A Transparent Heart

Psalm 139:17-18 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

I think you have to read both of these verses together to get the best understanding. I remember thinking early on that David was describing his thoughts about the Lord. The context of this psalm makes it clear that David is describing God’s thoughts about him. The fact that he numbers them as more than the grains of sand is a commentary on how strong David’s faith in God’s love for him was.

I do think there is a legitimate application to David’s thoughts toward God as well in the last part of verse 18. It seems as if David is saying that when he goes to sleep, he is focused on his relationship to God (implied by the word still); and when he wakes up, his first thoughts are about God. I can honestly say that I have grown in relationship to the point that I can make that same statement quite often. My desire is to grow to the point that my every thought, word, and deed is made with reference to His presence in my life and how it glorifies Him.

Psalm 139:19-20 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

I am sometimes surprised at how abruptly the psalmist seems to change the directions of his thoughts. At one moment he is praising God and thanking Him, and then he turns his thoughts to his enemies, who are most often equated to God’s enemies. That’s foreign to my type of thinking. David, however, was a warrior, and much of his life was spent defending himself from his enemies. Because he considered himself a man of God, he naturally associated his enemies with God’s enemies. I think David’s actions many times reflect the truth that he expected God to act or to give him specific direction to act on his behalf against his enemies—whether Saul or even his own son. He seemed to desire to align his battlefield activities according to God’s direction—his treatment of Uriah being an obvious exception. David’s respect for life ties in directly with his understanding of the worth that God places on each individual through the care that He takes in the creation of that person. In Saul’s case, in particular, he knew that he was dealing with a man that was God’s anointed; and even though he knew he had been anointed by God to succeed Saul, he knew that he should respect God’s authority as to when and how that succession would be effected.

In reading several other translations, this verse is worded more as a desire on David’s part that God would just go ahead and destroy all the wicked people that caused him such grief since these same people showed their disdain for God, especially by using His name so flippantly and profanely.

Psalm 139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

In these verses David is expressing his love and honor for the LORD. He was expressing his extreme hatred for the enemies of God as a reflection of his love for his LORD. It seems to be clarifying his thoughts in the previous verses. Anyone who is an enemy of God is an enemy of David. It’s like a son professing his love and commitment to his father by rejecting fellowship or refusing to have compassion on anyone who would show his father disrespect of any kind.

I couldn’t help but think of the Lord’s teaching that we should love our enemies. It would seem in these verses that David had no understanding of that concept. The key difference is that David lived in a time that was functioning under the law. It took Jesus, God in flesh, to come and example and teach us the true intent of the law. David was jealous for God’s honor, and one of the best ways he could express that was to express hatred for those who did not honor God as he did. Jesus is jealous for the honor of His Father as well, and He expressed that jealousy by throwing the moneychangers out of the temple in defense of that honor. Jesus, however, primarily came to reveal the character of God and to provide redemption for wicked, sinful man. His desire was to bring more people into relationship with Himself. He exampled a lifestyle that expressed concern for the sinner through humility and forgiveness without regard to self, and He taught that to honor Him we should follow that example.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

After expressing the desire for God to destroy the wicked, David begins to look introspectively. He loves his Lord, and truly desires to live his life in obedience to and respect for Him. He invites God to search his heart again. If God finds any wicked thoughts or desires, his prayer is for the Lord to direct his thoughts and desires according to the straight way that aligns with God’s way. He is looking forward to a relationship with the Lord that will never end.