A study of Psalm 139

Psalm 139 is considered by experts to be "The Crown of All Saints" because it is a praise in which it describes all of God's characteristics. It presents the real qualities of Christ through the way He relates to His own people.

During Psalm 139 some of these characteristics become very noticeable, like his, omniscience, omnipresence and also his omnipotence. Thus, religious people cling to Psalm 139 especially at times when they find themselves surrounded by evil people and all their negativity.

In addition, Psalm 139 can also be a comfort for those who feel they are going through injustice. Thus, this prayer allows you to fill yourself with Divine protection, and shield yourself against any kind of evil. Check below for more details about this strong and powerful Psalm.

The complete Psalm 139

In all, Psalm 139 has 24 verses. During these verses, King David expresses in strong words all his confidence in the love and righteousness of the Lord.

Then, know this Psalm in full, and pray it with faith. Have confidence that it will be able to surround you of all Divine protection, so that no evil will be able to reach you. Follow.

Psalm 139 verses 1 to 5

1 Lord, you have searched me, and you know me.

2 Thou knowest my sitting down and my rising up; thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not yet a word in my tongue; behold, thou knowest it all, O Lord.

5 Thou hast compassed me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me.

Psalm 139 verses 6 to 10

6. Such a science is for me most wonderful; so high that I cannot attain it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy face?

8 If I go up to heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there also.

9 If he takes the wings of the morning, if he dwells in the ends of the sea,

10 Thy hand shall lead me thither, and thy right hand shall hold me up.

Psalm 139 verses 11 to 13

11 If I say, Surely darkness shall cover me; then night shall be light around me.

12 Even the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: darkness and light are the same thing unto thee;

13 For you possessed my kidneys; you covered me in my mother's womb.

Psalm 139 verses 14 to 16

14 I will praise thee: for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and my soul knoweth it well.

15 My bones were not hidden from thee, when in the secret place was I made, and woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Thine eyes have seen my unformed body; and in thy book all these things were written, which were continually formed, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139 verses 17 to 19

17 And how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great are the sums of them!

18 If I were to count them, they would be greater in number than the sand; when I awake I am still with you.

19 O God, you will surely kill the wicked; therefore depart from me, you men of blood.

Psalm 139 verses 20 to 22

20 For they speak wickedly against thee; and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, and am not grieved by them that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I hold them for enemies.

Psalm 139 verses 23 to 24

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts.

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Study and meaning of Psalm 139

Like all of the 150 prayers in the book of Psalms, Psalm 139 has a strong and profound interpretation. If you've been feeling wronged, victim of wrongdoing, or even need to resolve something involving issues of justice, know that you will find comfort in Psalm 139.

This prayer can help you with any of the problems mentioned above. However, remember that it is necessary to have faith and truly believe in Divine love and justice. See below for a complete interpretation of this prayer.

You probed me

The passage "thou hast searched me" refers to the beginning of the prayer. Within the first 5 verses, David speaks firmly about all the confidence that God has in his servants. The king also relates that the Lord knows the essence of each one of them deeply and truly. Therefore, there is no way to hide anything.

On the other hand, David also makes a point of emphasizing that all this knowledge that Christ has about his children does not refer to a judgmental thought. Quite the contrary, Christ's intention is to give comfort and support to those who strive and seek always to be walking a path of light and good.

Such science

At verse 6, David refers to a "knowledge" which, according to him, is so wonderful that he cannot even attain it. In saying these words, the King seeks to explain his deep relationship with Christ.

Thus, David shows that God is always able to understand the attitudes of his children, so that he has compassion on them. Moreover, the psalmist shows that the Lord acts with mercy in the face of the errors of his servants. Thus, it is possible to understand once and for all how Christ's love for humans surpasses any kind of human understanding.

David's Escape

The expression "David's flight" is dealt with in verse 7, when the King comments on how difficult it is to flee from the presence of the Lord, treating it as a challenge. The psalmist makes it clear that this is not what he wants, quite the contrary.

What David means during this verse is that no one is able to pass unnoticed by God. That is, the Father is always watching all their movements, attitudes, speech and even thoughts. Thus, for David the frequent presence of Christ, together with all his children, is a cause for celebration.

Sky

During verses 8 and 9, David refers to an ascent into heaven, where he says, "If I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there also; if I take the wings of the morning, if I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea."

In speaking these words the psalmist means that no matter what problem you are going through, or even where you may be, whether it is dark or not, there is not a single place where God is not.

In this way, David gives the message that you can never feel left, alone, or abandoned, for Christ will always be with you. Therefore, never feel or allow yourself to be far from Him.

You owned my kidneys

"For thou hast possessed my kidneys; thou hast covered me in my mother's womb; I will praise thee, for in an astonishing way, and so marvelous was I made." In speaking these words, David demonstrates all his gratitude for the gift of life. In addition, he extols the blessing of a woman being able to still beget new life.

This passage is yet a kind of reflection for the whole mystery of life, in which David further extols the works of Christ.

Your thoughts

By saying, "And how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God," David shows all the love and trust he has in the Lord. He goes on to emphasize the gratitude of the previous verses.

David also makes a type of appeal related to the thoughts of men. According to the psalmist, sometimes they are so intense that it is necessary to observe them carefully, without ever losing devotion to the Father. Thus, David makes a point of saying that God should always be in his thoughts, because this is a way of coming closer and getting in touch with the Creator.

Thou shalt kill the wicked

In the passages from verses 19 to 21, David demonstrates all the desire he has for the world to be totally free of wickedness. The psalmist has the desire to see a place, without arrogance, prepotency, envy, and all that is bad.

In addition, he also has an immense desire for people to be more generous, charitable, and good in general. After all, according to King, if they are contrary to this, they will move further and further away from the Father.

Complete hatred

Following on from the previous verses, David brings up harsh words in passage 22, when he says, "I hate them with perfect hatred; I have them for enemies." However, despite these being harsh words, upon further interpretation, one can understand that the King desired by this.

Trying to look through David's eyes, one realizes that the psalmist sees all the actions of God's enemies, and thus begins to repudiate them in an abominable way. Therefore, so much hatred for the enemies, after all, they hate the Creator, and do totally contrary to everything He preaches.

Search me, O God

Finally, we note in the last two verses the following words: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

By uttering these wise words, David intends to ask the Father to always be by the side of his children, illuminating their paths and guiding them wherever they go. The psalmist also wishes that God may purify the hearts of his servants, so that the essence of good may always reign in them.

Who wrote Psalm 139

Psalm 139 refers to another prayer written by King David, in which he demonstrates his faith and love in the Lord, and pleads that He may always be by his side, enlightening his paths and delivering him from evil and injustice.

David still looks during this prayer, show the form with that the Creator if related with its devotees, reporting still as must be the attitudes of a faithful son. In the sequence confers with details, who was the famous David, and understand about all its faces, since the king until the psalmist.

David the slayer of giants

In his day, David was a fearless leader who loved God above all things, and he was known, among many things, for being a slayer of giants. Always very brave, David was a brave fighter from the very beginning of his history.

However, it is worth mentioning that before commanding armies, he was a shepherd who lived to protect his sheep. Since then, he already showed his strength, after all, he was able to kill bears and lions that threatened his flock.

As a shepherd, David had his remarkable episodes, but the chapter that really put him in history was when the brave warrior killed Goliath, a Philistine giant.

But of course David didn't have this attitude for nothing. Goliath had been insulting the Israeli troops in a blunt way for days, until one day David appeared in the region to bring food to his older brothers, who were soldiers. It was at this moment that he heard the giant insulting Israel in a rude way.

Upon hearing those words, David was filled with fury, and did not think twice about proposing to accept the challenge of Goliath, who had been asking for days for an Israelite soldier to fight with him.

However, when Saul, the Israelite king, learned of David's desire to fight Goliath, he was reluctant to allow it, but it was no use, for David was firm in his idea. The brave warrior refused even the king's armor and sword, and faced the giant with only five stones and a sling.

At the beginning of the famous battle, David swung his sling and aimed well at Goliath's forehead, who fell with only a stone. Then David ran towards the giant, took his sword and cut off his head. The Philistine soldiers who were watching the fight, when they saw the scene, fled in fear.

David the king

After defeating Goliath, you may have thought that David could have become a close friend and trusted man of King Saul, but that was not the case. After David became the head of the Israelite army, he got a lot of attention from everyone, and that made Saul angry.

As time went by, David's popularity increased more and more, in the midst of the people of Israel, it was heard to sing, "Saul slew thousands, but David slew tens of thousands," and this was a reason for Saul's anger to increase even more.

Saul's anger grew more and more each day, until with the help of his best friend, Jonathan, who was also Saul's son, David went into hiding. After that, the king began a hunt for David that went on for years and years.

On one day in question, Saul ended up stopping to rest inside a cave, which happened to be where David was hiding. He then approached the king, while he was sleeping, and cut off a piece of his clothing.

After waking up and leaving the cave, the king came across David, who showed him the cut piece of his clothes. The fact that David had the opportunity to kill him, but did nothing, moved Saul, who called a truce between them. However, true peace was never achieved in their coexistence.

During the escape, David had the help of many people, which was not the case with Nabal, for example, who began to accuse him with untruths. This aroused the anger of David, who ordered to prepare about 400 men to go out in battle against Nabal.

However, at the plea of Abigail, Nabal's wife, David gave up. When the girl told Nabal what had happened, he was surprised and ended up dying. This was understood by all as a divine punishment, and after the event, David asked Abigail to marry him.

Finally, after the death of the former king Saul in a battle, David assumed the throne and was elected his successor. As king, David conquered Jerusalem, and managed to bring back the so-called "Ark of the Covenant", thus finally establishing his reign.

But you are wrong if you think that David's history as a king ended there. He ended up getting involved in some trouble with an engaged woman named Bathsheba, in which he ended up getting pregnant. The girl's husband was called Uriah, and he was a military man.

David tried to persuade the man to sleep with his wife again, so that he would think that the child was his, but the plan did not work. With no way out, David sent the soldier back to the battlefield, where he ordered him to be placed in a vulnerable position, a fact that eventually led to his death.

These attitudes of David made God displeased, and the Creator sent a prophet, named Nathan, to go to David. After the meeting, David was punished, and because of his sins, the son conceived in adultery, ended up dying. Moreover, God did not allow the king to build the long-dreamed-of temple in Jerusalem.

While king, David had even more problems when his other son, Absalom, tried to remove him from the throne. David had to flee again, and only returned after Absalom was killed in battle.

On his return to Jerusalem, with a heart full of bitterness and repentance, David chose his other son, Solomon, to assume his throne. The famous David died at the age of 70, of which he lived 40 years as king. Despite his sins, he was always considered a man of God, for he repented of all his mistakes and returned to the teachings of the Creator.

David the psalmist

David was a man who always believed very much in God, however, he still committed many sins in life, as you have seen earlier in this article. In the Psalms written by him, one can clearly observe his strong devotion to the Creator.

In some, the psalmist appears in ecstasy, in others, he is in total despair. Thus, it is observed in some psalms, that David is forgiven for his errors, while in others, one can notice the heavy hand of Divine condemnation.

By looking at the Scriptures, one can notice that the Bible does not hide David's sins, let alone the consequences of his actions. Thus, it is known that David truly repented of his sins, and there are even Psalms in which he recounts his own error.

He faithfully sought God's forgiveness, and reflected many of his mistakes, afflictions, regrets, fears, among other things, in the Psalms he wrote. Called biblical poetry, many of these Psalms were sung by all the people of Israel.

David always knew that admitting his sins through these prayers would teach new generations. Although he had immense greatness and power as a king, David always feared before God and His Word.

What is the great message of Psalm 139?

It can be said that Psalm 139 truly expresses who Christ is. During this song, David shows that he knows exactly who he is praying to, after all, he showed all the attributes that belong to God. This could make him understand who God really is, and that He never changes.

Thus, through Psalm 139 one can know these attributes of the Creator, already mentioned here, such as: omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. These characteristics make it possible for believers to understand in depth who God really is, and what message this Psalm passes on to devotees.

First, Psalm 139 makes it clear that God knows everything, for already in its first verses, the psalmist expresses how the Lord is unique, true and sovereign over everything that may exist.

When speaking about the omniscience of Christ, David also makes it clear that God sees everything that each person does, even their thoughts. About the fact that God is omnipresent, David also reports that there is no way to escape the Divine gaze, so it is up to each human being to live the life that the Savior preaches.

Finally, before all the omnipotence of God, the psalmist surrenders and praises the Creator. Therefore, it is understood that David always knew who God was, and that is why he loved and praised him so much. And with his Psalm 139, David tells the people to cry out, praise and love unconditionally the God who knows everything and who has compassion for his children, to whom he left his teachings to be followed in theland.