Text: Psalm 139:1-24
In this 2-week reading plan, we are assuming a posture of thanksgiving before the Lord by meditating on ten Psalms of Gratitude. Rather than provide a written response to each Psalm, we have offered a simple yet meaningful activity designed to help us recall God’s mercies to us and through time. So grab a journal, and let’s create our own songs of thanksgiving to God.
Psalm 139
The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to heaven, You are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.
If I live at the eastern horizon
or settle at the western limits,
even there Your hand will lead me;
Your right hand will hold on to me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night”—
even the darkness is not dark to You.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to You.
For it was You who created my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You
because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful,
and I know this very well.
My bones were not hidden from You
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in Your book and planned
before a single one of them began.
God, how difficult Your thoughts are
for me to comprehend;
how vast their sum is!
If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with You.
God, if only You would kill the wicked—
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me—
who invoke You deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by You falsely.
Lord, don’t I hate those who hate You,
and detest those who rebel against You?
I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.
Dig Deeper:
What a privilege to know the God who knows us! Use the questions below to meditate on Psalm 139, giving thanks for the Almighty God who knows His children through and through.
1. How does God know us? (verses 1-6)
2. How does God go with us? (verses 7-12)
3. How does God create us? (verses 13-16)
4. Does God’s knowledge of us require any action on our part? (verses 17-24)
5. What does this teach me about the character of God?
6. Notice how verse 23 parallels verse 1. Why does David ask God to do what he knows God has already done?
Lord, you made me, specifically me, no accidents, in my mother’s womb. You designed me. You know all my thoughts and my heart, Lord, but I also want You to guide each and every one one of them and be in every one of them. Lord, help me to be a witness for you.
I am a high school English teacher and with testing coming up, I have been so anxious! God knows my concerns thank you lord.
Joann I am a teacher too and understand your anxiety! Be confidant in the knowledge that God has divinely set you in motion to teach those wonderful minds! I will be praying for your upcoming tests!
I am so anxious about my night shift tonight Lord and having to be charge nurse. Even though I feel as if I’m going to be alone in the dark, these verses comfort me—You are already there.
Kristen, I hope the night shift went well and God gave you peace. I’m a nurse too and when I worked nights, had a lot of anxiety, but focused on the fact that God is the Great Physician and asked Him to help and be there. God bless the work you do. You minister to patients in a huge way! ❤️may God be with you and give you comfort and peace and opportunities to be a light!
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Know my anxious thoughts Lord. It is a constant struggle to not be anxious but to be confident in God and his plans for me! I love you God❤️
Today I feel far away. I feel like I’m just watching everyone around me and that’s all I am…an observer. Am I pushing everyone away? I’ve never really had close friends before. They have all either stabbed me in the back or I have left before anything deeper could happen. I have moved schools and cities more than I can remember!… Am I pushing my friends in college away because I don’t want to get hurt? But LORD, even when I pull away and isolate myself and get hurt from friends around me..YOU are there. YOU are with me. YOU are my Comforter and my Defender and my Guide and my….Friend. Thank you for that Lord and help me to be content with my relationship with only you and be filled and complete in you alone. Open my guarded heart to You Lord…and soften it with your Love.
Molly – I know how you feel. I have spent the past six years usually moving at least once a year if not more. I’ve had friends push me away, and now in a new place I haven’t really put effort into getting to know others.
But I have found God to be my Comfort in every circumstance. He is a Love and a Friend beyond any on this earth!! Dig deep into Him and love Him most and more!
That said, God also calls us to be an active part of Christian community in order to have people who can help us with accountability, encourage us, pray for us, and point us to closer relationship with Him. Ask God to bring people like this into your life and keep asking – wait patiently and look for ways to be active in community where you can. Remember that no matter what others have hurt you in the past or say about you that God knows you intimately, He knows your heart complete. Trust Him and forgive. He knows the pain of friends who have left Him, abandoned Him and denounced Him – even as He faced horrible physical pain and trial. All for you, out of love! Rest in that love and rejoice in Him! I am praying for you!
Molly… Do you live in Hawaii by chance? I would love to have a friend like you out here! The Christian life is better with Christian women surrounding you.
This is my favorite psalm. I enjoyed digging into it so much this morning! God I am fully surrendered, search me and know my heart.
I struggle so much trying to talk to God and tell him all about everything that’s happening to me, every last thing I am feeling, or struggling with, or worry about.. but I should rest assured knowing that He already knows!!! it’s so comforting to know that I worship a God who knows all about me yet loves me no matter what! He is so good ❤️
This morning as I was reading this, I was pondering on how God loves me no matter what. When I’m allowing things to invade my quiet time, when I’m disobedient or lack discipline, He loves me so deeply! My life is an offering and an overflow of the love He has shown, and continues to show me! It is always the same- yesterday, today and FOREVER!! This was so comforting to me this morning! May God teach me to love as He loves!!