Comment:
Omniscience & Omnipresence
The theme of Ps. 139 is
God’s omniscience and omnipresence. The
psalmist recognizes God as present everywhere, One who is not only
all-powerful, but also all-knowing, One who has formed man from the womb, and
One whose presence man cannot escape.5
Ps.139 Compared to Psalm 104
http://www.bibleinsong.com/Song_Pages/Psalms/Psalm104/Psalm104.htm
This Psalm has often been
admired for the grandeur of its sentiments, the elevation of its style, as well
as the variety and beauty of its imagery. Bishop Lowth, in his 29th Prelection,
classes it amongst the Hebrew idyls, as next to the 104th, in respect both to
the conduct of the poem, and the beauty of the style. "If it be
excelled," says he, "(as perhaps it is) by the former in the plan,
disposition, and arrangement of the matter, it is not in the least inferior in
the dignity and elegance of its sentiments, images, and figures." "Amongst
its other excellencies," says Bishop Mant, "it is for nothing more
admirable than for the exquisite skill with which it descants on the
perfections of the Deity.
Psalm 104
(103)
God’s
boundless care for his creation: a psalm of worship
Douay-Rheims
Bible
O Lord,
My God, You Are Very Great
1For
David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art exceedingly
great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty:
2and art
clothed with light as with a garment. Who stretchest out the heaven like a
pavilion:
3who
coverest the higher rooms thereof with water. Who makest the clouds thy
chariot: who walkest upon the wings of the winds.
4Who
makest thy angels spirits: and thy ministers a burning fire.
5Who
hast founded the earth upon its own bases: it shall not be moved for ever and
ever.
6The
deep like a garment is its clothing: above the mountains shall the waters
stand.
7At thy
rebuke they shall flee: at the voice of thy thunder they shall fear.
8The
mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place which thou hast
founded for them.
9Thou
hast set a bound which they shall not pass over; neither shall they return to
cover the earth.
10Thou
sendest forth springs in the vales: between the midst of the hills the waters
shall pass.
11All the
beasts of the field shall drink: the wild asses shall expect in their thirst.
12Over
them the birds of the air shall dwell: from the midst of the rocks they shall
give forth their voices.
13Thou
waterest the hills from thy upper rooms: the earth shall be filled with the
fruit of thy works:
14Bringing
forth grass for cattle, and herb for the service of men. That thou mayst
bring bread out of the earth:
15and
that wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with
oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart.
16The
trees of the field shall be filled, and the cedars of Libanus which he hath
planted:
17there
the sparrows shall make their nests. The highest of them is the house of the
heron.
18The
high hills are a refuge for the harts, the rock for the irchins.
19He hath
made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
20Thou
hast appointed darkness, and it is night: in it shall all the beasts of the
woods go about:
21The
young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their meat from God.
22The sun
ariseth, and they are gathered together: and they shall lie down in their
dens.
23Man
shall go forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening.
24How
great are thy works, O Lord? thou hast made all things in wisdom: the earth
is filled with thy riches.
25So is
this great sea, which stretcheth wide its arms: there are creeping things
without number: Creatures little and great.
26There
the ships shall go. This sea dragon which thou hast formed to play therein.
27All
expect of thee that thou give them food in season.
28What
thou givest to them they shall gather up: when thou openest thy hand, they
shall all be filled with good.
29But if
thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled: thou shalt take away
their breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust.
30Thou
shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew
the face of the earth.
31May the
glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.
32He
looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he toucheth the mountains, and
they smoke.
33I will
sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have
my being.
34Let my
speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord.
35Let
sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no
more: O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
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Psalm 139 (138)
'The Hound of Heaven'
Douay-Rheims Bible
You Have Searched Me and Know
Me
1Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
2thou hast know my sitting down, and my rising up.
3Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my
path and my line thou hast searched out.
4And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is
no speech in my tongue.
5Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the
last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
6Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is
high, and I cannot reach to it.
7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither
shall I flee from thy face?
8If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I
descend into hell, thou art present.
9If I take my wings early in the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy
right hand shall hold me.
11And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and
night shall be my light in my pleasures.
12But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night
shall be light as day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike
to thee.
13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast
protected me from my mother's womb.
14I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully
magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.
15My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast
made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
16Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy
book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
17But to me thy friends, O God, are made
exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
18I will number them, and they shall be multiplied
above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee.
19If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of
blood, depart from me:
20Because you say in thought: They shall receive
thy cities in vain.
21Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee:
and pine away because of thy enemies?
22I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they
are become enemies to me.
23Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me,
and know my paths.
24And see if there be in me the way of iniquity:
and lead me in the eternal way.
Douay-Rheims Bible
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