The God Who Knows Us Perfectly Psalm 139:1-24

1 1. The God Who Knows Us Perfectly Psalm 139:1-24 . Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, , John C. Sewell, , Editor. 2. The God Who Knows Us Perfectly Commentary by Clyde M. Miller Text: Psalm 139:1-24 , O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

2 Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

3 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?

4 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, , John C. Sewell, , Editor. 3. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. NIV. Introduction: I. The Greek title has prefixed the strange phrase "for the end", and the Alexandrinus text has appended the phrase "of Zechariah in the dispersion". A. Nothing in the text of the Psalm gives any insight into the date of composition. B. There are several Aramaisms in the Psalm ("my thoughts", Ps.)

5 139:2; "go up", Ps. 139:8; "your adversaries", Ps. 139:20b, KJV). 1. Psalms 139:2, You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. NIV. 2. Psalms 139:8, If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I. make my bed in the depths, you are there. NIV. 3. Psalms 139:20, They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. NIV. 4. However, the presence of Aramaisms is not necessarily an indication of a late date of composition. II. The Psalm is poetically balanced with four paragraphs of six verses each. A. In the first paragraph (Ps. 139:1-6), the psalmist praises God for his minute knowledge of Him, the contemplation of which fills the psalmist with awe (Ps.

6 139:6). 1. Psalm 139:1-6, O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O. Lord. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. NIV. Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, , John C. Sewell, , Editor. 4. B. In the second paragraph (Ps. 139:7-12), the psalmist states that God is everywhere the psalmist might go, and God is there to lead and hold him (Ps.

7 139:10). 1. Psalm 139:7-12, Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. NIV. C. In the third paragraph (Ps. 139:13-18, the psalmist combines the idea of God's omniscience (Ps.)

8 139:1-6) and omnipresence ( :7- 12) and applies these divine qualities to God's knowledge of the psalmist's embryonic development (Ps. 139:13-15) and God's planning of the psalmist's life (Ps. 139:16-18). 1. Psalm 139:13-18, For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

9 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them? Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of san. When I awake, I am still with you. NIV. 2. All this contemplation fills the psalmist with a feeling of intimate closeness to God (Ps. 139:18). D. In the fourth paragraph (Ps. 139:19-24), the psalmist thinks of God as the judge of all the earth and in complete confidence asks God to Landmark Publications, Inc., 1045 Maynor Street, Nashville, TN 37216, , John C. Sewell, , Editor. 5. judge him with a view to His correcting his life to please God (Ps. 139:23-24).

10 1. Psalm 139:19-24, If only you would slay the wicked, O. God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O 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. NIV. III. There are three key ideas set forth in the Psalm . A. The first is God's intimate knowledge of the psalmist (Ps. 139:1,2,4,6,14,23 (twice)).