Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 139

Psalm 139 is one of the most beautifully written works of literature in all the world. It doesn’t need explanation, for it is a clear exposition of who God is. I should leave it alone and just encourage each of you to simply read it. I will simply call attention to some of the great truths of theology it contains.

Psalm 139:1-6

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are going to say, before we even say it.

Psalm 139:7-12
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, 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.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

We might think we are running from God and we might think we can hide, but He knows all and He sees all. He is in every place we might flee.

Psalm 139:13-16
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

When you child asks the question, “Mommy, where do babies come from?”, We ought to read them this verse. Life comes from God. Period. That we legalize abortion is the most blatant form of mankind attempting to be our own god that can be imagined. Our days are already written in His book. Christians read this and they still won’t take hold of the truth of the complete sovereignty of God. This truth is the foundation for a faith that comforts.

Psalm 139:17-18
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

Our finite minds are incapable of understanding the widths and the heights of God’s majesty and glory.

Psalm 139:19-22
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!  They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.  Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?  I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

God’s wrath is a holy wrath and our hearts should be broken over the world’s total disregard for His law. But we must trust in God’s timing. The return of Christ is imminent and when He comes, this prayer will be answered.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Let us search our own hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to be our helper in our own sanctification as we await His return.

Take time today and read Psalm 139 through and through. Then meditate on its great truths, on its theology. Pray through it. Make it real in your heart. Then offer God the worship He so deserves.