John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 139:5
Thou hast beset me behind and before ,.... Art on every side of me, all around me, like one besieged in a strait place; so that there is nothing I can think, say, or do, but what is known unto thee. The two Kimchis, father and son, render the word, "thou hast formed me": and interpret it of the formation of his body, of which, in Psalm 139:14 ; see Job 10:8 but it denotes how God compasses men with his presence and providence, so that nothing escapes his knowledge; and laid thine hand... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 139:1-6
David here lays down this great doctrine, That the God with whom we have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before him. I. He lays down this doctrine in the way of an address to God; he says it to him, acknowledging it to him, and giving him the glory of it. Divine truths look fully as well when they are prayed over as when they are preached over, and much better than when they are disputed... read more