Psalm 139
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- Reading the Text:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV, Common Worship Psalter, ASB Psalter, and BCP Psalter) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Hebrew text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
- Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
- "Omniscient," Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit.
- Chapter XXVIII of The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome (ca. 96).
- Similitude VII, Shepherd of Hermas. (c.145)
- IV.22, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- Chapter XV, On the Soul, Tertullian (c. 210)
- IV.Summary.35, First Principles (De Principiis), Origen / Rufinus (c.230)
- On the Lapsed -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 251)
- From Augustine's Exposition on the Psalms.
- Rashi's Commentary, c. 1075. chabad.org.
- From the Geneva Notes.
- From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
- From Wesley's Notes.
- From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
- Commentary, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Fred Gaiser, Preaching
This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
- "The psalm writer does not know all the details of Paul's confession, does not yet know Easter, but he knows God -- more, he knows that God knows him -- so he is willing to open himself to wherever this God is taking him, confident that there can be no separation."
- The Timeless Psalms: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (Epiphany B), Joan Stott, prayers and meditations based on lectionary Psalms, 2012.
- The Timeless Psalms: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, (Pentecost 5A,), Joan Stott, prayers and meditations based on lectionary Psalms, 2011.
- Commentary, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Nancy deClaissé-Walford, Preaching
This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
- "In any time, in any place where the faithful face wickedness, bloodshed, and deceit, the words of Psalm 139 provide comforting assurance of God's sovereign creation of, and care for, each person."
-
The Old Testament Readings:
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Pentecost 15. Weekly Comments on the Revised Common
Lectionary, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church,
Melbourne, Australia.
- "Psalm 139 is something of an exception in the Old Testament, speaking strongly and positively about the individual. Nevertheless, it acts as a foil to the modern obsession with privacy and the individual."
-
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Epiphany 2,
The Old Testament Readings: Weekly Comments on the Revised Common
Lectionary, Howard Wallace Audrey Schindler, Morag Logan, Paul Tonson,
Lorraine Parkinson, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne,
Australia.
- "Psalm 139 is something of an exception in the Old Testament, speaking strongly and positively about the individual."
-
Commentary, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-14, Anne E. Streaty-Wimblerly, The
African American Lectionary, 2008.
- "This text narrates a religious encounter with God that affirms human worth. It invites what may be called celebratory education, that which builds up our knowledge of the faith found in scripture, and leads us out to live with assurance of our valued identity."
-
Prayer in
Downtown, Psalm 81, Joel Smeby, Lutheran Community of Grace,
Hopkins, MN, 2010.
- "All of me is yours, Lord"
-
Environmental &
earth-centered reflections from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota Environmental
Stewardship Commission.
- "No matter what stumbling blocks we have before us, the psalmist reminds us God is with us in the midst of them."
- "The Human Embryo in Christian Tradition," study guide for adults, Robert B. Kruschwitz, (other resources at) "Cloning," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2005.
-
"Searched
and Known,"
Expository Essay,
Dr. William R. Long.
Part 2.
- "Most of wish that the psalm ended with v. 18. Indeed, the lectionary text ends there, but the psalm keeps going. We don't like the spirit of hatred expressed in vv. 19-22."
- Commentary, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, Fred Gaiser, Preaching
This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
- Articles & Background:
-
"Dying Well," Abigail Rian Evans,
(other resources at)
"Health," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian
Ethics at Baylor University, 2007.
- "Dying well begins with our perspective on life and living well."
-
"The
Logic and Lyric of Contrition," Robert C. Roberts, Wheaton College.
Theology Today, July 1993.
- "Penitence is a solidity of character nurtured by action after action, insight after insight, that consolidate the self in the terms of contrition...an emotion (I call it contrition) is the centerpiece and moving force of the process of repentance and the formation of a new self."
- "Body
Imagery in Psalm 139 and its Significance for Biblical Anthropology,"
Christl Maier, Lectio Difficilior: European Journal for Feminist Exegesis,
2/2001.
- "A theological anthropology, no matter if it argues from an exegetical, historical, systematic or practical viewpoint, cannot disregard the relationship between God and humankind."
- "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made," LeDayne McLeese Polaski, (other resources at) "Children," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University, 2003.
-
"A
Journey of Return," Dan Wakefield. Theology
Today, 1990.
- "As I thought and read about these things and wanted to know more about prayer and meditation and how all this related to the rest of my life, I talked with my minister .... With the minister's help, I sought out a person .... [and] I was thrilled when the spiritual director turned out to be a nun. I hoped she might give me some clandestine Catholic formula.... So I went to see her and got out my notebook to take down instructions, eager to do anything she advised, even if it involved beads and incense (artifacts terrifying to the imagination of a boy once dunked as a Baptist). She told me to go look at a tree."
-
"A
Spiritual Guide for the Jewish Patient," by Dr. David R. Blumenthal, Professor of
Judaic Studies, Emory University.
- "The Jewish patient should begin by realizing that, while his or her doctors are doing everything within their power to heal her or his illness -- and it is a positive commandment from God for the doctor to heal -- doctors do not control our ultimate destiny. With that realization, the Jewish sick person should turn to God, the great Power that is beyond this universe, and seek help and solace. There are many texts; we need to know them and use them."
-
"Three is Not
Enough: Jewish Reflections on Trinitarian Thinking," by Dr. David R. Blumenthal,
Professor of Judaic Studies, Emory University.
- "Philosophic rabbinic Judaism, which begins in the ninth century, first raised the systematic question of God language. Which words, the philosophers asked, are to be taken literally -- that is, which words have truth value as descriptors of, and modes of address to, God?"
-
"How
We Imagine God Matters," Marcus Borg. beliefnet.
- "It's normal to personify God in worship and devotion. But we shouldn't take these personifications literally."
-
"Dying Well," Abigail Rian Evans,
(other resources at)
"Health," Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian
Ethics at Baylor University, 2007.
- Recommended articles
from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are
linked below.
ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of
selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices.
- Booij, Th.,
"Psalm CXXXIX: Text, Syntax, Meaning," Vetus Testamentum, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Brown, William P., "Psalm 139: The Pathos of Praise,"
Interpretation, 1996.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Collins, C. John, "Psalm 139:14 - 'Fearfully and
Wonderfully Made'?" Presbyterion, 1999.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Dorgan, Sister Margaret Dorgan, D.C.M., "The Ageing
Body," The Living Pulpit, 2006.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Harmon, Steven R., "Theology Proper and the Proper
Way to Pray: An Exposition of Psalm 139," Review & Expositor,
2007.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Holman, Jan, "The Structure of Psalm 139," Vetus
Testamentum, 1971.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Peels, H.G.L., "'I Hate Them with Perfect Hatred'
(Psalm 139:21-22)," Tyndale Bulletin, 2008.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Rice, Gene, "Psalm 139: A Diary of the Inward Odyssey,"
Journal of Religious Thought, 1980/81.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Rice, Gene, "The Integrity of the Text of Psalm
139:20b," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1984.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Roberts, Robert C., "The Logic and Lyric of
Contrition," Theology Today, 1993.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Shinn, Roger L., "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,"
The Living Pulpit, 2006.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Wakefield, Dan, "A Journey of Return," Theology
Today, 1990.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Young, E. J., "The Background of Psalm 139,"
Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1965.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Booij, Th.,
"Psalm CXXXIX: Text, Syntax, Meaning," Vetus Testamentum, 2005.
- Reviews:
- Sermons:
- "Hemmed In," Jeremy Troxler, Duke Divinity School's Faith & Leadership, 2010.
- "The Essence of God's Presence," Rev. Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 2008.
- "When God Goes on Leave of Absence," Dr. Lewis Smedes, 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 1996.
- "The Escape from God," Paul Tillich, from The Shaking of the Foundations, 1955. At Religion Online.
- With Children:
- "I'm So Wonderfully Made," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts.
- "You Have Looked Deep Within My Heart," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
- Drama:
- Liturgy:
- The Timeless Psalms: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 (Epiphany B), Joan Stott, prayers and meditations based on lectionary Psalms, 2012.
- The Timeless Psalms: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24, (Pentecost 5A), Joan Stott, prayers and meditations based on lectionary Psalms, 2011.
- Responsive Liturgical Paraphrase at The Billabong by Rev Jeff Shrowder, Uniting Church in Australia:
- Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Psalm 139:11-12, Psalm 139:11-12, Psalm 139:13-16, Heartlight - Free Christian PowerPoint Backgrounds.
- Hymns and Music:
- Between Your Shadow and Mine, free meditation music download from Prayerscapes.
- Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
- Hymns with Scripture Allusions: Psalm 139. The Cyber Hymnal.
- Hymn Selections, The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship.
- "You Know My Soul," Psalm 139, six-part mixed choir, Michael E. Ekbladh, United Methodist Church GBOD.
- "You Are There, You Are There," lyrics, midi, sheet music, mp3. Stephen J. Pearson, The Psalmistry. See Terms of Use.
- Psalm Settings by Dale A. Schoening, Metrical Psalms
- Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 set to Maryton (LM)
- Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 set to Dix (77 77 77)
- At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke files, projection text):
- Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
- Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
- Study Links and Resources for the Book of Psalms
