Psalms 139:4

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. FOR (THERE IS) NOT A WORD IN (I:E., THAT RISES TO) MY TONGUE, (BUT), LO, O LORD, THOU KNOWEST IT ALTOGETHER. 'Without God none can speak out his thoughts (), therefore God knows them before they are uttered' (Cocceius)....

4._For there is not a word, etc_. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while the tongue is the index of thought to man, being the great medium of communication, God, who knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle _lo! _to indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view....

1-6 God has perfect knowledge of us, and all our thoughts and actions are open before him. It is more profitable to meditate on Divine truths, applying them to our own cases, and with hearts lifted to God in prayer, than with a curious or disputing frame of mind. That God knows all things, is omniscient; that he is every where, is omnipresent; are truths acknowledged by all, yet they are seldom rightly believed in by mankind. God takes strict notice of every step we take, every right step and every by step. He knows what rule we walk by, what end we walk toward, what company we walk with. When I am withdrawn from all company, thou knowest what I have in my heart. There is not a vain word, not a good word, but thou knowest from what thought it came, and with what design it was uttered. Wherever we are, we are under the eye and hand of God. We cannot by searching find how God searches us o...

Verse Psalms 139:4. THERE IS _NOT A WORD IN MY TONGUE_] Although (כי _ki_) _there be not a word in my tongue, behold O Jehovah, thou knowest_ _the whole of it_, that is, thou knowest all my _words before_ they are _uttered_, as thou knowest all my _thoughts_ while as yet they are _unformed_....

FOR THERE IS NOT A WORD IN MY TONGUE - All that I say; all that I have power to say; all that I am disposed at any time to say. BUT LO, O LORD, THOU KNOWEST IT ALTOGETHER - All that pertains to it. What is “said,” and what is “meant.” Merely to “hear” what is spoken does not imply necessarily a full knowledge of what is said - for it may be false, insincere, hypocritical. God knows exactly what is said and what is “meant.”...

EXPOSITION A song of praise to God for his omniscience, his omnipresence, and his marvelous powers, ending with a prayer for the destruction of the wicked, and for the purifying from evil of the psalmist's own heart. The psalm divides into four stanzas of six verses each—the first (Psalms 139:1) dealing with the omniscience of God; the second (Psalms 139:7), with his omnipresence; the third (Psalms 139:13), with his omnipotence; and the fourth (Psalms 139:19) containing the supplication. Psalms 139:1

FOR [THERE IS] NOT A WORD IN MY TONGUE,.... Expressed by it or upon it, just ready to be spoken; or, as the Targum, "when there is no word in my tongue:'' so Aben Ezra, "before it was perfect in my tongue:'' before it is formed there; while it is in the mind, and not expressed, and even before that; [BUT], LO, O LORD, THOU KNOWEST IT ALTOGETHER; the whole of it, from whence it springs; the reason of it, what is designed, or the ends to be answered by it. The Lord knows the good words of his people, which they speak to him in prayer, even before and while they are speaking them; and what they say to one another in private conversation, Isaiah 65:24. See an instance of words known by Christ before spoken, in Luke 19:31....

Psalms 139:1. _O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me._ «Thou hast explored me, as men dig in mines, and make subterranean excavations. Thou hast searched into my secret parts, and known me.» Psalms 139:2. _Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,_ «My simplest acts, those which I scarcely premeditated.» Psalms 139:2. _Thou understandest my thought afar off._ «Before I think it, when I think it, and when I forget it, thou dost understand my every thought.» Psalms 139:3. _Thou compassest my path and my lying down,_ Making a

Psalms 139 In the Divine Presence _ 1. His omniscience (Psalms 139:1)_ 2. His omnipresence (Psalms 139:7) 3. Praising Him (Psalms 139:13) 4. Delighting in His holiness (Psalms 139:19) Here we see the people of God in the light of God, standing in His presence. He is an omniscient and an omnipresent God. How marvellously this is given in this Psalm. And what a comfort to know that He knoweth, that He seeth, that He is about us, around us, with us everywhere, that His hand leads, that His hand upholds

CXXXIX. GOD IS EVERYWHERE: HE KNOWS EVERYTHING OH THAT HE WOULD DESTROY THE WICKED. This Ps. is among the most spiritual productions of the OT. It deals with the mystery of Divine providence, a theme frequently discussed after the Exile, when the national life had died out and each individual was brought face to face with the difficulties which surrounded him and with the thought of his ultimate fate. Other nations, of course, have engaged in similar speculation, but in very different tone and spirit. Here, as elsewhere, the Hebrew poet manifests intense belief in the personality of God, in His righteousness, in His care for the men He has made. He speaks in the first person singular, because he is giving expression to his own faith and in part to his own experience. Again, he uses no abstract terms such as omnipresence, omniscience, and the like: indeed in Biblical Heb. no such words ar...