Psalm 139:24
See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
And see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting
And see
The Hebrew word for "see" is "ra'ah," which means to look at, inspect, perceive, or consider. In this context, it is a plea for God to examine the innermost parts of the psalmist's heart. This request for divine inspection reflects a deep desire for purity and righteousness. It is an invitation for God to scrutinize one's life, acknowledging that human understanding is limited and divine insight is necessary for true self-awareness.

if there is any offensive way in me
The phrase "offensive way" comes from the Hebrew "derekh otseb," which can be translated as a way of pain, sorrow, or idolatry. The psalmist is asking God to reveal any path within him that leads to sin or separation from God. This reflects a heart of repentance and humility, recognizing that sin can be subtle and deeply ingrained. The historical context of Israel's frequent struggles with idolatry and disobedience underscores the importance of this introspection.

and lead me
The Hebrew word "nachah" is used here, meaning to guide or direct. This is a request for God’s leadership and direction, acknowledging that human wisdom is insufficient for navigating the complexities of life. The psalmist seeks divine guidance to walk in righteousness, emphasizing the need for God’s continual presence and influence in one's life.

in the way everlasting
The term "way everlasting" is derived from "derekh olam," which signifies an eternal path or the way of eternity. This is not merely a request for guidance in this life but a desire for a path that leads to eternal communion with God. The psalmist is expressing a longing for a life aligned with God's eternal purposes, reflecting the biblical theme of life beyond the temporal, rooted in the hope of eternal life with God. This phrase encapsulates the ultimate goal of the believer's journey: to walk in a manner that leads to everlasting fellowship with the Creator.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of Psalm 139, King David, is expressing a deep desire for God to search his heart and guide him. Known for his close relationship with God, David often sought divine guidance and introspection.

2. God
The central figure in this Psalm, God is portrayed as omniscient and omnipresent, capable of knowing the innermost thoughts and guiding believers in righteousness.

3. The Way Everlasting
This phrase refers to the path of eternal life and righteousness that God leads His followers on, contrasting with the "offensive way" that leads away from God.
Teaching Points
Self-Examination and Openness to God
As believers, we should regularly invite God to search our hearts and reveal any offensive ways. This openness allows for spiritual growth and alignment with God's will.

The Importance of Divine Guidance
Recognizing our limitations, we must rely on God's guidance to lead us in the way everlasting. This requires humility and a willingness to follow His direction.

Contrast Between Sinful and Righteous Paths
The "offensive way" represents sin and separation from God, while the "way everlasting" signifies a life aligned with God's eternal purposes. We must choose daily to walk in righteousness.

The Role of Scripture in Guidance
Engaging with the Bible helps us discern God's path and avoid offensive ways. Scripture serves as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can we practically invite God to search our hearts in our daily lives, and what might this look like in practice?

2. In what ways can we discern if we are walking in an "offensive way," and how can we correct our course?

3. How does understanding God's omniscience and omnipresence, as described in Psalm 139, impact our trust in His guidance?

4. What are some specific scriptures that have helped you understand the "way everlasting," and how have they influenced your walk with God?

5. How can we encourage one another in our communities to seek God's guidance and walk in His ways?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 23
This Psalm also speaks of God leading His people, emphasizing His role as a shepherd guiding His flock along righteous paths.

Jeremiah 17:10
This verse highlights God's ability to search the heart and examine the mind, similar to David's request for God to search him in Psalm 139.

Matthew 7:13-14
Jesus speaks of the narrow path that leads to life, which aligns with the "way everlasting" mentioned in Psalm 139:24.
Discovery of Concealed SinA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 139:24
Secret SinsW. S. Plumer, D. D.Psalm 139:24
The Way EverlastingPsalm 139:24
The Way of Sin is the Way of GriefPsalm 139:24
God All-SeeingPsalm 139:1-24
God and OurselvesW. Hoyt, D. D.Psalm 139:1-24
God OmniscientWeekly PulpitPsalm 139:1-24
God's Exhaustive Knowledge of ManT. W. Chambers, D. D.Psalm 139:1-24
God's Knowledge of ManW. G. T. Shedd, D. D.Psalm 139:1-24
God's Omniscience and OmnipresenceH. Woodcock.Psalm 139:1-24
God's PresenceArchbishop Temple.Psalm 139:1-24
Lord, Thou Knowest AltogetherS. Conway Psalm 139:1-24
The All-Seeing and All-Present OneHomilistPsalm 139:1-24
The All-Seeing GodMonday Club SermonsPsalm 139:1-24
God's Thoughts Concerning UsG. F. Humphreys.Psalm 139:17-24
God's Thoughts of UsH. Johnson, D. D.Psalm 139:17-24
God's Unexpressed ThoughtsR. Roberts.Psalm 139:17-24
Our Thoughts About God's ThoughtsPsalm 139:17-24
Precious ThoughtsR. Roberts.Psalm 139:17-24
The Precious Thoughts of GodA. C. Price.Psalm 139:17-24
The Thoughts of the Infinite Appreciated by ManHomilistPsalm 139:17-24
Thoughts of GodRobert Tuck, B. A.Psalm 139:17-24
God the Heart-SearcherJames Hamilton, M. A.Psalm 139:23-24
God's SearchT. De Witt Talmage.Psalm 139:23-24
God's Searching DesiredS. Conway Psalm 139:23, 24
Imperfections DetectedR. Venting.Psalm 139:23-24
Man Accountable for His ThoughtsN. L. Frothingham.Psalm 139:23-24
Man Addressing GodM. Braithwaite.Psalm 139:23-24
On Being Known of GodA. Mackennal, D. D.Psalm 139:23-24
Our SearcherW. Birch.Psalm 139:23-24
Our ThoughtsR. Tuck Psalm 139:23, 24
Prayer for Self-KnowledgeC. Bradley, M. A.Psalm 139:23-24
Prayer to God to Search the HeartW. Howels.Psalm 139:23-24
Request for God's SearchingC. Short Psalm 139:23, 24
Search Me, O GodA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 139:23-24
Self-ExaminationB. Beddome, M. A.Psalm 139:23-24
Self-ExaminationB. Beddome, M. A.Psalm 139:23-24
Self-ExaminationRobert Philip, D. D.Psalm 139:23-24
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
140, Chief, David, Eternal, Everlasting, Grievous, Guide, Hurtful, Lead, Musician, Offensive, Psalm, Sorrow, Wicked
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 139:24

     6206   offence

Psalm 139:23-24

     1466   vision
     8128   guidance, receiving

Library
August 31. "Lead Me in the Way Everlasting" (Ps. cxxxix. 24).
"Lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. cxxxix. 24). There is often apparently but little difference in two distinct lives between constant victory and frequent victory. But that one little difference constitutes a world of success or failure. The one is the Divine, the other is the human; the one is the everlasting way, the other the transient and the imperfect. God wants to lead us to the way everlasting, and to establish us and make us immovable as He. We little know the seriousness of the slightest
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

God's Scrutiny Longed For
'Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.'--PSALM cxxxix. 23, 24. This psalm begins with perhaps the grandest contemplation of the divine Omniscience that was ever put into words. It is easy to pour out platitudes upon such a subject, but the Psalmist does not content himself with generalities. He gathers all the rays, as it were, into one burning point, and focusses them upon himself: 'Oh,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

September the Eighteenth the All-Round Defence
"Thou hast beset me behind." --PSALM cxxxix. 1-12. And that is a defence against the enemies which would attack me in the rear. There is yesterday's sin, and the guilt which is the companion of yesterday's sin. They pursue my soul like fierce hounds, but my gracious Lord will come between my pursuers and me. His mighty grace intervenes, and my security is complete. "Thou hast beset me ... before." And that is a defence against the enemies which would impede my advance and frighten me out of
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Kingdom Divided
THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS: Jonah Page Amos Page Isaiah Page OUTLINE FOR STUDY OF PROPHETICAL BOOKS 1. Class. 2. Commission of Prophet. 3. Biographical Description of Prophet. 4. Title of Prophet. 5. Historical Place. (a) Name of Kingdom. (b) Names of Kings. 6. Outline of Contents. 7. Prophecies of Earthly Kings or Kingdoms. 8. Prophecies of Christ. 9. Prophecies of Christ's Kingdom. 10. Leading Phrases. 11. Leading Chapters. 12. Leading Teachings. 13. Questions. 14. Items of Special Interest.
Frank Nelson Palmer—A Bird's-Eye View of the Bible

The Tests of Love to God
LET us test ourselves impartially whether we are in the number of those that love God. For the deciding of this, as our love will be best seen by the fruits of it, I shall lay down fourteen signs, or fruits, of love to God, and it concerns us to search carefully whether any of these fruits grow in our garden. 1. The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

God Omnipresent and Omniscient --Ps. cxxxix.
God Omnipresent and Omniscient--Ps. cxxxix. Searcher of hearts! to Thee are known The inmost secrets of my breast At home, abroad, in crowds, alone, Thou mark'st my rising and my rest, My thoughts far off, through every maze, Source, stream, and issue,--all my ways. How from Thy presence should I go, Or whither from Thy Spirit flee, Since all above, around, below, Exist in Thine immensity? If up to heaven I take my way, I meet Thee in eternal day. If in the grave I make my bed With worms and dust,
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24
Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24. All hearts to Thee are open here; All our desires are known; And we are that which we appear To Thee, good Lord, alone. No eye of man can penetrate, Another's secret mind, Nor well discern his own estate, Naked, and poor, and blind. The entrance of Thy word gives light: Let it so shine within, That each may tremble at the sight Of his unbosom'd sin. With godly sorrow make him grieve, Till hope spring out of grief, And,cry with tears, "Lord, I believe, Help Thou mine unbelief."
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Excursus on the Present Teaching of the Latin and Greek Churches on the Subject.
To set forth the present teaching of the Latin Church upon the subject of images and the cultus which is due them, I cite the decree of the Council of Trent and a passage from the Catechism set forth by the authority of the same synod. (Conc. Trid., Sess. xxv. December 3d and 4th, 1563. [Buckley's Trans.]) The holy synod enjoins on all bishops, and others sustaining the office and charge of teaching that, according to the usage of the Catholic and Apostolic Church received from the primitive times
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

An Unanswered Question
'What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?'--Mark ix. 33. Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death? Note-- I. The variations of feeling common to the disciples and to us all: one moment 'exceeding sorrowful,' the next fighting for precedence. II. Christ's divine insight into His servants' faults. This question was put because He knew what the wrangle had been about. The disputants did not answer, but He knew without an answer, as His immediately
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Out of the Deep of Doubt, Darkness, and Hell.
O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night unto Thee. Oh! let my prayer enter into Thy presence. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto Hell. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of darkness, and in the deep.--Ps. lxxxviii. 1, 2. If I go down to Hell, Thou art there also. Yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee; but the night is as clear as the day.--Ps. cxxxix. 7, 11. I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

The Deity of the Holy Spirit.
In the preceding chapter we have seen clearly that the Holy Spirit is a Person. But what sort of a Person is He? Is He a finite person or an infinite person? Is He God? This question also is plainly answered in the Bible. There are in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments five distinct and decisive lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit. I. Each of the four distinctively Divine attributes is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. What are the distinctively Divine attributes? Eternity, omnipresence,
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

The Suffering of Love.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."--John xv. 13. Love suffers because the spirit of the world antagonizes the Spirit of God. The former is unholy, the Latter is holy, not in the sense of mere opposition to the world's spirit, but because He is the absolute Author of all holiness, being God Himself. Hence the conflict. There is no point along the whole line of the world's life which does not antagonize the Holy Spirit whenever He touches it. Whenever
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Hardening Operation of Love.
"Being grieved for the hardness of their heart."--Mark iii. 5. Love may also be reversed. Failing to cherish, to uplift, and to enrich, it consumes and destroys. This is a mystery which man can not fathom. It belongs to the unsearchable depths of the divine Being, of which we do not wish to know more than has been revealed. But this does not alter the fact. No creature can exclude itself from the divine control. No man can say that he has nothing to do with God; that he or any other creature exists
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Inconsideration Deplored. Rev. Joshua Priestley.
"And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness."--HOSEA vii. 2. Is it possible for any man to conceive of truths more fitted to arrest the attention and impress the heart than are those contained in this volume? It has been said that if a blank book had been put into our hands, and every one of us had been asked to put into it the promises we should like to find there, we could not have employed language so explicit, so expressive, and so suited to all our varied wants,
Knowles King—The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern

Annunciation to Joseph of the Birth of Jesus.
(at Nazareth, b.c. 5.) ^A Matt. I. 18-25. ^a 18 Now the birth [The birth of Jesus is to handled with reverential awe. We are not to probe into its mysteries with presumptuous curiosity. The birth of common persons is mysterious enough (Eccl. ix. 5; Ps. cxxxix. 13-16), and we do not well, therefore, if we seek to be wise above what is written as to the birth of the Son of God] of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed [The Jews were usually betrothed ten or twelve months
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Love of Christ.
THE Patience of Christ was recently the object of our meditation in these pages. Blessed and inexhaustible it is. And now a still greater theme is before our hearts. The Love of Christ. The heart almost shrinks from attempting to write on the matchless, unfathomable love of our blessed and adorable Lord. All the Saints of God who have spoken and written on the Love of Christ have never told out its fulness and vastness, its heights and its depths. "The Love of Christ which passeth knowledge" (Ephesians
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Kingdom Undivided
THE POETICAL BOOKS: Psalms Page Song of Solomon Page Proverbs Page THE PSALMS I. The Collection and Divisions: In all probability the book of one hundred and fifty psalms, as it now stands, was compiled by Ezra about 450 B.C. They are divided into five books, each closing with a benediction, evidently added to mark the end of the book. Note the number of psalms in Books 1 and 2. II. The Purposes: 1. They were originally used as songs in the Jewish Temple Worship.
Frank Nelson Palmer—A Bird's-Eye View of the Bible

The Knowledge of God
'The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.' I Sam 2:2. Glorious things are spoken of God; he transcends our thoughts, and the praises of angels. God's glory lies chiefly in his attributes, which are the several beams by which the divine nature shines forth. Among other of his orient excellencies, this is not the least, The Lord is a God of knowledge; or as the Hebrew word is, A God of knowledges.' Through the bright mirror of his own essence, he has a full idea and cognisance
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

How the Simple and the Crafty are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 12.) Differently to be admonished are the simple and the insincere. The simple are to be praised for studying never to say what is false, but to be admonished to know how sometimes to be silent about what is true. For, as falsehood has always harmed him that speaks it, so sometimes the hearing of truth has done harm to some. Wherefore the Lord before His disciples, tempering His speech with silence, says, I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now (Joh. xvi. 12).
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Christ Teaching by Miracles
We have seen how many valuable lessons our Saviour taught while on earth by the parables which he used. But we teach by our lives, as well as by our lips. It has passed into a proverb, and we all admit the truth of it, that "Actions speak louder than words." If our words and our actions contradict each other, people will believe our actions sooner than our words. But when both agree together, then the effect is very great. This was true with our blessed Lord. There was an entire agreement between
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

The Disciple, -- Master, it is Clear to Almost Everyone that to Disobey God And...
The Disciple,--Master, it is clear to almost everyone that to disobey God and to cease to worship Him is sin, and the deadly result is seen in the present state of the world. But what sin really is is not absolutely clear. In the very presence of Almighty God, and in opposition to His will, and in His own world, how did sin come to be? The Master,--1. Sin is to cast aside the will of God and to live according to one's own will, deserting that which is true and lawful in order to satisfy one's own
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Appendix xvii. The Ordinances and Law of the Sabbath as Laid Down in the Mishnah and the Jerusalem Talmud.
The terribly exaggerated views of the Rabbis, and their endless, burdensome rules about the Sabbath may best be learned from a brief analysis of the Mishnah, as further explained and enlarged in the Jerusalem Talmud. [6476] For this purpose a brief analysis of what is, confessedly, one of the most difficult tractates may here be given. The Mishnic tractate Sabbath stands at the head of twelve tractates which together from the second of the six sections into which the Mishnah is divided, and which
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Being of God
Q-III: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES PRINCIPALLY TEACH? A: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Q-IV: WHAT IS GOD? A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is, 1: Something implied. That there is a God. 2: Expressed. That he is a Spirit. 3: What kind of Spirit? I. Implied. That there is a God. The question, What is God? takes for granted that there
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

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