Three in One
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:3 NASB
Intimately acquainted with– Actually, the text doesn’t really say this. The last word in the sentence, hiskanet-tah, comes from the verb sākan. The translator has added “intimately” in order to capture the tone of this psalm. The verb means, “to be of use, service, profit.” “The root also allows various shades of meaning, such as: God’s superintending care of the believer (Ps 139:3), the woodsman’s endangering of himself in the hewing of trees (Eccl 10:9), or Balaam’s donkey’s protest that he has never been accustomed to mocking his master (Num 22:30).”[1] But Patterson’s comment seems to misdirect our understanding of the use in Psalm 139. The author is not extolling God’s “superintending care.” He is complaining that God’s omniscient comprehension makes him feel hemmed in. Perhaps we could grasp this emotional reaction if we realized that the verb sākan appears in three roots. Sākan II means, “incur danger” and sākan III means, “be poor.” Yes, we might argue that these three are contextually different, but they are all spelled precisely the same way, so maybe there are hints of each in all three.
Let’s suppose this is the case (just for the moment). What might that mean for the author? The overall idea of this song is that God knows and watches everything. While this could be a blessing, it is also a curse since it means that there isn’t any place where I can hide. And sometimes I want to hide. So it’s possible that God’s intimate acquaintance (sākan I) isn’t always welcomed. There are times when it feels dangerous to me, that is, when God watches me do things that I know are disobedient or shameful. And, at the same time, there is an element of “being poor” in this experience. Sākan III is that feeling that I am robbed of my own will when I know that God knows it all. Perhaps the author’s use of sākan pushes us to see both sides of this particularly uncomfortable sword. Yes, I want His protection, but it comes at a cost, and that cost often makes me feel as though I have no wiggle room in my life. It makes me feel as if God is really the cosmic Policeman, ready to arrest me for every slip up. That pushes me in the opposite direction of the loving Father. So sākan really captures my attraction/repulsion response to God’s omniscience. I might not like to think about this, but I am sure to feel it on occasion.
Now we have uncovered the fulcrum point of this song. It is the bi-polar attitude toward God. We want His presence—but we don’t want it all the time. Even the biblical characters waver back and forth regarding God’s oversight. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Ask Moses, David, Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah and Peter. Oh, and don’t forget Jeremiah. But be prepared for answers you might find uncomfortable. Maybe drawing closer to God isn’t quite the “eternal bliss” that we think it is. Maybe the essential element of yetzer ha’ra in human beings will always have some conflict with divine oversight.
Topical Index: sākan, intimate acquaintance, useful, danger, poor, Psalm 139:3
[1]Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1494 סָכַן. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (625). Chicago: Moody Press.
Just like the old saying that men would say about women (and women about men): “Can’t live with ’em and can’t live without ’em”, except in this case it is literally true. I know, I tried and died in my sin. The Good News is that with Messiah “you can live with Him and you can’t live without Him!” I know, I tried and died to my sin.
The KJV uses the word compasses and not scrutinize… This may render two different meanings to this verse and the rest of the Psalm…
Interesting to note that the three meanings of the verb sakan seems to be better explained if compasses was still used in the translation…
Reading your explanation immediately took me to the beatitudes. The purpose of submitting our ways to God. Could it be possible that David was trying to thank God for the privilege of knowing God…. Rather than complaining about His omnipresence…
Given this understanding I can imagine how restricting God affects our short term plans to manifest His long term purpose with our lives… I for one generally only have a 20/20 hind vision and seem to rather complain when God keeps adjusting my ways to be a more blessing father for all involved. As David did I just need to press forward and repent seeking God’s forgiveness as soon as I have the courage to admit He is always right…
That S-K root denotes being entwined or entangled as in the Succoth which is a booth or hut with entwined branches of trees, so that sakan is an entwined activity. Of course David couldn’t run away from God, any more than he could run away from himself as God, have weaved Himself into the very fabric of our makeup. (in His Image…) It would seem that the issue of “drawing closer” to God is more about tightening the weave than anything else. It would also seem, that’s the reason it’s impossible to draw back in comfort, as a loosening of the weave only results in being contrary to the integrity of the cloth. The middle letter in that word is a Kaf, which is a covering hand.
Thank you for reminding us to accept the looseness of an entwined interlinking relationship not a cemented one.
The more sin we have been exposed to, the more tempting it is to want to hide. When those who were supposed to be loving have been anything but, it is harder to trust that there is a Father who is different. It is much harder to exercise faith without doubting. I find myself struggling with this double-mindedness. I know how fragmented I am. I know how holy He is. The self of my experience is in conflict with the self that has been redeemed and restored through the work of Messiah. I know that He knows all about me and that is not a comfort. There is a constant struggle to truly live in shalom because of His character and not mine.
Boy can I relate to that. Thanks for sharing.
Our discomfort with the scrutinizing nature of the omnipotent God is based on our relationship with Him. I clung to him at the age of 4 when I was abandoned by my mother. She was a true beliver who taught me that God was real and present; a caring father. Not long after I lovingly was clinging to her leg in an attempt at comforting her as she beat her head aginst the wall in her distress she left us. I then clung to God like a flag pole in the ensuing hurricanes. I have endured much training , correction and truble with him since. He does not slap me around for being a bad boy. His ways are not the ways of our natural fathers.We must learn who He really, is not who we think Him to be. I only get the truble I need, and He walks me through it into understanding.
Very helpful Mark, I can totally relate.
Thanks Larry it’s a challenge to remember who God really is…”Oh YHVH, my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, Worthlessness and unprofitable things.” Jeremiah 16:19 The good news is it is He himself who walks with you, so patiently, gently, kindly, lovingly, leading you home, simply trust…
Seems to me the risks of acquaintance go both ways. Heaven risked all to rejoin us back to itself. I say heaven, because scripture makes it abundantly clear that salvation is a joint endeavor of all the rest of heaven. (For example, I don’t believe YHVH just made Yeshua on the fly and gave Him a bunch of stuff – even if it was His own special stuff – to take care of the problem. I believe He, along with all those other created beings still faithful to Him up there, has ended up with skin in our game, too.)
Love is risky for everyone involved, but love involves everyone; most of all, itself. I don’t think there is any negative part of “acquaintance” (which cuts both ways, by the way) we cannot say that heaven – who collectively risked the Beloved – has not suffered through along with us on the other end of our unfortunate choices. Angels weep and fight (and lose); the Holy Spirit grieves; the Father’s heart bleeds and the Son, as the Rep on both sides, faithfully conduits it all both ways (and we all know where His skin ended up).
Awareness, like any other function, is a condition of the space in between: awareness, as a ‘pure’ ‘ideal form’ ‘on its own’, etc. does not exist: you have to be aware of something. Acquaintance with (awareness of?) heaven, and its mutual acquaintance back with us, is likewise a shared endeavor. I think it is WHAT we have to share that freaks us out. Who wants to be aware of – much less SHARE – disaster (um, that would be our disaster)? But heaven already has done its half of establishing acquaintance (that would be salvation, of course) with us. Salvation is a done deal on that end, but because it is done, the pressure is on us. Now it is our move on the board.
To show up in that saving space requires us to appropriate (become acquainted with?) that salvation. The condition of God’s acquaintance with us is that we have to do our half of this mutually acquainted endeavor. If God is already acquainted with all my ways, my next move is going to have to be, well, repentance, because heaven moved first and it chose salvation (as the only possible way to reacquaint itself with us). Salvation on that end requires repentance from me on my end, of course, of this (mutual) acquaintance. Like it or not. Ready or not.
Yep, my beloved wife suggests you sister are a good counterpoint to Skip. He wrestles in his head a lot, you on the other hand have wrestled in the world. I find your perspective broad and deep, wide like a river and deep like the sea. Thanks for sharing from your truble and thank you for persevering through them into understanding…
I am trying to catch up ( in more ways than this…) with reading these posts. Laurita, Lady Wisdom, wow, our thoughts are profound and I apprecate your depth of thinking. May Yahweh continue to bless and inspire you. Thank you, and thank you Father.
This is when we could use an extended period of Selah! Truly to stop and think about it. Spend time contemplating and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit as we assimilate what is being said to us, for us, in us! I like how you get down into the bowels of the Word. Breaking down the word so that it is more easily processed and absorbed. Thanks.
Perhaps this is why at times I feel I am ‘At His Mercy’ as opposed to feeling ‘In His Mercy.’
I really like that, Amber!