Psalms 139:9

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; IF I TAKE THE WINGS OF THE MORNING, AND DWELL IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA - a poetic phrase to express the instantaneous rapidity with which the rays of the morning dawn dart from east to west of the horizon: 'If in a moment I were borne from the east to the extreme maritime regions of the west.' Psalms 55:6 shows that the reason for flight would be, not a desire to be far from God, but to escape from enemies. SHALL THY HAND LEAD ME, AND THY RIGHT HAND SHALL HOLD ME - namely, as a Friend, an Almighty Upholder and Guide (cf. ; ;...

7-16 We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. The grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body. No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer....

IF I TAKE THE WINGS OF THE MORNING - literally, “I will take the wings of the morning.” That is, I will take this as a supposable case; I will imagine what would occur, should I be able to take to myself the wings of the morning, and endeavor to escape “by flight” from the presence of God, or go where he could not pursue me, or where he would not be. The “wings of the morning” evidently mean that by which the light of the morning “seems to fly” - the most rapid object known to us. It is not to be supposed that the psalmist had an idea of the exact velocity of light, but to him that was the most rapid object known; and his language is not the “less” striking because the laws of its flight have become accurately known. The word rendered “morning” refers to the dawn - the daybreak - the Aurora - the “first” beams of the morning light. The beams of light are in fact no swifter then than at a...

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

[IF] I TAKE THE WINGS OF THE MORNING,.... And fly as swift as the morning light to the east, to the extremity of it, as Ben Melech; as far as he could go that way, as swiftly as the wings of the morning could carry him thither; so the morning is represented by the Heathens as having wings f; or as the rays of the rising sun, called wings for the swiftness of them, Malachi 4:2; [AND] DWELL IN THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE SEA; in the most distant isles of it, in the farthest parts of the world, the sea being supposed the boundary of it: or "in the uttermost parts of the west" g, as opposed to the morning light and rising sun, which appear in the east; and the sea is often in Scripture put for the west, the Mediterranean sea being to the west of the land of Palestine; and could he go from east to west in a moment, as the above writer observes, there would God be. The Heathens repr

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...

WINGS OF THE MORNING. See note on sub-scription of Psalms 21....

God is everywhere present: man cannot escape or hide himself....