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John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 139 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm was written by David, when he lay under the reproach and calumnies of men, who laid false things to his charge; things he was not conscious of either in the time of Saul's persecution of him, or when his son Absalom rebelled against him: and herein he appeals to the heart searching and rein trying God for his...
John Gill
Thou hast beset me behind and before,.... Art on every side of me, all around me, like one besieged in a strait place; so that there is nothing I can think, say, or do, but what is known unto thee. The two Kimchis, father and son, render the word, "thou hast formed me": and interpret it of the formation of his body, of which, in Psalms 139:14; see Job 10:8 but it denotes how God compasses men...
Matthew Henry
Some of the Jewish doctors are of opinion that this is the most excellent of all the psalms of David; and a very pious devout meditation it is upon the doctrine of God's omniscience, which we should therefore have our hearts fixed upon and filled with in singing this psalm. I. This doctrine is here asserted, and fully laid down, ver. 1-6. II. It is confirmed by two arguments:—1. God is every...
Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. “I am like a prisoner, with guards before me and behind me, and the officer’s hand upon my shoulder all the while. Thou hast arrested me, O Lord; I can never get away from thee.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. “I am taken as in an ambush: I am held captive; I cannot get away. ‘Thou hast beset me behind and before — more than that, thou hast arrested me, ‘laid thine hand upon me.’”
Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. “Thou hast come so near me that thou dost touch me. Thou not only knowest my thoughts and my words, but thou dost come into contact with me. Thou dost know me as I know a thing when I feel it with my hand: ‘Thou hast laid thine hand upon me.’”
Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. “Like men lying in ambush, ‘thou hast beset me behind and before.’ All that I have ever done, and all that I shall ever do, thou knowest it all. I am like one under arrest, upon whom the officer lays his hand so that he may have no opportunity of escaping. I am in thy grip; thou hast taken such a firm hold upon me that I cannot...
Charles H. Spurgeon
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Thy presence amounts to actual contact. Thou dost not only see, but touch, like the physician, who does not merely look at the wound, but by-and-bye comes to probe it. So dost thou probe my wounds, and see the depths of my sins.