The All-Knowing, Ever-Present God
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, you have searched me and known me. 139:1 Ps 17:3; 44:21; Jr 12:3
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away. 139:2 2Kg 19:27; Is 66:18; Mt 9:4
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways. 139:3 Jb 14:16; 31:4
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord. 139:4 Heb 4:13
5 You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me. 139:5 Jb 9:33; Ps 125:2
6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it. 139:6 Jb 42:3; Rm 11:33
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence? 139:7 Jr 23:24
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; 139:8 Am 9:2–4
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 139:8 Jb 26:6; Is 14:11
9 If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon, 139:9 Lit the end of the sea
10 even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me. 139:9–10 Ps 23:2–3
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me,
and the light around me will be night" 139:11 Jb 22:13–14 —
12 even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night shines like the day;
darkness and light are alike to you. 139:12 Jb 34:22; Dn 2:22
13 For it was you who created my inward parts; 139:13 Lit my kidneys
you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 139:13 Jb 10:11; Ps 119:73
14 I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. 139:14 DSS, some LXX mss, Syr, Jer read because you are remarkable and wonderful, 139:14 Hb obscure
Your works are wondrous,
and I know this very well. 139:14 Ps 40:5
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 139:15 Jb 10:8–10; Ps 63:9; Ec 11:5
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began. 139:16 Jb 14:5
17 God, how precious 139:17 Or difficult your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand; 139:17–18 Ps 40:5; 92:5
when I wake up, 139:18 Some Hb mss read I come to an end I am still with you. 139:18 Ps 3:5
19 God, if only you would kill the wicked —
you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me 139:19 Ps 5:6; 6:8; Is 11:4 —
20 who invoke you deceitfully.
Your enemies swear by you falsely. 139:20 Ex 20:7; Jd 15
21 Lord, don’t I hate those who hate you,
and detest those who rebel against you?
22 I hate them with extreme hatred;
I consider them my enemies. 139:21–22 Ps 26:5; 31:16
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns. 139:23 Jb 31:6; Ps 26:2
24 See if there is any offensive 139:24 Or idolatrous way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way. 139:24 Ps 16:11