Summary: Psalm 139 explores the complex relationship between humans and God, highlighting both awe and fear in recognizing God’s omniscience and omnipresence. The psalmist expresses feelings of comfort and suffocation, revealing a deep ambivalence towards divine knowledge and presence. Ultimately, the psalm concludes with a call for self-examination and praise, acknowledging that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
divine radiance lightens the darkness, even the horrible inkiness of the underworld. There is no gloominess that can shield us from God’s penetrating gaze. Even in the depths God is with us. (View Highlight)
There’s something comforting about being this well known. It encourages a sense of intimacy with the Supreme Knower who gets us in both our sitting down and our rising up. We don’t feel alone, desolate, adrift. We sense that Somebody out there really understands us, even if our fellow humans don’t. To be unknown is to have no perduring existence. (View Highlight)
The psalmist confesses that if he tries to fathom every detail about himself known by God, he quickly loses count because they’re greater in number than the desert’s sands; they’re bone-crushingly weighty (View Highlight)