Psalm 139:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

NIV: For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.

NASB: Lord, You have searched me and known me.

CSB: Lord, you have searched me and known me.

NLT: O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

KJV: {To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.} O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

NKJV: {For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

David recalls that the Lord has searched him and known him. The word "searched," relates to digging deep into a mine (Job 28:3) or exploring a country. The same Hebrew root word is used of the Danites exploring a territory to claim as their own (Judges 18:2). David perceives that God has dug deeply into his heart, where He uncovered everything there.

Certainly, the Lord knows the condition of the human heart. His diagnosis is accurate. Jeremiah states "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). He also describes the Lord as searching the heart and testing the mind (Jeremiah 17:10).

Sin entered the heart when Adam and Eve sinned, and it reached a fever pitch in the days before the flood, when "the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). At one point in his life, David tried to hide the sin of adultery that he had committed with Bathsheba, but the Lord saw David's heart and exposed his sin (2 Samuel 11—12).

Psalm 139:1–6 extols God's infinite knowledge. David views God as knowing all about him: when he sits down and gets up, his thoughts and conduct, and even the words that are in his mind before he expresses them. He states that God's knowledge is far beyond his comprehension. This section of the psalm precedes the section that focuses on God's omnipresence—his presence everywhere.

In this psalm David marvels at God's amazing characteristics. God knows everything about him: where he goes, all David's thoughts and everything about his conduct. The Lord knows what David will say even before David says it. There is no place David can go that God isn't already present. David marvels at God's creative work in the womb. He is thankful for God's innumerable thoughts for him and for God's presence day and night. Finally, David's thoughts turn to the wicked. He considers them God's enemies and his, and longs for God to slay them. David is disgusted by evil people because they rail against God and take His name in vain. He asks God to search his heart to see if any sin is there, and he asks God to lead him in the way everlasting.

This psalm of David lies in the fifth division of Psalms, Psalms 107—150. It discloses information about God's omniscience: He knows everything. It explains His omnipresence: that He is everywhere. It declares His omnipotence: He formed every part of human beings. It also describes His holiness: He judges the wicked and searches the heart. These attributes reflect common themes across both the Old and New Testaments.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 5/6/2024 3:13:20 PM