Psalm 139 Public Reading Comments

Imminent and transcendent

Article 3 from the Articles of Faith of the Bible Fellowship Church is titled, “God the Father”. The article seeks to describe the fact that there is but one true and living God. After describes this proposition by using 22 adjectival phrases. The first 2 adjectives that appear in this description are imminent and transcendent.

God is imminent in that He is knowable. He is close to His people, and has made Himself available to us relationally. He knows us intimately.

And yet

God is far above and beyond us. He is transcendent. Though we can know God, we cannot fully comprehend Him.

And the Psalmist captures both of these truths about God in Psalm 139.

The imminency of God is clear in the first 16 verses

He knows us

He discerns our thoughts

He is aquainted with all our ways

He knows us so well that even before we speak, He knows our thoughts, our message all together.

We cannot go anywhere and be beyond God.

We cannot go anywhere or do anything and be beyond God’s leading and guiding care.

God is with us in the dark moments of our lives, and may seem bleak and even hopeless to us is not troubling to God.

It makes sense that He knows us intimately because it was His creative and nurturing power that formed us in our mothers’ womb.

He is acquainted with all our ways God is near and knows us so well is as the Psalmist says in v. 6 knowledge too wonderful for us; it is high; and we cannot attain it.

And while it is good and comforting to know that God is near, this should not lead us to a casual posture towards God. Beginning in v. 17, we see the transcendence of God emphasized:

We cannot begin to comprehend the mind of God

We cannot begin to fully understand the ways of God, which is important for us to remember when we are tempted to possess this knowledge in order to trust God in the midst of difficulty.

That God is transcendent is why we can trust Him even when we do not understand all the details of His ways or the developments in our day-to-day experiences.

His ways are above, that is to say, infinitely better than anything we could propose or do.

So the Psalmist aligns himself with God because he knows that’s always best. Hating those who hate God. Inviting God to search us, know our hearts, know our thoughts. Willing to be vulnerable and exposed because we believe God’s ways are best, and therefore, what He reveals about us to us may not be comfortable, but it will be good.

And so, with these limited thoughts expressed, let’s read this Psalm together.

Psalm 139 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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’s pray