Psalm 139:5 NKJV
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
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MY NOTES
You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.” — Psalm 139:5 (NKJV)
Have you ever felt completely hemmed in? Usually, when we talk about being “trapped” or “surrounded,” it’s a bad thing. We think of traffic jams, crowded elevators, or being backed into a corner.
But in Psalm 139:5, David describes a different kind of “surround.” He realizes that he is in a divine “siege”—not by an enemy who wants to destroy him, but by a Father who refuses to let him go.
The Hedge of Permission
The word David uses for “hedged” or “beset” is the Hebrew word $tsûr$. In most of the Bible, this word is used to describe a city under siege. It means to be compressed, hemmed in, and closely surrounded so there is no way of escape.
But here’s the twist: David isn’t panicked; he’s in awe. He realizes that God has placed a protective barrier around his life. Think of it as a “hedge of permission.” Nothing can get to you from behind (your past, your mistakes, your regrets), and nothing can surprise you from the before (your future, your anxieties, your “what-ifs”) unless it first passes through the hands of God. You are the most secure “prisoner” in the universe.
The Physician’s Touch
David adds, “You have laid Your hand upon me.” This isn’t just a general “God is everywhere” statement. This is deeply personal. Matthew Henry suggests this is like a physician laying a hand on a patient to feel their pulse or check their temperature.
God doesn’t just watch you from a satellite view; He is close enough to feel your heartbeat. He knows your “temper”—whether you are anxious, grieving, or joyful—because His hand is physically resting on your life. For a stranger to watch you at all times is creepy; for a loving parent to watch over a child is the ultimate comfort.
Captured by Love
Spurgeon paints a vivid picture: “The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer.” We can’t outmarch God because He’s already “before” us, and we can’t retreat from Him because He’s “behind” us.
If you’ve been trying to run away from God, this verse is a gentle reminder that you’re failing—and that’s a good thing. You aren’t being hunted; you are being upheld. His hand isn’t there to crush you; it’s there to lead, restore, and protect you.
Key Takeaways
- The “Double Guard”: God stands between you and your past (“behind”) and between you and your future (“before”). You are never “exposed” to the elements of life.
- Active Presence: This isn’t a passive doctrine; it’s an active “siege of love.” God is personally involved in the “behind and before” of you every day.
- Safety in the “Hem”: Being hemmed in by God means that nothing reaches you without His knowledge. It transforms “feeling trapped” into “feeling tucked in.”
- The Personal Hand: God is close enough to touch. He is “acquainted” with you not just through sight, but through the personal contact of His hand on your shoulder.
Cross References (NKJV)
Job 1:10
“Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
Psalm 34:7
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”
Deuteronomy 33:27
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, ‘Destroy!’”
Isaiah 52:12
“For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”
Let’s Pray
Abba, thank You for the “siege of grace” around my life. When I feel anxious about what’s ahead or haunted by what’s behind, remind me that You are occupying both spaces. Thank You for laying Your hand upon me—for being close enough to know my pulse and steady my heart. Help me to stop trying to “escape” Your presence and instead learn to rest in Your protection. I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Things to Think About:
- Behind: What from your past (“behind”) are you currently afraid will “catch up” to you? How does it change things to visualize God standing as your rear guard against that thing?
- Before: What part of your future (“before”) feels like a threat? Can you picture God already “besetting” that path before you even get there?
- The Hand: Does God’s hand on your life feel like a “grip” (control) or a “caress” (comfort)? Why do you think you perceive it that way right now?
- The Siege: Describe a time when you felt “hemmed in” by circumstances. In hindsight, can you see how God might have been using those boundaries to protect you from something else?
Proverb for Today
The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the Lord. Proverbs 21:31 NKJV
Daily Scripture
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
Commentators view being “beset” ($tsûr$) as a divine siege—not for destruction, but for total protection. Spurgeon describes God as a rear guard and forward scout, ensuring no escape from His love. Matthew Henry likens God’s hand to a physician’s touch, sensing our “pulse” and needs intimately. This “hedge of permission” means nothing reaches us without passing through Him first. Ultimately, being “hemmed in” by a loving Father transforms a feeling of restriction into absolute security.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Thou hast beset me behind and before.” As though we were caught in an ambush, or besieged by an army which has wholly beleaguered the city walls, we are surrounded by the Lord. God has set us where we are, and beset us wherever we be. Behind us, there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us, there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and out march him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should seem any chance of escape, or lest we should imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added,—
“And laid thine hand upon me.” The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It is not said that God will thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done—”Thou hast beset me.” Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.
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Enduring Word
You have hedged me behind and before: The normal sense of a hedge in the Bible is of a protective barrier. God hedged David on every side, so that nothing could come to David unless it first passed through God’s permission. What was true for David is true for all who trust in the LORD. (Guzik)
i. It can be very uncomfortable to know that you are always being watched. We may get nervous if we see video cameras monitoring us at all times. Yet our unease is based on the fact that we doubt the good intentions or goodwill of those who watch us. The child is comforted that a loving parent watches over him; when we are confident in the love and care of God our Father, His constant knowledge of us is a comfort rather than a curse. (Guzik)
e. And laid Your hand upon me: As with the hedge, this was an expression of God’s love and care for David. This was not the hand of oppression, but the hand of grace. (Guzik)
i. “This statement of omniscience is characteristically vivid and concrete: not formulated as a doctrine but, as befits a psalm, confessed in adoration. This divine knowledge is not merely comprehensive, like that of some receptor that misses nothing, capturing everything alike. It is personal and active.” (Kidner)
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Albert Barnes
Thou hast beset me behind and before – The word rendered “beset” – צור tsûr – means properly to press; to press upon; to compress. It has reference commonly to the siege of a city, or to the pressing on of troops in war; and then it comes to mean to besiege, hem in, closely surround, so that there is no way of escape. This is the idea here – that God was on every side of him; that he could not escape in any direction. He was like a garrison besieged in a city so that there was no means of escape. There is a transition here (not an unnatural one), from the idea of the Omniscience of God to that of His Omnipresence, and the remarks which follow have a main reference to the latter.
And laid thine hand upon me – That is, if I try to escape in any direction, I find thine hand laid upon me there. Escape is impossible.
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John Gill
Thou hast beset me behind and before,…. Art on every side of me, all around me, like one besieged in a strait place; so that there is nothing I can think, say, or do, but what is known unto thee. The two Kimchis, father and son, render the word, “thou hast formed me”: and interpret it of the formation of his body, of which, in Psalm 139:14; see Job 10:8, but it denotes how God compasses men with his presence and providence, so that nothing escapes his knowledge;
and laid thine hand upon me; not his afflicting hand, which sometimes presses hard; though the Targum thus paraphrases it, “and stirred against me the stroke of thine hand:” but rather his hand of power and providence, to preserve, protect, and defend him. Or it signifies that he was so near to him that his hand was upon him, and he was perfectly known, as anything is that is before a man, and he has his hand upon.
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Matthew Henry
“Thou knowest me in every part of me: Thou hast beset me behind and before, so that, go which way I will, I am under thy eye and cannot possibly escape it. Thou hast laid thy hand upon me, and I cannot run away from thee.” Wherever we are, we are under the eye and hand of God. Perhaps it is an allusion to the physician’s laying his hand upon his patient to feel how his pulse beats or what temper he is in. God knows us as we know not only what we see, but what we feel and have our hands upon. All his saints are in his hand.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Thou hast beset me behind and before.” One who finds the way blocked up turns back, but David found himself hedged in behind as well as before.
—John Calvin.
“And laid thine hand upon me.” To make of me one acceptable to thyself. To rule me, to lead me, to uphold me, to protect me; to restore me; in my growth, in my walk, in my failures, in my affliction, in my despair.
—Thomas Le Blanc.
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