7. David's Psalm of Surrender to the Searcher (Psalm 139)

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
https://www.jesuswalk.com/greatprayers/7_david_surrender.htm
Audio (29:45)

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Woodcut from illustrated German Bible, Der Psalter
"Der Psalter," woodcut from illustrated German Bible, by Rudolf Schäfer (1929). Larger image.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5You hem me in -- behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

 

Many psalms in the Bible mix praise and petition. You'll have a paean of praise, then an earnest petition, a dialog between the psalmist and God. As we get to know God better, our prayers often include discussions with God of the situations in our lives, the things we are struggling with, often concluding with a deliberate request of God for help.

The psalm we'll consider today is one of those dialog psalms -- and one of the most moving and beautiful psalms in the whole Bible. The inscription attributes it to David. Let's examine it.

Remember that we are reading inspired Hebrew poetry that relies heavily on parallelism. Don't be intimidated by the beauty and eloquence of it. Look for the thoughts. Look at this as a dialog going on in the psalmist's mind. How would you express these thoughts to God in your own way? When you see this as a give and take, a dialog, a discussion or dispute with God that is finally resolved by a prayer of surrender, then it becomes a prayer that you can learn from.

Yahweh the Searcher (139:1-4)

"1O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD." (139:1-4)

The psalm begins in verse 1 with two verbs, "search" and "know," and ends with the very same verbs in verse 23. The psalm is about God's probing deep into a man's character, sometimes a most unpleasant, uncomfortable exercise (cf. Jeremiah 12:3).

The first word is "searched," Hebrew ḥāqar, which "always connotes a diligent, difficult probing." The word is used for investigating legal cases or the plight of the needy, examining proverbs, looking for information about a city or country, etc. God searches us, probes the heart, examines the mind, and knows us (Jeremiah 17:10; Job 13:9; Psalm 44:21).1

The second word is "know/known," the common verb yāda‘, "know, discern, recognize." Here it is used to express acquaintance with a person.2

2You know (yāda‘) when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive3my thoughts from afar.
3You discern4my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar5with all my ways.
4Before a word is on my tongue
you know (yāda‘) it completely, O LORD.

David is acutely aware that God knows his thoughts before he thinks them, his words before he speaks them. God knows his plans, his errands, his comings and goings, his strengths, his weaknesses, even his secret sins -- literally everything about him.

Hemmed In by God (139:5-7)

David seems a bit of frustrated by this, like you might if you knew your phone was being bugged and you were under constant surveillance.

"You hem me in -- behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me." (139:5)

"Hem in" (NIV, NRSV) and "beset" (KJV) is ṣûr, "bind, besiege," "This root means to make secure a valuable object, such as money."6The valued object here is David himself, watched, guarded. If you can imagine what it might be like to be guarded 24 hours a day by teams of Secret Service agents, kept out of harm's way, insulated from danger, perhaps you get a bit of his frustration. He appreciates it, but.... He can't understand such intimate knowledge.

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain." (139:6)

Now he wonders out loud if there is any escape from God.

"Where can I go7from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?" (139:7)

Not that he particularly wants to escape, but he is feeling constricted. You've felt that way, too, when you are tempted with a favorite sin, but know you shouldn't give in because God is watching. It sounds crazy, doesn't it? But sometimes we chafe under God's scrutiny. People have been fleeing from God ever since Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8) and the prophet Jonah fled from his destiny in Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-3).

"Flee" is bāraḥ, "flee, run away." Basically bāraḥ means "to go or pass through" and "to flee or hurry." It occurs mostly in narratives, referring to flight from an enemy.8But when God has laid his hand on you, there is no place to run.

Q1. (139:7) Why do people sometimes want to flee from God? Why do people imagine that God doesn't know what they do? Have you ever felt this way?
https://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=366

 

 

 

 

 

The Omnipresent God (139:8-10)

Annoyance isn't all the psalmist is feeling. He is overcome with awe at God's omnipresence. "The psalmist, wherever he went, would find himself confronted with a God who was already there," says Allen. "As a man he can be only one place in the world at once, but God is everywhere."9

"8If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast." (139:8-10)

"The depths" (NIV), "hell" (KJV), or "Sheol" (NRSV) is the Hebrew noun she’ôl. There is much dispute about the exact meaning of the word, though it obviously refers to the place of the dead. Both good men and bad men go there (Genesis 37:35; Numbers 16:30). Probably it originally meant "the grave," and only later became a specialized word for "hell."10

In the heavens or the in the grave, God is present with us. The sea was often a thing of danger and fear for the Israelites, who were not seagoing people. So to "settle on the far side of the sea," would be to have passed through much danger and be far away from home.

The phrase "rise on the wings of dawn" is an evocative, poetic expression. "Wing" (kānāp) is an appendage of a bird with which it flies, "denoting speed as well as protection." David sees the speed with which the sun of dawn travels from East to West.11Even though he could quickly travel far, far away, God will be there, too.

Dear friend, are you feeling alone or lonely right now? You may be cut off from human companionship for a time, but God is ever present. There's no place you can go to get rid of him, shake him off your trail, keep him away from your side. He is with you -- forever! "I will never leave you or forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Psalm 37:25, 28; Isaiah 41:10, 17).

The Strong and Tender Hand of God (139:10-12)

Notice how the psalmist speaks of God's hand. In verse 5 he says:

"You hem me in -- behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me."

For God to "lay his hand" on someone could be for harm (Genesis 22:12; 37:22; Exodus 7:4; 24:11; 1 Samuel 23:17; 26:9, 11, 23; Esther 8:7; 9:2; Isaiah 11:14; Ezekiel 39:21, etc.) or for blessing (Genesis 19:16; Ezra 8:31), depending on the context. Here it seems to be positive, since in verse 10 he says:

"... even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast."

God's hand is upon David for good. "Guide" is nāḥā, "lead, guide, "the conducting of one along the right path,"12also used in verse 24. "Hold" or "hold fast" is ’āḥaz, "take hold of, seek, grasp."13God's grip will not slip, no matter what the danger. God's guidance will be clear, no matter how much fog might obscure the path. Even pitch blackness is of no concern to God (Job 34:22; Hebrews 4:13). I love this passage:

"If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,'
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you." (139:11-12)

Are you undergoing depression, anxiety, persecution, the pain of separation from one you love, failure and defeat, utter desolation? If so, know this: No matter how black it is to you, no matter how impossible it seems, the path is clear to God. This morning in the car I found myself singing that 1976 praise chorus taken from Jeremiah 32:17, KJV):

"Ah Lord God, thou hast made the heavens
And the earth by thy great power.
Ah Lord God, thou has made the heavens
And the earth by thy outstretched arm.
   Nothing is too difficult for thee.
   Nothing is too difficult for thee.
   Great and mighty God,
   Great in power and mighty in strength!
   Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing,
   Nothing is too difficult for thee!"14

No matter where you are or what is going on in your life, God is with you and his might and power are active on your behalf. Hallelujah!

Q2. (139:5, 10). In verses 5 and 10, how does God's hand touch the psalmist? Have you ever felt God's hand on you in a special way? Was it for your good? What was it like?
https://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=367

 

 

 

 

The Creator of My Inner Person (139:13-16)

The psalmist has considered knowledge of his ways and paths. Now he examines God's intimate knowledge of his very beginnings, his formation, and his inner being.

"13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be." (139:13-16)

Let's meditate on this beautiful passage for a moment to see God's intricate and tender care for us in the womb.

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb." (139:13)

"Created" (NIV), "possessed" (KJV), and "formed" (NRSV) is qānā, which here (and 5 other places in the Old Testament) appears to mean "create."15God has made the heavens and the earth by his great power, but also the tiniest parts of a tiny human while still an embryo, a fetus. God's awesome power extends to the smallest detail. "Inmost being" (NIV), "inward parts" (NRSV), and "reins" (KJV) is kilyâ, "kidney," then a symbol of the innermost being.16

"... You knit me together in my mother's womb." (139:13b)

The psalmist uses a fascinating word, here translated "knit together" (NIV, NRSV) and "covered" (KJV). The verb is śākak (also in Job 10:11) which probably means "weave together," parallel to "woven together" in verse 15, an allusion to cloth woven with different colored threads.17Imagine a weaver, an artist in cloth, weaving an intricate pattern, and you see God's love and care.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well." (139:14)

"Fearfully" is yārē’, which means "fear, revere," here in the sense of reverence or awe.18 "Wonderfully" is pālā, "be distinct, marked out,"19while "wonderful" (NIV, NRSV) and "marvelous" (KJV) is the verb pālā’, "to be wonderful" (spelled slightly differently in Hebrew than pālā), from a root that refers to things that are unusual, beyond human capabilities.20 

The psalmist regards his formation inside his mother with awe and reverence. He is "distinct and marked out," now as he was from the time of his creation. God's work is amazing. When you hold your firstborn in your arms and count all the tiny fingers and toes, you feel what the psalmist was feeling. Awe, amazement, wonder at the miracle of conception, formation, and birth. Wow!

But he continues:

"My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body." (139:15-16a)

"The depths of the earth" are "a metaphor here for deepest concealment, i.e., the hiddenness of the womb."21

"Woven together" (NIV), "intricately woven" (NRSV), and "curiously wrought" (KJV) is rāqam, "variegate, weave with variegated threads, also with threads of gold and silver,"22"suggesting the complex patterns and colors of the weaver or embroiderer."23

Finally, we see a hint of predestination, or at least God's numbering of the psalmist's days before he is ever born:

"All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be." (139:16b)

"Ordained" (NIV), "fashioned" (KJV), and "formed" (NRSV) is yāṣar, "fashion, form, frame," used in parallel with bāra’ "create" and ‘aśâ "make" in a number of passages. The word is also used of God's framing or devising something in his mind, of his preordained purposes.24Here determination of length of life is evidently in view.25

Q3. (139:13-16) How does an awareness of God's involvement in your prenatal development meant to encourage you? What might this mean to a young woman carrying a child? A young father-to-be? Why is such knowledge overwhelming to us?
https://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=368

 

 

 

 

 

God's Precious Thoughts (139:17-18)

Do we resent God's intimate connection to us as an invasion of privacy, an intrusion on our "space"? We could, and sometimes do. But the psalmist rather sees God's personal forming of his body and person as an awesome revelation of the immensity of God's "brain" and attention to the same kind of detail with every human being. Multiply "2000 parts" times 8 billion living human beings and you begin to get the picture that David sees here:

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand." (139:17-18a)

The intricacy of God's thoughts26is "precious" (NIV, KJV) and "weighty" (NRSV), Hebrew yāqar, "be precious, valuable, costly, esteem," from a root that conveys the idea of "heavy, honor, dignity."27

David finishes this section with a word of reassurance:

"When I awake,
I am still with you." (139:18b)

Sleep can sometimes be fearful for children, especially when they have been raised on the prayer, "... and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." David sleeps and when he awakes, he realizes with joy and comfort, "I am still with you." You and I may wake one morning and find ourselves in heaven, but it will nevertheless be true, "I am still with you." There is a comfort in God's mercy.

Hating God's Enemies (139:19-22)

The next section we find somewhat difficult this side of the cross:

"19If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies." (139:19-22)

"Hate" is śānē’, "hate, to be hateful.... It expresses an emotional attitude toward persons and things which are opposed, detested, despised and with which one wishes to have no contact or relationship. It is therefore the opposite of love."28

Jesus taught us Christians to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven..." (Matthew 5:44-45a). But David's sentiment has something to say to us. Sometimes we find ourselves siding with God's enemies, those who go their own way. We must be careful to "hate evil" (Psalm 97:10) as God does, and not be so tolerant that we embrace it and condone it.

Petition: Search Me and Test Me (139:23-24)

Now, after 22 verses of pondering, being annoyed by, and being awed by God's personal focus on his life, David seems to drop to his knees in surrender and pray from the bottom of his heart:

"23Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." (139:23-24)

Consider this prayer. We saw the key words "search" (ḥāqar) and "know" (yāda‘) in verse 1; now we return to them as the core of our petition.

David not only prays that God may search and know him. He prays for God's deep probing and refining. "Test" (NIV, NRSV) or "try" (KJV) is bāḥan, "examine, try, prove." It often occurs in parallel with "put to the test, tempt" (nāsā) or "smelt, refine" (ṣārap), and falls in between these two.29

Only a person who has come to trust God can sincerely pray for God to refine him or her. Refining is arduous. Refining is painful. But the loving probing and discipline of God eventually yields "the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11).

Do you feel some anxiety praying such a vulnerable prayer? So did David: "Test me and know my anxious thoughts," he prays. "Anxious thoughts" (NIV) or "thoughts" (KJV, NRSV) is śar‘appîm, "disquieting thoughts."30This prayer may be breaking new ground for you. You may have been resistant or at best passive about praying this way. Perhaps you've heard the common Christian admonition, "Don't pray for patience, because God will send you trials" -- and who wants trials? But with David, as you've learned to trust the seeking, questing, probing God, you are now able to surrender yourself to him willingly, actively to his refining care.

David prays, "See if there is any offensive way in me" (139:24a). "Offensive" (NIV), "wicked" (KJV, NRSV), and "hurtful" (NRSV margin) are ‘ōṣeb, "sorrow."31Often with our acute sense of guilt we are unwilling for God to reveal more sin and impurity; we are overwhelmed with what we see already! But now, as trusting children, we ask our Father to reveal those things in us which may offend him or be hurtful to us. And in his gentleness, God answers our prayer.

The Path Leading into Eternity (139:24b)

"... And lead me in the way everlasting." (139:24b)

When you come down to it, this fearful prayer for refining is a prayer in our own interest. This is the manner in which God can fit us for a life that stretches on and on into God's forever present -- eternity.32

The Bible calls it a "way," derek, "way, road." Since it comes from a root meaning "to tread, trample," it refers to "a path worn by constant walking." It is often used metaphorically of the actions and behavior of men who follow the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked.33Jesus instructed his disciples:

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

You want to be on the right path, not the wrong path. You don't want to be deceived about eternity, do you? And so you pray that awesome, trusting prayer to Jesus, the Guide: "Lead me in the way everlasting" (139:24b). "Lead" is nāḥā, "lead, guide, "the conducting of one along the right path," which we saw in verse 10.34 

I am distinctly aware as I am writing this that God is speaking directly to individuals. Perhaps you've never prayed this kind of prayer before because you've been afraid to. Because you've been holding on to control so hard that your knuckles are white and the muscles in your hands are fatigued. Pray it now.

Perhaps you've been exploring the Christian faith, but haven't yet asked Jesus to be your Guide along the Way. Now is the time. It can be a simple prayer like this that opens for you the door of salvation: "Jesus, I sense you've been there waiting for me. You know all about me -- you always have. And now you are calling to me, 'Follow me.' My answer is, Yes, I will follow you. Please forgive me of my sins, cleanse my heart and motives, and embrace me in your protection and care. I give myself to you now. In the holy name of Jesus, I pray. Amen."

We've been studying prayer, dear friends. and now is the time to put it into practice. Will you begin to pray David's prayer of surrender as your own heart's cry?

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

Q4. (139:23-24) Why is this prayer of surrender to God so difficult to pray? When was the first time you prayed this kind of prayer to God? What was the result? Can a person be a genuine disciple without praying this kind of prayer?
https://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=369

 

 

 

Prayer

Great Prayers of the Bible: Discipleship Lessons in Petition and Intercession, by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson (JesusWalk Publications, 2011)
Now available as an e-book and paperbook

O Lord, do that intense searching in me afresh. I give you full permission -- as if you needed it. Refine me and make me the person you've wanted me to be before I ever took a breath. Complete your dream for me in my life and heart. And lead me in your Way, now and forever. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Key Verses

This passage has not just one or two key verses, but several. I encourage you to commit them to memory:

"If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you." (Psalm 139:11-12)

"13For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be." (Psalm 139:13-16)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

References

Standard abbreviations https://www.jesuswalk.com/greatprayers/refs.htm

  1. Herbert Wolf, ḥāqar, TWOT #729b.
  2. Paul R. Gilchrist, yāda‘, TWOT #848.
  3. Bîn, "understand, consider, perceive, prudent, regard" (Louis Goldberg, bîn, TWOT #239).
  4. "Discern" (NIV), "search out" (NRSV), and "compassest" (KJV), zārā, means literally "scatter, winnow, sift," used here metaphorically perhaps as "examine," in the way that threshed grain is winnowed by tossing it in the wind to separate the wheat from the chaff. "The difficult usage in Psalm 139:3 may be a semantic extension of this root in the sense of "examine" or, as BDB suggest and KB and Dahood (in Anchor Bible, Psalms III) affirm, may be a denominative verb zārā "to measure" from the noun zeret "span." (R. Laird Harris, zārā, TWOT #579. Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (Word Biblical Commentary; Word, 1983), p. 250.)
  5. Sākan, "be of use, service, profit," in verse 3, translated "familiar" (NIV) and "acquainted" (NRSV, KJV). Here it "suggests God's superintending care of the believer" (R.D. Patterson, sākan, TWOT 1494)
  6. John E. Hartley, ṣûr, TWOT #1898.
  7. "Go" is hālak, "go, walk" (hālak, TWOT #498).
  8. Earl S. Kalland, bāraḥ, TWOT #284.
  9. Allen, Psalms 101-150, p. 251.
  10. R. Laird Harris, shā’al, TWOT #2303c. Allen observes, "The accessibility of Sheol to Yahweh receives a dual treatment in the Old Testament. It is often denied in a stress that fellowship with God and enjoyment of his blessing are confined to this life. While it is not within Yahweh's sphere of blessing, it is within his sphere of sovereignty" (Allen, Psalms 101-150, p. 251).
  11. John N. Oswalt, knp, TWOT #1003a. Delitzsch understands it this way: "If I should lift wings such as the dawn of the morning has, i.e. could I fly with the swiftness with which the dawn of the morning spreads itself over the eastern sky, towards the extreme west and alight there" (Franz Delitzsch, Psalms, in loc., Keil and Delitzsch, vol. 5, Psalms vol. 3, p. 347. He also notes the expressions wings of the sun (Malachi 4:2) and wings of the wind (Psalm 18:10).
  12. nāḥā, TWOT #1314.
  13. Herbert Wolf, ’āḥaz, TWOT #64.
  14. "Ah, Lord God," words and music by Kay Chance, ©1976 by Kay Chance.
  15. Leonard J. Coppes, qānā, TWOT #2039.
  16. John N. Oswalt, klh, TWOT #983a.
  17. śākak, TWOT #2260. Allen, Psalms 101-150, p. 251.
  18. Andrew Bowling, yārē’, TWOT #907.
  19. Victor P. Hamilton, pālā, TWOT #1722.
  20. As such, it awakens astonishment (pl’) in man. Victor P. Hamilton, pālā’, TWOT #1768.
  21. Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries; InterVarsity Press, 1975), p. 466
  22. KB 909.
  23. Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 466.
  24. Thomas E. McComiskey, yāṣar, TWOT #898.
  25. Allen, Psalms 101-150, p. 252.
  26. "Thoughts" is rēa‘, "purpose, aim," (TWOT #2187), both here and in verse 2.
  27. John E. Hartley, yāqar, TWOT #905.
  28. Gerard van Groningen, śānē’, TWOT #2272.
  29. Bāḥan is used mainly in the spiritual or religious realm with God as the subject and man as the object, denoting attaining knowledge intellectually or intuitively (John N. Oswalt and Bruce K. Waltke, bāḥan, TWOT #230).
  30. Ś‘p, TWOT #2273.
  31. "Hurtful way," BDB 780. The root word ‘āṣab could be could be either "to worship" or "to cause pain." Ronald B. Allen, ‘āṣab, TWOT #1666b or #1667b. Allen translates it, "See if I have been behaving as an idolater."
  32. "Everlasting" is ‘ôlām, "forever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient," pointing to what is hidden in the distant future or in the distant past (Allan A. MacRae, ‘lm, TWOT #1631a).
  33. Herbert Wolf, dārak, TWOT #453a.
  34. nāḥā, TWOT #1314.

Great Prayers of the Bible

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