Psalm 139

You Know Me and Love Me Still

You know my heart

You know whether I sit or stand, you know where I walk and lie down, you know all my ways.

You know my thoughts and even the words I speak before I speak them.

In short, the Psalmist is thinking on the omniscience of God. God knows who we are perfectly. He know who we are in public and in private, He knows the persona we put on and the personal thoughts that we have in our heads. God knows our words before we same them and what we really mean when we say what we say. We might deceive others, or be misperceived by others but not with God.

In verses 5-6, we find language that could be fearful for some to think about. That this God who knows all about who I really am has me surrounded and has His hand on me could be understood as threatening language, and if we aren’t forgiven in Christ, it should be understood that way. But for David, it isn’t that he is surrounding by a threatening enemy, but that he, in the words of Daniel Estes, “feels nestled in the Lord’s protective grip, safe from assault from every direction.”

For David, to think about this is just too great for him to wrap his head around. He is completely astonished and comforted in the omniscience of God and we should be too because this God that knows us best, this God that knows how horribly sinful and rebellious we are, still blesses those of us who are His.

This reminds me of the story of Peter in Luke 5 when he witnesses a miracle of the Lord and is overcome with the realization of his own sinfulness so he says this: Luke 5:8-11

Luke 5:8–11 NKJV

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

You Are With Me

Next David begins thinking on the omnipresence of God and he begins thinking of every possible dimension in which he can communicate the presence of God. Notice:

Horizontal language: Heaven and Hell

Vertical Language: Wings in the air or the depths of the sea.

Darkness and light

Most significant here is the mention of darkness. David isn’t just mentioning the lack of light, but the presence of hardship figuratively. Throughout the Bible darkness regularly communicate chaos, fear, doubt, troubles and danger.

For David, whether we are in the most remote location or in Heaven itself, God is there. When we don’t know the way ahead, the Lord guides us and when we don’t have the strength, the Lord is there to strengthen us. What David is being reminded of in this text is that wherever he finds himself God has led him there and God will be with Him there.

This reminds me of the truth we are taught in Hebrews 13:5

Hebrews 13:5 NKJV

5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

You Made Me

With the idea of darkness in mind, David switches from speaking of darkness figuratively to thinking about it literally by speaking of his mother’s womb. It is there, in verse 13-16 that David thinks about the fact that God has made him both physically and emotionally, God has made him both inside and out and not only did God marvelously create his body, but in verse 16, God a meticulously planned out David’s entire life from beginning to end.

Proverbs 19:21 NKJV

21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

As we look at the end of this Psalm, we find three results of David’s time of meditation.

Worshipful Rest 17-18

In verses 17-18, David is so overwhelmed by his time of thinking about the glory of God that he admits that even the sands of the world couldn’t equal all the glorious things that could be said about the Lord and it seems that in verse 18 that he falls asleep and wakes up only to find himself reminding that the Lord is always with him.

Righteous Indignation 19-22

In verses 19-22 the pendulum swings from rejoicing to judgment as David’s attention is turned from sweet communion to considering the sinfulness of the real world and so he wants to make it clear that he sides with God. This is what we call righteous indignation, a good kind of anger where we desire to see God glorified by there being no more enemies of the Lord. This is a negative way of saying what Jesus taught us to pray positively when He taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

The thing is that as he begins to think about this, he is reminded of the truth from the very beginning, specifically that God knows the real David which leads us to our last point.

Resigned Control 23-24

It seems as though David pauses for a minute after saying that he is allied with God and asks himself, “Am I really?” David understands the deceptiveness of his heart and so he asks the Lord to search him thoroughly, to reveal where David is really, to show him him sinfulness and to direct him to the path of righteousness.

In short, David wants to be as aware of his own sin as he is the sins of others.