Psalm 139:16 NLT

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 139:7-16

It is of great use to us to know the certainty of the things wherein we have been instructed, that we may not only believe them, but be able to tell why we believe them, and to give a reason of the hope that is in us. David is sure that God perfectly knows him and all his ways, I. Because he is always under his eye. If God is omnipresent, he must needs be omniscient; but he is omnipresent; this supposes the infinite and immensity of his being, from which follows the ubiquity of his presence;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect ,.... The word F17 גלמי "informe meum", Montanus; "glomus meam", Michaelis. for "substance" signifies a bottom of yarn wound up, or any rude or unformed lump; and designs that conglomerated mass of matter separated in the womb, containing all the essentials of the human frame, but not yet distinguished or reduced into any form or order; yet, even when in this state, the eyes of the Lord see it and all its parts distinctly; and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance - גלמי golmi , my embryo state - my yet indistinct mass, when all was wrapped up together, before it was gradually unfolded into the lineaments of man. "Some think," says Dr. Dodd, "that the allusion to embroidery is still carried on. As the embroiderer has still his work, pattern, or carton, before him, to which he always recurs; so, by a method as exact, revere all my members in continuance fashioned, i.e., from the rude embryo or mass they daily... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 139:16

Verse 16 16.Thine eyes beheld my shapelessness, etc. The embryo, when first conceived in the womb, has no form; and David speaks of God’s having known him when he was yet a shapeless mass, τὸ κύημα , as the Greeks term it; for τὸ εμβρυον is the name given to the foetus from the time of conception to birth inclusive. The argument is from the greater’ to the less. If he was known to God before he had grown to certain definite shape, much less could he now elude his observation. He adds, that all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:1-24

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:1-24

Lord, thou knowest altogether. This psalm, one of the most sublime of them all, is of unknown authorship. It seems to be the composition of some saint of God who lived after the Captivity. If so , what proof it gives of the blessing of sanctified sorrow (cf. the probably companion psalm, Psalms 119:1-176 ; Psalms 119:67 , Psalms 119:71 , Psalms 119:75 )! The furnace of the Exile, the husks of the far country, did bring prodigal Israel to himself; and this psalm is one clear... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:7-16

The domain of God. The main thought of these noble words is— I. THE BOUNDLESSNESS OF GOD 'S DOMAIN . Wherever we are, whithersoever we go, we are always within his charge. Could we reach the highest heavens, he is there; or the lowest depths of Hades, he is there; and could we wing our way to the far horizon, where sea and sky meet, he is there. In vain should we seek the shelter of the darkness, for darkness and light are alike to him. Even before the light of life shone... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:15-16

What a man can be and do God knows. The latter clause of Psalms 139:15 has been well rendered, "When I was wrought with a needle in the depths of the earth." There is an evidence of allusion to the sacerdotal robes, and the undescribable texture of the human system is compared to the exquisite needlework of the high priest's garments. Every man is a bundle of possibilities; but no man has precisely the same possibilities as any other man. Each man can be what nobody else can be; each man... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect ; or, "my embryo." The Hebrew text has but the single word גלמי , which probably means, "the still unformed embryonic mass" (Hengstenberg). And in thy book all my members were written ; literally, all of them ; but the pronoun has no antecedent. Professor Cheyne and others suspect the passage to have suffered corruption. But the general meaning can scarcely have been very different from that assigned to the passage in the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:16

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect - This whole verse is very obscure, but the “idea” in this expression clearly is, “Before I had shape or form thou didst see what I was to be.” The single word in the original translated “my substance, yet being unperfect,” is גלם gôlem. It occurs only in this place, though the verb - גלם gâlam - is found in 2 Kings 2:8, where it is used in reference to the mantle of Elijah: And Elijah took his mantle, and “wrapped it together,” etc. That... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 139:7-16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 139:16

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 139:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:1-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:1-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:7-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:15-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 139:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 139:16

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