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LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.
Verse 1. David. He, ( Calmet.) Ezechias, (Ven. Bede) the captives, (Bossuet) or Jesus Christ and his servants under persecution, speak in this psalm. Holy Fathers. See Psalms 55. Calmet.
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
Verse 2. Man. Saul, ( Calmet.) Judas, (S. Hil.) or self-love, the old man, who is our most dangerous enemy. Bert.
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Verse 3. Battles. And formed plots to destroy the just. Worthington.
For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether.
Verse 4. Serpent. So Plautus says, “A double-tongued and wicked man is like a creeping beast,” in Persa. Bible.
You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
Verse 6. Side. The enemies of David calumniated him, and strove to make him follow idols. 1 Kennicott. 26:19.
Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
Verse 8. Battle. Against Goliath, or against the attempts of Saul, and so forth Calmet.—Prayer and divine grace are necessary, to guard us from sin. Worthington.
Sheol is the place of the dead.
If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Verse 9. Desire. If I yield to my passions, (Saint Augustine) or after I have expressed my request, contrary to my desire, and so forth Hebrew “Grant not the desire of the sinner, complete not his thought. They will be elated.” Some supply, “lest they be.” The ancients seem not to have read in the same manner. Bert.—Abandon not my soul, which is all my care, (Psalms 21:21) to the sinner. Calmet.
even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
Verse 10. Head. Hebrew also, “poison,” (Bert.) or “sum” of their mischievous devices. Worthington.—Labour, or punishment. Calmet.—Their subtle persuasions shall turn to their ruin. Worthington.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,”
Verse 11. Fire of hell, ( Worthington. Chal.) as well as temporal afflictions, from lightning, and so forth Psalms 17:9. Bible.—Some have ridiculed the belief of hell. But the universality of this opinion is a strong proof of it, as it is also confirmed by revelation. Bert.
even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
Verse 12. Tongue. This member is very dangerous. Pet. Bless. 119. Jam. 3:6.—The just man is nt styled “a man of tongue,” but “of heart;” for which reason Christ exhorted his disciples not to make long speeches in prayer. Matthew 6:7. Bert.—Into. Lit. “in;” though ( Bible.) it should be into, conformably to the Septuagint Bert.
Raro antecedentem scelestum
Deseruit pede pœna claudo. Hor. iii. Od. ii.
For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Verse 13. I know. Hebrew “thou knowest.” But some copies read more accurately. Houbig.—Poor. Thus, in the end, was Lazarus treated. Worthington.
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
Verse 14. Countenance in glory, when thou shalt appear. 1 John 3:2. Bible.—The shall dwell under thy special protection in the tabernacle. Calmet.
My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
LORD, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.