Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 139:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 139:8. If I ascend — Thou art in heaven, in thy glory; in hell, in thy vindictive justice; and in all parts of earth, water, space, place, or vacuity, by thy omnipresence. Wherever I am, there art thou; and where I cannot be, thou art there. Thou fillest the heavens and the earth.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 139:0 The all-knowing, ever-present God

God knows all about the psalmist - what he does, what he thinks, where he goes and what he says (139:1-4). Because of the realization that God is all around him, the psalmist sometimes feels helpless (5-6). A person may be tempted to look for some escape from such an overpowering presence, but no escape is possible. This may bring fear to rebels but it brings comfort to believers (7-8). Wherever they travel, God is with them (9-10). In darkness or in light, God sees them constantly (11-12).
Being the Creator, God has perfect knowledge of those he created. He knows their innermost thoughts as well as their physical characteristics, and has a detailed knowledge of their lives that are yet to be (13-16). As the psalmist meditates on the mysterious purposes and wonderful works of God, he finds they are too vast to understand and too numerous to count. When he awakes after his meditation he knows that God is still with him (17-18).
Through his meditation the psalmist has grown so close to God that he sees the wicked as God sees them and hates evil as God hates it. He therefore prays that God will act in righteous judgment (19-22). Nevertheless, he knows also that he himself is not perfect. He prays that God will show him his sin, cleanse him, and lead him into a life of holiness (23-24).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

OMNIPRESENCE

“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: ff I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me. And the light about me shall be night; Even the darkness hideth not from thee, But the night shineth as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

“Whither shall I flee from thy presence” This line is parallel to the preceding one, the thought in both being, “How can one hide from God? He is everywhere!” In an old fashioned, one-teacher schoolhouse, an atheistic teacher wrote on the blackboard

“GOD IS NOWHERE.”

Whereupon a sixth-grade girl walked up to the blackboard and gave the inscription this treatment

“GOD IS NOW HERE.”

and as she sat down, she said, “Teacher you forgot to put in the space”! The astounded teacher made no further remarks.

Attempting to hide from God has been the chief business of the human family ever since Adam and Eve hid themselves in the Garden of Eden! Think of the myriads of ways in which men try to hide from God. They forsake all attendance of religious services. They become alcoholics, workaholics, dope addicts, or assume any lifestyle available in which they may hope to hide from the “all-seeing” eyes of God. What a vain and futile exercise of human folly! People cannot hide from God!

The omnipresence of God was the basis of the remarkable exhibition which the Moody Bible Institute displayed at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. The exhibition stressed an amazing deduction from this element in the character of God.

Since God is everywhere simultaneously, He is still seeing everything that has ever happened in the whole universe! Just as people can see the light of the constellation Andromeda which began its journey to earth two million light years ago, God’s presence as an observer is not limited either by time or space. His presence is eternal regarding all events, past, present and future!

“In Sheol… behold, thou art there” This teaches that death itself cannot hide people from the knowledge and ultimate judgment of God. “The psalmist is aware of God’s presence even in Sheol.”C. M. Miller, co-author with Anthony L. Ash, p. 428.

“The wings of the morning… the uttermost parts of the sea” The opposites mentioned here are the east and the west, symbolized by “the wings of the morning,” and “the uttermost parts of the sea,” the latter being a reference to the far western end of the Mediterranean. These are some of the most beautiful lines in the literature of the whole human family. True to the antagonist spirit of criticism, some interpreters allege that this image is borrowed from ancient mythology which describes the goddess of the dawn riding forth on the “wings of the morning.” This writer has read extensively the mythology of Greece and Rome but cannot remember any such myth. Helios did not ride “the wings of the morning” but “a chariot.” In case there actually existed some such terminology in ancient mythology, which we seriously doubt, “There is no reason to assume that the psalmist here accepted any such mythological notions.”Ibid.

“Thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me” The bringing together in this verse, of God’s `hand’ and his `right hand’ is an undeniable earmark of David’s authorship, as is the case in the preceding Psalms 138:7. AS Jebb said, there are a dozen such earmarks in this psalm.

“The darkness shall overwhelm me” The marginal reading here is “cover me” for the last two words. Despite the fact that darkness cannot hide from God, wicked men still prefer the nighttime for their deeds of criminality. The New Testament takes note of this in such terms as “the works of darkness” (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:11).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

If I ascend up into heaven - The word “heaven” here, in the original is in the plural number - “heavens,” - and includes all that there is above the earth - the highest worlds.

If I make my bed - Properly, “If I strew or spread my couch.” If I should seek that as the place where to lie down.

In hell - Hebrew, “Sheol.” See the notes at Isaiah 14:9, where the word is fully explained. The word here refers to the under-world - the abodes of the dead; and, in the apprehension of the psalmist, corresponds in depth with the word “heaven” in height. The two represent all worlds, above and below; and the idea is, that in neither direction, above or below, could he go where God would not be.

Thou art there - Or, more emphatically and impressively in the original, “Thou!” That is, the psalmist imagines himself in the highest heaven, or in the deepest abodes of the dead - and lo! God is there also! he has not gone from “him”! he is still in the presence of the same God!

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 139:1-24 , another psalm of David to the chief musician. As David offers this prayer really unto God, declaring, first of all,

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me ( Psalms 139:1 ).

Recognizing that God knows me completely and fully.

You know my downsittings and my uprisings ( Psalms 139:2 ),

Or you know my ups and my downs.

you understand my thoughts afar off ( Psalms 139:2 ).

The Hebrew is, "You understand my thoughts in their origins." Before I even think them, You know them. You know the processes by which they are formed.

You compassest my path and my lying down, you're acquainted with all my ways ( Psalms 139:3 ).

"When I'm walking, I'm encircled by You. When I'm lying down, I'm encircled by You. I'm encompassed by You in everything." Paul the apostle said, "For in Him we live, we move, we have our being" ( Acts 17:28 ). The all-prevailing presence of God surrounding my life, God's omnipresence.

There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, you know it altogether ( Psalms 139:4 ).

So God knows me so completely.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and you've laid your hand upon me ( Psalms 139:5 ).

I look back and I see the hand of God on my life. I look ahead and I see God's plan. And right now I feel the hand of God upon me. You see, I'm surrounded. My past, present, and my future is all wrapped up with God. "You've beset me behind and before, and Your hand is upon me." The psalmist declared,

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it ( Psalms 139:6 ).

What knowledge? Self-knowledge. Very few people really know their selves. We have hidden the truth about ourselves so long that we don't even know the truth about our own self. "The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked: who can know it?" ( Jeremiah 17:9 ) Yet God said, "I do search the hearts of man." But who really knows the motive, the true motive behind our actions? And yet, it is God who weighs the motives. We put so much emphasis upon a person's actions. God puts the emphasis upon the attitudes, the motives from which the actions spring. And it is possible, very possible for people to have right actions with wrong motives. And God's looking at the motive.

"Take heed to yourself," Jesus said, "that you do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of men" ( Matthew 6:1 ). In other words, that should not be your motive, to be recognized by men. That's why I'm doing my righteous thing, so people can see me. You've got to be careful that that isn't your motive. For Jesus said, "I say unto you, you have your reward" ( Matthew 6:2 ).

Now he tells about people who were doing the right thing. They were giving to God. They were praying. They were fasting. But yet, they were doing it always with the wrong motive, and thus, no reward from God. No recognition from God for what they were doing. For God weighs the heart. God is checking the attitude, the motives by which I do things. And the Bible says that one day, "we are all to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things that we've done in our body, whether they be good or evil" ( 2 Corinthians 5:10 ). And our works are all going to be tried by fire, of what manner or sort they are. So all of the works that a person has done for God. "Oh Lord, weren't we doing this? Weren't we doing that? Weren't we big stars and we were on TV and we were doing all these wonderful things for You." And Jesus said, "Hey, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity." The whole motive was wrong. The motive was to receive the recognition and the glory, the applause, the praise of man. "So take heed to yourself," Jesus said, "how you do your righteousness, that you don't do it with the motive of being seen of men."

So here the psalmist declares, "Such knowledge too much for me; I cannot attain it."

Now whither shall I go from thy presence or from thy Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: but if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there ( Psalms 139:7-8 ).

The omnipresence of God filling the universe. There is no place that you can go and escape the presence of God. "In Him we live, we move, we have our being" ( Acts 17:28 ).

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night will be light about me. Yea, the darkness does not hide from you; but the night shines as the day: and the darkness and the light are both alike unto thee ( Psalms 139:9-12 ).

In other words, with God there is no darkness. There is no hiding in darkness. It makes no difference to God. He can see just as well at night as He can during the day. Turn the lights out and hide from God. No, it doesn't make any difference. God can see us. Light and darkness are the same to Him.

For you have possessed my reins: you cover me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: and marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well ( Psalms 139:13-14 ).

Fearfully and wonderfully made. More and more we're discovering how wonderfully made we are made. The human body. There's a new book entitled, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. I recommend the book. It's just excellent reading for you. Written by a doctor who spent many years as a missionary doctor in a leprosarium and has done his most recent work back at Carville, Louisiana in the leprosarium there, which they no longer call leprosarium. It's an institute for the study of Hansen's disease. And it's an excellent book. I think you'll enjoy it as he, from a medical standpoint, delves into the marvels of the human body. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, and the title of the book is Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.

My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them ( Psalms 139:15-16 ).

In other words, God knew me completely before I was ever born. When I was still just chemicals. God knew me completely.

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with you ( Psalms 139:17-18 ).

God's thoughts for me, how precious they are. How great is the sum. If I should number them, more than the sand. I love to go down to the beach and just take and get a handful of sand and just open up the bottom of my hand and let it just drop on down and form a pile. And watch those grains of sand fall. I think there's something therapeutic about it. Just feels good. But also as the grains of sand are falling, I think, "Wow, God's thoughts concerning me, if I could number them, are more than the sand of the sea." Each one of those little grains of sand represent one of God's thoughts concerning me. God's thinking about me all the time. And then God said, "My thoughts towards you are good, not evil" ( Jeremiah 29:11 ). And so I drop a few little piles of sand on the beach and then I just look up at the beach and see all the grains of sand and think, "Oh my, how wonderful, Lord. How precious are Thy thoughts of me."

The psalmist then speaks of the wicked. God is going to destroy the wicked. Therefore I want to depart from wicked men. I don't want to keep company with evil men.

For they speak against God wickedly, they take his name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate you? am I not grieved with those that rise up against you? I hate them with a perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies ( Psalms 139:20-22 ).

The psalmist said. And then his prayer, that is, his petition. The whole thing is prayer. This is now the petition:

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts ( Psalms 139:23 ):

Who is the man who prays, "Search me, O God?" He's the man who understands and knows that he doesn't know himself. The man who recognizes that he really doesn't know himself is the man who prays, "Search me, O God, and know my thoughts. And know my heart. Try me. My heart is deceitful. My heart is desperately wicked. Lord, know my heart. Try me. Know my thoughts."

And see if there be some wicked way in me ( Psalms 139:24 ),

Because You're going to destroy the wicked. I don't want to be wicked. See if there is something there, Lord, that is displeasing to You.

Now the work of the Holy Spirit is not only revealing Christ to us, but revealing ourselves to us. How often the Holy Spirit reveals to me the truth about myself. My reaction, my response to a situation. The Holy Spirit will say, "All right, Chuck, now that was wrong. That wasn't Christ-like. That wasn't a Christ-like spirit. You weren't responding in love. You were angry with them." And I usually say, "Yes I am, and I have a right to be." Then He starts dealing with me as He reveals these areas of my life that are not yet brought to the cross. Not yet brought into conformity to Jesus Christ. Those areas of self that are still there that He is desiring to give me victory over. The Holy Spirit's work is that of revealing to us those areas of our lives that are displeasing to God. And then the prayer ends.

lead me in the way everlasting ( Psalms 139:24 ).

Lead me in the path of life. Lead me in the way of everlasting life. There's one thing I don't want to be deceived about, and that is my eternal destiny. How many, many people are deceived concerning their eternal destiny because they're trusting in the word of some man. They're trusting in the word of some religious leader. Some maybe charismatic leader who has a lot of charisma, personal charisma, and personal magnetism and whatever these things are. And they are encouraging people to follow after them, engaging in brainwashing techniques. Making zombies out of their followers. And how many people are blindly following them today thinking, being assured that this is the path of life.

"Everybody else is wrong. We're the only ones who have the truth. We're the only ones walking in the light. All of the churches are wrong. They're all lying to you. None of them are telling you the truth. We're the only ones who have discovered the truth." And people blindly following them. And even within the churches, how many people have come to just trust in the church, church membership, or infant baptism. And they're deceived as to their eternal destiny. "Lead me in the way everlasting." I don't want to be fooled on this. I don't want my heart to be deceived on this issue. I want to make sure that I'm in the way everlasting. "For there is a way that seems right unto man, but the end of it is death" ( Proverbs 14:12 ). I don't want to be in that way, thinking that I'm right and landing up in the pit. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 139

David praised God for His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence in this popular psalm. It is a plea for God to search the life to expose sin. It consists of four strophes of six verses each.

"The Gelineau version gives the psalm the heading ’The Hound of Heaven’, a reminder that Francis Thompson’s fine poem of that name owed its theme of flight and pursuit largely to the second stanza here (Psalms 139:7-12), which is one of the summits of Old Testament poetry." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 464.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. God’s omnipresence 139:7-12

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David gave hypothetical examples of where he might go to hide from God in these verses (cf. Romans 8:38-39). Psalms 139:8 is another merism (cf. Psalms 139:2-3) that expresses everywhere between heaven and hell. Even if he could travel as fast as the speed of light, he could not escape God (Psalms 139:9). Even there God’s hand would lead him. Psalms 139:10 pictures God gently leading and guiding David. This thought changes the fearful earlier image of God pursuing the psalmist.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

If I ascend up into heaven, thou [art] there,.... No man hath ascended or can ascend to heaven of himself; it is an hyperbolical expression, as are those that follow; none but Christ has ascended to heaven by his own power, who descended from it; saints hope to go there at death, and, when they do, they find God there; that is his habitation, his throne is there, yea, that is his throne; here he keeps court and has his attendants, and here he will be seen and enjoyed by his people to all eternity;

if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou [art there]; which, if understood of the place of the damned, is a place of torment, and a very unfit one to make a bed in, being a lake burning with fire and brimstone; and where the smoke of their torment ascends for ever, and they have no rest day nor night; their worm never dies, and their fire is not quenched; and even here God is: hell is not only naked before him, and all its inhabitants in his view; but he is here in his powerful presence, keeping the devils in chains of darkness; turning wicked men daily into it, pouring out his wrath upon them, placing and continuing an unpassable gulf between them and happy souls: though rather this is to be understood of the grave, in which sense the word is often used; and so Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and Arama, interpret it of the lowest parts of the earth, as opposed to heaven; the grave is a bed to the saints, where they lie down and rest, and sleep till the resurrection morn, Job 14:12; and here the Lord is watching over and keeping their dust, and will raise it up again at the last day. The Targum is,

"there is thy Word.''

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?   8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.   9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;   10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.   11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.   12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.   13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.   14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.   15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.   16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

      It is of great use to us to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed, that we may not only believe them, but be able to tell why we believe them, and to give a reason of the hope that is in us. David is sure that God perfectly knows him and all his ways,

      I. Because he is always under his eye. If God is omnipresent, he must needs be omniscient; but he is omnipresent; this supposes the infinite and immensity of his being, from which follows the ubiquity of his presence; heaven and earth include the whole creation, and the Creator fills both (Jeremiah 23:24); he not only knows both, and governs both, but he fills both. Every part of the creation is under God's intuition and influence. David here acknowledges this also with application and sees himself thus open before God.

      1. No flight can remove us out of God's presence: "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, from thy presence, that is, from thy spiritual presence, from thyself, who art a Spirit?" God is a Spirit, and therefore it is folly to think that because we cannot see him he cannot see us: Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Not that he desired to go away from God; no, he desired nothing more than to be near him; but he only puts the case, "Suppose I should be so foolish as to think of getting out of thy sight, that I might shake off the awe of thee, suppose I should think of revolting from my obedience to thee, or of disowning a dependence on thee and of shifting for myself, alas! whither can I go?" A heathen could say, Quocunque te flexeris, ibi Deum videbis occurrentem tibi--Whithersoever thou turnest thyself, thou wilt see God meeting thee. Seneca. He specifies the most remote and distant places, and counts upon meeting God in them. (1.) In heaven: "If I ascend thither, as I hope to do shortly, thou art there, and it will be my eternal bliss to be with thee there." Heaven is a vast large place, replenished with an innumerable company, and yet there is no escaping God's eye there, in any corner, or in any crowd. The inhabitants of that world have as necessary a dependence upon God, and lie as open to his strict scrutiny, as the inhabitants of this. (2.) In hell--in Sheol, which may be understood of the depth of the earth, the very centre of it. Should we dig as deep as we can under ground, and think to hide ourselves there, we should be mistaken; God knows that path which the vulture's eye never saw, and to him the earth is all surface. Or it may be understood of the state of the dead. When we are removed out of the sight of all living, yet not out of the sight of the living God; from his eye we cannot hide ourselves in the grave. Or it maybe understood of the place of the damned: If I make my bed in hell (an uncomfortable place to make a bed in, where there is no rest day or night, yet thousands will make their bed for ever in those flames), behold, thou art there, in thy power and justice. God's wrath is the fire which will there burn everlastingly, Revelation 14:10. (3.) In the remotest corners of this world: "If I take the wings of the morning, the rays of the morning-light (called the wings of the sun, Malachi 4:2), than which nothing more swift, and flee upon them to the uttermost parts of the sea, or of the earth (Job 38:12; Job 38:13), should I flee to the most distant and obscure islands (the ultima Thule, the Terra incognita), I should find thee there; there shall thy hand lead me, as far as I go, and thy right hand hold me, that I can go no further, that I cannot go out of thy reach." God soon arrested Jonah when he fled to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

      2. No veil can hide us from God's eye, no, not that of the thickest darkness, Psalms 139:11; Psalms 139:12. "If I say, Yet the darkness shall cover me, when nothing else will, alas! I find myself deceived; the curtains of the evening will stand me in no more stead than the wings of the morning; even the night shall be light about me. That which often favours the escape of a pursued criminal, and the retreat of a beaten army, will do me no kindness in fleeing from them." When God divided between the light and darkness it was with a reservation of this prerogative, that to himself the darkness and the light should still be both alike. "The darkness darkeneth not from thee, for there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." No hypocritical mask or disguise, how specious soever, can save any person or action from appearing in a true light before God. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open and barefaced villanies.

      II. Because he is the work of his hands. He that framed the engine knows all the motions of it. God made us, and therefore no doubt he knows us; he saw us when we were in the forming, and can we be hidden from him now that we are formed? This argument he insists upon (Psalms 139:13-16; Psalms 139:13-16): "Thou hast possessed my reins; thou art Master of my most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul; thou not only knowest, but governest, them, as we do that which we have possession of; and the possession thou hast of my reins is a rightful possession, for thou coveredst me in my mother's womb, that is, thou madest me (Job 10:11), thou madest me in secret. The soul is concealed form all about us. Who knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man?" 1 Corinthians 2:11. Hence we read of the hidden man of the heart. But it was God himself that thus covered us, and therefore he can, when he pleases, discover us; when he hid us from all the world he did not intend to hide us from himself. Concerning the formation of man, of each of us,

      1. The glory of it is here given to God, entirely to him; for it is he that has made us and not we ourselves. "I will praise thee, the author of my being; my parents were only the instruments of it." It was done, (1.) Under the divine inspection: My substance, when hid in the womb, nay, when it was yet but in fieri--in the forming, an unshapen embryo, was not hidden from thee; thy eyes did see my substance. (2.) By the divine operation. As the eye of God saw us then, so his hand wrought us; we were his work. (3.) According to the divine model: In thy book all my members were written. Eternal wisdom formed the plan, and by that almighty power raised the noble structure.

      2. Glorious things are here said concerning it. The generation of man is to be considered with the same pious veneration as his creation at first. Consider it, (1.) As a great marvel, a great miracle we might call it, but that it is done in the ordinary course of nature. We are fearfully and wonderfully made; we may justly be astonished at the admirable contrivance of these living temples, the composition of every part, and the harmony of all together. (2.) As a great mystery, a mystery of nature: My soul knows right well that it is marvellous, but how to describe it for any one else I know not; for I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the womb as in the lowest parts of the earth, so privately, and so far out of sight. (3.) As a great mercy, that all our members in continuance were fashioned, according as they were written in the book of God's wise counsel, when as yet there was none of them; or, as some read it, and none of them was left out. If any of our members had been wanting in God's book, they would have been wanting in our bodies, but, through his goodness, we have all our limbs and sense, the want of any of which might have made us burdens to ourselves. See what reason we have then to praise God for our creation, and to conclude that he who saw our substance when it was unfashioned sees it now that it is fashioned.