Psalm 139:7 - You Have Searched Me and Known Me

Audio Bible

Context

You Have Searched Me and Known Me
…6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.…

Cross References

Genesis 28:16
When Jacob woke up, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it."1 Kings 8:27
But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.Jeremiah 23:24
"Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?" declares the LORD. "Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?" declares the LORD.Jonah 1:3
Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:23,24
Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? …

Jonah 1:3,10
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD…

Acts 5:9
Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

Jump to Previous

Face Flee Flight Presence Spirit Whither

Jump to Next

Face Flee Flight Presence Spirit Whither

Psalm 139

1. David praises God for his all-seeing providence
17. And for this infinite mercies
19. He defies the wicked
23. He prays for sincerity

(7) Spirit.--If this clause stood alone we should naturally understand by God's Spirit His creative and providential power, from which nothing can escape (comp. Psalm 104:30). But taken in parallelism with presence in the next clause the expression leads on to a thought towards which the theology of the Old Testament was dimly feeling, which it nearly reached in the Book of Wisdom. "The Spirit of the Lord filleth the world," but which found its perfect expression in our Saviour's announcement to the woman of Samaria.

Verse 7. - Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? The transition is now made from God's omniscience to God's omnipresence, ver. 5 having paved the way for it. God's presence is not to be escaped; his spirit is everywhere. "In him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). When Jonah sought to flee from his presence, he only found himself brought more absolutely and more perceptibly into his presence (comp. Jeremiah 23:24). Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

Where
אָ֭נָ֥ה (’ā·nāh)
Interrogative
Strong's 575: Where?, whither?, when?, hither and thither

can I go
אֵלֵ֣ךְ (’ê·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

to escape Your Spirit?
מֵרוּחֶ֑ךָ (mê·rū·ḥe·ḵā)
Preposition-m | Noun - common singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

Where
וְ֝אָ֗נָה (wə·’ā·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 575: Where?, whither?, when?, hither and thither

can I flee
אֶבְרָֽח׃ (’eḇ·rāḥ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1272: To bolt, to flee suddenly

from Your presence?
מִפָּנֶ֥יךָ (mip·pā·ne·ḵā)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

Links

Psalm 139:7 NIV
Psalm 139:7 NLT
Psalm 139:7 ESV
Psalm 139:7 NASB
Psalm 139:7 KJVPsalm 139:7 BibleApps.com
Psalm 139:7 Biblia Paralela
Psalm 139:7 Chinese Bible
Psalm 139:7 French Bible
Psalm 139:7 Catholic BibleOT Poetry: Psalm 139:7 Where could I go from your Spirit? (Psalm Ps Psa.)