Psalm 139

What’s Happening?

Psalm 138 ended with David asking God not to abandon him (Psalm 138:8). But in Psalm 139, David celebrates that, far from God abandoning his creature, David cannot escape his Creator. He explores the incalculable ways God knows him, is with him, and made him.

David marvels at God’s exhaustive knowledge of him (Psalm 139:1). More intimate than any friend, God knows David’s every movement and habit. God notes every time he sits, stands, or lies in bed. God pores over David’s words before he utters them, and parses David’s thoughts before they even occur to him (Psalm 139:2-4). God is conscious of David from every angle, and David can hardly bear up beneath his partial awareness of God’s complete awareness of him (Psalm 139:5-6).

David cannot escape this God who knows him so thoroughly. He could run to every point of the compass and yet fail to create distance between him and the God who is with him wherever he goes (Psalm 139:7). He could ascend to the realms of heaven only to find God waiting for him. He could switch course and descend into the grave only to discover God had beaten him there, too (Psalm 139:8). He could travel from east to west, only to discover God’s hand holding him and guiding his steps (Psalm 139:9-10). Even if David could travel back in time to the deep darkness before creation, even that obscurity would fail to hide him. God would see him as clear as day even in that primeval night (Psalm 139:11-12).  

After all, it was God who created him in deep darkness. In the secret waters of the womb, God intimately formed David’s being. Even in that hidden place, God’s hands made him with the utmost love and attention (Psalm 139:13-14). Moreover, God knew David before he was even a thought to his parents. If there was ever a time David was out of sight and out of mind, it would have been here. But God saw and held him in that secret past, too. God also knows David’s hidden future. He had written down every day David would ever live, before he experienced the first one (Psalm 139:15-16). God’s thoughts and concern for David are measureless. He could fall asleep trying to count the ways God loves and knows him. And God would be there when he awoke again (Psalm 139:17-18).

David’s response to God concludes with him wanting nothing to do with evil people and everything to do with God. He grieves and hates that people would reject and slander a God whose knowledge is incalculable and whose presence is so intimate to his creatures (Psalm 139:19-20). Because David loves God, he hates that which hates God (Psalm 139:21-22). He vulnerably offers himself to the God he loves to search out anything in him that may secretly want to hate the God who loves him. He wants nothing to be between him and the God who will care for him always (Psalm 139:23-24).

Where is the Gospel?

As our Creator, God knows us fully. As our friend, God wants us to know him fully. That is why he sent Jesus. In Jesus, we behold the face of the God who knows us, who is with us, and who made us.

Jesus was with God in the beginning. Through him, the primordial night saw the light of day, and through him, every inch of the universe was made (John 1:1-3). He knows his creation and each of his human creatures exhaustively. And Jesus, our divine Creator, became our human friend (John 1:14). He entered our human experience and showed us God’s love, knowledge, and closeness. Just as David reflected in Psalm 139, Jesus was aware of people’s thoughts before they ever uttered a word, and answered his disciples’ questions before they were ever asked (Mark 2:6-8; John 16:19,30). He lovingly told men and women about their hidden past, and revealed to friends like Peter that he knew their hidden future (John 1:48; 4:17-18; Mark 14:27-30).

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus. The apostle Paul celebrates that no danger or circumstance, not even death, can create distance between us and God (Romans 8:38-39). Jesus not only entered into the hidden secret of the human womb, he descended into the grave itself, to meet us there and bring us out (Luke 1:35; Ephesians 4:9-10; Romans 6:8). And he ascended into heaven, assuring his disciples that he would be with them, even as they go to every point of the compass, teaching others about him (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8-9). Whether we live or die, we belong to Jesus. And when we awake on the other side of death, we are still with Jesus (Romans 14:8-9).

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who knows you fully and who is always with you. And may you see Jesus as the one who came so that you may know God fully as he knows you.