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GOD IS NOWHERE

GOD IS NOW HERE

CELEBRATE INTIMACY

Psalm 139

Allen Ross

Psalm 139 is one of the most beautiful psalms in the collection, and one of the most profound. Theological students frequently learn about it first when they study Bible doctrines, notably the omniscience and omnipresence of God. But more than a proof text for doctrines, this psalm has a powerful message in its own right that must be expounded. It is a deep meditation on the nature of God in connection to a crisis that the psalmist was facing. In other words, it is practical theology.

OMNISCIENCE The LORD knows and evaluates

every aspect of our lives.

Psalm 139:1-6

Psalm 139:1-6

Summary Statement: The LORD knows us thoroughly (1).

Development: The LORD’S knowledge is penetrating (2-4).

Conclusion: The LORD’S knowledge seems overwhelming and restrictive (5,6).

OMNISCIENCE

Tremper Longman

The question remains as to whether God’s knowledge is comforting or upsetting to him.

Dale Davis

“fearful delight”

Psalm 139:1-6

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down     and are acquainted with all my ways. 

OMNISCIENCE

This is personal, intimate and experiential knowledge. Far more than knowing about us, God knows us very

well. He knows us as individuals and in a personal way. In fact, He knows us better than we know ourselves.

know (ידע)

“You know me.”

Psalm 139:1-6

 Even before a word is on my tongue,     behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 

You hem me in, behind and before,     and lay your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;     it is high; I cannot attain it.

OMNISCIENCE

Allen Ross

The point is that God not only knows every move people make, but He knows their motivations as well, what they are striving for in them.

This is a military word that is often translated “besieged.” It has the sense of being surrounded

and restricted. It results in an unwanted confinement from which there is no escape.

hem, surround (צור)

“You hem me in.”

B. Anxiety: Escaping I AM’s Omniscience

I AM’s active omniscience is also frightening as seen in

the second strophe’s military terms on the horizontal and vertical axes.

Bruce Waltke

This is not the normal word for the hand (יד) which usually indicates God’s power and ability to save or judge. Here

we have the word for the palm of the hand. This picture is God cupping the psalmist like a bug trapped on a table.

hand (כף)

“You lay your hand on me.”

This word describes something that is difficult to understand. It is often seen as something miraculous or surpassing our ability to even comprehend or articulate. The result of this word is the person is awestruck and thus this is something that is awesome. It is something that is wonderful in the sense that it makes us “wonder” about it. In the final analysis this provokes praise.

great, awesome (פלא)

“It is too wonderful for me.”

OMNIPRESENCE The LORD is always present to guide and protect us,

no matter how remote or dangerous the place may be.

Psalm 139:7-12

Psalm 139:7-12

Summary Statement: There is no place we can go to flee from the LORD (7).

Development: The LORD is present everywhere in the universe (8-10).

Conclusion: Nothing hinders the protective presence of the LORD (11,12).

OMNIPRESENCE

Psalm 139:7-12

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 

If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 

even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 

OMNIPRESENCE

Now we get the normal word for the hand (יד) which usually indicates God’s power and ability to save. The word for leading is used in Psalm 23 of the shepherd caring for his sheep and it evokes ideas and images of

comfort and tender concern.

lead, guide (נחה)

“Your hand will lead me.”

Psalm 139:7-12

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 

even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

OMNIPRESENCE

OMNIPOTENCE (We know these things because)

The LORD has lovingly superintended and planned our lives from the womb.

Psalm 139:13-18

Psalm 139:13-18

Summary Statement: The LORD has made us (13).

Development: The LORD superintended our development

in keeping with His plan for us (14-16). Conclusion:

The LORD’S loving intentions for us are precious and innumerable (17,18).

OMNIPOTENCE

Psalm 139:13-18

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 

OMNIPOTENCE

This is the inmost parts of as person. In current terminology we would use the heart. It is the deepest

seat of emotion and will where decisions are made. This is essentially the conscience of the person.

inner, kidneys (כליה)

“You formed my inward parts.”

The Hebrew noun גלם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or rolled up substance,” and to “unfinished matter, something that needs to be

finished”. The NET employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at

the time he was “seen” by God.

frame, fetus (נלמי)

“My frame was not hidden.”

Psalm 139:13-18

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

    How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

    I awake, and I am still with you.

OMNIPOTENCE

Psalm 139:19-24

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!     O men of blood, depart from me! 

They speak against you with malicious intent;     your enemies take your name in vain. 

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?     And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 

I hate them with complete hatred;     I count them my enemies. 

OMNIPOTENCE

HUMBLE RESPONSE (Therefore)

We may find great comfort and security in the LORD if we are loyal to Him.

Psalm 139:19-24

Psalm 139:19-24

Summary Lesson: Those who are loyal to the LORD

separate from the LORD’S enemies (19-22). Concluding Prayer:

The faithful seek to maintain integrity throughout their life (23-24).

HUMBLE RESPONSE

Psalm 139:19-24

Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!     O men of blood, depart from me! 

They speak against you with malicious intent;     your enemies take your name in vain. 

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?     And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 

I hate them with complete hatred;     I count them my enemies. 

OMNIPOTENCE

Psalm 139:19-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart!     Try me and know my thoughts! 

And see if there be any grievous way in me,     and lead me in the way everlasting!

OMNIPOTENCE

Self-defense only shuts the door upon God’s mercy, whereas humility opens to deeper self-knowledge, leading in turn

to greater intimacy with the Lover of our Souls.

James Houston

In short, the psalm teaches the covenantal people several truths on how to have authenticity and integrity in their relationship with God.

1. The faithful welcome God’s intimate scrutiny of their hearts.

2. The faithful know that God has good intentions for them from the moment of their conception.

3. The faithful clearly confess their allegiance to the

4. covenant-keeping God.

5. True worshippers confess their sin and are aware of sin’s subtle ability to delude them.

Bruce Waltke

Allen Ross

If people are unfaithful to God, then God’s knowledge and presence will be sources of conviction, but if people are loyal, they bring comfort.

CELEBRATE LOYAL LOVE

Psalm 139

The comprehensive knowledge, personal presence, and absolute power of the LORD

brings great peace and comfort to those who are loyal to Him (and a stern warning to those who oppose Him).

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CELEBRATEA Study in the Psalms