Psalms 139:5

“Thou hast beset me behind and before, etc.] 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 (<19D914>Psalm 139:1416); (see <181008>Job 10:8,10,11) 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…”

“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…”

“Beset me - With thy all - seeing providence. And laid - Thou keepest me, as it were with a strong hand, in thy sight and under thy power. Psalms 139:6”

“beset me: Deu 33:27; Job 23:8, Job 23:9 and laid: Exo 24:11; Rev 1:17 Psalms 139:6”