Psalms 139
1 [For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.] LORD, you have searched me, and you know me.
For the music director. A psalm of David. Lord, you have examined me from the inside out—you know everything about me!
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know what I'm thinking even when I'm a long way away.
3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
You observe where I go and when I rest. You're familiar with everything I do.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, look, LORD, you know it altogether.
Lord, you even know what I'm going to say before I say it.
5 You encircle me behind and in front, and you place your hand upon me.
You're always there—behind me, in front of me, and all around me. You place your caring hand on me.
6 This knowledge is beyond me. It's lofty. I can't attain it.
This amazing knowledge you have is far beyond me, way beyond my understanding!
7 Where could I go from your Ruach? Or where could I flee from your presence?
Where can I go that you're not already there? Where can I run to escape your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, look, you are there. (Sheol h7585)
If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I lie down in Sheol, look—you are there too! (Sheol h7585)
9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
If I were to fly away on wings of the dawn to the east; if I were to live on the far western shore of the sea,
10 Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
even there your hand would lead me, your right hand would support me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night;"
If I asked the darkness to hide me, and light to become night around me,
12 even the darkness doesn't hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
Even darkness would not be dark for you, and the night would be bright as day, for darkness is like light to you.
13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb.
You made me from the inside out, shaping me in my mother's womb.
14 I will give thanks to you, for I am awesomely and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and my soul knows that very well.
I praise you for making me in such an awesome and wonderful way. What you do is incredible—I realize this completely!
15 My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
My growing body was not hidden from you as I was formed in secret, as I was intricately put together “in the depths of the earth.”
16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
You saw me as an embryo, and in your book all my days were written down—the days that were made for me before any of them existed.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God. How vast is the sum of them.
God, your thoughts are so valuable to me! Taken together, they can't be counted!
18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
If I tried to count them, they would be more than every grain of sand. Yet when I awake I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men.
God, if you would only kill the wicked! Murderers, get away from me!
20 For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
When they speak of you they're being deceptively evil. Since they are your enemies, they call on you in vain.
21 LORD, do I not hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
Lord, don't I hate those who hate you? I despise those who rebel against you!
22 I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
I hate them with absolute hatred—they have become my enemies!
23 Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
Examine me carefully, God, so you can be sure of my true feelings. Check me out so you can know what I really think.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Please show me if I'm following any kind of idol, and lead me along the path of eternal life.
