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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Psalms 139:1 - 139:6
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The Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence of God.
To the chief musician, for performance in the liturgical part of public worship, a psalm of David, in which he first describes the chief attributes of God and then adds a prayer for a pure heart and a faultless conduct. David addresses himself, first of all, to the omniscient God, vv. 1-6.
v. 1. O Lord, Thou hast searched me, making a careful survey of his innermost heart and mind, and known me, having a full understanding of all the motives which prompted his every thought and act.
v. 2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, every movement which every person in the world makes; Thou understandest my thought afar off, being familiar with it even before the desire is fully formed or the idea takes shape.
v. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, literally, "my walking and my lying down Thou siftest," that is, the Lord proves it out; He weighs it even before it happens and while the act is going on, and art acquainted with all my ways, his entire conduct being uncovered before the eyes of God's omniscience.
v. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, uttered or unuttered, but, lo, O Lord, stated with emphasis, Thou knowest it altogether, in every respect, both as to motive and performance.
v. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, so that there is no way for him to escape from the Lord's surveillance, and laid Thine hand upon me, holding him in bounds, guarding against an unbridled use of freedom, for the consciousness of the omniscience of God will act as a curb against an undue assertion of what men claim as their rights. The contemplation of these facts causes David to cry out:
v. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is beyond the reach of man's mind; it is high, I cannot attain unto it; it is beyond man's comprehension, it is an article of faith.