Psalm 139:1–4

139:1 O Lord, you examine me1 and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;2

you are aware of everything I do.3

139:4 Certainly4 my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.5

1	tn The statement is understood as generalizing—the psalmist describes what God typically does.
2	tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279–80 s.v. זָרָה).
3	tn Heb “all my ways.”
4	tn Or “for.”
5	tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”