Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Parallel translations
- WEB This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.
- KJV Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
- NKJV Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
- NASB Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it.
- NLT Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David confesses that such knowledge of God is too wonderful and high for him to grasp.
Overview
Overwhelmed by God's intimate omniscience, David admits it surpasses his understanding. He responds not with despair but with humble wonder before the greatness of God. This recognition of God's incomprehensible majesty leads to worship, the fitting posture before the God revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Rom 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Job 11:7–9Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Job 26:14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
- Ps 40:5Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.
- Prov 30:2–4Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
- Ps 13:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 139:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.