Psalm 139:1 – Knowing and Being Known

Here is my fairly literal translation of this verse:

¹To one directing. To David, a psalm.

 LORD, You search me and You know.

A couple of technical thoughts: The literary “critics” propose that this is not a psalm of David because there are two words in the Psalm which they say are “chaldaisms.” David lived around 1000 BC. The Jewish people were deported to Babylon (Chaldea) in about 587 BC. From living in Babylon, many Hebrew words became “chaldaized” where their spelling or pronunciation changed slightly because they lived in a world that spoke Aramaic, not Hebrew. Hence, if the “critics” find a word that is spelled in a Chaldean form rather than Hebrew, they conclude the document had to be written after 587, not before. My response would be that is not only bad theology, it’s poor science. A good scientist (and that is what the “critics” are claiming to be) would say, “The presence of apparently chaldaized words presents the possibility of a later date. However, there are other possible explanations which should be considered.” Like the evolutionists, as soon as the critics find any explanation that demeans the Bible and pushes God in a corner, they jump on it and present it as fact. As I said above, that’s not only bad theology, it’s poor science. Based purely on the science of textual criticism, I would suggest that we not forget the Jewish people came from Babylon to start with. God called Abraham out of “Ur of the Chaldeans.” They may have retained traces of chaldaism even down to David’s time. Also, any interaction with Aramaic speaking peoples could have encouraged chaldaisms – and David was a great king who would have had a great deal of international interaction – especially when the trade routes between the east and Egypt ran generally through Palestine. My bottom-line would be that the “critics” are talking about a period of time two to three thousand years ago and acting like they have total knowledge of all that happened when the truth is they have very little. Let them offer their opinions, call them just that, then choose what they want to believe. I have offered my opinions and I choose to believe the Bible. It says “To David” and I will choose to believe that.

Secondly, someone might ask, “Why is it ‘to David,’ not ‘by David’”? I have addressed that question at length before, but basically I think it is because David knew he was writing under inspiration and he was much too humble a man to take credit for what he wrote. It was given to David, by the Lord, and he knew it.

As for the Hebrew text of the Psalm itself, notice my translation, “LORD, You search me and You know.”  When the Hebrew name Yahveh is given, I usually just write it out as its four Hebrew letters YHVH. But, I’m in the mood to use the old King James convention of capitalizing LORD to represent it. There is another name for God which is Adonai, which means literally “master” or “lord.” When that name is used, it is translated “Lord,” to distinguish it from Yahveh/LORD. I think I’ll follow that convention for a while.

David says, “LORD, You search me and You know.” I think most translations fill in the “You know me.” However, there is no pronominal suffix on the verb “know,” so I chose not to insert one. The LORD searches me and He knows. “Knows what?,” one might ask. I kind of think the question is the point! One stops to answer the question and what do you conclude? He knows everything. He knows everything about me, but He also knows everything around me. He knows my circumstances. He knows my strengths, He knows my weaknesses. He knows my sins and He knows my successes. He knows my past, He knows my present, and He knows my future. He sees clearly through all subterfuge and feigning. He knows.

Interesting this is written in the first person. It is one thing to say, “He knows.” It is another thing to pause for a moment, sincerely focus on Him, and say to Him, “You know.” It is very deeply personal, is it not? “LORD, You search me and You know.”

A lot of people would take that as a negative. The minute one talks about the Lord searching and knowing, too many immediately turn it into a courtroom, anticipate their guilty verdict, and quickly shun the thought. That is too bad. Nothing could possibly be better than to have the God of grace search me and know. His grace comes with His infinite power and wisdom and His promise to “work all things together for my good.” I find those words very comforting. “LORD, You search me and You know.” On the other hand, at first glance, there is a sense in which I find them painful. At first they seem to be a finger rubbing in my wound, my wound of all the things that I find painful in my life. The words remind me of those things and then I have to face the bald fact that the Lord knows about those things but hasn’t and may not do anything about them. He knows how much it hurts, He has the power to change those things, but He doesn’t. He knows, but leaves me in it. My heart’s first response is to find that painful. But then I remember that He does all things for my good. Even allowing me to suffer is part of His kindness and a love that is beyond me. I couldn’t arrange suffering for my children, subject them to it, leave them in it, listen to their cries and do nothing. But that is because I don’t love them enough. It’s actually me that can’t bear their suffering – even if I knew it was for their good. But not so with my Father. He loves me so much He will put me through whatever it takes to make me what I ought to be. That is part of His searching and knowing. He sees the dross and loves me too much not to do whatever it takes to purge it out. That is once again a comforting (though painful) thought.

LORD, You search me – perhaps far deeper than I can even imagine – and You know – You know everything.  You gather together all of Your knowing and use it to my good and Your great eternal purposes.

Hmmm. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. (!)