Oh, Lord. You have searched me, and known me. You know when I sit down, and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path, and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, Behold, oh, Lord, you know it all together. You hem me in behind, and before and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain it.
– Psalm 139:1–6
Is that not beautiful? I’m guessing many of you have heard Psalm 139 before, and I could keep going on like all the way down to verse 14. “I praise you for I am fearfully, and wonderfully made.” This picture of how God forms you, and me, and every single person in the womb. God forms our inward hearts, knits us together, intricately weaves us together in the depths of the earth. His eyes see our unformed substance when no one else can. What a picture, and in these first verses in this Psalm, just think about it.
Psalm 139:1–6 Is a Reflection on God’s Omniscience
God knows you. He knows everything about you. God knows when you sit down, and when you rise up. He knows your thoughts, your every thought. He’s acquainted with all your ways before you even speak. God knows what you’re going to say, and not just knows you, but he lays his hand upon you. The picture here is a loving knowledge of you. And this is God we’re talking about. “Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me. Before word is on my tongue, Behold, oh Lord, you know it all together.”
That’s why verse 6 says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” To think that the God of the universe… Just look around you today at his glory, creation, and glory above the heavens. Realize he knows, loves, and cares for you. Let that change the way you live today. On so many levels, we could think of so many applications. You’re not insignificant. Oh, you’re made fearfully and wonderfully by God. You’re not alone. He’s with you. He loves you. He’s watching over you. You’ve no reason to be afraid, or worried, because God cares for you. He will provide everything you need. When he wakes you up in the morning, he knows when you rise. He wakes you up with sufficient mercy for whatever today holds.
God, we praise you for searching and knowing everything about us, even better than we know ourselves. God, we praise you as our creator. As the one who formed our inward hearts, who made us fearfully, and wonderfully in your image. God, we’re so odd to be made in your image and to be loved and known by you. Such knowledge is too wonderful. We pray that you’d help us to live in light of this reality today.
Psalm 139:1–6 Reminds Us We Are Intimately Known
God, help us to live in your love for us. Lord, help us to live in light of your knowledge of us. God, we pray that our every thought, and our every word, and every desire help us to honor and glorify you. We want our lives to be pleasing to you, and even as we pray that we shudder at the thought of where we would be in light of all our sinful thoughts, and sinful words, and sinful deeds that you know. Where we would be without your mercy and your grace?
Jesus, we praise you that we don’t have to fear of being known by the Holy, just God overall, that we are forgiven dressed in your righteousness by faith, by trust in you. We praise you not only for creating us, we praise you for redeeming us, but recreating us in your image. Oh, God, make us more like Jesus today. We pray, and know God, we are compelled in light of this text to pray for others.
God, we pray for your protection of children in wombs in the world right now. Lord, we pray for laws that protect children in the womb. God, we pray for ministry to moms and dads with unexpected pregnancies that supports, and cares for them, and helps them to bring this child to fruition in the world for your glory. Lord, we pray that you would help us to care for children who need moms and dads through foster care, through adoption.
God, we pray that you would help us to prize that children you are fearfully, and wonderfully making have fearfully, and wonderfully made, and all the people you have fearfully and wonderfully made. Lord, help us to see everyone around us through this lens today.
Praying for the Afar People
God, we pray for the Afar people of Ethiopia, and Djibouti, and Eritrea. People made in your image, loved by you, known by you, who’ve never heard the good news of the gospel.
God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the afar people, and we pray that you would cause laborers to go there, disciples to be made there, churches to be multiplied. That people might know you, have intimate relationship with you like we see described here in Psalm 139 through the grace of Jesus. God, please may it be so in light of this word that we love, Psalm 139. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
