“Fearfully and wonderfully made”: reading Psalm 139 slowly
Most of us spend our lives hiding parts of ourselves. Psalm 139 begins with a man who knows he cannot hide anything, and finds that it is good news.
“O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.”
Known completely
The first six verses describe God’s knowledge. He knows when David sits and when he rises. He understands his thoughts “afar off”. “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.” David’s response is wonder, not fear: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
Verses 7 to 12 ask: “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” Heaven, the grave, the far side of the sea: God is there. Even darkness does not hide anyone: “the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
In the womb
Verses 13 to 16 are among the most quoted in Scripture: “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.” David says God saw his “substance, yet being unperfect”, and that his days were written in God’s book before any of them existed.
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” If he tried to count them, they would outnumber the sand.
Search me
Verses 19 to 22 surprise many readers. David asks God to slay the wicked and says he hates those who hate God. The psalm is honest about his anger. It does not tidy up his feelings. Then the psalm ends with a prayer: “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.”
Having spoken about the wicked out there, David turns the searchlight on himself.
For young people
Youth pastors often use verse 14 to speak to young people about identity and self-worth: before any label or opinion, God made them with care. The psalm opens with David saying God has searched him. It closes with David asking God to search him. Between those two lines, being known changes from a fact he accepts into an invitation he offers.
