Psalm 139

Scripture Read. Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 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.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Thought conveyed.  The thought conveyed is that God knows us from the beginning to the end. God knows where we are, wherever we are, and more than that, He is with us.  Even in total darkness, He sees us.  And that I should hate those who hate Him.

Application made.  Reading Psalms 39 tonight disturbs my comfort, in that I read things that I glossed over before and wonder what they mean.  First, "before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely."  Implied is He knows what I am going to say before I say.  But more than that, He reads my mind and understands what is driving me to say what I am about to say.  He sees motive behind thoughts.

To be honest, that doesn't get to me, but others may imply that that means I will say that word on my tongue.

"...when I woven together in the depths of the earth." What?  Was I not formed in my mother's womb?  I have learned NOT to make parallels.  But all I can visualize is the orcs being birthed from the mud in Saruman's keep.  Are we like orcs?

"all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Hmm.  So does He know those who will commit suicide?  Is free will removed from us?  No, I don't think so.  So what is being implied?

18b. "when I awake, I am still with you."  Did David believe he went to Heaven in his dreams?  Or that God was closer?  Confusing.

Response given.  The Bible is written on many levels, and just as a simpleton can understand the basics, and learned person can grasp more.  An even more intelligent person can make connections that the smart man can discover.  When I read verses like these, I understand they were not  meant for me to understand.  Do I think too deeply upon them?  I feel I should seek out multiple interpretations of these lines if I hope to grasp the deeper thought.