PSALM 139
1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue,
but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before,
and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me;
even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day:
the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins:
thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvellous are thy works;
and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
when I awake, I am still with thee.
Psalm 139 is one of my favorite Psalms. The Psalms in general, and Psalm 139 in particular, are meant to be pondered, to be read with some deliberation. In Psalm 139 considerable care is taken to slow the pace of our reading … this is often done by making multifaceted statements on the same subject so that our thoughts are not permitted to move on too quickly.
Psalm 139 might have simply stated, “O Lord, you know me so thoroughly!” (God’s knowledge of us is indeed thoroughgoing - and frightening!) Here, however, the Psalmist writes. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me,” … Let me count the ways.
- You have searched me
- You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
- You understand my thought from afar.
- You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
- You are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
- Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
The Psalmist wants to arrest our attention and fix our thoughts on the conviction that God knows us intimately — when we sit down. lie down and rise up, in our paths and ways, in our thoughts and words. … “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
This wonderful and high knowledge is echoed the BCP’s introductory invocation of the Mass, the Collect for Purity:
ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In this Collect the same idea is expressed three times … to God our hearts are open, our desires known, no secrets are hid.
In Psalm 139 God’s knowledge of us is so complete that that there is no place we can go to escape His omnipresent Spirit.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
God knows our very substance, having formed our inward parts, formed us in our mother's womb. His eyes saw our unformed substance and in “Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me,when as yet there was not one of them.” … “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”
The Psalmist, ever conscious of God having searched and known him, takes his refuge in God’s saving knowledge of him. He would have God try his heart that God would help him see and remove anything unwholesome. And he prays that God would ever lead him in the way of everlasting life. Here again we hear the echoes of Psalm 139 in the Collect for Purity:
ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
JSH+