Eight Lessons from Psalm 139

8 Lessons from Psalm 139

Pastor Robert Fleischmann, CLR National Director

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For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)

1. You Created My Inmost Being

When King David wrote this song of praise (Psalm 139), he began with these words: You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. (Psalm 139:1-4)

This praise is completely about God. He is present everywhere (omnipresent), He knows everything (omniscient), and He is all powerful (omnipotent).

“You created” – The word translated as “created” suggests an additional understanding as in “acquiring” (i.e. assuming ownership). We belong to God, and we are His handiwork.

“My inmost being” – Literally this means our “internal organs” (see Exodus 29:13).

God created us – we belong to Him – as do the heavens and the earth (Genesis 14:19). He did not simply create our outward appearance. The omnipotent God created our inner workings – the brain processes information, the heart pumps bloods, the lungs inhale and exhale air, etc.

We often talk about the “miracle” of childbirth. Equally miraculous are the intricacies and harmonies in the way the human body works. God did it, and He still does it.

2. You Knit Me Together in My Mother’s Womb

“You knit me together” – The word translated as “knit” has the sense of surrounding it all (i.e., the inward parts) with a covering – namely, our flesh.

“in my mother’s womb” – God knows human biology. When fertilization occurs, and the sperm and the egg exchange DNA and chromosomes, life begins. Fashioned from the inside out, the heart begins to beat, the kidneys begin to function, and brain waves are soon detected. If born too soon the internal organs likely are not fully formed, and the lungs are not completely developed. Also, the skin tends to be very thin – blood vessels are easily visible. Lacking sufficient skin and surface fat the premature baby is
unable to stay warm. That is why incubators are used.

Yet, the child belongs to God from the earliest moment his or her life comes into existence – still in the womb growing and maturing each hour.

3. I Praise You Because I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made “I praise You because…” – This is all about God. We marvel at the power of God who creates all things – but you created my inmost being you created my inmost being this praise is more personal. “I praise you because of what You did for me.” How extraordinary God is in what He has done to give each of us life.

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made” – “Wonderfully” can also be translated as “distinct” (Exodus 9:4) or “distinguished” (Exodus 33:16). There is something different, special and unique about God’s creation of human life.

Despite similarities with animals and all created living things, human beings are different and distinct. Even with fellow humans we are different. Despite our incredibly-close similarity to the biology of our mother and father, each person is still unique – distinguishable – wonderful!

The word, “fearful,” has us thinking “frightened” or “scared.” The word has a much deeper meaning. One commentator felt the word, “astonishing,” might be a better translation in this context. In Psalm 65:5, it is translated as “awesome.”

The handiwork of God inspires reverence and amazement over the life He creates. Even after thousands of years of study and experiments we only have minuscule insights into the incredible nature of the human body. It’s awesome!

4. Your Works Are Wonderful, I Know That Full Well

“Your works are wonderful…” – The hills and mountains, valleys and canyons, rivers and lakes, plants and animals – and now human life – it is all overwhelming as one considers the creative command of God that made it all.

“…I know that full well” – Literally, “my soul knows it.” The wonderful nature of God as the Creator of all things is not just a logical conclusion. It is a conviction of faith. Our reasoning suggests a tremendous power behind all creation. It is the heart of faith that knows down to the very soul it is God. Although we did not witness when He laid the foundations of the earth, nor did we see Him form the first man and woman. Yet, we know God through His Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit that He created everything. Because of faith we know it full well.

5. My Frame Was Not Hidden from You When I Was Made in the Secret Place

“My frame” – The psalmist expounds on the manner in which life matures in the womb. “Frame” is often translated as “bones” or “strength.” The frame, the bones and muscle that provide the support structure for the human body, are maturing under God’s watchful eye.

“…when I was made in the secret place” – “Secret” sometimes means “covered over” or “hidden out of sight” (see Job 22:14; 40:21). Just seven verses earlier the psalmist wrote:

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. (Psalm 139:8)

A person does not become meaningful to God only at birth. God doesn’t lose track of people. He doesn’t look up and suddenly find someone missing. Even as life grows during its earliest stages within the mother’s womb, God was there.

6. When I Was Woven Together in the Depths of the Earth

“…when I was woven together” – We are products of God’s handiwork.

“…in the depths of the earth.” – In verse 13 we are clearly told we were created in our mother’s womb or belly. The womb was described as a “secret place” and is now called “the depths of the earth.”

God created Adam as follows:

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

In the Old Testament Job says this about our nature:

I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay. (Job 33:6)

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes says this about our nature:

All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. (Ecclesiastes 3:20)

The womb is hidden – out of the sight of all people, yet not out of God’s sight. While all human beings come into this world in a manner different than that of Adam, nevertheless we are all offspring of Adam – a composition that eventually reverts back to its natural state as dust, dirt, clay, earth. The psalmist recognizes that in contrast to the majesty of the Creator we are still dust: molded, formed and woven by God into people – and in the end to dust we return.

7. Your Eyes Saw My Unformed Body; All the Days Ordained for Me Were Written in Your Book Before One of Them Came to Be.

“Your eyes saw my unformed body” – God observes our maturation in the womb. “Unformed body” literally means “wrapped together as in a bunch or a ball.” Today, when you see pictures of life as it develops in the womb it is often unrecognizable in its earliest stages – like a ball or bunch of folded material.

Obviously people in Old Testament times understood the intricacies of human development. They understood that life was not fully formed. It was not miniaturized in perfect form. Rather, life was real – though unformed and not completely recognizable. In those earliest stages we were no less human or no less a person, but we were “unfinished” – not fully developed.

“…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” – This is not a new revelation. God had said earlier:

See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life.
(Deuteronomy 32:39a)

In an earlier Psalm, King David acknowledged to God:

My times are in your hands. (Psalm 31:15)

Since the fall into sin human beings persistently fight God’s dominion over life. Despite the fact that people in their sinfulness take life, God uses those sinful actions to accomplish His will. That does not mean people can go on sinning and take human life. To persist in sin with the attitude that “God will fix it” endangers the sinner’s eternal soul.

There is comfort here as we consider lives that are prematurely lost. Sometimes it is the young soldier struck in battle at a time of war. Sometimes it is an accident or disease which swipes life from a child. Sometimes it is a miscarriage that brings life to an end while the baby is still growing in the womb. What can be said about such things? Because our days are ordained by God, one can say at any funeral of an elderly person, a promising young teenager or a miscarried baby, “This person lived a full life.” Because our time is in God’s hands it did not end too soon. Even if sinfulness causes death. God uses all things, even the sinful actions that shorten life, for His purpose with the guarantee that these were “the days ordained” by God “written in [His] book [of life]” that were established even “before one of them came to be.”

8. The Hope That Remains

Despite the most heart-wrenching of losses, the Old Testament pointed ahead to a Deliverer who would become obedient to death, “even death on a cross.” Old Testament believers clung to the promise of a Savior. That Savior came and made the final sacrifice for sin. Death lost its sting. The days ordained for us are days here on earth. Through Jesus Christ we have the forgiveness of sins and life that lasts forever. That is the eternity ordained for all of us through faith in Christ Jesus. Because Christ died for us while we were still sinners – as adults, as children and as unborn children – we face life and death with the certain hope of salvation and eternal life.