Psalms · Chapter 139

Verse 1. O Lord, thou hast searched me] yntrqj chakartani; thou hast investigated me; thou hast thoroughly acquainted thyself with my whole soul and conduct.

Verses 1-3. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me — That is, known me exactly, as men know those things which they diligently search out. Thou knowest my down-sitting, &c. — All my postures and motions; my actions, and my cessation from action. Thou understandest my thoughts — All my secret counsels, designs, and imaginations; afar off — Before they are perfectly formed in my own mind. Thou knowest what my thoughts will be in such and such circumstances, long before I know it, yea, from all eternity. Thou compassest my path — Thou watchest me on every side, and therefore discernest every step which I take. The expression is metaphorical, and seems to be taken either from huntsmen watching all the motions and lurking places of the beasts they hunt, and endeavour to catch; or from soldiers besieging their enemies in a city, and setting watches round about them. And my lying down — When I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting on what has passed during the day, and am composing myself to rest, thou knowest what I have in my heart, and with what thoughts I lie down to sleep; and art acquainted with all my ways — At all times, in all places, and in all situations and circumstances. Thou knowest what rule I walk by, what end I walk toward, and what company I walk with.

Verses 1-12 are a confession of the omniscience of God realized in the experience of the author; verses 13-18 of his creative wisdom and most minute care of the author’s developing life; verses 19-22 a solemn renunciation of the society and ways of wicked men in heart and action; verses 23, 24 a prayer to be searched by this all-seeing God, and to be led by him in the ancient way.

1. Searched me—The psalmist begins with self-application of the doctrine of omniscience. It is more to know the human heart than to know distant worlds and laws of matter. Known me—Hebrew, simply, Thou hast known, comprehending not me only, but all things relating to me, as in next verse.

V. 2. Afar off-Thou knowest what my thoughts will be in such and such circumstances, long before I know it, yea from all eternity.

Verse 2. My downsitting and mine uprising] Even these inconsiderable and casual things are under thy continual notice. I cannot so much as take a seat, or leave it, without being marked by thee. Thou understandest my thought] לרעי lerei, “my cogitation.” This word is Chaldee, see Daniel 2:29, 30.

Afar off.] While the figment is forming that shall produce them.

Verses 1-3. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me — That is, known me exactly, as men know those things which they diligently search out. Thou knowest my down-sitting, &c. — All my postures and motions; my actions, and my cessation from action. Thou understandest my thoughts — All my secret counsels, designs, and imaginations; afar off — Before they are perfectly formed in my own mind. Thou knowest what my thoughts will be in such and such circumstances, long before I know it, yea, from all eternity. Thou compassest my path — Thou watchest me on every side, and therefore discernest every step which I take. The expression is metaphorical, and seems to be taken either from huntsmen watching all the motions and lurking places of the beasts they hunt, and endeavour to catch; or from soldiers besieging their enemies in a city, and setting watches round about them. And my lying down — When I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting on what has passed during the day, and am composing myself to rest, thou knowest what I have in my heart, and with what thoughts I lie down to sleep; and art acquainted with all my ways — At all times, in all places, and in all situations and circumstances. Thou knowest what rule I walk by, what end I walk toward, and what company I walk with.

2. Downsitting and… uprising—That is, my hours of rest and of activity, my most retired and most familiar life. Afar off—Literally, From afar. From thy remotest heaven thou knowest me as if I were before thee. See Psalm 138:6.

V. 3. Compassest-Thou discernest every step I take. It is a metaphor from soldiers besieging their enemies, and setting watches round about them.

Verse 3. Thou compassest my path] tyrz zeritha thou dost winnow, ventilate, or sift my path; and my lying down, רבעי ribi, my lair, my bed. And art acquainted] Thou treasurest up. This is the import of ˆks sachan. Thou hast the whole number of my ways, and the steps I took in them.

Verses 1-3. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me — That is, known me exactly, as men know those things which they diligently search out. Thou knowest my down-sitting, &c. — All my postures and motions; my actions, and my cessation from action. Thou understandest my thoughts — All my secret counsels, designs, and imaginations; afar off — Before they are perfectly formed in my own mind. Thou knowest what my thoughts will be in such and such circumstances, long before I know it, yea, from all eternity. Thou compassest my path — Thou watchest me on every side, and therefore discernest every step which I take. The expression is metaphorical, and seems to be taken either from huntsmen watching all the motions and lurking places of the beasts they hunt, and endeavour to catch; or from soldiers besieging their enemies in a city, and setting watches round about them. And my lying down — When I am withdrawn from all company, and am reflecting on what has passed during the day, and am composing myself to rest, thou knowest what I have in my heart, and with what thoughts I lie down to sleep; and art acquainted with all my ways — At all times, in all places, and in all situations and circumstances. Thou knowest what rule I walk by, what end I walk toward, and what company I walk with.

3. Compassest—That is, to watch and guard. The word sometimes means to scatter by winnowing, as Jeremiah 51:2. Thou winnowest my path, would denote a sifting out of evil, like chaff, that the way might be pure and safe; or, thou triest my path.

Verse 4. There is not a word in my tongue] Although (yk ki) there be not a word in my tongue, behold O Jehovah, thou knowest the whole of it, that is, thou knowest all my words before they are uttered, as thou knowest all my thoughts while as yet they are unformed.

Verses 4, 5. There is not a word in my tongue, &c. — Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. There is not a vain word, not a good word, but thou knowest it altogether — What it means, what thought gives birth to it, and with what intention it is uttered. Or, as others render the clause, When there is not a word, &c.; thou knowest what I am about to speak, either in prayer to thee, or in conversation with men, when I have not yet uttered one word of it. Thou hast beset me behind and before — With thine all-seeing and all-disposing providence; so that, go which way I will, I am under thine eyes, and cannot escape its penetrating view in any way possible; and laid thy hand upon me — Thou keepest me, as it were, with a strong hand, in thy sight, and under thy power.

4. For there is not a word in my tongue, etc.—Rather, When there is not a word in my tongue, behold, O Jehovah, thou knowest all. Before the word is spoken God sees back in the heart the thought and desire, and knows all that is within, whence words proceed.

V. 5. Beset me-With thy all-seeing providence. And laid-Thou keepest me, as it were with a strong hand, in thy sight and under thy power.

Verse 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before] yntrx µdqw rwja achor vekodam tsartani, “The hereafter and the past, thou hast formed me.” I think Bishop Horsley’s emendation here is just, uniting the two verses together. “Behold thou, O Jehovah, knowest the whole, the hereafter and the past. Thou hast formed me, and laid thy hand upon me.”

Verses 4, 5. There is not a word in my tongue, &c. — Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. There is not a vain word, not a good word, but thou knowest it altogether — What it means, what thought gives birth to it, and with what intention it is uttered. Or, as others render the clause, When there is not a word, &c.; thou knowest what I am about to speak, either in prayer to thee, or in conversation with men, when I have not yet uttered one word of it. Thou hast beset me behind and before — With thine all-seeing and all-disposing providence; so that, go which way I will, I am under thine eyes, and cannot escape its penetrating view in any way possible; and laid thy hand upon me — Thou keepest me, as it were, with a strong hand, in thy sight, and under thy power.

5. Beset—Surrounded, like a besieging army, for my protection if good, to render my escape impossible if wicked. Laid thine hand upon me—I am already in thy grasp, wholly in thy power.

V. 6. I cannot-Apprehend in what manner thou dost so presently know all things.

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful] I think, with Kennicott, that דעת פלאיה pelaiah daath should be read הדעת פלאי peli haddaath, “THIS knowledge,” ynmm mimmenni, “is beyond or above me.” This change is made by taking the h he from the end of hyalp pelaiah, which is really no word, and joining it with דעת daath; which, by giving it an article, makes it demonstrative, הדעת haddaath, “THIS knowledge.” This kind of knowledge, God’s knowledge, that takes in all things, and their reasons, essences, tendencies, and issues, is far beyond me.

Verse 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, &c. — It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe. I cannot conceive, or even form any idea in what manner thou dost so perfectly know all things, especially things which have yet no being, and seem to depend on many casualties and uncertainties. Dr. Hammond renders the verse, Such knowledge is admirable, above me: it is high; I cannot deal with it. But the sense of the original of the last clause, hl lkwa al, seems better expressed in our translation. The mind of the psalmist, when he uttered these words, was evidently impressed “with such a veneration and awe of the infinite Jehovah, the fountain and support of universal life and being; and he found his faculties so swallowed up, and, as it were, lost in meditating on so deep and immense a subject; that man’s reason, in its utmost pride and glory, and with its most boasted improvements and acquisitions of knowledge, seemed now so debased, so weak, so narrow, and, in comparison with infinity, so despicable, that he could proceed no further without expressing his admiration at such a boundless scope of intelligence as he could neither explain nor comprehend:” see Foster’s Discourses, vol. 1:4to. p. 76.

6. Too wonderful for me—Above the reach of the human faculties. Same as “it is high, I cannot attain to it,” in the next line. Thus far the psalmist describes omniscience. He next proceeds to connect omnipresence, omnipotence, and wisdom.

Verse 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?] Surely jwr ruach in this sense must be taken personally, it certainly cannot mean either breath or wind; to render it so would make the passage ridiculous. From thy presence?] Ëynpm mippaneycha, “from thy faces.” Why do we meet with this word so frequently in the plural number, when applied to God? And why have we his Spirit, and his appearances or faces, both here? A Trinitarian would at once say, “The plurality of persons in the Godhead is intended;” and who can prove that he is mistaken?

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

7. Whither shall I go—That is, I can go no whither from thy spirit— neither from thy power nor presence.

V. 8. Hell-If I could hide myself in the lowest parts of the earth.

Verse 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.

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

8. Heaven—Hebrew, heavens. The celestial heights, however far. Hell— Hebrew, sheol, the lowest depths, the under world. The ideas of power and of omnipresence are continued. Amos 9:2.

V. 9. The wings-If I should flee from east to west: for the sea being the western border of Canaan, is often put for the west in scripture. And wings are poetically ascribed to the morning here, as they are elsewhere to the sun, and to the winds.

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

9. Wings of the morning—Wings of the dawn are swift wings, like the early light, which spreads swiftly. Uttermost parts of the sea—The ancients supposed the sea everywhere surrounded the land, and hence the description is of the utmost limit of the globe. It also stands for extreme west, as opposed to “morning,” or earliest dawn, in the preceding line. In this view the supposition is equal to the extreme points of the universe.

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

10. Even there—The power and presence of God are as real and effective there as here, or at any place.

Verse 11. Surely the darkness shall cover me] Should I suppose that this would serve to screen me, immediately this darkness is turned into light.

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

11. Darkness—He has found distance to make no difference with the power, knowledge, and presence of God. He now shows that darkness and light are both alike with him.

Verse 12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee] Darkness and light, ignorance and knowledge, are things that stand in relation to us; God sees equally in darkness as in light; and knows as perfectly, however man is enveloped in ignorance, as if all were intellectual brightness. What is to us hidden by darkness, or unknown through ignorance, is perfectly seen and known by God; because he is all sight, all hearing, all feeling, all soul, all spirit-all in ALL, and infinite in himself. He lends to every thing; receives nothing from any thing. Though his essence be unimpartible, yet his influence is diffusible through time and through eternity. Thus God makes himself known, seen, heard, felt; yet, in the infinity of his essence, neither angel, nor spirit, nor man can see him; nor can any creature comprehend him, or form any idea of the mode of his existence. And yet vain man would be wise, and ascertain his foreknowledge, eternal purposes, infinite decrees, with all operations of infinite love and infinite hatred, and their objects specifically and nominally, from all eternity, as if himself had possessed a being and powers co-extensive with the Deity! O ye wise fools! Jehovah, the fountain of eternal perfection and love, is as unlike your creeds, as he is unlike yourselves, forgers of doctrines to prove that the source of infinite benevolence is a streamlet of capricious love to thousands, while he is an overflowing, eternal, and irresistible tide of hatred to millions of millions both of angels and men! The antiproof of such doctrines is this: he bears with such blasphemies, and does not consume their abettors. “But nobody holds these doctrines.” Then I have written against nobody; and have only to add the prayer, May no such doctrines ever disgrace the page of history; or farther dishonour, as they have done, the annals of the Church!

Verses 7-12. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? — From thy knowledge and observation; or, from thee who art a Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy presence? — I can go nowhere but thou art there, observing and judging, approving or disapproving: nor are there any means imaginable by which I can escape the reach of thy all-penetrating eye, or withdraw myself from thy universal and unbounded presence: neither can an ascent to heaven, nor a descent to the state of the dead, secure me from thine inspection, or divide me from thee. Nay, though I were able, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, in an instant to shoot myself to the remotest parts of the earth or sea, even there should thy hand lead me — I should still exist in thee: thy presence would be diffused all around me; and thine enlivening power would support my frame. If I say, Surely the darkness, &c.; the darkness and the light are both alike to thee — “Equally conspicuous am I, and all my circumstances, all my actions, under the thickest and most impenetrable shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun.” Dr. Horne, who very properly applies this doctrine of the divine omniscience and omnipresence to practical purposes, very justly observes here, We can never sin with security, but in a place where the eye of God cannot behold us; and, he asks, “Where is that place? Had we a mind to escape his inspection, whither should we go! Heaven is the seat of his glory, creation the scene of his providence, and the grave itself will be the theatre of his power; so that our efforts will be equally vain whether we ascend or descend, or fly abroad upon the wings of the morning light, which diffuseth itself with such velocity over the globe, from east to west. The arm of the Almighty will still, at pleasure, prevent and be ready to arrest the fugitives in their progress. Darkness may indeed conceal us and our deeds from the sight of men; but the divine presence, like that of the sun, turns night into day, and makes all things manifest before God. The same consideration which should restrain us from sin, should also encourage as to work righteousness, and comfort us under all our sorrows; namely, the thought that we are never out of the sight and protection of our Maker. The piety and the charity which are practised in cottages, the labour and pain which are patiently endured in the field, and on the bed of sickness; the misery and torment inflicted by persecution in the mines, the galleys, and the dungeons; all are under the inspection of Jehovah, and are noted down by him against the day of recompense. He sees, and he will reward all we do, and all we suffer, as becometh Christians.”

Verses 1-12 are a confession of the omniscience of God realized in the experience of the author; verses 13-18 of his creative wisdom and most minute care of the author’s developing life; verses 19-22 a solemn renunciation of the society and ways of wicked men in heart and action; verses 23, 24 a prayer to be searched by this all-seeing God, and to be led by him in the ancient way.

1. Searched me—The psalmist begins with self-application of the doctrine of omniscience. It is more to know the human heart than to know distant worlds and laws of matter. Known me—Hebrew, simply, Thou hast known, comprehending not me only, but all things relating to me, as in next verse.

Verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins] As the Hebrews believed that the reins were the first part of the human fetus that is formed, it may here mean, thou hast laid the foundation of my being.

Verse 13. Thou hast possessed — Or, thou dost possess, my reins — The most inward and hidden part of my body, supposed also to be the seat of men’s lusts and passions: thou dwellest in them, thou art the owner and governor of them, and therefore must needs know them. My most secret thoughts and intentions, and the innermost recesses of my soul, are subject to thy control. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb — With skin and flesh, as it is expressed Job 10:11. Dr. Waterland renders this verse, Thou hast formed my reins; thou hast compacted me.

13, 14. From God in universal space and material nature, the psalmist returns to contemplate God, in his own mysterious origin and personal being. The creative power and wisdom of God, operating according to his absolute knowledge of the formative atoms and occult laws of embryonic life, are a further mystery, and a ground of praise and thanksgiving. Possessed—The Hebrew will bear the meaning “formed;” it may also indicate possession and control. Reins—In Hebrew psychology, the soul or mind, as it relates to the power of acutest sensibility. Covered—It is more common, modernly, to translate the word woven, thou hast interweaved me, that is, with bones, sinews, nerves, muscles, vascular ducts, etc. But it is better here to take the usual rendering, “covered,” that is, sheltered, protected, which suits the idea of the extreme delicacy of the parts, as in Psalm 140:7. See on verse 15. Fearfully… wonderfully made—The Niphal participial form of the word “fearfully” usually takes the sense of terrible, dreadful. Psalm 45:4; 65:5. There is no such word as wonderful or made in the original. The Hebrew word simply means, distinguished, equal to favoured, honoured. “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully distinguished,” namely, by my rank of being, and this amazing care and contrivance of God in my origination.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made] The texture of the human body is the most complicated and curious that can be conceived. It is, indeed, wonderfully made; and it is withal so exquisitely nice and delicate, that the slightest accident may impair or destroy in a moment some of those parts essentially necessary to the continuance of life; therefore, we are fearfully made. And God has done so to show us our frailty, that we should walk with death, keeping life in view; and feel the necessity of depending on the all-wise and continual superintending care and providence of God.

Verse 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made — Thy infinite wisdom and power, manifested in the singular and curious structure of man’s body, fill me with wonder and astonishment, and with the dread of thy Majesty. Marvellous are thy works — Both in the lesser world, man, and in the greater; and that my soul knoweth right well — I am well assured, both by thy word, and by the contemplation and study of thy works, that they are wonderful, although I do not so accurately understand them in all their parts as I wish to do.

13, 14. From God in universal space and material nature, the psalmist returns to contemplate God, in his own mysterious origin and personal being. The creative power and wisdom of God, operating according to his absolute knowledge of the formative atoms and occult laws of embryonic life, are a further mystery, and a ground of praise and thanksgiving. Possessed—The Hebrew will bear the meaning “formed;” it may also indicate possession and control. Reins—In Hebrew psychology, the soul or mind, as it relates to the power of acutest sensibility. Covered—It is more common, modernly, to translate the word woven, thou hast interweaved me, that is, with bones, sinews, nerves, muscles, vascular ducts, etc. But it is better here to take the usual rendering, “covered,” that is, sheltered, protected, which suits the idea of the extreme delicacy of the parts, as in Psalm 140:7. See on verse 15. Fearfully… wonderfully made—The Niphal participial form of the word “fearfully” usually takes the sense of terrible, dreadful. Psalm 45:4; 65:5. There is no such word as wonderful or made in the original. The Hebrew word simply means, distinguished, equal to favoured, honoured. “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully distinguished,” namely, by my rank of being, and this amazing care and contrivance of God in my origination.

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee] ymx[ atsmi, my bones or skeleton.

Curiously wrought] ytmqr rukkamti, embroidered, made of needlework. These two words, says Bishop Horsley, describe the two principal parts of which the human body is composed; the bony skeleton, the foundation of the whole; and the external covering of muscular flesh, tendons, veins, arteries, nerves, and skin; a curious web of fibres. On this passage Bishop Lowth has some excellent observations: “In that most perfect hymn, where the immensity of the omnipresent Deity, and the admirable wisdom of the Divine Artificer in framing the human body, are celebrated, the poet uses a remarkable metaphor, drawn from the nicest tapestry work:— When I was formed in secret;

When I was wrought, as with a needle,

in the lowest parts of the earth.

“He who remarks this, (but the man who consults Versions only will hardly remark it,) and at the same time reflects upon the wonderful composition of the human body, the various implication of veins, arteries, fibres, membranes, and the ‘inexplicable texture’ of the whole frame; will immediately understand the beauty and elegance of this most apt translation. But he will not attain the whole force and dignity, unless he also considers that the most artful embroidery with the needle was dedicated by the Hebrews to the service of the sanctuary; and that the proper and singular use of their work was, by the immediate prescript of the Divine law, applied in a certain part of the high priest’s dress, and in the curtains of the tabernacle, Exodus 28:39; 26:36; 27:16; and compare Ezekiel 16:10; 13:18. So that the psalmist may well be supposed to have compared the wisdom of the Divine Artificer particularly with that specimen of human art, whose dignity was through religion the highest, and whose elegance (Exodus 35:30-35) was so exquisite, that the sacred writer seems to attribute it to a Divine inspiration.”

In the lowest parts of the earth.] The womb of the mother, thus expressed by way of delicacy.

Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee — Hebrews ymx[, my bone. So the LXX. to ostoun mou. Bone may be here taken collectively for bones, or, rather for the whole fabric of the bones: or may be put synecdochically for the whole body, as being the most substantial part of it, as in Psalm 35:10. When I was made in secret — In the womb; termed, in the next clause, in the lowest parts of the earth, in a place as remote from human eyes as the lowest parts of the earth are. He seems to allude to plants and flowers, the roots and first rudiments of which are formed under ground. And curiously wrought — Exquisitely composed of bones, muscles, sinews, arteries, veins, nerves, and other parts, all framed with such wonderful skill, that even heathen, upon the contemplation of the human body in all its parts, and observing how admirably they were formed for beauty and use, have broken forth into admiration and adoration of the Creator. The word ytmqr, here rendered, curiously wrought, signifies, embroidered, or, wrought with a needle. “The process,” says Dr. Horne, “whereby the fœtus is gradually formed and matured for the birth, is compared to that of a piece of work wrought with a needle, or fashioned in the loom; which, with its beautiful variety of colour, and proportion of figure, ariseth, by degrees, to perfection, under the hand of the artist.” Thus also Bishop Lowth, speaking of metaphors in the Hebrew poetry, taken from things sacred, observes, “In that most perfect hymn, where the immensity of the Omnipresent Deity, and the admirable wisdom of the Divine Artificer, in framing the human body, are celebrated, the poet uses a remarkable metaphor drawn from the nicest tapestry work; When I was wrought as with a needle, &c. He who remarks this, and at the same time reflects on the wonderful composition of the human body, the various implication of veins, arteries, fibres, membranes, and the inexplicable texture of the whole frame, will immediately understand the beauty and elegance of this most apt expression. But he will not attain the whole force and dignity of it, unless he also considers that the most artful embroidery with the needle was dedicated, by the Hebrews, to the service of the sanctuary; and that the proper and singular use of this work was, by the immediate prescript of the divine law, applied in a certain part of the high-priest’s dress, and in the curtains of the tabernacle. So that the psalmist may well be supposed to have compared the wisdom of the Divine Artificer particularly with that specimen of human art, whose dignity was, through religion, the highest, and whose elegance was so exquisite, that the sacred writer seems to attribute it to a divine inspiration.” — Lowth’s Eighth Prelection.

15, 16. Substance—Literally, My strength; referring to the bones, or osseous system, as the solid basis of muscular strength. Their growth is a mystery. Ecclesiastes 11:5. Made in secret— “Made” is the same word here as in Genesis 1:26, and the mediate making here is no less a mystery and the work of God than the immediate creative making there. Curiously wrought—Literally, embroidered. Here is the variegated network of the human frame referred to. Lowest parts of the earth—A delicate description corresponding to the “in secret,” just mentioned. The idea, not the word, is that of a sheol of darkness. Psalm 63:9. Perhaps it has also a pointing to “the dust of the ground,” Genesis 2:7. My substance—The word denotes something rolled up, as a ball, literally, my infolded, or undeveloped substance. Thy book—A figure conveying the minute accuracy of divine knowledge. All my members—Hebrew, all of them. There is no better way of explaining this obscure passage than by referring the suffix pronoun them, (in µlk, kullam,) to the parts of that “substance,” or threads of that rolled up ball, just mentioned. Our version has it “members,” which is the idea, though not a translation. Which in continuance were fashioned—Literally, During the days when they were fashioned. When as yet there was none of them—Hebrew, And not one of them, or, not one amongst them. That is, not one member of the complicated arrangement failed, or was omitted. All was accomplished as it had been written in God’s book. The descriptions of verses 13-16 belong to a region of thought on human existence the most mysterious and difficult, whether viewed in the light of physiology or theology. The student in church history will at once recall the controversy on “traducianism” and “creationism,” and will observe the leaning of the psalmist toward the latter. The statements are as delicately and beautifully given in poetry as they are true to science. While the laws of antenatal physiology, as guarding the species, are admirably recognised, the presiding forethought of the Divine Creator, stamping individuality and adjusting it to a graciously proposed destiny, is equally confessed. The subject belongs to the abstrusest domain of theological anthropology, and the passage stands as a perpetual rebuke of the shameless atheism of modern evolutionists. See Lecture vii of Bishop Alexander, Bampton Lectures, 1876.

V. 16. Imperfect-When I was first conceived. Book-In thy counsel and providence, by which thou didst contrive and effect this great work, according to that model which thou hadst appointed.

Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance] ymlg golmi, my embryo state-my yet indistinct mass, when all was wrapped up together, before it was gradually unfolded into the lineaments of man. “Some think,” says Dr. Dodd, “that the allusion to embroidery is still carried on. As the embroiderer has still his work, pattern, or carton, before him, to which he always recurs; so, by a method as exact, revere all my members in continuance fashioned, i.e., from the rude embryo or mass they daily received some degree of figuration; as from the rude skeins of variously coloured silk or worsted, under the artificer’s hands, there at length arises an unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colours and proportions.”

And in thy book all my members were written] “All those members lay open before God’s eyes; they were discerned by him as clearly as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book, even to the least figuration of the body of the child in the womb.”

Verse 16. Thine eyes did see my substance — Hebrews ymlg, my rude mass, as Dr. Waterland renders the word: massa rudis et intricata adhuc, says Buxtorf, neque in veram formam evoluta, a mass, yet rude and entangled, and not unfolded into proper form. When the matter, out of which I was made, was an unshapen embryo, without any form, it was visible to thee how every part, however minute, would be wrought; and in thy book all my members were written — Before any of them were in being they lay open before thy eyes, and were discerned by thee as clearly as if the plan of them had been drawn in a book. Thy eternal wisdom formed the plan, and according to that, thy almighty power raised the structure. The allusion to the needlework seems to be still carried on. “As the embroiderer hath his book or pattern before him, to which he always recurs; so by a method as exact were all my members in continuance fashioned; and as from the rude skeins of silk, under the artificer’s hands, there at length arises an unexpected beauty, and an accurate harmony of colours and proportions; so, by the skill of the divine workman, is a shapeless mass wrought into the most curious texture of parts, most skilfully interwoven and connected with each other, until it becomes a body harmoniously diversified with all the limbs and lineaments of a man, not one of which at first appeared, any more than the figures were to be seen in the ball of silk. But then, (which is the chief thing here insisted on by the psalmist,) whereas the human artificer must have the clearest light, whereby to accomplish his task, the divine work-master seeth in secret, and effecteth all his wonders within the dark and narrow confines of the womb.” — Horne.

15, 16. Substance—Literally, My strength; referring to the bones, or osseous system, as the solid basis of muscular strength. Their growth is a mystery. Ecclesiastes 11:5. Made in secret— “Made” is the same word here as in Genesis 1:26, and the mediate making here is no less a mystery and the work of God than the immediate creative making there. Curiously wrought—Literally, embroidered. Here is the variegated network of the human frame referred to. Lowest parts of the earth—A delicate description corresponding to the “in secret,” just mentioned. The idea, not the word, is that of a sheol of darkness. Psalm 63:9. Perhaps it has also a pointing to “the dust of the ground,” Genesis 2:7. My substance—The word denotes something rolled up, as a ball, literally, my infolded, or undeveloped substance. Thy book—A figure conveying the minute accuracy of divine knowledge. All my members—Hebrew, all of them. There is no better way of explaining this obscure passage than by referring the suffix pronoun them, (in µlk, kullam,) to the parts of that “substance,” or threads of that rolled up ball, just mentioned. Our version has it “members,” which is the idea, though not a translation. Which in continuance were fashioned—Literally, During the days when they were fashioned. When as yet there was none of them—Hebrew, And not one of them, or, not one amongst them. That is, not one member of the complicated arrangement failed, or was omitted. All was accomplished as it had been written in God’s book. The descriptions of verses 13-16 belong to a region of thought on human existence the most mysterious and difficult, whether viewed in the light of physiology or theology. The student in church history will at once recall the controversy on “traducianism” and “creationism,” and will observe the leaning of the psalmist toward the latter. The statements are as delicately and beautifully given in poetry as they are true to science. While the laws of antenatal physiology, as guarding the species, are admirably recognised, the presiding forethought of the Divine Creator, stamping individuality and adjusting it to a graciously proposed destiny, is equally confessed. The subject belongs to the abstrusest domain of theological anthropology, and the passage stands as a perpetual rebuke of the shameless atheism of modern evolutionists. See Lecture vii of Bishop Alexander, Bampton Lectures, 1876.

V. 17. Thoughts-Thy counsels on my behalf. Thou didst not only form me at first, but ever since my conception and birth, thy thoughts have been employed for me.

Verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts] Ëרעי reeycha, thy cogitations; a Chaldaism, as before.

How great is the sum of them!] ראשיהם wmx[ hm mah atsemu rasheyhem; How strongly rational are the heads or principal subjects of them! But the word may apply to the bones, twmx[ atsamoth, the structure and uses of which are most curious and important.

Verses 17, 18. How precious also, &c. — “From the wonders of God’s forming hand, the psalmist proceeds to those of his all-directing providence, which afford additional proofs of the divine omniscience and omnipresence.” Are thy thoughts unto me — Thy counsels, or contrivances, in my behalf, which are admirable and amiable in my eyes, and replete with kindness. Thou didst not only form me at first, but ever since my conception and birth thy thoughts have been employed for my good, preserving, providing for, and blessing me. How great is the sum of them! — Thy gracious counsels, designs, and providential dispensations toward me are numberless. If I should count them — Hebrew, µrpsa, rather, shall I count them? that is, shall I attempt to count them? They are more in number than the sand — I might as well undertake to number the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with thee — Thy wonderful counsels and works on my behalf come constantly into my mind, not only in the day-time, but even in the night-season, whenever I awake. “The thoughts and counsels of Jehovah,” says Dr. Horne, “concerning David, his appointment to the throne, his troubles, and his preservation in the midst of them, were precious and delightful subjects of meditation and praise, never to be exhausted of the rich matter they contained. With these in his mind he lay down at night, and when he awoke in the morning his thoughts naturally recurred to the pleasing theme. He began where he had left off, and found himself, in heart and soul, still present with God, still ruminating on him and his works.”

17, 18. From this wonderful rehearsal of God’s knowledge, power, wisdom, and tender care, the psalmist breaks forth into exclamations of praise. Precious… are thy thoughts— “Precious,” here, literally means weighty, then costly, rare, whence the idea comes of difficult to attain, and, in matters of thought, difficult to comprehend, answering to unsearchable. Romans 11:33. If I should count—He puts them down as countless (see Psalm 40:5) in number, weighty in value, wonderful in wisdom. When I awake—As often as I awake.

V. 18. Them-Thy wonderful counsels and works on my behalf come constantly into my mind.

Verse 18. If I should count them] I should be glad to enumerate so many interesting particulars: but they are beyond calculation. When I awake] Thou art my Governor and Protector night and day. I am still with thee.] All my steps in life are ordered by thee: I cannot go out of thy presence; I am ever under the influence of thy Spirit. The subject, from the 14th verse to the 16th {Psalm 139:14-16} inclusive, might have been much more particularly illustrated, but we are taught, by the peculiar delicacy of expression in the Sacred Writings, to avoid, as in this case, the entering too minutely into anatomical details. I would, however, make an additional observation on the subject in the 15th and 16th verses. {Psalm 139:15-16} I have already remarked the elegant allusion to embroidery, in the word ytmqr rukkamti, in the astonishing texture of the human body; all of which is said to be done in secret, rtsb bassether, in the secret place, viz., the womb of the mother, which, in the conclusion of the verse, is by a delicate choice of expression termed the lower parts of the earth.

The embryo state, גלם golem, has a more forcible meaning than our word substance amounts to. גלם galam signifies to roll or wrap up together; and expresses the state of the fetus before the constituent members were developed. The best system of modern philosophy allows that ino semine masculino all the members of the future animal are contained; and that these become slowly developed or unfolded, in the case of fowls, by incubation; and in the case of the more perfect animals, by gestation in the maternal matrix. It is no wonder that, in considering these, the psalmist should cry out, How precious, or extraordinary, are thy thoughts! how great is the sum-heads or outlines, of them! The particulars are, indeed, beyond comprehension; even the heads-the general contents, of thy works; while I endeavour to form any tolerable notion of them, prevail over me-they confound my understanding, and are vastly too multitudinous for my comprehension.

Verses 17, 18. How precious also, &c. — “From the wonders of God’s forming hand, the psalmist proceeds to those of his all-directing providence, which afford additional proofs of the divine omniscience and omnipresence.” Are thy thoughts unto me — Thy counsels, or contrivances, in my behalf, which are admirable and amiable in my eyes, and replete with kindness. Thou didst not only form me at first, but ever since my conception and birth thy thoughts have been employed for my good, preserving, providing for, and blessing me. How great is the sum of them! — Thy gracious counsels, designs, and providential dispensations toward me are numberless. If I should count them — Hebrew, µrpsa, rather, shall I count them? that is, shall I attempt to count them? They are more in number than the sand — I might as well undertake to number the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with thee — Thy wonderful counsels and works on my behalf come constantly into my mind, not only in the day-time, but even in the night-season, whenever I awake. “The thoughts and counsels of Jehovah,” says Dr. Horne, “concerning David, his appointment to the throne, his troubles, and his preservation in the midst of them, were precious and delightful subjects of meditation and praise, never to be exhausted of the rich matter they contained. With these in his mind he lay down at night, and when he awoke in the morning his thoughts naturally recurred to the pleasing theme. He began where he had left off, and found himself, in heart and soul, still present with God, still ruminating on him and his works.”

17, 18. From this wonderful rehearsal of God’s knowledge, power, wisdom, and tender care, the psalmist breaks forth into exclamations of praise. Precious… are thy thoughts— “Precious,” here, literally means weighty, then costly, rare, whence the idea comes of difficult to attain, and, in matters of thought, difficult to comprehend, answering to unsearchable. Romans 11:33. If I should count—He puts them down as countless (see Psalm 40:5) in number, weighty in value, wonderful in wisdom. When I awake—As often as I awake.

Verse 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked] The remaining part of this Psalm has no visible connexion with the preceding. I rather think it a fragment, or a part of some other Psalm.

Ye bloody men.] דמים אנשי anshey damim, men of blood, men guilty of death.

Verse 19. Surely, thou wilt slay the wicked, O God — And as thou hast precious and gracious thoughts toward me, (which thou also hast toward all that love and fear thee,) so thou wilt not now desert me and leave me in the hands of those wicked men who, unmindful of thy presence and thy all-seeing eye, regard not by what means they plot my ruin. But rather, as thou knowest all things, and art perfectly acquainted “with the justice of my cause, and the iniquity of my adversaries; and as thou hast formed, and hitherto in so wonderful a manner watched over and preserved me, thou wilt slay the wicked, and deliver me, as thou hast promised to do, out of their hands. Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men — I trust in my God, and will have no connection in the way of treaty or friendship with you.” Thus David, in this verse, draws the intended conclusion from the premises so largely expatiated upon in the former part of the Psalm.

Verse 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, and bring to light every evil work. It is therefore the best wisdom and the first duty of man to purge his conscience of all crimes, by the proper fruits of unfeigned repentance; by restitution, by apologies for slander, by self-denial, and charities to the poor.

19-22. From the foregoing survey of the divine perfections the psalmist draws unbounded consolation and hope for the righteous. He now, however, sees that the same causes secure the ultimate, inevitable punishment of the wicked. Sin, in the light of God, now appears “exceeding sinful;” and before the omniscience and omnipresence of God, cannot escape its desert. The transition of the poem at this point is abrupt, but natural, upon the laws of antithesis. Surely—The Hebrew is a strong asseveration. God will punish sin. It follows from his attributes. Depart from me—The author will have no alliance with the enemies of God. Their guilt and their ruin are, before him, alike abhorrent; on the other hand, the glory of God attracts him.

Verse 20. Thine enemies take thy name in vain.] Bishop Horsley translates the whole verse thus:—

“They have deserted me who are disobedient to thee;

“They who are sworn to a rash purpose—thy refractory adversaries.” The original is obscure: but I cannot see these things in it. Some translate the Hebrew thus: “Those who oppose thee iniquitously seize unjustly upon thy cities;” and so almost all the Versions. The words, thus translated, may apply to Sanballat, Tobiah, and the other enemies of the returned Jews, who endeavoured to drive them from the land, that they might possess the cities of Judea.

Verse 20. For they speak against thee wickedly — It is not so much me that they persecute, in opposing, misrepresenting, and speaking against me, as virtue and piety, in persecuting which they oppose and speak against thee; contemning thy omniscience and omnipresence, and thy superintending providence. And thine enemies take thy name in vain — Or, according to the order of the Hebrew words, They take thy name in vain, and are thine enemies. Or, are haters of thee, as it follows, verse 21. They abuse thy blessed name with oaths, blasphemies, and perjuries, calling thee to witness the truth of their lies and calumnies. Or, as some render the clause, Thine enemies take thee to falsehood, (the words; thy name, being not in the Hebrew,) “they take thee, only to swear falsely by thee.”

20. For they speak against thee—This is the ground and nature of his hatred of the wicked.

Verse 21. Do not I hate them] I hold their conduct in abomination.

Verses 21, 22. Do not I hate them that hate thee? — I appeal to thee, the omnipresent and omniscient God, whether I do not perfectly hate them, (that is, hate their ways,) so far as they are enemies to thee and goodness. Am I not grieved — With the folly and sin of those that rise up against thee? — That act in open hostility against thy authority. I am grieved to see their wickedness, and to foresee the ruin in which it will certainly end. I count them mine enemies — I am no less grieved with their enmity against thee than if they directed it against myself. “A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his Master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men on account of the vices they practise, nor love the vices for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observes invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him.” — Horne.

19-22. From the foregoing survey of the divine perfections the psalmist draws unbounded consolation and hope for the righteous. He now, however, sees that the same causes secure the ultimate, inevitable punishment of the wicked. Sin, in the light of God, now appears “exceeding sinful;” and before the omniscience and omnipresence of God, cannot escape its desert. The transition of the poem at this point is abrupt, but natural, upon the laws of antithesis. Surely—The Hebrew is a strong asseveration. God will punish sin. It follows from his attributes. Depart from me—The author will have no alliance with the enemies of God. Their guilt and their ruin are, before him, alike abhorrent; on the other hand, the glory of God attracts him.

V. 22. Perfect hatred-See the difference between the Jewish and the Christian spirit!

Verse 22. With perfect hatred] Their conduct, their motives, their opposition to thee, their perfidy and idolatrous purposes, I perfectly abhor. With them I have neither part, interest, nor affection.

Verses 21, 22. Do not I hate them that hate thee? — I appeal to thee, the omnipresent and omniscient God, whether I do not perfectly hate them, (that is, hate their ways,) so far as they are enemies to thee and goodness. Am I not grieved — With the folly and sin of those that rise up against thee? — That act in open hostility against thy authority. I am grieved to see their wickedness, and to foresee the ruin in which it will certainly end. I count them mine enemies — I am no less grieved with their enmity against thee than if they directed it against myself. “A faithful servant hath the same interests, the same friends, the same enemies, with his Master, whose cause and honour he is, upon all occasions, in duty bound to support and maintain. A good man hates, as God himself doth; he hates not the persons of men, but their sins; not what God made them, but what they have made themselves. We are neither to hate the men on account of the vices they practise, nor love the vices for the sake of the men who practise them. He who observes invariably this distinction, fulfils the perfect law of charity, and hath the love of God and of his neighbour abiding in him.” — Horne.

22. I hate them with perfect hatred—Not the sinner apart from his sin, but as loving and cleaving to sin. His hatred is not personal, but moral and legal, as the connexion shows. When a man identifies himself with sin he is an enemy of God, and only in this sense can he become our enemy. Compare “thine enemies” and “mine enemies,” verses 20, 22.

Verse 23. Search me, O God] Investigate my conduct, examine my heart, put me to the test, and examine my thoughts.

Verses 23, 24. Search me, O God — Do thou, who art the searcher of hearts, judge whether I do not speak this from my very heart, and deal with me accordingly. See if there be any wicked way in me — Hebrew, bx[ Ërd, way of trouble or grief; any course of life, or temper of mind, which is a source of grief or trouble, either, 1st, To myself, as all sin is to the sinner, sooner or later; or, 2d, To others, as I am accused of causing much trouble, and designing evil to the king and kingdom; and lead me in the way everlasting — In the way of godliness, the way which is right and good, and leads to everlasting life; whereas the way of wickedness, to which this is opposed, will perish, as is said Psalm 1:6, and bring men to utter destruction. Or, as the words may be rendered, In the old way, which is the good way, as it is called Jeremiah 6:16, the way of righteousness and holiness, which may well be called the old way, because it was written on the hearts of men from the beginning of the world, whereas wickedness is of later date. Observe, reader, they that are upright can take comfort in God’s omniscience, as a witness of their uprightness, and can, with an humble confidence, beg of him to search and try them, and discover them to themselves, for a good man desires to know the worst of himself. Nay, they have no objection, but rather desire to be discovered to others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast, that any man might look into his heart; for his ruling desire is, in all things, to know and do the will of God.

23, 24. Because of such sin and sinful men, the psalmist prays for a search of his own heart, that no enmity to God may be left there. Way everlasting—Literally, way of eternity; so termed because it is old as eternity, being founded in the attributes of God, and because it leads to a blissful eternity; in both respects opposite to the brief and perishable way of the ungodly. Psalm 1:6.

Verse 24. If there be any wicked way] bx[ Ërd derech otseb: a way of idolatry, or of error. Any thing false in religious principle; any thing contrary to piety to thyself, and love and benevolence to man. And he needed to offer such prayer as this, while filled with indignation against the ways of the workers of iniquities; for he who hates, utterly hates, the practices of any man, is not far from hating the man himself. It is very difficult

“To hate the sin with all the heart,

And yet the sinner love.”

Lead me in the way everlasting.] µlw[ Ërdb bederech olam, in the old way-the way in which our fathers walked, who worshipped thee, the infinitely pure Spirit, in spirit and in truth. Lead me, guide me, as thou didst them. We have µlw[ jra orach olam, the old path, Job 22:15. “The two words Ërd derech and jra orach, differ,” says Bishop Horsley, “in their figurative senses: derech is the right way, in which a man ought to go; orach is the way, right or wrong, in which a man actually goes by habit.” The way that is right in a man’s own eyes is seldom the way to God.

Verses 23, 24. Search me, O God — Do thou, who art the searcher of hearts, judge whether I do not speak this from my very heart, and deal with me accordingly. See if there be any wicked way in me — Hebrew, bx[ Ërd, way of trouble or grief; any course of life, or temper of mind, which is a source of grief or trouble, either, 1st, To myself, as all sin is to the sinner, sooner or later; or, 2d, To others, as I am accused of causing much trouble, and designing evil to the king and kingdom; and lead me in the way everlasting — In the way of godliness, the way which is right and good, and leads to everlasting life; whereas the way of wickedness, to which this is opposed, will perish, as is said Psalm 1:6, and bring men to utter destruction. Or, as the words may be rendered, In the old way, which is the good way, as it is called Jeremiah 6:16, the way of righteousness and holiness, which may well be called the old way, because it was written on the hearts of men from the beginning of the world, whereas wickedness is of later date. Observe, reader, they that are upright can take comfort in God’s omniscience, as a witness of their uprightness, and can, with an humble confidence, beg of him to search and try them, and discover them to themselves, for a good man desires to know the worst of himself. Nay, they have no objection, but rather desire to be discovered to others. He that means honestly could wish he had a window in his breast, that any man might look into his heart; for his ruling desire is, in all things, to know and do the will of God.

23, 24. Because of such sin and sinful men, the psalmist prays for a search of his own heart, that no enmity to God may be left there. Way everlasting—Literally, way of eternity; so termed because it is old as eternity, being founded in the attributes of God, and because it leads to a blissful eternity; in both respects opposite to the brief and perishable way of the ungodly. Psalm 1:6.