“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. The acknowledgment of being wonderfully made shifts from anxiety about divine knowledge to praise of divine craftsmanship. Fearfully suggests both awe and the appropriate fear (reverence) before divine workmanship. The wonderful nature of the psalmist's creation becomes ground for praise; being thoroughly known by the creator becomes occasion for gratitude rather than dread. The assertion I know that full well suggests personal acknowledgment and internalization of this truth. This verse represents a turning point: acceptance of God's knowledge of the self through recognition of God's creative artistry.
Church Fathers on Psalms 139:14
1. ...Our Lord Jesus Christ speaks in the Prophets, sometimes in His own Name, sometimes in ours, because He makes Himself one with us; as it is said, “they two shall be one flesh.” Wherefore also the Lord says in the Gospel, speaking of marriage, “therefore they are no more two, but one flesh.” One flesh, because of our mortality He took flesh; not one divinity, for He is the Creator, we the creature. Whatsoever then our Lord speaks in the person of the Flesh He took upon…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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