What Does Psalm 139:14 Mean?
Two renderings of the same sentence, the verses it belongs to, and what the passage is doing — so you can decide what it means rather than take someone's word for it.
"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14, King James Version
The same verse in modern English
"I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well." Psalm 139:14, Berean Standard Bible
What it sits inside
A verse quoted on its own is the commonest way one gets misread. Here it is with what comes immediately before and after, in the King James Version.
Psalm 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psalm 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psalm 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
A conversation built on it
The things you would quietly change about yourself feel like mistakes that slipped through. David looked at the same kind of list and called the work marvellous — not despite the details, because of them. Nothing about you was an accident of assembly.
Questions people ask
What does Psalm 139:14 mean?
In modern English (Berean Standard Bible) it reads: “I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.” The King James rendering most people know is: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
What is the context of Psalm 139:14?
The verses immediately around it read: (Psalm 139:12) Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. (Psalm 139:13) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:14) I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:15) My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Psalm 139:16) Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How is Psalm 139:14 used in a conversation about this?
The things you would quietly change about yourself feel like mistakes that slipped through. David looked at the same kind of list and called the work marvellous — not despite the details, because of them. Nothing about you was an accident of assembly.
Reading it is one thing. Saying what it stirs up is another.
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