, and every thing that can excite alarm. Perhaps

there is not one of these avenues but what may become an inlet to death, nor one of the blessings

of life but what may be the means of accomplishing it. We live by inhalation, but we also die by it.

Diseases and death in innumerable forms are conveyed by the very air we breathe. God hath

given us a relish for divers aliments, and rendered them necessary to our subsistence: yet, from

the abuse of them, what a train of disorders and premature deaths are found amongst men! And,

when there is no abuse, a single delicious morsel may, by the evil design of another, or even by

mere accident, convey poison through all our veins, and in one hour reduce the most athletic

form to a corpse.

The elements of fire and water, without which we could not subsist, contain properties which in a

few moments would be able to destroy us; nor can the utmost circumspection at all times

preserve us from their destructive power. A single stroke on the head may divest us of reason or

of life. A wound or a bruise of the spine may instantly deprive the lower extremities of all

sensation. If the vital parts be injured, so as to suspend the performance of their mysterious

functions, how soon is the constitution broken up! By means of the circulation of the blood, how

easily and suddenly are deadly substances diffused throughout the frame! The putridity of a

morbid subject has been imparted to the very hand stretched out to save it. The poisoned arrow,

the envenomed fang, the hydrophobic saliva, derive from hence their fearful efficacy. Even the

pores of the skin, necessary as they are to life, may be the means of death. ot only are poisonous

substances hereby admitted, but, when obstructed by surrounding damps, the noxious humours

of the body, instead of being emitted, are retained in the system, and become productive of

numerous diseases, always afflictive, and often fatal to life.

Instead of wondering at the number of premature deaths that are constantly witnessed, there is

far greater reason to wonder that there are no more, and that any of us survive to seventy or

eighty years of age.

"Our life contains a thousand springs,

And dies if one be gone:

Strange that a harp of thousand strings

Should keep in tune so long."

or is this all. If we are "fearfully made" as to our animal frame, it will be found that we are

much more so considered as moral and accountable beings. In what relates to our animal nature,

we are in most instances constructed like other animals; but, in what relates to us as moral

agents, we stand distinguished from all the lower creation. We are made for eternity. The present

life is only the introductory part of our existence. It is that, however, which stamps a character on

all that follows. How fearful is our situation! What innumerable influences is the mind exposed to

from the temptations which surround us! ot more dangerous to the body is the pestilence that

walketh in darkness than these are to the soul. Such is the construction of our nature that the

very word of life, if heard without regard becomes a savour of death unto death. What

consequences hang upon the small and apparently trifling beginnings of evil! A wicked thought

may issue in a wicked purpose, this purpose in a wicked action, this action in a course of conduct,

this course may draw into its vortex millions of our fellow creatures, and terminate in perdition,

both to ourselves and them. The whole of this process was exemplified in the case of Jeroboam,

the son of ebat. When placed over the ten tribes, he first said in his heart, "If this people go up

to sacrifice at Jerusalem, their hearts will turn to Rehoboam; and thus shall the kingdom return

to the house of David." 1 Kings 12:26-30 . On this he took counsel, and made the calves of Dan

and Bethel. This engaged him in a course of wickedness, from which no remonstrances could

reclaim him. or was it confined to himself; for he "made all Israel to sin." The issue was, not

only their destruction as a nation, but, to all appearance, the eternal ruin of himself and great

numbers of Iris followers. Such were the fruits of an evil thought!

Oh, my soul, tremble at thyself! Tremble at the fearfulness of thy situation; and commit thine

immortal all into his hands "who is able to keep thee from falling, and to present thee faultless

before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." --Andrew Fuller.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. ever was so terse and expressive a description of

the physical conformation of man given by any human being. So "fearfully" are we made, that

there is not an action or gesture of our bodies, which does not, apparently, endanger some muscle,

vein, or sinew, the rupture of which would destroy either life or health. We are so "wonderfully"

made, that our organization infinitely surpasses, in skill, contrivance, design, and adaptation of

means to ends, the most curious and complicated piece of mechanism, not only ever executed "by

art and man's device", but ever conceived by human imagination. --Richard Warner, 1828.

Verse 14. I am wonderfully made. Take notice of the curious frame of the body. David saith, "I am

wonderfully made"; acu pictus sum, so the Vulgate rendereth it, "painted as with a needle", like

a garment of needlework, of divers colours, richly embroidered with nerves and veins. What shall

I speak of the eye, wherein there is such curious workmanship, that many upon the first sight of

it have been driven to acknowledge God? Of the hand, made to open and shut, and to serve the

labours and ministries of nature without wasting and decay for many years? If they should be of

marble or iron, with such constant use they would soon wear out; and yet now they are of flesh

they last so long as life lasts. Of the head? fitly placed to be the seat of the senses, to command

and direct the rest of the members. Of the lungs? a frail piece of flesh, yet, though in continual

action, of a long use. It were easy to enlarge upon this occasion; but I am to preach a sermon, not

to read an anatomy lecture. In short, therefore, every part is so placed and framed, as if God had

employed his whole wisdom about it.

But as yet we have spoken but of the casket wherein the jewel lieth. The soul, that divine spark

and blast, how quick, nimble, various, and indefatigable in its motions! how comprehensive in its

capacities! how it animates the body, and is like God himself, all in every part! Who can trace the

flights of reason? What a value hath God set upon the soul! He made it after his image, he

redeemed it with Christ's blood. --Thomas Manton.

Verse 14. What is meant by saying that the soul is in the body, any more than saying that a thought

or a hope is in a stone or a tree? How is it joined to the body? what keeps it one with the body?

what keeps it in the body? what prevents it any moment from separating from the body? When

two things which we see are united, they are united by some connection which we can

understand. A chain or cable keeps a ship in its place; we lay the foundation of a building in the

earth, and the building endures. But what is it which unites soul and body how do they touch how

do they keep together? how is it we do not wander to the stars or the depths of the sea, or to and

fro as chance may carry us, while our body remains where it was on earth? So far from its being

wonderful that the body one day dies, how is it that it is made to live and move at all? how is it

that it keeps from dying a single hour? Certainly it is as uncomprehensible as anything can be,

how soul and body can make up one man; and, unless we had the instance before our eyes, we

should seem in saying so to be using words without meaning. For instance, would it not be

extravagant and idle to speak of time as deep or high, or of space as quick or slow? ot less idle,

surely, it perhaps seems to some races of spirits to say that thought and mind have a body, which

in the case of man they have, according to God's marvellous will. -- John Henry ewman, in

Parochial Sermons, 1839.

Verse 14. Moses describes the creation of man (Genesis 2:7): "The Lord God formed man of the

dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living

soul." ow what God did then immediately, he doth still by means. Do not think that God made

man at first, and that ever since men have made one another. o (saith Job), "he that made me in

the womb made him": Job 31:15. David will inform us: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made:

marvellous are thy works", etc. As if he had said, Lord, I am wonderfully made, and thou hast

made me. I am a part or parcel of thy marvellous works, yea, the breviate or compendium of

them all. The frame of the body (much more the frame of the soul, most of all the frame of the

new creature in the soul) is God's work, and it is a wonderful work of God. And therefore David

could not satisfy himself in the bare affirmation of this, but enlargeth in the explication of it in

Psalms 139:15- 16. David took no notice of father or mother but ascribed the whole efficiency of

himself to God. And indeed David was as much made by God as Adam; and so is every son of

Adam. Though we are begotten and born of our earthly parents, yet God is the chief parent and

the only fashioner of us all. Thus graciously spake Jacob to his brother Esau, demanding, "Who

are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant":

Genesis 33:5. Therefore, as the Spirit of God warns, "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he

that hath made us, and not we ourselves" (Psalms 100:3); which as it is true especially of our

spiritual making, so 'tis true also of our natural. -- Joseph Caryl.

Verse 14. Those who were skilful in Anatomy among the ancients, concluded, from the outward

and inward make of a human body, that it was the work of a Being transcendently wise and

powerful. As the world grew more enlightened in this art, their discoveries gave them fresh

opportunities of admiring the conduct of Providence in the formation of a human body. Galen

was converted by his dissections, and could not but own a Supreme Being upon a survey of this

his handiwork. There are, indeed, many parts, of which the old anatomists did not know the

certain use; but as they saw that most of those which they examined were adapted with

admirable art to their several functions, they did not question but those whose uses they could

not determine, were contrived with the same wisdom for respective ends and purposes. Since the

circulation of the blood has been found out, and many other great discoveries have been made by

our modern anatomists, we see new wonders in the human frame, and discern several important

uses for those parts, which uses the ancients knew nothing of. In short, the body of man is such a

subject as stands the utmost test of examination. Though it appears formed with the nicest

wisdom upon the most superficial survey of it, it still mends upon the search, and produces our

surprise and amazement in proportion as we pry into it. --The Spectator.

Verse 14-16. The subject, from Psalms 139:14 and Psalms 139:16 inclusive, might have been much

more particularly illustrated; but we are taught, by the peculiar delicacy of expression in the

Sacred Writings, to avoid, as in this case, the entering too minutely into anatomical details.

--Adam Clarke.

Ephesians 2:10

The body of man is a marvelous piece of God’s wisdom in creating. It is a work of art. Everyone is special. It sounds like a put down to say to someone, “You are special, just like everyone else.” But it is a fact, all people are special. The neurologists who study the nervous system of man have the highest percentage of Christians among scientists. They see the wonders of what God has made and know it is a work of a great designer.

Man got so involved in adoring the works of God that they forgot the Creator and began to worship the creation itself. Worship is not a positive thing in itself, for in Rev. We see worship

used 9 times to refer to negative worship. Emperor worship, beast worship, demon worship, idol worship, and angel worship. Most of the worship of history has been folly.

He knew in his day the mavel of the body, but how much more in our day. Science is valid study of believers for it leads us to praise God for his wonderful works. We need to know in order to wonder at His works.

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Who can gaze even upon a model of our anatomy without wonder and awe? Who could dissect a portion of the human frame without marvelling at its delicacy, and trembling at its frailty? The Psalmist had scarcely peered within the veil which hides the nerves, sinews, and blood vessels from common inspection; the science of anatomy was quite unknown to him; and yet he had seen enough to arouse his admiration of the work and his reverence for the Worker.

Knowledge of anatomy will lead to the praise of its maker, and so it is with all knowledge of what God has made, and so praise grows out of knowledge. We have an obligation to know more so that we will praise more.

The human brain has the capacity to record over 86 billion bits of information each day. The memory banks can hold over 100 trillion bits of information in an average lifetime.

The heart pumps about 5,000 gallons of blood every 24 hours. That is 150,000,000 gallons by age 70. And out of that 70 years it has rested for 40 years.

With great skill our Maker created veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, tissues, and organs -- and then wove them all together. What tapestry can equal the human fabric? How can all these parts be so intricately tied together and interrelated? This is one question the evolutionists have never been able to answer. How can this intricate design and delicate balance of the human system -- all of which need each other to function effectively -- have been developed in stages over millions of years????

"If David knew enough to be awed, what about us? We know that every living creature is made up of microscopic cells so small that the typed letter 'O' would contain between thirty to forty thousand of them. Each microscopic cell is a world in itself, containing an estimated two hundred trillion tiny molecules of atoms. Each cell, in other words, is a micro-universe of almost unbelievable complexity. All these cells put together make up a living creature.Each cell has its own specialized function and each works to an intricate time table which tells it when to grow, when to divide, when to make hormones, when to die. Every minute of every day, some three billion cells in the body die and the same number are created to take their place. During any given moment in the life of any one of these cells, thousands of events are taking place, each one being precisely coordinated at the molecular level by countless triggers.

Augustine wrote, in his "Confessions": "People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."

Consider the eye. The human eye is nature's perfect camera. It contains 137,000 light receptor cells. Eighty percent of our knowledge comes to us through our eyes. They are very delicate instruments. They take 16 color photos per second, contain their own light meter, provide perfect

exposure, develop instantly the pictures, can do some self-repairing for minor problems, take about 1/2 million pictures in one day, instantly developed and in living color -- and it's free! Let Kodak match that!

The normal adult has 67,000 miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries. The heart pumps enough blood in one day to fill a three to four thousand gallon tank. (Somebody says: " o wonder we're tired!") But we really would be tired if we had to control it or to control our diaphragm or liver or other organs. We'd have no time to think about anything else!

A normal adult's body contains octillion atoms. How many is that? Well, we can visualize it this way. If you covered the Earth four feet deep with peas, then add 250 more planets equal in size to the earth and covered them four feet deep with peas -- that's how many atoms are in your body. These tiny, tiny particles are developed into cells. The cells are organized into tissues, the tissues form into organs. Organs develop into systems -- and all the body is directed by the brain so we can function as human beings.

Julian Huxley, an imminent evolutionist, known as Darwin's bulldog, realized the problem and once calculated the probability of all this coming about by random chance. It was one over one followed by three million zeros. Huxley said it would take three 500 page books just to write the number (be good bedtime reading -- if you could find a publisher.) In other words, Huxley says it is impossible for this to happen by chance ..... and then he says -- "But it has happened!" That's evolution faith, not scientific evidence! Clearly, the overwhelming evidence of nature favors David's conclusion: we have indeed been fearfully and wonderfully made by a masterminded Creator and God.

The body is a masterpiece of exquisite design. Beautifully "engineered," it is governed by several

hundred systems of control each interacting with and affecting the other. Our brain has 10 billion

nerve cells to record what we see and hear. Our skin has more than 2 million tiny sweat glands

about 3000 per square inch all part of the intricate system which keeps his body at an even

temperature. A "pump" in our chest makes our blood travel 168 million miles a day equivalent of

6720 times around the world! The lining of our stomach contains 35 million glands secreting juices

which aid the process of digestion. And these are but a few of the involved processes and chemical

wonders which operate to sustain our life. Bob Hope once said, "Today my heart beat 103,369 times, my blood traveled 168 million miles,

(capiliary vessels), I breathed 23,400 times, I inhaled 438 cubic feet of air, I ate 3 pounds of food,

drank 2.9 pounds of liquid, I perspired 1.43 pints, I gave off 85.3 degrees of heat, I generated 450

tons of energy, I spoke 4,800 words, I moved 750 major muscles, my nails grew .01714 inches, and I

exercised 7 million brain cells. Gee, but I'm tired."

Ver. 14. Those who were skilful in Anatomy among the ancients, concluded, from the outward and inward make of a human body, that it was the work of a Being transcendently wise and powerful. As the world grew more enlightened in this art, their discoveries gave them fresh opportunities of admiring the conduct of Providence in the formation of a human body. Galen was converted by his dissections, and could not but own a Supreme Being upon a survey of this his handiwork. There are, indeed, many parts, of which the old anatomists did not know the certain use; but as they saw that most of those which they examined were adapted with admirable art to their several functions, they did not question but those whose uses they could not determine, were contrived with the same wisdom for respective ends and purposes. Since the

circulation of the blood has been found out, and many other great discoveries have been made by our modern anatomists, we see new wonders in the human frame, and discern several important uses for those parts, which uses the ancients knew nothing of. In short, the body of man is such a subject as stands the utmost test of examination. Though it appears formed with the nicest wisdom upon the most superficial survey of it, it still mends upon the search, and produces our surprise and amazement in proportion as we pry into it. —The Spectator.

Ver. 14. Moses describes the creation of man (Ge 2:7): "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." ow what God did then immediately, he doth still by means. Do not think that God made man at first, and that ever since men have made one another. o (saith Job), "he that made me in the womb made him": Job 31:15. David will inform us: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous

are thy works", etc. As if he had said, Lord, I am wonderfully made, and thou hast made me. I am a part or parcel of thy marvellous works, yea, the breviate or compendium of them all. The frame of the body (much more the frame of the soul, most of all the frame of the new creature in the soul) is God's work, and it is a wonderful work of God. And therefore David could not satisfy himself in the bare affirmation of this, but enlargeth in the explication of it in Ps 139:15-16. David took no notice of father or mother but ascribed the whole efficiency of himself to God. And indeed David was as much made by God as Adam; and so is every son of Adam. Though we are begotten and born of our earthly parents, yet God is the chief parent and the only fashioner of us all. Thus graciously spake Jacob to his brother Esau, demanding, "Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant": Ge 33:5. Therefore, as the Spirit of God warns, "Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves" (Ps 100:3); which as it is true especially of our spiritual making, so 'tis true also of our natural. —Joseph Caryl.

How many times have you gotten envelopes that had big letters on the outside saying something like “You are guaranteed to win 10 million dollars!” Of course, in little tiny print, it says, “if your lucky numbers are the ones chosen at random from the 17 billion others.” And if you’ve ripped the envelope open before you’ve read the small print, you’ll realize that the main purpose of this letter is not to inform you that you’re really rich, but to try to get you to buy magazines or some other product that you probably don’t want.

Have you noticed the only time the world tells us we’re something special, is when they’re trying to sell us something?

Are you somebody special? It would seem a godly humility to say, “Oh no, I’m just an ordinary person. othing special about me.”

But as we look closely at David’s words this morning, we don’t find him saying he isn’t anybody special. He says, “I am wonderful!”

Has that shepherd boy turned king become arrogant? o, because David doesn’t say, “I’m wonderful because of what I have done!” He says, “I’m wonderful because God does really good work.”

Unlike David, We’re not all comfortable saying, “I’m wonderful.” It sounds awfully proud!

But can you see the enormous difference between saying, “I’m wonderful!” and “I’m wonderful because I am the workmanship of God, the Almighty Weaver.”?

Turn to someone and say, “You’re wonderful, because a wonderful God made you!”

7. OUR DAILY BREAD

Buying a new car is a major investment. We want to be sure we are getting our money's worth. We also want to be certain that the vehicle won't cause us trouble. So we carefully file the manufacturer's warranty, confident that if something doesn't work right we can take our car back to the dealer. ot only are we sure they have trained people who can troubleshoot the problem and fix it, but we know they have all the manufacturer's specifications and the parts that may be needed.

When we run into difficulties in life and aren't able to get things working right, where can we turn for help? Doesn't it make sense that the One who made us is totally qualified to supply the indispensable help we need? The psalmist David found great comfort in this fact. He wrote, "You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works . . . . How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" (Ps. 139:13-14,17).

God's help is as available today as it was then. And who is more qualified to know what we need than the One who made us! --VCG

All that I am I owe to Thee,

Thy wisdom, Lord, has fashioned me;

I give my Maker thankful praise,

Whose wondrous works my soul amaze. --Psalter

God's warranty: You're covered for a lifetime.

8. Our Daily Bread, “Have you ever noticed the pock-marks, or dimples, covering the surface of a golf ball? They make the ball look imperfect. So what's their purpose?

An aeronautical engineer who designs golf balls says that a perfectly smooth ball would travel only about 130 yards off the tee. But the same ball with the right kind of dimples will fly twice that far. These apparent "flaws" minimize the ball's air resistance and allow it to travel much farther.

Most of us can quickly name the physical characteristics we wish we had been born without. It's difficult to imagine that these "imperfections" are there for a purpose and are part of God's master design. Yet when the psalmist wrote of God's creative marvel in the womb, he said to the Lord, "You formed my inward parts" (Ps. 139:13), and "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed" (v.16). Then he said, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (v.14).

If we could accept our bodily "imperfections" as part of God's master plan for us, what a difference it would make in our outlook on life. The "dimples" we dislike may enable us to bring the greatest glory to our wise and loving Creator, who knows how to get the best out of us. --DCM

The dark threads are as needful

In the Weaver's skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned. --Anon.

Every child of God has a special place in His plan.

9. Our Daily Bread, “While visiting Flint, Michigan, several years ago, I noticed some huge stamping machines in a field next to a sprawling automobile factory. They had been previously used to make auto parts. I was told that they are kept for 10 years in case replacement parts are needed.

Unlike cars, human beings cannot be duplicated. When a person is conceived, it's as if the Creator destroys the mold.

The next time you go to the store, school, or workplace, observe people. What a study in variety! We come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Each has distinctive physical features–bushy eyebrows, stubby hands, a brawny build–the list goes on. And no two people have identical fingerprints. Truly every man, woman, and child is unique.

In Psalm 139, David praised his Creator and acknowledged that he was "fearfully and wonderfully made" (v.14) "and skillfully wrought" (v.15). So is each of us. Our Creator-God delights in our individuality. We don't have to envy others or feel inferior to them. Instead, we ought to express our uniqueness by serving God as only we can.

When we accept our place in the Creator's grand design, we see how good it is to be "one of a kind." –DJD

Of all creation's treasures rare,

=ot one compares in worth with man;

In God's own image he was made

To fill a place in His great plan. –DJD

You are one of a kind–designed to glorify God as only you can.

10. Our Daily Bread, “Many people try to reverse the aging process. Those with wrinkles get facelifts, while others have injections to remove unwanted facial lines. Behind this current trend is the notion that an aging face is unacceptable.

But not everyone feels that way. An elderly woman being interviewed on television was asked, "Do you like your face?" She responded with conviction, "I love my face! It's the face God gave me, and I accept it happily."

In Psalm 139, David expressed the conviction that his entire being was fashioned by God and therefore is worthy of acceptance. He prayed, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (v.14). He also believed that God fashioned all the days of his life (v.16).

Instead of fighting a losing battle against our waning youthful appearance, we should concentrate on cultivating inner qualities that last forever. One key attribute is a lifelong faith in God, who reassures His people: "Even to your old age, . . . and even to gray hairs I will carry you!" (Isaiah

46:4).

Myron Taylor wrote: "Time may wrinkle the skin, but worry, doubt, hate, and the loss of ideals wrinkle the soul." As we gracefully accept the passing of years, God will smooth out the wrinkles of our souls. —Joanie Yoder

The wrinkles on a time-worn face

Can be symbols of God's grace,

If through our laughter and our tears

His love has freed us from our fears. —D. De Haan

When you let God's love fill your heart, it will show on your face.

11. Our Daily Bread, “In the late 1970s, biophysicist Harold J. Morowitz of Yale University reached some startling conclusions about what it would cost to make a human body. Taking into consideration the proteins, enzymes, R A, D A, amino acids, and other complex biochemicals that make up the stuff of life, Dr. Morowitz states, "Fashioning this chemical shopping list into human cells might cost six quadrillion dollars. Assembling the resulting heap of cells into tissue, the tissue into organs, and the organs into a warm body might drain all the treasuries of the world, with no guarantee of success."

As we think about this, we are astounded at the wisdom and creative power of the Lord who made us. But we're even more than a physical body. God has also given each of us an eternal soul that is worth more than the whole world! (Mt. 16:26).

God created us to have fellowship with Him forever. That's why when Adam and Eve sinned against their Creator He did not totally reject them. He loved the fallen human race so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to provide a way of salvation.

We stand in awe, Lord, at Your marvelous creation and redemption, and we give ourselves totally to You. --RWD

In His own image God created man,

He formed his body from the dust of earth;

But more than that, to all who are in Christ

He gives eternal life by second birth. --Hess

The Lord who made you wants you to make Him the center of your life.

12. Our Daily Bread, “The colorful folder I received through the mail advertised a series of books describing "the most fascinating study of man's origin ever published." The slick advertisement suggests that through eons of time primitive matter evolved into living creatures that eventually became modern man. From this pseudoscientific presentation I can only conclude that my existence is the result of a chemical accident, and that my life has no real purpose. I am a pathetic animal indeed!

The Bible declares that man was brought into being by a special act of the Creator Himself, who breathed into him "the breath of life" (Gen. 2:7). He was made in the image of God that he might live for Him and enjoy Him forever.

If we believe we are the products of chance, however, without meaning or destiny, our behavior will merely reflect a concern for "the next banana." But because we are made in the likeness of God, our lives have significance. We are to manifest in thought, word, and deed the eternal glory and purpose of our Designer--the One who revealed Himself in Jesus Christ!

Recognizing that you are created in God's image and are not just an animal, how will you live today? --MRD II

God climaxed His wondrous creation,

Making man in His image sublime;

And granted him power and dominion,

And for aye in His presence to shine. --Bennard

All of creation bears God's autograph.

13. Wonders of the body, “The human brain has the capacity to record over 86 billion bits of information each day. The memory banks can hold over 100 trillion bits of information in an average lifetime. The heart pumps about 5,000 gallons of blood every 24 hours. That is 150,000,000 gallons by age 70. And out of that 70 years it has rested for 40 years.

With great skill our Maker created veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, tissues, and organs -- and then wove them all together. What tapestry can equal the human fabric? How can all these parts be so intricately tied together and interrelated? This is one question the evolutionists have never been able to answer. How can this intricate design and delicate balance of the human system -- all of which need each other to function effectively -- have been developed in stages over millions of years????

"If David knew enough to be awed, what about us? We know that every living creature is made up of microscopic cells so small that the typed letter 'O' would contain between thirty to forty thousand of them. Each microscopic cell is a world in itself, containing an estimated two hundred trillion tiny molecules of atoms. Each cell, in other words, is a micro-universe of almost unbelievable complexity. All these cells put together make up a living creature.

Each cell has its own specialized function and each works to an intricate time table which tells it when to grow, when to divide, when to make hormones, when to die. Every minute of every day, some three billion cells in the body die and the same number are created to take their place. During any given moment in the life of any one of these cells, thousands of events are taking place, each one being precisely coordinated at the molecular level by countless triggers.

Consider the eye. The human eye is nature's perfect camera. It contains 137,000 light receptor cells. Eighty percent of our knowledge comes to us through our eyes. They are very delicate instruments. They take 16 color photos per second, contain their own light meter, provide perfect exposure, develop instantly the pictures, can do some self-repairing for minor problems, take about 1/2 million pictures in one day, instantly developed and in living color -- and it's free! Let Kodak match that!

The normal adult has 67,000 miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries. The heart pumps enough blood in one day to fill a three to four thousand gallon tank. (Somebody says: " o wonder we're tired!") But we really would be tired if we had to control it or to control our diaphragm or liver or other organs. We'd have no time to think about anything else!

A normal adult's body contains octillion atoms. How many is that? Well, we can visualize it this way. If you covered the Earth four feet deep with peas, then add 250 more planets equal in size to the earth and covered them four feet deep with peas -- that's how many atoms are in your body. These tiny, tiny particles are developed into cells. The cells are organized into tissues, the tissues form into organs. Organs develop into systems -- and all the body is directed by the brain so we can function as human beings.

Julian Huxley, an imminent evolutionist, known as Darwin's bulldog, realized the problem and once calculated the probability of all this coming about by random chance. It was one over one followed by three million zeros. Huxley said it would take three 500 page books just to write the number (be good bedtime reading -- if you could find a publisher.) In other words, Huxley says it is impossible for this to happen by chance ..... and then he says -- "But it has happened!" That's evolution faith, not scientific evidence! Clearly, the overwhelming evidence of nature favors David's conclusion: we have indeed been fearfully and wonderfully made by a masterminded Creator and God.

The body is a masterpiece of exquisite design. Beautifully "engineered," it is governed by several hundred systems of control each interacting with and affecting the other. Our brain has 10 billion nerve cells to record what we see and hear. Our skin has more than 2 million tiny sweat glands about 3000 per square inch all part of the intricate system which keeps his body at an even temperature. A "pump" in our chest makes our blood travel 168 million miles a day equivalent of 6720 times around the world! The lining of our stomach contains 35 million glands secreting juices which aid the process of digestion. And these are but a few of the involved processes and chemical wonders which operate to sustain our life.

Bob Hope once said, "Today my heart beat 103,369 times, my blood traveled 168 million miles, (capiliary vessels), I breathed 23,400 times, I inhaled 438 cubic feet of air, I ate 3 pounds of food, drank 2.9 pounds of liquid, I perspired 1.43 pints, I gave off 85.3 degrees of heat, I generated 450 tons of energy, I spoke 4,800 words, I moved 750 major muscles, my nails grew .01714 inches, and I exercised 7 million brain cells. Gee, but I'm tired."

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

1. Barnes, “My substance was not hid from thee - Thou didst see it; thou didst understand it altogether, when it was hidden from the eyes of man. The word “substance” is rendered in the margin, “strength” or “body.” The Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac, the Arabic, and Luther render it, “my bone,” or “my bones.” The word properly means strength, and then anything strong. Another form of the word, with different pointing in the Hebrew, means a bone, so called from its strength. The allusion here is to the bodily frame, considered as strong, or as that which has strength. Whatever there was that entered into and constituted the vigor of his frame, the psalmist says, was seen and known by God, even in its commencement, and when most feeble. Its capability to become strong - feeble as it then was - could not even at that time be

concealed or hidden from the view of God.When I was made in secret - In the womb; or, hidden from the eye of man. Even then thine eye

saw me, and saw the wondrous process by which my members were formed.

And curiously wrought. - Literally, “embroidered.” The Hebrew word - רקם râqam - means to deck with color, to variegate. Hence, it means to variegate a garment; to weave with threads of various colors. With us the idea of embroidering is that of working various colors on a cloth by a needle. The Hebrew word, however, properly refers to the act of “weaving in” various threads - as now in weaving carpets. The reference here is to the various and complicated tissues of the human frame - the tendons, nerves, veins, arteries, muscles, “as if” they had been woven, or as they appear to be curiously interweaved. o work of tapestry can be compared with this; no art of man could “weave” together such a variety of most tender and delicate fibres and tissues as those which go to make up the human frame, even if they were made ready to his hand: and who but God could “make” them? The comparison is a most beautiful one; and it will be admired the more, the more man understands the structure of his own frame.

In the lowest parts of the earth - Wrought in a place as dark, as obscure, and as much beyond the power of human observation as though it had been done low down beneath the ground where no eye of man can penetrate. Compare the notes at Job_28:7-8.

2. Clarke, “My substance was not hid from thee - עצמי atsmi, my bones or skeleton.Curiously wrought - רקמתי rukkamti, embroidered, made of needlework. These two words,

says Bishop Horsley, describe the two principal parts of which the human body is composed; the bony skeleton, the foundation of the whole; and the external covering of muscular flesh, tendons, veins, arteries, nerves, and skin; a curious web of fibres. On this passage Bishop Lowth has some excellent observations: “In that most perfect hymn, where the immensity of the omnipresent Deity, and the admirable wisdom of the Divine Artificer in framing the human body, are celebrated, the poet uses a remarkable metaphor, drawn from the nicest tapestry work: -

When I was formed in secret;When I was wrought, as with a needle,in the lowest parts of the earth.

“He who remarks this, (but the man who consults Versions only will hardly remark it), and at the same time reflects upon the wonderful composition of the human body, the various implication of veins, arteries, fibres, membranes, and the ‘inexplicable texture’ of the whole frame; will immediately understand the beauty and elegance of this most apt translation. But he will not attain the whole force and dignity, unless he also considers that the most artful embroidery with the needle was dedicated by the Hebrews to the service of the sanctuary; and that the proper and singular use of their work was, by the immediate prescript of the Divine law, applied in a certain part of the high priest’s dress, and in the curtains of the tabernacle, Exo_28:39; Exo_26:36; Exo_27:16; and compare Eze_16:10; Eze_13:18. So that the psalmist may well be supposed to have compared the wisdom of the Divine Artificer particularly with that specimen of human art, whose dignity was through religion the highest, and whose elegance (Exo_35:30-35) was so exquisite, that the sacred writer seems to attribute it to a Divine inspiration.”

In the lowest parts of the earth - The womb of the mother, thus expressed by way of delicacy.

3. Gill, “My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret,.... Or "my bone" (n); everyone of his bones, which are the substantial parts of the body, the strength of it; and so some

render it "my strength" (o); those, though covered with skin and flesh yet, being done by the Lord himself, were not hid from him; nor the manner of their production and growth, which being done in secret is a secret to men; for they know not how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, Ecc_11:5; but God does;

and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth; or formed in my mother's womb, as the Targum, and so Jarchi, like a curious piece of needlework or embroidery, as the word (p) signifies; and such is the contexture of the human body, and so nicely and curiously are all its parts put together, bones, muscles, arteries, veins, nerves, and fibres, as exceed the most curious piece of needlework, or the finest embroidery that ever was made by the hands of men; and all this done in the dark shop of nature, in the "ovarium", where there is no more light to work by than in the lowest parts of the earth. The same phrase is used of Christ's descent into this world, into the womb of the virgin, where his human nature was curiously wrought by the finger of the blessed Spirit, Eph_4:9.

4. Henry, “As a great mystery, a mystery of nature: My soul knows right well that it is marvellous, but how to describe it for any one else I know not; for I was made in secret, and curiously wrought

in the womb as in the lowest parts of the earth, so privately, and so far out of sight.

5. Stedman, “That phrase, "intricately wrought" is one word in the Hebrew. It is really the word for "embroidered." You ladies know what embroidery is, the little fancy stitches that are added to cloth. I don't know how you do it; we men never understand embroidery, but it adds beauty and is especially fancy. That is the word used here. It describes the delicate embroidery of the body, the things that tie us together so that one organ supports another. The lungs need the heart, and the heart needs the lungs; the liver needs the kidneys, and the stomach needs both; all the parts are amazingly embroidered together.”

Embroidered with great skill", is an accurate poetical description of the creation of veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, etc. What tapestry can equal the human fabric?

What deeper solitude, what state of concealment more complete, than that of the babe as yet unborn Yet the Psalmist represents the Almighty as present even there. "My substance was not

hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth."

The whole image and train of thought is one of striking beauty. We see the wonderful work of the human body, with all its complex tissue of bones, and joints, and nerves, and veins, and arteries growing up, and fashioned, as it had been a piece of rich and curious embroidery under the hand of the manufacturer.

Should an artisan intend commencing a work in some dark cave where there was no light to assist him, how would he set his hand to it? in what way would he proceed? and what kind of workmanship would it prove? But God makes the most perfect work of all in the dark, for he fashions man in the mother's womb. —John Calvin.

6. Ver. 15. In the lowest parts of the earth. From this remarkable expression, which, in the original, and as elsewhere used, denotes the region of the dead—Sheol, or Hades —it would appear that it is not only his formation in the womb the Psalmist here contemplates, but also—regarding the region of the dead as the womb of resurrection life—the refashioning of the body

hereafter, and its new birth to the life immortal, which will be no less "marvellous" a work, but rather more so, than the first fashioning of man's "substance." Confirmed by the words of Ps 139:18 —"When I awake, I am still with thee" —the same language before employed to express the resurrection hope, Ps 17:15; when there shall be purposes and "precious counsels" with respect to his redeemed, in anticipation of which they may repeat this Psalm with renewed feelings of wonder and admiration. —William De Burgh.

Ver. 15-16. The word substance represents different words in these verses. In Ps 139:15 it is "my strength", or "my bones"; in Ps 139:16 the word is usually rendered "embryo": but "clew" (life a ball yet to be unwound) finds favour with great scholars.

7. CALVI , “My strength was not hid from thee. That nothing is hid from God David now begins to prove from the way in which man is at first formed, and points out God's superiority to other artificers in this, that while they must have their work set before their eyes before they can form it, he fashioned us in our mother's womb. It is of little importance whether we read my strength or my bone, though I prefer the latter reading. He next likens the womb of the mother to the lowest

caverns or recesses of the earth. Should an artizan intend commencing a work in some dark cave where there was no light to assist him, how would he set his hand to it? in what way would he proceed? and what kind of workmanship would it prove?5 But God makes the most perfect work of all in the dark, for he fashions man in mother's womb. The verb Mqr, rakam, which means weave together,6 is employed to amplify and enhance what the Psalmist had just said. David no doubt means figuratively to express the inconceivable skill which appears in the formation of the human body. When we examine it, even to the nails on our fingers, there is nothing which could be altered, without felt inconveniency, as at something disjointed or put out of place; and what, then, if we should make the individual parts the subject of enumeration?7 Where is the embroiderer who -- with all his industry and ingenuity -- could execute the hundredth part of this complicate and diversified structure? We need not then wonder if God, who formed man so perfectly in the womb, should have an exact knowledge of him after he is ushered into the world.

8. Spurgeon, “My substance was not hid from thee. The substantial part of my being was before thine all seeing eye; the bones which make my frame were put together by thine hand. The essential materials of my being before they were arranged were all within the range of thine eye. I was hidden from all human knowledge, but not from thee: thou hast ever been intimately acquainted with me.

When I was made in secret. Most chastely and beautifully is here described the formation of our

being before the time of our birth. A great artist will often labour alone in his studio, and not

suffer his work to be seen until it is finished; even so did the Lord fashion us where no eye beheld

as, and the veil was not lifted till every member was complete. Much of the formation of our

inner man still proceeds in secret: hence the more of solitude the better for us. The true church

also is being fashioned in secret, so that none may cry, "Lo, here!" or "Lo, there!" as if that

which is visible could ever be identical with the invisibly growing body of Christ.

And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. "Embroidered with great skill", is an

accurate poetical description of the creation of veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, etc. What tapestry

can equal the human fabric? This work is wrought as much in private as if it had been

accomplished in the grave, or in the darkness of the abyss. The expressions are poetical,

beautifully veiling, though not absolutely concealing, the real meaning. God's intimate knowledge

of us from our beginning, and even before it, is here most charmingly set forth. Cannot he who

made us thus wondrously when we were not, still carry on his work of power till he has perfected

us, though we feel unable to aid in the process, and are lying in great sorrow and self loathing, as

though cast into the lowest parts of the earth?

9. Treasury of David, “Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee, etc. What deeper solitude,

what state of concealment more complete, than that of the babe as yet unborn Yet the Psalmist

represents the Almighty as present even there. "My substance was not hid from thee, when I was

made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." The whole image and

train of thought is one of striking beauty. We see the wonderful work of the human body, with all

its complex tissue of bones, and joints, and nerves, and veins, and arteries growing up, and

fashioned, as it had been a piece of rich and curious embroidery under the hand of the

manufacturer. But it is not the work itself that we are now called on to admire. The contexture is

indeed fearful and wonderful; but how much more when we reflect that the divine Artificer

wrought within the dark and narrow confines of the womb. Surely the darkness is no darkness

with him who could thus work. Surely the blackest night, the closest and most artificial recess,

the most subtle disguises and hypocrisies are all seen through, are all naked and bare before him

whose "eyes did see our substance yet being imperfect." The night is as clear as the day; and

secret sins are set in the light of his countenance, no less than those which are open and

scandalous, committed before the sun or on the house top. And if "in his book all our members

are written, which day by day were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them", surely the

actions of these members, now that they are grown, or growing, to maturity, and called upon to

fulfil the functions for which they were created, shall be all noted down; and none be contrived so

secretly, but that when the books are opened at the last day, it shall be found written therein to

justify or to condemn us. Such is the main lesson which David himself would teach us in this

Psalm, -- the omnipresence and omniscience of Almighty God. My brethren, let us reflect for a

little upon this deep mystery; that he, "the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity" is about

our path and about our bed, and spies out all our ways; that go whither we will he is there; that

say what we will, there is not a word on our tongue but he knoweth it altogether. The reflection is,

indeed, mysterious, but it is also most profitable. --Charles Wordsworth, in "Christian

Boyhood", 1846.

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee. Should an artisan intend commencing a work in

some dark cave where there was no light to assist him, how would he set his hand to it? in what

way would he proceed? and what kind of workmanship would it prove? But God makes the most

perfect work of all in the dark, for he fashions man in the mother's womb. --John Calvin.

Verse 15. When I was made in secret, etc. The author uses a metaphor derived from the most

subtle art of the Phrygian workman:

"When I was formed in the secret place,

When I was wrought with a needle in the depths of the

earth."

Whoever observes this (in truth he will not be able to observe it in the common translations), and

at the same time reflects upon the wonderful mechanism of the human body; the various

implications of the veins, arteries, fibres, and membranes; the "undescribable texture" of the

whole fabric -- may, indeed, feel the beauty and gracefulness of this well adapted metaphor, but

will miss much of its force and sublimity, unless he be apprised that the art of designing in

needlework was wholly dedicated to the use of the sanctuary, and, by a direct precept of the

divine law, chiefly employed in furnishing a part of the sacerdotal habit, and the vails for the

entrance of the Tabernacle. Exodus 28:39 26:36 27:16. Thus the poet compares the wisdom of the

divine Artificer with the most estimable of human arts -- that art which was dignified by being

consecrated altogether to the use of religion; and the workmanship of which was so exquisite,

that even the sacred writings seem to attribute it to a supernatural guidance. See Exodus 35:30-

35. --Robert Lowth (1710-1787), in "Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews."

Verse 15. Curiously wrought in the lowest part, of the earth, that is, in the womb: as curious

workmen, when they have some choice piece in hand, they perfect it in private, and then bring it

forth to light for men to gaze at. What a wonderful piece of work is man's head (God's

masterpiece in this little world), the chief seat of the soul, that cura Divini ingenii, as Favorinus

calls it. Many locks and keys argue the value of the jewel that they keep, and many papers

wrapping the token within them, the price of the token. The tables of the testament, first laid up

in the ark, secondly, the ark bound about with pure gold; thirdly, overshadowed with cherubim's

wings; fourthly, enclosed within the vail of the Tabernacle; fifthly, with the compass of the

Tabernacle; sixthly, with a court about all; seventhly, with a treble covering of goats', rams', and

badgers' skins above all; they must needs be precious tables. So when the Almighty made man's

head (the seat of the reasonable soul), and overlaid it with hair, skin, and flesh, like the threefold

covering of the Tabernacle, and encompassed it with a skull and bones like boards of cedar, and

afterwards with divers skins like silken curtains; and lastly, enclosed it with the yellow skin that

covers the brain (like the purple veil), he would doubtless have us to know it was made for some

great treasure to be put therein. How and when the reasonable soul is put into this curious

cabinet philosophers dispute many things, but can affirm nothing of certainty. --Abraham

Wright.

Verse 15. In the lowest parts of the earth. From this remarkable expression, which, in the original,

and as elsewhere used, denotes the region of the dead -- Sheol, or Hades -- it would appear that it

is not only his formation in the womb the Psalmist here contemplates, but also -- regarding the

region of the dead as the womb of resurrection life -- the refashioning of the body hereafter, and

its new birth to the life immortal, which will be no less "marvellous" a work, but rather more so,

than the first fashioning of man's "substance." Confirmed by the words of Psalms 139:18 --

"When I awake, I am still with thee" -- the same language before employed to express the

resurrection hope, Psalms 17:15; when there shall be purposes and "precious counsels" with

respect to his redeemed, in anticipation of which they may repeat this Psalm with renewed

feelings of wonder and admiration. --William De Burgh.

Verse 15-16. The word substance represents different words in these verses. In Psalms 139:15 it is

"my strength", or "my bones"; in Psalms 139:16 the word is usually rendered "embryo": but

"clew" (life a ball yet to be unwound) finds favour with great scholars.

In the lowest parts of the earth denotes no subterranean limbo or workshop; but is a poetical

parallel to "in secret."

Which in continuance were fashioned is wrong. The margin, though also wrong, indicates the

right way: "my days were determined before one of them was." -- David M`Laren, in "The Book

of Psalms in Metre", 1883.

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

1. Barnes, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect - This whole verse is very obscure, but the “idea” in this expression clearly is, “Before I had shape or form thou didst see what I was to be.” The single word in the original translated “my substance, yet being unperfect,” is גלם gôlem. It occurs only in this place, though the verb - גלם gâlam - is found in 2Ki_2:8, where it is used in reference to the mantle of Elijah: And Elijah took his mantle, and “wrapped it together,” etc. That is, he rolled it up, or he folded it. The noun, then, means that which “is” rolled or wrapped together; that which is folded up, and hence, is applicable to anything folded up or undeveloped; and would thus most aptly denote the embryo, or the foetus, where all the members of the body are as yet folded up, or undeveloped; that is, before they have assumed their distinct form and proportions. This is undoubtedly the idea here. Before the embryo had any such form that its future size, shape, or proportions could be marked by the eye of man, it was clearly and distinctly known by God.

And in thy book - Where thou recordest all things. Perhaps the allusion here would be to the book of an architect or draftsman, who, before his work is begun, draws his plan, or sketches it for the direction of the workmen.

All my members were written - The words “my members” are not in the original. The Hebrew is, as in the margin, “all of them.” The reference may be, not to the members of his body, but to his “days” (see the margin on the succeeding phrase) - and then the sense would be, all my “days,” or all the periods of my life, were delineated in thy book. That is, When my substance - my form - was not yet developed, when yet an embryo, and when nothing could be determined from that by the eye of man as to what I was to be, all the future was known to God, and was written down - just what should be my form and vigor; how long I should live; what I should be; what would be the events of my life.

Which in continuance were fashioned - Margin, “What days they should be fashioned.” Literally, “Days should be formed.” DeWette renders this, “The days were determined before any

one of them was.” There is nothing in the Hebrew to correspond with the phrase “in continuance.” The simple idea is, The days of my life were determined on, the whole matter was fixed and settled, not by anything seen in the embryo, but “before” there was any form - before there were any means of judging from what I then was to what I would be - all was seen and arranged in the divine mind.

When as yet there was none of them - literally, “And not one among them.” Before there was one of them in actual existence. ot one development had yet occurred from which it could be inferred what the rest would be. The entire knowledge on the subject must have been based on Omniscience.

2. Clarke, “Thine eyes did see my substance - גלמי golmi, my embryo state - my yet indistinct mass, when all was wrapped up together, before it was gradually unfolded into the lineaments of man. “Some think,” says Dr. Dodd, “that the allusion to embroidery is still carried on. As the embroiderer has still his work, pattern, or carton, before him, to which he always recurs; so, by a method as exact, revere all my members in continuance fashioned, i.e., from the rude embryo or mass they daily received some degree of figuration; as from the rude skeins of variously coloured silk or worsted, under the artificer’s hands, there at length arises an unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colcurs and proportions.”

And in thy book all my members were written - “All those members lay open before God’s eyes; they were discerned by him as clearly as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book, even to the least figuration of the body of the child in the womb.”

3. Gill, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect,.... The word (q) for "substance" signifies a bottom of yarn wound up, or any rude or unformed lump; and designs that conglomerated mass of matter separated in the womb, containing all the essentials of the human frame, but not yet distinguished or reduced into any form or order; yet, even when in this state, the eyes of the Lord see it and all its parts distinctly;

and in thy book all my members were written: which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet

there was none of them; in the book of God's eternal mind, and designs, the plan of the human body was drawn, all the parts of it described, and their form, places, and uses fixed, even when as yet not one of them was in actual being; but in due time they are all exactly formed and fashioned according to the model of them in the mind of God; who has as perfect knowledge of them beforehand as if they were written down in a book before him, Or "in thy book are written all of

them, what days they should be fashioned"; not only each of the members of the body were put down in this book, but each of the days in which they should be formed and come into order: "when" as yet there was "none of them"; none of those days, before they took place, even before all time; the Targum is,

"in the book of thy memory all my days are written, in the day the world was created, from the beginning that all creatures were created.''

4. Henry, “As a great mercy, that all our members in continuance were fashioned, according as they were written in the book of God's wise counsel, when as yet there was none of them; or, as some read it, and none of them was left out. If any of our members had been wanting in God's book, they would have been wanting in our bodies, but, through his goodness, we have all our

limbs and sense, the want of any of which might have made us burdens to ourselves. See what reason we have then to praise God for our creation, and to conclude that he who saw our substance when it was unfashioned sees it now that it is fashioned.

5. Spurgeon, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. While as yet the vessel was upon the wheel the Potter saw it all. The Lord knows not only our shape, but our substance: this is substantial knowledge indeed. The Lord's observation of us is intent and intentional, -- "Thine eyes did see." Moreover, the divine mind discerns all things as clearly and certainly as men perceive by actual eye sight. His is not hearsay acquaintance, but the knowledge which comes of sight.

And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet

there was none of them. An architect draws his plans, and makes out his specifications; even so

did the great Maker of our frame write down all our members in the book of his purposes. That

we have eyes, and ears, and hands, and feet, is all due to the wise and gracious purpose of heaven:

it was so ordered in the secret decree by which all things are as they are. God's purposes concern

our limbs and faculties. Their form, and shape, and everything about them were appointed of

God long before they had any existence. God saw us when we could not be seen, and he wrote

about us when there was nothing of us to write about. When as yet there were none of our

members in existence, all those members were before the eye of God in the sketch book of his

foreknowledge and predestination.

This verse is an exceedingly difficult one to translate, but we do not think that any of the

proposed amendments are better than the rendering afforded us by the Authorized Version. The

large number of words in italics will warn the English reader that the sense is hard to come at,

and difficult to express, and that it would be unwise to found any doctrine upon the English

words; happily there is no temptation to do so.

The great truth expressed in these lines has by many been referred to the formation of the

mystical body of our Lord Jesus. Of course, what is true of man, as man, is emphatically true of

Him who is the representative man. The great Lord knows who belong to Christ; his eye

perceives the chosen members who shall yet be made one with the living person of the mystical

Christ. Those of the elect who are as yet unborn, or unrenewed, are nevertheless written in the

Lord's book. As the form of Eve grew up in silence and secrecy under the fashioning hand of the

Maker, so at this hour is the Bride being fashioned for the Lord Jesus; or, to change the figure, --

a body is being prepared in which the life and glory of the indwelling Lord shall for ever be

displayed. The Lord knoweth them that are his: he has a specially familiar acquaintance with the

members of the body of Christ; he sees their substance, unperfect though they be.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, etc. From

whence we may learn, first, not to be proud of what we are; all's the work of God. How beautiful

or comely, how wise or holy soever you are, 'tis not of yourselves. What hath any man, either in

naturals or supernaturals, which he hath not received? Secondly, despise not what others are or

have, though they are not such exact pieces, though they have not such excellent endowments as

yourselves; yet they are what God hath made them. Thirdly, despise not what yourselves are.

Many are ashamed to be seen as God made them; few ale ashamed to be seen what the devil hath

made them. Many are troubled at small defects in the outward man; few are troubled at the

greatest deformities of the inward man: many buy artificial beauty to supply the natural; few

spiritual, to supply the defects of the supernatural beauty of the soul. --Abraham Wright.

Verse 16. My substance yet being unperfect. One word in the original, which means strictly

anything rolled together as a ball, and hence is generally supposed to mean here the foetus or

embryo. Hupfeld, however, prefers to understand it of the ball of life, as consisting of a number of

different threads ("the days" of Psalms 139:16 -- see margin) which are first a compact mass as it

were, and which are then unwound as life runs on. --J.J. Stewart Perowne.

Verse 16. A skilful architect before he builds draws a model, or gives a draught of the building in his book, or upon a table; there he will show you every room and contrivance: in his book are all the parts of the building written, while as yet there are none of them, or before any of them are framed and set up. In allusion to architects and other artisans, David speaks of God, In thy book all my members were written; that is, Thou hast made me as exactly as if thou hadst drawn my several members and my whole proportion with a pen or pencil in a book, before thou wouldst adventure to form me up. The Lord uses no book, no pen to decipher his work. He had the perfect idea of all things in himself from everlasting; but he may well be said to work as by pattern, whose work is the most perfect pattern. --Joseph Caryl.

7. Some books are very short, for millions of babies are aborted by nature or man. This has led to many believing that all death is ordained of God and man lives just as long as God as set in the book, and so nothing he can do can make it longer or shorter. The Bible will not support this popular belief.

8. Stedman, “Literally the word in Hebrew is, "my rolled up substance." It pictures the embryo, all rolled up. People are asking questions today about when life begins. When does an embryo become a human being? When does abortion become murder? The answer of the psalmist is, "Thy eyes beheld me, not an impersonal collection of cells that wasn't me yet, in my rolled up embryonic state." The marvel of the human body, even at that stage of growth, has convinced him that God is with him and knows him immediately. Some of you will remember the Alger Hiss case quite a number of years ago. Alger Hiss was accused of Communist conspiracy while he was a functionary of the government. The case brought into prominent view an unknown (at that time) Congressman named Richard Milhous ixon. A primary participant in that case was a man named Whittaker Chambers, also a member of the Communist Party and a contact of Alger Hiss. Whittaker Chambers later wrote a book in which he told how he became a Christian. He describes an incident. One day when he was sitting with his little two-year old daughter on his lap, his eye fell on her ear and it caught his attention. He was struck by the design of that ear. How beautiful, how shell-like it was, and how perfectly designed to catch every sound wave in the air to be translated into sound by the brain. Knowing something of the mechanics of the ear he began to think about it. He was struck by how impossible it is that anything so intricate, so complex, so beautifully designed could ever occur by chance. That led him to other lines of

thought and eventually he investigated the Christian position and became a Christian. The argument from design is a great argument and it is what the psalmist uses here.”

9. OUR DAILY BREAD

How could this happen? How could God allow our beautiful daughter Melissa to be taken from us in a car accident at age 17? And it's not just us. It's also our friends Steve and Robyn, whose daughter Lindsay, Melissa's friend, died 9 months earlier. And what about Richard and Leah, whose son Jon—another of Melissa's friends—lies in a gravesite within 50 yards of both Lindsay and Melissa?

How could God allow these three Christian teens to die within 16 months of each other? And how can we still trust Him?

Unable to comprehend such tragedies, we cling to Psalm 139:16—"In Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me." By God's design, our children had a specific number of days to live, and then He lovingly called them home to their eternal reward. And we find comfort in God's mysterious words, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (116:15).

The death of those close to us could rob us of our trust in God—taking with it our reason for living. But God's unfathomable plan for the universe and His redemptive work continue, and we must honor our loved ones by holding on to His hand. We don't understand, but we still must trust God as we await the great reunion He has planned for us. —Dave Branon

Though tragedy, heartache, and sorrow abound

And many a hardship in life will be found,

I'll put all my trust in the Savior of light,

For He can bring hope in the darkest of night. —D. De Haan

Don't let tragedy steal your trust in God.

10. Calvin, “Thine eyes beheld my shapelessness, etc. The embryo, when first conceived in the womb, has no form; and David speaks of God's having known him when he was yet a shapeless mass, to< ku>hma, as the Greeks term it; for to< embruon is the name given to the foetus from the time of conception to birth inclusive. The argument is from the greater' to the less. If he was known to God before he had grown to certain definite shape, much less could he now elude his observation. He adds, that all things were written in his book; that is, the whole method of his formation was well known to God. The term book is a figure taken from the practice common amongst men of helping their memory by means of books and commentaries. Whatever is an object of God's knowledge he is said to have registered in writing, for he needs no helps to memory. Interpreters are not agreed as to the second clause. Some read Mymy, yamim, in the nominative case, when days were made; the sense being, according to them -- All my bones were written in thy book, O God! from the beginning of the world, when days were first formed by thee, and when as yet none of them actually existed. The other is the more natural meaning, That the different parts of the human body are formed in a succession of time; for in the first germ there is no arrangement of parts, or proportion of members, but it is developed, and takes its peculiar form progressively.8 There is another point on which interpreters differ. As in the particle al, lo, the a, aleph, is often interchangeable with w vau; some read wl, to him, and others al not. According to the first reading, the sense is, that though the body is formed progressively, it

was always one and the same in God's book, who is not dependent upon time for the execution of his work. A sufficiently good meaning, however, can be got by adhering' without change to the negative particle, namely, that though the members were formed in the course of days, or gradually, none of them had existed; no order or distinctness of parts having been there at first, but a formless substance. And thus our admiration is directed to the providence of God in gradually giving' shape and beauty to a confused mass.9

1 "The usual signification of hnq is, to possess, to acquire; but here it is thought to contain the notion of forming, or creating. The reason of this difference in the sense may be accounted for from the circumstance, that in Arabic there are two verbs to which hnq may correspond, viz., one to

possess, and another to form. So in Genesis 14:19, God is said to be ' the possessor (hnq) of heaven and earth.' The Septuagint for hnq, reads o[v e]ktise, who created, and the Vulgate, qui creavit. Again in Proverbs 8:22, for ynnq the Chaldee has ynarb, hath begotten, or created me. From these and other passages it is evident that hnq was supposed by the ancient interpreters to have the sense of to form, or create; and this meaning seems to be required in the verse before us, which comports with the next verb." -- Phillips.

2 The "covering" here spoken of, is illustrated by Job 10:2, where God is said to have "clothed us with skin and flesh, and fenced us with bones and sinews." "A work so astonishing," observes Bishop Horne, "that before the Psalmist proceeds in his description of it, he cannot help break ing forth in rapture at the thought: 'I will praise thee, for! am fearfully and wonderfully made.'"

3 "Ou, mon os n'est point cache de toy." -- Fr. marg. "Or, my bone is not hid from thee."

4 "Fearfully and wonderfully made ever was so terse and expressive a description of the physical conformation of man given by any human being. So fearfully are we made, that there is not an action or gesture of our bodies, which does not, apparently, endanger some muscle, vein, or sinew, the rupture of which would destroy either life or health. We are so wonderfully

made, that our organization infinitely surpasses, in skill, contrivance, design, and adaptation of means to ends, the most curious and complicated piece of mechanism, not only ever executed 'by art and man's device, but ever conceived by the human imagination." -- Warner.

5 "The:figure," says Walford, "is derived from the darkness and obscurity of caverns and other recesses of the earth."

6 "Mqr is ' to embroider.'" -- Phillips. Mant translates the verse thus: --

"By all, but not by thee unknown,

My substance grew, and, o'er it thrown,

The fine-wrought web from nature's loom,

All wove in secret and in gloom."

And after observing that the foetus is gradually formed and matured for the birth, like plants and flowers under ground, he adds -- " The process is compared to that in a piece of work wrought with a needle, or fashioned in

the loom: which, with all its beautiful variety of color, and proportion of figure, ariseth by degrees to perfection, under the hand of the artist, framed according to a pattern lying before him, from a rude mass of silk, or other materials. Thus, by the power and wisdom of God, and after a plan delineated in his book, is a shapeless mass wrought up into the most curious texture of nerves, veins, arteries, bones, muscles, membranes, and skin, most skilfully interwoven and connected with each other, until it becometh a body harmoniously diversified with all the limbs and lineaments of a man, not one of which at first appeared, any more than the figures were to be seen in the ball of silk. But then, which is the chief thing here insisted on by the Psalmist, whereas the human artificer must have the clearest light whereby to accomplish his task, the divine work-master seeth in secret, and effecteth all his wonders within the dark and narrow confines of the womb." Bishop Lowth supposes that the full force and beauty of the metaphor in this passage will not be understood, unless it is perceived that the Psalmist alludes to the art of embroidery as consecrated by the Jews to sacred purposes, in decorating the garments of the priests and the curtains at the entrance of the tabernacle. "In that most perfect ode, Psalm 139," says he, "which celebrates the immensity of the omnipresent Deity, and the wisdom of the divine artificer in forming the human body, the author uses a metaphor derived from the most subtle art of Phrygian workmen:

'When I was formed in the secret place,

When I was wrought with a needle in the depths of the earth.

Whoever observes this, (in truth he will not be able to observe it in the common translations,)and at the same time reflects upon the wonderful mechanism of the human body, the various amplifications of the veins, arteries, fibres, and membranes; the 'indescribable texture' of the whole fabric; may indeed feel the beauty and gracefulness of this well-adapted metaphor, but will miss much of its force and sublimity, unless he be apprised that the art of designing in needle-work was wholly dedicated to the use of the sanctuary, and by a direct precept of the divine law, chiefly employed in furnishing' a part of the sacerdotal habits, and the veils for the entrance of the tabernacle. (Exodus 28:39; Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:16; compare Ezekiel 16:10, 13, 18.) Thus the poet compares the wisdom of the divine artificer with the most estimable of human arts -- that art which was dignified by being consecrated altogether to the use of religion; and the workmanship of which was so exquisite, that even the sacred writings seem to attribute it to a supernatural guidance. See Exodus 35:30-35." -- Lowth's

Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, volume 1.

7 "Que sera-ce donc quand on viendra a contempler par le menu chacune partie?" -- Fr.

8 "They (my members) have been daily formed, or forming. They were not formed at once, but gradually; each day increasing in strength and size. This expression is probably parenthetical, so that the last words of the verse will refer to the writing of those things previously mentioned in God's register." -- Phillips.

9 "The meaning is," says Warner, "there was a time when none of those curious parts, of

which my form consists, existed. The germ of them all was planted by thee in the first instance; and gradually matured, by thy power, wisdom, and goodness, into that wonderful piece of mechanism which the human form exhibits." Phillips gives a different turn to the clause: "And not one of them, or among them, was omitted. ot one of the particulars concerning my formation has been left out of thy record."

17 How precious to[2] me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

1. Barnes, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! - On the word “thoughts,” see the notes at Psa_139:2. Compare Psa_139:23. The remark is made here doubtless in view of the numberless “thoughts” involved in planning and forming a frame so wondrous, and in the care necessary to bring it to perfection; to develop it; to provide for it; to guard and defend it. How many “thoughts” of a parent are employed in behalf of his children, in providing for them; teaching them; counseling them; anticipating their needs. How manymore thoughts are needful on the part of God in reference to each one of us: for there are numberless things necessary for us which cannot occupy the mind of a parent, since he cannot accomplish these things for us; they do not lie within his province, or in his power.

How great is the sum of them - literally, “How strong are the heads of them.” That is, The heading of them, or the summing of them up, would be a task beyond the power of man. And who “could” estimate the number of the “thoughts” necessarily bestowed on himself by his Maker in all the care exercised over him; all the arrangements for his development and growth; all that is done to defend him from danger; all that is indispensable in providing for his needs; all that was necessary to secure the salvation of his soul! See the notes at Psa_40:5.

2. Gill, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!.... The word (r) signifies that which is scarce and rare, and not to be attained and enjoyed; see 1Sa_3:1; the thoughts and counsels of God are impenetrable and unsearchable; he knows our thoughts, as Aben Ezra observes, but we do not know his, Psa_139:2; as well as it likewise signifies the worth and value of them; God's thoughts are infinitely beyond ours, and infinitely more valuable and more important, and are concerning our welfare and happiness: it is marvellous that God should think of us at all; it is more so that his thoughts should not be thoughts of evil, to bring that evil upon its we deserve, but thoughts of peace and reconciliation in and by his Son, in whom he was reconciling the world to himself; thoughts of salvation and eternal life, and of the way and means of bringing it about; thoughts to provide for our present supply in this world, and to lay up for us for the world to come; see Jer_29:11. It may be interpreted of the thoughts which David had of God in his meditations of him, which were sweet, precious, and comfortable to him; of his lovingkindness to him, covenant grace, precious promises, and gracious dealings with him; but the former sense seems best. The Targum is,

"to me how precious they that love thee, the righteous, O God!''

and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions render it, "thy friends";

how great is the sum of them! or "the heads of them"; that is, not the chief of thy friends, but the sum of thy thoughts, these in the bulk, in the general, are not to be counted; and much less the particulars of them, these are not to be entered into or described.

3. Henry, “He acknowledges, with wonder and thankfulness, the care God had taken of him all his days, Psa_139:17, Psa_139:18. God, who knew him, thought of him, and his thoughts towards him were thoughts of love, thought of good, and not of evil, Jer_29:11. God's omniscience, which might justly have watched over us to do us hurt, has been employed for us, and has watched over us to do us good, Jer_31:28. God's counsels concerning us and our welfare have been, 1. Precious to admiration: How precious are they! They are deep in themselves, such as cannot possibly be fathomed and comprehended. Providence has had a vast reach in its dispensations concerning us, and has brought things about for our good quite beyond our contrivance and foresight. They are dear to us; we must think of them with a great deal of reverence, and yet with pleasure and thankfulness. Our thoughts concerning God must be delightful to us, above any other thoughts. 2. umerous to admiration: How great is the sum of them! We cannot conceive how many God's kind counsels have been concerning us, how many good turns he has done us, and what variety of mercies we have received from him.

4. Spurgeon, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! He is not alarmed at the fact that God knows all about him; on the contrary, he is comforted, and even feels himself to be enriched, as with a casket of precious jewels. That God should think upon him is the believer's treasure and pleasure. He cries, "How costly, how valued are thy thoughts, how dear to me is thy perpetual attention!" He thinks upon God's thoughts with delight; the more of them the better is he pleased. It is a joy worth worlds that the Lord should think upon us who are so poor and needy: it is a joy which fills our whole nature to think upon God; returning love for love, thought for thought, after our poor fashion.

How great is the sum of them! When we remember that God thought upon us from old eternity,

continues to think upon us every moment, and will think of us when time shall be no more, we

may well exclaim, "How great is the sum!" Thoughts such as are natural to the Creator, the

Preserver, the Redeemer, the Father, the Friend, are evermore flowing from the heart of the

Lord. Thoughts of our pardon, renewal, upholding, supplying, educating, perfecting, and a

thousand more kinds perpetually well up in the mind of the Most High. It should fill us with

adoring wonder and reverent surprise that the infinite mind of God should turn so many

thoughts towards us who are so insignificant and so unworthy! What a contrast is all this to the

notion of those who deny the existence of a personal, conscious God! Imagine a world without a

thinking, personal God! Conceive of a grim providence of machinery! -- a fatherhood of law!

Such philosophy is hard and cold. As well might a man pillow his head upon a razor edge as seek

rest in such a fancy. But a God always thinking of us makes a happy world, a rich life, a heavenly

hereafter.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, etc. So far from

thinking it a hardship to be subject to this scrutiny, he counts it a most valuable privilege.

However others may regard this truth, "to me", my judgment and my feelings, "how costly"

valuable "are thy thoughts", i.e. thy perpetual attention to me. --Joseph Addison Alexander.

Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How cold and poor are our

warmest thoughts towards God! How unspeakably loving and gloriously rich are his thoughts

towards us! Compare Ephesians 1:18: "The riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints."

--A.R. Fausset.

Verse 17. How precious ... how great is the sum of them? Our comforts vie with the number of our

sorrows, and win the game. The mercies of God passed over in a gross sum breed no admiration;

but cast up the particulars, and then arithmetic is too dull an art to number them. As many dusts

as a man's hands can hold, is but his handful of so many dusts; but tell them one by one, and they

exceed all numeration. It was but a crown which king Solomon wore; but weigh the gold, tell the

precious stones, value the richness of them, and what was it then? --Thomas Adams.

Verse 17-18. Behold David's love to God; sleeping and waking his mind runs upon him. There needs

no arguments to bring those to our remembrance whom we love. We neglect ourselves to think

upon them. A man in love wastes his spirits, vexes his mind, neglects his meat, regards not his

business, his mind still feels on that he loves. When men love that they should not, there is more

need of a bridle to keep them from thinking of it, than of spurs to keep them to it. Try thy love of

God by this. If thou thinkest not often of God, thou lovest him not. If thou canst not satisfy

thyself with profits, pleasures, friends, and other worldly objects, but thou must turn other

businesses aside, that thou mayest daily think of God, then thou lovest him. --Francis Taylor, in

"God's Glory in Man's Happiness", 1654.

Verse 17-18. Mercies are either ordinary or extraordinary -- our common necessaries, or the

remarkable supplies which we receive now and then at the hand of God. Thou must not only

praise him for some extraordinary mercy, that comes with such pomp and observation that all

thy neighbours take notice of it with thee, as the mercy which Zacharias and Elizabeth had in

their son, that was noised about all the country (Luke 1:65); but also for ordinary every day

mercies: for first, we are unworthy of the least mercy (Ge 32:10), and therefore God is worthy of

praise for the least, because it is more than he owes us. Secondly, these common, ordinary

mercies are many. Thus David enhances the mercies of this kind, -- O God, how great is the sum

of them. "If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I wake I am still

with thee." As if he had said, There is not a point of time wherein thou art not doing me good; as

soon as I open my eyes in the morning I have a new theme, in some fresh mercies given since I

closed them over night, to employ my meditations that are full of praise. Many little items make

together a great sum. What is lighter than a grain of sand, yet what is heavier than the sand upon

the seashore? As little sins (such as vain thoughts and idle words), because of their multitude,

arise to a great guilt, and will bring in a long bill, a heavy reckoning at last; so, ordinary mercies,

what they want in their size of some other great mercies, have compensated it in their number.

Who will not say that a man shows greater kindness in maintaining one at his table with ordinary

fare all the year than in entertaining him at a great feast twice or thrice in the same time?

--William Gurnall.

6. We are to think with the mind of Christ and to have the thoughts of all things lovely as Paul says to the Philippians. Spurgeon wrote, “The book of ature is an expression of the thoughts of God. We have God’s terrible thoughts in the thunder and lightning; God’s loving thought in the sunshine and the breeze; “God’s bounteous, prudent, careful thoughts in the waving harvest. We have god’s brilliant thought beheld from mountain tip and valley, and God’s sweet and pleasant thought of beauty in the little flowers.”

God has written his signature all over this world in what he has made. We are persons and we have to have a cause, and only a person could be the cause of a person to exist. Only a great mind could make what we see in nature. One footprint told Robinson Crusoe that there was another human on the island, and how many signs do we have that there is another Person in this universe. All pagan peoples know their is some God because of what they see in nature.

Cicero, “The celestial order and the beauty of the universe compel me to admit that there is some excellent and eternal Being, who deserves the respect and homage of men.”

How great is the sum of them! When we remember that God thought upon us from old eternity, continues to think upon us every moment, and will think of us when time shall be no more, we may well exclaim, "How great is the sum!" Thoughts such as are natural to the Creator, the Preserver, the Redeemer, the Father, the Friend, are evermore flowing from the heart of the Lord. Thoughts of our pardon, renewal, upholding, supplying, educating, perfecting, and a thousand more kinds perpetually well up in the mind of the Most High. It should fill us with adoring wonder and reverent surprise that the infinite mind of God should turn so many thoughts towards us who are so insignificant and so unworthy! What a contrast is all this to the notion of those who deny the existence of a personal, conscious God! Imagine a world without a thinking, personal God! Conceive of a grim providence of machinery! —a fatherhood of law! Such philosophy is hard and cold. As well might a man pillow his head upon a razor edge as seek rest in such a fancy. But a God always thinking of us makes a happy world, a rich life, a heavenly hereafter.

Ver. 17-18. Behold David's love to God; sleeping and waking his mind runs upon him. There needs no arguments to bring those to our remembrance whom we love. We neglect ourselves to think upon them. A man in love wastes his spirits, vexes his mind, neglects his meat, regards not his business, his mind still feels on that he loves. When men love that they should not, there is more need of a bridle to keep them from thinking of it, than of spurs to keep them to it. Try thy love of God by this. If thou thinkest not often of God, thou lovest him not. If thou canst not satisfy thyself with profits, pleasures, friends, and other worldly objects, but thou must turn other businesses aside, that thou mayest daily think of God, then thou lovest him. —Francis Taylor, in

"God's Glory in Man's Happiness", 1654.

7. OUR DAILY BREAD

I was working alone in my office when a fax arrived from our daughter in Colorado. It had a goofy cartoon of a rabbit wearing a cowboy hat and chaps and swinging a lariat. "Well, howdy there, rancher Dave," it began, and ended with "I love you!"

It's a great feeling, isn't it, when a phone call or letter arrives from someone just to say, "I was thinking of you." It quickly banishes our sense of being alone.

The psalmist had a marvelous sense of God's personal care when he wrote: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You" (Ps. 139:17-18).

"When I awake." We don't know David's circumstances when he wrote this psalm. He may have endured a night of fitful dozing, or he may have enjoyed a sound, peaceful sleep. Regardless, we know that David was overwhelmed by the knowledge that God was thinking of him even while he slept--so many thoughts he couldn't count them all.

The next time you feel alone, remember that God, who sent His Son to die for your sins, is thinking of you and saying, "I love you!" --DCM

Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide till life's trials are o'er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,

Resting in Jesus, I'm safe evermore. --Cushing

Time spent alone with God can ease the pain of loneliness.

8. Spurgeon, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God.” — Psalm 139:17

Divine omniscience affords no comfort to the ungodly mind, but to the child of God it overflows with consolation. God is always thinking upon us, never turns aside his mind from us, has us always before his eyes; and this is precisely as we would have it, for it would be dreadful to exist for a moment beyond the observation of our heavenly Father. His thoughts are always tender, loving, wise, prudent, far-reaching, and they bring to us countless benefits: hence it is a choice delight to remember them. The Lord always did think upon his people: hence their election and the covenant of grace by which their salvation is secured; he always will think upon them: hence their final perseverance by which they shall be brought safely to their final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us—we never roam beyond the Shepherd’s eye. In our sorrows he observes us incessantly, and not a pang escapes him; in our toils he marks all our weariness, and writes in his book all the struggles of his faithful ones. These thoughts of the Lord encompass us in all our paths, and penetrate the innermost region of our being. ot a nerve or tissue, valve or vessel, of our bodily organization is uncared for; all the littles of our little world are thought upon by the great God.

Dear reader, is this precious to you? then hold to it. ever be led astray by those philosophic fools who preach up an impersonal God, and talk of self-existent, self-governing matter. The Lord liveth and thinketh upon us, this is a truth far too precious for us to be lightly robbed of it. The

notice of a nobleman is valued so highly that he who has it counts his fortune made; but what is it to be thought of by the King of kings! If the Lord thinketh upon us, all is well, and we may rejoice evermore.

8. CALVI , “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me. It is the same Hebrew word, her, reah,

which is used here as in the second verse, and means thought, not companion or friend, as many have rendered it, after the Chaldee translator, under the idea that the Psalmist is already condescending upon the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. The context requires that he should still be considered as speaking of the matchless excellence of divine providence. He therefore repeats -- and not without reason -- what he had said before; for we apparently neglect or underestimate the singular proofs of the deep wisdom of God, exhibited in man's creation, and the whole superintendence and government of his life. Some read -- How rare are thy thoughts;

but this only darkens the meaning. I grant we find that word made use of in the Sacred History, (1 Samuel 3:1,) where the oracles of the Lord are said to have been rare, in the time of Eli. But it also means precious, and it is enough that we retain the sense which is free from all ambiguity. He applies the term to God's thoughts, as not lying within the compass of man's judgment. To the same effect is what he adds that the sums or aggregates of them were great and mighty; that is, sufficient to overwhelm the minds of men. The exclamation made by the Psalmist suggests to us that were men not so dull of apprehension, or rather so senseless, they would be struck by the mysterious ways of God, and would humbly and tremblingly sist themselves before his tribunal, instead of presumptuously thinking that they could evade it. The same truth is set forth in the next verse, that if any should attempt to number the hidden judgments or counsels of God, their immensity is more than the sands of the sea. Our capacities conseqently could not comprehend the most infinitesimal part of them. As to what follows -- I have a waked, and am still with, thee,

interpreters have rendered the words differently; but I have no doubt of the meaning simply being that David found new occasion, every time he awoke from sleep, for meditating upon the extraordinary wisdom of God. When he speaks of rising, we are not to suppose he refers to one day, but agreeably to what he had said already of his thoughts being absorbed in the incomprehensible greatness of divine wisdom, he adds that every time he awoke he discovered fresh matter for admiration. We are thus put in possession of the true meaning of David, to the effect that God's providential government of the world is such that nothing can escape him, not even the profoundest thoughts. And although many precipitate themselves in an infatuated manner into all excess of crime, under the idea that God will never discover them, it is in vain that they resort to hiding-places, from which, however reluctantly, they must be dragged to light. The truth is one which we would do well to consider more than we do, for while we may cast a. glance at our hands and our feet, and occasionally survey the elegance of our shape with complacency, there is scarcely one in a hundred who thinks of his Maker. Or if any recognize their life as coming from God, there is none at least who rises to the great truth that he who formed the ear, and the eye, and the understanding heart, himself hears, and sees, and knows everything.

18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

1. Barnes, “If I should count them - If I could count them.

They are more in number than the sand - umberless as the sand on the sea-shore.

When I awake, I am still with thee - When I am lost in deep and profound meditation on this subject, and am aroused again to consciousness, I find the same thing still true. The fact of “my” being forgetful, or lost in profound meditation, has made no difference with thee. Thou art still the same; and the same unceasing care, the same thoughtfulness, still exists in regard to me. Or, the meaning may be, sleeping or waking with me, it is still the same in regard to thee. Thine eyes never close. When mine are closed in sleep, thou art round about me; when I awake from that unconscious state, I find the same thing existing still. I have been lost in forgetfulness of thee in my slumbers; but thou hast not forgotten me. There has been no change - no slumbering - with thee.

2. Clarke, “If I should count them - I should be glad to enumerate so many interesting particulars: but they are beyond calculation.

When I awake - Thou art my Governor and Protector night and day.

I am still with thee - All my steps in life are ordered by thee: I cannot go out of thy presence; I am ever under the influence of thy Spirit.

The subject, from the Psa_139:14 to the Psa_139:16 inclusive, might have been much more particularly illustrated, but we are taught, by the peculiar delicacy of expression in the Sacred Writings, to avoid, as in this case, the entering too minutely into anatomical details. I would, however, make an additional observation on the subject in the Psa_139:15 and Psa_139:16. I have already remarked the elegant allusion to embroidery, in the word רקמתי rukkamti, in the astonishing texture of the human body; all of which is said to be done in secret, בסתר bassether, in the secret place, viz., the womb of the mother, which, in the conclusion of the verse, is by a delicate choice of expression termed the lower parts of the earth.

The embryo state, גלם golem, has a more forcible meaning than our word substance amounts to. גלם galam signifies to roll or wrap up together; and expresses the state of the fetus before the constituent members were developed. The best system of modern philosophy allows that to semine masculino all the members of the future animal are contained; and that these become slowly developed or unfolded, in the case of fowls, by incubation; and in the case of the more perfect animals, by gestation in the maternal matrix. It is no wonder that, in considering these, the psalmist should cry out, How precious, or extraordinary, are thy thoughts! how great is the sum-heads or outlines, of them! The particulars are, indeed, beyond comprehension; even the heads - the general contents, of thy works; while I endeavor to form any tolerable notion of them, prevail over me - they confound my understanding, and are vastly too multitudinous for my comprehension.

3. Gill, “If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand,...., That is, if I should attempt to do it, it would be as vain and fruitless as to attempt to count the sands upon the seashore, which are innumerable; Psa_11:5. So Pindar says (s), that sand flies number, that is, is not to be numbered; though the Pythian oracle boastingly said (t), I know the number of the sand, and the measures of the sea; to which Lucan (u) may have respect when he says, measure is not wanting to the ocean, nor number to the sand; hence geometricians affect to know them; so Archytas the mathematician, skilled in geometry and arithmetic, is described and derided by Horace (w) as the measurer of the earth and sea, and of the sand without number; and Archimedes wrote a book called ψαµµιτης (x), of the number of the sand, still extant (y), in which he proves that it is not infinite, but that if even the whole world was sand it might be numbered; but the thoughts of God are infinite;

when I wake, I am still with thee; after I have been reckoning them up all the day, and then fall asleep at night to refresh nature after such fatiguing researches; when I awake in the morning and go to it again, I am just where I was, and have got no further knowledge of God and his thoughts, and have as many to count as at first setting out, and far from coming to the end of them: or else the sense is, as I was under thine eye and care even in the womb, before I was born, so I have been ever since, and always am, whether sleeping or waking; I lay myself down and sleep in safety, and rise in the morning refreshed and healthful, and still continue the care of thy providence: it would be well if we always awaked with God in our thoughts, sensible of his favours, thankful for them, and enjoying his gracious presence; as it will be the happiness of the saints, that, when they shall awake in the resurrection morn, they shall be with God, and for ever enjoy him.

4. Henry, “If we would count them, the heads of them, much more the particulars of them, they

are more in number than the sand, and yet every one great and very considerable, Psa_40:5. We cannot conceive the multitude of God's compassions, which are all new every morning. 3. Constant at all times: “When I awake, every morning, I am still with thee, under thy eye and care, safe and easy under thy protection.” This bespeaks also the continual devout sense David had of the eye of God upon him: When I awake I am with thee, in my thoughts; and it would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long if, when we awake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him and we did then set him before us.

5. Spurgeon, “If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. This figure shows the thoughts of God to be altogether innumerable; for nothing can surpass in number the grains of sand which belt the main ocean and all the minor seas. The task of counting God's thoughts of love would be a never ending one. If we should attempt the reckoning we must necessarily fail, for the infinite falls not within the line of our feeble intellect. Even could we count the sands on the seashore, we should not then be able to number God's thoughts, for they are "more in number than the sand." This is not the hyperbole of poetry, but the solid fact of inspired statement: God thinks upon us infinitely: there is a limit to the act of creation, but not to the might of divine love.

When I awake, I am still with thee. Thy thoughts of love are so many that my mind never gets

away from them, they surround me at all hours. I go to my bed, and God is my last thought; and

when I wake I find my mind still hovering about his palace gates; God is ever with me, and I am

ever with him. This is life indeed. If during sleep my mind wanders away into dreams, yet it only

wanders upon holy ground, and the moment I wake my heart is back with its Lord. The Psalmist

does not say, "When I awake, I return to thee", but, "I am still with thee"; as if his meditations

were continuous, and his communion unbroken. Soon we shall lie down to sleep for the last time:

God grant that when the trumpet of the archangel shall waken us we may find ourselves still with

him.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 18. They are more in number than the sand. Pindar says, that sand

flies number (Olymp. Ode 2). The Pythian oracle indeed boastingly said, I know the number of

the sand, and the measure of the sea (Herodot. Clio. l. i. c. 47). It is to this that Lucan may refer

when he says, measure is not wanting to the ocean, or number to the sand (Pharsal. l. 5, v. 182).

--Samuel Burder.

Verse 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.

If all his glorious deeds my song would tell,

The shore's unnumbered stones I might recount as well.

--Pindar, B.C. 518-442.

Verse 18. When I awake, I am still with thee. It is the great advantage of a Christian, which he has

above other men, that he has his friends always about him, and (if the fault be not his own) need

never to be absent from them. In the friendship and converse of the world, we use to say,

"Friends must part", and those who have delight and satisfaction in one another's society must

be content to leave it, and to be taken off from it. But this is the privilege of a believer that

undertakes communion with God, that it is possible for him always to be with him. Again, in

human converse and society we know it is ordinary for friends to dream that they are in company

with one another; but when they awake they are a great way off. But a Christian that converses

with God, and has his thoughts fastened upon him, when he awakes he is still with him, which is

that which is here exhibited to us in the example of the prophet David.

A godly soul should fall asleep in God's arms, like a child in the mother's lap; it should be sung

and lulled to sleep with "songs of the night." And this will make him the fitter for converse with

God the next day after. This is the happiness of a Christian that is careful to lie down with God,

that he finds his work still as he left it, and is in the same disposition when he rises as he was at

night when he lay down to rest. As a man that winds up his watch over night, he finds it going the

next morning; so is it also, as I may say, with a Christian that winds up his heart. This is a good

observation to be remembered, especially in the evening afore the Sabbath. --Thomas Horton,

--1673.

Verse 18. When I awake, I am still with thee. It is no small advantage to the holy life to "begin the

day with God." The saints are wont to leave their hearts with him over night, that they may find

them with him in the morning. Before earthly things break in upon us, and we receive

impressions from abroad, it is good to season the heart with thoughts of God, and to consecrate

the early and virgin operations of the mind before they are prostituted to baser objects. When the

world gets the start of religion in the morning, it can hardly overtake it all the day; and so the

heart is habituated to vanity all the day long. But when we begin with God, we take him along

with us to all the business and comforts of the day; which, being seasoned with his love and fear,

are the more sweet and savoury to us. --Thomas Case (1598-1682), in the Epistle Dedicatory to

"The Morning Exercise."

Verse 18. When I awake. Accustom yourself to a serious meditation every morning. Fresh airing

our souls in heaven will engender in us a purer spirit and nobler thoughts. A morning seasoning

will secure us for all the day. Though other necessary thoughts about our calling will and must

come in, yet when we have dispatched them, let us attend to our morning theme as our chief

companion. As a man that is going with another about some considerable business, suppose to

Westminster, though he meets with several friends on the way, and salutes some, and with others

with whom he has some affairs he spends some little time, yet he quickly returns to his

companion, and both together go to their intended stage. Do thus in the present case. Our minds

are active and will be doing something, though to little purpose; and if they be not fixed upon

some noble object, they will, like madmen and fools, be mightily pleased in playing with straws.

The thoughts of God were the first visitors David had in the morning. God and his heart met

together as soon as he was awake, and kept company all the day after. --Stephen Charnock.

Whenever he is conscious he is in the presence of God.

Harriet Beecher StoweWhen sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,

Its closing ey looks up to thee in prayer;Sweet the repose beneath thy wings o’er shadowing,

But sweeter still, to wake and find thee there.

So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,When the soul waketh, and life’s shadows flee;

Oh, in that hour, fairer than daylights dawning,Shall rise the glorious thought-I am with thee.

Ver. 18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. This figure shows the thoughts of God to be altogether innumerable; for nothing can surpass in number the grains of sand which belt the main ocean and all the minor seas. The task of counting God's thoughts of love would be a never ending one. If we should attempt the reckoning we must necessarily fail, for the infinite falls not within the line of our feeble intellect. Even could we count the sands on the seashore, we should not then be able to number God's thoughts, for they are "more in number than the sand." This is not the hyperbole of poetry, but the solid fact of inspired statement: God thinks upon us infinitely: there is a limit to the act of creation, but not to the might of divine love.

If all his glorious deeds my song would tell, The shore's unnumbered stones I might recount as well. —Pindar, B.C. 518-442.

Ver. 18. When I awake I am still with thee. 1. Awaking is sometimes, yea, most commonly, taken in the natural signification, for the recovery from bodily sleep. 2. Morally, for recovery from sin. 3. Mystically; "when I shall awake", that is, from the sleep of death.

—T. Horton.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

1. Barnes, “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God - Compare the notes at Isa_11:4. The literal translation of this would be, “If thou wilt slay the wicked.” It is not easy to account for the sudden and remarkable transition or diversion of the train of thought from the main subject of the psalm, in these verses Psa_139:19-22, in which the psalmist gives vent to his feelings toward the wicked, and prays that they may depart from him. Perhaps the explanation of it may be, that as the psalmist was reflecting on the fact that God is everywhere present, that he searches the hearts of people, that he must know all their conduct, he was suddenly struck with the idea of the condition of wicked people in the presence, and under the eye, of such a Being. As God knows all things, he must know them; and this instantaneously suggested the idea of their guilt and danger. People of such characters could not deceive such a God. They could not but be known to him, and could not but be objects of his aversion. They could not, therefore, but be in danger.

Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men - See Psa_119:115. The Hebrew is, “Men of bloods;” that is, men who shed blood. The language is used to denote wicked men in general. The idea here is not that the psalmist was in danger from them at that time, but that he desired to be separate from that class of people; he did not wish to be ranked with them, to partake of their conduct, or to share in their fate. He had no sympathy with them, and he desired to be separate from them altogether.

2. Clarke, “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked - The remaining part of this Psalm has no visible connection with the preceding. I rather think it a fragment, or a part of some other Psalm.

3. Gill, “ Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God,.... Since he is God omniscient, and knows where they are, what they have done, are doing, and design to do; and God omnipresent, at hand to lay hold upon them; and God omnipotent, to hold them and inflict due punishment on them; this is a consequence rightly drawn from the above perfections of God. Or "if thou wilt slay the wicked" (z), then, when I awake, I shall be with thee, as Kimchi connects the words; that is, be at leisure to attend to thy works and wonders, and daily employ myself in the contemplation of them, having no wicked persons near me to molest and disturb me. The word is singular in the original text, "the wicked one"; meaning either Saul, who was David's enemy without a cause, and did very wickedly and injuriously by him, whom he might expect God in due time would take out of the world; though he did not choose to lay his hand on the Lord's anointed, when he was in his power. Jarchi interprets it of Esau, by whom he means Edom or Rome, in the Rabbinic language, that it, the Christians; if he meant no more than the Papal Christians, he may be much in the right; the man of sin, the son of perdition, the wicked one, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his lips, may be intended, the common enemy of Christ and his cause, Isa_11:4. Though it may design a collective body of wicked men; all the followers of antichrist, all the antichristian states, on whom the vials of God's wrath will be poured; and even all the wicked of the earth, all Christ's enemies, that would not have him to reign over them, and none but they; the justice of God will not admit of it to slay the righteous with the wicked, and the omniscience of God will distinguish the one from the other, and separate the precious from the vile;

depart from me therefore, ye bloody men; men guilty of shedding innocent blood, and therefore by the law of God should have their blood shed; such particularly are antichrist and his followers, who deserve to have blood given them to drink, because they have shed the blood of the saints, Rev_16:6; these and such as these the psalmist would have no company or fellowship with, lest he should be corrupted by them, fall into sin, and partake of deserved plagues with them, Rev_18:4. Some consider these as the words of God, and in connection with the former, and by

way of wish, thus, "O that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God" (a); and wouldest say, "depart from me, ye bloody men"; which will be said to the wicked at the last day, and even to such who have made a profession of the name of Christ, Mat_7:23.

4. Henry, “ He concludes from this doctrine that ruin will certainly be the end of sinners. God knows all the wickedness of the wicked, and therefore he will reckon for it: “Surely thou wilt slay

the wicked, O God! for all their wickedness is open before thee, however it may be artfully disguised and coloured over, to hide it from the eye of the world. However thou suffer them to prosper for a while, surely thou wilt slay them at last.”

5. Spurgeon, “Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. There can be no doubt upon that head, for thou hast seen all their transgressions, which indeed have been done in thy presence; and thou hast long enough endured their provocations, which have been so openly manifest before thee. Crimes committed before the face of the Judge are not likely to go unpunished. If the eye of God is grieved with the presence of evil, it is but natural to expect that he will remove the offending object. God who sees all evil will slay all evil. With earthly sovereigns sin may go unpunished for lack of evidence, or the law may be left without execution from lack of vigour in the judge; but this cannot happen in the case of God, the living God. He beareth not the sword in vain. Such is his love of holiness and hatred of wrong, that he will carry on war to the death with those whose hearts and lives are wicked. God will not always suffer his lovely creation to be defaced and defiled by the presence of wickedness: if anything is sure, this is sure, that he will ease him of his adversaries.

Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. Men who delight in cruelty and war are not fit

companions for those who walk with God. David chases the men of blood from his court, for he is

weary of those of whom God is weary. He seems to say -- If God will not let you live with him I

will not have you live with me. You would destroy others, and therefore I want you not in my

society. You will be destroyed yourselves, I desire you not in my service. Depart from me, for you

depart from God. As we delight to have the holy God always near us, so would we eagerly desire

to have wicked men removed as far as possible from us. We tremble in the society of the ungodly

lest their doom should fall upon them suddenly, and we should see them lie dead at our feet. We

do not wish to have our place of intercourse turned into a gallows of execution, therefore let the

condemned be removed out of our company.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 19. Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. The expression,

"bloody men", or "men of blood", includes not only homicides, who shed human blood, but all

other wicked and evil doers, who injure, or seek to injure others, or who slay their own souls by

sin, or the souls of others by scandal; all of whom may be truly called homicides; for hatred may

be called the mainspring of homicide, and thus St. John says, "Whoso hateth his brother is a

homicide." --Robert Bellarmine.

Verse 19. Therefore. When we have a controversy with the wicked we should take heed that

private spleen do not rule us, but that only our interest in God's quarrel with them doth move us,

as the Psalmist doth here. --David Dickson.

How often we wish God was more like us and would just take the swift and easy way for one with

all power. Just wipe them out and be done with the whole mess. Capital punishment for all the

traitors to the King of the universe.

7. Stedman, “Many have asked: Why do these psalmists seem all of a sudden to interject these bloody thoughts? Why this sudden word of passion, "Lord, kill the wicked!" This has troubled many because it seems so far from the ew Testament standard, "Love your enemies; pray for those who despitefully use you; do good to those who injure you." How shall we understand these things? First, we need to recognize that everything that is declared in the Psalms is not necessarily a reflection of God's will. We are listening to the experiences of believers and they do not always reflect God's truth. They honestly mirror man's viewpoint, and we need to understand these passages in the light of their context. In this paragraph the psalmist, having been impressed by his close relationship to God, now, naturally, comes to the place where he asks God for something. That is also what we do. When we are aware of being near to God, being dear to him, we tend to ask God for something. That is what this man does. He asks for two things: First, he asks God to take care of the problem of the wicked. His suggested manner of handling it is rather naive. He says, "Lord, wipe them out," as though such a simple remedy for human ills had never occurred to the Almighty. "Lord, wipe them out, that's all. That will take care of them." Have you ever felt that way? I remember hearing of Mel Trotter, the famous American evangelist, who said, "There are a lot of people I know who are wonderful people. They're going to go to heaven some day, and, oh, how I wish they'd hurry up." We have all felt that way, have we not? One of the refreshing things about these psalms is the honesty they reflect. There are several things we need to note about this: For one thing, this psalmist's request falls short even of the Old Testament standard. It is the Old Testament that first says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself," {Lev 19:18 KJV}. The ew Testament and the Old Testament are not opposed to one another in this matter of moral standards, not in the least. But this man has not yet learned this. In his honesty, he says "Lord, it seems to me the easiest way for you to handle this problem of evil would be to slay the wicked. Why don't you do that?" otice he does not say, "Why don't you let me do it?" He recognizes that vengeance belongs to God and that if anybody is going to do it, and do it right, God alone must do it. So he is not saying, "Lord, let me handle this." That is what many are saying today: "Lord, I'll wipe out the wicked; just turn them over to me. I'll take care of them." But this man does not say that; he is saying, "Lord, it's your problem; why don't you do it?" We can understand why he is so upset by this, because Verse 20 points out he is not concerned about what the wicked do to him but what they do to God. "They maliciously defy thee." In the Hebrew it is even clearer. Literally he is saying, "They speak of thee for wickedness," that is, "they use your name to carry out their evil designs." In effect, he says, "they take thy name in vain for evil." In other words, these are religious hypocrites, and there is nothing more disgusting than religious hypocrites. The sharpest words Jesus ever spoke were against the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who were using God's name for evil. Here is the case of a man who has felt the hatred of Gad against sin, but not yet the love of God for the sinner. That is why, I think, he concludes with these words:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! {Psa 139:23-24 RSV}

Is he not saying, "Lord, I don't understand this problem of evil. It appears to me the easiest way is for you to eliminate the evil man. But Lord, I also know that I don't think very clearly, and I don't often have the right answer. There can easily be in me a way of grief (that is literally what 'wicked' means). I have often found, Lord, that my thoughts are not right. So, Lord, in case I don't have the right remedy for this problem, let me add this prayer: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! See if there be any way of grief in me, and lead me in the truth, the way that leads to everlasting life!" What a wonderful prayer. How often we should pray like this! "Lord, I don't understand what's going on around me, and my solutions may be quite inferior -- may even be wrong. But, Lord, I'll trust you to lead me. Reveal the wickedness that may lie undetected in my own heart, and guide me in the way that leads to fullness of life."

8. Ver. 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. There can be no doubt upon that head, for thou hast seen all their transgressions, which indeed have been done in thy presence; and thou hast long enough endured their provocations, which have been so openly manifest before thee. Crimes committed before the face of the Judge are not likely to go unpunished. If the eye of God is grieved with the presence of evil, it is but natural to expect that he will remove the offending object. God who sees all evil will slay all evil. With earthly sovereigns sin may go unpunished for lack of evidence, or the law may be left without execution from lack of vigour in the judge; but this cannot happen in the case of God, the living God. He beareth not the sword in vain. Such is his love of holiness and hatred of wrong, that he will carry on war to the death with those whose hearts and lives are wicked. God will not always suffer his lovely creation to be defaced and defiled by the presence of wickedness: if anything is sure, this is sure, that he will ease him of his adversaries.

9. CALVI , “If thou shalt slay, etc. It is unnatural to seek, as some have done, to connect this with the preceding verse. or does it seem proper to view the words as expressing a wish -- " I wish," or, "Oh! if thou God wouldst slay the wicked." either can I subscribe to the idea of those who think that David congratulates himself upon the wicked being cut off. The sentiment seems to me to be of another kind, that he would apply himself to the consideration of the divine judgments, and advance in godliness and in the fear of his name, so often as vengeance was taken upon the ungodly. There can be no question that God designs to make an example of them, that his elect ones may be taught by their punishment to withdraw themselves from their society. David was of himself well disposed to the fear and worship of God, and yet he needed a certain check, like other saints, as Isaiah says, (Isaiah 26:9,) "when God has sent abroad his judgments, the inhabitants of the earth shall learn righteousness," that is, to remain in the fear of the Lord. At the same time, I have no doubt that the Psalmist presents himself before God as witness of his integrity; as if he had said, that he came freely and ingenuously to God's bar, as not being one of the wicked despisers of his name, nor having any connection with them.

20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.

1. Barnes, “For they speak against thee wickedly - This is one form or manifestation of their character as wicked people, that they speak maliciously against God. The psalmist, therefore, desired to have nothing to do with them. It is always a sufficient reason for avoiding the society, the friendship, and the fellowship of others, when they profane, blaspheme, or calumniate the name of God. From such men we should at once withdraw. Piety shrinks from the society of such men, whatever may be their rank, or their social qualities, and turns away in pain, in sorrow, in abhorrence. See the notes at Psa_26:9.

And thine enemies take thy name in vain - It is proof that they are thine enemies that they take thy name in vain, or that they are profane men; it is a sufficient reason for desiring to be separated from them.

2. Clarke, “Thine enemies take thy name in vain - Bishop Horsley translates the whole verse thus: -

“They have deserted me who are disobedient to thee;“They who are sworn to a rash purpose - thy refractory adversaries.”

The original is obscure: but I cannot see these things in it. Some translate the Hebrew thus: “Those who oppose thee iniquitously seize unjustly upon thy cities;” and so almost all the Versions. The words, thus translated, may apply to Sanballat, Tobiah, and the other enemies of the returned Jews, who endeavored to drive them from the land, that they might possess the cities of Judea.

3. Gill, “ For they speak against thee wickedly,.... Against his being, his perfections, his purposes, his providences, his doctrines, ordinances, ministers, and people; or "they speak of thee for wickedness" (b), they made mention of the name of God to cover their wickedness, pretending to fear God and love him, to have a reverence of him and serve him, putting on a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;

and thine enemies take thy name in vain: either by profane swearing, or by false swearing. The Targum interprets both clauses of swearing deceitfully and vainly; or "he", that is, everyone that is "lifted up to vanity are thine enemies" (c), whose hearts are lifted up to vanity, idols, riches, self-righteousness, sensual lusts and pleasures; these are the enemies of God, are estranged from him, hold friendship with the world, harbour his enemies, love what he hates, hate what he loves, and commit acts of hostility against him. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "they take thy cities in vain".

4.Henry, “The reason why God will punish them, because they daringly affront him and set him at defiance (Psa_139:20): They speak against thee wickedly; they set their mouth against the

heavens (Psa_73:9), and shall be called to account for the hard speeches they have spoken against

him, Jud_1:15. They are his enemies, and declare their enmity by taking his name in vain, as we show our contempt of a man if we make a by-word of his name, and never mention him but in a way of jest and banter. Those that profane the sacred forms of swearing or praying by using them in an impertinent irreverent manner take God's name in vain, and thereby show themselves enemies to him. Some make it to be a description of hypocrites: “They speak of thee for mischief; they talk of God, pretending to piety, but it is with some ill design, for a cloak of maliciousness;

and, being enemies to God, while they pretend friendship, they take his name in vain; they swear falsely.” 2. The use David makes of this prospect which he has of the ruin of the wicked. (1.) He defies them: “Depart from me, you bloody men; you shall not debauch me, for I will not admit your friendship nor have fellowship with you; and you cannot destroy me, for, being under God's protection, he shall force you to depart from me.”

5. Spurgeon, “For they speak against thee wickedly. Why should I bear their company when their talk sickens me? They vent their treasons and blasphemies as often as they please, doing so without the slightest excuse or provocation; let them therefore be gone, where they may find a more congenial associate than I can be. When men speak against God they will be sure to speak against us, if they find it serve their turn; hence godless men are not the stuff out of which true friends can ever be made. God gave these men their tongues, and they turn them against their Benefactor, wickedly, from sheer malice, and with great perverseness.

And thine enemies take thy name in vain. This is their sport: to insult Jehovah's glorious name is

their amusement. To blaspheme the name of the Lord is a gratuitous wickedness in which there

can be no pleasure, and from which there can be no profit. This is a sure mark of the "enemies"

of the Lord, that they have the impudence to assail his honour, and treat his glory with

irreverence. How can God do other than slay them? How can we do other than withdraw from

every sort of association with them? What a wonder of sin it is that men should rail against so

good a Being as the Lord our God! The impudence of those who talk wickedly is a singular fact,

and it is the more singular when we reflect that the Lord against whom they speak is all around

them, and lays to heart every dishonour which they render to his holy name. We ought not to

wonder that men slander and deride us, for they do the same with the Most High God.

6. Treasury of David, “Verse 20. Thine enemies take thy name in vain. In every action three things

are considerable, -- the end, the agent, the work. These three duly weighed, we shall soon see

what it is to take God's name in vain.

1. That which hath no end proposed or is done to no end, may truly be said to be done in

vain. As the sowing of seed without reaping the fruit, the planting a vineyard without a

vintage, or feeding a flock without eating the milk of it. These are labours in vain. So he

that taketh the name of God to no end, neither to God's glory, nor the private or public

good, taketh it in vain. Cui bono? is a question in all undertakings. If to no good, as good

and better not undertaken at all; it is to no end, it is in vain. If a man have well fashioned

legs, and they be lame, frustra pulchras habet tibia claudus, the lame man hath them in

vain. The chief end, therefore, in taking this name must be,

a. The glory of God, otherwise we open our mouths in vain, as it is in Job. God is

willing to impart all his blessings to us, and requires nothing of as again but glory,

which if we return not, he may say, as David did of abal, for whom he had done

many good turns, in securing his shepherds and flocks, etc.; and when he desired

nothing but a little meat for the young men he denied it: All that I have done for

this fellow is in vain; in vain have I kept all he hath. So, God having done so much

for us, and expecting nothing but the glory of his name, if we be defective herein, he

may well say all that he hath done for us is in vain.

b) ext to God's glory is the good of ourselves and others; and so to take God's name without

reference to this end, if we neither promote our own good nor the good of others, it is in vain, ex

privatione finis, because it wants a right end; therefore Saint Paul rejoiced, having by his

preaching laboured for the saving of souls,

c) rejoice, saith he, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

1. In the agent the heart and soul is to be considered, which in the person acting is the chief

mover. If the soul be Rachah, vain and light, as when we take God's name without due

advice and reverence, though we propound a right end, yet we take his name in vain.

Therefore the wise man advises "not to be rash with our mouth" (Ecclesiastes 5:2); and

the Psalmist professes that his heart was fixed when he praised God (Psalms 57:7): the

heart ought to be fixed and stablished by a due consideration of God's greatness when we

speak of him. This is opposed to rashness, inconstancy, and lightness, such as are in chaff

and smoke, which are apt to be carried away with every blast, and such as are so qualified

do take God's name in vain.

2. In the work itself may be a twofold vanity, which must be avoided. Firstly, Falsehood.

Secondly, Injustice.

a. If it be false, then is it also vain, as theirs in Isaiah 28:15: "We have made a

covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing

scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our

refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." And this is that actio erroris,

work of error, of which Jeremiah speaketh. Vanitas opponitur veritati, vanity is

opposed to verity and truth; therefore a thing is said to be vain when it is false or

erroneous. "They are vanity, the work of errors", saith the prophet (Jeremiah

10:15); and as there is truth in natural things, so is there a truth in moral things,

which if it be wanting, our speech is vain.

b) If unjust it is vain too. "If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?" saith holy Job 9:29; and,

"The very hope of unjust men perisheth", saith the wise man (Pr 11:7); and, "They walk in a

vain shadow, and disquiet themselves in vain" (Psalms 39:6). If justice be wanting in our actions,

or truth in our assertions and promises, they are vain; and to use God's name in either is to take

his name in vain. So that if either we take the name of God to no end, but make it common, and

take it up as a custom till it come to a habit, not for any good end; or if our hearts be not stable or

fixed, but light and inconstant when we take it; or if we take it to colour or bolster up any

falsehood or any unjust act, we take it in vain, and break the commandment. -- Lancelot

Andrews.

Ver. 20. For they speak against thee wickedly. Why should I bear their company when their talk sickens me? They vent their treasons and blasphemies as often as they please, doing so without the slightest excuse or provocation; let them therefore be gone, where they may find a more

congenial associate than I can be. When men speak against God they will be sure to speak against us, if they find it serve their turn; hence godless men are not the stuff out of which true friends can ever be made. God gave these men their tongues, and they turn them against their Benefactor, wickedly, from sheer malice, and with great perverseness.

And thine enemies take thy name in vain. This is their sport: to insult Jehovah's glorious name is their amusement. To blaspheme the name of the Lord is a gratuitous wickedness in which there can be no pleasure, and from which there can be no profit. This is a sure mark of the "enemies" of the Lord, that they have the impudence to assail his honour, and treat his glory with irreverence. How can God do other than slay them? How can we do other than withdraw from every sort of association with them? What a wonder of sin it is that men should rail against so good a Being as the Lord our God! The impudence of those who talk wickedly is a singular fact, and it is the more singular when we reflect that the Lord against whom they speak is all around them, and lays to heart every dishonour which they render to his holy name. We ought not to wonder that men slander and deride us, for they do the same with the Most High God.

7. Calvin, “20. Who have spoken of thee wickedly. He intimates the extent to which the wicked proceed when God spares them, and forbears to visit them with vengeance. They not merely conclude that they may perpetrate any crime with impunity, but openly blaspheme their Judge. He takes notice of their speaking wickedly, in the sense of their taking no pains to disguise their sin under plausible pretences, as persons who have some shame remaining will exercise a certain restraint upon their language, but they make no secret of the contempt they entertain for God. The second clause, where he speaks of their taking God's name falsely, some have interpreted too restrictedly with reference to their sin of perjury. Those,come nearer the truth who consider that the wicked are spoken of as taking God's name in vain, when they conceive of him according to their own idle fancies. We see from experience, that most men are ignorant of what God is, and judge of him rather as one dead than alive. In words they all acknowledge him to be judge of the world, but the acknowledgment comes to nothing, as they straightway denude him of his office of judgment, which is to take God's name in vain, by tarnishing the glory of it, and, in a manner, deforming it. But as name is not in the original, and asn, nasa, means to lift Up, or on high, I think we are warranted rather to interpret the passage as meaning', that they carried themselves with an arrogant and false pride. This elation or haughtiness of spirit is almost always allied with that petulance of which he. had previously taken notice. What other reason can be given for their vending such poisonous rancour against God, but pride, and forgetfulness, on the one hand, of their own insignificance as men, and on the other, of the power which belongeth unto the Lord? On this account he calls them God's adversaries, for all who exalt themselves above the place which they should occupy, act the part of the giants who warred against heaven.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?

1. Barnes, “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? - This is in the consciousness of the

psalmist a proof of his own real piety, as derived from his feelings toward those who were the enemies of God. The word hate here, as applied to them, must be understood in the sense that he disapproved of their conduct; that he did not desire to be associated with them; that he wished to avoid their society, and to find his friends among men of a different character. See the notes at Psa_1:1. Compare Isa_5:5.And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? - The expression here - “grieved”

- explains the meaning of the word “hate” in the former member of the verse. It is not that hatred which is followed by malignity or ill-will; it is that which is accompanied with grief - pain of heart - pity - sorrow. So the Saviour looked on people: Mar_3:5 : “And when he had looked round about on them with “anger,” being “grieved” for the hardness of their hearts.” The Hebrew word used here, however, contains “also” the idea of being disgusted with; of loathing; of nauseating. See the notes at Psa_119:158. The feeling referred to is anger - conscious disgust - at such conduct; and grief, pain, sorrow, that people should evince such feelings toward their Maker.

2. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?.... Wicked men are haters of God; of his word, both law and Gospel; of his ordinances, ways, and worship; of his people, cause, and interest; and therefore good men hate them: not as men, as the creatures of God, and as their fellow creatures, whom they are taught by the Gospel to love, to do good unto, and pray for; but as haters of God, and because they are so; not their persons, but their works; and for the truth of this the omniscient God is appealed unto;

and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? as wicked men do, in their hearts, in their words, and in their actions. They rebel against God, and contend with him, which is folly and madness; and this is grieving to good men, because of their insolence and impudence, the ruin and destruction they expose themselves to, and the dishonour done to God: and this arises from their great love and strong affection for him, not being able to bear such behaviour to him; as a man is filled with grief and indignation when another rises up against his father or his friend; see Psa_119:136.

3. Henry, “He detests them (Psa_139:21, Psa_139:22): “Lord, thou knowest the heart, and canst witness for me; do not I hate those that hate thee, and for that reason, because they hate thee? I hate them because I love thee, and hate to see such affronts and indignities put upon thy blessed name. Am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee, grieved to see their rebellion and to foresee their ruin, which it will certainly end in?” Note, Sin is hated, and sinners are lamented, by all that fear God. “I hate them” (that is, “I hate the work of them that turn aside,” as he explains himself, Psa_101:3) “with a sincere and perfect hatred; I count those that are enemies to God as enemies to me, and will not have any intimacy with them,” Psa_69:8.

4. Spurgeon, “ Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? He was a good hater, for he hated

only those who hated good. Of this hatred he is not ashamed, but he sets it forth as a virtue to

which he would have the Lord bear testimony. To love all men with benevolence is our duty; but to

love any wicked man with complacency would be a crime. To hate a man for his own sake, or

forany evil done to us, would be wrong; but to hate a man because he is the foe of all goodness

and the enemy of all righteousness, is nothing more nor less than an obligation. He is hateful and

proud of it. He hates God-haters. It is the best kind of hater who hates what is evil, for that is

Godlike.

The more we love God the more indignant shall we grow with those who refuse him their

affection. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha." Truly,

"jealousy is cruel as the grave." The loyal subject must not be friendly to the traitor.

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? He appeals to heaven that he took no

pleasure in those who rebelled against the Lord; but, on the contrary, he was made to mourn by a

sight of their ill behaviour. Since God is everywhere, he knows our feelings towards the profane

and ungodly, and he knows that so far from approving such characters the very sight of them is

grievous to our eyes.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 21. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? The simple future in

the first clause comprehends several distinct shades of meaning. Do I not, may I not, must I not,

hate those hating thee? Hate them, not as man hates, but as God hates. --Joseph Addison

Alexander.

Verse 21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? Can he who thinks good faith the holiest

thing in life, avoid being an enemy to that man who, as quaestor, dared to despoil, desert, and

betray? Can he who wishes to pay due honours to the immortal gods, by any means avoid being

an enemy to that man who has plundered all their temples? -- Cicero.

Verse 21. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? The expression here --

"grieved" -- explains the meaning of the word "hate" in the former member of the verse. It is not

that hatred which is followed by malignity or ill will; it is that which is accompanied with grief, pain

of heart, pity, sorrow. So the Saviour looked on men: Mark 3:5: -- "And when he had looked

round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." The Hebrew

word used here, however, contains also the idea of being disgusted with; of loathing; of

nauseating. The feeling referred to is anger -- conscious disgust -- at such conduct; grief, pain,

sorrow, that men should evince such feelings towards their Maker. --Albert Barnes.

Verse 21. Am not I grieved? etc. Acted upon by mingled feelings of sorrow for them, and loathing

at their evil practices. Thus our Lord "looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for

the hardness of their hearts": Mark 3:5. -- French and Skinner.

Verse 21. It is said that Adam Smith disliked nothing more than that moral apathy -- that

obtuseness of moral perception -- which prevents man from not only seeing clearly, but feeling

strongly, the broad distinction between virtue and vice, and which, under the pretext of liberality,

is all indulgent even to the blackest crimes. At a party at Dalkeith Palace, where Mr. ----, in his

mawkish way, was finding palliations for some villainous transactions, the doctor waited in patient

silence until he was gone, then exclaimed: "Now I can breathe more freely. I cannot bear that

man; he has no indignation in him."

Verse 21-22. A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies,

with his master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and

maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their

sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the

men, on account of the vices they practise; nor to love the vices, for the sake of the men who

practise them. He who observeth invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and

hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him. --George Horne.

Verse 21-22. First, we must hate the company and society of manifest and obstinate sinners,

who will not be reclaimed. Secondly, all their sins, not communicating with any man in his sin, we

must have no fellowship (as with the workers so) with the unfruitful works of darkness. Thirdly, all

occasions and inducements unto these sins. Fourthly, all appearances of wickedness

(1 Thessalonians 5:22 ), that is, which men in common judgment account evil; and all this must

proceed from a good ground, even from a good heart hating sin perfectly, that is all sin, as David,

"I hate them with perfect hatred", and not as some, who can hate some sin, but cleave to some

other: as many can hate pride, but love covetousness or some other darling sin: but we must

attain to the hatred of all, before we can come to the practice of this precept (Jude 1:23); besides

that, all sins are hateful even in themselves. --William Perkins, 1558-1602.

Verse 21, 24. The temper of mourning for public sins, for the sins of others, is the greatest note

of sincerity. When all other signs of righteousness may have their exceptions, this temper is the

utmost term, which we cannot go beyond in our self examination. The utmost prospect David had

of his sincerity, when he was upon a diligent enquiry after it, was his anger and grief for the sin of

others. When he had reached so far, he was at a stand, and knew not what more to add "Am not I

grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine

enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there

be any wicked way in me." If there be anything that better can evidence my sincerity than this,

Lord, acquaint me with it; "know my heart", i.e., make me to know it. He whose sorrow is only for

matter confined within his own breast, or streams with it in his life, has reason many times to

question the truth of it; but when a man cannot behold sin as sin in another without sensible

regret, it is a sign he hath savingly felt the bitterness of it in his own soul. It is a high pitch and

growth, and a consent between the Spirit of God and the soul of a Christian, when he can lament

those sins in others whereby the Spirit is grieved; when he can rejoice with the Spirit rejoicing,

and mourn with the Spirit mourning. This is a clear testimony that we have not self ends in the

service of God; that we take not up religion to serve a turn; that God is our aim, and Christ our

beloved. --Stephen Charnock.

Ver. 21. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? Can he who thinks good faith the holiest thing in

life, avoid being an enemy to that man who, as quaestor, dared to despoil, desert, and betray? Can he

who wishes to pay due honours to the immortal gods, by any means avoid being an enemy to that man

who has plundered all their temples? —Cicero.

Ver. 21. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? The expression here—"grieved" —

explains the meaning of the word "hate" in the former member of the verse. It is not that hatred which

is followed by malignity or ill will; it is that which is accompanied with grief, pain of heart, pity,

sorrow. So the Saviour looked on men: Mr 3:5: —"And when he had looked round about on them with

anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." The Hebrew word used here, however, contains

also the idea of being disgusted with; of loathing; of nauseating. The feeling referred to is anger—

conscious disgust—at such conduct; grief, pain, sorrow, that men should evince such feelings towards

their Maker. —Albert Barnes.

Ver. 21-22. A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his

master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A

good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God

made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men, on account of the

vices they practise; nor to love the vices, for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observeth

invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his

neighbour abiding in him. —George Horne.

Most of us have been brought up to believe that we should always say 'nice/kind' things to others. Can

you remember your mother/father saying something like 'If you can't say something nice, don't say

anything!?'

I'm suggesting, however, on the basis of this psalm, that it's OK sometimes NOT to say nice, kind

things. This psalmist was MAD, very mad, and he felt free to express this to God...

6. Calvin, “21. Shall I not hold in hatred those that hate thee? He proceeds to mention how greatly he had profited by the meditation upon God into which he had been led, for, as the effect, of his having realized his presence before God's bar, and reflected upon the impossibility of escaping the eye of him who searches all deep places, he now lays down his resolution to lead a holy and pious life. In declaring his hatred of those who despised God, he virtually asserts thereby his own integrity, not as being free from all sin, but as being devoted to godliness, so that he detested in his heart everything which was contrary to it. Our attachment to godliness must be inwardly defective, if it do not generate an abhorrence of sin, such as David here speaks of. If that zeal for the house of the Lord, which he mentions elsewhere, (Psalm 69:9,) burn in our hearts, it would be an unpardonable indifference silently to look on when his righteous law was violated, nay, when his holy name was trampled upon by the wicked. As to the last word in the verse, jwq, kut, means to dispute with, or contend, and may be understood as here retaining' the same sense in the Hithpael conjugation, unless we consider David to have more particularly meant, that he inflamed himself so as to stir up his mind to contend with them. We thus see that he stood forward strenuously in defense of the glory of God, regardless of the hatred of the whole world, and waged war with all the workers of iniquity.

22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

1. Barnes, “I hate them with perfect hatred - With no approval whatever of their conduct; with no sympathy for the evil they do; with no words of apology for their sinful acts; with entire disapprobation.I count them mine enemies - As they are the enemies of God, so I regard them as my enemies. I

do not wish to be associated with them, or to be regarded as one of them.

2. Clarke, “With perfect hatred - Their conduct, their motives, their opposition to thee, their perfidy and idolatrous purposes, I perfectly abhor. With them I have neither part, interest, nor affection.

3. Gill, “I hate them with perfect hatred,.... Heartily and really; not in word only, but in deed and in truth; "odio vatiniano", with consummate hatred: this is an answer to his own question;

I count them mine enemies; being the enemies of God: the friends of God were David's friends, as angels and good men, and God's enemies were his; their friends and enemies, were common; so closely allied and attached were they to each other, as God and all good men are.

4. Spurgeon, “I hate them with perfect hatred. He does not leave it a matter of question. He does

not occupy a neutral position. His hatred to bad, vicious, blasphemous men is intense, complete,

energetic. He is as whole hearted in his hate of wickedness as in his love of goodness.

I count them mine enemies. He makes a personal matter of it. They may have done him no ill, but if they are doing despite to God, to his laws, and to the great principles of truth and righteousness, David proclaims war against them. Wickedness passes men into favour with unrighteous spirits; but it excludes them from the communion of the just. We pull up the drawbridge and man the walls when a man of Belial goes by our castle. His character is a casus belli; we cannot do otherwise than contend with those who contend with God.

5. Treasury of David, “I hate them with perfect hatred. What is "with a perfect hatred"? I hated in

them their iniquities, I loved thy creation. This it is to hate with a perfect hatred, that neither on

account of the vices thou hate the men, nor on account of the men love the vices. For see what he

addeth, "They became my enemies." Not only as God's enemies, but as his own too doth he now

describe them. How then will he fulfil in them both his own saying, "Have not I hated those that

hated thee, Lord", and the Lord's command, "Love your enemies"? How will he fulfil this, save

with that perfect hatred, that he hate in them that they are wicked, and love that they are men?

For in the time even of the Old Testament, when the carnal people was restrained by visible

punishments, how did Moses, the servant of God, who by understanding belonged to the New

Testament, how did he hate sinners when he prayed for them, or how did he not hate them when

he slew them, save that he "hated them with a perfect hatred"? For with such perfection did he

hate the iniquity which he punished, as to love the manhood for which he prayed. --Augustine.

Ver. 22. I hate them with perfect hatred. He does not leave it a matter of question. He does not occupy a

neutral position. His hatred to bad, vicious, blasphemous men is intense, complete, energetic. He is as

whole hearted in his hate of wickedness as in his love of goodness.

6. CALVIN, “I hate them with perfect hatred. Literally it is, I hate them with perfection of hatred. He

repeats the same truth as formerly, that such was his esteem for God's glory that he would have nothing'

in common with those who despised him. He means in general that he gave no countenance to the

works of darkness, for whoever connives at sin and encourages it through silence, wickedly betrays

God's cause, who has committed the vindication of righteousness into our hands. David's example

should teach us to rise with a lofty and bold spirit above all regard to the enmity of the wicked, when

the question concerns the honor of God, and rather to renounce all earthly friendships than falsely

pander with flattery to the favor of those who do everything to draw down upon themselves the divine

displeasure. We have the more need to attend to this, because the keen sense we have of what concerns

our private interest, honor, and convenience, makes us never hesitate to engage in contest when any one

injures ourselves, while we are abundantly timid and cowardly in defending the glory of God. Thus, as

each of us studies his own interest and advantage, the only thing which incites us to contention, strife,

and war, is a desire to avenge our private wrongs; none is affected when the majesty of God is

outraged. On the other hand, it is a proof of our having a fervent zeal for God when we have the

magnanimity to declare irreconcilable war with the wicked and them who hate God, rather than court

their favor at the expense of alienating the divine layout. We are to observe, however, that the hatred of

which the Psalmist speaks is directed to the sins rather than the persons of the wicked. We are,

so far as lies in us, to study peace with all men; we are to seek the good of all, and, if possible, they are

to be reclaimed by kindness and good offices: only so far as they are enemies to God we must

strenuously confront their resentment.

He opens his heart to God, for he wants God to test him and know what makes him anxious so he can

be comforted. He opens up to the purifying light of God’s love to cleanse all that is not acceptable. If

his hate goes beyond what is right, he wants God to heal and change him.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

1. Barnes, “Search me, O God - The word “search” here is the same as in Psa_139:1. See the notes at that verse. The psalmist had stated the fact that it is a characteristic of God that he “does” search the heart; and he here prays that God “would” exercise that power in relation to himself; that as God could know all that there is within the heart, he would examine him with the closest scrutiny, so that he might be under no delusion or self-deception; that he might not indulge in any false hopes; that he might not cherish any improper feelings or desires. The prayer denotes great “sincerity” on the part of the psalmist. It indicates also self-distrust. It is an expression of what all must feel who have any just views of themselves - that the heart is very corrupt; that we are liable to deceive ourselves; and that the most thorough search “should” be made that we be “not” deceived and lost.

And know my heart - Know or see all that is within it.

Try me - As metal is tried or proved that is put to a “test” to learn what it is. The trial here is that which would result from the divine inspection of his heart.

And know my thoughts - See what they are. The word rendered “thoughts” occurs only in one other place, Psa_94:19. The idea is, Search me thoroughly; examine not merely my outward conduct, but what I think about; what are my purposes; what passes through my mind; what occupies my imagination and my memory; what secures my affections and controls my will. He must be a very sincere man who prays that God will search his thoughts, for there are few who would be willing that their fellow-men, even their best friends, should know all that they are thinking about.

2. Gill, “Search me, O God, and know my heart,.... He had searched him, and knew his heart thoroughly;

try me, and know my thoughts; he had tried him, and knew every thought in him, Psa_139:1. This therefore is not said for the sake of God; who, though he is the trier of hearts, and the searcher of the reins, is indeed a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart at once, and knows immediately what is in man; and needs no testimony of him, nor to make use of any means in order to know him and what is within him: but David said this for his own sake, that God would search and make known to him what was in his heart, and try him by his word, as gold is tried in the fire; or by anything difficult and self-denying, as he tried Abraham; or by any afflictive providence; or in any way he thought fit to make him acquainted thoroughly with himself. His sense is this, that if he knew his own heart and thoughts, and the inward frame and disposition of his soul, it was as he had expressed it; that he was grieved with sinners, and hated those that hated the Lord, even with a perfect hatred, and reckoned them as his enemies; but if it was otherwise, he desired to be searched and tried thoroughly, that it might be discovered: and he might say this also on account of others, who charged him falsely with things he was not conscious of; that never entered into his thoughts, and his heart knew nothing of, and could not accuse him with; and therefore he appeals to the heart searching God, that he would so lay open things that his integrity and innocence might appear to all; see Gen_22:1.

3. Henry, “He appeals to God concerning his sincerity, Psa_139:23, Psa_139:24. 1. He desires that as far as he was in the wrong God would discover it to him. Those that are upright can take comfort in God's omniscience as a witness of their uprightness, and can with a humble confidence beg of him to search and try them, to discover them to themselves (for a good man desires to know the worst of himself) and to discover them to others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast that any man may look into his heart: “Lord, I hope I am not in a wicked way, but see if there be any wicked way in me, any corrupt inclination remaining; let me see it; and root it out of me, for I do not allow it.” 2. He desires that, as far as he was in the right, he might be forwarded in it, which he that knows the heart knows how to do effectually: Lead me

in the way everlasting. ote, (1.) The way of godliness is an everlasting way; it is everlastingly true and good, pleasing to God and profitable to us, and will end in everlasting life. It is the way of

antiquity (so some), the good old way. (2.) All the saints desire to be kept and led in this way, that they may not miss it, turn out of it, nor tire in it.

4. Spurgeon, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men. He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had need be a true man who can put himself deliberately into such a crucible. Yet we may each one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered.

Try me, and know my thoughts. Exercise any and every test upon me. By fire and by water let me

be examined. Read not alone the desires of my heart, but the fugitive thoughts of my head. Know

with all penetrating knowledge all that is or has been in the chambers of my mind. What a mercy

that there is one being who can know us to perfection! He is intimately at home with us. He is

graciously inclined towards us, and is willing to bend his omniscience to serve the end of our

sanctification. Let us pray as David did, and let us be as honest as he. We cannot hide our sin:

salvation lies the other way, in a plain discovery of evil, and an effectual severance from it.

5. Treasury of David, “Verse 23. Try me. True faith is precious; it is like gold, it will endure a trial.

Presumption is but a counterfeit, and cannot abide to be tried: 1 Peter 1:7 . A true believer fears

no trial. He is willing to be tried by God. He is willing to have his faith tried by others, he shuns

not the touchstone. He is much in testing himself. He would not take anything upon trust,

especially that which is of such moment. He is willing to hear the worst as well as the best. That

preaching pleases him best which is most searching and distinguishing: Heb 4:12. He is loath to

be deluded with vain hopes. He would not be flattered into a false conceit of his spiritual state.

When trials are offered, he complies with the apostle's advice, 2 Corinthians 13:5 . --David

Clarkson.

Verse 23. What fearful dilemma have we here? The Holiest changeth not, when he comes a visitant

to a human heart. He is the same there that he is in the highest heaven. He cannot look upon sin;

and how can a human heart welcome him into its secret chambers? How can the blazing fire

welcome the quenching water? It is easy to commit to memory the seemly prayer of an ancient

penitent, Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts. The dead

letters, worn smooth by frequent use, may drop freely from callous lips, leaving no sense of

scalding on the conscience; and yet, truth of God though they are, they may be turned into a lie in

the act of utterance. The prayer is not true, although it is borrowed from the Bible, if the

suppliant invite the All seeing in, and yet would give a thousand worlds, if he had them, to keep

him out for ever.

Christ has declared the difficulty, and solved it: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man

cometh unto the Father, but by me." When the Son has made the sinner free, he is free indeed.

The dear child, pardoned and reconciled, loves and longs for the Father's presence. What! is

there neither spot nor wrinkle now upon the man, that he dares to challenge inspection by the

Omniscient, and to offer his heart as Jehovah's dwelling place? He is not yet so pure; and well he

knows it. The groan is bursting yet from his broken heart: "O wretched man that I am! Who

shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Many stains defile him yet; but he loathes them

now, and longs to be free. The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not

that the one has sins, and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins

against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins. He

is out with his former friends, and in with his former adversary. Conversion is a turning, and it

is one turning only; but it produces simultaneously and necessarily two distinct effects. Whereas

his face was formerly turned away from God, and toward his own sins; it is now turned away

from his own sins, and toward God. This one turning, with its twofold result, is in Christ the

Mediator, and through the work of the Spirit.

As long as God is my enemy, I am his. I have no more power to change that condition than the

polished surface has to refrain from reflecting the sunshine that falls upon it. It is God's love,

from the face of Jesus shining into my dark heart, that makes my heart open to him, and delight

to be his dwelling place. The eyes of the just Avenger I cannot endure to be in this place of sin;

but the eye of the compassionate Physician I shall gladly admit into this place of disease; for he

comes from heaven to earth that he may heal such sin sick souls as mine. When a disciple desires

to be searched by the living God, he does not thereby intimate that there are no sins in him to be

discovered: he intimates rather that his foes are so many and so lively, that nothing can subdue

them except the presence and power of God. --William Arnot (--1875), in "Laws from Heaven for

Life on Earth."

Verse 23-24. There are several things worthy of notice in the Psalmist's appeal, in the words before

us. First, notice the Psalmist's intrepidity. Here is a man determined to explore the recesses of his

own heart. Did Bonaparte, did elson, did Wellington, ever propose to do this? Were all the

renowned heroes of antiquity present, I would ask them all if they ever had courage to enter into

their own hearts. David was a man of courage. When he slew a lion in the way, when he

successfully encountered a bear, when he went out to meet the giant Goliath, he gave undoubted

proofs of courage; but never did he display such signal intrepidity as when he determined to look

into his own heart. If you stood upon some eminence, and saw all the ravenous and venomous

creatures that ever lived collected before you, it would not require such courage to combat them

as to combat with your own heart. Every sin is a devil, and each may say, "My name is Legion,

for we are many." Who knows what it is to face himself? And yet, if we would be saved, this must

be done.

Secondly, notice the Psalmist's integrity. He wished to know all his sins, that he might be

delivered from them. As every individual must know his sins at some period, a wise man will seek

to know them here, because the present is the only time in which to glorify God, by confessing, by

renouncing, by overcoming them. One of the attributes of sin is to hide man from himself, to

conceal his deformity, to prevent him from forming a just conception of his true condition. It is a

solemn fact, that there is not an evil principle in the bosom of the devil himself which does not

exist in ours, at the present moment, unless we are fully renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That these evil principles do not continually develop themselves, in all their hideous deformity, is

entirely owing to the restraining and forbearing mercy of God.

Thirdly, notice the Psalmist's wisdom. He presents his prayer to God himself. God is the only

Being in the universe that knows himself -- that peruses himself in his own light. In the same light

he sees all other beings; and hence it follows that, if other beings seethemselves truly, it must be in

the light of God. If the sun were an intelligent being, I would ask him, "How do you see yourself?

In your own light?" And he would reply, "Yes." "And how do you see the planets that are

continually revolving around you?" "In my own light also, for all the light that is in them is

borrowed from me".

light also, for all the light that is in them is borrowed from me".

You will observe that the Psalmist begins with his principles: his desire is to have these tried by a

competent judge, and to have every thing that is evil removed from them. This is an evidence of

his wisdom. The heart and its thoughts must be made right, before the actions of the life can be

set right. Those who are most eminent for piety are most conversant with God; and, for this

reason, they become most conversant with themselves. David says, elsewhere, "Who can

understand his errors? Cleanse THOU me from secret faults." And Job says, "If I wash myself

with snow water, and make me never so clean, yet shalt THOU plunge me in the ditch, and mine

own clothes shall abhor me." When these holy men perused themselves in God's light, they saw

their sins of omission and commission, and prayed earnestly to be delivered from all. -- William

Howels, 1832.

Verse 23-24. The text is a prayer, and it indicates, as we think, three great facts in regard to the

suppliant: the first, that David thoroughly wished to become acquainted with himself; the second,

that he felt conscious that God could see through all disguises; and the third, that he desired to

discover, in order that by Divine help he might correct, whatsoever was wrong in his conduct.

ow, the first inference which we draw from the text, when considered as indicating the feelings

of the petitioner is, that he was thoroughly honest, that it was really his wish to become

acquainted with his own heart. And is there, you may say, anything rare or remarkable in this?

Indeed we think there is. It would need, we believe, a very high degree of piety to be able to put

up with sincerity the prayers of our text. For, will you tell me that it does not often happen, that

even whilst men are carrying on a process of self examination, there is a secret wish to remain

ignorant of certain points, a desire not to be proved wrong when interest and inclination combine

in demanding an opposite verdict? ... In searching into yourselves, you know where the tender

points are, and those points you will be apt to avoid, so as not to put yourselves to pain, nor make

it evident how much you need the caustic and the knife. Indeed, we may be sure that we state

nothing but what experience will prove, when we declare it a high attainment in religion to be

ready to know how bad we are ... And this had evidently been reached by the Psalmist, for he

pleads very earnestly with God that he would leave no recess of his spirit unexplored, that he

would bring the heart and all its thoughts, the life and all its ways, under a most searching

examination, so that no form and no degree of evil might fail to be detected. -- Henry Melvill.

Verse 23-24. Self examination is not the simple thing which, at first sight, it might appear. o

Christian who has ever really practised it has found it easy. Is there any exercise of the soul which

any one of us has found so unsatisfactory, so almost impossible, as self examination? The fact is

this, that the heart is so exceedingly complicated and intricate, and it is so very near the eye

which has to investigate it, and both it and the eye are so restless and so shifting, that its deep

anatomy baffles our research. Just a few things, here and there, broad and open, and floating

upon the surface, a man discovers; but there are chambers receding within chambers, in that

deepest of all deep things, a sinner's heart, which no mere human investigation ever will reach, ...

it is the prerogative of God alone to "search" the human heart.

To the child of God -- the most intimate with himself in all the earth -- I do not hesitate to say --

"There are sins latent at this moment in you, of which you have no idea; but it only requires a

larger measure of spiritual illumination to impress and unfold them. You have no idea of the

wickedness that is now in you." But while I say this, let every Christian count well the cost before

he ventures on the bold act of asking God to "search" him. For be sure of this, if you do really

and earnestly ask God to "search" you, he will do it. And he will search you most searchingly;

and if you ask him to "try" you, he will try you, -- and the trial will be no light matter!

I am persuaded that we often little calculate what we are doing -- what we are asking God to do --

when we implore him to give us some spiritual attainment, some growth in grace, some increase

in holiness, or peace. To all these things there is a condition, and that condition lies in a discipline,

and that discipline is generally proportionate to the strength and the measure of the gift that we

ask.

I do not know what may have been the state of the Psalmist at the period when he wrote this

Psalm; but I should think either one of Saul's most cruel persecutions, or the rebellion of his son

Absalom, followed quick upon the traces of that prayer, Search me, O God, and know my heart:

try me, and know my thoughts, etc.

Still, whatever his attainment, every child of God will desire, at any sacrifice, to know his own

exact state before God; for, as he desires in all things to have a mind conformed to the mind of

God, so he is especially jealous lest he should, by any means, be taking a different view, or

estimate, of his own soul from that which God sees it. -- Condensed from James Vaughan.

Verse 23-24. Hypocrisy at the fashionable end of the town is very different from hypocrisy in the city.

The modish hypocrite endeavours to appear more vicious than he really is, the other kind of

hypocrite more virtuous. The former is afraid of everything that has the show of religion in it,

and would be thought engaged in many criminal gallantries and amours which he is not guilty of.

The latter assumes a face of sanctity, and covers a multitude of vices under a seeming religious

deportment.

But there is another kind of hypocrisy, which differs from both of these: I mean that hypocrisy by

which a man does not only deceive the world, but very often imposes on himself; that hypocrisy

which conceals his own heart from him, and makes him believe he is more virtuous than he really

is, and either not attend to his vices, or mistake even his vices for virtues. It is this fatal hypocrisy

and self deceit which is taken notice of in those words, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse

thou me from secret faults."

Verse 23-24. How beautiful is the humility of David! He cannot speak of the wicked but in terms of

righteous indignation; he cannot but hate the haters of his God; yet, he seems immediately to

recollect, and to check himself -- "Try me, O Lord, and seek the ground of my heart." Precisely

in the same spirit of inward humility and self recollection, Abraham, when pleading before God

in prayer for guilty depraved Sodom, fails not to speak of himself, as being dust and ashes:

Genesis 18:27. --James Ford, 1871.

Verse 23-24. Why did David pray thus to God, Search me, O God, and know my heart, having said

before, in the first verse, "Thou hast searched me, and known me"? Seeing David knew that God

had searched him, what needed he to pray that God would search him? why did he beg God to do

that which he had done already? The answer is at hand. David was a diligent self searcher, and

therefore he was so willing to be searched, yea, he delighted to be searched by God; and that not

(as was said) because himself had done it already, but also because he knew God could do it

better. He knew by his own search that he did not live in any way of wickedness against his

knowledge, and yet he knew there might be some way of wickedness in him that he knew not of.

And therefore he doth not only say, "Search me, O God, and know my thoughts"; but he adds,

"See if there be any wicked way (or any way of pain and grief) in me"; (the same word signifies

both, because wicked ways lead in the end to pain and grief); "and lead me in the way

everlasting." As if he had said, Lord, I have searched myself, and can see no wicked way in me;

but, Lord, thy sight is infinitely clearer than mine, and if thou wilt but search me thou mayest see

some wicked way in me which I could not see, and I would fain see and know the worst of myself,

that I might amend and grow better; therefore, Lord, if there be any such way in me, cause me to

know it also. O take that way out of me, and take me out of that way; "lead me in the way

everlasting." David had tried himself, and he would again be tried by God, that he, being better

tried, might become yet better. He found himself gold upon his own trial and yet he feared there

might be some dross in him that he had not found; and now he would be retried that he might

come forth purest gold. Pure gold fears neither the furnace nor the fire, neither the test nor the

touchstone; nor is weighty gold afraid of the balance. He that is weight will be weight, how often

soever he is weighed; he that is gold will be gold, how often soever he is tried, and the oftener he

is tried the purer gold he will be; what he is he will be, and he would be better than he is. --

Joseph Caryl.

6. WESLEY

1 TRY us, O God, and search the groundOf every sinful heart,Whate'er of sin in us is found,O bid it all depart!

2 When to the right or left we stray,Leave us not comfortless;But guide our feet into the wayOf everlasting peace.

3 Help us to help each other, Lord,Each other's cross to bear,

Let each his friendly aid afford,And feel his brother's care.

4 Help us to build each other up,Our little stock improve;Increase our faith, confirm our hope,And perfect us in love.

5 Up into thee, our living Head,Let us in all things grow,Till thou hast made us free indeed,And spotless here below.

6 Then, when the mighty work is wrought,Receive thy ready bride:Give us in heaven a happy lotWith all the sanctified.

7. CALVI , “Search me, O God! He:insists upon this as being the only cause why he opposed the despisers of God, that he himself was a genuine worshipper of God, and desired others to possess the same character. It indicates no common confidence that he should submit, himself so boldly to the judgment of God. But being fully conscious of sincerity in his religion, it was not without due consideration that he placed himself so confidently before God's bar; neither must we think that he claims to be free from all sin, for he groaned under the felt burden of his transgressions. The saints in all that they say of their integrity still depend only upon free grace. Yet persuaded as they are that their godliness is approved before God, notwithstanding their falls and infirmities, we need not wonder that (hey feel themselves at freedom to draw a distinction between themselves and the wicked. While he denies that his heart was double or insincere, he does not profess exemption from all sin, but only that he was not devoted to wickedness; for bue, otseb,

does not mean any sin whatever, but grief, trouble, or pravity -- and sometimes metaphorically an

idol.3 But the last of these meanings will not apply here, for David asserts his freedom not from superstition merely, but unrighteousness, as elsewhere it is said, (Isaiah 59:7,) that in the ways of such men there is "trouble and destruction," because they carry everything by violence and wickedness. Others think the allusion is to a bad conscience, which afflicts the wicked with inward torments, but this is a forced interpretation. Whatever sense we attach to the word, David's meaning simply is, that though he was a man subject to sin, he was not devotedly bent upon the practice of it.

Heart and thought are parallel to the Hebrew mind.

8. Ver. 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart. David is no accomplice with traitors. He has disowned them in set form, and now he appeals to God that he does not harbour a trace of fellowship with them. He will have God himself search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men. He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had need be a true man who can put himself deliberately

into such a crucible. Yet we may each one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered.

As long as God is my enemy, I am his. I have no more power to change that condition than the polished surface has to refrain from reflecting the sunshine that falls upon it. It is God's love, from the face of Jesus shining into my dark heart, that makes my heart open to him, and delight to be his dwelling place. The eyes of the just Avenger I cannot endure to be in this place of sin; but the eye of the compassionate Physician I shall gladly admit into this place of disease; for he comes from heaven to earth that he may heal such sin sick souls as mine. When a disciple desires to be searched by the living God, he does not thereby intimate that there are no sins in him to be discovered: he intimates rather that his foes are so many and so lively, that nothing can subdue them except the presence and power of God. —William Arnot (—1875), in "Laws from Heaven for

Life on Earth."

9. Ver. 23-24. There are several things worthy of notice in the Psalmist's appeal, in the words before us. First, notice the Psalmist's intrepidity. Here is a man determined to explore the recesses of his own heart. Did Bonaparte, did elson, did Wellington, ever propose to do this? Were all the renowned heroes of antiquity present, I would ask them all if they ever had courage to enter into their own hearts. David was a man of courage. When he slew a lion in the way, when he successfully encountered a bear, when he went out to meet the giant Goliath, he gave undoubted proofs of courage; but never did he display such signal intrepidity as when he determined to look into his own heart. If you stood upon some eminence, and saw all the ravenous and venomous creatures that ever lived collected before you, it would not require such courage to combat them as to combat with your own heart. Every sin is a devil, and each may say, "My name is Legion, for we are many." Who knows what it is to face himself? And yet, if we would be saved, this must be done.

You will observe that the Psalmist begins with his principles: his desire is to have these tried by a competent judge, and to have every thing that is evil removed from them. This is an evidence of his wisdom. The heart and its thoughts must be made right, before the actions of the life can be set right. Those who are most eminent for piety are most conversant with God; and, for this reason, they become most conversant with themselves. David says, elsewhere, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse THOU me from secret faults." And Job says, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make me never so clean, yet shalt THOU plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me." When these holy men perused themselves in God's light, they saw their sins of omission and commission, and prayed earnestly to be delivered from all. —William

Howels, 1832.

Ver. 23-24. Self examination is not the simple thing which, at first sight, it might appear. o Christian who has ever really practised it has found it easy. Is there any exercise of the soul which any one of us has found so unsatisfactory, so almost impossible, as self examination? The fact is this, that the heart is so exceedingly complicated and intricate, and it is so very near the eye which has to investigate it, and both it and the eye are so restless and so shifting, that its deep anatomy baffles our research. Just a few things, here and there, broad and open, and floating upon the surface, a man discovers; but there are chambers receding within chambers, in that deepest of all deep things, a sinner's heart, which no mere human investigation ever will reach, ...it is the prerogative of God alone to "search" the human heart. To the child of God—the most intimate with himself in all the earth—I do not hesitate to say

—"There are sins latent at this moment in you, of which you have no idea; but it only requires a larger measure of spiritual illumination to impress and unfold them. You have no idea of the wickedness that is now in you." But while I say this, let every Christian count well the cost before he ventures on the bold act of asking God to "search" him. For be sure of this, if you do really and earnestly ask God to "search" you, he will do it. And he will search you most searchingly; and if you ask him to "try" you, he will try you, —and the trial will be no light matter! I am persuaded that we often little calculate what we are doing— what we are asking God to do—when we implore him to give us some spiritual attainment, some growth in grace, some increase in holiness, or peace. To all these things there is a condition, and that condition lies in a discipline, and that discipline is generally proportionate to the strength and the measure of the gift that we ask. I do not know what may have been the state of the Psalmist at the period when he wrote this Psalm; but I should think either one of Saul's most cruel persecutions, or the rebellion of his son Absalom, followed quick upon the traces of that prayer, Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts, etc. Still, whatever his attainment, every child of God will desire, at any sacrifice, to know his own exact state before God; for, as he desires in all things to have a mind conformed to the mind of God, so he is especially jealous lest he should, by any means, be taking a different view, or estimate, of his own soul from that which God sees it. —Condensed from James Vaughan.

10. Ver. 23-24. Why did David pray thus to God, Search me, O God, and know my heart, having said before, in the first verse, "Thou hast searched me, and known me"? Seeing David knew that God had searched him, what needed he to pray that God would search him? why did he beg God to do that which he had done already? The answer is at hand. David was a diligent self searcher, and therefore he was so willing to be searched, yea, he delighted to be searched by God; and that not (as was said) because himself had done it already, but also because he knew God could do it better. He knew by his own search that he did not live in any way of wickedness against his knowledge, and yet he knew there might be some way of wickedness in him that he knew not of. And therefore he doth not only say, "Search me, O God, and know my thoughts"; but he adds, "See if there be any wicked way (or any way of pain and grief) in me"; (the same word signifies both, because wicked ways lead in the end to pain and grief); "and lead me in the way

everlasting." As if he had said, Lord, I have searched myself, and can see no wicked way in me; but, Lord, thy sight is infinitely clearer than mine, and if thou wilt but search me thou mayest see some wicked way in me which I could not see, and I would fain see and know the worst of myself, that I might amend and grow better; therefore, Lord, if there be any such way in me, cause me to know it also. O take that way out of me, and take me out of that way; "lead me in the way

everlasting." David had tried himself, and he would again be tried by God, that he, being better tried, might become yet better. He found himself gold upon his own trial and yet he feared there might be some dross in him that he had not found; and now he would be retried that he might come forth purest gold. Pure gold fears neither the furnace nor the fire, neither the test nor the touchstone; nor is weighty gold afraid of the balance. He that is weight will be weight, how often soever he is weighed; he that is gold will be gold, how often soever he is tried, and the oftener he is tried the purer gold he will be; what he is he will be, and he would be better than he is. —Joseph Caryl.

11. OUR DAILY BREAD

The Learning Annex, a chain of adult-education schools, says that more than 200,000 people have

completed its popular class on controlling household clutter. Who takes the course? People who keep empty mayonnaise jars, manuals for appliances they no longer have, broken buttons, out-of-date phone books, and keys to houses they lived in 20 years ago.

Household clutter occupies space, saps energy, and creates frustration. Spiritual clutter is much the same-- unresolved conflicts pile up in our hearts; unconfessed sins gather a thick layer of guilt; unspoken prayers litter our minds.

How can we clean out our jumbled lives? God's Word tells us how.

Unresolved conflicts: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault" (Mt. 18:15).

Unconfessed sin: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 Jn. 1:9). Unspoken prayers: "Let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6).

The prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 can be a wonderful beginning as we ask God to search us, point out our wicked ways, and lead us. Choked with clutter? Why not open a cluttered closet of your heart to God today. --DCM

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. –Orr

12. Our Daily Bread, “There's an old phrase that speaks of "excusing the sins we're most inclined to, while condemning those we've no mind to." I was reminded of it recently when I read a survey in which people were asked to indicate who they thought was "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to go to heaven.

An athlete known for his outrageous behavior rated a 28% chance. Four national politicians hovered around the 50% mark. A popular TV talk-show host received a 66% vote. But in the highest rating of all, 87% of the people surveyed believed they themselves would go to heaven!

The standards we have for ourselves are rarely as strict as those we hold for others. They allow us to denounce a drug addict while we remain gossips. In reality, without Christ no one is good enough to go to heaven.

After praying that God would judge His enemies, the psalmist turned the spotlight on himself: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23-24).

It's not wrong to stand against sin wherever it occurs. But it's a tragic mockery of God's grace to judge others harshly while being lenient on ourselves. --DCM

We'd all stand condemned if Christ hadn't paid

The penalty for all our sin;

Let's never forget that only God's grace

Delivered and changed us within. --Sper

Be slow to judge others but quick to judge yourself.

13. Our Daily Bread, “Actor Sylvester Stallone is applauded for his strongman movie roles as Rocky and Rambo. But what is he really like in his personal life? During an interview he honestly admitted, "If I were watching a home movie of my life, I would shake my head in despair and

wonderment. It's a comedy of errors."

Suppose a movie were made of your life or mine. Would it reveal not only errors and poor choices but also a sinful person who doesn't even act like a follower of Christ? Would we be ashamed of some scenes? Would we be motivated, as Stallone says he was, to shift our values and start paying attention to "relationships . . . and putting someone else first"?

Jesus wants to be the "someone else" in our lives whom we put first (Matthew 6:24,33). But how do we do that? It starts with confession of any sin that is between us and Him, and then experiencing the Lord's cleansing and forgiveness (Psalm 32:5). Then we are gradually changed by Him through the work of the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God (Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 4:12). If we make our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ our first priority, He will make us into the kind of people He wants us to be (Philippians 2:3-8). —Vernon Grounds

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. —Orr

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change the people of God.

14. Great Texts, “THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS.

Search me, O God, and know my heart :

Try me, and know my thoughts :

And see if there be any way of wickedness in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting. Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24.

1. o intellectual man has ever dared to despise this poem, which has been called " the crown of all the psalms," and its teaching

has had to be reckoned with by all schools of thought for many centuries. It is one of those pieces of literature which Bacon said

should be "chewed and digested." There is much food for the intellect here ; but to every man who is anxious about the culture

of his spirit we would say : " Test your heart by this psalm. If your heart is of steel, it will be attracted by its teaching, as by a

magnet ; if you find nothing in it to move you to reverence, wonder, penitence, and prayer, be sure that your heart is not true, that

you are in a morally perilous condition."

2. The Psalmist sets forth in poetry what theology calls the doctrine of the Divine Omniscience. He believes in Jehovah, the

God of all the earth, and therefore believes in a Providence so universal that nothing is missed. It is not an intellectual dogma

to him, but a spiritual intuition. It is not stated as an abstraction

of thought, but flows from the warm personal relation between God and man, which is the great revelation of the Bible. God s

providence is everywhere, but it does not dissipate itself in a mere general supervision of creation. It is all-seeing, all-surrounding,

all-embracing, but it is not diffused in matter and dispersed through space. It extends and this is the wonder of it to the individual :

Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

3. The practical ethical thought suggested to the Psalmist by such a conception is the question, How can God, the pure and

holy One, with such an intimate and unerring knowledge, tolerate

158 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

wicked men ? He feels that God cannot but be against evil, no matter what appearances seem to suggest that God does not care.

The doom of evil must be certain ; and so the Psalmist solemnly dissociates himself from the wicked men who hate and blaspheme

God. And the conclusion is simply and humbly to throw open the heart and soul to God, accepting the fact that He cannot be

deceived, praying God to search him and purify him and lead him. " Search me, God, and know my heart : try me, and know my

thoughts : and see if there be any way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

^| In the general reform of conventual and monastic life, the Abbey of Port Eoyal had set a striking example. Behind its

cloistered walls were gathered some of the purest and most devoted women of France, under the strict rule of Mere Ange"lique Arnauld.

The spiritual directions of St. Francois de Sales, who loved the Port-Eoyalists, had tempered firmness with gentleness, and given

a charm to the pursuit of personal holiness ; the Petites Ecoles of the abbey rivalled the educational establishments of the Jesuits.

But St. Cyran, who succeeded Frangois de Sales as spiritual director, was suspected of heresy, and Port Eoyal was involved in

the charge. Persecution fell upon the community. It was to a psalm that they appealed. "The sisters of Port Eoyal," says

Blaise Pascal (and his own sister was one of the first victims of the persecution), " astonished to hear it said that they were in the

way of perdition, that their confessors were leading them to Geneva by teaching them that Jesus Christ was neither in the Eucharist

nor at the right hand of God, and knowing that the charge was false, committed themselves to God, saying with the Psalmist,

See if there be any way of wickedness in me. " 1

I.

THE SEARCHI G OF GOD.

1. The Psalmist realized that he could not thoroughly search himself. We have all of us tendencies and inclinations which we

cannot gauge and do not know the force or the power of. We have depths and abysses in our natures which no human measuring

line can fathom. Our souls are so disordered and disturbed by the crossing of many varied feelings, high and low, clashing and

1 K. E. Prothero, The I isalms in Human Life, 214.

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 159

fretting against each other, good thoughts mingled with so much that is base, pure high feelings with so much that is low and

degraded. We have in us sometimes perhaps more good than we realize, or more evil than we ever guessed. There is in us, not

only our sinful acts, but also a deep spirit of wickedness, a mystery of evil, which no human power can comprehend. Said the prophet

truly, " The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked : who can know it ? " o one can. ot even our

selves, who think we know ourselves well. We do not know what is in us, what powers or capabilities we have for good or

for evil.

Who made the heart, tis He alone Decidedly can try us;

He knows each chord, its varLus tone, Each spring, its various bias.

^| One of the precepts which Thales the great philosopher, who lived about the same time as Josiah king of Judah, inculcated

was, " Know thyself," and it is a precept full of the highest sense and wisdom. It was regarded by the ancients as a duty of para

mount importance, and received by them with all the authority of a Divine command. It is not as a matter of curiosity, but of

deepest necessity, that we should have a thorough acquaintance with the state in which we are before God, and should try to see

ourselves and to estimate ourselves, not as others do, but as God does, for it is a subject on which we are apt to make great and

dangerous mistakes, and it is one of which many are in complete ignorance. 1

2. The Psalmist is sure that God has perfect knowledge of him. He is as certain of God as he is of his own existence ;

indeed it is not too much to say that it is only as he is conscious

of being searched and known by God only as he is overwhelmed by contact with a Spirit which knows him better than he knows

himself that he rises to any adequate sense of wbat his own being and personality mean. He is revealed to himself by God s

search ; he knows himself through God. Speaking practically and in religion everything is practical God alone can overcome

atheism, and this is how He overcomes it. He does not put within our reach arguments which point to theistic conclusions; He gives

1 R. Stephen, Divine and Human Influence, i. 262.

160 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

us the experience which makes this psalm intelligible, and forces us also to cry, " Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me."

^] It is a fact well known to seamen that objects under water, such as shoals and sunken rocks, become visible, or more visible,

when viewed from a height ; and it is customary at sea, when a sunken object is suspected of lying in a vessel s course, but cannot

be seen from the deck, to send a man aloft, when the higher he can climb the mast the farther will his vision penetrate beneath

the waves. From the top of a lofty cliff the depth is seen better still; whilst the elevation of a balloon enables the spectator to

see most perfectly beneath the surface, and to detect the sunken mines, torpedoes, and the like which may be concealed there.

ow, just as there is an optical reason why the depth is best penetrated from the height, so there is a moral reason why the

holy God best kno vs the plagues and perils of the human heart. He who from the pure heaven of eternal light and purity looks

down into the depths of the heart is cognizant of its defects long before they report themselves in the creature-consciousness. 1

|[ Colonel Scely, shortly before he resigned office as Secretary of State for War in the spring of 19L4, unfolded in the House of

Commons the Supplementary Army Estimates ; and, speaking of the vote for the Army Air Service, he gave a striking instance of

the range of vision from a height. From an aeroplane up 5000 feet in the air one could see, he explained, quite clearly every

detail of the landscape. An airman could perceive from that not only the roads and the hedges beneath, but, for instance, whether

there were two horses or one attached to a cart going along a road. Persons could be seen walking in the streets of a town. " How

easy then," concluded the War Secretary, " to see any troops ! Thus the commander of an army without aeroplanes other things

being equal is doomed if faced by a force with aeroplanes, for every movement of the enemy s troops, except at night or in a fog,

can be watched and reported by the air scouts."

3. The Psalmist was satisfied that God would search him fully, fairly and impartially. The word which is rendered " search " is a

very emphatic and picturesque one. It means to dig deep. God is prayed, as it were, to make a section into the Psalmist, and lay

bare his inmost nature, as men do in a railway cutting, layer after layer, going ever deeper down till the bed-rock is readied.

"Search me" dig into me, bring the deep-lying parts to light

1 \V. L. Walkinson, The Fatal Earler, 101.

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 161

"and know my heart"; the centre of my personality, my inmost self.

This prayer is also an expression of absolute willingness to submit to the searching process. God is represented in the text

as seeking into the secrets of a man s heart, not that God may know, but that the man may know. By His Spirit He will come

into the innermost corners of our nature, if this prayer is a real expression of our desire. And there the illumination of His

presence will flash light into all the dark corners of our experience and of our personality.

Tf Men may applaud or revile, and make a man think differently of himself, but He judgeth of a man according to his secret walk.

How difficult is the work of self-examination ! Even to state to you, imperfectly, my own mind, I found to be no easy matter.

ay, St. Paul says, " I judge not mine own self, for he that judgeth me is the Lord." That is, though he was not conscious of

any allowed sin, yet he was not thereby justified, for God might perceive something of which he was not aware. How needful

then the prayer of the Psalmist, " Search me, God, and try my heart, and see if there be any evil way in me." 1

II.

THE TESTS TO WHICH WE ARE SUBJECTED.

1. We are searched and known by the slow and steady passing of the years. There is a revealing power in the flight of time, just

because time is the minister of God. In heaven there will be no more time ; there will be no more need of any searching ministry.

There we shall know even as we are known, in the burning and shining of the light of God. But here, where the light of God is

dimmed and broken, we are urged forward through the course of years, and the light of the passing years achieves on earth what

the light of the Presence will achieve in glory. He is a wise father who knows his child, but he is a wiser child who knows himself.

Untested by actual contact with the world, we dream our dream in the sunshine of the morning. And then comes life with all its

hard reality, with the changes and the calling of the years, and

1 Life and Letters of the Rev. Henry Marty n, 28. PS. CXIX.-SO G OF SOL. II

162 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

we turn round on the swift flight of time, and say, " Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me." We may not have achieved

anything splendid. Our life may have moved along in quiet routine, not outwardly different from the lives of thousands. Yet,

however dull and quietly uneventful, God has so ordered the flight of time for us that we know far more about ourselves to-night than

we knew in the upland freshness of the morn. Brought into touch with duty and with man, we have begun to see our limitations.

We know in a measure what we cannot do ; thank God, we know in a measure what we can do. And underneath it all we have

discerned the side on which our nature leans away to heaven, and the other side on which there is the door that opens on to the

filthiness of hell. It does not take any terrible experience to reach the certainty of power and weakness. The common days,

which make the common years, slowly and inevitably show it. So by the pressure of evolving time and it is God, not we,

who so evolves it for better or for worse we come to say, " Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me."

T{ 1 Jan. 1878. Marine Parade, Brighton, 6 a.m. When one thinks of the immensity of time and of the Christian hope that

there is endless existence before us, one is perplexed that this infinity of time should take its character from a few years that

seem to bear no proportion to it. One observes, however, that in the time here by far the greatest portion is determined by certain

hours or it may be minutes.

In itself a thought, A slumbering thought, is capable of years

says Byron, and certain it is that all our lives are under the influence of moments when fresh convictions dawned on us, or

when we made some important resolution, or when we passed through some special trial. With most of us the greater part of

our life seems merely wasted. We eat, drink, and sleep, join in meaningless chit-chat, pay calls and the like. Others get through

an immense amount of work ; but at times we have glimpses which show us that life consists neither in chit-chat nor in work, and

that even the latter needs something in it, but not of it, before it can be good for anything " in the kingdom of heaven." Perhaps

the scanty moments we give to prayer may in importance be the chief part of our existence. 1

1 Life and Remains of the Rev. R. H. Quick, 70.

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 163

2. God searches us by the responsibilities He lays upon us. It is in our duties and not in our romance that the true self is

searched and known. Think of those servants in the parable who received the talents. Could you have gauged their character

before they got the talents ? Were they not all respectable and honest and seemingly worthy of their master s confidence ? But

to one of the servants the master gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, and what distinguished and revealed the

men was the use they made of their responsibility. They were not searched by what they had to suffer ; the men were searched

by what they had to do. They were revealed by what their master gave, and by the use they made of what they got. And

so is it with all of us to whom God has given a task, a post, a talent it is not only a gift to bless our neighbour ; it is a gift to

reveal us to ourselves.

^f See, I hold a sovereign in my hand. It appears to bear the image and superscription of the King. That is merely an optical

illusion. It bears my own image and superscription. I have earned it, and it is mine. But now that it is mine, the trouble

begins. For that sovereign becomes part of myself and will henceforth represent a pound s worth of me ! If I am a bad man,

I shall spend it in folly, and accelerate the forces that make for the world s undoing. If I am a bad man, that is to say, it will be

a bad sovereign, however truly it may seem to ring. If I am a good man, I shall spend it in clean commerce, and enlist it among

the forces that tend to the uplift of my brothers. Yes, gold is very good if we are very good, and very bad if we are very bad.

Here is the song of the sovereign

Dug from the mountain-side, washed in the glen, Servant am I or the master of men;

Steal me, I curse you;

Earn me, I bless you; Grasp me and hoard me, a fiend shall possess you;

Lie for me, die for me;

Covet me, take me, Angel or devil, I am what you make me ! *

3. God searches us by bringing new influences to bear upon our lives. Troubles and temptations are great discoverers of human

1 F. W. Boreham, Mountains in the Mist, 62.

1 64 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

character. Our passions and special inclinations may lie like some minerals, far down, and we may bore long and find no trace

of their existence, but by and by we may pierce deeper, and a thick seam of evil may be found. Or our nature may, like a break

water, stand long, and seem secure, unharmed by many a gale, but some fiercer storm, some stronger onslaught of temptation, may

overthrow it, or some single stone may be dislodged, or some joint weakened, and the sea works its way in, and the whole is

upset, dashed, and pounded to ruin. So you may resist long, and come unscathed through much evil, but it comes with

fiercer power at some time, or it dashes upon you suddenly or unexpectedly, advancing upon you not like the long roll of the

ocean, with steady force, but with a quick impact, a sudden surprise as temptation came to Peter and your power of

resistance is destroyed.

TJ Just as engineers are not satisfied with respect to the soundness and durability of iron girders or links of ships cables

merely because these look well, but proceed to test them by pressure, and ascertain the amount of strain they will bear, and

the weight they will sustain, so by the rough handling of the world s vexations and by the strain of trouble and sorrow

you must be tried, to show what you really are: whether your temper patiently endures this provocation, whether your

pride will submit to that mortification, your vanity to that slight, your passions to that force of temptation, your faith

to that severe disappointment, your love to that heavy sacri fice.

In the making of great iron castings, through some defect in the mould, portions of air may lurk in the heart of the iron, and

cavities like those of an honey-comb may be formed in the interior of the beam, but the defects and flaws may be effectively

concealed under the outer skin ; when, however, it is subjected to a severe strain it gives way. So under the stress of some great

trial, the hollowness of the nature may be revealed and secret faults and evils exposed, and the man appears in what people say

is a changed character. In reality that is his true character. If metal be real iron, the blast of the furnace will temper it

into steel, and if there is reality and truth in the nature, trial will develop its finer qualities ; but if these do not exist, trial

will only expose that nature s inherent badness and make it worse. 1

1 E. Stephen, Divine and Human fnjluence, i. 285.

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 165

4. God tests us by holding up to us the mirror of another s life. We never know ourselves until we see ourselves divested of all

the trappings of self-love. It was thus that God dealt with David, when he had so terribly sinned. For all the depth and the

grandeur of his character, David was strangely blind to his own guilt. But then came athan with his touching story of the man

who had been robbed of his ewe lamb, and all that was best in David was afire at the abhorrent action of that robber.

Especially when we draw near to Christ, who knows what is in all of us, and whose eye could read and single out the traitor

whom no one suspected ; when, too, He is looking at us and scanning our deepest hearts, reading in them the love we have to

Him and the faith we have in Him, or detecting the treachery and perfidy that may lurk within us, surely it is right that we

should ask Him to search us and try us and let us know and see ourselves as He knows and sees us. Surely we should ask Him to

purify our hearts from every evil thought and feeling, and so to fill them with His love that when He asks us, as He asked Peter,

" Lovest thou me ? " we may be able to say truly, " Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee."

Tf Bishop Westcott preached what was to prove his last sermon in Durham Cathedral on the Saturday preceding his death. It

was the annual service of the Durham miners, who came in their thousands to hear the prelate that shortly before had successfully

acted as peacemaker in the great orth of England coal strike. The Bishop s address has a pathos of its own, since it was his last,

and apparently felt by the speaker himself to be his last public utterance. The discourse was as beautiful as it was touching and

impressive. Brief, yet complete, and instinct with love, it reveals the man and indicates the secret of his power. The closing words

were

" Since it is not likely that I shall ever address you here again, I have sought to tell you what I have found in a long and

laborious life to be the most prevailing power to sustain right endeavour, however imperfectly I have yielded myself to it even

the love of Christ ; to tell you what I know to be the secret of a noble life, even glad obedience to His will. I have given you a

watchword which is fitted to be the inspiration, the test, and the support of untiring service to God and man : the love of Christ con-

straineth us." l

1 Life and Letters of Brooke Fuss JVcstcutt, ii. 394.

166 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

III.

THE PURPOSE I VIEW.

1. The purpose of this searching is that we may be delivered from our own way of life. " See if there be any way of wicked

ness in me." The Psalmist recognizes that human life is deter mined from within. The " way " is first " in " us. How often

do we see this ! A youth is set in the right path, every assistance is secured for him, every encouragement is given him to pursue

it ; but he soon breaks away from this, forms other habits, adopts other companions, pursues an altogether different life. He does

not follow the path that was opened up to him from the outside, but elects one already traced in his heart. We popularly say of

such a wilful soul, " He took his own way, followed his own course." A modern cry calls upon us to " fulfil ourselves." That

really means to work out our own fancies, tastes, and passions ; to propose our own ideals, be ruled by self-will, take counsel of

the pride and passion of our own hearts, chase our own phantoms. But if everybody should " fulfil " himself, it would mean pande

monium ; it would be the working out of ignorance, egotism, and lust. This is precisely what the Psalmist deprecates. He urgently

pleads for deliverance from himself ; from the poisonous particle, the diseased fibre, the false substance and quality which may

exist latent within him, waiting for the stimulation of circum stance, opportunity, and association.

(1) Our own way is a way of emptiness. Some would translate these words, " any way of idols in me." It signifies the vanity,

the unreality, the delusiveness of the objects on which the natural man fixes his ambition and hope. We sometimes say of a thing,

"There is nothing in it." We may say this of wealth, honour, pleasure, fame ; if we make idols of them, we know that an idol

is nothing in the world. If we follow the desires and devices of our own hearts, we walk in a vain show and disquiet ourselves in

vain.

(2) Our own way is a way of pain. " See if there is any way of grievousness in me." The path of self -fulfilment is hard and

bitter. If the roses in the broad road of sensual pleasure, sordid gain, and worldly pride are red, there is no wonder ; enough blood

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 167

has been shed to make them so. In the forests of South America, where gorgeous orchids dazzle the eyes and gay blossoms carpet

the earth, are also creepers furnished with formidable thorns known as "the devil s fishing-hooks"; and as these trail in

sidiously on the ground, their presence is revealed only by the wounded foot that treads upon them. How closely this pictures

the wayward, sensual, worldly life !

(3) Our own way is a way of destruction. It does not lead to a goal of lasting felicity, but descends into darkness and despair.

" There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." That is the path and doom of

self-fulfilment. We do not know why Solomon, in another place, exactly repeats this warning, unless, perhaps, because it is so

immensely significant, and yet so likely to be overlooked. So, then, we must pray that God will not abandon us to ourselves ;

that we may not be permitted to work out the lurking naughtiness of our heart.

TJ Let a man persevere in prayer and watchfulness to the day of his death, yet he will never get to the bottom of his heart.

Though he know more and more of himself as he becomes more conscientious and earnest, still the full manifestation of the secrets

there lodged is reserved for another world. And at the last day who can tell the affright and horror of a man who lived to himself

on earth, indulging his own evil will, following his own chance notions of truth and falsehood, shunning the cross and the reproach

of Christ, when his eyes are at length opened before the throne of God, and all his innumerable sins, his habitual neglect of God, his

abuse of his talents, his misapplication and waste of time, and the

original unexplored sinfulness of his nature, are brought clearly and fully to his view ? ay, even to the true servants of Christ

the prospect is awful. " The righteous," we are told, " will scarcely be saved." Then will the good man undergo the full sight of his

sins, which on earth he was labouring to obtain, and partly succeeded in obtaining, though life was not long enough to learn

and subdue them all. Doubtless we must all endure that fierce and terrifying vision of our real selves, that last fiery trial of the

soul before its acceptance, a spiritual agony and second death to all who are not then supported by the strength of Him who died

to bring them safe through it, and in whom on earth they have believed. 1

1 J. H. ewman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, i. 48.

1 68 THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS

2. The searching shows us also how we may walk in God s way. " Lead me in the way everlasting." The greatest test of a

man s life is with regard to leadership. Who shall lead ? Shall it be the world, or self, or God ? There is no advance until that is

settled ; yet not to have settled it is to have decided in favour of self and sin : " He that is not with me is against me." It is a

vital question, and presses for an instant response. This petition obviously includes surrender and submission, and it is to be a

constant, continuous thing. It therefore rightly completes the circle of the permanent, universal elements in religion. " The way

everlasting," which is so beautifully interpreted in Isaiah xxxv. as " the way of holiness," " an highway," upon which no unclean

thing shall walk, but " the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein : . . . and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and

come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," has been made clear in Jesus Christ, and He will lead us in

triumph along this way towards the everlasting Zion. Let us welcome the leadership of Him who has come to " present us

faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy."

TJ There is a story told of a good old preacher in Wales, in those early days when preachers used to go about Wales from one

end of the country to the other. The custom among Christians who realized their privileges and responsibilities was, when a man

had preached the Gospel on one side of a mountain, and had to preach it the following night on the other side, that some kind

friend accompanied him a large part of the way, if not the whole way, and thus showed him the path to take. But there were

some who begrudged this kindly service. The preacher of whom I speak came on one occasion into contact with one of these. He

was a wealthy farmer in the district. The preacher stayed the night at this man s house. On the following morning, when the

preacher was about to start, the farmer took out a bit of a slate and traced on it the way over the mountain to the other side, and

said, " ow follow this. Here the road divides, and there a path turns to the right," etc. etc. The good old man tried to follow it,

and, after making very many mistakes on the wild mountain, succeeded at length in reaching his destination. Some time after

that he visited the same people a second time, and preaching from one of those tender references of Paul to those who were so ready

to minister to him, significantly said, " Ah, these were a people who, when Paul preached to them, and he had to cross a mountain

PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24 169

in order to preach the next night, would not give him a map on a slate, but would accompany him on the way and further him on

his journey." That is exactly it. There are some people who will give you a map on the slate to tell you how to walk through life,

and how to enter heaven at last. They give men a few outlines of Christian teaching, or a few precepts of morality. Some are

especially fond of referring you to the Sermon on the Mount, adding that you do not need anything else, as you have only to

trace what Christ has taught there. What sinful men need is not a map only, although that be traced by a Divine hand. The

Psalmist felt that what he wanted was a guide, who would take him by the hand, and hold him up when he was ready to fall,

along the rugged journey, or on the brink of a dangerous precipice. " Lead me in the way everlasting." l

^j might it please God that we should little regard the course of the way we tread, and have our eyes fixed on Him who

conducts us, and on the blessed country to which it leads ! What should it matter to us whether it is by the desert or by the

meadws we go, if God is with us and we go into Paradise ?

24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

1. Barnes, “And see if there be any wicked way in me - Margin, “way of pain,” or “grief.” The Hebrew word properly means an image, an idol Isa_48:5, but it also means pain, 1Ch_4:9; Isa_14:3. The word in the form used here does not occur elsewhere. Gesenius (Lexicon) renders it

here idol-worship. DeWette, “way of idols.” Prof. Alexander, “way of pain.” The Septuagint and Vulgate, “way of iniquity.” So Luther. The Syriac, “way of falsehood.” Rosenmuller, “way of an idol.” According to this, the prayer is that God would search him and see if there was anything in him that partook of the nature of idolatry, or of defection from the true religion; any tendency to go back from God, to worship other gods, to leave the worship of the true God. As idolatry comprehends the sum of all that is evil, as being alienation from the true God, the prayer is that there might be nothing found in his heart which tended to alienate him from God - would indicate unfaithfulness or want of attachment to him.

And lead me in the way everlasting - The way which leads to eternal life; the path which I may tread forever. In any other way than in the service of God his steps must be arrested. He must encounter his Maker in judgment, and be cut off, and consigned to woe. The path to heaven is one which man may steadily pursue; one, in reference to which death itself is really no interruption - for the journey commenced here will be continued through the dark valley, and continued forevermore. Death does not interrupt the journey of the righteous for a moment. It is the same journey continued - as when we cross a narrow stream, and are on the same path still.

2. Clarke, “If there be any wicked way - דרך עצב derech otseb: a way of idolatry or of error. Any thing false in religious principle; any thing contrary to piety to thyself, and love and benevolence to man. And he needed to offer such prayer as this, while filled with indignation against the ways of the workers of iniquities; for he who hates, utterly hates, the practices of any man, is not far from hating the man himself. It is very difficult

“To hate the sin with all the heart,And yet the sinner love.”

Lead me in the way everlasting - בדרך עולם bederech olam, in the old way - the way in which our fathers walked, who worshipped thee, the infinitely pure Spirit, in spirit and in truth. Lead me, guide me, as thou didst them. We have ארח עולם orach olam, the old path, Job_22:15. “The two words דרך derech and ארח orach, differ,” says Bishop Horsley, “in their figurative senses: derech is the right way, in which a man ought to go; orach is the way, right or wrong, in which a man actually goes by habit.” The way that is right in a man’s own eyes is seldom the way to God.

3. Gill, “ And see if there be any wicked way in me,.... ot that David thought himself free from wickedness, or that there was none to be found in his heart and life; and therefore said this in a boasting way, he knew otherwise; see Psa_19:12; but he is desirous it might be thoroughly looked into and seen whether there was any such wicked way in him he was charged with; as that he had a design upon the life of Saul, and to seize his throne and kingdom, which never entered into his mind, 1Sa_24:9. Or, "any way of grief" (d); what tended to wound and grieve his own soul, or to grieve the hearts of God's people; or to grieve the Holy Spirit of God; and which he ought to grieve for and repent of: suggesting, that upon the first conviction he was ready to relinquish any such wicked way, and express his abhorrence of it, and testify true repentance for it. Some render it, "the way of an idol" (e); because a word from the same root signifies an idol: every carnal lust in a man's heart is an idol; and whatsoever engrosses the affections, or has more of them than God himself has, or is preferred to him, Eze_14:4. The Targum is,

"and see if the way of those that err is me;''

and lead me in the way everlasting; or, "in the way of old" (f): the good old way, the ancient path, in which the patriarchs before and after the flood walked, Or, "in the perpetual way" (g); the way that endures for ever; in opposition to the way of the wicked, that perishes, Psa_1:6; or in the way that leads to everlasting life, to eternal peace and rest, and endless pleasures; as opposed to the way of grief and sorrow. It designs Christ, the true and only way to eternal life, the path of faith, truth, and godliness, Mat_7:13; in which the Lord leads his people, as a father does his child, and as the shepherd his flock. The Jewish commentators, Aben Ezra and Kimchi, interpret it the way of the world; and take it to be the same with the way of all flesh, death, or the grave; which is called man's world, or home, Jos_23:14; and make the sense to be this: If thou seest any evil in me, take me out of the world; kill me at once, let me die But this seems to be foreign from the text; for the word "lead" designs a blessing or benefit, as Calvin well observes. The Targum is,

"lead me in the way of the upright of the world;''

the way in which upright men walk.

4. Calvin, “And lead me, etc. I see no foundation for the opinion of some that this is an imprecation, and that David adjudges himself over to punishment. It is true, that "the way of all the earth" is an expression used sometimes to denote death, which is common to all, but the verb here translated to lead is more commonly taken in a good than a bad sense, and I question if the phrase way of this life ever means death.4 It seems evidently to denote the full continuous term of human life, and David prays God to guide him even to the end of his course. I am aware some understand it to refer to eternal life, nor is it. denied that the world to come is comprehended under the full term of life to which the Psalm~ ist alludes, but it seems enough to hold by the plain sense of the words, That God would watch over his servant to whom he had already shown kindness to the end, and not forsake him in the midst of his days.

Cleanse me of all that is not pleasing to you. It is when all that is offensive to God is cleansed that we will be led of the Spirit.

“The Psalm has an immediately practical aim, which is unfolded near the close. It is not an abstract description of the Divine attributes, with a mere indirect purpose in view. If God is such a being, if his vital agency reaches over all his creation, pervades all objects, illumines the deepest and darkest recesses; if his knowledge has no limits, piercing into the mysterious processes of creation, into the smallest and most elemental germs of life; if his eye can discern the still more subtle and recondite processes of mind, comprehending the half formed conception, the germinating desire "afar off"; if, anterior to all finite existence, his predetermining decree went forth; if in those ancient records of eternity man's framework, with all its countless elements and organs, in all the ages of his duration, were inscribed—then for his servant, his worshipper on earth, two consequences follow, most practical and momentous: first, the ceasing to have or feel any complacency with the wicked, any sympathy with their evil ways, any communion with them as such; and, secondly, the earnest desire that God would search the Psalmist's soul, lest in its unsounded depths there might be some lurking iniquity, lest there might be, beyond the present jurisdiction of his conscience, some dark realm which the Omniscient eye only could explore. —Bela B. Edwards (1802-1852), in H.C. Fish's "Masterpieces of Pulpit Eloquence."

5. Spurgeon, “And see if there be any wicked way in me. See whether there be in my heart, or in my life, any evil habit unknown to myself. If there be such an evil way, take me from it, take it from me. o matter how dear the wrong may have become, nor how deeply prejudiced I may have been in its favour, be pleased to deliver me therefrom altogether, effectually, and at once, that I may tolerate nothing which is contrary to thy mind. As I hate the wicked in their way, so would I hate every wicked way in myself. And lead me in the way everlasting. If thou hast introduced me already to the good old way, be pleased to keep me in it, and conduct me further and further along it. It is a way which thou hast set up of old, it is based upon everlasting principles, and it is the way in which immortal spirits will gladly run for ever and ever. There will be no end to it world without end. It lasts for ever, and they who are in it last for ever. Conduct me into it, O Lord, and conduct me throughout the whole length of it. By thy providence, by thy word, by thy grace, and by thy Spirit, lead me evermore.

6. Treasury of David, "Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me. This is a beautiful and impressive prayer for the commencement of every day. It is, also, a great sentiment to admonish us at the beginning of each day. There is the way of unbelief within, to which we are very prone. There is the way of vanity and pride, to which we often accustom ourselves. There is the way of selfishness in which we frequently walk. There is the way of worldliness we often pursue -- empty pleasures, shadowy honours, etc. There is the way of sluggishness. What apathy in prayer, in the examination and application of God's Word, we manifest! There is the way of self dependence, by which we often dishonour God and injure ourselves. There is, unhappily, the way of disobedience, in which we often walk. At any rate, our obedience is cold, reluctant, uncertain -- not simple, entire, fervent. How necessary is it, then, to go to God at once, and earnestly to prefer the petition, "Lord, see if there be any wicked way in me." Let nothing that is wrong, that is opposed to thy character, repugnant to thy word, or injurious and debasing to ourselves, remain, or be harboured within us. --Condensed from T. Wallace, in "Homiletic Commentary."

Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me. To what a holiness must David have attained ere he could need, if we may so speak, Divine scrutiny, in order to his being informed of errors and defects! Is there one of us who can say that he has corrected his conduct up to the measure of his knowledge, and that now he must wait the being better informed before he can do more towards improving his life? I do not know how to define a higher point in religious attainment than supposing a man warranted in offering up the prayer of our text. I call upon you to be cautious in using this prayer. It is easy to mock God, by asking him to search you whilst you have made but little effort to search yourselves, and perhaps still less to act upon the result of the scrutiny. --Henry Melvill.

Verse 24. See if there be any wicked way in me, etc. -- Think and be careful what thou art within,For there is sin in the desire of sin:Think and be thankful, in a different case,For there is grace in the desire of grace. --John Byron, 1691-1763.

Verse 24. The way everlasting. Way of eternity, or of antiquity, the old way, as Jeremiah 6:16; meaning the way of faith and godliness, which God taught from the beginning, and which

continueth for ever; contrary to "the way of the wicked", which perisheth: Psalms 1:6. --Henry Ainsworth.

Ver. 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me. See whether there be in my heart, or in my life, any evil habit unknown to myself. If there be such an evil way, take me from it, take it from me. o matter how dear the wrong may have become, nor how deeply prejudiced I may have been in its favour, be pleased to deliver me therefrom altogether, effectually, and at once, that I may tolerate nothing which is contrary to thy mind. As I hate the wicked in their way, so would I hate every wicked way in myself.

Think and be careful what thou art within, For there is sin in the desire of sin: Think and be thankful, in a different case, For there is grace in the desire of grace. —John Byron, 1691-1763.

7. OUR DAILY BREAD

In the opening game of the 2001 football season, a mistake by the University of Colorado cost the team a chance to play for the national championship. When coach Gary Barnett was asked about it, he said, "We don't think about it. I learned a long time ago: Don't trip on something behind you." Barnett was busy recruiting new players and preparing for a holiday bowl game and had no time to dwell on the past.

We all need to live in the present. But what about the mistakes we deeply regret? How can we deal with past sins and failures that still weigh us down? Oswald Chambers, speaking of the sadness of what might have been, said: " ever be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory have its way. It is a minister of God with its rebuke and chastisement and sorrow. God will turn the 'might have been' into a wonderful culture [source of nourishment and growth] for the future."

The psalmist asked God to search his heart and see if there was any wicked way in him, so that he might confess it and be forgiven. Then he added, "Lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).

God does not want us to be imprisoned by yesterday, but to be free for today and tomorrow. —David McCasland

Calvary covers it all,

My past with its sin and stain;

My guilt and despair Jesus took on Him there,

And Calvary covers it all. —Taylor

Brooding over the past paralyzes the present and bankrupts the future.

8. Our Daily Bread, “Two Florida men charted a course and drove their fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the boat's compass, they headed to deep waters 60 miles offshore where they hoped to catch grouper. When they arrived at what they thought was the right place, they turned on their depth finder and realized they were nowhere near their target. They discovered

that one of them had laid a flashlight near the ship's compass, and the attached magnet had affected the reading.

Just as that magnet changed the compass, so our sinful hearts can influence our thinking. Many of Jesus' countrymen, for example, thought they were moving in the right direction by denying that He was the promised Messiah (Jn. 7:41-42). But the real problem with these people was the bias in their hearts. They resisted Jesus because of the threat He seemed to pose to their religious traditions. Rather than carefully checking all the Scriptures, which would have verified who He was, they settled for what they preferred to believe. And they rejected Him.

Because we too can be self-deceived, we must ask the Lord to expose the inner motives that cast shadows across our minds and dim our spiritual discernment (Ps. 139:24). With His help, we can get back on course. –MRDII

Often I have walked in my own way,

Trusting in my self-deceiving heart;

=ow I realize that I must pray,

"Lord, from Your way I will not depart." –Hess

To avoid self-deception, seek God's direction.

PSALM 139 I POETRY

Whole Psalm. Searcher of hearts! to thee are known The inmost secrets of my breast; At home, abroad, in crowds, alone, Thou mark'st my rising and my rest, My thoughts far off, through every maze, Source, stream, and issue—all my ways. How from thy presence should I go, Or whither from thy Spirit flee, Since all above, around, below, Exist in thine immensity? If up to heaven I take my way, I meet thee in eternal day. If in the grave I make my bed With worms and dust, lo! thou art there! If, on the wings of morning sped, Beyond the ocean I repair, I feel thine all controlling will, And thy right hand upholds me still. "Let darkness hide me", if I say, Darkness can no concealment be; ight, on thy rising, shines like day; Darkness and light are one with thee:

For thou mine embryo form didst view, Ere her own babe my mother knew. In me thy workmanship display'd, A miracle of power I stand: Fearfully, wonderfully made, And framed in secret by thine hand; I lived, ere into being brought, Through thine eternity of thought. How precious are thy thoughts of peace, O God, to me! how great the sum! ew every morn, they never cease: They were, they are, and yet shall come, In number and in compass more Than ocean's sands or ocean's shore. Search me, O God! and know my heart; Try me, my inmost soul survey; And warn thy servant to depart From every false and evil way: So shall thy truth my guidance be To life and immortality. —James Montgomery.

Ver. 1-12. — O Lord, in me there lieth nought But to thy search revealed lies; For when I sit Thou markest it; o less thou notest when I rise; Yea, closest closet of my thought Hath open windows to thine eyes. Thou walkest with me when I walk, When to my bed for rest I go, I find thee there, And everywhere: ot youngest thought in me doth grow, o, not one word I cast to talk But, yet unuttered, thou dost know. If forth I march, thou goest before; If back I turn, thou com'st behind: So forth nor back Thy guard I lack; ay, on me, too, thy hand I find. Well, I thy wisdom may adore, But never reach with earthly mind. To shun thy notice, leave thine eye, O whither might I take my way? To starry sphere? Thy throne is there. To dead men's undelightsome stay?

There is thy walk, and there to lie Unknown, in vain I should assay. O sun, whom light nor flight can match! Suppose thy lightful flightful wings Thou lend to me, And I could flee As far as thee the evening brings: Ev'n led to west he would me catch, or should I lurk with western things. Do thou thy best. O secret night, In sable veil to cover me: Thy sable veil Shall vainly fail: With day unmasked my night shall be; For night is day, and darkness light, O Father of all lights, to thee. —Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.

1 Thou Lord, by strictest search hast known my rising up and lying down; 2 My secret thoughts are known to thee, known long before conceived by me. 3 Thine eye my bed and path surveys, my public haunts and private ways; 4 Thou know'st what 'tis my lips would vent, my yet unuttered words' intent. 5 Surrounded by thy pow r I stand, on ev'ry side I find thy hand: . 6 O skill, for human reach too high! too dazzling bright for mortal eye: 7 O could I so perfidious be, to think of once deserting thee, Where, Lord, could I thy influence shun? or whither from thy presence run? 8 If up to heav'n I take my flight, 'tis there thou dwell'st enthroned in light; Or dive to hell's infernal plains, 'tis there almighty vengeance reigns. 9 If I the morning's wings could gain, and fly beyond the western main, 10 Thy swifter hand would first arrive, and there arrest thy fugitive. 11 Or should I try to shun thy light beneath the sable wings of night; One glance from thee, one piercing ray, would kindle darkness into day. 12 The veil of night is no disguise, no screen from thy all-searching eyes;

Thru' midnight shades thou find'st thy way, as in the blazing noon of day. 13 Thou know'st the texture of my heart, my reins, and ev'ry vital part; Each single thread in nature's loom by thee was covered in the womb. 14 I'll praise thee, from whose hands I came, a work of such a curious frame; The wonders thou in me hast shown, my soul with grateful joy must own. 16 Thine eyes my substance did survey, while yet a lifeless mass it lay; In secret how exactly wrought, ere from its dark enclosure brought.

16 Thou didst the shapeless embryo see, its parts were registered by thee; Thou saw'st the daily growth they took, formed by the model of thy book. 17 Let me acknowledge too, O God, that, since this maze of life 1 trod, Thy thoughts of love to me surmount the pow'r of numbers to recount. 18 Far sooner could I reckon o'er the sands upon the ocean's shore; Each morn, revising what I've done, I find the account but new begun. 19 The wicked thou shalt slay, O God: depart from me, ye men of blood, 20 Whose tongues heav'n s majesty profane and take th'Almighty's ame in vain. 21 Lord, hate not I their impious crew, who thee with enmity pursue? And does not grief my heart oppress, when reprobates thy laws transgress? 22 Who practice enmity to thee shall utmost hatred have from me; Such men I utterly detest, as if they were my foes professed.23,24 Search, try, O God, my thoughts and heart, if mischief lurks in any part; Correct me where I go astray, and guide me in thy perfect way.

YOU ARE THERE, YOU ARE THERE (PSALM 139) 1. O Lord, in my actions,in my coming, in my going —O Lord, in my thinking,You are there, You are there!

O Lord, in the Heavens,from horizon to horizon:from You is no hiding,You are there, You are there! You have searched me and know me,Your hand is upon me.All I do, all I am is known to You! 2. O Lord, was my beingnot created by Your Spirit?You knit me togetheras I formed in the womb. All the days before mehave been written in Your records:my years preordained, Lord, frommy birth to the tomb. How precious Your thoughts, Lord!How vast in their number!'Tis in awe, that I meditate on You! 3. O Lord, You have searched me —test my heart, test my spirit.I stand now before You;I am naked in Your sight. If there is within meany way that is offensive, then lead me, in Your mercy,with Your everlasting Light!

Psalm 139

Words: The Scottish Psalter..\mus_cm.htm ..\mus_cm.htm To the chief Musician,

A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, thou hast me searched and known. 2 Thou know'st my sitting down, And rising up; yea, all my thoughts afar to thee are known.

3 My footsteps, and my lying down, thou compassest always; Thou also most entirely art acquaint with all my ways.

4 For in my tongue, before I speak, not any word can be, But altogether, lo, O Lord, it is well known to thee.

5 Behind, before, thou hast beset, and laid on me thine hand. 6 Such knowledge is too strange for me, too high to understand.

7 From thy Sp'rit whither shall I go? or from thy presence fly? 8 Ascend I heav'n, lo, thou art there; there, if in hell I lie.

9 Take I the morning wings, and dwell in utmost parts of sea;10 Ev'n there, Lord, shall thy hand me lead, thy right hand hold shall me.

11 If I do say that darkness shall me cover from thy sight, Then surely shall the very night about me be as light.

12 Yea, darkness hideth not from thee, but night doth shine as day: To thee the darkness and the light are both alike alway.

13 For thou possessed hast my reins, and thou hast covered me, When I within my mother's womb enclosèd was by thee.

14 Thee will I praise; for fearfully and strangely made I am; Thy works are marv'llous, and right well my soul doth know the same.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when as in secret I Was made; and in earth's lowest parts was wrought most curiously.

16 Thine eyes my substance did behold, yet being unperfect; And in the volume of thy book my members all were writ;

Which after in continuance were fashioned ev'ry one, When as they yet all shapeless were,

and of them there was none.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts, O gracious God, to me! And in their sum how passing great and numberless they be!

18 If I should count them, than the sand they more in number be: What time soever I awake, I ever am with thee.

19 Thou, Lord, wilt sure the wicked slay: hence from me bloody men.20 Thy foes against thee loudly speak, and take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate all those, O Lord, that hatred bear to thee? With those that up against thee rise can I but grieved be?

22 With perfect hatred them I hate, my foes I them do hold.23 Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, my thoughts unfold:

24 And see if any wicked way there be at all in me; And in thine everlasting way to me a leader be.

Searcher of hearts! to thee are known

The inmost secrets of my breast;

At home, abroad, in crowds, alone,

Thou mark'st my rising and my rest,

My thoughts far off, through every maze,

Source, stream, and issue -- all my ways.

How from thy presence should I go,

Or whither from thy Spirit flee,

Since all above, around, below,

Exist in thine immensity?

If up to heaven I take my way,

I meet thee in eternal day.

If in the grave I make my bed

With worms and dust, lo! thou art there!

If, on the wings of morning sped,

Beyond the ocean I repair,

I feel thine all controlling will,

And thy right hand upholds me still.

"Let darkness hide me", if I say,

Darkness can no concealment be;

ight, on thy rising, shines like day;

Darkness and light are one with thee:

For thou mine embryo form didst view,

Ere her own babe my mother knew.

In me thy workmanship display'd,

A miracle of power I stand:

Fearfully, wonderfully made,

And framed in secret by thine hand;

I lived, ere into being brought,

Through thine eternity of thought.

How precious are thy thoughts of peace,

O God, to me! how great the sum!

ew every morn, they never cease:

They were, they are, and yet shall come,

In number and in compass more

Than ocean's sands or ocean's shore.

Search me, O God! and know my heart;

Try me, my inmost soul survey;

And warn thy servant to depart

From every false and evil way:

So shall thy truth my guidance be

To life and immortality.

--James Montgomery.

A CO CLUDI G MESSAGE

A Vision of God

Read: Psalm 139Text: Psa 139:23-24 (KJV) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Theme: God's omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence should cause us to draw closer to God and to flee further from sin.

Introduction:

What would happen in my heart if I caught a glimpse of God? What would it do to my life? What effect would it have on my devotion to Him? What effect would it have on my service to Him? Psalm 139 takes a mind-boggling look at God. It describes the God who sees all, surrounds all, and superintends all. David looked at God, and then in amazement fell to his face before Him. Job had a similar experience and he said, "Job 42:5-6 (KJV) I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. As we attempt to get a vision of God through the study of this psalm, we, too, should respond by drawing closer to God in thankful praise, and fleeing further from sin in horror.

I. God Sees (vss. 1-6)

A. My Heart (vs. 1)

Psa 44:21 (KJV) Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

Jer 12:3 (KJV) But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee:

B. My every action and motive (vs. 2)

1. Two opposites show that this refers to ALL our actions. (Merism)

2. Thoughts from afar - refers to time, not distance. God knows long before I do what my thoughts will be.

3. QUOTE - "Men, examine your motives." Dr. Paul Vanaman

C. My day to day activities (Vs. 3)

"Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways." ( ASB)

1. "Compassest" = surround, sift, winnow.

2. Again, the presence of these two opposites - path/lying down is used to denote the entire scope of daily activity.

QUOTE "God takes 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."

D. My words (Vs. 4)

1. egative adds force. ("not a word... unknown" is a forceful way of saying "every word is fully know.")

2. God knows our words before we do.

3. ext time you contemplate speaking, thing about this - God has already heard it, and you haven't said it yet!

E. God's knowledge hems me in. (vss. 5-6)

1. We are confined like a prisoner. Beset fore and aft and gripped like a soldier along the way!

Job 13:27 (KJV) Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

2. o escaping this incredible omniscience.

Prov 15:3 (KJV) The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Heb 4:13 (KJV) either is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

God sees me! This alone should drive me to my face before Him!!!

II. God Surrounds (vss. 7-12)

A. Where can we escape him?

1. God fills the vertical plane. (i.e. between heaven and the grave)

QUOTE - "It is one thing to recognize there is no escape from God's all seeing, all knowing scrutiny and knowledge, yet how much more awesome to recognize that we cannot escape His continual presence. He is here, all around!"

QUOTE - "We cannot GO from Him - no matter how we plan and plot our escape. The slyest sneaking away is fruitless, for there's no place to go. We cannot FLEE, for the wildest, most desperate flight will find only God everywhere."

QUOTE (SPURGEO )- "We must be, whether we will it or not, as near to God as our soul is to our body... neither by patient travel nor by hasty flight can we withdraw from the all-surrounding deity. His mind is in our mind; himself within ourselves. His spirit is over our spirit; our presence is ever in His presence."

2. He fills the horizontal plane.

Wings of the morning - east (sun)

Sea - Mediterranean - west

3. That which hides man from man can't hide man from God. (vss. 11-12)

Darkness and light in this agree; Great God, they're both alike to thee.

Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soon Through midnight shades as blazing noon.

B. To the saved this brings great comfort!

When I want Him, He is there.

Psa 145:18 (KJV) The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

C. To the lost this brings awful terror.

When I would flee, when I would hide, He is there!

Amos 9:2 (KJV) Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

III. God Superintends (vss. 13-18)

A. He superintended my creation.

1. Thou has possessed my reins (lit. kidneys - to Hebrews this was most inner seat of our being.)

OTE - God owns our most important parts, our very heart!

2. Thou has covered... (God was superintending even in my mother's womb.)

3. David is amazed at the marvel of his anatomy.

4. God saw every molecule before conception took place.

B. He superintends my every step. (vs. 16b)

Psa 139:16 ( ASB) Thine eyes have seen mine unformed substance; and in thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

IV. I Submit (vss. 19-24)

1. His enemies are my enemies. 2. I submit my heart for His scrutiny.

Conclusion:

Does this vision of God make you want to draw closer to our all-seeing, all-surrounding, all-superintending God? That's how it made David feel. Does this vision of God make you want God to search your soul, and help you to serve Him better every day? That's how it made David feel.

Search me , O God! and know my heart, Try me, my inmost soul survey; And warn thy servant to depart From every false and evil way;

So shall thy truth my guidance be To life and immortality.

Please direct questions, comments, and submissions to William E. Johnson .

Last modified on August 19, 1996.

Copyright © 1996 William E. Johnson.