
Text -- Psalms 139:4 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Clarke -> Psa 139:4
Clarke: Psa 139:4 - -- There is not a word in my tongue - Although ( כי ki ) there be not a word in my tongue, behold O Jehovah, thou knowest the whole of it, that is, ...
There is not a word in my tongue - Although (
Calvin -> Psa 139:4
Calvin: Psa 139:4 - -- 4.For there is not a word, etc. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say ...
4.For there is not a word, etc. The words admit a double meaning. Accordingly some understand them to imply that God knows what, we are about to say before the words are formed on our tongue; others, that though we speak not a word, and try by silence to conceal our secret intentions, we cannot elude his notice. Either rendering amounts to the same thing, and it is of no consequence which we adopt. The idea meant to be conveyed is, that while the tongue is the index of thought to man, being the great medium of communication, God, who knows the heart, is independent of words. And use is made of the demonstrative particle lo! to indicate emphatically that the innermost recesses of our spirit stand present to his view.
TSK -> Psa 139:4
TSK: Psa 139:4 - -- there is not : Psa 19:14; Job 8:2, Job 38:2, Job 42:3, Job 42:6-8; Zep 1:12; Mal 3:13-16; Mat 12:35-37; Jam 1:26, Jam 3:2-10
thou knowest : Psa 50:19-...
there is not : Psa 19:14; Job 8:2, Job 38:2, Job 42:3, Job 42:6-8; Zep 1:12; Mal 3:13-16; Mat 12:35-37; Jam 1:26, Jam 3:2-10
thou knowest : Psa 50:19-21; Jer 29:23; Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Psa 139:4
Barnes: Psa 139:4 - -- For there is not a word in my tongue - All that I say; all that I have power to say; all that I am disposed at any time to say. But lo, O ...
For there is not a word in my tongue - All that I say; all that I have power to say; all that I am disposed at any time to say.
But lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether - All that pertains to it. What is "said,"and what is "meant."Merely to "hear"what is spoken does not imply necessarily a full knowledge of what is said - for it may be false, insincere, hypocritical. God knows exactly what is said and what is "meant."
Poole -> Psa 139:4
Poole: Psa 139:4 - -- Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. Or rather, as others render it, and which is more admirable, When there is...
Thou knowest what I speak, and with what design and disposition of mind. Or rather, as others render it, and which is more admirable, When there is not a word , &c. Thou knowest what I intend to speak, either in prayer to thee, or in conversation with men, when I have not yet uttered one word of it.
Haydock -> Psa 139:4
Haydock: Psa 139:4 - -- Serpent. So Plautus says, "A double-tongued and wicked man is like a creeping beast," in Persa. (Haydock)
Serpent. So Plautus says, "A double-tongued and wicked man is like a creeping beast," in Persa. (Haydock)
Gill -> Psa 139:4
Gill: Psa 139:4 - -- For there is not a word in my tongue,.... Expressed by it or upon it, just ready to be spoken; or, as the Targum,
"when there is no word in my ton...
For there is not a word in my tongue,.... Expressed by it or upon it, just ready to be spoken; or, as the Targum,
"when there is no word in my tongue:''
so Aben Ezra,
"before it was perfect in my tongue:''
before it is formed there; while it is in the mind, and not expressed, and even before that;
but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether; the whole of it, from whence it springs; the reason of it, what is designed, or the ends to be answered by it. The Lord knows the good words of his people, which they speak to him in prayer, even before and while they are speaking them; and what they say to one another in private conversation, Isa 65:24. See an instance of words known by Christ before spoken, in Luk 19:31.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Psa 139:1-24
TSK Synopsis: Psa 139:1-24 - --1 David praises God for his all-seeing providence;17 and for his infinite mercies.19 He defies the wicked.23 He prays for sincerity.
MHCC -> Psa 139:1-6
MHCC: Psa 139:1-6 - --God has perfect knowledge of us, and all our thoughts and actions are open before him. It is more profitable to meditate on Divine truths, applying th...
Matthew Henry -> Psa 139:1-6
Matthew Henry: Psa 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 b...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Psa 139:1-7
Keil-Delitzsch: Psa 139:1-7 - --
The Aramaic forms in this strophe are the ἅπαξ λεγομ רע (ground-form רעי ) in Psa 139:2 and Psa 139:17, endeavour, desire, thin...
Constable: Psa 107:1--150:6 - --V. Book 5: chs. 107--150
There are 44 psalms in this section of the Psalter. David composed 15 of these (108-110...

Constable: Psa 139:1-24 - --Psalm 139
David praised God for His omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence in this popular psalm. It...
