Psa 139.1-18

Psg: Psa 139.1-18 (http://biblia.com/bible/gs-netbible/Ps139.1)
Date: 4/4/12

Read

139:1 O Lord, you examine me* and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;*

you are aware of everything I do.*

139:4 Certainly* my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.*

139:5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;

you place your hand on me.

139:6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;

it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.*

139:7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?

Where can I flee to escape your presence?*

139:8 If I were to ascend* to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.*

139:9 If I were to fly away* on the wings of the dawn,*

and settle down on the other side* of the sea,

139:10 even there your hand would guide me,

your right hand would grab hold of me.

139:11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,*

and the light will turn to night all around me,”*

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,*

and the night is as bright as* day;

darkness and light are the same to you.*

139:13 Certainly* you made my mind and heart;*

you wove me together* in my mother’s womb.

139:14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing.*

You knew me thoroughly;*

139:15 my bones were not hidden from you,

when* I was made in secret

and sewed together in the depths of the earth.*

139:16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.*

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence.*

139:17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God!*

How vast is their sum total!*

139:18 If I tried to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand.

Even if I finished counting them,

I would still have to contend with you.*

Record

Examine, know, understand, observe, aware, thoroughly aware, squeeze, place hand, knowledge, presence, there, even there, not too dark for you to see, made, (deeds are) awesome and amazing, knew, not hidden, saw, ordain, vast sum total, still have to contend with you / still with you.

Reflect

• Omniscience, omnipresence, awesomeness, Creator, foreknowledge, sovereignty, necessary-ness
• The completeness of all of these: to every extent and in every way, height and depth, far away and nearby.
• Especially because he is our creator, he knows all these things, does all these things, exists in all these contexts and places.
• Even if we were to list, catalog, analyze, study, and write comprehensive theses about all this, still - there he is, with us, there for us to contend with. His existence is even beyond the sum of his attributes and actions.
• My study of my Creator cannot be confined to an analysis of his effects. My creator is there for me to have a relationship with. He knows everything about me, made me, already exists in every place I will ever go to. He’s there and he knows everything about the me who is there. And he’s ready.
• NET on v. 18d: 29 tc Heb “I awake and I [am] still with you.” A reference to the psalmist awaking from sleep makes little, if any, sense contextually. For this reason some propose an emendation toהֲקִצּוֹתִי (haqitsoti), a Hiphil perfect form from an otherwise unattested verb קָצַץ (qatsats) understood as a denominative ofקֵץ (qets, “end”). See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (WBC), 252-53.

Respond

• Help me to see you in every place, every situation. Remind me that you already know every bit of it. Give me this sense of awe and wonder of how true your completeness is. Give me the shalom that comes from the perfect totality of your presence and knowledge. Help me to be still and know that you are God.
• Psalm 46:10 He says,* “Stop your striving and recognize* that I am God!
  I will be exalted* over* the nations! I will be exalted over* the earth!”
• Forgive me for my whining, as if you didn’t know everything, as if you weren’t absolutely there in this specific space, as if you hand was not upon me, as if you did not create me.