Psalm 139 : A Commentary (Part 3)
In our last study we have seen that wherever we go even if we travel around the globe God’s presence is there. He inhabits every part of the universe and also inhabits the depths of Sheol. If we were able to soar up into the universe He would be there or plunge into the depths of the earth His presence would be there.
Wherever we go to on this earth His hand will guide us and His right arm, the Messiah our Lord Jesus, will go with us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. By the power of His indestructible life our Lord Jesus will hold us fast in His grip and not even Satan himself will be able to pluck us out of His hand or the hand of his Father in heaven (John 10:28-30).
In this study we will see that the LORD is all powerful and His power is unmatched in the whole universe. No man on earth, or devil or even Satan himself is any match for the indestructible life and power of our Triune God. Like the roar of the lion that shakes the jungle, when the LORD roars the whole heavens above and the earth, and everything under the earth trembles at His power (Hebrews 12:26-27) (Exodus 19:18) (Psalm 29:8) (Psalm 68:8) (Haggai 2:6) (Isaiah 13:13) (Joel 3:16).
Psalm 139: Exposition
The LORD is all powerful and the creator of everything that exists (Vs. 13-16)
(Vs. 13) “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.”
From its conception a tiny baby in the womb of its mother is a living soul with an intellect, emotions and a will. It has feelings. In the gospel of Luke we are told that when Mary pregnant with the Lord Jesus entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped for joy in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! (Luke 1:39-45). Baby John in his mother’s womb leapt for joy!
When Isaac’s wife Rebekah was pregnant with the twins Jacob and Esau we are told that the babies jostled each other within her womb (Genesis 15:22). Clearly in these two examples from God’s Word tiny babies in their mother’s womb have feelings.
Recent research has found that babies experience consciousness. In January 2026 an international gynaecology journal published the review “A Rudimentary Consciousness Appears in the Late Fetal Period” by neonatologist Carlo Bellieni.
He argues that the “minimum common denominator” of consciousness is memory, and so he looks for studies of fetal memory. He also evaluates research regarding fetal anatomy and perception. In total, he reviews 31 clinical trials from the last decade related to these three areas, and concludes there is significant evidence for forms of consciousness before birth.
According to God’s Word it is clear that God is the creator of all life including the little life in the womb of its mother. It is fully developed and is capable of responding even in the womb. Today all over the world women are claiming to have rights over their bodies and abort babies with government approval in many cases.
The methods of non-therapeutic abortions are horrendous and cruel to say the least. Even tiny new born babies are left squirming in metal hospital trays dying, while others are being sucked out of their mother’s wombs while still alive and kicking, practices that are now becoming common place in society.
Women demand their rights to have abortions but what about the rights of the newborn? Who advocates for them? Thankfully there are organizations that advocate for babies in the womb. In the Old Testament times tiny babies were sacrificed in the fire and on the altars of pagan temples. Today tiny babies in their mother’s womb for convenience sake are sacrificed on the altars of abortion clinics.
Having said this David recognised through the revelation of the blessed Holy Spirit that a tiny baby was formed in the womb of its mother as a creative act of God. The “inward parts” include the intellect, the emotions and the will. David continues…
(Vs.14-16) I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skilfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
David was so thankful to God when he reflected upon how God created him in the womb of his mother. He stood in awe and wonder at how God could create a human being. He was also reflecting on how wonderful all of God’s works were in creation itself and deep in his soul David knew that nothing was hidden from God when, in His divine purpose for David’s entire life, God foresaw it and planned it.
God had already in mind what David would be and do. David recognised that there was a time when he was as an unformed substance from which God created him in the womb of his mother and breathed into him the breath of life as He did to Adam after He had created him from the dust of the ground. God looked at the unformed substance and saw in it David and fashioned him according to His set purpose for David’s whole life. God’s gifts and His call are set from the womb as we see in the case of the prophet Jeremiah.
As Jeremiah writes; “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5). The Word that came to Jeremiah was the pre-incarnate Messiah before His incarnation (John 1:1-2) (1 John 1:1-4).
Also we see that the days ordained for David, including God’s set plan for his life in this world, were formatted in the mind of the LORD even before any of them came to fruition. In the depths of his soul David knew that God’s works were wonderful, even beyond all human comprehension.
Over and over again scripture affirms that God is all powerful and sits enthroned above the flood of human endeavour and still has everything under control. As we read; “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever” (Psalm 29:10). And again it is written; “The LORD has made everything for His purpose— even the wicked for the day of disaster” (Proverbs 16:4). While God has foreknowledge of all things He still gives man the freedom to choose (Deuteronomy 30:19) (Joshua 24:14-15) (John 3:16-18).
God is all powerful, not only as the creator of everything that exists on earth, under the earth and in the heavens, but one with whom all things are possible and that nothing is too hard for Him. What is impossible with men is possible with God (Matthew 19:26) (Mark 9:23) (Jeremiah 32:27). No situation or circumstance is beyond His control!
Even His hands radiate His power to change what man cannot change. No human power of man or demon on earth can stand against God’s power. As the prophet Habakkuk writes; “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran (both located today in Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Muslim world), Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth. His radiance was like the sunlight; rays flashed from His hand, where His power is hidden. Plague went before Him, and fever followed in His steps” (Habakkuk 3:4).
Here prophetically Habakkuk is telescoping to the very end of this age when the Messiah our Lord Jesus returns to judge the nations and to fight and destroy the armies of Islam arrayed against Israel. So then God is all powerful and the creator of everything that exists.
The LORD’s thoughts are precious (Vs. 17-18)
(Vs.17-18) “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”
There is not a moment that goes by when God is not thinking about us. His thoughts are ever before us and directed towards us as His blood redeemed children. As the LORD speaks through Isaiah the prophet; “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
Our names were engraved forever on the hands of the Messiah our Lord Jesus when the nails pierced them and His blood flowed. In heaven’s courts we have our great advocate and High Priest, fully human and fully God with a glorified indestructible immortal body that I am persuaded still bears in it the marks of His crucifixion.
Now we are told that David’s delight was to meditate on the Word of God and upon His providence. David was acknowledging that God’s thoughts were precious yet incomprehensible, overwhelming; and David was contrasting his knowledge of God with God’s knowledge of him.
David was musing on the LORD’s wonderful counsels and works on his behalf and they were coming constantly into his mind, not only in the day-time, but even in the night-season. Whenever he awoke he was still with God and focused on Him and His providence.
David was thinking about his appointment to the throne, his troubles, and his preservation in the midst of them. These thoughts were precious and delightful subjects for meditation and praise, never to be exhausted of the rich matter they contained. With these in his mind he lay down at night, and when he awoke in the morning his thoughts naturally recurred to the same pleasing theme. He began where he had left off, and found himself, in heart and soul, still present with God, still ruminating on him and his wonderful works.”
Even in the midst of his trials and opposition Jeremiah the prophet said; “Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16).
Thinking steadfastly about how God has worked for us and in us in the past will enable us to be assured that He will do the same for us in the future. As Isaiah the prophet writes; “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
David also writes; “Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who is continuously pardoning all your iniquities, Who is continuously healing all your diseases; Who is continuously redeeming your life from the pit, Who is continuously crowning you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who is continuously satisfying your years with good things, So that your youth is being continuously renewed like the eagle” (Psalm 103:1-5). These verses are rendered in the present continuous tense.
As it is also written; “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood (of adversity); the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives His people strength; the LORD blesses His people with peace” (Psalm 29:10-11).
And again it is also written; “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a battle standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). As king Jehoshaphat said when facing overwhelming enemies; “O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? Do You not rule over all the nations? Power and strength are in Your hand, so that no one is able to stand against You” (2 Chronicles 20:6).
As godly Job testified about the LORD after being delivered from all his afflictions; “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 41:1).
God then is all powerful and the creator of everything in the whole universe. His thoughts are always fixed upon His redeemed sons and daughters and He always has their very best interests in his heart and deals with them according to His infinitely wise purposes, steadfast lovingkindness, and that with unbridled compassion!
