Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:16 NASB Ordained– Does God know everything you will do before you are born, before you make a single choice? Does He know all men’s choices from eternity past? And…
My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Psalm 139:15 NASB In the depths of the earth– Did you think the Psalmist was writing about personal, human birth? Perhaps you even read it as God’s inspired statement about your birth. The Psalmist certainly is…
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14 A note: This went out yesterday. It wasn’t supposed to, but with plenty of time zones to traverse, I just got the day wrong. So here it is on the…
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13 NASB Formed– Did you read this as a statement about your creation? Did you imagine a parallel with Genesis 1 and 2? When we read “formed,” we probably think the poet is enlisting imagery from the initial creation of human beings. We think…
Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:12 NASB Alike to You– Well, not exactly. You see, the Hebrew construction doesn’t actually contain the words “alike to You.” They have been added in order to parallel the opening phrase. The…
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” Psalm 139:11 NASB If– Is it really hypothetical? Do we really only imagine a darkness that overwhelms? The translator, also a reader (see yesterday’s Today’s Word about the role of the reader), apparently reads this poem as a theological proclamation of God’s…
Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. Psalm 139:10 NASB Lay hold– I could hide in the twilight. I could flee to end of the sea. But the result will be the same. YHVH is there. The only question is why He is there. Is He there as guide and…
If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Psalm 139:9 NASB Wings of the dawn– Twilight is a time of strange visions. It’s that time just before the sun breaks the horizon or just after the sun hides behind the edge of the world. When Hebrew…
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 NASB Behold– We’ve looked at this verse several times.[1]Our previous investigations concentrated on the use of She’ol and its distinction from the contemporary idea of Hell. But this time we’ll look at the tone of the verse,…
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:7 NASB Flee– “Basically bāraḥ means to go or pass through, and to flee or hurry. It occurs mostly in narratives, referring to flight from an enemy.”[1] But how can this be true in this psalm? Is God the enemy? Do we…
