Psalm 139:1-18
Psalm 139
Many people turn to Psalm 139 when it is hard to be gentle with themselves. The writer speaks to God as someone who is fully known: every sitting down and rising up, every word before it is spoken, every dark night and every morning. Nothing is left out, and there is no hiding. Yet the psalm does not turn away in shame. It turns toward thanks.
Journaling with these verses can help you slow down and notice how you talk to yourself, and how that compares with the wonder in this prayer. You do not need to feel good about yourself to write with this psalm. You can bring your doubts and your tired places to the page, and let your writing become a conversation with God about them.
1 Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
6 This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”;
12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
Reflection prompts
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Verse 2 says, "You know my sitting down and my rising up." Write about an ordinary day this week, from the first thing you did in the morning to the last thing at night. Which small moments do you usually think are too plain to bring to God?
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Verse 4 begins, "there is not a word on my tongue." Think of something you said to yourself this week, out loud or in your head, about your work, your choices or your worth. Write it down, then write a short prayer telling God how those words sit with you.
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In verse 5 the psalm says, "You hem me in behind and before." Some people find comfort in being surrounded, and others feel crowded. Which is closer to how you feel today, and why?
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Verses 11 and 12 name the fear, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me." Write about a time when you felt that way. Looking back, what do you notice about how you spoke to yourself then, and what would you like to say to that version of you now?
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Write "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (verse 14) at the top of your page. Below it, list five specific things about yourself, such as a way you notice people or something you have learned to do. Which one is hardest to give thanks for, and why?
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Verse 14 ends, "My soul knows that very well." Is that true for you right now? Write about where you do know it and where you still struggle to believe it, and bring both to God in prayer.
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Verse 18 closes with, "When I wake up, I am still with you." Write a short prayer to read tomorrow morning before you get out of bed. What do you want to remember about yourself as you start the day?