Psalm 139 (138):12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

To clarify this point, the prophet adds, “And I said, ‘Will darkness cover me?’ But even the night is light to me. For darkness is not dark to You, and the night shines like day: as its darkness, so shall its light be.” After explaining what has been stated, emphasizing that God is not merely present everywhere but also directing, watching over, and safeguarding, the prophet now reveals something remarkable—that God's protection and guidance occur in a supernatural manner. He states, “Your hand shall lead me and Your right hand shall uphold me,” followed by, “And I said, ‘Will darkness cover me?’” Another translation renders it: if I say, “Perhaps the darkness will envelop me.” A third version suggests: will it conceal me? Here, “darkness” symbolizes despair.

Our Lord Jesus Christ communicates through the Prophets, at times in His own voice and at other times in ours, as He unites Himself with us; as it is written, "the two shall become one flesh." Hence, the Lord declares in the Gospel regarding marriage that they are no longer two but one flesh. One flesh, as He assumed our mortal form; not one deity, since He is the Creator and we are the created. Thus, whatever our Lord expresses through the humanity He embraced pertains both to that Head which has ascended into heaven and to the members that remain engaged in their earthy trials. Let us listen to our Lord Jesus Christ as He speaks through the prophecies. For the Psalms were chanted long before He was born of Mary, yet not before He was acknowledged as Lord; for from eternity, He was the Creator of all things, while in time, He became incarnate from His own creation. Let us affirm our faith in this divine nature, striving to comprehend Him as equal to the Father. This divine nature, equal to the Father, partook of our mortal essence—not from His own lineage, but from ours—so that we might also partake of His divine essence, not from our lineage, but from His.

2. "Lord, You have searched me and known me" (Psalm 138:1). Let the Lord Jesus Christ Himself declare this; let Him also address the Father: "Lord." For His Father is not His Lord except as He chose to be born in the flesh. He is the Father of God, the Lord of Man. Do you know who His Father is? The Son equal to Him. The Apostle states, "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6-7). This form is seen in the Father, who is equal to Himself, the only begotten Son, begotten from His own essence. For our sake, in order that we might be transformed and share in His divine nature, being renewed unto eternal life, He took upon Himself our mortal nature. What does the Apostle say about Him? "But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, He was found in the appearance of a man." He existed in the form of God, equal to the Father; He took on the form of a servant to become lesser than the Father.

3. "You know my sitting down and my rising up" (Psalm 138:2). What is there to sit, what is there to rise? The one who sits humbles himself. The Lord thus sat during His Passion, and rose in His Resurrection. You—He says—acknowledged it; that is, You willed it, You approved it; by Your will, it was accomplished. But if you choose to accept the words of the Head as uttered through the Body: a man sits in humility when he repents, and he rises when forgiven of his sins, gaining the hope of eternal life. Do not exalt yourselves unless you first humble yourselves. Many desire to stand before they sit; they long to seem righteous before they confess their sinfulness.

4. "You understand my thoughts from afar; You discern my path and my lying down" (Psalm 138:3); "and are acquainted with all my ways" (Psalm 138:4). What is afar? While I am still on my pilgrimage, before reaching my true home, You have discerned my thoughts. The younger son journeyed to a distant land. After toil, suffering, sorrow, and want, he remembered his father and desired to return, saying, "I will arise and go to my father." He proclaimed, "I will arise," for before he sat down. Here you can recognize the saying: "You knew my sitting down and rising up." I sat in want; I rose with a desire for Your sustenance. "You understand my thoughts from afar." Truly I have journeyed far; yet where is He whom I have forsaken? Therefore, the Lord mentions in the Gospel that his father met him as he walked. Indeed; for he discerned his thoughts from afar. "My way," he acknowledges; what but a wretched way, the path he took to abandon his father...? What is my way? The route I have traversed. What is my limit? What I have achieved. You have observed my path and my boundary. This boundary of mine, however distant, was not hidden from Your sight. Far I have traveled, yet You were ever present. And all my ways You have known beforehand. He did not say "knew," but "knew in advance." Before I traversed them, before I entered them, You saw them in advance; and You allowed me to go my way in toil, that, if I would not toil, I might return to Your ways. For there is no deceit on my tongue. What did he mean by this? Behold, I confess: I have gone my own way, distanced from You, and have strayed from You, with whom I flourished, and for whom, away from You, it was dire.

5. "Behold, You know all my works, both last and ancient" (Psalm 138:5). You recognized my last works when I tended swine; You recalled my ancient deeds when I requested my share of the inheritance. The ancient works marked the commencement of my most recent woes: the original sin, from our fall; the last affliction, upon entering this tedious and perilous mortality. And if it was the last for us, so it will be if we now wish to return. For there is yet one final judgment for some wicked, for whom it will be said, "Depart into everlasting fire" (Matthew 25:41). "You have formed me, and Your hand rests upon me." Where have You formed me? In this mortality; now to the labor for which we were all created. For no one is born, but God fashioned him in his mother’s womb; there is no being whose Maker is not God. But You have fashioned me in this labor and placed upon me Your avenging hand, Your chastising hand, humbling the proud. For in such healing has He brought low the proud, that He might exalt the humble.

6. "Your skill has been wondrously manifested in me; it has become mighty; I cannot attain it" (Psalm 138:6). Listen now and comprehend something truly profound, yet richly rewarding in understanding. Moses, the holy servant of God, to whom God spoke from the cloud, needed to engage, in human terms, with some work of His own hands which He had undertaken.... He yearned to witness the truth of God’s manifestation and said to God, "If I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your Glory" (Exodus 33:13). When he fervently longed for it, and earnestly implored God, speaking in a friendly manner, as God had deigned to treat him, that he might behold His Glory and His Face—as we might refer to God’s Face—He replied, "You cannot see My Face; for no man can see My Face and live" (Exodus 33:20). "But I will place you in the cleft of the rock, and I will pass by and put My hand upon you; and when I pass by, you shall see My back." From these declarations arises another mystery, an obscure representation of truth. "When I pass by," says God, "you shall see My back," as if He has a front and a back. We do not conceive of this Majesty in such a manner! For whoever entertains such thoughts about God, of what value is it to him that the temples are closed? He erects an idol in his heart. These words contain profound mysteries... Those who were angry with the Lord whom they beheld now seek counsel on how they may be saved, and it is told to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Behold, they have seen His back, whose face they were unable to perceive. For His hand was not eternally veiled before their eyes, but while He was passing. Once He departed, He lifted His hand from their vision. When the hand was withdrawn from their sight, they asked the disciples, "What shall we do?" Initially, they were fierce, then loving; first enraged, then fearful; first hardened, then kind; first blind, then enlightened...

7. Behold, you find that a fugitive in a distant land cannot elude the gaze of the One from whom he flees. And where now shall he go, whose boundary is reached? Is that what he laments? "Where can I escape from Your Spirit?" (Psalm 138:7). Who in this world can evade the Spirit with which the world is filled? "And where can I flee from Your presence?" He seeks refuge from God’s wrath. What shelter exists for God’s fugitive? Those who shelter fugitives inquire from whom they have fled; and should they find one enslaved by a master weaker than themselves, they provide shelter without fear, thinking, "He has no master to pursue him." But when they hear of a mightier lord, they either refuse to provide shelter or do so with great trepidation, for even a formidable man may be deceived. Where is it that God is not present? Who can deceive God? Who is unseen by God? From whom will God not demand accountability for his flight? Where does that fugitive think to escape from the presence of God? He twists and turns as if seeking a refuge.

8. "If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, You are there" (Psalm 138:8). At last, wretched fugitive, you have learned that there is no means to depart from Him from whom you sought to escape. Look, He is everywhere; you, where will you go? He discovered counsel, and that counsel was inspired by Him who now remembers it.... If I, having sinned, descend into the depths of wickedness and refuse to confess, saying, "Who sees me?" (for in Hades, who confesses to You?), "You are there to punish." Where can I flee to escape Your presence, to evade Your ire? Such a plan he concocts: "So I will escape," he says, "from Your face, I will flee from Your Spirit; from Your vengeful Spirit, from Your fierce presence, I will take flight." How? "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the farthest parts of the sea" (Psalm 138:9). How may I escape from Your face? If he believes he can run to the farthest reaches of the sea from God’s presence, will not the One from whom he flees be there...? For what is the end of the sea but the end of the world? There, let us now run with hope and yearning upon the wings of love; let us find no rest except in the farthest reaches of the sea. For if we desire refuge anywhere else, we shall be cast headlong into the sea. Let us flee to the edge of the sea, and ascend upon the wings of love; and in the meantime, let us run to God in hope, and with steadfast hope, let us meditate upon the far side of the sea.

9. Now, listen to Him who can lead us there—the very One from whose countenance we wish to flee in wrath. What does He say? "There Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 138:10). Let us ponder this, beloved brethren, let it be our hope and consolation. Let us reclaim through love the wings we lost through lust. For lust was the glue weighing down our wings, tearing us from the freedom of our heaven, that is, the free expanse of the Spirit of God. As we fell, we lost our wings and were, so to speak, ensnared by the fowler; yet He redeemed us by His blood, from whom we fled only to be caught. He grants us the wings of His commandments; we raise them up now, liberated from lust... We must have wings, and He must guide us, for He is our Helper. We possess free will; yet even with this freedom, what can we accomplish without the assistance of He who commands us?

10. And contemplating the vast journey ahead, what did he say to himself? "Perhaps darkness will cover me."

11. Behold, I have placed my faith in Christ; now I have been lifted on the wings of love... Regarding the journey's length, I reflected: the night became bright amidst my ecstasy. The night was illuminated in my delight because, in darkness, I despaired of traversing such a great sea, of enduring such a long journey, of reaching the furthest corners, persevering to the end. I am filled with gratitude to Him who sought me while I was a fugitive; who struck my back with the scourges; who, with His calling, drew me back from ruin; who transformed my night into light. For as long as we dwell in this life, night comes. How was the night transformed into light? Because Christ descended into the night...

The nature of its darkness is reflected in its light. Just as the night appears dark to me, it shines brightly for You. It is written about wombs in Psalm 138:13 that they inspire awe. The prophet acknowledges this fear, stating, "I have always feared You," for Your judgment has always been before me.

Darkness will not obscure Your presence, and night will shine as brightly as day for You. Simmachus interpreted it in this manner: the darkness before You will not be darkened, for the night is like day—darkness is truly dark to me, as I can discern between light and darkness, but for You, the source of illumination, night radiates with a brightness beyond noon. As profound as the darkness is, so brilliant is the light. Just as the night appears dark to me, it is light for You.

For the darkness cannot overshadow You, and the night will shine as brightly as the day; the light corresponds to the darkness. He declares, O Lord, that darkness cannot overcome You; for another translator has rendered the phrase "From You" to "With You," indicating that our darkness in Your presence is not true darkness, as it radiates light—indeed, even the night becomes illuminated with You just as the day does; thus, both night and day are equally bright with You. David expresses this to illustrate that all things stand revealed before God. However, these words can also be interpreted differently, as Chrysostom suggests: he reflects upon his own plight, surrounded by the shadows of trials and grief, questioning if this darkness could conquer him.

When God reveals to you this night of Baptism, illuminating the shadows of the day with the brightness of dawn, as it is written, ‘The darkness shall not be darkened from you, and the night shall shine like the day’; may the gates of heaven be opened wide for all.

In moments of solitude, the ascetic should never perceive himself as exposed, for he feels a sense of shame in presenting himself before others. It is essential that the omniscient gaze of God does not discern anything within him that he desires to conceal from human sight. Consequently, as he begins to consistently bask in the blissful radiance of holiness, he can echo the words of the psalmist: ‘Perhaps the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will become night’; yet, the darkness cannot obscure Your vision, for the night shines as bright as the day: as darkness is so is the light.

There are moments when a person might tell someone, for various reasons, “I cannot escape from you.” While this phrase is often used by individuals, it is, upon reflection, an incorrect attribution to any human, regardless of status. For it is possible to evade or conceal oneself even from kings, despite their far-reaching authority. Thus, the statement “I cannot escape from you” is one that can only be rightfully made about God. No matter where we attempt to flee, we cannot elude Him, and there is no hiding place where He is not present. He precedes us on every path we take and is with us in every location we seek to conceal ourselves. Are you in your home? God is there. On the journey? God accompanies you. Have you arrived at your residence? God is present. In a town or village?

The prophet contemplates whether it is possible to conceal oneself from God in the obscurity of night. He concludes that such an endeavor is futile, as God’s darkness is not true darkness, but rather light. As stated in the Gospel of John: God is light, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it (John 1:5). Just as sunlight, which is physical, cannot be dimmed by darkness—illuminating everywhere it reaches—so too can the divine and uncreated light, which is God, not be hidden by any shadow; His presence dispels even the densest darkness. Thus, there remains no sanctuary for humanity to escape the ever-watchful gaze of God.

The shadows cannot obscure You; that is to say, I do not refer merely to daylight, for even the night’s darkness does not conceal anything from You. You perceive equally in the night’s darkness as You do in the brightness of day; for to You, the night is illuminated, as You exist beyond both night and darkness. You reside in an inaccessible light, seeing and knowing all things. The prophet conveys these truths to strengthen belief in Divine Providence. He demonstrates that God is active everywhere and in every situation, aware of all and observing His creation at all times, particularly the deeds of humanity.