By Jim Barnette, Ph.D.
Samford University and Brookwood Baptist Church, Mountain Brook
I Am Wonderfully Made
Psalm 139:1–6,13–18
One of the most beloved poems of the Psalter, Psalm 139 speaks to the security and joy that we can find in God’s inescapable nearness. Francis Thompson’s powerful poem, “The Hound of Heaven,” owed its theme to this piece that celebrates the Lord’s presence and His relentless pursuit of us for our salvation’s sake. This is not the Psalm of of a man who would escape God if only he could, but of one who knows that he cannot do so and finds no regret but only joy in that fact. Security in God is the central truth of this calm reflection on the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of God.
God knows us intimately and values us. (1–6)
The omniscience of God is expressed vividly, as God is the subject of all of the verbs. The verbs convey the powerful scrutiny that extends to all of our thoughts and actions. “Acquainted” means literally “painstakingly familiar with.” Such knowledge of us that God possesses could be a terrifying thing. But His knowledge of us is a protective knowledge. “You hem me in” is used often in the sense of “to besiege.” Here, however, the phrase connotes a fortress that surrounds us with the Lord’s protection. The strength of this protection is matched with the tenderness of the Lord “laying Your hand upon me.” This passage speaks to God’s omniscience not as a formulated doctrine but, as befitting a psalm, confessed in adoration. God’s knowledge of us is not merely comprehensive; it is personal and active.
God created us and has a plan for each of us. (13–16)
God as Creator oversees the psychological (“inmost being”) and physical (“knit me”) structure of all created humans. In this the Lord displays supernatural powers, but the implication of His creative work is His intimate knowledge of His creature. “Inmost being” (literally “kidneys”) refers to the seat of emotion and affection. “Knit” speaks to God’s direct activity in the protection and growth of a fetus. The psalmist praises God “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Elsewhere in the Old Testament, “fearfully” refers to other mighty creative acts of God in nature (see Pss. 65:5; 106:22; 145:6). God’s creation of the psalmist is as wondrous — indeed more wondrous — as His other great deeds of creation. No other created thing was ever fashioned in God’s very image. As the climax of the Lord’s creative activity, God looked upon us and declared His highest work as “very good.” How blessed and how undeserving we are to be graced with this unfathomable expression of His love.
God is with us. (17–18)
God’s divine knowledge is is not only “wonderful” but “precious” because it speaks to His commitment to us. God will not abandon the work of His Own hands (see Ps. 138:8). “I am still with you” differs from “you are still with me” in that the latter would express the idea of the presence of God, while the former expresses the idea of that peace with God we have because we remain constantly in His presence. “Awake” refers both to the experiencing of awaking day after day and to the great awakening after we leave this earth. God’s omnipresence, taken with the vast background of verses 7–12, is limitless even when it comes to death. Therefore “when I awake” offers us a glimpse of the resurrection. This unmerited gift of post-mortem paradise points us to Paul’s marvelous words that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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