what is the message of psalm 139

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! 23-24 Investigate my life, O God,    find out everything about me;Cross-examine and test me,    get a clear picture of what I’m about;See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—    then guide me on the road to eternal life. Please check errors and resubmit. Through his petitions the psalmist aligns himself with God and asks for God to redress his present circumstances. Psalm 139 For the choir director: A psalm of David. He continues with a full-orbed look at that presence from birth. Where can I flee from your presence? Thank You Father that You saw me before I was born. Add Psalms, Volume 2 to your library today and you will grasp the original meaning, exegetical context, and contemporary significance of these precious biblical poems, hymns, and prayers. As the psalmist was given pause by the thought of God’s pervasive presence, we too should be inspired and taken aback. You have searched me and known me: David prayed to Yahweh, understandin… Instead, they point to Goldingay here: “‘the person who has nothing to hide has nothing to fear of Yhwh’s binding or the touch of Yhwh’s hand’ [Psalms 3, 630]. As stated elsewhere in the Bible, God's mind is inexpressibly beyond that of any person (Isaiah 55:8–9). v1 *LORD, when you look at me you know all about me. Psalm 139 is a psalm of David. God, I’ll never comprehend them!I couldn’t even begin to count them—    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! THE BACKGROUND OF PSALM 139 E. J. all the men and women who belittle you, God. 13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;    you formed me in my mother’s womb.I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Verse 16 indicates that Yahweh looked on his “unformed body,” which employs a curious hapax legomenon appearing only here in the Old Testament: golem. Nevertheless, there arecountless challenges that the psalm raises which also warrant a detailed study.The psalmist was apparently a very skilled writer, using complex sentencestructures and very rare words. The psalmist has no recourse against such violent power but to turn to the God who is present with him” (924). Here’s why: The God who has known us from our very beginnings is the God who has watched us all along. The psalm is intimately personal, as is the God to whom the psalm testifies” (925). GOD SEES EVERYTHING ABOUT ME. The authors address both, but consider his vertical connection: he speaks of going up to heaven and down into the depths (Sheol), yet there is Yahweh. Long before God “fearfully and wonderfully made” you, he knew what you would be like and what you would do. Each person has existed in the mind of God eternally. The Message; Psalm 139 Psalm 139. The God who calls David from the fields to be his anointed king is the same God who chastens David for his pursuit of Bathsheba” (926). Thank You that every day of my life was recorded in Your book and every moment of my life is laid out before You– praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise His holy name. The final strophe, however, shifts both in focus and tenor. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! Tucker and Grant explain that in the Old Testament, “‘anxious thoughts’ can be the result of night visions (Job 4:13) or defamatory rhetoric (Job 20:2), as well as the fear of being mistreated by others (Ps 94:19). high to get to the top! But what does the psalm mean and how are its four poetic movements connected? This attribute is also referred to as omniscience. The first three strophes praise God for his comprehensive knowledge of the psalmist, the fullness of his presence in the world, and his power as Creator. Psalm 139 is a most beautiful sacred song, which brings our rapt attention to the hallowed essence of the child in utero, and of God's sovereign role in each little life. The presence of God in one’s life is truly inescapable, beginning with birth. To modern readers, this pa... Shout. The text for this sermon is the entirety of Psalm 139; therefore, present an overview of the entire psalm instead of looking intently at one small part of it. Get updates from Zondervan Academic directly in your inbox. At night I’m immersed in the light!”It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you. You hold me safe in your hand. even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. Regardless of where he flees—going up to heaven or down into the depths, traveling east or west—“he can escape neither the grasp nor the notice of Israel’s God” (920). " … Psalm 139 is one of the more well-known and well-beloved psalms—and for good reason. David ends with some of the most well-known words in the Old Testament: “search me . As the authors note, “Because God is pervasively present, the comfort of his presence is juxtaposed with the very threat of the same. The authors don’t believe a dichotomy of meaning is warranted. Yet he has remained present with us (v. 18). I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. Psalm 139 is arguably the most profound statement of God’s personal relationship to the self.It is God’s love letter to His creation. the idea that God is not far off, but is near to each of us. This Psalms commentary, which is part of the NIV Application Commentary Series, helps readers learn how the message of the Psalms can have the same powerful impact today that it did when they were first written. Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Explanation and Commentary of Psalm 139:16. Praying through Psalm 139:16 . For Instructors and School Administrators. Others insist the psalm is a prayer of an unjustly accused person, given the final strophe, while some have suggested it is a complaint uttered by a psalmist in the midst of hostility. If I ascend … Give thanks. Let's join David and exclaim: How wonderfully our God works! In verses 13 and 15, the poet invokes images of knitting and weaving to explain the care with which God created him. “The verb ‘to search’ (haqar) can refer to searching out land (Judg 18:2) or searching out a city (2 Sam 10:3), but often, especially in the wisdom literature, the verb means ‘to search’ in the sense of ‘to examine’” (917). These merisms follow the Lord’s searching of the psalmist, where thereafter he knows him. However, “Rarely do hymns remind us of the kind of pervasive presence of God in our lives that might prompt a sense of holy fear. Keep reading for an insightful portrait of this powerful psalm. “Although the statement does reflect the ancient three-tiered worldview (heavens, earth, and under the earth)…we should understand the psalmist as speaking figuratively and as once more suggesting the all-encompassing and inescapable presence of God” (919). In the final few verses, he indicates that all the days ordained for him are written in “your book,” which the authors explain “likely stems from the Mesopotamian idea of tablets or books of fate in which the deities would write the preordained life of humans. Tucker and Grant coordinate both tasks in their commentary on Psalm 139. After presenting the sublime doctrines of God's omnipresence and omniscience, the Psalmist appeals to Him, avowing his innocence, his abhorrence of the wicked, and his ready submission to the closest scrutiny. . Gen 47:19; 49:30; Lev 22:11; Jer 32:7). 19–22). I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. And he petitions God to act because they are against him, God himself. Read verse in The Message Bible YOUNG, Ph.D. Psalm 139 is one of the grandest of all the Psalms, for it brings us face to face with the majesty and power of God. Worship. It helps bring both halves of the interpretive task together—the passage’s original meaning and contemporary application—explaining not only what the Psalms meant but also how they speak powerfully today. “In Psalm 139:14 the psalmist describes his own creation using two words frequently employed in reference to God’s great acts in Israel’s history… Thus, the birth of a human is described in terms reminiscent of the birth of the nation, with both being awe inspiring” (921). Thebeauty of its content alone is enough to inspire fascination. If I go underground, you’re there!If I flew on morning’s wings    to the far western horizon,You’d find me in a minute—    you’re already there waiting!Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark! The God who appears to Israel on Mount Sinai in a theophany is the same God who exacts judgment moments later at the base of that very mountain. 139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. The emphasis here is not on workmanship, but on the mystery of creation itself. Psalm 139 is classified as an Individual Hymn of Thanksgiving. He knitted each of us “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Come. These seven commands form the backbone of one of the most instructive psalms on giving grateful praise to the Lord: Psalm 100. A David Psalm GOD, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Immediately it exalts God as all knowing and omnipresent, and clearly shows that all of man's life is in God's hands. At the start, they offer a unifying thread that serves as an interpretive key: As in Psalm 138, the writer of Psalm 139 announces the threats that befall him and pleads for God’s action (Ps 139:19–22). And he knows all our days. Your form could not be submitted. Copyright © 2020 HarperCollins Publishers. Enhance your school’s traditional and online education programs by easily integrating online courses developed from the scholars and textbooks you trust. This “I-Thou” relationship, and the accompanying pervasive, intimate presence of God, roots the psalmist's hope and comfort—as well as our own. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. 1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. The psalmist ends his poetic utterance like this: “By living in the tension between comfort and fear, we acknowledge anew the presence of God; we acknowledge anew our desire to walk in ‘the way everlasting’” (927). Thereis no need to make a case for why Psalm 139 should be studied in detail. “Because the psalmist desires the presence of God, he seeks to eradicate anything in his own life that might vitiate that life-giving relationship” (925). And there is the “challenge,” so to speak, of worshiping a God who is intimately personal with his creation. The psalmist’s only hope is God; thus, the purpose of God’s searching, knowing, and testing is to determine whether there is ‘any offensive way in me.’” Why? Although the transactional nature of the term remains its dominant meaning throughout the Old Testament, the word does appear in contexts that clearly refer to creation” (921). Yahweh is indeed close enough to bind him up (in support) but also ‘to lay siege’ to him, should doing so be warranted” (918). That’s worrying, frightening even! Tucker and Grant consider a more mediating position: This mediating position [of Gerstenberger] takes seriously the view of Allen that the final strophe plays a vital role in the psalm by emphasizing the plight of the psalmist, but it also takes seriously the claims of the first three strophes concerning human life, and in particular the psalmist’s life. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson, The Message (MSG). And because God has known us, fully known us, we should be compelled to ask God to search us to see whether there is any offensive way in us (vv. In this poem, however, the psalmist’s hope rests entirely with the God who knows him, the God with whom he is in relationship. To know we are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Lord, we need to understand the smallest details of our lives occur according to the plan of the Lord (Ephesians 1:11). And please, God, do away with wickedness for good! 139 1-6 God, investigate my life;    get all the facts firsthand.I’m an open book to you;    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.You know when I leave and when I get back;    I’m never out of your sight.You know everything I’m going to say    before I start the first sentence.I look behind me and you’re there,    then up ahead and you’re there, too—    your reassuring presence, coming and going.This is too much, too wonderful—    I can’t take it all in! 1. A David Psalm 1-6GOD, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. Psalm 139 God knows all about me – what is our response? Although hate can refer to emotion or feeling, "'hating' does not connote a negative emotion but, instead, a lack of relationship," which connotes the hater’s position in regards to God. has pastored on Capitol Hill and with the Evangelical Covenant Church in Michigan. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 5 You are all around me, behind me and in front of me. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. Verse 7-9 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you. The darkness quickly ceases to be darkness because of the radiant light of God. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 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Petitions God to whom what is the message of psalm 139 psalm is intimately personal, as is the Message

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