13 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16 ESV).
“Psalm 139:13–16 expands upon David’s earlier references to divine presence, showing that the Lord’s presence is close and intimate—so close, in fact, that God was there in the womb of David’s mother knitting him together. The image pictures the Lord as attending to the details, just as a knitter has to pay close attention in order to knit a blanket and not produce a tangled mess. This passage also has important implications for how we view the unborn. If God knits people together in their mothers’ wombs, we are forbidden from taking the life of the unborn for reasons of convenience,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul. .
Psalm 139:15 says, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. There are four images presented in this verse.
First, “my frame was not hidden from you.” The word frame (ʿō·ṣěm) means skeletal framework. David considers his unborn, physical human body stressing the bones as a central part. His skeletal structure was not hidden (kā·ḥǎḏ) or unknown to God.
Second, “…when I was being made in secret.” To be made (ʿā·śā(h) means to be purposefully created. Secret (sē·ṯěr) means to be hidden or concealed. Today’s medical technology allows us to see the unborn baby while still in their mother’s womb. Such was not the case in the ancient world.
Third, “intricately woven” (rā·qǎm) refers to be “created and fashioned out of existing materials, as a figurative extension of weaving cloth into a product. This apparently refers to the gestation process as a figurative extension of forming dust in or under the ground into a person,” explains one commentator.
Fourth, “in the depths of the earth” Depths (tǎḥ·tî) figuratively means the womb. Of the earth (ʾě·rěṣ) refers to humankind.
“Like toddler and adolescent, the terms embryo and fetus do not refer to nonhumans but to humans at various stages of development. It is scientifically inaccurate to say a human embryo or a fetus is not a human being simply because he is at an earlier stage than an infant. This is like saying that a toddler is not a human being because he is not yet an adolescent. Does someone become more human as he gets bigger? If so, then adults are more human than children, and football players are more human than jockeys. Something nonhuman does not become human or more human by getting older or bigger; whatever is human is human from the beginning, or it can never be human at all. The right to live does not increase with age and size; otherwise, toddlers and adolescents have less right to live than adults,” explains author Randy Alcorn.
“Every child in the womb is God’s handiwork and part of God’s plan. Christ loves that child and proved it by becoming like him—He spent nine months in His mother’s womb,”
Meditate upon the preciousness of every human life. Have a blessed day in the LORD.
Soli deo Gloria!
The His Word Today Weekly Podcast begins Monday, September 5 featuring expository messages from the Epistle to the Ephesians.
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