PSALM 139
1. What specific things does God know about
“me”? What areas of my life are covered
by God’s knowledge?
[“merism”
– is a figure of speech which includes opposite extremes to include the whole
spectrum].
How do you feel about God knowing everything about when, where, and what
you’re going to do, think, or say, and why?
2. What else does God do besides know me (vs. 5)?
And what does this tell you about God?
How do you feel about the fact that God is a protective, ever present, caring
God, and why?
3. How does the psalmist react to the realization of
these things?
What attribute of God is implied in this psalm so far?
4. What attribute of God is seen here? And
how is it expressed/shown (what three
merisms)?
a.
[“Sheol” – is the place where all dead people went during Old Testament
times, thought of as below the earth].
b.
[“dawn” – is in the east; “sea” – is the
c.
5. How do you feel about God being
omnipresent/present everywhere? What
affect does that have on you, and why?
6. What relationship is pictured in verse 10?
Do you feel like God is your Father and you’re His child and that He’s
leading and comforting you? If so, why?
In what ways do people today actually try to escape from the knowledge
and presence of God?
Have you ever tried to escape from thinking about God or hiding from God? If so,
how, and why?
How successful were these attempts, and why?
7. Is a fetus just a blob of tissue or a
beautiful, unborn child uniquely created by God?
What phrases suggest that it’s the latter?
[“fearfully” in Hebrew here means “reverently
in awe”].
[“the depths of the earth” – a metaphor,
meaning “remote to the human eye”, or “womb”].
Since God skillfully and wonderfully created us, should any of us have an
inferiority complex or poor self-image? Why?
8. How intimately involved was God in the whole
process of our coming into being (what
phrases convey this)?
[“formed … and weaved” – a
metonymy, meaning “God’s sovereign superintendence through genetic
reproduction”].
How does knowing about God’s intimate involvement in your conception and
creation affect you, and why?
What attribute of God is suggested in this section?
9. How does the Psalmist view God’s thoughts
toward him (vss. 17, 18)?
How do you view God’s thoughts toward you, and why?
10. How does the Psalmist, David, feel toward the
wicked who hate God and are murderers?
[“hate” –
Heb. “sane”, here, means to reject, be set against, disassociate from]. [loathe – to greatly
dislike with disgust].
[“Hate” can also mean – an
emotional attitude of maliciousness, wanting harm and suffering upon someone
either with or without legal justification.].
[David’s reason for hating/rejecting
and loathing the wicked is because they hated God and took His name in vain. It
wasn’t because they did or said something to David. This is holy/godly hatred.].
[God hates all who do wrong/sin
(Psa. 5:5). It can also mean “to prefer less to someone else (Mal. 1:3; Lk.
14:26).].
11. Was it right for David to hate like this? Why?
Does David’s attitude contradict Matt. 5:44? How, or why?
If it does, does that necessarily make it wrong? Why?
12. On the basis of all the psalmist has realized
about God and himself, what petitions does he now make (vss. 23, 24)?
13.
Are you so
desirous to do God’s will, what’s right, that you want God to search and know
your motives for all that you do and think, so as to show you whether or not
you have any hurtful or wrong motives, and if so, to instead be led by God in
the everlasting, right way?
If not, what will it take to have such a desire?