Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Psalm 139:6 NASB Too wonderful– What does “too wonderful” mean to a poet in the tenth century BCE? Well, not just any poet, but a poet who is saturated with a culture and a nation that believes YHVH to be the one true God. Perhaps…
You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5 NASB Behind and before– What does it feel like to have God’s hand heavy upon you? Does it feel comfortable? Gracious? Or do you feel as if you can’t move? Pressed? Coerced? Curbed? In this verse, the emphasis comes first, and in this…
You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5 NASB Enclosed– There’s not much wiggle room here. ṣûr, the Hebrew verb used in this expression, is related to words meaning, ‘besiege, bind, tie down’ and ‘encircle.’ The psalmist’s choice seems to make it abundantly clear that God Himself puts restrictive fences around our…
Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. Psalm 139:4 NASB Even before– We are fond of claiming that God created out of nothing. The theological term is creation ex nihilo. Although the first verse of Genesis is often read as a proof text for this doctrine[1], theologians also employ…
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…
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:3 NASB Scrutinize– Been winnowed lately? When necessary, God takes us down to the threshing floor. The Hebrew verb, zārâ, is a product of the Israelite agrarian culture. It means, “fan, scatter, cast away, winnow; disperse, compass, spread, be scattered, dispersed.”[1] …
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. Psalm 139:2 NASB Understand– If God “knows” everything about me, then why do we also read, “You understand”? Isn’t knowing and understanding pretty much the same thing? As it turns out, in Hebrew these two ideas are different, and the difference is precisely…
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. Psalm 139:2 NASB Thought– God knows it all, right? He knows every thought you have, every fleeting desire, every inclination, every unvoiced declaration. We all agree. God knows us—perhaps better than we know ourselves. After all, He is the omniscient external observer in…
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. Psalm 139:1 NASB Searched– Does anyone really know you? Do you really know yourself? If the research into personality and identity formation is correct, we would be inclined to answer both of these questions with, “No.” There are some really good reasons why this is the case. First, really being…
On this last day to the Gregorian calendar, it’s good to reflect on what has happened since the beginning of this year. First, I want to tell you about the amazing success story of Children Under the Bridge. This year we have grown from the original 35 children to about 200. We started skills training…
