Psalm 139 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Psalm 139 Short Summary:
Psalm 139 is a poetic meditation on the infinite knowledge of the Creator God. David is the author, and he expresses his amazement of how intimately God knows him. God knew his actions, his thoughts, and even knew him before he was fully formed in his mother’s womb. The end of the psalm is a request from David to God to use His infinite knowledge to punish the wicked and bloodthirsty people of the earth.
Psalm 139 Summary
AUTHOR:
David wrote Psalm 139.
NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:
No Known New Testament References.
THEMES:
God knows everything about all of us at every moment.
A request for God to deal with the bloodthirsty and wicked men of the earth.
DEFINITIONS:
To Be Hemmed In (139:5) – God hemmed David in, meaning He surrounded him on every side and had knowledge of everything going on around him. It may also carry the meaning of protection. Nothing was able to get to David that didn’t first go through God.
Sheol (139:8) – The place of the dead, the grave. It can sometimes be used to refer to dark and unknown places, like places underground.
OUTLINE:
GOD KNOWS ME BETTER THAN I KNOW MYSELF (139:1-18):
The first section of this psalm is a poetic description of God’s intimate knowledge of every human being He creates.
David was writing about himself and how God knew him even better than he knew himself.
Every one of David’s actions was known to God. If he stood up, God knew. If he went to bed, God knew. God knew his daily habits and was acquainted with all his ways (139:3).
God knew David’s words before he spoke them.
David went on to describe how God’s knowledge of His creation was complete at every moment and how His Spirit was at all times in every place.
No matter where David was, God knew his situation and could help him. No darkness could hide him, and no distance could separate him from God.
God knew everything about David even as his body was being intricately put together in his mother’s womb.
He wrote in a beautiful section of scripture, “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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” (139:13-16).
God knew all about David’s life before he was even completely formed within his mother.
David sat back and admired the vast sum of God’s knowledge. His thoughts were innumerable like sand and too great for David to comprehend.
DEAL WITH THE WICKED (139:19-24):
In light of God’s perfect knowledge and omni-presence, David shifts tone and asks God to rid the world of evil people.
He asked God to “slay the wicked,” the men of blood who hated the Lord’s ways.
These evil men were David’s enemies and God’s enemies, and David hated them with “complete hatred” (139:22).
David concluded the psalm asking God to protect him from become like those wicked men. He asked the Lord to lead him “in the way everlasting” (139:24).
APPLICATION:
We can have all the technical and scientific debates about when life starts, but those debates are probably not as important as simply understanding God’s heart for babies as shared in Psalm 139:13-16.
God is at work inside of a mother, intricately knitting together new life.
The text tells us a baby’s future days are already planned out by God. A life story is already written in God’s book (139:16).
I do not think God takes it lightly when we rip up what He is knitting and tear up a book He has already written.
