Psalm 139

God’s Complete Knowledge and Care^p

139 Lord, you have examined me and you know me.

²You know everything I do;

from far away you understand all my thoughts.

³You see me, whether I am working or resting;

you know all my actions.

⁴Even before I speak,

you already know what I will say.

⁵You are all round me on every side;

you protect me with your power.

⁶Your knowledge of me is too deep;

it is beyond my understanding.

⁷Where could I go to escape from you?

Where could I get away from your presence?

⁸If I went up to heaven, you would be there;

if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.

⁹If I flew away beyond the east

or lived in the farthest place in the west,

¹⁰you would be there to lead me,

you would be there to help me.

¹¹I could ask the darkness to hide me

or the light round me to turn into night,

¹²but even darkness is not dark for you,

and the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³You created every part of me;

you put me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise you because you are to be feared;

all you do is strange and wonderful.

I know it with all my heart.

¹⁵When my bones were being formed,

carefully put together in my mother’s womb,

when I was growing there in secret,

you knew that I was there-

¹⁶you saw me before I was born.

The days allotted to me

had all been recorded in your book,

before any of them ever began.

¹⁷O God, how difficult I find your thoughts;^q

how many of them there are!

¹⁸If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand.

When I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked!

How I wish violent people would leave me alone!

²⁰They say wicked things about you;

they speak evil things against your name.^r

²¹O Lord, how I hate those who hate you!

How I despise those who rebel against you!

²²I hate them with a total hatred;

I regard them as my enemies.

²³Examine me, O God, and know my mind;

test me, and discover my thoughts.

²⁴Find out if there is any evil in me

and guide me in the everlasting way.^s