Psalm 139
Psalm 139
Milt Reynolds | Last updated: October 20, 2022
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! - Psalm 139:1–24, ESV
Hemmed In, Behind and Before | October 20, 2022
I've been reading the Bible for five decades now...mostly daily, with intermittant study. Lately I've turned to the Book of Psalms as inspiration for daily prayer.
Praying the Bible, by Donald S. Whitney, has been super helpful and encouraging in learning how to pray meaningfully and honestly, whether in private prayer or with a group.
A verse from yesterday's psalm still resonates with me. Right now I'm sitting in the visitor area of our local surgical hospital. It's a fitting place to meaningfully and honestly pray.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. - Psalm 139:5, ESV
Fifty years of reading the Bible and I've always considered "hemmed in, behind and before" as referring to God's protective presence, through thick and through thin.
Yesterday, however, I realized that this instance of "hemmed in" does not feel "protective" at all!
- Why would I desire to flee from God's protective presence? (verse 7)
- How could God's protective presence cause me to end up dead in Sheol? (verse 8)
- Will God's protective presence sink me into deep darkness? (verse 11)
- How could God allow "wicked, men of blood" and "haters of God" to surround and scheme against me?
The context of Psalm 139 seems to be less about being protected and preserved in peace and comfort, and more about being surrounded and besieged by trouble and terror!
So, for the first time in fifty decades, I looked closer at the the Hebrew words that are translated to English as "hem" and "lay".
"Hem", in English, means the edge of cloth that has been turned under and sewn. Figuratively, it can mean to surround and restrict. The origin of "hem" comes from Old English, meaning "the border of a piece of cloth". The figurative meaning dates from the mid 16th century. - The New Oxford American Dictionary
Here are the meanings of the Hebrew words that are translated as "hem" and "lay":
HEM: ṣûr /tsoor/ - to cramp or confine, literal and figurative, formative or hostile
LAY: shît /sheeth/ - to place
It appears to be coincidental, but I was surprised to see how the Hebrew word for "lay" transliterates to "shît"...it's pronounced differently than I expected, but the spelling sure reinforces the notion of "cramped and hostile"!
I did a quick search of how many times the Hebrew word "ṣûr" is used in the Bible, sorting the references into two categories: "good" and "bad". These two categories refer to how the circumstances in which the word is used would appear or feel, were I the one being hemmed in!
The Hebrew word "ṣûr" is translated by the ESV differently, depending upon context. Here's the list, sorted alphabetically, with number of instances noted in parenthesis:
- Bagged (1)
- Besiege (4)
- Besieged (18)
- Besieging (9)
- Bind (2)
- Closed (1)
- Enclose (1)
- Hem (1)
- Press (1)
- Rushing (1)
- Siege (2)
- Stirring (1)
- Tied (1)
Even a quick glance at the list is enought to make me think that the word is not describing a good thing!
Looking at the context for each of these instances helps to sort them out, good or bad. Here's a list of the references, with "good" including some circumstances that are simply neutral. Some of the "bad" circumstances are actually good for the ones who are not the object of being "hemmed in".
But my intent here is to show how being "hemmed in" by God is not necessarily a comfortable, peaceful, protective circumstance.
| Good | Bad |
|---|---|
| Deut 14:25 | Deut 20:12 |
| 2 Kings 5:23 | Deut 20:19 |
| 2 Kings 12:10 | Judg 9:31 |
| Song 8:9 | 1 Sam 23:8 |
| . . . | 2 Sam 11:1 |
| . . . | 2 Sam 20:15 |
| . . . | 1 Kings 15:27 |
| . . . | 1 Kings 16:17 |
| . . . | 1 Kings 20:1 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 6:24 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 6:25 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 16:5 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 17:5 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 18:9 |
| . . . | 2 Kings 24:11 |
| . . . | 1 Chron 20:1 |
| . . . | Isa 21:2 |
| . . . | Isa 29:3 |
| . . . | Isa 59:19 |
| . . . | Jer 21:4 |
| . . . | Jer 21:9 |
| . . . | Jer 32:2 |
| . . . | Jer 37:5 |
| . . . | Jer 39:1 |
| . . . | Ezek 4:3 |
| . . . | Ezek 5:3 |
| . . . | Dan 1:1 |
Four instances of "good" or "neutral", against 27 instances of "bad"!
Jeremiah 21:9-10 is a bit disturbing. Here, "ṣûr" is translated into English as "besieging":
He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. - Jeremiah 21:9, ESV
For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. - Jeremiah 21:10, ESV
In this instance, the "hemming in", translated here as "besieging", is plainly intended by God for harm and not for good!
Or, is it?
The Chaldeans are besieging or "hemming in" the city: not a good thing for the city. But those who appreciate what the Chaldeans are doing...those who see God's goodness and greatness behind this "bad thing"...will escape the not-good harm.
The "hemming in" is bad for the city, but God invites the people to walk towards the "hemming in"...towards the apparently bad thing. Those who resent and resist and push back against the "hemming in" will suffer.
So, where does Psalm 139:4 fit? Good or bad?
Despite "hem" having a painful or troubling implication, the context of the whole of Psalm 139 is one of trusting in the goodness and greatness of God.
David refers to God as "LORD", the Self-existent or Eternal One. There is none other who is as good and great as David's God.
Nothing is distant or dark for God.
Only God can lead and hold David through deep darkness.
David praises the power and goodness of God in forming and knitting him together in his mother's womb.
David delights and depends upon God's detailed plan for every day of his life. He feels immersed and covered by the attention God extends to him personally, daily.
David asks of God what only God can do: Rescue me! Guard my heart from worshipping anyone or any thing beside You!
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. - Psalm 139:5, ESV
David realizes that God may answer his prayer by hemming him in, behind and before, placing him in hard, troubling and dangerous situations. But he depends upon God through it all.
God will alway do what is good and right in his eyes, and that may require him placing his beloved child in troubling, dark, dangerous, and deadly circumstances, hemming his child in, behind and before with enemies...enemies perhaps of flesh and blood, but more often spiritual enemies of fleeing from God, hiding from God, submerging in spiritual idolatry and moral lust and perversion, hatred of God, scorn of God, lover of self more than lover of God.
LORD God, Jesus Christ our Lord, Savior and Shepherd, do what is good and right in your sight. Do all that is good and right whether I understand or appreciate it. Break into the hard and deceitful corridors of my heart and mind and lead me in the way that always lasts...the way of your steadfast presence!
Amen!
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