Chapter 138

To the end of David, psalm of Zechariah, in the dispersion. This psalm, although it refers to the person of Zechariah, when the children of Israel, and with them the prophet himself, were still in captivity; but it depicts God’s care for us, and describes how God provides not only for the whole universe, but also for every part of it, so that our movements and thoughts are not left without His Providence. The psalmist marvels at the depth of the economy, clearly points to the calling of the pagans and to the resistance to the Savior Christ shown by the people of Israel. And for the reason of all this, the psalm is inscribed: “the end of David.” We have noticed more than once that the psalms written in this way refer to the time of the coming of the Lord. Ps.139:1. Lord, you have tempted me, and you have known me. In full confidence that he has firm faith in Christ, and that he did not take any part in the iniquity of the wicked people, he calls the Creator of hearts himself as a witness. Ps.139:2. You understood my thoughts from afar If the movement of thoughts is known to God, then all the more does He have knowledge of how we go through life. Ps.139:3. You have explored my path and already mine. “Already” here has the meaning of a certain measure of the path. The prophet understands that God knows every movement of thought: for the word “paths” means movements. Ps.139:4. For there is no flattery in my tongue. And this constitutes the most important of David’s merits, that he does not use his tongue for evil, neither in lies, nor in false oaths, nor in deception and flattery, nor in any other similar way. Behold, Lord, you have known Ps.139:5. all the latest and ancient. It is silent about what is between the ancient and the last; because the midst of this is filled with malice, which was not in the beginning and will not be in the end either. You created me, and you laid Your hand on me. You, he says, created me and support what was created. For the laying on of the hand of God signifies the gift of the Spirit given to us, just as the Apostles taught the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. Ps.139:6. Your mind is amazed at Me: if you strengthen yourself, I will not be able to reach it. This means: God has shown him many other blessings, and he is not able to know them. Knowledge of this, he says, exceeds my strength and is beyond my understanding; and therefore, I cannot explore this and express it in words. For everything that I have said is both small and meager; to comprehend the Divine power is beyond the reach of my smallness. Ps.139:8. Even if I ascend to heaven, You are there. This is similar to what was said: “heaven is my throne” (Is. 66:1). If I go to hell, there you are. Prophesies about the future descent of the Lord into hell. Ps.139:9. If I take my krills early and dwell in the last of the seas, that is, if I take the wings of birds that are not yet tired (for this means the word “early”), not weakened by flying and full of strength. The meaning of the speech is this: You embrace everything, Lord, you know everything in advance, you are present everywhere, and you fill everything like God. What will happen to me if I happen to fall into some kind of sin and the need arises to flee when everything is embraced by You, Lord? Ps.139:11. And reh: food will the darkness trample me? It is said “he will trample” instead of: he will cover and hide from Your eyes. But even this darkness for Your knowledge is, as it were, the very light. Ps.139:12. As is its darkness, so is its light. As the night is dark for me, so it is light for You. He says about the wombs (Ps. 139:13) that they give rise to fear. I have always feared You, says the prophet, because I have always had Your judgment before my eyes. Ps.139:13. You took me from the womb of my mother. It was not without reason that I acquired Your fear, because when I was still in the womb, Your providence protected me. Ps.139:14. Let us confess to You that You were terribly surprised. After the word about God spoken before this, it is time to make a confession. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows very well. This power is indescribable to me, but it is open to You God. Ps.139:15. My bone is not hidden from You, which You have created in secret. The desire of the woman whom You secretly created from my bones, plunging me into a deep sleep, did not hide from You; on the contrary, our secret is known in secret to Him who created the wife. And my composition is in the depths of the earth. And if I am destroyed and turned into dust, then You know this too. Ps.139:16. Your eyes have seen what I have not done. Before I received my image, the eyes of Thy foreknowledge saw and saw me, not simply, but as already included, enrolled and inscribed in Thy book. The days will be created, and no one will be in them. All the days of their lives they behaved in a decorous and orderly manner; they did not have a single day that was disorderly or unsettled. Ps.139:17. I am very honest with Thy friends, O God. This is similar to what was said: “receive a prophet in the name of the prophet; he will receive the reward of the prophet” (Matthew 10:41). Ps.139:18. I will count them, and they will multiply more than sand. Honoring Your friends, I am confident that on the Resurrection I will stand with them, and for their sake I will gain honor for myself and with You. Then, of course, the sinners will be beaten, that is, they will receive the punishment they deserve. Ps.139:19. Even if God kills sinners. Knowing what punishments will befall them, he, as it were, excommunicates them from himself. Men of blood, turn away from Me, Ps.139:20. for it is natural to be jealous in your thoughts. He names the reason why he expels sinners from himself, and says: they are expelled because they contradict and oppose God, in vain being exalted and puffed up by human life. Ps.139:21. Do not those who hate You, O Lord, hate You? I loved and accepted Your friends; I completely hated Your enemies. And the enemies of God, firstly and in the proper sense, are unclean demons; secondly, after demons - the defenders of idolatry and the leaders of heresies. You might be interested in: