For the chief musician: A Psalm of David
Psalm 139:
O LORD,
You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD,
You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
Psalm 139-1-6 NKJV
An AWE-Inspired introduction to THE LORD
Selah..
You with heart and mind and free will to consider the Lord your God..
Bow down looking into the depths of the nature of the LORD — how personal that an Almighty God of all things would look upon my fragile frame and existence with compassion and understanding.
You can practlcally pray these words penned to be sung upward to the heavens as praise to the glory of the LORD — the Almighty, Omniscient and Ever-present God .
An author’s note on PSALM 139
Psalm 139 begins with some of the best consideration of the nature of God and theology found in Scripture. I recommend all of it to your further study of many other topics and Divine guidance we cannot fathom.
Attributes of God
Of course our brief look at the attributes of God, like our glance at Psalm 139, must remain limited to a few most notable.
Our focus today in Psalm 139 is basic to our understanding of Who God IS in this Psalm and throuighout all the Bible.
References to various Psalms and other Scripture are just a sampling.
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Psalm 139:1
We plea to OR praise God (: יְהֹוָה ) as a person speaking to a Person.
Yet who can fully know the LORD?
What we can know about God are defined as COMMUNICABLE attributes.
- God’s communicable attributes include Holiness, Love, Justice, Mercy, Truthfulness and more.
These attributes, while distinct, are perfectly unified in the being of God. - BibleHub.com
Our obvious observation — and that of the Psalmist David — is that the GOD who searches all knows (yāḏaʿ – יָדַע) me
(of course, since the Creator knows all things).
This atribute of God is referred to as God’s Omniscience, one of two attributes of God we will address today from Psalm 139.
The Bible provides a comprehensive picture of God's attributes, which can be categorized into communicable (listed above) and incommunicable attributes (listed below) - Source:BibleHub.com
- Aseity: God’s self-existence and independence from His creation. (Psalm 90:)
- Immutability: “I the LORD do not change..
- Eternity: God’s existence beyond time. (Psalm 102)
- Omnipresence: God’s presence in all places at all times. He is not confined by spatial limitations.
- Psalm 139:7
- Omniscience: God’s complete and perfect knowledge. He knows all things, past, present, and future, including the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Psalm 139:1-6 ,
- also Psalm 147
- Souce BibleHub
Selah..
Yes, consider these inherent characteristics of God as you read Psalm 139.
a God of Personal Character
You have sinned – crossed the line of what God wants you to do.
OR
You have done a good thing that you would hope God (or anyone) would take note.
AND when we read that GOD IS ONE, the LORD doesn’t seem very personable at all.
God is One in Being
But, in speaking of the TRINITY we know from Scripture that the Lord God IS personable — VERY personable in THREE PERSONS we can relate to — the Father, the Son our Lord Jesus Christ and the Person of the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).
AND GOD communitates to us personally and relationally through EACH of these three.
Again, much more than we can cover today, but pray to the Lord for an opening of your eyes and heart and understanding as you reread this glorious Psalm.
The Omniscience of an ALL-KNOWING GOD
David’s words acknowledge with humble awe,that the LORD knows everything about him.
You know when I sit
and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psalm 139:2 NIV
SCAREY?
It could be (if you consider that the LORD is also all-powerful).
How many times have you thought,
“If you knew what I was thinking..?”
YET God knows your mind – not only what YOU have done, but what you WILL do in every situation and relationship.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.Psalm 139:3 ESV
I find this actually comforting (when we become ‘lost sheep’ caught in the many snares of a mere mortal in this world ).
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.v.4
Oh the times I have not ‘held my tongue – times my mouth spewed forth evil before my brain engaged in judicious restraint.
You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.
Psalm 130:5 CSB
David cites the hand of blessing that the LORD places upon those whose own hearts would pursue Him – the ALL-KNOWING Creator of us all.
And in it David looks beyond the tree of knowledge to the God even Higher than the highest knowledge attainable by man.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Psalm 139:6 LSB
WHAT can any of us say about the knowledge (Omniscience) of the Almighty, all-powerful (Omnipotent) God?
The Omnipresence of an Omniscient God
Jesus reminded Nichodemus, a most-highly educated Biblical scholar:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Gospel of John 4:24 ESV
The Son of God communicates directly that the Holy Spirit of God is an essential Person of God we should worship.
David, a man after God’s own heart, already has experienced this and speaks of God’s omnipresent omniscience here — not unlike the Spirit [wind, breath, mind, spirit – רוּחַ]hovering over the waters before Creation.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?Psalm 139:7
He pursues you in perfect justice. He captivates you in His perfect love.
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.
How far removed from my daily existance, YET the guiding hand leads me and your hand of blessing embraces me.
David’s song praises God’s presence and omniscience and personal love.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Again, no more than God’s creation IN THE BEGINNING can hide.
And now this song praising the Creator echos the nature of Adam and every God-created being such as ourselves before we even received the spirit of life.
For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Psalm 139:13-14a NKJV
You have heard it — or spoken it of the conceived life in the womb of it mother before this forming person breathes the spirit of life.
Yet this is just the beginning of David’s praise for all Creation.
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Dust from dust, as it were. Even that of our father’s and mother’s DNA, so to speak.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
Even as King David before the LORD was more than these worshipers could see, so too is the LORD much more than any son or daughter of adam can perceive.
This now is David’s heart for the LORD.
Lord, I will do what I know You want.
Do you love what GOD loves?
Will you hate what GOD hates?
Shall we tolerate the sin that God hates, anymore than we must forgive what God will redeem through Christ?
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!Psalm 139:17 NKJV
If I should count them,
they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake,
I am still with You.
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
Do any of you recall the caution of the Son of Man to those who causually claimed to follow Him?
“Not every one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.’
Gospel of Matthew 7:21-23 RSV
This admonition of the Son of God also appears in the Gospel of Luke along with the caution:
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Luke 6:46 RSV
David sought to obey God’s will.
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Psalm 139:19b-123 NKJV
David’s Prayer that God would test his heart
Do you pray personally to God before you impulsively act on His behalf?
(Here David does, but I frequently fail in this.)
- Does your own spirit of indecision fail to consult with the Spirit of perfect understanding?
- Do you (as the workers of iniquity Jesus rebuked) claim your own will as that of the Father of all mankind?
Hear David’s plea — not of a king, nor expected from a leader of worship — hear this appeal of a man after God’s own heart:
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
Does the Lord — the All-powerful, All-knowing, Always-present God know you?
Does your heart long for His AWESOME Holiness, Love, Justice, Mercy, Truthfulness and desire that YOU would walk with Him into eternal life?
Selah.
Consider your words of worship and obey the perfect will of the Lord.. even in your stumbling of these last days.
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
Psalm 139
