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Psalm 139:5

You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.

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.
5You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
6This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
7Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
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← Psalm 139:4Psalm 139:6 →
Notice

God’s presence behind and before leaves no open side, a thought that can bring comfort and awe at being known without reserve.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What response does being hemmed in by God draw from you today?

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How does the image of God’s hand on you affect your sense of his nearness?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 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
Psalm 34:7The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.Both use the language of surrounding: God hems the speaker in, and the LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him.
Deuteronomy 33:27The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’Both passages describe God’s presence in physical terms: a hand laid on someone, and everlasting arms underneath his people.
Revelation 1:17When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,Both passages describe a hand laid on the speaker; Revelation adds an explicit word against fear.
Job 23:8–9“If I go east, he is not there. If I go west, I can’t find him.Both passages speak of God in relation to direction, though Job cannot find him and the psalmist describes being surrounded.
Exodus 24:11He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.Both mention God laying his hand on people, though Exodus describes him refraining and the psalm describes his touch.
Job 9:33There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.Both mention laying a hand on someone, though Job longs for an absent umpire and the psalmist speaks of God’s hand.
Where this verse fits

Anxiety or panic. feeling distant from God. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about anxiety →What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Tell God how being hemmed in by him feels

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Encouragement

God’s nearness exceeds what you can grasp. The speaker reaches the limits of understanding in the next line, while God remains behind and before.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 139:5. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 139 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).