Psalm 139 meaning and explanation

Short answer

Psalm 139 is David's prayer of wonder that God knows him completely, is present everywhere and formed him in his mother's womb. That truth both warns and comforts: nothing is hidden from God, and no one is beyond His reach. The psalm ends by asking God to search the heart and lead it in the everlasting way.

Psalm 139 is one of the most personal prayers in the Bible. David does not lecture about God’s knowledge and presence; he speaks to God about how completely God knows him. Matthew Henry mentions that some Jewish teachers counted it the finest of David’s psalms. Here is what it says, part by part.

A note on numbering: in Protestant and most modern Bibles this is Psalm 139. In the Orthodox tradition and in older Catholic Bibles, which follow the ancient Greek numbering, the same psalm is Psalm 138.

Who wrote Psalm 139

The heading names David. Albert Barnes sees no reason to doubt it and thinks the psalm records David’s mature reflection rather than the thoughts of his youth. John MacArthur says the exact occasion is unknown and suggests David may have remembered that the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

MacArthur divides the psalm into four parts: God knows everything (verses 1–6), God is everywhere (7–12), God is all-powerful (13–18), and David responds with devotion (19–24).

You know me

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
Ps 139:1–3 · King James Version (1769)

The word for searching, Barnes explains, was first used of digging into the ground for water or metal. Charles Spurgeon notes that God does not need to search in order to learn: the point is that He knows us as thoroughly as if He had. Henry points out that David does not say God knows everything in general. He says God knows him.

Sitting down and rising up, going out and lying down, cover the whole ordinary day. God understands a thought before it is fully formed.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Ps 139:4–6 · King James Version (1769)

Before a word reaches the tongue, God knows it. Henry adds that He also knows the thought it came from and the purpose behind it. To be hemmed in behind and before may feel at first like being watched; MacArthur explains that God was setting the bounds of David’s life, and His hand rested on him. David’s response is wonder: such knowledge is beyond his reach. MacArthur compares Paul’s praise of the depth of God’s wisdom (Romans 11:33).

Where could I go from You?

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Ps 139:7–10 · King James Version (1769)

David is not planning to run. Henry notes that he wanted nothing more than to be near God; he is only imagining the attempt. Barnes takes God’s Spirit here as God Himself, who is Spirit and therefore present everywhere (John 4:24), while MacArthur sees a reference to the Holy Spirit. Heaven and the realm of the dead are the two farthest extremes, and God is in both. The wings of the dawn and the far side of the sea, MacArthur explains, are pictures of the greatest possible distance. Jonah tried to flee and found that God was there too (Jonah 1:3).

And God’s presence is not cold surveillance. Even at the edge of the world, His hand leads and holds.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Ps 139:11–12 · King James Version (1769)

Night cannot hide anyone from God. Henry draws the warning: “Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies.” But he also draws the comfort: the believer cannot be taken out of the presence of his Almighty Friend, not by distance, not by darkness, not even by death.

Fearfully and wonderfully made

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Ps 139:13–16 · King James Version (1769)

Now David gives the deepest reason God knows him: God made him. Barnes explains that the word in verse 13 means to form or create, and that the inward parts stand for the hidden depths of a person, the seat of feeling and desire. Keil and Delitzsch describe God weaving the child in the womb with bones, sinews and veins (compare Job 10:11), and note that Israel’s wise men saw the growth of a child before birth as one of the great mysteries (Ecclesiastes 11:5).

The lowest parts of the earth are a picture of the hidden place where David was formed. In verse 16 Barnes explains the rare Hebrew word for unformed substance as something still rolled up: the embryo before its limbs have taken shape. Yet God saw it. William MacDonald points out that David speaks of himself as I and me even in the womb; he takes this to mean that the Bible sees a person as already existing before birth.

The book in verse 16 compares God’s mind to a record. MacArthur sees in it God’s sovereign plan for David’s days before he was conceived.

God’s thoughts toward us

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Ps 139:17–18 · King James Version (1769)

God’s knowledge of David is not cold. Henry explains that God’s thoughts toward His people are thoughts of good, not of harm, and more than anyone could count. Waking up and still being with God suggests, to Henry, the value of turning our first thoughts to Him each morning.

The hard verses

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Ps 139:19–22 · King James Version (1769)

The sudden turn to the wicked surprises many readers. Barnes admits it is not easy to explain, but suggests that thinking about the all-seeing God made David think of those who live in defiance of Him: they cannot deceive such a God. Hatred here, Barnes says, means complete disapproval of their conduct and refusal to join them, not personal spite. MacArthur says David hated their sinful deeds.

Henry adds an important balance: sin is hated and sinners are pitied by all who fear the Lord, and while we avoid their ways we should pray for them, because with God their conversion is possible. Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies and pray for them (Matthew 5:44).

Search me, O God

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.
Ps 139:23–24 · King James Version (1769)

Keil and Delitzsch notice how the psalm comes full circle: the statement at the beginning, that God has searched him, becomes a request. Barnes sees in it sincerity and self-distrust, since the heart easily deceives itself. Henry puts it simply: the Lord knows us thoroughly, and we are strangers to ourselves, so we should ask to be searched by His Word and Spirit.

The Hebrew behind the wicked way can mean an idol or pain. Barnes allows both readings, a way of idolatry or a way of grief, and Keil and Delitzsch think of a way that ends in pain. The everlasting way is its opposite: MacArthur sees in it David’s longing for eternal life, and Henry calls godliness the way that leads to life without end.

What Psalm 139 means for you

Spurgeon summed up the psalm in one line: God sees me. That truth is a warning, because nothing is hidden, and a comfort, because no one is forgotten. The God who knows the worst about you formed you with care, holds you in the dark and thinks of you more often than you can count.

So the psalm ends where every honest prayer can begin: ask God to search your heart, show you what is wrong and lead you in His way.