Psalm 139 · Search Me, O God
The Psalm of God’s all-knowing love — thou hast searched me, and known me — and of the wonder of the fearfully and wonderfully made child.
KJV scripture foundation (selected verses)
Psalm 139:1-3, 7-10, 13-16, 23-24 (KJV):
O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways…
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me…
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them…
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
The Psalm has 24 verses; read the whole in the KJV.
Context
Psalm 139 is To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. It moves in four movements of six verses each: God knows me (vv. 1-6), God is everywhere (vv. 7-12), God made me (vv. 13-18), and the closing prayer — a plea against the wicked, ended by the great two verses: Search me…
Reflection
Verses 13-16 are the Bible’s clearest witness to the personhood of the unborn child. David does not say a substance was in the womb; he says I was — and God saw me, wrote my members, fashioned me in continuance. The child is a person from the moment of God’s beginning.
Verses 7-10 give the Christian a comfort no other faith can give. There is no place a child of God can go where God is not. The uttermost parts of the sea. The bottom of despair. The moment of dying. God is there.
Verses 23-24 are the closing prayer: Search me, O God… and lead me in the way everlasting. The Psalm that began with God searching us ends with our asking God to search us.
Family application
Psalm 139 is a great household Psalm to pray over children: the God who fashioned each of them in the womb loves each of them by name. Every child in the household is fearfully and wonderfully made.
It is also a good Psalm for the day a member of the household is afraid or ashamed. There is no place to hide from God, and there is no place from which God cannot lead them.
Prayer
O LORD, thou hast searched us, and known us. We give thee thanks for every child in this house, fearfully and wonderfully made by thy hand. Wherever we go, thou art there. Search us, O God, and know our hearts: try us, and know our thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us in the way everlasting. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Christian tradition
- A great household Psalm on the personhood of the unborn and on God’s omnipresence.
- Read in Christian pro-life witness and in prayers for expectant mothers.
- Verses 23-24 close many Christian services of examination and confession.
Related Atlas pages
Room connections
Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.
- Pray (Chapel) — use vv. 23-24 as a daily examination.
- Family (Kitchen Table) — read over children as a household blessing.
- Kids (Kids Kingdom) — a child who knows “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” knows the beginning of dignity.
- Read — Psalms — read the whole Psalm in one sitting.
Further reading
Psalm 139 (KJV) — the whole Psalm.
Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV) — before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.
Luke 1:15, 41-44 (KJV) — the babe leaped in the womb.
Augustine, on Psalm 139.
Elsewhere in the Atlas
Continue Your Journey
Where else this page opens into the household library.