PSALM 139

Sometimes, when we read a Psalm from the Bible, we are caught up in the struggles, the fears, and the worries of the author. Sometimes, we find ourselves hiding with a king in a cave from his enemies or sometimes the psalmist flips things around and we see ourselves learning how to draw closer to God. In Psalms, like Psalm 139, God gives us a glimpse of who we are, the details of how we are made and what we were created for.

Psalms 139 has only 24 verses but each verse is packed with truth about Who God is, What He knows, and How intimately He knows each one of us. Psalm 139 brings the Lord into focus and gives us insight into His greatness and omniscience. That is the big theological word theologians use to attempt to describe that God knows all things, from the details of His creation down to the smallest details of those He’s created. I went looking for a simple definition of this very big theological word and landed on a web site called GotQuestions.org. It has this definition of Omniscience. They defined it as “the state of having total knowledge, the quality of knowing everything.”

The Warren Christian Apologetics center states, “God is omniscient, which means that He knows whatever is possible to know, and that He knows ALL of what is possible to know (1 Samuel 2:3; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Job 36:4-5; Acts 15:18; Isaiah 46:9-10; etc.). Omniscience means that “He comprehends all things-- past, present, and future, things actual and possible. God has universal and complete knowledge (Lightner 96-97).”

If we were to track that theological truth throughout the Bible, we would be overwhelmed by how big and all-knowing God really is, but let’s just focus on Psalm 139. Psalm 139 is one of those Psalms packed with game-changing truths about God and how He has made us and given us purpose. Here’s a few verses to get you started.

13    For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

As you read the Psalm today make a list of all the things God knows and the things God specifically knows about you. You will find you have been on His heart and mind even before you were formed in the womb. Psalm 139 gives us a deep understanding of God’s handiwork and intimate involvement in our lives. Be encouraged today knowing that whatever you are going through, God knows, and is with you whether you are in your darkest times or in your happiest moments. We can know that God who lovingly and intimately formed us has a plan we can rest in.