Psalms 139
1 To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David. O Lord, you have knowledge of me, searching out all my secrets.
TO THE OVERSEER. A PSALM OF DAVID. YHWH, You have searched me, and know.
2 You have knowledge when I am seated and when I get up, you see my thoughts from far away.
You have known my sitting down, And my rising up, You have attended to my thoughts from afar.
3 You keep watch over my steps and my sleep, and have knowledge of all my ways.
You have fanned my path and my lying down, And have been acquainted [with] all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue which is not clear to you, O Lord.
For there is not a word in my tongue, Behold, O YHWH, You have known it all!
5 I am shut in by you on every side, and you have put your hand on me.
You have besieged me behind and before, And You place Your hand on me.
6 Such knowledge is a wonder greater than my powers; it is so high that I may not come near it.
Knowledge too wonderful for me, It has been set on high, I am not able for it.
7 Where may I go from your spirit? how may I go in flight from you?
To where do I go from Your Spirit? And to where do I flee from Your 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 the heavens—You [are] there, And spread out a bed in Sheol, behold, You! (Sheol h7585)
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and go to the farthest parts of the sea;
I take the wings of morning, I dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,
10 Even there will I be guided by your hand, and your right hand will keep me.
Also there Your hand leads me, And Your right hand holds me.
11 If I say, Only let me be covered by the dark, and the light about me be night;
And I say, “Surely darkness bruises me,” Then night [is] light to me.
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.
Also darkness does not hide from You, And night shines as day, As [is] darkness so [is] light.
13 My flesh was made by you, and my parts joined together in my mother's body.
For You have possessed my reins, You cover me in my mother’s belly.
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 confess You, because I have been fearfully distinguished. Your works [are] wonderful, And my soul is knowing [it] 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 substance was not hid from You, When I was made in secret, Curiously worked in the lower part of 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.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance, And all of them are written on Your scroll, The days they were formed—And not one among them.
17 How dear are your thoughts to me, O God! how great is the number of them!
And how precious Your thoughts have been to me, O God, how great has been their sum!
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 recount them! They are more than the sand, I have awoken, and I am still with You.
19 If only you would put the sinners to death, O God; go far from me, you men of blood.
Do You slay, O God, the wicked? Then, men of blood, turn aside from me!
20 For they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
Who exchange You for wickedness, Your enemies [are] lifted up to vanity.
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?
Do I not hate, YHWH, those hating You? And grieve myself with Your withstanders?
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] perfect hatred, They have become enemies to me.
23 O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:
Search me, O God, and know my heart, Try me, and know my thoughts,
24 See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
And see if a grievous way be in me, And lead me in a perpetual way!
