Psalm 139
God’s Infinite Knowledge and Universal Power
1 For the director. A psalm of David.
O Lord, you have examined me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand;
you perceive my thoughts from a distance.
3 You mark when I go out and when I lie down;
all my ways are open to you.
4 A word is not even on my tongue
and you, O Lord, are completely aware of it.
5 You enfold me from in front and from behind,
and you place your hand upon me.
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension,
far too sublime for me to attain.
7 Where can I go to hide from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will conceal me
and the day around me will turn to night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for to you darkness and light are the same.
13 You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am wonderfully made;
awesome are your works,
as I know very well.
15 My body was not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
you saw me in the womb.
16 The sum total of my days
were all recorded in your book.
My life was fashioned
before it had come into being.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I were to attempt to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
and the bloodthirsty would leave me!
20 They blaspheme your name
and treacherously rise up against you.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and loathe those who rise up against you?
22 My hatred for them is unlimited;
I regard them as my personal enemies.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and understand my thoughts.
24 See if I follow an evil way,
and guide me on the way to eternity.
Footnotes
- Psalm 139:1
- Psalm 139:1
- Psalm 139:1
- Psalm 139:2
- Psalm 139:5
- Psalm 139:7
- Psalm 139:9
- Psalm 139:11
- Psalm 139:13
- Psalm 139:15
- Psalm 139:16
- Psalm 139:16
- Psalm 139:18
- Psalm 139:19
- Psalm 139:19
- Psalm 139:20
- Psalm 139:23
