Meaning, commentary and cross references
Psalms 139:14
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
NIV · New International Version
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
WEB · World English Bible
I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
What does Psalms 139:14 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Psalms 139:14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,.... the formation of man is not of himself, nor of his parents, but of God, and is very wonderful in all its parts; it has been matter of astonishment to many Heathens, as Galen and others, who have, with any carefulness, examined the structure and texture of the human body, the exact symmetry and just proportion of all its parts, their position and usefulness; holy every bone, muscle, artery, nerve and fibre, are nicely framed and placed to answer their designed end; particularly the eye and ear, the exquisite make of them for sight and sound, have filled the most diligent inquirers into nature with amazement and wonder, and are…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Psalms 139:7–16
We are fearfully and wonderfully made; we may justly be astonished at the admirable contrivance of these living temples, the composition of every part, and the harmony of all together. (2.) As a great mystery, a mystery of nature: My soul knows right well that it is marvellous, but how to describe it for any one else I know not; for I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the womb as in the lowest parts of the earth, so privately, and so far out of sight. (3.)
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706–21; Romans–Revelation completed by Nonconformist ministers). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Psalms 139:13–16
[210] The "covering" here spoken of, is illustrated by Job 10:2, where God is said to have "clothed us with skin and flesh, and fenced us with bones and sinews." "A work so astonishing," observes Bishop Horne, "that before the Psalmist proceeds in his description of it, he cannot help breaking forth in rapture at the thought: I will praise thee, for! I am fearfully and wonderfully made.'" [211] "Ou, mon os n'est point cache de toy." -- Fr. marg. "Or, my bone is not hid from thee." [212] "Fearfully and wonderfully made Never was so terse and expressive a description of the physical conformation of man given by any human being.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Psalms 139:11–17 (WEB)
11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,” 12even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you. 13For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. 15My frame wasn’t hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them. 17How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is their sum!
Cross references
- Genesis 1:26–27
God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
- Psalms 111:2
- Psalms 104:24
- Psalms 92:4–5
- Psalms 40:5
- Job 5:9
who does great things that can’t be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
- Revelation 15:3
They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.