Verses: Psalm 139Sample

Welcome to day 3 of our journey through Psalm 139. So far, we’ve come to see we are a known people and a hemmed and held people. Following these realities, David responds in wonder:

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

David ultimately says, “When I come to know what you know about me and still draw near, I’m humbled! This is too wonderful for me.” Notice the movement from general facts about God to a personal response this invokes in us! If these things are truly real, they should elicit some response. This is one of the reasons Christian meditation is so important in our lives! It’s the bridge between the Word of God and prayer. It’s less emptying our minds and moreso a filling of it and lingering on it. Puritan Thomas Watson said, “The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fires of meditation.” David was in no danger of this in Psalm 139. He knew observation wasn’t enough but allowed these powerful realities to move Him to awe and worship.

He also allowed these realities to humble him. The truth that God knows all things should humble people who don’t know all things. We are no match for God, His wisdom, and power. Charles Spurgeon comments:

“The theme overwhelms me. I am amazed and astounded at it. Such knowledge not only surpasses my comprehension, but even my imagination. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Mount as I may, this truth is too lofty for my mind. It seems to be always above me, even when I soar into the loftiest regions of spiritual thought. Is it not so with every attribute of God? Can we attain to any idea of his power, his wisdom, his holiness? Our mind has no line with which to measure the Infinite. Do we therefore question? Say, rather, that we therefore believe and adore. We are not surprised that the Most Glorious God should in his knowledge be high above all the knowledge to which we can attain: it must of necessity be so, since we are such poor limited beings; and when we stand a tip toe we cannot reach to the lowest step of the throne of the Eternal.”

Following the psalmist’s exclamation, the meditation on God’s boundless presence (omnipresence) continues as he asks two questions in verse 7, immediately providing answers in verse 8. The psalmist employs opposites in verse 8 to remind us that nowhere we could go is out of God’s reach. The word Sheol in Hebrews was simply a reference to the grave or “the house of the dead.” On this usage, Bruce Waltke highlights this:

“The extremes of ‘heaven’ and ‘Grave’ on the vertical axis are inaccessible to living mortals and represent the Immortal's omnipresence. ‘Heaven’ and ‘Grave’ are the highest and lowest points in the psalmist's cosmos… The former is the most desirable space, the place of God's unique presence, and the latter is the least desirable, the place of the dead.”

Anywhere you might be, no matter the season or the sin, God is near. Warm your heart by the fires of meditation on this God who knows everything about you, still pursues you, and whom you can’t escape!

Memorize & Meditate

1. Pray David’s words from Psalm 119 to God: “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your law.” Ask God to reveal Himself to you in His Word, that you might know Him more. To truly know Him!
2. Read Psalm 139:6-8. What stands out? What’s encouraging? What’s confusing?
3. In your journal, write out verses 6-8. The intention here is to slow down a little with the passage and linger.
4. Listen to Psalm 139:6-8 by Ross King.
5. Consider this quote: “The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fires of meditation.” How might you warm yourself at the fires of meditation more in your life with God? Over the next 2-5 minutes, meditate on 6-8 as you dwell on the reality that God is near “of meditation.” How might you warm yourself at the fires of meditation more in your life with God?

Credits
Song by Ross King.
Devotional by Joel Limpic.