Psalm 139: The Work of His Hands

• Read Psalm 139 from the ESV.
• Read my Psalm 139 poem from A New Song.

David asks God in Psalm 8 “What is man that you are mindful of him?” And while David then describes God’s work in creating man in the following verses, it doesn’t seem that he directly answers his question. But when I read the last line of Psalm 138 where David says, “do not abandon the works of your hands,” I begin to wonder if the answer to why God is mindful of humanity — of us, you and I — is because he made us. But what, you might ask, does this have to do with Psalm 139?

Psalm 139 describes God’s work in making us and about his relationship with us. Psalm 139:1 is a well-known verse holding a subtle secret I believe unlocks the meaning of this psalm. To see what I mean, let’s look at two translations of this verse. In the ESV it reads, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” Then in NIV, it read this, “You have searched me, Lord, and know me.”

Do you see the small difference?

Before we get to the difference, let’s look at what they both have in common. Both state that God has searched us. The Hebrew tense tells us that this is a complete and finished task. One that occurred prior to the writing of Psalm 139. God studied us in our entirety and verses 2-16 explain the depths to which God went in searching for us. He knows when we sit, sleep, and get up; what we are thinking, what we do and say, where we will go, where we came from, and where we are; who we were in the womb and every day of our life before we were even born. He has written a complete biography of us, including our DNA, the structure of our cells, our skin, bones, and everything else. It includes every thought we have, have had, or will have. It includes every moment of every day of our entire life. This book, with your name on its spine, sits in God’s library next to innumerable books for every other human being that has, does, or will ever exist. God’s knowledge of all humanity for all time is entire and is complete; it is finished. God has searched us. That is where the ESV and NIV are the same, now let’s look at the difference.

The ESV states that God has known us. The NIV, however, says that God knows us. While this may seem like a minor deal, I suggest it isn’t. I enjoy reading the ESV, but the implication with their translation is that God’s knowledge is a past tense knowledge. He knew us. But in the NIV when it says God knows us I sense that God’s knowledge is present and active.

I have a photograph of a friend I had in 2nd grade whose name was J. R. I remember many things about him, but most prominent is the going away party we gave him just prior to his family moving to Washington. When I was in 2nd grade I knew J.R., but I don’t presently know him. My knowledge of him stopped that day so many years ago when he jumped into the car with his family and headed west.

God does not know us in that way, he knows us presently. Sure, he knows our past and even our future, but his knowledge isn’t just a book on a shelf. His knowledge is present and active. And, (if you like quandaries), he stands with us, expectantly awaiting to see our next move (see Genesis 2:19). He knows everything there is to know about us, but that doesn’t mean he has abandoned us like books on a shelf waiting to be read on a rainy day. He is our companion and he is actively engaged with our daily life. This is what David meant when he said God knows us. And when David says that God is there whenever he wakes up, (139:18), it means that God maintains an active and on-going relationship with us — thinking about us all the time — even if we don’t realize it.

The majority of this psalm focuses on God’s thoughts about us, but verses 19-22, probably the least quoted verses of Psalm 139 shifts our attention to David’s thoughts, which we find are focused on David’s desire for justice upon his enemies. But David doesn’t just leave this hanging as a balance to God’s thoughts, he questions these thoughts and wants God to search them and expose the wicked ones. (139:23-24) David wants his thoughts and ways to be pure and compatible with God’s will and God’s nature. And David wants God to not just know him, but to lead him into ways of righteousness.

Why is God mindful of man? Because we are the work of his hands. We are not merely objects about which God has abstract knowledge, we are his work which is in his mind all the time. God knows us. In light of that, David prays that God would not stop at merely knowing him, but that God would guide him as well.

David begins this psalm stating a fact when he writes, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” May we also acknowledge that truth. But even more so, may we pray with David as he closes this psalm with his prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart!”