Psalms 139:7

ds, 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 dishonor, as they have done, the annals of the Church! 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 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 15 My substance was not hid from thee - עצמי atsmi, my bones or skeleton. Curiously wrought - רקמתי 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, Exo 28:39 ; Exo 26:36 ; Exo 27:16 ; and compare Eze 16:10 ; Eze 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 ( Exo 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 16 Thine eyes did see my substance - גלמי 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 colcurs 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 17 How precious also are thy thoughts - רעיך reeycha, thy cogitations; a Chaldaism, as before. How great is the sum of them! - מה עצמו ראשיהם mah atsemu rasheyhem; How strongly rational are the heads or principal subjects of them! But the word may apply to the bones, עצמות atsamoth, the structure and uses of which are most curious and important. 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 Psa 139:14 to the Psa 139:16 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 Psa 139:15 and Psa 139:16 . I have already remarked the elegant allusion to embroidery, in the word רקמתי rukkamti, in the astonishing texture of the human body; all of which is said to be done in secret, בסתר 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 to 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 endeavor to form any tolerable notion of them, prevail over me - they confound my understanding, and are vastly too multitudinous for my comprehension. Verse 19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked - The remaining part of this Psalm has no visible connection with the preceding. I rather think it a fragment, or a part of some other Psalm. Ye bloody men - אנשי דמים anshey damim, men of blood, men guilty of death. 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 endeavored to drive them from the land, that they might possess the cities of Judea. Verse 21 Do not I hate them - I hold their conduct in abomination. 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. Verse 23 Search me, O God - Investigate my conduct, examine my heart, put me to the test, and entwine my thoughts. Verse 24 If there be any wicked way - דרך עצב 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 - בדרך עולם 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 ארח עולם orach olam, the old path, Job 22:15 . "The two words דרך derech and ארח 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. Introduction The psalmist prays against his enemies, Psa 140:1-6 ; returns thanks for help, Psa 140:7 ; describes his enemies, and prays farther against them, Psa 140:8-11 . His confidence in God, Psa 140:12 , Psa 140:13 . The Hebrew, and all the Versions, attribute this Psalm to David; and it is supposed to contain his complaint when persecuted by Saul. The Syriac determines it to the time when Saul endeavored to transfix David with his spear. Verse 1 From the evil man - Saul, who was full of envy, jealousy, and cruelty against David, to whom both himself and his kingdom were under the highest obligations, endeavored by every means to destroy him. Verse 2 They gathered together - He and his courtiers form plots and cabals against my life. Verse 3 They have sharpened their tongues - They employ their time in forging lies and calumnies against me; and those of the most virulent nature. Verse 4 Preserve me from the violent man - Saul again; who was as headstrong and violent in all his measures, as he was cruel, and inflexibly bent on the destruction of David. Verse 5 Have hid a snare for me - They hunted David as they would a dangerous wild beast: one while striving to pierce him with the spear; another to entangle him in their snares, so as to take and sacrifice him before the people, on pretense of his being an enemy to the state. Selah - This is the truth. Verse 7 Thou hast covered my head - Not only when I fought with the proud blaspheming Philistine; but in the various attempts made against my life by my sworn enemies. Verse 8 Further not his wicked device - He knew his enemies still desired his death, and were plotting to accomplish it; and here he prays that God may disappoint and confound them. The Chaldee understands this of Doeg. Verse 10 Let burning coals - The Chaldee considers this as spoken against Ahithophel, who was head of a conspiracy against David; and translates this verse thus: "Let coals from heaven fall upon them, precipitate them into the fire of hell, and into miry pits, from which they shall not have a resurrection to eternal life." This is a proof that the Jews did believe in a resurrection of the body, and an eternal life for that body, in the case of the righteous. Verse 11 Let not an evil speaker be established - איש לשון ish lashon, "a man of tongue." There is much force in the rendering of this clause in the Chaldee גבר דמשתעי לישן תליתי gebar demishtai lishan telithai, "The man of detraction, or inflammation, with the three-forked tongue." He whose tongue is set on fire from hell; the tale-bearer, slanderer, and dealer in scandal: with the three-forked tongue; wounding three at once: his neiphbour whom he slanders; the person who receives the slander; and himself who deals in it. What a just description of a character which God, angels, and good men must detest! Let not such a one be established in the land; let him be unmasked; let no person trust him; and let all join together to hoot him out of society. "He shall be hunted by the angel of death, and thrust into hell." - Chaldee. Verse 12 The cause of the afflicted - Every person who is persecuted for righteousness' sake has God for his peculiar help and refuge; and the persecutor has the same God for his especial enemy. Verse 13 The righteous shall give thanks - For thou wilt support and deliver him. The upright shall dwell in thy presence - Shall be admitted to the most intimate intercourse with God. The persecuted have ever been dear to God Almighty; and the martyrs were, in an especial manner, his delight; and in proportion as he loved those, so must he hate and detest these. Introduction The psalmist prays that his devotions may be accepted, Psa 141:1 , Psa 141:2 . That he may be enabled so to watch that he do not offend with his tongue; and that he may be preserved from wickedness, Psa 141:3 , Psa 141:4 . His willingness to receive reproof, Psa 141:5 . He complains of disasters, Psa 141:6 , Psa 141:7 . His trust in God, and prayer against his enemies, Psa 141:8-10 . This Psalm is generally attributed to David, and considered to have been composed during his persecution by Saul. Some suppose that he made it at the time that he formed the resolution to go to Achish, king of Gath; see 1 Samuel 26: It is generally thought to be an evening prayer, and has long been used as such in the service of the Greek Church. It is in several places very obscure. Verse 1 Lord, I cry unto thee - Many of David's Psalms begin with complaints; but they are not those of habitual plaint and peevishness. He was in frequent troubles and difficulties, and he always sought help in God. He ever appears in earnest; at no time is there any evidence that the devotion of David was formal. He prayed, meditated, supplicated, groaned, cried, and even roared, as he tells us, for the disquietude of his soul. He had speedy answers; for he had much faith, and was always in earnest. Verse 2 As incense - Incense was offered every morning and evening before the Lord, on the golden altar, before the veil of the sanctuary. Exo 29:39 , and Num 28:4 . As the evening sacrifice - This was a burnt-offering, accompanied with flour and salt. But it does not appear that David refers to any sacrifice, for he uses not זבח zebach, which is almost universally used for a slaughtered animal; but מנחה minchah, which is generally taken for a gratitude-offering or unbloody sacrifice. The literal translation of the passage is, "Let my prayer be established for incense before thy faces; and the lifting up of my hands for the evening oblation." The psalmist appears to have been at this time at a distance from the sanctuary, and therefore could not perform the Divine worship in the way prescribed by the law. What could he do? Why, as he could not worship according to the letter of the law, he will worship God according to the spirit; then prayer is accepted in the place of incense; and the lifting up of his hands, in gratitude and self-dedication to God, is accepted in the place of the evening minchah or oblation. Who can deplore the necessity that obliged the psalmist to worship God in this way? Verse 3 Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth - While there are so many spies on my actions and words, I have need to be doubly guarded, that my enemies may have no advantage against me. Some think the prayer is against impatience; but if he were now going to Gath, it is more natural to suppose that he was praying to be preserved from dishonoring the truth, and from making sinful concessions in a heathen land; and at a court where, from his circumstances, it was natural to suppose he might be tempted to apostasy by the heathen party. The following verse seems to support this opinion. Verse 4 Let me eat not of their dainties - This may refer either to eating things forbidden by the law; or to the partaking in banquets or feasts in ho

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 ( Jer. xxiii. 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, Rev. xiv. 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, Mal. iv. 2 ), than which nothing more swift, and flee upon them to the uttermost parts of the sea, or of the earth ( Job xxxviii. 12, 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, v. 11, 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 ( v. 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 x. 11 ), thou madest me in secret. The soul is concealed from all about us. Who knows the things of a man, save the spirit of a man? " 1 Cor. ii. 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. The Omniscience of God. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21 Do not I hate them, O Lord , that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Here the psalmist makes application of the doctrine of God's omniscience, divers ways.