Psalm 139

A David Psalm

1-6 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can't take it all in!
7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! If I flew on morning's wings to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute— you're already there waiting! Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I'm immersed in the light!" It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you.
13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I'll never comprehend them! I couldn't even begin to count them— any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! And please, God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers—out of here!— all the men and women who belittle you, God, infatuated with cheap god-imitations. See how I hate those who hate you, God, see how I loathe all this godless arrogance; I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred. Your enemies are my enemies!
23-24 Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life.

Psalm 139

For the music director, a psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you examine me and know.

2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
even from far away you understand my motives.

3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest;
you are aware of everything I do.

4 Certainly my tongue does not frame a word
without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it.

5 You squeeze me in from behind and in front;
you place your hand on me.

6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension;
it is so far beyond me, I am unable to fathom it.

7 Where can I go to escape your spirit?
Where can I flee to escape your presence?

8 If I were to ascend to heaven, you would be there.
If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be.

9 If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn,
and settle down on the other side of the sea,

10 even there your hand would guide me,
your right hand would grab hold of me.

11 If I were to say, “Certainly the darkness will cover me,
and the light will turn to night all around me,”

12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see,
and the night is as bright as day;
darkness and light are the same to you.

13 Certainly you made my mind and heart;
you wove me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing.
You knew me thoroughly;

15 my bones were not hidden from you,
when I was made in secret
and sewed together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb.
All the days ordained for me
were recorded in your scroll
before one of them came into existence.

17 How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God!
How vast is their sum total!

18 If I tried to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
Even if I finished counting them,
I would still have to contend with you.

19 If only you would kill the wicked, O God!
Get away from me, you violent men!

20 They rebel against you and act deceitfully;
your enemies lie.

21 O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you,
and despise those who oppose you?

22 I absolutely hate them,
they have become my enemies!

23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts!
Test me, and know my concerns!

24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency in me,
and lead me in the reliable ancient path!