Psalms 139
1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.
You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.
For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
7 Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. (Sheol h7585)
If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there. (Sheol h7585)
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
10 even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.
Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”—
If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
12 even the darkness is not dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
Even the dark is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day: for dark and light are the same to you.
13 For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
14 I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.
I will give you praise, for I am strangely and delicately formed; your works are great wonders, and of this my soul is fully conscious.
15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book all my days were recorded, even those which were purposed before they had come into being.
17 How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!
How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
18 If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.
If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you.
19 O God, that You would slay the wicked— away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
24 See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.
See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
