Psalms 139-141

August 19, 2025, Stephen Burt

Scripture:

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1  You have searched me, LORD,

    and you know me.

2  You know when I sit and when I rise;

    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3  You discern my going out and my lying down;

    you are familiar with all my ways.

4  Before a word is on my tongue

    you, LORD, know it completely.

5  You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

7  Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

8  If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9  If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10  even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

11  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

12  even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

13  For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15  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.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

17  How precious to me are your thoughts, [ a ]  God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

18  Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

19  If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

20  They speak of you with evil intent;

    your adversaries misuse your name.

21  Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,

    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

22  I have nothing but hatred for them;

    I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24  See if there is any offensive way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 140

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1  Rescue me, LORD, from evildoers;

    protect me from the violent,

2  who devise evil plans in their hearts

    and stir up war every day.

3  They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;

    the poison of vipers is on their lips.

4  Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked;

    protect me from the violent,

    who devise ways to trip my feet.

5  The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;

    they have spread out the cords of their net

    and have set traps for me along my path.

6  I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”

    Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy.

7  Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer,

    you shield my head in the day of battle.

8  Do not grant the wicked their desires, LORD;

    do not let their plans succeed.

9  Those who surround me proudly rear their heads;

    may the mischief of their lips engulf them.

10  May burning coals fall on them;

    may they be thrown into the fire,

    into miry pits, never to rise.

11  May slanderers not be established in the land;

    may disaster hunt down the violent.

12  I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor

    and upholds the cause of the needy.

13  Surely the righteous will praise your name,

    and the upright will live in your presence.

Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

1  I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me;

    hear me when I call to you.

2  May my prayer be set before you like incense;

    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3  Set a guard over my mouth, LORD;

    keep watch over the door of my lips.

4  Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil

    so that I take part in wicked deeds

along with those who are evildoers;

    do not let me eat their delicacies.

5  Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;

    let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.

My head will not refuse it,

    for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

6  Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,

    and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7  They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,

    so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”

8  But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD;

    in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

9  Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers,

    from the snares they have laid for me.

10  Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

    while I pass by in safety.

Takeaways:

Psalm 139 was written by David and is one of the most beautiful and most quoted of the psalms. It presents a powerful image of just how wonderful and omniscient God is. God has such an intimate knowledge that He even knows our intent before our action is taken or words spoken. David celebrates that God considers us to be important and special from the moment of our conception and watches over us as His special creation. The maker of the universe and all that is in it knows and cares about each of us from conception to our last breath and beyond. Just thinking about this should make each of us fall on our knees in the most humble gratitude for this ultimate honor. To God we are all important. David continues to say that we need to ask God to protect us from the traps of the world and the evil in it. He calls us to hate the evil even as he asks God to search his thoughts. He is possibly starting to realize that God calls us to hate the evil but love the sinner and, as a result, try to bring about change through salvation. Like David, we should also ask God to search our hearts to see if we have any areas of our thoughts and actions that have strayed from His will for our lives. Psalm 140 was written by David. It is a call to God for rescue from those who would seek to harm us. In particular, the plight of the poor who are being persecuted is highlighted. Let us, as saved Christians, remember that we are also called to defend the rights of the powerless. Psalm 141 was also written by David. Three points of instruction stand out in this psalm.

1. “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord.” Supposedly an average person opens their mouth to speak around 700 times a day. That is 700 opportunities to speak kindness and respect or something less kind. Also, sometimes saying nothing speaks volumes. The temptation to lash back at what someone has said or has done is almost overwhelming. How many times have each of us regretted a statement we have made in retaliation and created a bad

situation that could have been avoided by being silent?

2. “Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil” It is totally appropriate to ask God to keep us from temptation, but we need more. If our innermost hearts are open to evil desires, we will find ways to fall into temptation. Sin comes from inside. We must realize our weakness’s and ask God to change us from the inside.

3. “Let a righteous person strike me-that is a kindness; let him rebuke me-that is oil on my head.” David is saying that being corrected by a righteous person is a kindness. None of us like to be corrected. I certainly do not. However, criticism delivered kindly by a person that has our best interest at heart, when taken humbly, can be one of the most important lessons we ever receive. Someone who is unwilling to accept correction will never be able to improve in a sport, a skill or a life.

Prayer:

Dear Father, thank you for your words of instruction found in these psalms. We pray for You to change us from within. Make our thoughts and desires pure and clean. Keep us centered on You and Your will for us. Help us to be kind and humble. Help us to burn with a zeal that brings other to the one true light of Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen