Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Psalm 139:1) (To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David) O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

David was now the established king of Israel in Jerusalem, and he had just defeated the Philistines.  It was generally believed that David wrote this psalm when he was made king of Israel.  He began by declaring that he knew the Lord had searched his heart and knew him.  

(2) You know my downsitting and my uprising, You understand my thought afar off.

The Lord knew him when he sat down and when he rose up, in all circumstances, in his actions throughout the day.  Even from far off in heaven, David understood the Lord knew his every thought.

(3) You compass my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

That word "compass" or "zarah" in the original meant to turn over and over, in other words, winnow or sift.  God sifted out all the worthless chaff and saw the real David in everything he did.

(4) For not a word in my tongue, lo, O Lord, You know it altogether.

The Lord knew David's heart behind every word he spoke, even before he spoke it.

(5) You have beset me behind and before and laid Your hand upon me.

The Lord was on every side of David.  There was nothing he could think, say, or do, that the Lord didn't know.  The Lord's hand was on him to preserve, protect, and defend him.

(6) Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.

Such knowledge as the Lord had of him was beyond anything he could ever attain.  The Lord knew him better than he knew himself.

(7) Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?

It was a rhetorical question as David knew there was nowhere he could go that would be out of the presence of the Lord and His Holy Spirit.

(8) If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

Whether David ascended to the farthest heights or descended into the farthest depths, the Lord would always be there.

(9) If I take the wings of the morning, dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, (10) Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.

If David could fly as swiftly as the morning light to the east, to the extremity of it, or dwell in the deepest parts of the sea, even there the Lord would be there to lead, guide, and protect him.

(11) If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me," even the night shall be light about me.

Even if David entertained the thought that he could hide in darkness from the Lord, even the night would be as light all around him.  Although darkness might be a hinderance to man's sight, it served the Lord's sight as well as the light. 

(12) Yea, the darkness hides not from you, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.

The darkness could not hide from the Lord, and nothing done in the dark escaped His sight.  There was no difference between light and dark in the Lord's eyes.

(13) For you have possessed my reins; you have covered me in my mother's womb.

The Lord owned even David's most inward parts; it was He who created him and protected him in his mother's womb.

(14) I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and my soul knows it right well.

David would praise the Lord for His wonderful work in creating him while he simultaneously feared such awesome power.  The Lord's works were positively marvelous, and he knew that through and through, even in his soul.

(15) My substance was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

David's entire body was never hidden from the Lord.  When David was created and in his mother's womb, hidden from the eyes of man, he was never hidden from the Lord.

(16) Your eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in Your book all were written, in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The Lord's eyes saw what David would be even while he was yet unformed.  All things pertaining to David throughout his life were known by God even before any of them came to fruition.

(17) How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! (18) If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.

The fact that the Lord had all those ongoing thoughts about him was a precious thing to David.  It was mind-boggling to him how much the Lord had thought about him from before he was born and would continue way past his death.  The Lord was with David when he closed his eyes to sleep at the end of the day with full confidence that He would be there when he awoke the next day.

(19) Surely You will slay the wicked, O God; depart from me therefore, you bloody men. (20) For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take your name in vain.

David had full confidence that the Lord would righteously judge the wicked.  He wanted no part of them because they spoke against his Lord wickedly and took His name in vain.

(21) Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And am I not grieved with those who rise up against You? (22) I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.

David could not help but hate those who hated the Lord.  The original word translated as "grieved" was "qut" and rather meant "cut off" or "detested."  David hated those who would rise up against his Lord.  He hated them with a pure and total hatred and counted them as enemies.  It's understandable that David would hate any enemies of his Lord, but Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for them.  We hate their actions, but as Jesus came to cover all the sins of any who would come to Him, we should pray that they turn from their wicked ways and become new creations in Christ.  To be cast into hell for eternity is a very horrible thing, and there but by the grace of God, go I.  Any of us could suffer the same fate if God's Holy Spirit had not called us to repent and follow Jesus, our only means of salvation.

(23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts, (24) And see if any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

David ended his psalm by asking the Lord to continue to search him and his heart, to test him and his thoughts to see if there was any wickedness in them, as he wished for the Lord to continue to lead him in the way that led to everlasting life with Him.

Some of the old Biblical commentators I study suggested that as the verses starting with verse 19 took such an abrupt turn, they surely were part of a separate psalm.  However, I think they fit very well here.  Part of David's desire to have the Lord to search him was for his Lord to also know that he hated any enemies of Him.  He desired what the Lord desired, and he wanted the Lord to test his heart that that was true.  He then ended his psalm by continuing with the same thought with which he started it, for the Lord to continue to search him and his thoughts and to know him through and through.