139:1-5Sometimes we don’t let people get to know us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won't like. But God already knows everything about us, even to the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), and still he accepts and loves us. God is with us through every situation, in every tria—protecting, loving, guiding. He knows and loves us completely.
Life Application Study BiblePsalmsChapter 139
Psalm 139
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 988, 989, 990
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
139Psalm 139
1and know everything about me.
2You know when I sit down or stand up.You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3You see me when I traveland when I rest at home.You know everything I do.
4You know what I am going to sayeven before I say it, Lop.
5You go before me and follow me.You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,too great for me to understand!
7[can never escape from your Spirit!I can never get away from your presence!
8If I go up to heaven, you are there;if I go down to the grave,* you are there.
9If ride the wings of the morning,if I dwell by the farthest oceans,10 even there your hand will guide me,and your strength will support me.
11T could ask the darkness to hide meand the light around me to become night—12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.To you the night shines as bright as day.Darkness and light are the same to you.
13You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17How precious are your thoughts about me,* O God. They cannot be numbered!
18Tcan't even count them;they outnumber the grains of sand!And when I wake up,you are still with me!
19O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! 20They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. 21O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who oppose you? 22Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. 23Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Theme: Prayer for protection against those who slander begins with concentrating on our future life with God.
Author: David
14 0 For the choir director: A psalm of David.1 O LORD, rescue me from evil people.Protect me from those who are violent,2 those who plot evil in their hearts
Textual footnotes
- 139:8 Hebrew to Sheol.
- 139:17 Or How precious to me are your thoughts.
Life Application Notes 4 notes
139:7God is omnipresent—he is present everywhere. Because this is so, you can never escape from his Spirit. This is good news to those who know and love God, because no matter what we do or where we go, we can never be far from God’s comforting presence (see Romans 8:35-39).
139:21-24David's hatred for his enemies came from his zeal for God. David regarded his enemies as God’s enemies, so his hatred was a desire for God’s righteous justice and not for personal vengeance. Is it all right to be angry at people who hate God? Yes, but we must remember that it is God who will deal with them, not us. If we truly love God, then we will be deeply hurt if someone hates him. David asked God to search his heart and mind and point out any wrong motives that may have been behind his strong words. But while we seek justice against evil, we must also pray that God's enemies will turn to him before he judges them (see Matthew 5:44).
139:23,24David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. This is exploratory surgery for sin. How are we to recognize sin unless Gad points it out? Then, when God shows us, we can repent and be forgiven. Make this verse your prayer. If you ask the LORD to search your heart and your thoughts and to reveal your sin, you will be continuing on “the path of everlasting life.”
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 989
ANGER AND VENGEANCE IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS
Several psalms shock those familiar with New Testament teachings. The psalm writers didn’t hesitate to demand God’s justice and make vivid suggestions on how he might carry it out. Apparently, no subject was unsuitable for discussion with God, but our tendency is to avoid the subjects of anger and vengeance in the book of Psalms. To understand the words of anger and vengeance, we need to understand several things: (1) The judgments asked for are to be carried out by God and are written out of intense personal and national suffering. The people are unable or unwilling to take revenge themselves and are asking God to intervene. Because few of us have suffered intense cruelty on a personal or national level, we find it difficult to grasp these outbursts. (2) These writers were intimately aware of God's justice. Some of their words are efforts to vividly imagine what God might allow to happen to those who had harmed his people. (3) If we dared to write down our thoughts while being unjustly attacked or suffering cruelty, we might be shocked at our own bold desire for vengeance. We would be suprised at how much we have in common with these ancient writers. They did not have Jesus’ command to pray for one’s enemies, but they did point to the right place to start. We are challenged to pay back good for evil, but until we respond to this challenge, we will not know how much we need God's help in order to forgive others. (4) There is a helpful parallel between the psalms of anger and the psalms of vengeance. The “angry” psalms are intense and graphic, but they are directed at God. He is boldly told how disappointing it is when he turns his back on his people or acts too slowly. But while these thoughts and feelings were sincerely expressed, we know from the psalms themselves that these passing feelings were followed by renewed confidence in God's faithfulness. It is reasonable to expect the same of the “vengeance” psalms. We read, for example, David's angry outburst against Saul’s pursuit in Psalm 59, yet we know that David never took personal revenge on Saul. The psalm writers freely spoke their minds to God, having confidence that he could sort out what was meant and what was felt. Pray with that same confidence—God can be trusted with your heart. Selected psalms that emphasize these themes are 10; 23; 28; 35; 59; 69; 109; 137; 139; 140.
Study feature · page 990
‘threaten I
Deliverance
you.
🗺 This feature includes a map, chart or picture — view the original page image.
Study feature · page 990
Interlude
Study feature · page 990
Interlude
Study feature · page 990
Interlude