Psalms 139
1 To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:
2 You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
Thou hast know my sitting down, and my rising up.
3 You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
5 I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.
7 Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there: or if I make my bed in the underworld, you are there. (Sheol h7585)
If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present. (Sheol h7585)
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10 Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
12 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.
But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
13 My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.
14 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.
I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.
15 My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
16 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.
Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
17 How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
18 If I made up their number, it would be more than the grains of sand; when I am awake, I am still with you.
I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee.
19 If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:
20 For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.
21 Are not your haters hated by me, O Lord? are not those who are lifted up against you a cause of grief to me?
Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pine away because of thy enemies?
22 My hate for them is complete; my thoughts of them are as if they were making war on me.
I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.
23 O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
24 See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
