Psalm 139:2
ESV
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
NIV
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
NASB
You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away.
CSB
You know when I sit down and when I stand up; you understand my thoughts from far away.
NLT
You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
KJV
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
NKJV
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
What does Psalm 139:2 mean?
David acknowledges in this verse that the Lord's knowledge is thorough and perfect. This is poetically summarized by saying God knows when David sits down and gets up. He even knows David's thoughts. He knows David's every motion and discerns everything about his thoughts. He discerns their moral quality and what motivates them.Hebrews 4:13 tells us, "No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." When Jesus called Nathanael to be His disciple, He told him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (John 1:48). Nathanael was so amazed at Jesus' knowledge that he declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49). John 2:24–25 says about Jesus, "he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."
