You Laid Your Hand Upon Me

Read: Psalm 139:5-6

Psalm 139:5–6 KJV 1900

Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.

This Psalm is dealing with the unattainable incomprehensible knowledge of God. Its talking about what theologians call “Omniscience”

Psalm 139:6 KJV 1900

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Its a divine knowledge

Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary The All-Seeing (139:1–6)

This divine knowledge is not merely comprehensive, like that of some receptor that misses nothing, capturing everything alike. It is personal and active: discerning us (2b); sifting us (3a, where searchest out is based on a term for winnowing); knowing our minds more closely (altogether) than we know them ourselves (2b, 4; cf. Amos 4:13); surrounding us (beset), handling us (5).

Dr. Matt Friedman in his book Discipleship in the Home includes a little catechism in there in which he asks the questions, “What does God know” and the correct answer is everything He chooses to know.

The Outline Bible Section Outline One Hundred Thirty-Nine (Psalm 139)

HIS OMNISCIENCE (139:1–6): God knows all about us.

A. What we do (139:1–3)

B. What we think (139:2)

C. What we say (139:4–6)

Psalms 73–150 1. The Lord Knows the Psalmist Completely (139:1–6)

the hand of the Lord laid on him could refer to divine punishment or to divine blessing and care,647 and perhaps even to the work of a potter in shaping his life.648 In the context of this song, the psalmist feels nestled in the Lord’s protective grip, safe from assault from every direction.

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, Volume 3 Psalm 139

Thou keepest me, as it were with a strong hand, in thy sight and under thy power.

The Wesley Study Bible Notes

The psalmist marvels that God can be far from the psalmist (v. 2) and yet so near (v. 5) as to be familiar with every aspect of the psalmist’s life

I’m so thankful He has us, and that He knows everything there is about us.

Elizabeth Hamilton - Sis Filsinger’s Grandaughter-in-law shared this story recently on her blog. To me it tells how wonderful it is to have God know who we are.

Years ago, a hailstorm came through and damaged the roof on my home church in Frankfort, Indiana.  Knowing that the church had to have a new roof, the people scheduled a construction crew to come.  There was supposed to be several good days, so they tore off the shingles and sheeting of the old roof, getting it down to the rafters…when dark, angry clouds rolled in.  It was a warm spring day, and then the temperature changed with cold air, bringing in a storm.

Rain had not been in the forecast!  It had come out of nowhere.  Everyone was alarmed since the roof was off, and the church was exposed.  Something had to be done before it poured rain inside the church!  The roofers were trying to put a tarp on the roof, but the wind was blowing the tarp everywhere.

It was close to the end of the school year for the Christian school inside our church.  The students were wide eyed when one of the roofers came to the room where they were having school.  “If something doesn’t change, the rain will destroy everything!” he said.

The roofers needed time to put the sheeting on.  Then they could tarp it, and it wouldn’t be so destructive.

One of my sisters Mary Anne was alarmed and told our dad, “Daddy, pray that God holds the rain off!”

Daddy protested, “But I don’t have the faith.”

My sister insisted that Daddy go pray.  Normally, Daddy had a lot of faith, but not that day.  The clouds were just yards away, coming from the north, and the rain was inevitable.

As Daddy walked out of the church to go pray, one of the students, my nephew Lewis, got excited.  It did not register to his eleven-year-old mind how little faith that his grandpa was feeling.  All he knew was that when his grandpa prayed, God answered.

Lewis did not get permission from the teachers but ran out of the school room after his grandpa.  He followed his grandpa and stood right next to him.  He had faith in his grandpa’s prayer.  He wanted to see how God was going to do it.

Daddy walked over and stood next to the church sign. He looked up into the heavens and raised his hand in the air in the stop motion and said something like… “Lord, I don’t have the faith.  The church is going to get wet unless the clouds go away.  But I don’t have the faith.”

As soon as Daddy said the amen, a strong wind came from the south.  The wind was so strong that it blew my dad’s fedora off his head and across the parking lot. It also blew away the storm clouds.

Daddy was amazed and ecstatic.  He hurried to where the workers were.  He was so excited that he had them all get down off of the ladders so that he could tell them what God had just done when he had not “had enough faith.”

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