Psalms 139:11

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”;

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,”

BSB

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—

KJV

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

ASV

If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, And the light about me shall be night;

BBE

If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;

Original Hebrew

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Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 7–16

We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go? In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach. No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him. Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies. On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend. Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. The grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body. No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer.

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Spurgeon · Verse 11

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me. Dense darkness may oppress me, but it cannot shut me out from thee, or thee from me. Thou seest as well without the light as with it, since thou art not dependent upon light which is thine own creature, for the full exercise of thy perceptions. Moreover, thou art present with me whatever may be the hour; and being present you discover all that I think, or feel, or do. Men are still so foolish as to prefer night and darkness for their evil deeds; but so impossible is it for anything to be hidden from the Lord that they might just as well transgress in broad daylight.

Darkness and light in this agree;

Great God, they're both alike to thee.

Thine hand can pierce thy foes as soon

Through midnight shades as blazing noon.

A good man will not wish to be hidden by the darkness, a wise man will not expect any such thing. If we were so foolish as to make sure of concealment because the place was shrouded in midnight, we might well be alarmed out of our security by the fact that, as far as God is concerned, we always dwell in the light; for even the night itself glows with a revealing force, —even the night shall be light about me. Let us think of this if ever we are tempted to take license from the dark —it is light about us. If the darkness be light, how great is that light in which we dwell! Note well how David keeps his song in the first person; let us mind that we do the same as we cry with Hagar, "Thou God seest me."

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Cross-references

8

Topics

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.