Skip to content

Psalm 139: Search Me, God, and Know My Heart

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

You Know What I’ve Done

  1. “You know me” God knows your life, your history, your habits, your coming and going, your words and deeds. God’s omniscience includes complete and intimate knowledge of you.
  2. “You lay your hand upon me” God is not a disinterested observer in your life. In everything, Jesus is there and Jesus cares!
  3. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me” David’s response to this revelation: awe.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

You Know Where I’ve Gone

  1. “Where can I go from your Spirit?” The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, manifests God’s presence in your life. If you are a Christian, He lives in you- you are the Temple where God’s presence and glory abides (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:6-7)!
  2. To those that are wayward, they will find they cannot shake God’s Spirit and the conviction He brings. Even if you’re not where you’re supposed to be- God goes with you to bring you back.
  3. To those that are faithful, they have assurance of God’s faithful love and guidance. You may find yourself in unfamiliar, uncomfortable places, but the safest, happiest place for you is always in the center of God’s will!

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

You Know What I Am

  1. “For you created in my inmost being” God is your creator! God has known and Has personally designed you from the womb!
  2. This implies that abortion is murder of pre-born life and is the intrusion and destruction of God’s handiwork.
  3. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Who we are, our physical features and personality, whether we trace them to nature or nurture, are a blessing from God that we are to be thankful for (Acts 17:26). Your family tree, your parents, your environment all come from God! These are part of the gift of life!
  4. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book” God called you and foreknew before your were born (Jer. 1:5).
  5. “How precious to me are your thoughts, God” God knows what you don’t need to know and what you don’t need to worry about. God ordained all your days so you don’t have to worry about tomorrow (Mat. 6:33).

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Help Me Know Myself

  1. “Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord” Let’s talk about God’s hatred and our duty to hate. Notice that David’s concern was that he didn’t hate enough what deserved to be hated (Rom. 12:9). He had perhaps grown too tolerant and complacent with the presence of evil around him (Ps. 101; Pr. 25:26).
  2. “Search me” This is not a mere exercise in exercise in introspection, like seeing a counselor. God is searching you to bring truth to bear and the grace to face it (Prov. 16:1-2, 25; 20:27).
  3. “Test me” A powerful, but dangerous prayer. God might answer by using adversity to show what you’re really made of.
  4. “Know my anxious thoughts” God already knows, but this prayer is acknowledging those anxieties and giving them to Him (1 Peter 5:7).
  5. “See if there any offensive way in me” The Bible frequently warns us against self-deception, we need God to show us when our motives and desires are not aligned with His.
  6. “Lead me in the way everlasting” God hold my hand and guide me, because I can’t make it on my own!

The more you know God the better you will know yourself!