The Heart's Cry: Psalm 139

Psalm 139

Ok, if I'm honest, and I do try to be in these posts, I wanted to spend this time complaining about this particular Psalm.

I wanted to do that for two reasons:

1) the 180 David does from talking about how God knows him better than anybody else, including himself, and yet is never far from him and then ends it by talking about God's destruction of the wicked. When I read it I almost get the feeling that it was added at a later time, or even by a different writer,  maybe it is, if I spent time reading commentaries along with these posts, maybe I would see that it possibly was.

2) the vast usage of verse 23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts" without the use of the context of it coming in such a hate filled stanza, when we are called to love people instead.

But, if I'm continuing to be honest, and again I do try, I have to admit that sometimes I can let my anger overtake my praise. Maybe that is what is happening in this Psalm, maybe David really wants to praise God, he wants to use that praise to overcome his base feelings about those who want to do him, and those whom he cares for, harm. Maybe that's what he wants to do but finds that he can't do. That is a place I can understand, that is a place I can imagine, because I have been there. Anger has always been an issue for me, I was born with a pretty good temper and I have always had difficulty controlling it, coincidentally this is an issue that I can see my son having to deal with also.

One of the ways I try to diffuse my anger is trying to see people through the eyes of God, and maybe that is what David is doing, by reminding himself how well God knows him, how close God follows him he can remember that the same is true for "the wicked". I put quotation marks around that because wicked is a matter of opinion, who I see as wicked God still sees as child. I try to see them through God's eyes, but sometimes my vision gets blurred by the wave of anger that is still just below the surface. I take some amount of comfort that David potentially dealt with the same issue, because it means that even in my failings I may still be "a man after God's own heart."

+ When you read the Psalm where do you find your focus?

+ Have you ever had anger, or some other feeling, overcome your ability to praise, or pray, or read the Bible?