Psalm 139

PSALM 139

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!

²Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;

thou discernest my thoughts from afar.

³Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,

and art acquainted with all my ways.

⁴Even before a word is on my tongue,

lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

⁵Thou dost beset me behind and before,

and layest thy hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

⁸If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!

⁹If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

¹⁰even there thy hand shall lead me,

and thy right hand shall hold me.

¹¹If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

¹²even the darkness is not dark to thee,

the night is bright as the day;

for darkness is as light with thee.

¹³For thou didst form my inward parts,

thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.

Wonderful are thy works!

Thou knowest me right well;

¹⁵my frame was not hidden from thee,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;

in thy book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

When I awake, I am still with thee.

¹⁹O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,

and that men of blood would depart from me,

²⁰men who maliciously defy thee,

who lift themselves up against thee for evil!

²¹Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?

And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?

²²I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

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

Try me and know my thoughts!

²⁴And see if there be any wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!