Introduction
If you’ve got your Bible open at the psalm, you can see from the title that it’s a psalm of David. That is to say, this is one of the many psalms which King David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And the psalm can be divided into four main parts. The first part is about God’s knowledge of David; ‘O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.’ The second part is about God’s presence with David: ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?’ The third part is about how God made David: ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.’ And the fourth part is quite different, isn’t it? In the fourth part, David calls down God’s judgment on the wicked. It’s a very surprising — and even shocking — ending to the psalm. And when I visit people and read this psalm to them, I end the reading at verse 18, because verses 19 to 24 are so very different from the rest of the psalm. But there must be some reason for these verses. There must be some explanation for why they are here. All Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful. And so, the Lord must have included this verses at the end of Psalm 139 because they’re useful for us. And that’s one of the things we’ll be thinking about this evening. But this psalm also tells us about God’s omniscience and that he knows all things. And it tells us about God’s omnipresence and that he’s present everywhere all at once. And it tells us that God made us and that he planned our life for us from beginning to end. And, like the rest of Scripture, it also tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the final thing to say before we get into the text is to mention that sometimes when I read this to people, it makes them a little nervous. They think: God knows all about me. He knows my thoughts and what I’m going to say before I say it. And he’s always with me. He sees everything I do. That means he sees and knows all my sins! He sees and knows all the sinful thoughts I have and the sinful words I say and the sinful things I do. And that makes them nervous. However, I don’t think this psalm was written to make us nervous. Quite the contrary. I think this psalm was written to comfort us and to reassure us. And so, we need to remember the background to this psalm. And what is the background to this psalm? It’s the fact that God is a forgiving God. He is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And he does not deal with us according to our sins and he does not repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. The psalmist is not one of God’s enemies. He is one of God’s people. And so, yes, God sees and knows all about him. But the God who sees and knows all about him is the God who loves him and who has forgiven him and who is watching over him for his good. And everyone who trusts in the Lord Jesus can say the same thing. Yes, God sees and knows all about me. But the God who sees and knows all about me is the God who loves me and who has forgiven me for the sake of Christ and he’s watching over me for my good.
Having said that, let’s turn to the text.
Verses 1 to 6
And the first part of the psalm is from verses 1 to 8. And it begins with the psalmist mentioning God’s special covenant name, which is Yahweh in Hebrew or LORD in capital letters in our English translations. This is the name which God revealed to his people and it speaks of his commitment to his people. He has entered into a covenant with us and he has bound himself to us with a promise to be our God and to take care of us always. This confirms what I’ve just been saying, which is that David knows that the God who sees and knows all about him is the God who loves him and has forgiven him.
And David says about this God that he has searched him and that he knows him. There’s no real difference between the verbs ‘to search’ and ‘to know’. The point David is making is that God knows him. And he goes on to say that God knows when he sits and when he rises. That is to say, God knows what he’s doing all day long, because David is either sitting down or else he’s standing up. Whether he’s sitting, or standing, God knows all about it. In fact, God’s knowledge of him is so exhaustive that God knows his thoughts from afar. He knows what’s going on in his mind: what he’s thinking and what’s worrying him and what’s upsetting him and what’s making him afraid. God knows all about it. And God also knows when he goes out in the morning and when he lies down at night and he knows everything in between. God is familiar with all of his ways. In fact, before a word is on his tongue, God knows it completely. So, God knows what he’s going to say before he says it. God knows all about him.
And then, according to verse 5, God hems him in behind and before. The image of hemming someone in can seem confining and restricting, can’t it? We’re in a straitjacket and cannot move! But that’s not the image here. The Lord is hemming David in in order to protect him and to keep him secure. God has put a hedge around him in order to keep him safe from trouble. And the Lord has laid his hand on David. God’s hand signifies his power. And so, God has laid his powerful hand on David to uphold him and to keep him safe, the way a mother lays her hand on her child to steer him away from danger or to keep him from stumbling. And since this part of the psalm is about God’s knowledge of David, then the point of verses 5 and 6 may be that God knows when David needs his help. He knows that David is about to face trouble and danger. He can see it coming before David can. And so, he places his hand on David to steady him.
And at the end of this part, the psalmist says that such knowledge is too wonderful for me. He’s amazed by what God knows. And God not only knows all of this about David, but he knows all of this about every person. He knows us all intimately and exhaustively and accurately. When I did a series of sermons on the attributes of God, we spent a week thinking about God’s omniscience and how God is all-knowing. And we learned that God’s knowledge is infinite so that it’s not restricted or limited in any way. You might know a lot about yourself and about other people, but you don’t know everything about yourself and about other people. But God knows everything about everybody and about everything. His knowledge is not limited in any way. And he knows all things eternally and unchangeably. So, our knowledge hopefully increases over time as we learn new things about the world and about ourselves. But God’s knowledge does not change, because he knew everything about the world and about us before we even existed.
When we think about what God knows, it staggers our minds. We can’t take it in. And we’re lost in wonder and praise.
Verses 7 to 12
But let’s move on to the second part of the psalm which is verses 7 to 12. And this is about God’s presence with David.
David asks in verse 7: ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?’ He’s not saying that he wants to go from God’s Spirit and that he wants to flee from God’s presence. He’s not saying that he’s trying to get away from God. The point he’s making is that God is always with him. So, if he were to go up to heaven, God is there. And if he were to go down to the depths of the grave, God is there too. In other words, God is everywhere. He’s there in the highest place; and he’s there in the lowest place; and he’s everywhere in between. David then thinks of east and west. When he refers to the wings of the dawn in verse 9 he means sunrise. And for the people of Israel, the sun rose in the east. And when he refers to the sea in the same verse, he means the Mediterranean Sea which was in the west. And so, if he went far over to the east or if he went far over to the west, he would discover that God is there. And God is everywhere in between too.
And he says that God’s hand is there to guide him and to hold him fast. So, God is with him to look after him and to keep him safe. That’s the idea behind the words ‘hold fast’. You hold fast to your possessions to keep them from being stolen or lost. And God is holding fast to David. Wherever David went, he knew that God was with him to keep him safe. God was his ever-present help.
So, if he goes up or down, God is with him. If he goes east or west, God is with him. What about if it’s dark? If it’s night time and the lights are out, can God still see him? Again, he doesn’t want the darkness to hide him from God. He’s not trying to get away from God. He’s asking whether it’s possible that God can’t see him in the dark. And the answer is: even the darkness is not dark to God. For God, there’s no difference between daylight and darkness. While we need light to be able to see, God does not need light to see.
When we were studying God’s attributes, we spent a week on God’s omnipresence. Since God is infinite in his being, then there are no restrictions or limitations on where he can be. You and I are limited, because we can only be in one place at one time. But the Lord isn’t restricted like that and he’s present everywhere. You and I have to be somewhere; but God is everywhere. And it’s not as if he stretches himself out or that he spreads himself out in order to fill space, the way we might stretch our hands in the air in order to reach up high. God doesn’t need to stretch himself out. And he doesn’t divide himself up so that part of him is present with me and another part of him is present with you and another part of him is present with someone else. God cannot be divided into parts and therefore he’s present everywhere with all of his being. He fills and surrounds all things all of the time with all of his being. He is present everywhere with all of himself. And normally when the Bible refers to God’s presence with his people, it does so to comfort us. Think of Psalm 23: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why not? Because you are with me. Or think of Psalm 46 where the psalmist says that we will not fear though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea and though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake. We will not fear. Why not? Because the Lord Almighty is with us. And so, in Psalm 139, David marvels because God is everywhere. And God is with him to guide him and to hold him fast.
Verses 13 to 18
We come now to the third part, which is verses 13 to 18. This is about how God made David.
David says in verse 13 that God created his inmost being and knitted him together in his mother’s womb. When he refers to his inmost being, he means his soul; and when he refers to being knitted together in his mother’s womb, he’s thinking about his body. God made us body and soul. And when he thinks about how God made him, he can’t help but praise God, because he knows that he has been fearfully and wonderfully made. He means that he’s extra-ordinary. He’s amazing. But he’s not boasting about himself; he boasting about the Lord who made him like this. Just think of what we are. And think of all the different parts of our body which fit together so well. And think of the things we can do. It’s all amazing. And it’s all due to God, and not to us, because he’s the one who made us. We’re like everything else God has made, because all of God’s works are wonderful.
And then he refers to the time when he was in his mother’s womb. At that time, when he was in his mother’s womb, his frame, or his body, wasn’t hidden from God. He refers to his mother’s womb as a secret place. It’s a secret place, because — in those days and before there were scans — no one could see what was happening there. And he also refers to his mother’s womb as ‘the depths of the earth’. It’s like the depths of the earth, because it’s unknown to us. But it wasn’t unknown or a secret to God, because God knew what was happening when David’s body was being formed in his mother’s womb.
And David uses two words which we have for what craftspeople do. So, he refers to knitting in verse 13 and to weaving in verse 15. Just as someone might knit and weave a garment together, so the Lord knits and weaves us together. And just as the knitter and weaver produces a work of art which people will admire, so God created David as a work of art.
And verse 16 is marvellous, isn’t it? Some of you will remember ‘This is Your Life’, when Eamonn Andrews would surprise a celebrity by turning up with a big red book before inviting the celebrity to the studio to talk about the person’s life and to meet various people from their past. And the big red book contained information about the celebrity’s life. Well, David imagines that God has a big book about him and about his life. But the thing is the contents of this book was written before any of them came to be. All the days ordained for David were written down by God before David was born. And, of course, this is why God knows all about us. He knows all about us because he has planned our life for us. The Lord ordained the day of our birth and he has ordained the day of our death and he’s ordained every other day and event and happening throughout the course of our life. He knew when we would be born and where and what we would become and who we would we meet and what we would say to one another. He planned it all. And while we don’t know what will happen to us tomorrow, the Lord knows, because he’s a planned it.
And this is a comfort to us, isn’t it? It’s a comfort, because though we dont’t know what the future holds, God knows it because he’s planned it for us. And if Christ is your Saviour, and if God is therefore your Father, then you can rest assured in the knowledge that the plans which God has planned for you are good for you. They may not always seem good to you, but that’s only because you can’t see where he’s leading you and what he’s got in store for you. But his plans for his people are always good, because he is good.
And if ever you’re fed up with your life, and if you ever look with envy at the lives of others and wish that your life were different, then remember and believe that your life was ordained for you by the Lord who loves you and who cares for you and his plans for you are good.
And so, David writes in verse 17 that God’s thoughts are precious to him. He means that God’s thoughts about him, or God’s interest in him, or God’s concern for him, is precious to him. He’s glad that God is concerned for him. And God’s thoughts about him, and his care and concern, is like the sand on the seashore, because they are too many to count. And we can imagine David, thinking over these things in bed at night. And then he falls asleep, because he’s tired. But when he wakes up, God is still there. A mother rocks her child to sleep in her arms and then puts her child into bed and goes off to do other things. But the Lord does not ever leave us.
Verses 19 to 24
We come now to the final part of the psalm, which is the surprising part, where the psalmist prays for the Lord to slay the wicked. He describes the wicked as bloodthirsty men and he says that they speak of the Lord with evil intent and they misuse the Lord’s name. So, they dishonour the Lord when they speak of him. And the psalmist declares that he hates those who hate the Lord. He has nothing but hatred for them; and he counts them as his enemies.
And then he asks the Lord in verse 23 to search him and his heart and his thoughts to see if there is any offensive way in him. In other words, am I at all like those who hate the Lord? If there any part of me which sides with them against the Lord? If so, deliver me from the offensive way and lead me instead in the everlasting way which leads to everlasting life in the presence of the Lord.
As we think about why these verses are here, we should ask ourselves who wrote the psalm? So, who wrote it? David wrote it. And David was the King. And ever since he killed Goliath with a sling and a stone, he led God’s people in battles against the Philistines and other nations, who were pagans, who did not glorify the Lord or give thanks to him, even though he was their Creator who had given them their life and every good thing they enjoyed. They did not glorify the Lord or give thanks to him. And they wanted to destroy God’s people and take over the Promised Land. And it was David’s responsibility as King to fight on behalf of the Lord against God’s enemies and to save God’s people so that the people could continue to live in the Promised Land, where they enjoyed the presence of God in their midst. When David looked at the world as God’s King, he saw that there were really only two kingdoms: there was the kingdom of God, comprising all those who belonged to God; and there was the kingdom of Satan, comprising all those who sided with Satan against the Lord and his people. And he was appointed by God to protect God’s kingdom from Satan’s kingdom.
The Lord Jesus
But there’s more to say about this. It’s possible to read this psalm, which was written by David the King, as the words of the Lord Jesus. David was a type of Christ. That means he pointed to Christ. He represented Christ. And so, his words represent Christ’s words. His thoughts represent Christ’s thoughts.
And so, imagine the Lord Jesus saying these things. He could say that God his Father knew all about him. God the Father knew when he sat down and when he got up; when he went out and when he lay down. God the Father was familiar with all his ways.
And the Lord Jesus could say that God the Father was with him always, because he had been anointed with the Spirit of God, who accompanied him wherever he went and who enabled him to perform his mighty miracles. God was always with him.
And the Lord Jesus could say that God the Father formed his inmost being and knitted him together in Mary’s womb. This is the connection with the Christmas story, because the Lord Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary and he became a man with a body and soul like ours. He was made like us in every way, apart from sin. And all the days ordained for him were planned by God the Father before any of them came to be, so that God was able to announce in the pages of the Old Testament what the Saviour would do when he came.
And what was God’s plan for the Lord Jesus? God’s plan for the Lord Jesus was for him to come into the world as one of us and to give up his life on the cross to pay for the sins of his people. God’s plan for him was for him to take the blame for all that we have done wrong, so that all who believe in him can receive forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of everlasting life in God’s everlasting kingdom in the new heaven and earth. That was God’s plan for the Lord Jesus.
And just as God planned, the Lord Jesus went to the cross and gave up his life for us and for our salvation. And afterwards, just as God planned, he was raised from the dead and he ascended to heaven and he sends his preachers into all the world to call on men and women and boys and girls everywhere to turn from their life of sin and unbelief and to trust in him for salvation. And whoever trusts in him for salvation will be kept safe when Christ comes again.
So, what will Christ do when he comes again? When Christ comes again, he will slay the wicked. The first time the Lord Jesus came into the world, he came to give up his life for his people. The second time the Lord Jesus will come into the world, it will be to condemn the wicked who did not believe in him. They will be condemned for all that they have done wrong; and they will be sent away from the presence of God to be punished forever. The end of Psalm 139 refers to the end of time when Christ will come in judgment to punish the wicked. On that day, he will count them as his enemies. And he will hate them in the sense that they will suffer God’s wrath and curse for all that they have done wrong.
And we need to be clear. This is something which the Lord Jesus will do. It’s not something we’re to do. And the Lord Jesus will only do it when he comes again. In the meantime, he calls on us, his people, to love everyone, including our enemies and to do good even to those who persecute us. Now is not the time for judgment, because, for now, the Lord is being patient with everyone; and he sends his preachers to everyone to call on them to repent and be saved. And we must be patient too; and we must love everyone, including those who do not believe, because this is God’s will for us. And if those who have sided with Satan hate us, we can take comfort in the fact that God knows all about us and what we’re suffering; and God is always with us to help us; and God made us and he’s planned our life; and his plans for his people are always good.
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