Psalm 139

The Knowledge of God

139For the music director. Of David. A psalm.^a

¹O Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.

²You know my sitting down and my rising up.

You understand my thought from afar.

³You search out^b my wandering and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word yet on my tongue,

but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely.

⁵You barricade me behind and in front,

and set your hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is set high; I cannot prevail against it.

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit,

or where can I flee from your presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, there you are,

and if I make my bed in Sheol, look! There you are.

⁹If I lift up the wings of the dawn,

and I alight on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰even there your hand would lead me,

and your right hand would hold me fast.

¹¹And if I should say, “Surely darkness will cover me,

and the light around me will be as night,”

¹²even the darkness is not too dark for you,^c

and the night shines as the day—

the darkness and the light are alike for you.

¹³Indeed you created my inward parts;^d

you wove me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise you, because I am fearfully

and wonderfully made.^e

Wonderful are your works,

and my soul knows it well.

¹⁵My frame^f was not hidden from you,

when I was created secretly,^g

and intricately woven

in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my embryo,^h

and in your book they all were written—

days fashioned for me when there was not one of them.

¹⁷And to me, how preciousⁱ are your thoughts, O God;

how vast is their sum.

¹⁸If I should count them,

they would outnumber the sand.

I awaken, and I am still with you.

¹⁹If only you would kill the wicked, O God—

so get away from me, you bloodthirsty men—^j

²⁰who speak against you deceitfully.

Your enemies take your name in vain.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

²²I hate them with a complete hatred;

they have become my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴And see if there is in me the worship of false gods,^k

and lead me in the way everlasting.