Read Psalm 139:1-18. How does this text poetically depict God’s power (Ps. 139:1-6), presence (Ps. 139:7-12), and goodness (Ps. 139:13-18)? What does God’s greatness say about God’s promises?

 Did you ever want to help someone but had no means? Likewise, some people tried to help you but did not understand your needs. Unlike even the most loving and best-intentioned people, God has both the perfect knowledge of us and of our circumstances, and also the means to help us. Therefore, His promises of help and deliverance are not shallow platitudes but firm assurances.

 God’s knowledge of the psalmist is so great and unique that even his mother’s womb could not hide him from God (Ps. 139:13, 15). Divine knowledge pertains to time (Ps. 139:2), inner being (Ps. 139:2, 4), and space (Ps. 139:3)—the psalmist’s entire existence. God’s wonderful knowledge is the result of His creatorship and close acquaintance with people and is manifest in His care for them.

 This wonderful truth about God knowing us intimately should not scare us but instead drive us into the arms of Jesus and what He has accomplished for us at the Cross. For by faith in Jesus, we have been given His righteousness, “the righteousness of God” Himself (Rom. 3:5, 21).

 God’s presence is highlighted by depicting God as reaching as far as “hell” (sheol, “grave”) and “darkness” (Ps. 139:8, 11, 12), places not typically depicted as where God dwells (Ps. 56:13). His presence also is depicted as taking “the wings of the morning” (east) to reach “the uttermost parts of the sea” (west) (Ps. 139:9). What these images convey is the truth that there is no place in the universe where we can be out of God’s reach. Though God is not part of the universe, as some believe, He is close to it all, having not only created it but sustaining it, as well (see Heb. 1:3).

 As the One who knows all about us, God can help and restore us. The fresh realization of His greatness prompts an outburst of praise and renewed trust in the psalmist. He welcomes divine scrutiny as the means that can remove from his life anything that troubles his relationship with God.