Bible Commentary

Psalms 139:5

The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 139:5

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Wonderful knowledge.

"Thou hast laid thine hand upon me." Aben Ezra called this "the crown of all the psalms." Man is completely in God's power—physically, intellectually, and morally.

I. Look AT THE PROOFS.

1. Man's spiritual nature. Sense of sin and responsibility; conscience; instinct of prayer; sense of Divine omniscience.

2. The Divine providence. God's omnipresence; our lot appointed and mysteriously controlled.

3. In the provisions of the gospel. Cannot wholly throw off the power of the Divine love or Divine Law. God's hold of us through Christ much greater that our hold of him.

II. FOR WHAT PURPOSE DOES GOD EXERCISE HIS POWER OVER MAN? Not to destroy his freedom of will and action.

1. To assert his property in us.

2. To make man conscious of his calamity and his hope. By the remedy in the gospel.

3. To draw man to himself as the exclusive Redeemer.—S.

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