# 382 A journey through the Psalms. Psalm 139. An “impulsive change of subject” or…?

In 1869, John Earnest Bode wrote his famous hymn, ‘O Jesus I have promised.’ In the second verse are the words:

“my foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
and shield my soul from sin.”

Certainly, words relevant to our psalm today, a truth that we can identify with, as well as a prayer we daily need to pray.

So, we now come to the last section of this wonderful Psalm 139, verses 19-24.

Now, I have to confess, that I have preached on this psalm a few times but, “conveniently,” there just was not enough time to include verses 19-22. Somehow the psalmist’s words seem just a bit too abrasive to our sensitive 21^st Century minds. But should they be? Can we really just ignore this “denunciation of the wicked… [this] impulsive change of subject”? It seems not, according to the commentators I have read. In fact, one suggests that “some commentators believe that interpretation of the psalm must begin with theses verses.” (# 4)

Kidner [to show that the psalm is an integrated whole] divides the psalm as follows:

“The All-Seeing [vv. 1-6] … The All-Present [vv. 7-12] … The All-Creative [vv. 13-18] … The All-Holy [vv. 19-24]” and comments on the latter verses as follows:

“The very clarity of the vision [i.e., vv. 1-18] makes the anomaly of evil, boasting in full view of God, intolerable… The abrupt change in the psalm from reverie to resolve is disturbing, but wholly biblical in its realism.” And adds “For all its vehemence, the hatred in this passage is not spite, but zeal for God.”  (# 29)

There is an interesting difference between this psalm and other “lament’ psalms, when the psalmist is complaining about the evil actions done to him by evil men. And that is, that here, these evil men are basically rebellious blasphemers and enemies of God, which considering how wonderful God is, as described in verses 1-18, makes the psalmist angry and therefore considers them to be his enemies as well.  Note this truth below:  

¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
    [therefore] I count them my enemies.

Wilcock adds:

“God’s people were called to identify with God’s cause [and nothing has changed concerning this today!] … This is the point of verses 21-22, and the real thrust of the psalm as a whole. The psalmist’s Maker has made him in his own image, and therefore a moral being. Will he side with the right or with the wrong, with God or with God’s enemies? … the choice is ours.” (# 5)

And so, the psalmist concludes:

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

He recognizes that he is not perfect, and he makes the wrong choices at times, and so desires to keep being accountable to God, to live pleasing to God, and so to be led by God, in the way everlasting.

“Only the one whose heart is open to God’s searching eye, who has misgivings (anxious thoughts) about his own discernment, and who is all too aware of the possibility of something offensive in himself, will be able to follow the Lord in the way everlasting.” (# 5)

May we be such people in 2024. Recognizing God’s All-Seeing, All-Present, All-Creative and All-Holy ways be people daily identifying with God’s cause, choosing right over wrong, allowing God to search our hearts, and so being led in the everlasting way.