The Bible — World English Bible
Psalm 139
In brief
Psalm 139 is a psalm of David on the knowledge God has of each person. God searches us and knows our thoughts and our words before they are spoken. Nowhere can we flee his presence, not in the heavens, not in the darkness. He knit each being together in the womb, and his thoughts toward us are countless. The psalm ends with a prayer: search me, O God, and lead me in the way everlasting.
According to its title, Psalm 139 is by David, and it is entrusted to the chief musician, meaning it was meant to be sung in worship. The title gives no circumstance. It is a meditation on the God who knows everything, who is present everywhere and who forms every human being, yet it never stays abstract: from the first verse to the last, David speaks to God, saying you. The psalm ends with a cry against the wicked and then a request to be examined, so some see in it the prayer of a man falsely accused who places his case in God's hands. Today Christians read it when they feel alone, misunderstood or worthless, at the arrival of a child, when reflecting on the value of life before birth, and to examine themselves before God, for example before communion.
The chapter in 5 parts
1Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
5You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
6This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
7Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
8If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
9If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,”
12even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
15My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
17How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
18If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
19If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
21Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
22I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
23Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
24See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Understanding Psalm 139 verse by verse
v. 1-4God knows me: nothing in my life escapes him
The psalm begins with a statement: “Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.” To search is to explore thoroughly, the way you dig into the ground to learn what lies beneath. David is not talking about a God who knows everything in general; he is talking about a God who knows him. When he sits down and when he rises, when he walks and when he lies down: his whole day, from the most ordinary gestures to the biggest decisions, unfolds under God's gaze. God perceives his thoughts from afar, before they are even put into words, and he knows every word before it is on his tongue. This knowledge could be frightening. But for David it is first of all a relationship: he says you, he is speaking to someone. If you feel misunderstood, or if no one really knows what you are living through, these verses tell you that one gaze knows you completely, and that this gaze, far from abandoning you, surrounds you.
v. 5-6Surrounded by God, before knowledge too high for me
“You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.” The picture can be read in two ways: a hand that holds back, or a hand that protects, and David seems to move from one to the other. God is behind him, on the side of his past, and before him, on the side of his future. There is not one moment of his life when he is left to himself. Faced with such knowledge, David admits his limits: “This knowledge is beyond me.” He does not try to understand everything, he marvels. It is a healthy way to receive the truths about God that are bigger than we are: not as a problem to solve, but as a reason to worship. For you, this means that your whole life, what lies behind you as well as what awaits you, is held by the hand of someone who knows you better than you know yourself.
v. 7-10Where can I flee from God? Nowhere, and that is a grace
David asks a question: “Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?” He imagines the most extreme places: the heavens above, Sheol, the realm of the dead, below, then the wings of the dawn in the east and the farthest edge of the sea in the west. Everywhere the answer is the same: God is there. The prophet Jonah tried to run from God by taking to the sea, and he found out it was impossible. But David does not say this as a threat. At the end of his imaginary flight he finds a promise: “even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.” The hand that seemed to hold him back now guides him and holds him. If you have drifted away from God, through your own fault or because of what life has put you through, these verses tell you that you have not gone too far for him. He is already where you are.
v. 11-12Even the night is not dark to God
David considers one last hiding place: the dark. He imagines telling himself that the darkness will surely overwhelm him and that the light around him will turn to night, as if the dark could hide him from God. But the answer comes: “even the darkness doesn't hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.” In the Bible, darkness can mean the real night as well as the dark seasons of life: depression, grief, shame, what we do in secret. For the one who would like to hide, these verses are a warning: nothing escapes God. For the one who feels lost in the dark, they are a comfort: your night is not dark to him, he sees where you are, and his hand can still lead you. If you are going through a time when everything seems dark, you are not invisible in it.
v. 13-14Knit together in the womb: wonderfully made
The psalm moves from God's presence to his work as Creator: “For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb.” In Hebrew, the word behind inmost being is literally the kidneys, which stand for the most intimate part of a person, the seat of emotions and conscience. The picture of knitting speaks of care: God did not put David together at random, he shaped him like a craftsman, thread by thread. David draws a praise from it: “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” He is not admiring himself, he is admiring the one who made him. Many Christians rely on these verses to affirm the worth of every human life from the womb: before anyone else sees the child, the child is already God's work. And if you struggle to accept yourself, with your body, your story and your limits, this verse does not ask you to find yourself perfect. It invites you to recognize that God's works are wonderful, and that you are one of them.
v. 15-16Seen by God before being born
David insists: “My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.” The womb, a place no one could see, is compared to the depths of the earth. No one saw the child, but God did. Verse 16 goes further: “Your eyes saw my body.” The Hebrew word translated body points to something still unformed, an embryo. Before he even had a face, David was known to God. This is why this passage matters so much to Christians committed to respecting life before birth. It also comforts parents who have lost a child before birth: that little one was known to God. Finally, the verse speaks of a book in which David's days were written before any of them existed. Christians understand in different ways how God knows our days in advance, but all read the same assurance in it: your life is no accident to him.
v. 17-18God's thoughts, more numerous than the sand
After speaking of what God knows about him, David turns to what God thinks: “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!” The Hebrew word rendered precious can also suggest something weighty, hard to grasp: God's thoughts are worth a great deal to David, and they go beyond him. If he tried to count them, “they are more in number than the sand.” The God who knows him through and through is not a cold investigator: he thinks of him constantly. Then comes a simple, touching sentence: “When I wake up, I am still with you.” Perhaps David fell asleep while counting, perhaps he is speaking of every morning. Either way, the night did not break the relationship. If you wake up with a knot of anxiety in your stomach, this verse can become your first thought of the day: God was there while you slept, and he is still there.
v. 19-22A frank anger against evil and God's enemies
The tone changes abruptly: “If only you, God, would kill the wicked.” David speaks of bloodthirsty men who take God's name in vain. He goes as far as saying: “I hate them with perfect hatred.” These verses are shocking, and some liturgies skip over them. Yet they have to be read as they are. David does not take up arms: he asks God to act instead of avenging himself, and he presents these men first of all as God's enemies. Christians understand these verses in several ways: some see a legitimate zeal for God's justice, others a human cry that God receives without approving every word. In the light of Jesus, who asks us to love our enemies and to pray for them (Matthew 5:44), one can hear in them a flat refusal of evil that leaves judgment to God. And David himself does not stop there.
v. 23-24Search me, O God: the prayer of an open heart
After speaking about the wicked, David turns the light on himself: “Search me, God, and know my heart.” The psalm opened with a statement, you have searched me; it ends with a request, search me. The one who wondered where to flee from God's presence now opens his heart to him. He does not ask God to confirm that he is right against his enemies: he asks to be tested, even in his anger. The Hebrew word translated thoughts refers to anxious thoughts, the worries that stir a person up. Then comes the prayer: “See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” This is not about examining yourself alone until you are overcome with anguish, but about letting God look and correct. Christians hear an echo of Jesus here, who presents himself as the way (John 14:6). To pray these verses is to prefer God's truth to the image we have of ourselves.
How to pray Psalm 139
When to pray this psalm
- When you feel alone or misunderstood, and no one seems to know what you are going through.
- When you struggle to accept your body, your story or your limits.
- During a pregnancy or at the arrival of a child, to place the child in God's hands.
- After the loss of a child before birth.
- When you have drifted from God and think you have gone too far to come back.
- At night, when anxiety keeps you from sleeping, or in the morning when you wake.
- Before communion or an important decision, to ask God to search your heart.
A prayer inspired by Psalm 139
Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you know my words before they are on my tongue. Sometimes I am afraid of that gaze, because I can hide nothing from you. But you do not look at me to crush me: you lay your hand on me to lead me. Where could I go from you? Even in my darkest nights you are there, and the darkness is like light to you. Thank you for knitting me together in my mother's womb. When I doubt my worth, remind me that I am the work of your hands and that your eyes saw me before I was born. Your thoughts toward me are more in number than the sand: teach me to rest in them. I also place in your hands my anger at evil and at those who wrong me: keep me from hatred and revenge, I leave the judgment to you. Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way, following Jesus. Amen.
Key verses
Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
David is not speaking of abstract knowledge. God searches him personally: he knows his actions, his thoughts, his inner life.
Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
No place escapes God's presence. This truth can be unsettling, but David finds a promise in it: even far away, God's hand leads him.
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
Every person is a marvelous work of God. This verse grounds the dignity of human life and a healthy self-acceptance without pride.
Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
The final prayer invites God to examine the heart. It asks to be corrected and guided, not to be justified.
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What the sermons say
Frequently asked questions about Psalm 139
What does Psalm 139 mean?
Psalm 139 is a meditation of David on the knowledge God has of him. God sees his thoughts, he is present everywhere, he formed him before birth and he planned his days. The text leads to a final prayer: asking God to search his heart. It is a word of comfort for anyone who feels alone or worthless.
What does Psalm 139:14, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, mean?
In verse 14, David praises God because he is fearfully and wonderfully made, an admirable work. He is not glorifying himself: he recognizes the Creator's work in every human being. This verse is often quoted to affirm the worth of every life, including one that is fragile or disabled, while keeping the praise of God at the center.
How do you pray or meditate on Psalm 139?
Meditate on it in three steps. Read verses 1 to 6, thanking God for knowing you completely. Then read verses 7 to 12, entrusting to him the places in your life where you feel far from him. Finish with verses 23 and 24, asking him to search your heart and lead you on the right path.
Articles quoting Psalm 139
- Christian Farewell Messages in Japan: 17 Examples for a Transfer, Retirement or Move
- Christian Baby Congratulations Messages in Japan: 17 Examples for Family, Friends and Church
- Matthew 7: Look Within and Toward God Before You Judge
- The Names of Jesus That Reveal God's Character
- Judges 7: Chosen at the Water with the Three Hundred
- Matthew 25: Don't Forget Who You Are, Make Your Gifts Bear Fruit
World English Bible translation — public domain.