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Psalm 139:2
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.
2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether.
Notice
Sitting down and rising up are small movements, yet David names them as known to God, along with thoughts no one else can see.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What thoughts occupy you when you first sit down or get up each morning?
Write on thisWhat response comes as you consider that God perceives your thoughts “from afar”?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Chronicles 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands …David's words to Solomon name the same knowledge he speaks of in the psalm: God understands human thoughts.
2 Corinthians 10:5throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of …Both concern thoughts before God; the psalm speaks of his knowledge, while Paul speaks of bringing thoughts into obedience to Christ.
Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, …The psalm says God perceives thoughts, and Hebrews says God's word discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks …God's perception reaches beyond what people see: he knows thoughts in the psalm and looks at the heart in Samuel.
Matthew 9:4Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?David addresses God as the one who perceives thoughts; Matthew describes Jesus knowing the thoughts of those he addresses.
2 Kings 19:27But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.Both name sitting down as known to God; Kings also names going out, coming in, and raging against him.
Job 42:2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be restrained.Both speak to God with confidence: David speaks of God's knowledge, while Job speaks of his power and purpose.
Isaiah 37:28But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.Both name God's knowledge of sitting down; Isaiah applies that knowledge to someone whose movements and rage God knows.
Psalm 94:11The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.Both psalms say the LORD knows human thoughts; Psalm 94 also names their futility.
Luke 9:47Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,The psalm names God's perception of thoughts, and Luke describes Jesus perceiving the reasoning of people's hearts.
John 2:24–25But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone,Both describe knowledge of people: David says God knows him, and John says Jesus knew everyone.
Proverbs 15:3The LORD’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.Both describe the reach of God's awareness: he perceives thoughts from afar and watches the evil and the good everywhere.
Where this verse fits
An ordinary day. loneliness. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Your ordinary movements fall within God's knowledge. So do the thoughts you have yet to put into words. Even “from afar,” he perceives them.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).