Psalms 139

Psalms 139:1

An EasyEnglish Translation with Notes (about 1200 word vocabulary) on Psalms 107 to 150

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God Knows Everything Psalms 139 Jesus said, “Your Father (God) knows how many hairs there are on your head!” (Matthew 10:30) Psalms 139         (This is) for the music leader.    (It is) a psalm of David.

v1      *LORD, when you look at me you know all about me.

v2      You know when I sit down.      And you know when I get up.      You understand what I am thinking about      (even when you are) far away.

v3      You see when I go (somewhere).      And you see when I stay (at home).      You remember everything that I do!

v4      For example, before I say a word,      *LORD, you know all about it.

v5      You are all round me, in front (of me) and behind (me).      You have put your *hand upon me.

v6      What you know (about me) is *wonderful.      I cannot understand it.      It is so high that I cannot climb up to it.

v7      Where can I go from your *Spirit?      How can I run away from you?

v8      If I went up to *heaven, you would be there.      If I went down to *Sheol, you would be there also.

v9      If I went:           to where the sun rises (in the east)           to the other side of the sea (in the west)

v10      your hand would be there.      It would be my guide.      Your right hand would give me help.

v11    If I say:           I am sure that *darkness will hide me           or, the light round me will change into night,

v12    *darkness and light are the same to you!      *Darkness is not dark to you.      The night shines as bright as the day (to you).

v13    But you, you made every part of me.      You made me grow in my mother’s *womb.

v14    I *praise you for the *mysterious and *wonderful way that you made me.      I know very well that everything that you made is *wonderful.

v15    (Nothing) hid my body from you when I was growing in a secret place.      This happened deep in the earth.

v16    Your eyes saw my body growing.      Before I had lived one day, you wrote in your book how long I should live for!

v17    You have so many ideas, God.      They are so difficult for me to understand.

v18    If I could count them all,        there would be more than the *grains of sand (by the side of the sea).      I would have to live (as long) as you to count them all!

v19    God, I hope that you will kill the *wicked (people)!      And go away from me you *men of blood (murderers).

v20    They are your enemies.      They say bad things about you that are not true.

v21    Do I *hate them that hate you, *LORD?      Do I really hate them that attack you?

v22    (Yes) I do hate them, I really hate them.      I think of them as my enemies.

v23    Look at me, God. And know (what is in) my *heart.      Look into my mind and know my thoughts.

v24    See if I am doing anything bad that might hurt me.      And lead me in the old ways. The Story of Psalm 139 We do not know when David wrote this psalm. Some people think that the *prophet Zechariah wrote it; maybe he used David’s words and rewrote (wrote again) them. Zechariah wrote a Book of the Bible. He lived 450 years after David. What Psalms 139 means This psalm is in 4 parts:

        Verses 1 – 6: God knows all about us.

        Verses 7 - 12: We cannot hide from God.

        Verses 13 – 18: God created (made) us.

        Verses 19 - 24: David prays about his enemies and himself.

God knows all about us

“When you look at me” in verse 1 means “when you study me, or give me an exam”. *LORD is a special name for God. It is his *covenant name. A *covenant is when two people (or groups of people) agree. Here, God agrees to love and give help to his people. They agree to love and obey him. The *LORD sees every part of us. He even knows what we are going to say. He knows before we say it, (verse 4)! “Your hand” in verse 5 means “your power”. It means what God does in this world. To understand this is like climbing a very high mountain, (verse 6). It is too high to get to the top!

We cannot hide from God

The Holy Spirit, or Spirit, (verse 7), is another name for God. If you go to *heaven (or the sky) or *Sheol (below the earth) God will find you. If you go to the east or the west, you cannot hide from him, (verses 8-9). His hand (or power) will always be with you, to be a guide and a help, (verse 10). David saw it as a good thing that God was always with him. He had God as a guide and someone to give him help. We cannot see in the *darkness, when there is no light. We cannot see when it is dark … but God can, (verses 11-12)!

God made us

“The secret place” and “deep in the earth” mean his mother’s womb, (verse 15). The womb is where mothers keep babies before they are born. Some Bible students think “difficult” should be “valuable” in verse 17. Both ideas are true! “Grains of sand” in verse 18 are “little bits of sand”.

David prays about things

There is a quick change in the next 4 verses. The *psalmist (David) makes a *prayer of imprecation (asks for bad things to happen) for his enemies. They are God’s enemies too, (verse 20). In verse 19, David says that they are “*wicked people”. “*Wicked” means “very, very bad”. He also says that they are “men of blood”, (or people that murder other people). Verse 21 asks if the *psalmist hates God’s enemies. Verse 22 gives the answer: “Yes!” “Hate” means the opposite of “love”. The psalm finishes where it started. God is looking into the *psalmist’s mind. “The old ways”, (verse 24), are the right ways that God told people to walk in. They will never come to an end. Something to do

1. Pray the words of verses 23-24 and wait for God’s answer.

2. Read about Psalms of Imprecation in Psalms 69 of this set.

© 1999-2002, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level A (1200 words).

December 2002

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var w5 = new Array;w5[0]=’<b%3EHebrew</b%3E ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.’;w5[1]=’<b%3ELord</b%3E ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or “master”;  It is the word “Adonai” in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.